The Calm Before the Storm of War

“Disastrous. We invested untold billions nearing trillions into these small arms. Fortunately, according to the complied After Actions Reports - the plasma based ammunition is highly effective in both semiautomatic, burst, and fully automatic modes in terms of the respective feed to fire capabilities, as well as ammunition storage and armory longevity. However, our Armored Infantry forces under the national callsign designations of Ronin, Ritter, and Legionnaire, have complained about the handling of the two models of weapons - hence, we’re introducing a compact version that keeps the rather elongated hexagonal design with a polymer grip, and which can function as both an SMG and a Carbine - just depending on the size of the plasma based ammunition that’s within the weapon’s magazine. Are there any questions or exceptions?”

The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an Air Force Four-Star General, said to his two counterparts - the head of the JSDF and the Bundeswehr - both of whom were the heads of the Army in their respective countries, silently nodded. The ashtray at the center of their table in a conference room within the Pentagon in Washington, DC was rapidly filling up with finished cigarettes, whilst smoke filled the room. Grey haired, solemn faced men - two White and one Asian - that’s who they were - sending countless DDA citizenry to their deaths, disfigurations, and invisible wounding. As the four silver stars on the shoulders of the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s uniform glinted in the light of the Pentagon conference room - he spoke up again after taking yet another drag of the cigarette, while also looking at his colleagues in command and combined arms.

“Since the start of World War III - the male populations of military age and the capability to bear arms in combat across the DDA have decreased beyond the point of desperation, and these reports here, have shown that the war effort will only be sustainable - and I do mean only - by increasing the use of female combat power, such as but not limited to, that of the Special Unit: Sakura Kamikaze. AI simulations and assessments, as well as reports from on the ground have relayed that this will at the very least - maintain our probability of overall success.”

The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said to his colleagues - the moderately dark blue color of his Air Force dress uniform arguably symbolizing the mood of both himself and his colleagues. All that any of these three men knew, warriors who hadn’t seen an actual battlefield in years - was that numbers on papers that were in primary colored folders that couldn’t leave the Pentagon with few exceptions - stated that what he stated was indeed the truth. These men of power and solemnity, of leadership and tremendous war school academic knowledge - they maybe not known who Aya, Yumeko, Kiyoharu, Erika, Amelia, Alice, and Kirari were - but it was going to be Yamato and gaijin shōjo like themselves who would win the war once and for all. That was the goal, at the very least. All three men sat in that smoke filled room in the Pentagon - as it was the US’ turn to host the meeting of the three major nation-states of the DDA, though they knew that they’d only be remembered truly once the war was over in high school textbooks of the DDA Member States, when as they hoped in their cigarette-calmed stress, that they’d be seen as heroes instead of butchers - which was part of why they were secluded away, their names mostly unknown and/or forgotten amidst the turmoil and destruction of the war thus far. Their predecessors hadn’t been able to end the war, and now it was up to them.

In Küstrin, Aya’s father Erwin looked out of the window of their traditional, fachwerkhaus across the Oder River and at what was also once the Preußiche and then Deutsche - but had since 1945 been Polish. The main site was the alte festung where in the eighteenth century, then Fürst Friedrich der Große was held as a young man by the orders of his father, the König von Preußen - whilst from a cell in the festung, he was forced to watch the beheading of his male lover, Leutnant Hans Hermann von Katte, be beheaded. Erwin, standing at the window in his tight fitting, short, v-neck, nylon elbowed and shouldered “Commando Sweater” that he’d retained from his service in the Bundeswehr component of the DDA Military Forces earlier in World War III, couldn’t help but think about his daughter and her military fate as he solemnly gazed on the once Preußiche Festung - and he she wasn’t so different from Friedrich und Hans. Shuffling away from the window in his rather tight black sweatpants and black ankle socks, the greying haired, fit, almost six foot Bundeswehr Veteran turned to his wife and Aya’s mother, Ririka, who looked like an older, more traditional version of Aya, who was also slightly taller than her daughter. Ririka’s black hair was held up in a simple kanzashi, along with her wearing simple white ankle socks and a black, white, and red kimono.

“I never thought that I’d see out daughter serve in the war that I had, nein. Nor did I ever consider that she’d suffer such a fate as symbolically and literally similar as the fate that befell the one whom geschichte would come to know as Der Soldat König, as well as his liebe und komerad.”

Erwin said as Ririka brought green tea for them, setting it down on the kotatsu as Erwin came over to sit cross legged next to her under its warmth whilst the snow drifted outside.

“Hai! And yet all we can do now is pray for her and hope that she never wavers in displaying the highest acts of honor in all that she does.”

