Nighttime Stroll [Aluco]

[Konaa]

Night had fallen. Outside the walls of the Marine Base B-3, Loguetown slumbered...for the most part. In fact, the lights of the taverns were shining bright in the darkness, with the sound of drunken debauchery often drifting along with the wind. There were sure to be would-be pirates amongst the revelers, causing all sorts of mischief, but that was a problem for the night patrols, which, thankfully, Konaa never seemed to get assigned to.

No, instead, he was on base patrol, which was only marginally better. Forced to wander the corridors with weapons on hand, looking for trouble should it decide to appear. Not that it ever would. What was the point of a base patrol at this time of night? Or any time? No one was going to break into B-3, they'd have to be nuts. There were over a hundred gun turrets and about ten thousand Marines stationed here. No one was going to try anything. But he knew what they'd say. "That sort of attitude let Hard Hat sack the base! Get back to work! Grah, I'm an officer!" Old bastards.

Not bothering to conceal a yawn, he strode through the empty hallways, slouched over and with his hands in his pockets. It stood to reason that people should be sleeping at this hour, not working. His bed was calling to him...Konaa knew he could get in huge trouble for ditching a patrol, though, so he was hesitant to go to sleep until his shift was over. The things he did to keep this job that he didn't even like. But then again, it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.

Oh well. Like he said, nothing was going to happen, so he might as well just suck it up and get this over with...

[Vio]

The air was cold, a piercing chill that sliced through every layer of clothing as effortlessly as the sharpest of blades. Even so, the sounds of drunkards and rambunctious youths echoed through the port town, very much keeping the place alive, even in the dead of night. Marines were always sent to patrol the town at night and make sure everything was in check, a prime example of the terrifying efficiency of B-3. Even the base itself would not go unguarded, after all, Loguetown was the last major stop for pirates who dared test their strength and wits against the Grand Line.

Between the flickering lights of taverns and less moral facilities, shadows danced. Loguetown was always plagued by the scum of the seas, pirates, who thrived on mayhem and disorder. Outlaws whose undefined job was to spread panic and chaos, the exact opposite of the Marines, whose sworn duty was to procure peace and order. Still, amongst the Marines were those who saw justice as something that a mere uniform could not truly define. One such Marine resided in B-3, but something in her changed under the cover of night.

A shadowed figure landed, barely making a sound, on the surrounding wall of B-3, face obscured by a veil of fabric. The faceless intruder scrutinised the grounds, checking for signs of activity, before descending to the earth and quietly dashing into the cover of the building, bypassing a pair of recruits who had been stationed at the entrance for guard duty. Sliding open a window, the figure rolled inside, quietly closing the entrance point again, removing the small wedge of wood that had kept it from shutting properly.

East corridor, ground floor. First right, second left, second right. The trespasser recited internally, having astounding knowledge of the interior layout of the Marine base. This, of course, was no normal intruder. Quite the opposite, this one was welcome here, serving as a recruit during the day, but with a different agenda at night. Sliding the veil of fabric from over her eyes, Aluco examined the corridors, taking shallow and silent breaths. Cautiously following her designated route, the young woman treaded lightly through the base. Currently there was no sign of the night watch, which was good, as having her cover blown would be disastrous to her reputation as a Marine. Not that she had much of one.

Aluco had returned from her hunt, having scouted worthy prey during the day. Still, her skills needed improving. She was not yet ready to take on bigger fish, but the incessant flow of rookie pirate crews and meagre criminals was good enough to keep her skills refined. She was an assassin, a faceless predator whose sworn duty was the eradication of those who would dare ride the tide of injustice. Justice was absolute, pure and simple; those who followed the rules were worthy of protection, those that broke them would feel Aluco's wrath.

Simple prey. Barely worth the effort, but judgment has been delivered. Another failure to our perfect world has been removed. It was quite a simple target, a wannabe Pirate King, inexperienced but full of potential. It was a shame really, that such a man would use his skills for a life of crime rather than for the sake of justice. Aluco did not see it that way, though. To her, his existence had only been an unsightly blemish on an otherwise pristine and perfect world.

Aluco stealthily progressed down the final corridor, leading into the laundry room. It was here that she hid her gear, neatly stocking her assassin's garments and her set of daggers - the Hane no Tanken - into a concealed air vent. Nobody ever looked here, so it was the perfect place to store such equipment; readily accessible, but away from prying eyes. Aluco ended up working in laundry quite a lot, so she was familiar of the layout of the room. Mere yards from the door, she stopped dead. There was a yawn from around the corner, the sound of footsteps lazily shuffling along. The night patrol...

[Konaa]

Where was he now? Oh yeah, coming up on the laundry room. Hey, that reminded him...He still needed to steal a new jacket after that ditz Striggs had ruined his last one yesterday. Well, surely this must be fate, then, that he would happen to be coming upon it when no one was looking. ...Or cause and effect, seeing as he happened to be walking to a place and then got there. Details!

Rounding the corner ever so casually, his eyes happened to be closed at that moment, meaning that he advanced a whole three steps towards the disguised Aluco before he abruptly noticed that there was some sort of stranger ahead of him at the other end of the hall. Dressed mostly in subdued browns, and wearing some sort of weird headgear presumably as a disguise...Who the hell?

