Addisyn and Hailey threw the trash they had gathered from Saunders pile with Emiko lighting a match and tossing it in, the entire pile lit up as the girls got out treats and drinks. Ritsu opened a bottle of malt and poured some for Miho in a cup. Aurora and Kate were busy setting up a radio to play some music as it was too late to drag the instruments out. Music began to drift through the air as Ritsu attempted to start up a conversation with Miho.
"Miho, how does it feel to finally be a warrior?" Ritsu asked as she handed Miho a cup of malt.
"Finally feels like I accomplished something. I think the whole celebration is the fact that we managed to pull off a rescue mission. If only Mio were here to celebrate." Miho explained as she began to drink. She turned her head to see the school's first years with Rabbit team who were setting off some sparklers. Miho watched as the rocket flew up and exploded into glitter.
"Yeah, I kind of miss her already." Ritsu admitted to Miho. She wanted to have their friend celebrate too. Some of the students were busy getting some games set up as they didn't seem to have much when it came to. A couple of students went back to their cabins to grab some supplies.
"If that's the case, I think drinking is the only way to help us forget all the stuff that we went through." Miho explained that this was something that the school was going to have to deal with. "Even if it means all of us end up returning back to our old schools."
"Hopefully by then, we should be able to hold our heads up high by the time you return, without you we wouldn't have conducted the night raid." Ritsu explained while she kept drinking.
"Hey you're right, hopefully we can get another couple of days here before we go home." Miho told Ritsu as she finished the rest of her drink. Rabbit team and the first years were gathered around by a fire and toasting marshmallows they had.
"How much longer do you plan on staying?" Ritsu asked.
"Not too much longer with the fact that I want to go back to the mainland and enjoy summer." Miho explained. Ritsu seemed to nod before coming to a decision.
"Okay but if you need me, let the school know." Ritsu explained with a sigh.
"Much appreciated." Miho replied. Miho walked away to spot Rosie who was chatting with Josephine of all people. They were sharing some notes regarding what they wanted to do. "Hey Rosie, sorry to interrupt but I wanted to ask you something. Was there a reason you ran away from Saunders to here?"
"Well there was. It seemed to go back to the beginning when I first came to Saunders. I wanted to do more in terms of my talents and what I loved but I was pressed into Sensha-Do which I only said yes to get them to go away and off of my neck. I didn't want a Sherman so I experimented with other types of weaponry and tanks. That was the Stuart I sent to support you against the All-Stars. There's the parties, the food, the American culture, it's a mess and something I wasn't fond of. I asked Naomi about how I felt and she said I should be free to go somewhere else. Kay denied my request on the reason that no student is allowed to leave as everywhere else is worse off. I criticized the country with the phrase that it sucked as we weren't allowed to leave to find what I considered a better life. Kimberly asked to desert with me as she didn't like the culture there either. She just wanted the Taiga lifestyle. That's what prompted Kay and Alisa to chase after me and why I've been on the run for so long." Rosie explained to Miho that she wanted to stand out and didn't want to go in uniform. Miho then began to think about what Rosie had said. She then asked this:
"If you were to choose the definition of being free, what would it be? The United States or the wilderness?" Miho asked Rosie if she had a choice of what to choose, what would it be and why? Rosie began to think about what Miho had just asked to come up with. The seconds ticked by as Rosie tried her best to think of an answer. After a minute, she turned to Miho with her response.
"Well if I were to choose, it would be the wilderness, just because the United States guarantees its own stuff, it does more harm than good. I don't want to be eating processed crap while we all die in droves and don't get reforms done and fall even further behind. I still think about this as Kay ignores our pleas. I had enough and I decided to leave. One person could only take so much before they crumble. Eventually I had enough, lashed out and ran off." Rosie explained that she would choose something that would matter to her. "A piece of paper doesn't tell me what I could do or what I can have. I want to be free from the vices that can tell me that I am free."
"It turns out that you want to find your own strength from within. Based on your words, I have a question. Do you plan on transferring when this is all over?" Miho asked Rosie if this was something she had planned on doing.
