North Winds Fall (Xianxia - Survive the Protagonist)

The dispatcher left, without giving the three of them any direction of what would happen next.

With Wei and Kazumi being such fast friends, she felt a little lonely. She was used to constantly having dinner at one of her brothers houses, or hosting friends and guests.

She spent an hour just practicing the most basic sword strikes, at half speed, but still she was exhausted by the effort. Autumn didn't have her new medicines yet so she was still tired, and achey. Despite taking a nap during the day, she fell asleep early.

It was pitch black out when she woke up. For a moment, she expected Ho Junko to wake her up, then she became aware, and she was angry that her memories had to keep bringing that girl up.

"Girls. It's time to wake up. You have a full day ahead of you, and your senior sisters are waiting."

The Hall was lit up brightly, and she rubbed her eyes and she stumbled down off the bunk, almost stepping on Wei's arm.

"The senior sisters are waiting outside while you get changed into your new uniforms," said the girl standing in the middle of the room.

The girl's uniform was a dull yellow color, with the badge Lieutenant Tanaka.

"2nd Private Setsu, here is your uniform," the Lieutenant said.

Autumn's uniform was composed of brown pants, yellow shirt with a 2nd Private Setsu badge, and black military boots.

She felt comfortable changing in front of her servants, but now, she felt awkward. She moved down a few rows of bunks and tried to change discretely. These army pants had plenty of room for her to carry things, but all she had were what was left of the coins she brought.

"What do I do with my old clothes?" she asked.

"We have to travel light until you get to your new army base. They'll requisition civvies for your weekend pass / leave time once you get there."

She had to admit, Wei looked good in her uniform. Part of it was the surprise that the Girl's army actually had something in her size. She looked at the her sister and Kazumi's badges: "3rd Private Setsu" and "3rd Private Miyata".

She hadn't noticed before, but looking at Wei's badge, there was actually some weird humongous number beneath her name. She saw that there was a number under her own name also.

"Alright Privates, we have to move out. With a group of 10 Girls, our march formation should be complete, and we won't deal with any trouble along the way." the Lieutenant said.

"How long does it take to walk there?" Wei asked the Lieutenant.

"If you girls decided to walk on your own, it would take a few weeks, if you didn't get lost or hurt on the way. You may already know of an Admin-type Pathist, and a Fighting-type Pathist, but do you know of the Army-type Pathist?"

"No," Wei said, and Autumn shook her head too.

"An Army-type Pathist can enable army formations and abilities. Their path is directed towards the army unit, instead of individual abilities. The Girls Army Leadership track develops Army-Type pathists," Kazumi said.

"Very good. Specifically, I am an Army-Type, March Sub-type Pathist. Our unit will travel twenty to thirty times as fast as a quick march, depending on how well you can get into the pattern. So lets gather up and practice our marching first."

Lieutenant Tanaka lead them outdoors, where six other girls were waiting.

She saw that the other girls were a sergeant, a 1st Corporal, two 2nd Corporals, and two 1st Privates.

Tanaka personally directed them to stand in certain positions, so that Autumn was in the second to last position on the right side, with Wei in front of her, Kazumi to Wei's left.

"It's good to put the new people right in the middle," the Lieutenant said.

Lieutenant Tanaka's second-in-command was Sergeant Yasui. She lead the little group formation from the front left, and the Lt lead from the rear where she could observe their failures.


"Left foot up, Private Setsu!"

"Yes, Lieutenant," she said, along her sister's higher pitched voice.

"Don't watch the person next to you, feel the beat, up! And down!"

The Lieutenant drilled them for the better part of an hour, and finally they could go ten seconds without inviting comment. It really was weird to try walking along with everyone else, and thinking about lifting her feet up higher.

"Well Sergeant Yasui, do you think they're ready?"

"We might be getting in late, but we'll be getting there."

The Sergeant handed out little packets of something. "Tastes gross, but when you march all day under the Lieutenant's formation, you'll need the energy. Just chew it up quick, new recruits."

Kazumi didn't hesitate, pouring the powdery substance into her mouth. Wei followed suit, and finally Autumn decided to do the same. What was that flavor? It was almost like the fanciest dried sweets that they ordered for the Winter holiday. Yet it was simultaneously dry and chalky.

"Are you ready sergeant?" the LT said as she took the spot behind Wei.

"Ready! March!" the sergeant called out. "1, 2, 3, 4."

Autumn followed the corporal in front of her, almost running into the girl a few times until she started to get into it.

"Ready to start, Lieutenant!" yelled the sergeant after a few minutes marching past the hall, and out into the open field to the east.

"Follow the sergeant as she turns. Everything creeps up on you quickly at march pace. And MARCH FORMATION!"

It was the eeriest feeling to be marching at a steady, stateful pace, but see the ground almost sliding and skipping behind them. She almost fell as the corporal in front turned to the left to take them around another set of buildings. She started marching in the new direction after a brief hiccup, in which the ground was moving slower, and then it whipped by faster and faster.

She could see a road just north of them, which they were marching parallel with. There wasn't anything larger than a rare small tree amid the endless seas of grass, as they headed east. There was something unnatural with this marching formation as she only felt a light wind as they rushed past groups of civilian travelers who were up on the road.

They had to return to normal speed to cross to the north side of the road, because ahead of them was a thick woodland. They continued marching along parrallel to the road like that.

The group continued to head east, sometimes crossing from one side of the road to the other, but always marching several yards away from the road. The only disruption that happened was when they reached a main crossroads. Another army was marching through. It was a vast army, 6 men across, and row upon row came on.

"Girls, bow to the Army regulars!" Sergeant Yasau shouted.

Autumn remembered how she had failed to bow before, but she was out of practice with a low bow. Nonetheless she kowtowed adequately.

"Hold your position until the army has gone past," the Sergeant said.

One of the men broke off from the rows of marchers and came over to speak to the Lieutenant.

"Girl's Lieutenant, what is your purpose at this crossing?"

"Yes Sir, we are transporting a group of new recruits to the Cherry Blossom Girl's Army Base."

"General Shishido has twenty thousand men heading south for training maneuvers against our counterparts in the South Winds Army."

The men were marching at a normal speed, without any march formation like they had.

"How long ago did the General's forces start crossing here sir?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Just ten minutes ago. You've got hours to wait, or you can turn back and return to your original destination. I recommend the latter. Let the real warfighters do their work."

The Regular army officer rejoined the rows of marchers after that.

"It's going to be even later than I thought," the Sergeant said.

"Let's go back five miles, then we can beat the Regulars to the next crossing," Lieutenant Tanaka said quietly.

So they had to do a lot of rapid turns and maneuvers, crossing true open country, even climbing over a few farmer's fences to stay the same distance west of the north-south road.

Finally they were able to turn to the east again near the next cross road, which was only a dirt farmer's path, and they slipped past the marching men miles ahead of them despite their detour.

All of the marching was causing her legs to burn and her eyes to droop. They still had many hours to go, and the land was getting more and more forested as they headed east, and then finally turned to the south.

