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2.2 - Class Is Out Part 2
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There hadn't been much noise in the canteen to begin with, but what there was seemed to warp; some sounds seemed louder, while those others who were talking in the large room seemed to grow more distant. Una's head felt light, as though she were swimming - Her whole self seemed to spin feverously.
'What sort of a thing is that to say!? "All that's left", what sort of joke is that to make?
She must be wrong. There were twenty of us in my year alone, I was with Hikari’s group just two days ago! I was the worst; I had the worst test results every time - I've been called far more than 'rookie' for it too. What does she mean.
I-i can't....i can't be.... this is too.... too hard...'
"--Una? Una, perhaps we should talk about this elsewhere. You've had quite the first few days - What with the simulator and settling into a new place. Even soldiers are allowed to be overwhelmed at times; no shame in that," Hoki said, glancing concernedly around herself.
"...Tell me what you meant... please," Una muttered.
Hoki hesitated, clearly trying to gauge just how out of the loop Una actually was;
"Things... things haven't been going overly well, Una, you know that, right? The Union outnumbers our forces tenfold; IAFS doesn't even have an official country to call home. Organisation-wise, well, no one expected a war to break out so soon. A lot of ships and pilots just weren't expectin--".
"Weren't expecting the enemy to drop nation-satellites out of the sky to shell our bases? To sacrifice millions just to stop some rebels?" Una replied, a cold detachedness coming over her voice.
"...yes that certainly was unexpected, among many other things," Hoki replied softly.
She breathed in deeply; "I truly apologise, Una. I shouldn't have presumed you were privy to such news, considering your 'unique' circumstance over the last few months. Very well, I'd rather you heard it from me then."
Again, Hoki steadied her breathing, looking over steepled fingers at Una intently;
"When your class graduated, there were twenty of you, yes? Of that, cadet core Unit A of five members, led by Petty Officer Shasha Niju, were posted to the flagship Tradech for their outstanding test scores - You will remember that Shasha had the highest theory score and second highest practical score of your whole year, making her the number one student yes?
With only Sabban beating her for the top place in the practical?"
Una nodded; she remembered Shasha well. A bright young woman who held a long childhood rivalry with Sabban, the same stone-faced man she now called a squad-mate - Although back then he'd been so very different, she had always thought him an older brother type back in those days...
'Back in those days? It was only a few months ago.'
Neither of them drank from their cups any longer, "Well, three days after arriving aboard the Tradech, 2nd Crewman Mili Sanju became the first casualty of your fellow classmates. Three days later - During a battle against two enemy fortress types - Unit A was reduced to just one member, that being Sabban Vint, who had by this time been demoted when he lost composure over his fallen comrades. I wish that were the end of the story, but it isn't. Unit C were running escort duty aboard a destroyer class ship for a supply convoy when it was ambushed and destroyed. There were no survivors.
As for your Unit D, you already know that you five were stationed aboard the Bhailien Moon base, well after you got... misplaced during all that commotions around the station four attack - The ship the base-force retreated on got caught in the fighting and before they could even launch their own machines-- ...Una look, I really think we ought to have this discussion in my quarters," Hoki finished.
"That's why,” Una said sullenly, her voice choking slightly;
"That's why no one ever tried to contact me, I just thought they didn't care, or they really believed the rumour that I was a TSU spy after my machine was stolen or some of the other crap I got accused of being. Or maybe that, that the mean old barrack's commander was keeping any messages for me to himself, to spite me maybe?
....That's why everyone at the barracks always looked at me like that, isn’t it?
Why... why didn't they say anything?"
Una's voice broke multiple times, as though some great weight had been lifted, but a whole new, far heavier one added.
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"...But what about Hikari, Nada and Nevin. I was with them just a couple days ago. They’re on the Fluchtig’s escort ship, right? I could go see them right now!”
