Chapter one: Fragile Peace

Ooarai girls High School Carrier

The weather of June 4th, 2024 was beautiful. The sun was shining brightly, and the wind was a slight breeze. There were no clouds in the sky, a perfect summer day.

For Nishizumi Miho, this was a great day to walk home from school. She was strolling through the park looking at the scenery. This is such a nice day, she whistled, living on the carrier is so wonderful. There isn't any dangers that could hurt me. I'm so lucky to be living on a carrier, and not anywhere else in Asia.

She was worried about the war that was currently happening in Asia. China had grown rapidly, and had conquered Mongolia, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and many other countries. They were now focusing all of their attention on Malaysia, where the Allied forces of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand were barely holding them back. North Korea also acted, invading and conquering South Korea within a year.

She looked at her school uniform, which was a JSDF uniform instead of the usual sailor uniform that schools issued to girls. Ooarai Girls High School was just one of the school carriers that were being administered by the JSDF, and their Senshadou teams were now literally part of the military. Their school schedule was changed to suit a military regimen, with classes such as English and History being taken out and replaced with firearms training and medical aid. Their Senshadou tanks were updated to modern standards, with the latest armor and weapon technologies inputted into them. Despite this, the controls and looks of the tanks remained the same so the girls would be comfortable in using them.

Miho just sighed at the thought being in the JSDF. Training school children-girls in the art of war? What has the world become? I understand Japan has a staggering population and needs everybody they can get they can get their hands on, but still, I feel like that's going too far-She was so caught up in her thoughts that she accidentally bumped into a telephone pole. "Ow!" She yelped as stumbled back.

"Nishizumi-dono!" Miho turned around to see her classmate Akiyama Yukari run up to her. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Miho reassured her friend. "Where is everyone else?" She asked Yukari.

"They're waiting at the cafe, where we were going to meet up. Did you forget?" Yukari answered quickly.

Miho nodded. "Yeah, sorry," She apologized.

Yukari saluted. "No problem, Nishizumi-dono! Just follow me!"

Twenty minutes later they were at the cafe, which was plastered with tanks. They enter through the doorway and hear a loud "Miporin! Over here!" from across the cafe. Miho and Yukari looked over to see a ginger girl waving her arms. They walked over to the table where the girl was standing.

"You're late. What happened?" The girl asked.

"Sorry, Saori-san. I was thinking about a few things and wandered off," Miho apologized profusely.

The ginger girl, Takebe Saori sat down. "It's alright. As long as you're here we have the whole team!" She said excitedly, "Come on, order a cake." She pulled Miho to the seat next to her. She was about to press the buzzer when another hand pressed the buzzer before her.

A waitress quickly walked over. "What is your order-ugh," The waitress rolled her eyes and let out a disapproving groan when she saw the girl that pressed the buzzer. "Ma'am, I've been telling you for the last five months, due to rationing, we can not serve seconds or extra-large servings."

"Oh my," Was the only reply from the black haired girl.

"Hana! You need to stop eating so much," Saori told her.

Hana looked up. "You need to lose weight, don't you?" She said nonchalantly.

"I am losing weight from all the rationing!" Saori pouted, her cheeks puffing out. She looked at the waitress. "I'll take a coffee please, and a cake for Miho please." She ordered.

"What about the sleeping girl?" The waitress asked.

Saori looked across the table. A girl was sleeping soundly, her head in her arms. "Mako, what do you want?" She shook Mako's head.

Mako groaned, and raised her head. "Caaaake," She groaned slowly and loudly. The waitress bowed and left, but not after giving Hana a glare.

The caked and coffee came, along with the silent cries of Hana.

Saori was waving her arms in excitement as she explained this guy she just met to Miho. "So he's an army guy, and he's soooo smart and good looking. He's older than me, but that's not really a problem. He's also a radio operator for a tank, just like me, so we can communicate during training, how cool is that? He can come over and watch us practice senshadou, right?" She leaned in on Miho's face.

"Maybe..." Miho chuckled uncomfortably.

