“Go ahead, Private,” Juno answered. The young correspondent was ecstatic to be called on first.
“Thank you, Gunny. What does it mean in your words to be a good marine?” Juno tried not to laugh at the question. That’s what he wanted to ask?
“To be a good marine is to follow orders, to do your duty, and do it with excellence.” The young man kept right on with the next question.
“Despite the war ending, all branches have noticed an increase in enlistment, specifically from outlier colonies, and from Earth. A part of that is due to soldiers like you, Gunnery Sergeant. What do you have to say to new marines signing up to follow in your footsteps?”
She thought for a moment before replying, “Marines are the best of the best. They’ve made a good choice, but being a Marine doesn’t mean being a hero. Heroes are for comic books. Do your duty. Remember your training. And protect your brothers and sisters in arms. You’re gonna be serving with the best servicemen and women in the galaxy. Good luck.” Hernandez thought she nailed that answer. The private looked over something on his tablet. The other reporters waited patiently.
“For the troops returning from the war, what advice do you have for them as they readjust to normal life?” Now, that’s a good question. It was personal. A moment passed while she thought.
“Give yourself some time to readjust. I don’t know much about normal. I’ve been in the Marines all my life. But, I’ve seen a lot of good men and women struggle to adapt when they finally get home. It’s a different world, a scarier one in some ways. You don’t have a marine watching your back anymore. No one is there to bail you out when you’re in too deep. But, you all have a new mission now. It’s your duty to live. Live for those we’ve lost.”
Those were good words. The reporters liked hearing that kind of fancy talk, but it wasn’t what a Marine or any other serviceman or woman needed to hear when they got home. There were only two words she dreamed of hearing while out on deployment, and so she said them, “Most importantly soldier… Welcome home.”
The military reporter really liked that answer. Juno was killing her interview. She almost regretted it, knowing a good press conference would only bring more of them later on down the line.
The Private asked her a couple other softball questions before thanking her for her time and sitting back. Juno continued answering other reporter’s inquiries for a while, answering a few things about service time, her commendations and some other formal boring questions. Eventually, attention landed on the reporter in the front, the sharp, serious looking woman from earlier. She’d been waiting patiently for her turn.
“Yes, thank you Gunnery Sergeant Juno,” when Juno acknowledged her. The way this reporter spoke, just with those few words she showed she was all business. Juno sensed a tingle in her spine, a feeling she usually got when she realized she was outmatched.
“I’m Katsuki Hinagawa with Daily Earth, the largest news corporation on the homeworld.” Katsuki paused for Juno to respond.
Juno, confused, answered, “I’m familiar with it.” Katsuki laughed as if that was obvious before continuing.
“It’s nice to finally meet you. We’ve been hearing a lot about you back home.”
“I didn’t know I was so famous on Earth.”
“You’ve been away a long time, Miss Junotori. You’re a bit of a local legend on Earth, at least in some circles. With the war lasting as long as it did, people were losing hope. Soldiers like you were a lot of people's inspiration.” Juno hadn’t known. She never thought about inspiring civilians. But what was the full extent of it? Were they building statues of her? Or were recruiters just using her name?
“Anyways, Miss Junotori, people back home want to know more about you. I’d love to get an interview some time. One on One?”
“Maybe we’ll set that up some time.” Juno was being sarcastic but the woman blew right past it.
“Glad to hear it. You and I share common ancestry, actually. Earthlings and Japanese. As a Japanese woman I’m proud to see my home nation represented by a war hero.”
“Half Japanese, but I appreciate it.” Juno didn’t like the word ‘war hero’ applied to her. She also wasn’t sure of the angle this Katsuki was trying at. She felt like she was being buttered up.
“My first question, Gunnery Sergeant. You’re so pretty for a marine. What does a girl like you do to stay looking so young and vibrant? What’s your secret?” Juno felt like she hit her head. What?
“I stay active, and get a lot of sun,” Juno mocked, hiding it behind a respectful facade. Katsuki barely reacted to her answer, continuing promptly afterward.
“Thirty one years old. You were young when you were promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, I’m told. Another promotion would make you a young First or Master Sergeant. With so many soldiers retiring and heading home after the war, there will be plenty of positions available. Are one of those career paths in your future?” Juno threw a look at Captain Hernandez beside her. She was surprised how much the reporter knew about her. He shrugged his shoulders. His face said, “tell me about it”.
“Possibly. When the Corps decides they need me there.”
“What’s your ultimate goal in the Marines? Someone as dedicated and ambitious as you, I can imagine that you’re trying to climb to the top. Or, do you see yourself retiring and returning to civilian life any time soon?”
“My ultimate goal is to follow orders. My personal life is personal.” Annoyed, Juno added, “What’s the point in these questions?” Juno didn’t know if she could even answer some of them.
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“Just trying to build a character, Miss Junotori. The people back home want more than a name and rank. Just wanting your thoughts, that’s all.”
“Next question.” Juno felt like she was being cornered. She also felt like she was coming off as rude, but couldn’t help it. Something about this reporter, the way she spoke, the way she was dressed… something about her rubbed Juno the wrong way.
“Alright,” Katsuki responded without a hint of disappointment or offense. Instead, she looked down at the pad in her lap before coldly asking her next question.
“Gunnery Sergeant Junotori Sashino. The youngest marine to serve the corps, highly decorated, praised among her peers, feared among her enemies. But, not as well respected among your superior officers. I wonder why that is. You have quite the reputation with old Lieutenants, a Major even has a note about you. Duty bound to a fault. Oversteps authority, bordering insubordination.