Ririka said with typical Yamato poise and a slightly poetic beauty, whilst Erwin sipped his tea - his feelings having been made clear with equally culturally typical Preußiche-Deutsche directness and solemnity. As they gazed out the window of their heim, all they could think about was the fate that their daughter had been bestowed.

In the Pentagon, the meeting continued - still with a pervasive air of solemnity.

“We’ve had concerns from our most recent schlacht. The Russian, Chinese, and North Korean forces have not only fortified their immediate defenses on Mars - but they’ve also introduced derivative armors of our Ritter, Shogun, and Legionnaire models - they’re heavier and can handle the weight of more firepower, but they’re also slower. All the same, these photographs speak for themselves.”

The head of the Bundeswehr said with a heavy sigh of acceptance as he passed his two international colleagues several classified photographs that were laminated, physical photographs being used to greatly reduce the threat of them being stolen should they have been in some sort of digital form. The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff and the head of the JSDF nodded, looking at the photographs as the head of the JSDF then spoke up.

“Hai. It should be mentioned that our military industrial capacity within the private sector has been working on a solution for this ever since we saw these photographs at the highest echelon meetings in Tokyo - and per the bylaws on technology of the DDA - we are more than prepared to export them to both of your military components. Please, observe these.”

The head of the JSDF said with a calm confidence as he passed around printer paper sized blueprints of what he was referring to. Depicted on the blueprints were detailed descriptions and presentations of one hundred foot tall, tight, lean mech suits that had a more feminine build to them in terms of their mechanical physique. The main, complete example shown on one of the blueprints had a head that had a rounded on the edge, a rather pointed chin - with the side profile of the mech suit’s head showing a distinctly elongated and vertically stretched “C” kind of shape. On the face - it appeared that there were four other eyes under the main eyes - with two on each side under each of the two main eyes. As the three heads of the DDA Military Forces observed on the small blueprint documents - the four secondary eyes functioned as automatic plasma blasters, while the main eyes functioned as the plasma ammunition and power source. Interestingly, the blueprint documents showed that in order to pilot these new, slender but solid, hundred foot tall mech suits - two pilots would have to be wearing their respective Ritter, Shogun, and Legionnaire slender combat armor - which would enable both pilots to connect with and interface with the larger co-piloted mech suit. The blueprints also mentioned that the mechs had a diverse range of weapon and/or defense system attributes that could be integrated into their features, would be available - thus tailoring to the needs of the mission, and the preferences of the two pilots and/or users.

“A base white color - and I see here that the mech suits are modular - having the ability to have DDA licensed and produced armor and armaments layered onto it. When can we begin DDA wide mass production and implementation?”

The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked with a great deal of interest to his two colleagues, as the head of the JSDF swiftly answered the question, while the head of the Bundeswehr listened intently along with his American counterpart.

“We propose after we assess the results of Operation Divine Typhoon - as then the most accurate armed response can be brought forth accordingly. To do so sooner could result in a misallocation of funds and materials redirection. As such, the new SMG and Carbine variable weapon system which was mentioned prior in this conversation - can also be made in a physical size appropriate to the new, much larger and more powerful mech suits. In other words - consolidation and coordination are at the center of this endeavor.”

The head of the JSDF replied with subtle confidence to his colleagues, who both indeed in agreement, prior to then putting out the cigarettes that they were smoking, and thus beginning to drag on fresh ones. It was agreed - and it seemed that the tides of the war might indeed certainly turn permanently in favor of the DDA. The silent agreement and mood in that conference room in the Pentagon was one of cautious optimism - in large part since the one military aspects that the ECAP hadn’t been able to meaningfully challenge, was orbital bombardment dominance - namely through the use of plasma based weaponry. As such, the end effect of the upcoming Operation Divine Typhoon was assumed to have the power to determine the course of the war for both the DDA and the ECAP.

“LIKE - HOTTTTTTTT!”

Amelia let out as she ate a fresh piece of chicken with her chopsticks - the heat from it’s fresh grilling and that she’d dipped it in some garlic chili oil - both of which her simultaneously delicious! Erika merely rolled her eyes, but even her proud Preußiche exterior betrayed a small smirk and smile, whilst Aya, Yumeko, Alice, and Kiyoharu giggled politely in a suitably Yamato fashion. The traditionally decorated establishment was of great comfort to all of them, a place that reminded them of better times - and Amelia’s comedic culinary half-misadventures gave all the more fuel to the comforting fires of friendship that seemed to be burning within these shōjo. As Amelia swallowed it, she smiled, sipping her iced tea as she looked at her new friends.

“Gutte werk!”

Erika remarked to Amelia as she dipped some grilled beef into her portion of garlic chili sauce, smiling as she ate it and then quickly sipping her own iced tea.

“It’s so cool that you and Erika are both gaijin - but you can use chopsticks and handle our level of spice in food!”