She grew increasingly concerned as the sun slowly descended closer and closer to the horizon. How did they plan on marching at incredible speeds at night. Then suddenly, at sunset, a bright light shined in front of them.

"Sergeant Yesui is an Army Type, Perception Sub-Type pathist," the Lieutenant said. "Information is life, both before and during the battle."

Finally, they had to be getting close as sometime after sunset, they started to run into more groups of people that they had to avoid. To their east, they could see a city, by the scattered lights in the distance.

"We can't use the formation in a crowded city, so we have to go around the city to the south," the sergeant said.

Their march started to lose it's cohesion from exhaustion as they got near. Autumn lost track of time, but when they finally reached the barracks, she had to blink her eyes over and over to avoid passing out.

"You can't get into your Platoon halls this late, so you'll just stay at the guest hall until morning," the Lieutenant said. "I have to go register with base command, but Sergeant Yesui will stay with you tonight."

There were other girls already here, so Sergeant Yesui directed them quietly in the dark to the bunks at the far end of the hall. Wei ended up sleeping bottom bunk under Yazumi, and Autumn slept bottom bunk under one of the corporals.

The other more experienced girls took spots elsewhere in the hall, but Autumn had climbed into bed and was out in moments.

-|>--

After the long exhausting day of work from first light until past sunset, Autumn wasn't happy to be woken up again, before she was ready.

"Guest Hall, Form Up!" said a woman, not Tanaka or Sergeant Yesui.

The Sergeant and the rest of the hall was already up before Autumn and Wei had stumbled forth. They saw that everyone else was standing in front of their bunk, next to their bunk mate, so Autumn stood next to the corporal bunking with her, and Kazumi helped Wei get into position.

"New recruits I see! I am First Lieutenant Shiraishi, Captain Tsuda's XO. You will come to attention at 0600 each morning, and march as a platoon to the central mustering place, where the combined forces of the Cherry Blossom Girl's Army Base will attend to the Captain's every word. As you are at the guest hall, it is my responsibility to lead you to muster. Form up!"

It was easier, because she was now slightly familiar with moving in position, but tougher, because she was exhausted.

Wei looked like she needed a long two-week vacation to the South Palace, but such things were only fantasy now.

This group marched at normal human walking speeds, and reached the gathering where hundreds upon hundreds were standing stock still in neat rows and columns. The 1st Lieutenant lead them to stand in four rows right next to another platoon.

"1st Lieutenant?" shouted Captain Tsuda, a man. It seemed the Girl's army wasn't trusted to lead itself? She had assumed the 1st Lieutenant's boss would have been another girl, maybe an older woman even.

"The Guest Platoon is here, sir."

The Captain's uniform was grey with a black badge, and three jagged lines, a perfectly neat and clean uniform.

"Acknowledged. I understand you have transfer orders, 1st Lieutenant?" the Captain asked.

"Transfer, on the judgment of Lieutenant Masame, Border Processor at the Chill Winds Girl's Army Base, 2nd Private Setsu to be transferred into Platoon 4, with the possibility of promotion upon completion of her medical program."

"Platoon 4, conditional on sufficient grades in her Preliminary Exam, otherwise, Platoon 3."

"Transfer, on the judgment of same L.T., 3rd Private Setsu to be transferred into Platoon 1."

"3rd private is ten years old?" the Captain asked.

"Confirmed."

"Potential or actual pathist?"

"Actual."

"Step?"

"She's just taken her first step, sir."

"Platoon 1 it is then. Anymore, 1st Lieutenant?"

The 1st Lieuteneint hesitated for a moment before she continued, "Reinlistment transfer. 3rd Private Miyata. Transferred from Valley Rose Girls' Army Base. Transferred from Rosemary Waters Girls' Army Base. Transferred from Chill Wind Girls' Army Base. Request for full scenario reinlistment."

"3rd Private Miyata, please come up and report."

Kazumi stepped out of formation going up to stand before the Captain.

"Miyata, do you still want full reinlistment?"

"Yes sir," the girl said quietly, but without fear.

"Explain to me why three Base commanders wanted you gone?"

"I have low marks in Fighting, and Fitness, and I received special negative marks," Kazumi said, as if it was routine for her. "Sir, I have nightmares, sometimes I talk loudly in them."

Autumn hadn't noticed, but they'd only gone through two nights in the same hall as Kazumi.

"Why haven't they recommended you for alternative service duty. You're still an early first step pathist at 15?"

"Sir, I don't know. I just want one more chance sir."

"One more chance. Platoon 1. Get back in formation."

Captain Tsuda seemed to scan through the rows of girls as he waited for Kazumi to get back in line.

"Physical fitness and discipline and schoolwork remain our priority here. Those of you who establish their foundation may become fine fighting machines and girls of good moral character. Thursdays are dedicated to an extra block of Mathematics, so study well.

New girls, report to the library during Math block for your Preliminary exam. 1st Lieutenant will direct you to your service assignments. Dismissed."

Kazumi and Wei were both volunteering at the school, but they didn't have to start that until later.

"Go up to the table closest to the serving line, that's where the cook crew sits, you can join in for cleanup after," 1st Lieutenant Shiraishi said.

The platoons moved out according to their own schedule, without the Captain giving any guidance. They walked into the Mess hall last.

Autumn walked to the front table that the 1st lieutenant had mentioned. She waited as the line for food wrapped around the inside wall of the large hall. She watched as she saw three girls passing out already plated food. The line moved faster than seemed possible.

The hall remained fairly quiet as conversations were kept to whispers. It took over thirty minutes to serve this huge group of girls. Autumn had never seen so many girls of all ages in one place in her life.

One of the Cook crew noticed her and said, "Come on back!"

The cooking and serving area was larger than the North Winds Palace kitchen. Dozens of girls were taking off their aprons and hats, stacking them neatly on hooks, and going back to grab plates of food themselves.

One of the girls spoke up, "Private Setsu, grab a plate and I'll explain everything during cleanup."

So she sat next to the Cook Crew Lieutenant, as they ate oatmeal, an apple and a small piece of breakfast sausage. Autumn only had a spoon for silverware. Most of the cook crew girls had cut up the apple and put slices in the oatmeal.

"The less we hand out, less we clean," the Lieutenant said, when she asked why they didnt provide a knife to cut up the apple with.

The stack of bowls and spoons on the dirty dishes table was getting overfull. Finishing her oatmeal quick, she followed the girls and helped carry bowls and spoons, but she wanted to go back at pick up the three spoons she had dropped.

"We always come back, just keep moving," said one of the girls.

As fast as they could unload the mound of dishes, the pile was full again by the time they got back there.

Some of the girls had started washing, some were cleaning tables, others sweeping floors and the rest, including Autumn, kept bringing in the dirty dishes.

There were three sinks in the back. One of them was huge, big enough for the giant oatmeal pots to be cleaned by a team of two girls. At the other stations, teams of three girls washed and dried the spoons and bowls.

Weirdly, there was a tiny office behind all of the Crew's equipment.

