Clouseau hadn’t initially been much in favor of the plan that Sagara Sousuke and Kurz Weber had concocted. He and the de Danaan’s XO, Lieutenant Colonel Mardukas, were against the seajacking from start to finish, finding it “ludicrous” and “irrational.” But in the end, Colonel Testarossa and Major Kalinin steamrolled them by way of passive assent.
I’m a first lieutenant, after all. I’m close to being promoted to captain. It’s about time I started learning to play politics, he’d decided. After all, they trained daily for dealing with this kind of terrorism, so they knew how to play the other side of it, but...
“Though Lieutenant, I have to say, it’s fun to get to play the terrorists for once. Great way to relieve stress,” one of the PRT sergeants said happily, his submachine gun pointed at the navigator.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Clouseau said with a disgruntled expression. “And call me by my call sign in front of the hostages.” It was then that he got a report in from Mao, who’d been sent to secure the grand ballroom and surrounding area. “Uruz-1 here,” he began.
“Uruz-2, reporting in,” Mao told him. “First hall secured. We have 324 hostages including students and teachers, as well as 28 kitchen staff, including the cooks. Zero casualties. I decided to let them eat their dinner for now. We’ve also taken the captain into custody.”
“Roger,” Clouseau replied. “How is Ansuz doing?” ‘Ansuz’ was the call sign for the commander-in-chief of the Tuatha de Danaan battle group, Colonel Teletha Testarossa. It was only used during maneuvers in which she was outside of the submarine.
“She left the ballroom after Uruz-7 and Angel,” Mao told him.
Hearing that, Clouseau scowled. “Angel left the hall? I thought she was going to lay low with the other students.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll call them back soon,” Mao said reassuringly. “How are the other teams doing?”
“They’re about 80% finished,” Clouseau told her. “Zero casualties. We took the machinery room earlier and hijacked their communications systems. Some of the crew were apparently armed, and we did meet some minor resistance from them.”
No ordinary cruise ship would have armed security on board; those people must be soldiers in cahoots with the enemy, which meant they really were guarding something important.
“I see,” Mao observed. “So, should we continue as planned with the captain?”
“Yes, take him in,” Clouseau decided. “And... be gentle.”
Kaname walked swiftly, away from the ballroom full of students triumphantly tearing into their feast. When she finally reached an unoccupied smoking area, she gave Sousuke a hard kick in the rear.
“What are you doing?” he complained.
“Shut the hell up!!” she screamed at him. “It’s fine if you didn’t want to come on the trip! I don’t care if you have a party at your base, either! And I won’t ask what kind of dirty business you people get up to all day... But now you’re attacking our school? Seriously?!”
“Well, we’re not exactly attacking your school—”
“Like hell! And take off that mask, you...!”
“Ah... don’t pull it so hard,” he begged. “It hurts...”
Kaname yanked the balaclava off of the struggling Sousuke. “What the hell were you thinking?! Explain yourself!”
“Wait a minute, Chidori. Didn’t you read the emails I sent you?”
“Uh... well, actually...” Kaname hesitated. Things between her and Sousuke had been so strained lately that she’d deleted everything he’d sent her without a second glance.
“I wanted to tell you what was about to happen. But you wouldn’t let me speak to you, so—”
“F-Forget the emails!” One of Kaname’s deepest character flaws was her inability to just admit fault and apologize at times like these. “Th-There’s nothing you could say that could make seajacking okay! I thought you were the guys who fought terrorists! This makes no sense!”
That was when she heard a new voice just behind her. “Untrue. It makes perfect sense.” Rushing towards her now was the masked, ash blonde, submachine gun-wielding maid. In a way, her appearance was far more disturbing than that of a normal terrorist.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Kaname asked, slumping over.
In response, the masked maid—Tessa—smiled confidently. “Heh heh heh... I’m the brilliant leader of the Highly Discriminating Liberation Front, AKA, the HDLF.”
“That’s not what he called it before,” Kaname pointed out.
“Never mind that! The point is, I am the very evil leader of a highly-experienced terrorist cell. We spare neither women nor children!” With that, Tessa made a ‘pow-pow’ shooting motion with her gun.
“You’re the child here. See?” Kaname snatched the sunglasses off the other girl’s face.
“Ah! P-Please give those back...” With her face now uncovered, Tessa’s saucer-like eyes filled with tears, and she started flailing in panic. Feeling she’d proved her point, Kaname returned the sunglasses, and the other girl breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. These tough-guy glasses are the only thing keeping me from breaking under my guilty conscience...”
“Or you could just not commit terrorism?!” Kaname demanded irritably.
Tessa looked crestfallen. “You’re right... But this seemed like the safest and most reliable option. I truly am sorry for the fear and inconvenience we’ve caused the passengers. Putting on these sunglasses and comporting myself like a gang leader is the only way that I can maintain psychological balance...”
Kaname watched her skeptically for a moment, then said, “Gimme,” and snatched away her sunglasses again.
“Ahh... G-Give those back! Without those, I... I...” Tessa looked like she might cry.
“This is really hard on you, huh?”
“That’s what I’m telling you!”
“Chidori, stop,” Sousuke ordered. “Give them back to her.”
Sousuke’s chiding caused Kaname’s temper to flare anew. “Ngh... What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Give them back!”
“No way. Hmph!”
“You’re distressing the colonel! And I’ve been trying to explain things to you.”
“Explain better, then!”
Sousuke shook his head, exhausted by her continued hostility. “Enough, Chidori.