Aya said cheerfully to Erika and Amelia - the former being able to hide the challenge of taking on such delicious spiciness better than the latter.

“HAI!”

Yumeko, Alice, and Kiyoharu said roughly in unison. All of the shōjo then turned to each other as Aya spoke up, softly but confidently - with a determination to make this gathering the best that it could be, and to leave the realities of World War III by the wayside for the moment.

“If we may, we should, get to know each other better! I mean, Yumeko is highly skilled in Kendo - and the rest of us range from moderately to very much otaku - but why not go deeper? How does that sound?”

Aya asked with even a hint of surprise in her own voice towards the end of her statement and question - as shed never been the type to be so socially open and confident. The other shōjo to her relief, didn’t take ling to respond - not did they give half-hearted and/or avoidant answers.

“I’ll go first! I’m originally from Osaka - and I go by Alice because I want to be who I want to be, and I feel like my life up until this point has been like falling down a rabbit hole and being out of place in a strange world. Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t mind it - as being different has always allowed me to pursue my own goals without reservation. I never knew my parents - I still don’t know them. All I know is that the condo in Osaka that I lived in up until now was paid for by the manager of the building itself - and she’s taken care of me ever since I was little. As you can tell and like I said - I’ve always gotten to pursue my own interests thanks to her not getting too invited in my life besides handling the necessities like my primary schooling and then going to the University of Osaka to study Computer Science. I wanted to do that and then become a game developer when I graduated - well specifically visual novels with a heavy ecchi and eroge flavor like I said before. Anyhow, I have the degree now, but I’m obviously not an Office Lady in the gaming capacity.”

Alice said as she finished, shrugging her shoulders and smiling away any of the trauma that she’d long since learned to overcome with frightening ease - ease that was as frightening as her giggling at the end of Captain Kirari’s briefing earlier that day. To the rest of the shōjo - they couldn’t deny though that along with such sentiments, Alice’s radical sense of acceptance and cheerful demeanor was something of a comfort in those times.

“Well, I’m Kiyoharu - and I promise that I’m much more than what you all saw in the communal shower area today! I’m from Sapporo originally, and I studied Sociology with a focus on human relations - ever since Sex and Gender Studies was banned across the colleges and universities within the political and legal jurisdiction of the DDA. Being from Hokkaido, I never did feel like I could be myself, well, you know - a shōjo, since it’s rural and conservative outside of metropolitan Sapporo. When I was at Hokkaido University, I was lucky enough to meet sympathetic classmates who were studying Medicine, and well - I was able to take a tremendous amount of estrogen, so that’s why I am how you see me! My parents supported me fully and I really miss them….”

Kiyoharu said as their voice trailed off for a moment as Yumeko patted their back gently, along with Amelia.

“What also got me through hard times in my youth was watching and reading - acquired - copies of yaoi and yuri anime and manga, respectively. But, that’s me!”

Kiyoharu said as they gave an affectionate look of gratitude to Yumeko and Amelia first, and then to the rest of the shōjo at the table.

“I’m from like - from California originally, San Bernardino specifically. I like, went to California State University San Bernardino for my undergraduate education and then like, California State University Northridge for my graduate education. And I like, majored in European Studies during at California State University San Bernardino, and then East Asian Studies at California State University Northridge - and I’m like here because, well you know. I wanted to go to Nippon one day, an explore the Akihabara district of Tokyo, really like, take it all in. I guess that I like, won’t be able to do that now, or explore the like, cross cultural collision of Berlin in Deutschland - where like, street art meets Alte Preußen. I’ll be honest - I like - totally don’t want to go back to the US, and it seems that I like won’t have to. It like, sucks that I has t be like this. But like, at least I’m with you epic shōjo.”

Amelia said as she then sipped her iced tea and sighed, before continuing to eat. To the other shōjo at the table - they were rather perplexed about Amelia’s last admission - what did she have against the country that she was born and raised in?

“What can I say? I grew up between der Staaten von Brandenburg und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - otherwise what one could called parts of Alte Preußen. I went to both Frei Universität Berlin und Humboldt Universität prior up ending up here - and I’m a descendant of der Junkerthum und der Deutschen Orden. When I was a student in Berlin, I majored first in Fine Art and then in History - both were wündebar. I miss my parents and had I not been here, I’d be back in Berlin - probably in an art cafe enjoying kaffee. I miss the detailed graffiti art along the old, war-scarred, historic streets of der alte Preußiche und Deutsche Haupstadt.”

Erika said as she then ate some more of her grilled beef with garlic chili oil, smiling softly and sighing - she was just glad to be at least among these shōjo which she could now safely call her friends. The other shōjo looked at her with a sense of admiration and even a bit of reverence as well for how mature and composed she was. Aya recognized something in Erika that was in her - a distinctly Preußiche composure that was really only matched by the Yamato as far as comparable cultures and cultural mannerisms were concerned.