"She is, she told us about it." Trout explained to Miho. She walked over as she had appeared from the trees. "She asked us the same question and I asked what her desires were. She said she wished to be comfortable, have good education, food and medicine. Something that Saunders doesn't have it seems. She also expressed a desire to not have as much stuff, be able to say what she pleases or have items that can kill, harm or traumatize a human. Kay would say that Rosie is being a sissy but I had longed for the same desires as well."
"She has?" Miho asked. Trout nodded yes as this was something she had agreed to. "I thought that was what she was considering, where is she going to go?" Miho asked as she seemed to be curious about what Trout had said about Rosie already telling them.
"She's most likely coming with us. I mean, our school has maple syrup, moose and the best medicine one can ask for. We're trying our best to fix the wait times to get said help." Trout explained that Rosie was most likely transferring to Maple High School if she was to find peace. "But even a journey like this is not over, we heard about what you did to Kay's school earlier today with that rescue mission, we know Kay is going to pour everything she has left to force a defeat. Hitting her hard was one thing but it's only a matter of time before the snake strikes back. As for Kimberly, she said she's going to stay here as she feels like she's at home though she really wished to help you."
"I'll see what I can do as a warrior now." Miho sighed as this was the reality she had to accept. The party seemed to go on for an hour or so as the students chatted away with each other and what they planned on doing in the future. After that, Miho decided to head off with her friends as she decided that some sleep would be good for her. She felt tired after what seemed to be a long yet rewarding day. Yukari, Saori, Hana and Mako were waiting as they were sleeping in a single room.
"Well we can safely say that you did well." Yukari began. She rested her head on the sleeping bag.
"I do too. Well my apprenticeship is finished and I can safely say that we can put in a plea to go home as I wanted." Miho explained. She yawned as she seemed to be tired. "I am going to miss this place though."
"Miss it?" Saori asked. "But the end doesn't mean it's going to be permanent. You'll get the chance of seeing them again."
"That is right. I mean Rabbit team had a lot of fun. Azusa said she's getting over her fear, did you see her when she got back to us with Aya? It looked like she had been battered in the face by a few people." Hana explained that this was something that a few people could have enjoyed.
"I guess that is something we're all missing these days. One personal journey from within while the rage of the storm happens externally." Miho explained that's what she could guess. Mako was already fast asleep and she contributed nothing to the conversation. "Does anyone know where Tomori is going to go?" Miho asked.
"She said she's going to MEXT about the whole situation of what Kay had displayed on the field." Yukari explained. "I mean kidnapping and torture isn't what a good student does. I mean she was nice to me but that was only a rogue. She's displaying her true nature out here."
"I guess you're right. We need to spend more time with each other if we are to figure out what's going on." Miho replied. She pulled the covers over her head and fell asleep.
Saunders meanwhile was licking its own wounds, most of the students were badly beaten and they were trying to rebuild their base.
"Naomi and many others have left to join the enemy. It's just the very few of us now." Alisa explained to Kay about the situation that happened at hand. Kay seemed to have been stomped on.
"Did they think victory was in sight? Of course they do, but they refuse to follow the training we have given them, do they believe they have rights?" Of course they do! Why don't they even listen that they have the right to speak, own weapons and liberty? Why?" Kay flew into rage as she ranted to Alisa. Alisa tried her best to think of an answer why and she thought: Because people have different ways of interpreting stuff and there is no universal meaning and the Constitution is so vague that ideas conflict as there is no specific meaning to follow which turns people into mindless drones that you follow the constitution word for word which is the most dangerous way to do so? Alisa remained silent as she felt afraid of blurting these out to Kay. "Silent?" Kay asked Alisa why she was saying nothing.
"Yes. I have nothing to say." Alisa explained to Kay.
"Good." Kay replied. She walked off to get the remains of the students rounded up. "Tell them all to get themselves ready for the final battle. I will not hesitate to use everything I have left. The attack will begin the day after tomorrow. We need to be ready." Alisa remained silent. She was beginning to think that fighting Helmet Chan was wrong as she was beginning to see how she was wrong. She wanted to make things right but she didn't know how to. She decided to head off to sleep to figure out what the plan was going to be.
