"It's only a computer error."

Once all the information was processed, Naomi simply shrugged.

"Ah well. What can you do? I got a feeling that the trip to the mall is needed more than ever now, hmm?"

"You're so right!" Alisa grabbed Naomi by her arm. "Let's go before someone else sticks a job on us. If we're quick enough, we can maybe squeeze in planning our American adventure before the night gets too late."

***

The Following Morning

The buzz of Alisa's alarm was an assault on her tranquility, equal to one hundred thousand artillery pieces, all firing simultaneously right outside her dorm. The ear-piercing sound woke her instantly, but she remained still in bed for half a minute, irritated and not at all excited for the day ahead of her. She sure as hell didn't expect the first day of summer vacation to involve her waking up at four in the morning. Alisa wanted nothing more than to remain in bed, all snuggled under her covers, and sleep the morning away. Only when Naomi pestered her enough over the phone would she wake up, and the two would spend the day doing whatever, mostly having fun and eating till their stomachs were about to burst. However, Kay had other plans in mind. Alisa's and Naomi's inaugural day of summer vacation would compose of a multi-hour flight from the George Washington to mainland Japan and back again. No doubt, when they return, they'd be sapped of all of their energy.

Alisa slammed her digital alarm clock, shutting the thing up. She glanced at it and saw that the usual bright red numbers were gone. She broke the damn thing, though she didn't care much. Alisa threw off her blankets and sat up on her bed. She exhaled sharply and let out a loud groan.

"Ugh! Let's just get this over with!"

She packed some clothes and towels in a bag and went to the communal showers next to her dorm building. The showers were a ghost town at this early hour, so Alisa slipped into the first stall she saw and got freshened up. Though take-off wouldn't be for three hours, as there was a lot of work involved in pre-flight preparations, she couldn't afford to screw around too much.

Once the last bit of soap was washed off her body, the water was shut off, and she quickly dried herself. The clothes she brought in her bag were her flight suit, a uniform she didn't anticipate wearing for months. She stared at it for a moment, the articles of clothing thrown haphazardly into the bag. It was impossible for her not to unleash another groan before she put on her flight suit and zipped up her boots. One quick look was made into the mirror to check her twin short pigtails. Seeing them looking good brought a modicum of happiness. Once that was all done, Alisa left the showers in a huff. She made a brief return to her dorm to drop off the now-drenched towel in the bag and, once she closed her door, went off to the airfield where a massive cargo plane was waiting.

The airfield for Saunders' Airlift Division was an impressive place. Everything on the George Washington was outstanding. The simple fact that the school carrier had its own railway system, the only vessel of the entire Japanese school fleet to boast such infrastructure, was enough for those to learn that Saunder's was an exceptionally wealthy school. With insolvency the farthest concern for their coffers, Saunders spent their cash on whatever they desired; parties, festivals, and carnivals mostly. When not making their patron saint, the Greek goddess Hedrone, proud, Saunders used their deep pockets for other purposes. One was funding their Sensha-Do team, with them boasting the most extensive collection of tanks in all of Japan. With so many armored vehicles at their disposal, Saunders could customize their tank deployment to best combat whatever school was pitted against them.

Then, there was their Airlift Division.

Some other schools had aircraft of their own, but they didn't hold a candle to what Saunders' boasted. Ospreys, Superfortresses, DC-3s, C-130s, Super Galaxies, and more. Quite an impressive private air force with only the price tag for all of it the only thing even more so; a number easily in the hundreds of millions.