"This is where I keep track of the food bill and plan meals," said Lieutenant Matsuura. "Sit down."

She sat at the edge of the chair as paperwork was on it. It was like Son's office if he had let the paperwork out of control.

These thoughts were so annoying! She didn't want to think about the past. She didn't even like Second Brother! The army was her life raft so she didn't have to think.

"Well then. I just had to record this mornings breakfast. Setsu, you will be learning every area of Cook Crew duties, before your first year is up. You're old enough to learn how to cook all the meals, and I will evaluate you in each area, so I can assign you after that first year. Find yourself an apron that's not dragging on the ground and covers the spill spots. Captain Tsuda does NOT want food stains on our uniforms."

She was surprised to find that the medium apron was too big. The small was just right. Wei would have been extra small.

"Find yourself a hat also, go hang them both up, and then report to the school. We get some extra time allowance, but you will miss the first few minutes of class. Be back here by 1100."

If the cook crew could still get to class, Wei must be having a nice leisurely time before she needs to get there.

"Yes sir!" She said.

Autumn rapidly found a hat and hung them both up under Hook 54.

She followed the stream of other cooks going to the school building.

A simple page of paper was stuck to both entry doors:

Thursday, Math block

0800 - 0900 : Civics
0900 - 1045 : Block - Math
1045 - 1200 : Follow Platoon Instructions
1400 - 1500 : Crit. Reading and Writing
1500 - 1630 : Daily Physical Training

Civics was full of things her fellow students did by memory. Reciting phrases, Standing at attention, answers questions about the West Winds when called on. She had no clue how to handle any of it.

During Math block she went to the library to take the preliminary exam. Wei and Kazumi were sitting at opposite ends of the library, whereas the librarian had her sit next to her own desk.

The exam was page after page of questions. She didn't have any pens so she asked the librarian for one.

The questions covered civics, reading for understanding, short essays, math, questions about military procedure and discipline and the history of West Winds. She was lost on most of them, trying to just made a reasonable choice.

Afterwards, the librarian went through her exam question by question.

"Basic math, writing and reading were OK. The rest were atrocious. Anyway, 23% overall. As you haven't met the standard Captain Tsuda set, report to Platoon 3."

How could they expect her to know anything about the West Winds since she had only been there for 3 days?

The rest of the day was broadly miserable. Preparing for lunch, cleanup after. Going through a book that was completely confusing in reading & writing class.

Physical Training wasn't too bad but she was already tired of following orders and being constantly on the go.

Two thirds of the girls left after PT, which meant dinner in the cook crew wasn't actually as intense. These girls had parents and homes nearby, so they had evenings free.

She continued to ferry dishes to the wash crew after meals and she made up sandwiches for lunch and fumbled with a potato peeler for dinner.

Finally after dinner she reported in at Platoon 3's bunk hall.

There was a sergeant and a dozen privates who stayed at the hall during the week. Only three bunks were open.

Sergeant Furutani told her "You can have Toda, Teruya or Tominaga as your bunkie. Private Toda took the bottom bunk, she's one of the younger girls. Wave Toda?"

The girl was maybe a little older than Wei, her smile was warm and full of dimples.

"Private Teruya is the oldest girl, until now I guess,"

Private Teruya frowned as she looked over at Autumn. "Teruya took the top bunk."

"And you can take the bottom bunk, if you bunk with Tominaga. She's 12, about the average of the Platoon. She goes home to her family during the week, so you won't bunk with her until Friday."

Vote who you will bunk with:

[ ] Private Toda (Friendly first impression, Wei's Age)
[ ] Private Teruya (Unfriendly first impression, 14 years old).
[ ] Private Tominaga (Friday-Sunday only bunkie, 12 years old).

"So you're another slowpoke too?" Teruya said gruffly.

"I don't understand," Autumn said, as she moved over to Teruya's bunk.

"You're older than me and still in Platoon 3. The Younger girls still have potential. Me, I've been stuck here for three years," Teruya said.

Private Teruya had cropped brown hair and she was a few inches taller than Autumn despite her age.

"This is my third day in the Girls' Army. My exams were awful, but I'm not giving up. Didn't you hear the Captain assign me this morning? There's some medical stuff I'm dealing with, but I was told I would have the medicine I need soon, I don't plan on staying at my current level," Autumn said, defending herself.

"Relax Private Setsu, I'm not totally giving up. I could still get a side-transfer by improving my fitness scores to an even more ridiculous level. I'm warning you, no one in the whole Boot camp group can stop me."

Private Teruya's words brought a lot of questions to her mind, but she was also tired and hurting. Cook Crew and Physical Fitness, and Army life, in addition to her pre-existing wounds meant she just wanted to collapse into the bottom bunk.

She still talked to Teruya though.

"I'm Shūsui" she said.

"Mari. And if you want to get out of the Boot Camp group, you're going to have to ask Private Tominaga for tutoring. She's struggling with the Physical Fitness standards, but she's helped practically everyone in our platoon. Me, I've got three Behavioral citations. But if you wanna get stronger, I'm the girl to talk to. Now Zip it!"

Autumn didn't know what the Boot Camp group was, but she was to find out soon. She didn't chat more with Mari or any of the other girls, even though she heard Private Toda giggling, chatting with a group of the youngest girls. She slipped into a deep sleep, enjoying the few extra hours before wakeup time.

But Sergeant Furutani woke her up before that. She sat up, almost bonking her head on the bunk above her, when the sergeant shook her.

"Follow me," Furutani whispered.

In front of the sergeant's bunk was a larger chest, with a large padlock on it. All the bunks had simple unlocked chests, but this one was twice as big and tall. Furutani unlocked and opened the chest and passed a glass jar full of cultivation pills to her.

"Take these once a day until they are gone. Most of the girls finished taking their Path pills during their first month here. This will help you catch up."

Then she handed Autumn a larger glass bottle as well as a small cup. Like a miniature tea cup, it could only hold a little bit of the pink colored liquid in the larger bottle.

"Use the cup to take just enough medicinal liquid each morning. Go ahead and put those things in your own chest. Make sure to get up a little early so you have time for these things. I'll remind you for a few days but then its up to you."

The 'Path Pill' was harder to swallow then any of the cultivation aids Second brother had given her, but once she swallowed it, she felt like surging winds were rushing here and there within her body.

The Medicinal fluid tasted horrible, and the taste didn't seem to leave her, as 0600 came, and they formed up and went to the morning muster.

Those members of Platoon 3 who went home at night formed up directly at the Mustering field, whereas Sergeant Furutani, Autumn and the other overnight girls met them there after marching from their hall.

Autumn looked over to see 1st Lieutenant Shiraishi standing with only three girls from the guest hall that morning. Autumn was in position next to her bunk mate, Private Teruya Mari.

"Any special matters, 1st Lieutenant?" the Captain asked.

"No sir."