“I’m here for the same reason that we all are - and well, you know that it was my dream to be a Mangaka before all of this. I - I went to the University of Tokyo and then Kyoto University after that, where I majored in Business and Fine Art. I guess something interesting about me too is that I’m half Yamato and half Deutsche, though specifically Preußiche, with mein mütter being the former und mein vater being the latter. Growing up, during Christmas, we’d go to Küstrin, and and during Obon and other festivals - wed go up to Sapporo, as each place had a small vacation house.”

Aya said as she then blushed and ate more of her grilled chicken, dipping into the hot but delicious garlic chili oil, all the while Erika looked especially impressed, even more so than the other shōjo at her table.

“I wanted to open my own Kendo studio, while also working on fight choreography for films, an even advising on such matters in anime too! Though - it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting to do that immediately. While I was at Kyoto University, I majored in both Business and Film Studies, while I was also the Captain of the Kendo team - meaning that I didn’t have a lot of spare time for anything except eating and sleeping. Up until now - I was working at a JFC franchise location to get by whilst looking for work in both of my fields of interest and saving money.”

Yumeko said happily but with a sigh at the end as she took a sip of her iced tea and then ate some of her grilled beef with garlic chili oil. The other shōjo looked at each other and then at Yumeko, before turning their gazes to each other ice are while they ate. Everyone was now introduced, and a sense of ease pervaded the friend group as they ate their delicious food. Within a moment though, a new face appeared at the table - but not one that was unfamiliar to any of them. With the scent of sake filling the air in a slight but noticeable sense, the shōjo saw Captain Kirari come up to them as they sat there momentarily frozen at their table. Had they done something wrong? That’s what they all wondered as they gazed up at her.

“Don’t worry - I’m not here to scold anyone - I swear that I’m not. I actually, want to sit with you all and just talk as shōjo, not as a DDA Officer and her subordinates in the Special Unit: Sakura Kamikaze. Would that, be alright with you all?”

Captain Kirari said with a distinctly different tone than shed had when they’d met her earlier that day. It was a tone that when combined with her facial expression and body language, was one of anguish, stress, and exhaustion in a profession of arms that had grown to nearly break her by this point, in a war that it seemed would never end - a war that had destroyed an entire continent and a region that neighbored it, along with those places being stripped bare of their resources, battle scarred beyond repair, and the respective populations of those places decimated into extinction as a result. Captain Kirari then looked at the shōjo once more, internally begging them to let her feel some semblance of peace and human warmth by being in their company.

“Hai, Captain - !”

Aya said before Captain Kirari took off her beret and gently laid her hand on Aya’s mouth with a warm smile.

“Just, Kirari, ok? That rank and title - well it makes me think of actions like those that happened earlier today. You know - with the shōjo that’s no longer with us because of me.”

Kirari said as she looked at the other shōjo, who softly nodded as they continued to listen.

“Like all of you, I’m not even thirty and this has happened - all of this. What I did today I had to do, there wasn’t another choice, and you all know that. My cold exterior that I showed, it was more to keep the peace f those around us, those civilians who believe in this seemingly endless wartime cause, who have so many more freedoms than any of us at this table and who are protected and benefit from as they see it, the infinite benevolence of the DDA Government. To be honest, I’m scared of the upcoming operation - and win or lose, how many will have to die? All of those deaths so that those DDA Government and Military Forces suits and brass who prosecute the war effort, as well as those Salarymen and Office Ladies who profit from the war effort by being the overlords of their defense corporations - can gain further power, prestige, and privilege.”

Kirari said as she then ordered another round of food for herself and the other shōjo, along with a bottle of sake for herself. The mood at the table had gone from relatively festive and upbeat to somber and focused - yet none of them could deny that what Kirari was saying was the absolute truth. None of them had been born when World War III began, and by this point - it had devolved into a near interplanetary stalemate of primarily DDA Orbital Bombardment with a seemingly endless stockpile of plasma munitions, against hardened ECAP defensive networks. Even on the battlefields on Mars, numerically superior Armored Infantry of the ECAP in ersatz designs of armored suits, along with said defensive networks, caused causalities to rise to unfathomable levels with each passing battle. Of course, only those in Washington, DC, Berlin, and Tokyo knew about the new mech suits and small arms that were soon to be unleashed, as well as the full spectrum of Operation Divine Typhoon - compared to the shōjo gathered at the table, who only knew that except for Kirari and Yumeko - the rest of them were set to commit state-sanctioned seppuku via orbital bombardment as gyokusai - a fate none of them had imagined would be theirs to bear.