Mako looked up. "Let's just hope he won't get arrested and court martialed for sexual harassment and rape," She mumbled.

Saori glared at Mako before going back to Miho. "And he's stationed on the carrier, so we can meet whenever we want to! It's going to be great!" She nearly screamed with delight. Miho just looked at her cake awkwardly.

"Well, at least there's more than a few MPs around to haul him away," Mako muttered. "Stop ruining my dreams!" Saori grabbed Mako's shoulders.

Wanting to change the subject, Miho turned to Yukari. "So how's your family doing?" She asked.

Yukari perked up. "Well, the family business is a bit at a loss with my dad in the reserves, but he sends pictures of tanks to me, so I'm pretty fine right now!" She answered quickly. "Isn't your mother in the JSDF as well?" She inquired.

Miho nodded. "Yeah, she became a tank instructor for new JSDF recruits. I think the head of the Shimada style also became a JSDF instructor," She took a sip of coffee.

Hana chipped in as well. "Shinzaburo was also drafted into the JSDF. I hope he's doing well," She spoke sadly.

Saori groaned. "Do you think any of this is necessary?" She asked. "Like conscripting a bunch of people and forcing us to become a part of the army. We're only high schoolers! I think this is going a bit too far." She complained.

Yukari cleared her throat. "Well, we are surrounded by a hostile expansionist nation, so it only makes sense for Japan to switch to a policy of nation-wide conscription. The growth of a military industrial complex is also a smart idea. But I personally think the Chinese don't have the resources required to launch an invasion of Japan, since they're fighting in Malaysia," Yukari replied.

"What about the North Koreans?" Mako wondered.

Yukari turned, making Mako inch back a little. "Don't worry! North Korea hasn't made a move in two years. And they're even less prepared than China, I bet! Even if they do try to attack us, our navy and airforce would be able to defend against any attempt!" Yukari pumped her arms up and down. "Our military is one of the most powerful in the world right now. Especially since now the U.S. army is falling apart."

"But what we don't have is experience. The North Koreans and Chinese have actual combat experience. The JSDF hasn't participated in a wide-scale conflict," Miho said.

"Do not worry Nishizumi-dono. It is extremely hard to invade an island nation. Look at how the Germans failed in their attempt to invade Great Britain! And how the U.S. was dissuaded to invade Japan! I assure you, we will be safe!" Yukari beamed confidently.

Miho smiled a little bit. "Maybe you're right," She said. She felt a buzz in her pocket. She took her phone out and saw it was a text from Key, the captain of the Saunders High School Senshadou team.

Hey, Miho. How is everything? Are you feeling good? Was the text. Miho texted back. I'm doing fine. What about you?

Key: Great! My fitness programs goes really well with the JSDF training and it's really refreshing. For the others though, I don't think they like it. Naomi just chews bubblegum and Alisa is complaining as usual.

Miho: Heh, yeah, she was quite the nervous wreck during our match. Is she feeling worse, or what?

Key: She's crying because her Takashi was drafted into the army. Poor girl, I hope she feels better.

Miho: Saori's the opposite. She's talking about some army guy she just met, and I'm pretty sure she wants to go all the way to home base.

Key: She's a pretty bold one. All the soldiers stationed to Saunders tries to flirt with me, but I just ignore them. Most of them are sailors from the navy ships patrolling our carrier. Do you have them?

Miho: No, we're on the opposite side of the country, so there's no worry of a naval attack.

Key: Safety measures sure are a hassle, aren't they?

Miho looked at the text. Protection a hassle? She shrugged. If I was being harassed, I would feel the same way, she thought. She looked back to her phone, and saw she got another text from Key.

Key: Oh, crap. Gotta go. I'll text you back.

Miho: Oh, alright. See you later.

Saunders Girl High School Carrier

Alisa was scrolling through the internet, looking at American news websites.

"Anything new?" Naomi peered over Alisa's shoulder.

"Pittsburgh fell to the Great Lakes Confederation, Jacksonville was torched, and according to NYT, New York is the new Stalingrad," Alisa listed off the several headlines.