"All of you know what Friday means: Time for the Training Exercises. In addition, I'm making an announcement: in two weeks, we will be having our next Week Long training exercise. I will speak on that in more detail as the day comes closer. Platoons 16 through 25: I will be leading you through a daunting test of all of your well-established abilities. Platoons 6 through 15, 1st Lieutenant Shiraisha will lead you in your more-foundational training exercises. Platoons 1 through 5 will be remaining on base for weekend Boot Camp. The five platoon leaders will coordinate to put you through hell, to see if any of you have potential to be a real fighting force of the Girls' Army. Move out!"

Sergeant Furutani had told her about their platoon's LT. The sergeant seemed friendly and approachable enough.

The shouted commands of every Lieutenant of the 25 platoons blended together into a roar of command. Lt. Tahara's voice rose above the rest, "Get moving! You'll all be going on Training exercises by the time I'm done with you! Sergeant, lead them on, to the Brutal Field!"

The neat lines and rows of girls scattered into 25 arrows, and the Sergeant was leading them past all the halls of all of the better Platoons.

Platoon halls 6 and 7, then 11 and 12, then 16 and 17, then 21 and 22. This last pair of Platoon halls seemed to emanate an active menacing growl, and the two halls shared a half dozen auxiliary buildings. Even Platoon 6 and 7 had a shared building with whatever unknown purpose.

Beyond all of the Platoon halls was a huge field with a perfectly smooth road which encircled it. She couldn't tell from the edge of the road what was in the middle of the field, but there seemed to be a lot of stuff there.

Autumn's group of Platoon 3 was joined by the girls of Wei's Platoon 1, and Platoons 2, 4 and 5.

"Welcome to Boot. If you don't know me, I'm Lieutenant Takai, Platoon 5. Fellow Lieutenants, What are our goals for this weekend?"

"To achieve superior scores in physical fitness, discipline, compliance and fighting capacity, in that order," said the Lieutenant of Wei's group.

"To untap these girls' hidden desire to rise and become part of an unstoppable army," said another Lieutenant.

"To push past all excuses and bargains, until resistance is shattered and progress may begin!" said Lieutenant Tahara.

Autumn didn't feel encouraged by the harsh message of her group's Lieutenant, but having gone through real battles and plenty of training before, she was excited to test herself against her Lieutenant's intensity. She wanted to see how she matched up with Mari after the girl had talked up her physical fitness.

"To turn these girls into flaming arrows, and watch the embers fly," said the next lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Uyeda, I think that sounds a little absurd. I'd say we need to get these girls to the Platoon 6 threshold. We succeed if we don't have any girls left at this low standard. Then, let's begin. I think three laps around the track are in order. Get moving girls!"

Autumn had spent more time on fast twitch reaction, and surging to close the gap, than running over long distances. But she made sure to keep up with her bunkmate Mari, and the two of them stayed strong, leading the rest of the girls for the first lap.

But she already felt like her lungs were a bit tired as the reached the halfway point on the second lap. She slowed down, letting Mari surge ahead.

She'd continued to struggle and pushed forward, heat and sweat rising, and her wounds still hindered her as she finished the 2nd lap. She held second place until near the end when a group of three girls she didn't know yet passed her."

"Fifth place. Good mark, Platoon 3," said Lieutenant Takai.

Setsu stood with the other early finishers, watching as waves of girls finished their three laps.

The majority of the girls finished in one big cluster, with only a few leaders before and stragglers after.

The last two were Wei and Kazumi.

"You can do it Wei. One more step," Kazumi was saying, but she wasn't feeling great either.

Her sister was jogging at a very slow pace, and then walking, and then jogging.

"Cherry Blossom Girls expect more from you, Privates Setsu, Miyata," said their Lieutenant.

"What do you think LTs? Let's encourage the slower girls to repeat the course. If you finished behind the main group, give me 6 laps, and head to the lifting stations once you are done," Takai shouted.

"Come on girls, there's nothing stopping you. Days of dedication and hard work will transform you," said LT Tahara.

The Five lieutenants rotated to review both the runners and the weight lifting stations.

First they went to the squat station. "If you want to carry a heavy pack into these training exercises, squats will test your strength in these same areas," said Lieutenant Uyeda.

Autumn noticed that in addition to the lifting section of the infield, there were also several other areas with mystery equipment. It looked like stuff to climb up, stuff to run through, and even in the dead center of the oval's infield was a fighting ring. It was tiny compared to the heaven's arena, but perfect for a little one-on-one fighting. She didn't imagine the Lieutenant would have the same ideas and purposes for it as her club did, but still.

The weapons she and Wei had brought with them were already gone, in long-term storage. Autumn didn't know when she'd be able to get back her favorite Dao blade, but she wanted to use the opportunity to reforge her fighting foundations, stronger than before. If she could just get through all of the other annoying parts of this Girl's army.

When it came to squats, Autumn was third strongest of all of the girls, but she could bench press ten pounds more than Mari, even for 7 reps. Mari was near the top, or the very best in all of the fitness based things they did.

When it came to running through these boxes, Autumn finally met her match, as far as physical challenges. It was just too weird to try to hop and move, clearing her foot above the edge of the boxes and keeping a good pace. She still managed to get an average score, but she wanted to do better.

Autumn felt sorry for Wei and Kazumi, as each Lieutenant seemed to delight in sending them back to the running track instead of letting them practice on the other machines and trials.

Only Platoon 2's lieutenant gave them some slack, letting them take a five minute break, but soon Lieutenant Takai had them doing one lap sprints.

Autumn knew when she had been sparring or practicing for too long, that further efforts were meaningless that day. So she could tell that the Lieutenants were not achieving any good by making Wei and Kazumi continue to run.

It wasn't just those two. The Lieutenants harassed the giggling Private Toda of her own hall, and made her constantly bench press 10 pounds plus the bar. She could barely do two reps.

The worst few girls in each activity were forced to repeat it again and again, far beyond what their body could take..

As far as Autumn could tell, there were two types of girls in boot camp: girls who had strengths in other areas, like Kazumi, and girls who were strong in fitness or martial ability, but had glaring weaknesses elsewhere, like Mari and herself. She supposed Wei was a third group, who didn't yet have any strengths.

Based on what she had heard of Kazumi's transfer into the base, perhaps some girls were forced out of the army completely. She really wished Wei could find some good strengths to show off.

The last exercise of their morning session was boxing. Those who weren't already endlessly doing another activity formed a line, and after each mini-boxing match was over, the next two moved into the ring, and the previous two.

They had to share the same sweaty boxing gloves, which was totally disgusting, but oh well, it was the first chance to do some kind of thing she was good at.

The LTs made it into a little tourney, giving each fight three minutes, uninterrupted, or until one of the girls tapped out. Autumn knew Lieutenant Takai wouldn't be happy if a girl tapped out too easily or early. So it seemed the girls were eager to show they weren't going to give up, trying desperately not to be targeted for endless boxing."

It was nice to rest while the other girls were fighting. Even though she was good at these activities relative to the girls in the first five platoons, it was still exhausting and her muscles ached from doing all of this exertion back to back.

Some of the girls didn't have any energy left, but Autumn was ready when she went into the tiny ring for the fifth fight.