Miho woke up the next morning as she must've fallen fast asleep from last night's party. Tanya was standing near her as she seemed to be excited about what was happening.
"Morning Miho." Tanya greeted her. Miho got up to see Tanya dressed and ready to go.
"Hello Tanya." Miho greeted her as she seemed to be kind of happy about that.
"Hi." Kimberly added. Miho looked to see that the fluffy, white haired student looked like she was the same height as her friend.
"What do you girls want?" Miho asked them if they had anything they wanted to do on this ship.
"Head up Lookout pass?" Tanya asked if they could just spend the day as it would mean that it was just them three.
"Sure. I can go for a conversation." Miho replied that she was going to head up to enjoy some time within the school. "Let me get the bike." Miho added. She decided to head off to get dressed and spend some time with the first years.
It was only an hour later as she was up on the pass with Kimberly and Tanya. They were enjoying the clear sky that lay ahead of them.
"So Kimberly, I know we don't know each other well, but what convinced you to come here?" Miho asked her friend if she had any ideas of what exactly happened.
"Well I knew that Rosie ran away from the school and I don't like Kay that much. The reasoning is that I don't agree with her statement. We're still struggling and I just want to be somewhere where I can take it easy and clear my mind. I actually kind of like it here and the girls that are around here too." Kimberly explained. "That's why I didn't resist you when we first met."
"Interesting. Where do you two see yourselves in five to ten years time?" Miho asked them if they were going to be, when that time came. Tanya and Kimberly began to think, they surely didn't know where they wanted to be.
"We don't know, that's the fun of it. Everything in life is a surprise." Kimberly explained. Miho seemed to nod in a bit of agreement.
"I can see why. Not wanting to be spoiled so when it does come, it will be more exciting compared to thinking you wanted something specific and only to find out that it is completely boring." Miho replied to what they had just said.
"Well said." Tanya added to Miho's reply. They continued down the pass as they seemed to be more or less interested in what was going on.
Ayami and her friends meanwhile were settling back down. Hikari, Chika and Rika had arrived back with their friends but they were wondering where Stephanie and Mio had disappeared off to. Yukari walked over as she had something to say.
"Well Ayami, back from the scouting mission and Kay has mobilized all of the remaining tanks she has at her disposal. She definitely wants one final battle with us and she's bringing in all the remaining tanks." Yukari reported that was what was going to happen.
"So she's not done yet?" Ayami asked. She was wondering about what was going to go down.
"Yep not done. Give the order to mobilize all the tanks, we're going in for one more battle." Yukari explained to Ayami that Kay hadn't given up and was going to try one more time to defeat the school. It was pretty much clear that most students were just fed up with her and wanted her to go away.
"We will be ready, we will always be ready. We must tell the students that one more battle is needed if we are going to topple Kay once and for all. Gather all the students and we'll galvanize them to final victory." Ayami explained that she was ready for Kay to throw at her what was left of the school.
"I'll go get Miho and her friends, they said they were going to hang out on the pass for the time being as they needed some time away." Rosie explained. She hopped onto her bike and began to make her way to the pass as she wanted to tell Miho about the meeting.
"Good luck, we don't want Miho to miss out." Yukari told Rosie as she watched her pedal off. She was going to find them.
Back with Miho and her friends, they were still chatting while spending their time on the pass.
"You place Ace Combat?" Kimberly asked Miho. "Because I don't."
"I don't ever play video games, I think you're asking the wrong person." Miho explained to Kimberly. "What's so special about Ace Combat?"
"We like the story and the fact that we fly planes. We wanted to do something like this growing up but based on how the sports are set up, they said that no little girl was allowed to fly planes. We were upset by this but we never gave up. Many years go by but we seem to go down different paths. I was more or less pressured by the greedy capitalist pigs to shoot other tanks but I never found much enjoyment from that. Tanks aren't fun, tanks are designed as machines of war and so are planes. However, even with war it's best we try to do the right thing even if the right thing is dying." Tanya explained to Miho. Miho seemed curious. "I got transferred here as a first year as I just broke down and never seemed to enjoy what I was doing and I was told to grow up but I never wanted to. I just couldn't."