"Hm. Good to see you have a weird obsession other than Takashi," Naomi muttered.

Alisa turned around and looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Why would you say that," She wailed.

"Jeez, sorry." Naomi took a step back.

Key ran excitedly into the room. "Alisa, Naomi, follow me! We have guests!"

They ran outside to the helipad, where a JSDF Boeing CH-47 Chinook landed within minutes. A man stepped out of the cockpit, opened up the side doors and several young females stepped out. They were all disheveled and skinny, with their ribs protruding out. Their eyes were wide with fear, jumping at every noise. They had bags under their eyes, and they stumbled to the corner of the helipad and crumpled down to the ground. Several students rushed over and got them blankets and coffee.

By now several Saunders students surrounded the helipad, where the young man was standing.

Key pushed through them and walked right up to the man. "Good afternoon, Captain!' She saluted smartly.

The man saluted back. "Your Key, right? You got the rank right, but just call me Nakajima!" He roared.

Key nodded. "So, what brings you here, Captain..ur Nakajima-san?" She asked.

Nakajima pointed to the girls that had unloaded from the Chinook, who were now bundled together. "Those girls were found off the coast of Tsushima, in a small boat all the way from Busan, Korea. How they survived that long, I have no idea," he leaned in close to Key's ear. "But they found the skeleton of a female. You know what that means, right?" Key's face turned white. "And these girls claim to be the Senshadou team for South Korea." He said.

Key looked over at the girls, just eight of them with wide eyes. She walked over to them. "Hey, your guys are the South Korean Senshadou team?" She asked them.

One girl stood up, clearly the leader of the group. She had long, black hair and wore glasses. "I'm the captain, Tae Seo-yeon," She said.

Key took out her hand. "I'm Key, captain of the Saunders Senshadou team. Nice to meet you," Seo-yeon shook her hand.

Key looked at the other girls. "Is this the whole team?" She asked.

Seo-yeon started to cry. "They're all that's left," She placed her head in Key's chest, who hugged her. "Some of them were killed in the fighting against North Korea, but the rest of them were murdered in the prison camps…"

"Killed in the fighting? Prison camps?" Key stared at Seo-yeon.

Seo-yeon nodded. "We were recruited into the army to defend our country against the North Korean invasion. Our first battle was in Seoul, where we tried to keep the enemy out of our capital. The North Koreans won the battle, and a huge chunk of the team was killed. We were then forced to retreat to Daejeon," She sniffled, "We were then forced to fight in the battle for Daejeon, where I met her…"

"Her?" Key asked.

Sae-yeon trembled. "Ryuk Mi-jing, the captain of the North Korean Senshadou team," She replied.

Key froze in shock. North Korean Senshadou team? "I thought they were just a rumor," She mumbled.

Sae-yeon nodded. "I thought so too. They are some of the most brutal soldiers of the North Korean military. They murdered civilians and surrendering soldiers. They're also among the most fanatical servants of the North Korean regime and their leader. Especially Ryuk Mi-jing. She's the most barbaric of them all. She kills innocent civilians and crushes prisoners with her tank," She explained.

"That's horrible…" Key whispered.

Sae-yeon continued. "I fought her personally in Daejeon. I was in the empty shell of a house, looking over the street outside. I saw a North Korean tank turn the corner and advance towards me. I fired right at the turret, confident in my abilities. The entire street was covered with clouds of white dust. I thought I got it, but when the dust cleared the tank was just fine, and it aimed its barrel at me. It fired, and hit the only post that held the house together. I retreated from the house just as it collapsed on itself. All the dirt and dust that kicked up helped me escape unscathed.

"I drove down the street, where I was joined by three of my friends. I thought I was safe, but I was wrong. The tank next to me exploded, and when I turned around I saw the same North Korean tank chasing us. I had my gunner train the gun on the enemy tank, but missed when she fired. The North Korean tank fired again, and the allied tank to my right began to smoke and crashed into a building. My last ally tried fighting back as well, but the turret imploded when the North Korean shot through it.