It felt horrible to be boxing a 12 year old, but what choice did she have? It was going to take a long time to get out of this boot camp group, three promotions away. She had no chance if she didn't give an effort.

The young girl's first punch was ridiculously broadcasted. Was her precognition already coming back? She didn't even avoid the soft hit and solidly struck the girl with a body blow.

She didn't know much about fist fighting, but the basics of her Sword way still served her well against these girls.

The other girl collapsed, shocked in the moment that Autumn's much stronger punch hit. The girl didn't get up. She even offered her a hand, but the girl was shaking.

Two sergeants of the Five platoons climbed into the ring, and helped the girl stand up, and walk out.

Autumn didn't think her punch had been that hard. She left the ring, letting the next group of girls enter.

The whole incident got her thinking, how much should she show off and use her strength. Weren't these girls who could cultivate? Sure, they were the weakest 1/5th of the Girl's Army, and the youngest for the most part. But the "Path" as the West Wind people called it, should have given them more durability.

Were some of these girls not even awakened to their first step yet?

What should Autumn do about her Fighting ability:

[ ] Pretend to be much weaker as a fighter, both offensively and defensively. Brings her ability down to the level of Mari and the other first-rate fighters of the First Five platoons.

[ ] Pretend to be much weaker as an attacker, maintain defensive ability. Her defense will still be very strong, but she won't be obtaining one hit victories. Hopefully not causing the other girls to fear her, but still impressive.

[ ] Fight with her full strength, but avoid using active abilities. Very impressive but also brutal.

[ ] Fight unhindered. Use active abilities as needed or desired. Shockingly great but also many leagues beyond the fighting ability of the First Five Platoons. After Autumn is fully healed, her demonstrated ability will be on par with the Lieutenants in the Girls army.

Autumn watched Mari box with another girl. She had to hold back her humor, while many aspects of her new life were overwhelming, confusing and out of control, this was her world, and these girls were like newborn baby fighters.

Mari's opponent hadn't yet gained the will to fight, while Mari had the will, but still needed to learn the how. The goofy techniques of Autumn's bunkmate drew Lieutenant Takai's eyes, but he didn't say anything as Mari struck the other girl with more of a claw move than a proper punch.

"Next!"

The fights were short, only one of them lasted the full three minutes. And Lieutenants Takai and Tahara had to yell at the girls to get them to fight at all. Despite not wanting to get on the LTs radar, and having to fight over and over again, some girls honestly just couldn't do it. How long had they been in the Girls' Army, despite being unable to fight? Would they be discharged in the near future?

Autumn, Mari and the other first round winners got to take a break while those who lost were moved to the other activities.

She suspected some of the girls didn't try to get up after falling down, and they went through 30 matches in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Autumn and Mari were like two pros who went up into the ring, winning round after round. Mari had success in the later rounds against girls with a little bit more confidence, who didn't expect her weird ways.

Tahara had to warn her, "This is boxing, not rat fighting. Keep your hands in a fist."

Autumn went for a clean victory in her fights, dodging the other girls' blows, or ignoring them if she could. She didn't hold back, and after her second opponent took a moment to respond and leave the ring, she could tell the girls were afraid of her.

It was hard to apply full force to such a fight, but she simply ended each fight in one approach move and one strike.

It wasn't until she faced Mari in the final round that she found a girl who didn't fear her. Maybe it was because Mari already knew her, or maybe Mari was just crazy.

Her bunkmate actually took one of her punches, didn't go down and almost got a reply in. It took a second punch, with her left to knock the girl down.

She had been using the boxing matches as a way to practice her right fist strikes. She was still using all of her force, but her right hand was less coordinated than her left.

"Alright girls, good job. Two laps around the track and then form up when I call out," said Lieutenant Takai said to the two of them.q

-|>--~

With the top 20 platoons gone on Training Exercise, the Cook Crew was left with only twelve girls. They went with the simplest meals since the experienced girls were in the other Platoons.

Lunch was ham sandwiches and apples. Dinner was going to be a soup. Lieutenant Matsuura directed them to prepare it after they finished making the sandwiches and plating them. They would let it cook for six hours until dinner time. Simple, just bowls, spoons and a ladle.

She was actually pretty good at cutting up vegetables. Sure, it wasn't a fancy sword strike, but it was using a sharp metal object to cut. She had to learn a few of the cutting stances from the LT, but soon she was chopping carrots and celery, and it wasn't that hard.

Lieutenant Takai seemed to enjoy the spotlight, being the highest ranked officer left at the base. She regaled them with a moral to the story of boot camp.

"Our goal every weekend is to be hawks, looking for your weak points. Once we find the weakness, we will swoop. When you are forced to rouse your fighting spirit to soar even in your weakest area, then you can be a soldier. A soldier doesn't say, that's not my speciality, they say, yes sir!

Maybe a few of you girls feel pretty good about yourselves, now that all your senior sisters are gone. We'll make sure to show you that dedication is always required, and more hard work is certainly needed, so that you can pass beyond these days of boot camp.

When the Platoons go out for their next week long adventure, I will be leading you in a little competition. It's not your performance that you will be ranked on, but your improvement in your weakest area. Let's promote all of the girls out of Platoon 1, then Platoon 2, then Platoon 3, then Platoon 4, and finally Platoon 5. Let no girls remain with such a poor standard in any area of Army life."

With Takai's cheerleading speech, they returned to the workout field, marching by Platoon.

"You might be thinking, what's all these desks doing out on the training field?" Lieutenant Takai said. "I did say ALL areas of army life. This next drill is a little multi-part marathon. First, run a lap on the track, then give me 6 reps on the Squat bar, 6 reps on the bench press, run through the boxes, give the punching bag a good pounding, and finally, sit at one of the desks and answer three questions from the practice exam set to Platoon 3's standard. Mark the questions you've attempted. If you miss any of them, it's on to the next three, until you go perfect 3 for 3. Lieutenants Tahara and Nora will have the answer keys and be grading you. As always, all of us Lieutenants will be sending you back if you give a poor performance in one section."

Autumn groaned. How long would it take her to get 3 exam questions right in a row?

"Let's start the first marathon. Get going girls!"

Autumn didn't run as fast as she had the first time on the track, she let Mari take the lead there, putting in a decent lap. Squats were easy, the weight had been set at what the struggling girls could take.

The bench press had just 10 pounds in addition to the bar, like what Private Toda had struggled with. 7 reps was just a refreshing warmup for her there.

She already was a little more used to the boxes, but Mari was even better, surging to a nice lead overall.

Lietenant Uyeda was standing guard at the punching bag, which she hadn't used yet.

"5 good punches, girls." Uyeda said repeatedly.

She had to wait while Mari got her punches in. "Straight on, Private Teruya. This is not Monkey Claw fighting, at least not today. Use your fists."

There was no way to pass Mari in the boxing part, but then she guessed it wasn't a competition, but a simple way to find weaknesses in the girls.

She stepped up to the bag, giving it left, right, body blow, hook, upper cut.

"Good job, Private Setsu, next up!"