"So do you think you will overcome your fear of fighting as you realize what you have inside of you?" Miho asked Tanya if she was going to do the right thing and help.
"By seeing you and Azusa helping us out in numerous events like before and last night. I think we will find our own way to being warriors.. I bet you found yours." Tanya explained that seeing someone fight and continue fighting even if she was scared might have inspired her to pick herself back onto her feet.
"That's the spirit. You might have it inside of you." Kimberly explained as she placed her hands onto Tanya.
"So, you two plan on staying?" Miho asked if this was something they planned on doing.
"You bet. We might as well. We seem to enjoy being in the wild so that's where we plan on staying." Kimberly gave her answer. She was willing to enjoy staying in the wilderness if she was going to find some enjoyment out of it. Miho laughed and she seemed to be right. No student was held down by what the chains of whatever their school would suggest, the one thing these students wanted more than anything else was to be free on their own terms.
"I understand you girls now." Miho explained to Kimberly and Tanya. Rosie came pedaling up the pass. She was out of breath having raced all the way to find her.
"There you three are. Ayami is holding a meeting; you girls are needed at once." Rosie explained, trying to catch her breath.
"What for?" Miho asked.
"Something is going to happen, and it will happen. We need you once again Miho." Rosie explained to Miho about what was going to happen. Rosie looked at Tanya and Kimberly thinking they were needed to. For Miho this could be another chance to prove that she was truly fire.
Rosie had escorted the three girls to the center as Ayami was preparing a speech. Ayami patted the spot where Miho was going to be needed for what she would say was important. Miho had walked up to the spot and stood next to her.
"Okay we got reports that Kay is preparing another attack. Despite the fact that Tomori is on her way to MEXT to report everything that has happened with Kay's track record. We still have to fend off this last attack. The raid that we have conducted the night before has made them mad and with the number of students that aren't willing to fight for her, it is clear that we are going to easily push her off of the ship. Now we need each and every one of you to do your duty and we should be able to win. Now get the tanks prepared as we now seem to know that victory is certain." Ayami explained to the students that they needed one last effort if they were to do it. Miho stepped up and she began speaking.
"We might be alone in the forest, but we have proved ourselves that we are more than cowards. From what we can achieve with what we have is what makes us special. We don't need lenient grading or massive parties. We are we; we forge our own future ahead as that is what makes us special. We shouldn't roll over and surrender when the chance has come. We will fight to the bitter end and if we don't, we can kiss the lives we have worked so hard for goodbye. Now let's get in our tanks and get ready for this one last attack." Miho explained that they had protected themselves before and they could do it again. "With Saunders having cracks in their army, it's only a matter of time before we shatter them completely and finish them off."
"All right!" The students cheered. Miho turned to Ayami who gave a thumbs up with agreement.
"Meeting dismissed, prepare yourselves." Ayami told the students before they began to leave for their tanks. Miho walked over to some of the students who were chatting among themselves.
"So, the tanks we have, we have 2 Type 89's, 3 T-26's, a BT-5, a BT-7, a Type 95 Ha-Go, 2 BA-10 armored cars, a Panzer 4, a Type 3 Chi-Nu, a M3 Lee and 4 M4 Shermans. We should man the tanks to full capacity with the number of students and the leftover students should be used to block the road in whichever way they could." Miho explained that was what the plan was going to be. Some of the students were getting worried.
"Are we going to have to cut down the trees? We don't want to." Emiko asked if destruction of what they loved was going to happen. Miho sighed before she began speaking.
"Use rocks or dig up the areas that Kay may travel down, try disrupting the enemy as much as you can while we whittle Kay down and we can drive her out." Miho suggested that they could try other tactics that didn't involve destruction of the trees. Ooarai's tanks are self-explanatory. We have enough to fill out all the tanks as some need more students to operate than the others. We should also be able to fill in the gaps regarding the students missing from the tanks. Anteater team, I'm looking at you." Miho explained as her first statement was a contradiction, she had enough students to fill in the ranks.
"We shall defeat Saunders and drive them out, understood!" Moose chanted with her voice. Miho nodded as the students went to their tanks.
