Day 10: July 15, 2062 | 1139 Hours | Base S09 Helipad
Juno and G36 stood by the helipad while the new additions to the base stepped down from the helicopter. In front of her were three T-Dolls, each of them a different type: an AR, a MG, and a shotgun. While it wasn't necessary, Juno preferred to be the one to greet the new arrivals.
"Welcome to Base S09," Juno looked at the three of them. "I'm Commander Itsuki, and this is Miss Gr G36."
G36 bowed. "Pleasure to meet you."
The first one to step up and introduce herself was the AR Doll. Her blue hair was styled into a ponytail held by a wooden clip. She wore a long steel-gray jacket with several pieces of equipment attached to it, blue denim short shorts, a white shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal a black bra underneath, and a cooler with a hazardous materials label on it hung from her shoulder.
One thing Juno found interesting was an ID badge clipped on the doll's coat. The ID picture showed a more professional looking doll who had an awkward smile and a pair of rectangular glasses. It made her wonder if the photo was an old picture of the doll or her in a more professional setting.
"Hello, Commander of G&K! I'm K11, emergency encounters specialist, please allow me to show you my talents."
Juno gave her a friendly smile. "You're always free to show your talents, Miss K11. No need to ask for permission."
Upon hearing Juno, a dangerous gleam mirroring those of a mad scientist appeared in her fuchsia eyes. "Why thank you, Commander."
The look made Juno feel a bit wary before moving to the next T-Doll. This one was a rather short T-Doll. In fact, her machine gun was a little over half her height. She had long wild silver hair, wore a large coat, plaid skirt, goggles on her forehead, and headphones around her ears.
"Excuse me?" Juno tried to grab the attention of the small T-Doll, who was bobbing her head to the music playing in her headphones with her eyes closed. "Excuse me!"
The T-Doll opened her eyes and looked at Juno before removing her headphones, clueless as to what was happening. "Is the Commander here?"
"That would be me." Juno told her.
"Oh shit." The T-Doll fixed her coat and brushed back her bangs. "AEK-999 reporting. The fate of this name will now be handed to you!"
"I look forward to working with you." Juno noticed AEK was not looking at her eye-to-eye but rather eye-to-chest.
She quickly moved on to the last T-Doll who stood at the same height as AEK. She had confident blue eyes and blonde chin-length hair with two hair clips on both sides. She wore a maid outfit with an orange apron, gloves, and even had a spray bottle of some sort of cleaning solution holstered on her belt.
The T-Doll curtseyed. "Hello, Commander. I'm Winchester 1897. Whether it's cleaning or fighting, I'll do my best!"
"Nice to meet you, Miss Winchester."
"You can call me Ester." She said with a well-mannered voice. "It's less of a mouthful to say and easier to differentiate between my sisters and myself."
"Ok, Miss Ester it is."
Juno didn't notice it at first but sitting on Ester's shoulder was a little dust ball with arms and a cute face. The little companion was interesting considering that the dust ball should be something Ester would clean.
"Ah, you said you're a cleaner, correct?" Juno asked.
"Indeed, I can perform any duties expected of a maid." Ester confirmed.
Juno looked over at G36. "I think you'd make a great addition to Miss G36's team."
G36's eyes narrowed with her intense gaze as Ester turned to face her. Juno thought the maid would end up intimidating the new and gentle-looking recruit, but much to her relief, Ester performed a curtsy towards her as well.
Ester greeted her. "Hello, Miss G36. I will assist as much as I can."
The maid seemed pleased by Ester's manners. "Thank you, Miss Ester."
Juno smiled as she looked at the three new T-Dolls, "Well then, I hope you find the base comfortable. Miss G36 here will show you to your dorms." The three of them nodded and followed the maid towards the residential building. Once she was all alone at the helipad, Juno let out a sigh. "I got a bad feeling about those other two."
…
1228 Hours | Base S09 Dining Hall
There was a lot of commotion when Juno entered the dining hall since everyone received their assignments. The topic of conversations ranged from being excited for recon ops. and eliminating SF checkpoints in the unoccupied territories to the less enthusiastic reception to being assigned logistical duties. Of course, not everyone was excited about being sent out to the field or disappointed at being handed logistical assignments. However, no matter what the case was, Juno was happy to see the base at its liveliest since she arrived a little over a week ago.
Juno tried to look for an open spot, but the sheer number of T-Dolls in the room made it quite difficult to find one.
"Yo, Boss!" Juno heard M16's voice in the crowd.
She looked around the sea of T-Dolls before eventually finding AR Team sitting at a table with M16 waving her arm in the air. Once she saw she grabbed the commander's attention, she pointed at the empty seat at their table. Juno nodded and carefully made her way over.
"Hello, Commander!" Sopmod said with a mouthful of food once Juno arrived at the table.