She ran towards the desks, looking back to see girls scattered on the track, weights and box course, and sat down at a desk next to Mari's.

"No cheating girls," Lieutenant Nora said.

She was first to sit at this desk, so she took the top three questions.

"What is the name of the first West Winds National Anthem, which used until the current anthem: Glory Victorious You Mighty Winds was written.
"I don't know the first one," Autumn said.

"Put a line after the first three questions and move on," Nora said to her.

"7 / 13 - 3 / 8 = ??"

7 pieces of a 13 slice pie, and 3 pieces of an 8 slice pie? How did those go together at all? They were totally different. But she relented, trying to figure it out anyway.

Slice each of those 7 pieces into 8 pieces each, so then you have 7 * 8 / 13 * 8 or 56 pieces of a 104 slice pie. Slice the 3 pieces into 13 pieces each, so you have 3 * 13 / 8 * 13 or 39 pieces of a 104 slice pie. Oh, those pies now have the same number of slices, so 39 + 56 = 95 / 104! She's really figured these fractions out!

Question 2 was actually a multiple choice, she was so thankful for that.

"The following provinces attempted to secede in the 21 AC revolts:

1. Dai ichi-shū and Samui tokoro
2. Samui tokoro and Sabaku no tochi
3. Shichishū and Kyūshū
4. Sabaku no tochi and Kyūshū"

She could only make a wild guess and hope it was right, so she picked C.

Question 3 was actually something she had hope of answering: "What does the term Present Participle mean?"

She wrote down, "It's an action word for something happening right now. Running, boxing, and so on."

"Can you grade these?" she asked Lieutenant Nora.

Nora immediately shook her head. "You have to subtract the fractions, not add them. It's D for Question 2: Shichishū never tried to secede. A was the gimme, only a dummy would think the Capital itself would revolt. Between B, C and D you had to read your books. Question 3 was right."

So, back to the questions again. And again. She tried three more times to get 3 questions right. She had 0 right her third attempt, and only one right during her fourth attempt.

Finally Lieutenant Takai ran over.

"Girls! We've found Private Setsu the elder's weakness. The monster has her flaw girls. Private Setsu, I've brought out the First Form Civics book, as I thought that would be your struggle. I want you to read through the Civics book until you can get 6 civics questions right in a row.

If that takes the rest of the weekend, so be it. Test your weaknesses, girls, until they become strong. After Civics, I want to see excellence in History, by then your Exam scores will be rising higher than you can imagine, Private. When you are strong in all areas, then you can hold your head high and join the training exercises."

Autumn had to admit, it would be easier to answer these questions after she read the book. But in her imagination, everything would rush into her head as easily as fighting forms and cultivation medicines.

Instead she was confused from the start. She re-read the first page of the book three times. She fought the temptation to yawn. She looked away, seeing the other girls doing all kinds of physical activity.

Lieutenant Takai didn't even continue the pretense of having the girls do the exam questions anymore. There was one other girl sitting at the desks, and she was practicing writing. Scratching at the page with a pen and frustratedly crumpling up pages of paper every so often.

Civics was the study of West Winds national pride, traditions which everyone participated in, as well as some that just schoolchildren went through so they would respect the country. West Winds civics starts with the overthrow of the previous divine ruler, and the recognition of the surviving provinces that they would form a compact for mutual gain.

She thought that perhaps in the future, children in the North Winds would learn about the overthrow of her own family in this same way.

There were national anthems and supplementary songs, animals, flowers and birds that represented the West Winds. She was just getting to the part about how the West Winds border with the South Winds was defined by agreement and by fighting, when she was pulled out of the book by Lieutenant Nora.

Sure, she kinda got the rough snapshot of the first chapter, but could she answer specific questions about the West Winds bird, or the official seal of the province of Dai ichi-shū, the capital province?

Knowledge quickly left her head as she was submerged back into the cook crew world. She cringed as she dropped a bowl of hot soup on the floor, while trying to pass it to another girl in their daisy chain of food delivery.

It splashed against the other girl's uniform pants, and Autumn tried to help the girl, but Lieutenant Matsuura took over.

"Be more careful, Private Setsu," he said sternly.

Between being singled out amongst the Boot camp crew and her Cooking mishap, she was having a bad day for the second day in a row. The boxing tournament had been nice, but it was all frowns after that.

She was eating alone, the other girls of the Cook Club were scattered in clusters at their long table. She couldn't even sit with her Platoon, or with Wei, but instead had to sit with these girls who she worked with, but really didn't know at all.

Lieutenant Nora actually spoke up for once, instead of Takai. "Just because it's dinner time, doesn't mean boot camp Friday is done," she said. "From now until dark, I want you to pick one girl. Make sure her weak spot is different than yours, and then train her in something you are good at, and be trained in something you are bad at. Go ahead and find your partners now. We will march back to the field in rows by partners."

Looking towards her sister, Autumn saw that Wei and Kazumi were already standing next to each other. She didn't have a shot trying to pair up with Wei, and what could they teach each other?

Who should Autumn try to be partners with?

[ ] Private Tominaga. Mari told you she's the best tutor in Platoon 3, and she needs to improve in Physical fitness.

[ ] Mari. Other than Wei, your best connection here. You can teach her boxing, and you could use some pointers from her on the track.

[ ] Private Toda. Get to know her, and you can encourage her in the bench press. You're not sure what she can teach you but most of the girls have to be better than you in schoolwork right?

[ ] Wait. You might make a new friend and learn from someone you haven't spoken to yet.

Autumn made a quick exit from the Cook Crew's table to go over to her own Platoon's table. The other girl hadn't found a partner yet, so Autumn asked, "Would you like to be partners?"

She wore spectacles with blue frames, Tominaga was this small girl who seemed fragile like porcelain.

"P Private Setsu, do you need some help with schoolwork?" Private Tominaga asked.

"I need a lot of help. Maybe you could use some pointers on the fitness tests?" she said.

"I can help with your studies. I showed your sister a few things during library duty last night. But, uh. I can't do any better in the weights and running. I just get too tired! I just want to get into the Girls' Admin Corps. There's only a few positions, but I'm pushing for a transfer, Private Miyata is my main competition."

The bookish girl already gave up? Autumn took it as a challenge to take up.

"Do you want to be confident, wherever you go, Private Tominaga? You will have some much more energy for studying if you also work hard at physical exercises. I'll try to show you a few things."

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of advice for studying too!"

Autumn had to run back to the Cook Crew and work with the small team to clean everything up, and then she paired up with Tominaga, and then went back out to the training field one more time.

Lieutenant Takai just gave them some brief advice when they got back out there. "If you haven't found a partner, meet up where Lieutenant Dora is standing, she will pair you girls up. I don't want to see two girls working on their mutual strengths, but instead the strong helping the weak in one area, and then vice versus in another area."

Tominaga offered to train her first, so they sat down at the desks again, and she taught Autumn how to go through a textbook.