"We are ready for tomorrow; I promise you all." Miho told herself while rubbing the metal of her Panzer 4. She was going to face whatever threat Saunders was going to throw at her.
Kay on the other hand was not enjoying this. The sun was setting, and it was clear that the students were still fragmented.
"Well Kay, we're out of spare parts for everything and the fact that the raid that night we took the first years has crippled our morale, Naomi and Helmet-Chan are gone as well as our best students. Kimberly and Sima have defected to the enemy pretty early on and now it seems that everyone is heading off into their little cliques. You couldn't have chosen a worse time to try to get Rosie back." Alisa explained the situation to Kay regarding what was going on.
"SHIT!" Kay shouted. She picked up a rock and chucked it at Alisa. "Alisa, we came here to do one thing and based on that one thing, you are the only person I can trust at this point. Ever since the beginning, I wanted that vision of what I wanted and nowadays, it's gone. I can't get that vision back, at all. Even if we continue to try, they are going to keep shoving us down as we can't do anything. All the parties we had and all of the students we invited. We seem to have the wrong type of crowd. I was expecting a warm welcome and all I keep getting is scorn. These students continue to stick to their tribal and collectivist roots, and they don't want to accept the way of life I HAVE PLANNED FOR THEM!" Kay held up the pieces of paper containing the school that she wrote herself as well as the United States Flag, she had brought with her. She tossed that all to the side as if her anger was getting the better of her. She then walked around with her students staring at her. "Why am I being called a liar, why am I always being seen as this bad person who wants nothing but to let the first years suffer? So what? I can still be friendly; I just need to turn the whole world into America, and everyone will be free. This is perfect."
"Kay, you don't understand, whatever works for you doesn't work for someone else. Some people wish to stay what they want to believe as it works for them." Alisa began speaking to Kay. "I've had no homework in Elementary school as we were taught how to be good people and only good people from a young age. We even cleaned the school ourselves. Do they ever teach you that in your school Kay? Do they? If the answer is no, then it's clear that you were fed lies about your country being the best in the world as kindness makes the world go round, not this random bs about America." Kay froze as Alisa finished her sentence. Alisa, the girl who was so loyal to her for many years despite questioning Kay's antics and plans, was sick and tired of being pushed around. Alisa was starting to break as if something was trying to awaken within her and she was starting to see the lies brought on by Kay. Almost as if she was losing the chains to her brainwashing. The more this happens, the more these students would figure out how to achieve it.
"So, what, if they aren't going to let me have it the way I want it to be preferred, then I must end this miserable hulk of a school." Kay began as she began to lift up some of the papers as if she was planning something. "This is something I have been working on in secret as it will have the answer and the victory I desire. Only one of these is built so far and I know for a fact that it can destroy a school ship. I kept it on the mainland as I needed somewhere safe to guard it, one clicks of a button, and it will be bye-bye Cedar Lake. The feral students will feel what Freedom feels like." Alisa listened but she felt scared.
"Kay? Isn't this overstepping what's ethical? What you've made can have the power to destroy the lives of thousands of people all just because and you want to use it just because you're throwing a hissy fit about things not going the way you want them to go. And if I get caught with this, I can get expelled from school. This weapon you have here, it's illegal." Alisa tried her best to reason with Kay to try to convince her to change her mind.
"I have my second amendment rights! And if the world is one big government, I can use this bear arms as a right against said tyranny and this secret object will allow me to accomplish said goals." Kay seemed to shout, Alisa knew Kay was becoming more and more of a deranged lunatic. She had to get out of there and figure out how to bring peace back to Saunders. Alisa withdrew and she began to plot on how she can take Kay down before Kay was able to ruin lives with one push of a button. She had to figure it out. She quickly found out, if people were no longer loyal to Kay…
Could Alisa topple her and put herself in charge? Only time would tell.
[A/N]: Chapter development was slow, and I managed to put this out. There is one more Sensha-Do battle after this and a little something Kay is teasing about at the end of the chapter. A weapon that could potentially destroy a school ship and she has about only one of these weapons built as of now. This will come as a surprise when Kay gets this thing into action.