"The hatch of the tank opened, and the North Korean commander showed her face to me. That was Ryuk. She fired again, and I felt my tank jerk violently. My tank stopped, and when I looked down I saw my entire crew was killed. I turned my head around and saw a squad of North Korean soldiers pointing their guns at me, while Ryuk looked at me with a smug expression." She spat.

"I was captured along with the remaining members of my team, and was stuffed into cattle cars with thousands of other prisoners. We had to endure a hell of huddling together like a pack of sardines, with no food or drinks, and nowhere to use the bathroom. I don't know how many of us died in the three day ride," She wiped her eyes. "We eventually reached a prison camp, where things got even worse. The guards treated like we were trash. We were beaten, killed and raped by those damn brutes. Ryuk herself sought me out in the prison camp, because she was the captain of the North Korean Senshadou team and I was the captain of the South Korean Senshadou team. She tortured me alone for two years, abusing my friends in front of me and humiliating me." She shook with anger.

"I had enough. I joined a group of prisoners that were planning a breakout of the prison. So one night, nearly 10,000 prisoners, including myself and many others from the team staged a revolt. It was initially successful, surprisingly. The guards were overpowered and some of us even got weapons. We then tried to escape, but the guards reorganized and led a counterattack. They even used tanks to kill the prisoners. I was just one of the lucky few that even managed to escape the camp. I led my girls through the countryside, being fed and protected by sympathetic civilians while hiding from the occupational forces. We managed to reach Busan, where we stole a boat and sailed for Japan," She finished. "My friends were killed by those bastards." She muttered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "They took over my country and did unspeakable crimes to my countrymen. They're going to pay."

Key's face was pale, her fists were tightly clenched. "Those bastards.." She whispered. She took a heavy breath and calmed down. "Don't worry." She told Seo-yeon. "Why don't you stay with us for the time being? We're going to fight together and free your family and friends!" She exclaimed confidently.

Seo-yeon looked up. "Really?" She whimpered.

Key gave a thumbs up. "You bet!"

Ooarai Girls High School Carrier

Miho was in her house when she got a text from Key. Her eyes widened as she read the message. A North and South Korean Senshadou team? Things are getting out of hand. She thought as she turned on the TV.

It was the news, spouting out the same things as always. "The Chinese 14th Army has taken Kuala Dungun, further pushing the Allied forces back several kilometers. This could be the push that could take Kuala Lumpur..." Miho changed the channel, only to find another news channel.

" Allied forces of Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Philippines have been pushed back, losing over 250,000 soldiers in the process…"

"Last friday over 40,000 American troops surrendered to Cascadian soldiers in Sacramento…"

"Poznan was liberated by German, Czech and Austrian forces from Russian troops. The Russians have retreated all the way to Bydgoszcz…"

Miho just sighed and took out the bento box she bought for dinner. Maybe she should have called Saori; she was a good cook, and was always willing to make something for anyone. But Miho quickly changed her mind after taking a bite. The bento was tonkatsu with rice, and it was delicious. She was finishing up when her phone started ringing. It was "Oira Boko Daze" or the Boko song, signifying the call was from Shimada Alice.

Miho quickly picked it up. "Alice!" She exclaimed.

"Hello, Nishizumi Miho," Alice's quiet voice drifted through the phone.

"How are you?" Miho asked.

"Lonely. Mother, Rumi, Azumi and Megumi are gone," Alice replied, sighing heavily. "I'm fine being lonely anyways, though."

"Why don't you come over to Ooarai then? You can be with me!"

"Oh, that seems like a good idea. I'll try my best to ask the commander in charge if I could move in with you," Alice's voice turned cheerful by the suggestion. "Living with you would be fun!"

"Yeah! I'll be looking forward to it!" Miho hung up and started humming, happy that something good happened.

She was so happy she didn't hear the news: "And in other news, the Korean peninsula is buzzing with suspicious behavior, with several North Korean ships seen off the coast of Tsushima…"