"Every chapter has its key points in bullets at the end. Go through those first, then skim through the chapter. The chapters have questions also, they aren't the same questions as the exams have, but practice with them. Once you've read through the chapter once, just spot check your knowledge, and look up any questions you can't answer. Learning to read faster has helped me a lot in reviewing the important stuff over and over.

"Since Lieutenant Takai has you focusing on Civics, that's about all you need, but when you get to maths, you have to focus on each chapter and get it right before you can understand the next one."

Autumn went back through the first chapter of the Civics book, and Tominaga had her read the practice questions, and try to answer them.

Every time she got one wrong, Tominaga used her stern schoolteacher voice, which she couldn't pull off because her voice was so high-pitched. And although it made them both laugh, she actually looked stuff up! Of course, just because she could get the first chapter of the book right didn't mean everything was done.

"Sometimes you have to work on a lot of problems to get things done. Please ask the teachers for more practice work if you need it For me, I can pick it up with just a few examples, but filling out your knowledge with harder examples helps a lot. But maybe you need twenty extra questions or problems to really understand what you're reading, that's OK! Don't be afraid to ask for help in the library too!"

This was a new kind of asking for help, for her. Admitting she didn't know how, and actually caring to learn. Asking for help back home meant she would always rely on someone else, but asking for help here meant eventually knowing how to do it herself.

In sword-fighting, she had practiced on her own for a long time, and then her practice was from losing over and over to the Club fighters. Maybe Lieutenant Takai's attacking the weakness theory wasn't dumb. If she lost over and over to the books, she could get better over time. Still, Tominaga naturally understood stuff, and her reading speed was so fast!

Eventually, they left the books behind, and the super-confident girl Autumn had been talking to vanished. Private Tominaga was tentative when it wasn't books and schoolwork that were being discussed. Autumn asked her what area needed the most work: "Um, hmm. I don't know how to do the punching bag. It doesn't even move and then I'm gross, sweaty and so tired."

Autumn said to her, "You talked about each chapter depending on doing well in the last chapter. So think of physical fitness like a series of books. My favorite chapter is actually sword fighting, but I was able to do OK in boxing, because I understand the earlier chapters, which both Boxing and Sword fighting rely on."

"Just OK?" Tominaga said. "I guess the rest of us were horrible"

"A real boxer has studied just boxing for a long time. They'd defeat me in just a few moves. There's no rule or list of questions to tell you when to stop studying something in these physical subjects. If you get exhausted after a few punches, you might need to run on the track before you are ready. If you can't move the boxing bag, you might need to lift weights.

"You should always use your whole body to box or do any kind of strike, but you still need to develop your arm strength in order to punch well, and your running to be able to keep going and endure."

"You can only improve in little bits at a time, so what should I show you today?" Autumn said.

Private Tominaga went through a more intense running session than even the Lieutenants had inflicted on her, but it was only a half hour of steady running, as Autumn's study session had taken longer. She needed endurance first if she got tired immediately upon starting to punch the punching bag.

Tominaga was bent down, holding her knees, wheezing, exhausted. Autumn smiled. She had promised to run every lap with the girl, and she did. Working out with her brothers had always been way more fun and effective than by herself, especially for the boring endurance type of workouts, so she wanted to be a constant encouragement on the track.

Lieutenant Takai made a group of the girls carry all of the desks back to the school. Luckily Tominaga didn't have to join in, so Autumn, Mari and Tominaga ended up chatting in the Platoon hall before the other girls showed up.

They made a point not to talk about all the training exercises they had been doing, instead talking about other topics.

"What do you think the other Platoons are doing this weekend? Wave drills? Breakwall drills? Just a lot of marching all over the place?" Mari asked.

Private Tominaga translated. "In Wave drills, some of the girls pretend to be members of the Regular army, and the others act as the first wave in front of the Regulars, just like in real war tactics. The Girls Army strikes first! And, the Breakwall is the same thing, but on defense."

Tominaga's given name was Chieko. Chieko had a brother that was away, part of the Special Forces, where the men who were cultivators served. Chieko's brother was already Mid-Third step.

"I'm still Mid First-Step, and he's only two years older!" Chieko said.

"Relax, some of the girls don't even break through at all. The enlistment officers make a best guess of everyone's potential but they sometimes get it wrong. Remember Private Omori," Mari said.

Chieko evidently did.

Mari hadn't told Autumn anything about her family, but Chieko wouldn't stop talking about them once the topic was brought up.

Chieko's parents were scholars and research assistants for some of the biggest names in the province. Autumn didn't even realize that Cherry Blossom Girls' Army base was in the Sabaku no tochi Province. Chieko's parents lived in the provincial capital city which was just a few miles northwest of the base.

-|>--~

Sergeant Furutani woke her up in the morning to take her medicine and Path pill, and she could really feel that the medicine combined with her workouts had helped her recover quite a bit. She had the capacity to take a blade step, even if there was no reason to do so at the moment.

With only five platoons mustering the next morning, the sense of scale was lessened, and with Lieutenant Takai taking the place of Captain Tsuda, there wasn't the same intensity. What was intense was the man standing next to their Lieutenant.

"We have a unexpected surprise to start our 2nd day of Boot weekend," said Takai. "Please give Major Sumida your full respect and attention."

Autumn bowed along with the other girls.

"At attention, girls," said the boisterous voice of the Major. He had a mustache like a lot of the men she had seen during their formation travel. It was immaculately groomed, like everything else about Major Sumida.

She stood up straight, holding her hands behind her back. She hadn't heard that command before, but she copied what Mari was doing.

"I admit that I forgot the larger portion of your Girls' Army departed for training exercises on the weekends. However, I would like to incorporate your five platoons in our own training exercise anyway. We would be happy to run through a series of test runs before the real exercise begins. We are going to be doing our test exercise out in the Wastelands, as high command wants us to get familiar with the area.

So, Lieutenant Takai, please provide your girls with their melee weapons from the armory. Ranged equipment will not be needed. Let's meet up at 0900 at your training field, and we will go through a few practice runs with our Third company."

Autumn hadn't seen the nervous side of Lieutenant Takai. Autumn and the other girls even caught a conversation between the Lieutenants.

"Exigent circumstances, Lieutenants. I will release the weapons to these girls, and I'll take the heat for it. Standing orders: we must comply with all Men's army officer commands, unless countermanded by a direct order from the Brigadier General of the Girl's Army."

Lieutenant Nora disagreed, "The Major would have much more luck with the other twenty platoons. They could make contact with them within half a day."

"This is our only chance to train these remedial girls, to provide a jolt of inspiration for them," Takai said.

"Girls, please report to the armory, and we will release weapons to those who have them, and provide them to those who don't. Lieutenant Matsuura, prepare the travel provisions for these girls. Your Cook Crew can help pass them out once they have retrieved their weapons," Takai commanded.
Autumn followed Mari and Chieko in the long line to the armory. It was with relief and almost a hunger that she received her old friend, the Dao blade, from Lieutenant Uyeda, who was manning the Armory for students who already had weapons.

Autumn rushed out of line and ran back to the Mess hall, where Lieutenant Matsuura had a mountain of small paper bags.