Una thought back to that kind older girl who had always been willing to help her with her studies and practise, despite belonging to another cadet-core - Perhaps the person she had been closest with during training and the one who had temporarily accepted her into her squad just two weeks ago.
"I'm sorry, Una, I really am. Unit B was stationed aboard a cruiser doing patrols for Nation-Satellite 2.4 when they were attacked. Hikari acted incredibly bravely, and when the ship's senior pilots and two of her units died, she took charge and managed to drag her two remaining damaged comrades back home alive.
Afterwards, they returned to Bannerman, and it was decided that it made the most sense to have what was left of Core B and D come to take positions within this flotilla.
The board of directors awarded Hikari's actions a medal for her extreme bravery, and she was even promoted to sub-squadron leader, in charge of the three mechs of the Fluchtig’s escort frigate.
Hoki swallowed hard, her posture now visibly tenser than it had been even before;
"This is my fault; you’re not connected to the ship systems yet, are you? Una, the day you arrived, an alarm rang throughout the ship. You must have heard that, right? It was nothing really, a small enemy patrol ship. The captain of our escort was young and inexperienced; they sent Hikari’s group out before the Fluchtig could give proper orders. The enemy shouldn’t have posed a threat, but… Warrant Officer Hikari and petty officers Nada and Nevin ended up too far ahead of the Fluchtig. Two of them were wiped out, as was our escort ship. Once the rest of us and the Fluchtig caught up, it was an easy victory but… The only survivor was Hikari. "
Pain seemed to sweep across Hoki like a wave, fists clenched in a most un-ladylike fashion as she finally finished her harrowing report;
"Hikari took her own life yesterday night. She couldn’t take the guilt or fear or shame, who knows - But her squadmates, her ship, it was too much for her. I should of stayed with her last night! But I didn’t…
There’s talk of her getting another promotion in death as some sort of 'compensation'.”
Hoki had spat the last few words, but now, her tale done, she glanced back up, aware once more of her company.
Una, for her part, had stood up and hung steadily, her body swaying gently as thought a flag in the breeze.
"Una, you really hadn't heard any of it? It was in a shipwide message this morning what happened to the escort, but if you weren’t on the network, then…" Hoki broached in a calm, hushed tone. A clear degree of shame marked her expression, perhaps too busy putting on a brave face over the events of the last couple of days; she now realised her grief had left her blind to her surviving pupil, to Una.
"I knew something must have gone wrong for Sabban to be here alone and the way he is now. And Hikari and the others refused to tell me where the rest of squad B was; they just kept changing the topic. I heard that alarm too, I saw people looking down today even, but, but..." Una half-muttered to herself.
"You should come with me; I have more blends in my room. We can talk properly about it–" Hoki offered in a motherly tone of voice, however Una simply shook her head;
"I think I'll return to my own room now."
Without further comment, she closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly forward for a few seconds before briskly making her way out of the canteen.
Hoki was slightly taken aback by the traditional greeting of her people being displayed before her; the closed eyes and out-stretched head were a sign of respect and trust in the one you addressed - Although all thoughts on traditional greetings & signs of respect now seemed of little import - As she watched her former student seemingly hover her way out of the room, shoulders slumped and posture timid.
Biting down on her lower lip, Hoki cursed her own inadequacy for not finding out what Una did and didn't know sooner and the amateur mistake of not hooking onto the ship’s communications systems properly. The girl had been lost during the evacuation of an IAFS base a few months ago - Her mech having been stolen by an escaped prisoner of war - Hoki released now that Una's treatment by her fellow soldiers after this must have been terrible. Cadet Unit B must have been like a second family for her, and now it was gone in an event that had happened around within reach of Una, but she hadn’t even known it was happening. How must that feel?
The girl had truly been in the dark, and Hoki didn't even want to imagine the pain the news she had delivered would bring to her former student. What sort of ‘officer’ could she call herself? Kolme had given her the simple command to watch over the most vulnerable member of their group, and now she’d messed that up too.