"You shouldn't talk with food in your mouth, Soppo." M4 told her sister.
"I'm sorry!" Soppo then continued ripping apart the steak on her plate.
"Would you like to join us for lunch, Commander?" Star asked.
"I don't see why not." Juno sat down and looked over at Springfield. Despite being busy tending to the bar, the T-Doll made eye contact and nodded, confirming that she would get Juno something to eat.
M16 poured herself a glass of Jack Daniels. "Where's Kalin? Figured she would've tagged along."
"I had Miss Kalina do some extra work for today," Juno said.
A big grin formed on M16's face as she screwed the cap back onto the bottle. "So, you're going to try out that swimsuit then?"
Juno grew red from embarrassment. "How did you know about that?"
M16 laughed at her reaction. "Kalin, of course. You should've been there when she told me." M16 cleared her throat and attempted to mimic Kalina's higher-pitched voice. "I bought the Commander a bikini! Sure, she'll probably assign me up to the chest with work, but as long as she wears it, it'll be worth it!"
"She will be the end of me." Juno rubbed her forehead. "Like why do I even need a bikini?"
"I'm sure you'll look good in it, Commander." M4's compliment sounded genuine.
Juno shrugged. "I don't know, I just think I'm not really one for those kinds of outfits."
"Oh, you don't give yourself enough credit, Boss," M16 said. "If only you had bigger boobs to fill out that swimsuit. You're just like St-"
Star looked over at her senior with a deathly glare. "You going to finish that sentence?"
"I… I don't think I will." M16 slid down her chair trying to hide herself, but all she did was lower herself to everyone's height.
Sopmod looked at Star's chest and then at the Commander's. "Star and the Commander aren't the same though, the Commander has a bigger chest."
Star looked like she was about to lose all composure and throw hands with someone, but M4 helped calm her down before something could happen.
Juno decided to steer the topic away from her physique. "So, Miss Helian told me that you four will be going on a mission into SF territory."
M4 eagerly nodded. "It's been quite some time since we've operated on our own, but we're all excited to finally do some field work again."
M16 sat back up in her seat. "Hey Boss, we should get a drink later tonight. Thompson has night work for the next two days, so we won't be able to get a drink together until after we come back."
"I can't do it tonight, I have to-" Juno stopped herself before finishing the sentence. If she told M16 she was trying out the clothes Kalina had picked for her, the AR member may insist on coming along. "To do some work later tonight."
M16 let out a disappointed sigh, reminding Juno of an old friend. "Work, work, work. You can always do that tomorrow."
M4 nudged her sister. "The Commander has important work to do, 16. I'm sure she has quite the load to handle today."
"Well…" Juno thought about M16's offer for a moment. "Ok, I promise I'll get a drink at the bar with you when you come back."
"That's what I like to hear, Boss!" M16 poured herself another glass of whiskey and immediately downed it.
Not long after, Springfield came by the table with a bowl of ramen, karaage, and a tall glass of apple juice for Juno. "Here you go, my Commander."
"Thank you, Miss Springfield," Juno said.
Before Juno could dig in, Springfield spoke up. "Ah, Commander. The ingredients I ordered will be arriving in an hour or so. Would you be able to help me bring them in?"
Juno wondered she didn't ask G36 or any other doll. However, seeing as how she handed Kalina most of her work, she had nothing else to do for the day. "Of course, Miss Springfield."
"Thank you, Commander." Springfield smiled before heading back to tend to the bar.
Sopmod was starting to drool staring at the karaage next to Juno's right hand. "Looks so good."
Juno pushed the small plate of crispy chicken to the center of the table. "You can help yourself if you want some. I usually order it to fill me up, but I don't want to get a food coma if I'm going to help Miss Springfield."
"Thanks, Commander!" Sopmod grabbed her fork, stabbed one of the pieces, and chomped down on it. "Wow! It's so crunchy and juicy!"
M4 also grabbed one for herself and wiped her mouth with a napkin after she finished her eating it. "Miss Springfield's cooking never ceases to amaze."
"I was thinking of asking her to teach me a few things." Juno broke apart her chopsticks.
"Yea, maybe you can retire and start up your own restaurant, Boss." M16 popped a piece of chicken in her mouth.
"I could call it Griffin and Cooking, but cooking would be spelled with a K." Juno chuckled at the restaurant name.
"Why call it that?" Sopmod asked.
"Griffin and Kryuger. Griffin and Kooking. Instead of Kryuger it's Kooking." Juno tried her best to explain.
Star raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty lame, Commander."
M16 scoffed, clearly unamused by the joke. "Sounds like something a dork would come up with."
"I think you should head back to the drawing board." Even M4 didn't find it funny.
"Oh, I get it!" Sopmod yelled out.
Juno chuckled again, but this time it was more out of embarrassment. "I'll be here all night."