“On multiple assignments, such as the most famous incident in your career, the assault on GB-1, you commandeered command of your unit to fulfill the mission. Why is that? What is it about an officer that upsets you? Or do you wish it was you who was in command?” Captain Herandez promptly stepped in on this question.
“You’re out of line. Where did you get this information, anyway?”
“This is all public. Nothing here was confidential. That quote was said in an interview.”
“This is an ambush. Those questions would never have passed a detailing. You’ve crossed a line, and you know it.” Juno put a hand on Hernandez’s shoulder.
“It’s alright. I’ll answer her.” Hernandez grimaced, but Juno was resilient. She wanted to answer. She knew exactly what she wanted to say.
Hernandez stepped aside again, and Juno spoke, “I took command in those situations because there was no one else. On GB-1, I was a young sergeant. I took charge because everyone else was dead. Do you understand how many layers of authority have to disappear for that to happen? Half my squad was gone, my platoon was decimated, my company destroyed. My captain, the lieutenants, the platoon sergeants, they all died on that moon, along with a lot of good men and women, and I won’t have you desecrate their memory for your editorial headlines.
“As for your first question, I’ll tell you why I have a problem with officers. Because it’s my job. CO’s focus on the mission. People like me, we focus on the soldiers. If we aren’t at odds, someone’s not doing their job. So, yeah, I have a reputation among my CO’s, but I dare you to find one infraction. I’ve never disobeyed an order, and I stay in line.” Juno gestured at her with a finger to accentuate her point.
This time, Katsuki flared up with her next question, “Then, as a marine who fights for all human-kind, how can you justify the conflict on GB-1? And, how can you explain fighting a prolonged and devastating civil war when there are so many external threats to humanity? We stand here today to recognize your efforts, but you followed orders that led to the killing of other human beings. How can you be proud of that?
“Has it never crossed your mind that your orders may have been overall harmful to the human species? Or, is duty what we call complacency, now? What I think is that you’re a promotion chaser. Admit it, you prolonged your involvement in the battle over GB-1 for personal glory. Ever since that day you’ve been climbing the ladder, haven’t you? What else could it be? You’re a problem for your officers, yet you keep rising.
“After the disaster occurred on GB-1, you took over command and kept the fight going, instead of surrendering to the enemy and sparing the rest of your squad. Was that staying in line? What was that for, Gunnery Sergeant? The greater good?”
Juno was astounded. It felt like a hand grenade exploded in her head. She was so angry. Her mouth moved before her brain told it to.
“I am a marine. I follow orders. My command depends on me to follow orders, my brothers and sisters depend on me to follow orders. I’m not trained to talk, and I don’t care if one choice is better than another. You want an argument? You want to talk things over? Find a bureaucrat or a politician. If you’re seeing me on the battlefield, it’s because someone else failed their jobs. So, stop parading your morals to me and back off!” Judo had lost it. Hernandez ]stepped in.
“Get her out of here,” he directed to a couple Marines. They drew the reporter up and led her out.
“Get your hands off me,” she whined, despite the marines being gentle with her. Juno watched her go, seething, before Hernandez physically pulled her to the side, breaking her gaze.
“What an ass. I’m sorry, Juno. I didn’t mean to put you in the line of fire like that.” She calmed herself, trying coming back to reality
“I’ve handled worse,” she said, trying to pretend she’d recovered.
“I doubt that. Just cool off for a moment.” Captain Hernandez left to talk to the reporters with Miller. They spoke with them for a while, eventually splitting off when the two parties came to some kind of agreement. Captain Marlin stood off to the side still, half amused and half interested.
When Hernandez came back, he said, “The reporters agreed they wouldn’t publish anything about this little engagement. They seem more interested in the hero angle. Admittedly, Juno, you didn’t do too bad. Lost your cool a little bit at the end, but not bad for a first timer.” Miller and Marlon joined back up with them.
“Let them publish whatever they want. I don’t give a damn what they think of me,” Juno spat, obviously still angry.
“Don’t let it get to you. Believe it or not, this stuff matters. And besides, it’s about more than you. It’s about the Marines as a whole. If you look bad, we look bad.” Juno had to admit she understood that.
“Hanigawa,” Marlon spat, “She’s a tough woman. Ruthless. Doesn’t give a damn about the war, she’s just inciting an incident. I think you handled yourself well enough with her. You didn’t back down. That’s good.”
“She’s been profiting off this war her entire career. Now that it’s over she’s going to have to crawl back under whatever rock she came from,” Miller added.
“She’ll make do while the war wears off. Then, she’ll be on to the next thing that’s popular. This won’t be the last you see of her, I promise you that,” Marlon sounded like he knew from experience. Sergeant Major Alloy rejoined at last.
“Damn press. Always getting away with murder. There’s gonna be a story about you, Juno, and she’s gonna twist it like a knife, I assure you,” he said.
“You know her too?” Hernandez asked. He obviously hadn’t had the honor.
“Oh yeah. She was on me pretty hard during the Shiza campaign. Couldn’t shake her like a fly on my ass. The things you said back there, Juno. Not bad. You’re pretty good at this.”
“Let’s please not make it a habit. That was brutal,” Juno replied as they finally continued towards an exit hall. The surprises didn’t end there, though.
Ahead of them, a figure had been watching from the hall. When Juno’s gaze met with them, her brow shot up in surprise and she gave a stiff salute.
Juno recognized who he was: Assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He was second only to the Commandant in the whole of the Marines branch of the military. He was a four star general, and here to see her.
“At ease, soldier,” he said, “Come with me. We need to talk.”