Autumn and the other Cook crew girls passed out the bags, and then there were other supplies to get. She hadn't even used the combat training center yet, but some of the girls were there handing out backpacks that were already full of supplies. Autumn stuffed her travel food bag into the backpack.

It was with full backpacks that they reformed platoon formations and marched to the training field.


Hundreds of men were in formation in the middle of the field, matching and slightly surpassing the number of their own 5 platoons. Major Sumida turned to receive the girls as they approached.

"We moved your training equipment out of the way to prevent any injuries. As you only have a fifth of your girls here at this time, we have decided to pair you with our Third Company. I will be in charge, with Third company's captain second in command. All of the platoon level lieutenants of our army, are skilled Army-Type pathists, and they optimize the might of our Men. And they will increase your own speed and power as well.

Girls Platoons 1 through 5 will line up in front of our 3rd Company Platoons A through E. We will execute a Wave maneuver designed to target an enemy at the other end of the field. Girls! Keep on moving and running until you hit the other side of the field, and then strike with your melee weapons. Perform ten striking maneuvers so that we can be sure that you are ready for the real test. Our men will follow you and then rush through to strike the enemy that has been weakened by you. Of course, this is just a practice so there is no actual enemy."

It was pandemonium as all of them tried to find the appropriate Men's Platoon to stand in front of. The Lieutenants of the Regular army continuously repositioned them, and recombined the five platoons to their own design.

Even Autumn knew she had never done something like this. These other girls surely had no training in organized fighting, if they were still stuck in boot camp.

Nonetheless, Major Sumida had them make the first attempt. Two thirds of the girls were overtaken in the first twenty yards, and Autumn was overtaken in fifty. Only Mari managed to run almost all the way, but the Major had already called off the first attempt.

"Is this a penalty battalion? Come on girls!"

The Major and his subordinates spurred on the girls to run not based on their normal capacity, but based on the enhanced capacity provided by each Lieutenant's formations.

Unlike the Transport formation she had been part of with Wei and Kazumi, this formation was wild and uncontrolled, demanding that each girl try to run faster than they ever had before.

The Major slowed his own units down twice, and finally they were able to execute the run ahead of the men for the full length of the field. This was like some kind of sport kids played back home, Autumn mused.

After the running, Major Sumida drilled them on the types of attacks to make for their demonstration. Overly-aggressive, mostly concerned with causing harm and unconcerned with defense. The Major said that the wave strategy relied on extreme aggression followed by reasonable support. The Wave was supposed to trouble the enemy before the main Men's units arrived.

Woman fighters were not looked on with such disdain at home, despite the amusement. Here, where they seemed to have this whole force of an army of women, Major Sumida was blatantly disrespecting them.

Would he have disrespected the other 20 platoons in the same way? He didn't seem to be targeting this group specifically as worse than the other platoons, underlike Lieutenant Takai, who wanted them to all graduate to the higher Platoons.

In the middle of round after round of practicing their aggressive strikes, Major Sumida singled out her.

"Private Setsu. Please show your fellow girls how you attack aggressively," he asked.

Autumn imagined that Ho Junko was in front of her and she struck downward and to the right, twisting her blade as if to shake off the attempted deflection from her foe. She proceeded to chop and move through the girl, proceeded to take off the head of Rieff Chan and the hands of Hejl Yaeko.

"That is how you strike foe after foe. You may even be able to kill the enemy, but at least you will wound him and drive him back. Girls, pay attention."

Finally, the Major pointed out their plan for this training exercise. They would march a day into the east, into the Wasteland, and then they would run their Wave maneuvers again. Major Sumida made them promise to stay together in their platoon marching units, that no one was to leave his or her own platoon when they were camped that night.

They would miss Monday's schoolwork, but what choice did the girls and their leaders have in the face of the man of superior rank commanding them.

Autumn had never been near the Wastelands back home. The Eastern edge of the Empire was rather poor and Autumn rarely traveled far from home back then.

"We've got plenty of water thanks to our skilled Admin-Type Logistics Sub-Type Pathists," the Major had said to everyone's question. "It's dry, but you want get parched."

They marched steadily for most of the day on Saturday. Even girls like Private Toda were quiet as the weird interruption of normal Boot Camp weekends, combined with the spookiness of the wasteland, had everyone on edge.

Even the dirt out here in the Wasteland was an unusual pale gray color. Nothing was living, not even a little insect.

When they woke up Sunday morning, Autumn was shocked to be called out again, for a different reason. Lieutenant Nora was standing beside the tent Autumn had shared with Mari and Privates Toda and Tominaga.

Autumn made her way out of the tent, straightening her uniform. "Lieutenant?" she asked.

"Private Setsu, is there any reason your sister would have left camp last night? Private Miyata is gone as well," Lieutenant Nora, who was their Platoon leader, asked.

"Actually, we're right here, Lieutenant, you didn't see us?" Kazumi said as the two girls approached.

"I told Private Miyata I thought I saw something, so we went to the edge of camp to look," Wei said.

"It's not safe to wander off, girls. The Major told you not to leave your platoon." Lieutenant Nora said. "We'll deal with this later, but what did you see?"

"I couldn't tell, but I think there's another arny out there. Maybe it's Captain Tsuda and his group?" Kazumi said.

"Let me talk to the Major about this," 1st Platoon's lieutenant said.

The other girls in her tent got up, and they all stood waiting with Wei and Kazumi as well.

No one had packed for actual cooking food, so everyone was eating their rations. Third brother took her out for a picnic and a campfire once, but there wasn't a single fire here. They all had food that didn't have to be cooked in their bags, so their camp was just a bunch of tents set up in this inhospitable place.

Finally, Major Sumida showed back up with Lieutenant Nora.

"At ease, privates. I understand that Private Setsu Wei and Private Miyata spotted what they thought was an army? I think you've spotted the South Winds army, a small contingent that's planning on sneaking through the Wasteland to get up to the North Winds.

"Even a small South Winds army may be able to destabilize the situation in the North Winds even more. Lieutenant Nora believes it's one of your girls' armies out there. Perhaps Captain Tsuda or your first Lieutenant's team.

"Private Setsu Shūsui, I was impressed with your fighting prowess during training yesterday, so I'll give you the choice: accompany our 1st Platoon as we search for any South Winds forces, or you can join Lieutenant Nora. She will be taking your 1st Platoon girls to look for the other Cherry Blossom group.

It's possible we are both correct, if so, Lieutenant Nora, then it will be crucial that you pull back the other girls to this camp. I'll have Lieutenant Takai maintain a full watch here in case anyone approaches camp.

Vote:

[ ] Join Major Sumida's 3rd Company, 1st Platoon while they search for any South Winds armies in the Wasteland. The Regular army 1st platoon is drilled and trained to handle contacting the enemy as a scouting group.

[ ] Join Lieutenant Nora's 1st Platoon while they look to see if Captain Tsuda or the 1st Lieutenant are out in the Wasteland. Wei and Kazumi have seen something, they may be able to pinpoint the search, but 1st Platoon is unprepared for real action.