Konaa blinked a couple of times, late hours and general drowsiness making his brain move a little slowly, not that his awkwardness about anything having to do with this job helped. Wh...This is awkward. Who is she? A mailman? Wait, what the hell am I thinking? What kind of mailman would break in here at this time of night? I'm not catching the idiot disease, am I?

So, an intruder then. Oh. Yeah. He was...a guard, wasn't he. Oh boy. This was not supposed to happen. This was probably the moment where his bluff about being a Marine in spirit as well as name was being called. What should he do? It looked as though...he would have to take this test. This test of his true devotion to the Marine cause...

His expression having not changed outwardly since he noticed Aluco, he kept walking forward, opened the laundry room and went inside.

Yeah, screw that.

[Vio]

Aluco froze, quietening her breathing and keeping her head turned away. If she had been spotted, at least whoever was on night watch would be unable to identify her. Hesitating momentarily, unaware of whether or not she had been spotted, Aluco silently slid into the laundry room.

The room was quite a large one, divided by several counters upon which uniforms would be piled high. Marines usually had two sets of uniform, their original and a spare, which were washed thoroughly every day by the laundry teams, keeping them clean and spotless. On one side of the room, several basins were positioned, with cupboards of soap and water faucets jutting from the walls. Here, the laundry team would thoroughly scrub the uniforms to remove stains and dirt before hanging them to dry on the washing lines that criss-crossed the ceiling. Jackets and such would possibly be ironed if needs be, and a small boiler sat in the one corner of the room, irons ready to be heated. It was a simple system; simple, but effective. Marines would never be seen in dirty uniforms, that was certain.

Aluco rolled behind a large laundry basket, full of fresh jackets, in the one corner of the room. Hopefully the night patrol had failed to spot her, if not, the laundry room was full of viable hiding places - very difficult for a lone guard to search thoroughly without leaving opportunities for escape. Her other reason for hiding her gear here was that it allowed her to change into normal marine uniform afterwards, as if nothing had even happened.

The door opened, the sound of footsteps betraying the presence of the night watchman entering. Aluco remained as calm and as silent as possible but, most importantly, she did not move a muscle. Aluco's night vision was very acute, utilising what little light she had available in the dark and dingy laundry room in order to see what was around her. Fortunately, she had the layout memorised due to previous visits, so that certainly helped her. The chances are that the night watchman would be unable to see much of anything in here without turning the lights on. Just in case, she pulled the fabric veil back down over her face, concealing her amber eyes.

If needs be, Aluco. Do not hesitate to knock them unconscious. We must keep our identity a secret.

[Konaa]

Whatever that intruder was after, he hoped they would just get themselves caught by someone else or find it and leave, because like hell was he going to bother with something like that. Who cares if they wanted to steal something or whatever. The Government could certainly afford a replacement for whatever it was. More importantly, though, his shift would be over in an hour and arresting someone would definitely cut into that. They didn't pay him enough for him to care about some weirdo in baggy pants or whatever loitering outside the laundry room in the dead of the night.

Now, speaking of laundry...Taking a few steps forward into the room, he cast his eyes about, squinting in the darkness. He could see the washbasins and some of the spare uniforms, but...It was too dark and too damn big for him to make his way around. Dammit. After a moment of fumbling, he hit the light switch, wincing slightly. "Ow! Ngh."

Now then, jackets...jackets...Aha! There was a basket full of them in the corner! "There you are, you rascals." Humming to himself, he strode over slowly towards them, his footsteps echoing somewhat ominously. The young Marine got on his knees and started rifling through the basket, looking for one his size...

Just glancing upwards for a moment caused him to spot the intruder, hiding, now quite conspicuously, behind the laundry basic. Ah........ Another awkward pause passed between the two, his face showing clear exasperation, leaving no doubt that he knew she was there.

...Dammit! The hell's your problem!? Pick a better hiding place! Blinking, it occurred to him that he perhaps ought to grab something with which to defend himself. In the meantime, might as well address them..."Er...erhm. State your...business.."

[Vio]

Lights erupted across the room, Aluco momentarily bedazzled by the sudden change of brightness. Even so, heavy footsteps treading across the bare floor made it clear that her pursuer was in the room. However, the hollowness of the laundry room served only to make the sound reverberate from every conceivable angle. By the time her eyes had adjusted, the night watchman was already right by her, rummaging through a basket of clean jackets.

"There you are, you rascals," the watchman had said, his voice somewhat familiar to Aluco. He had hummed gently as he had approached and, at first thought, Aluco had believed she had been caught. She remained silent, inside and out, hoping that the guard would walk off without spotting her. Of course, when you looked for something, the chances are you would never find it, but in this case, Aluco was the one thing this watchman was hoping not to find.

Aluco's veiled eyes met her adversary's as he glanced up, an awkward moment of silence passing between the two. He looked worried and anxious, as too did Aluco, though her face was concealed. After a slow blink, the watchman spoke, "Er...erhm. State your... business..."

The way he spoke and his sleepy eyes, made even worse by the night, assured Aluco that this was no one to be worried about. In her current guise, there was no way that Konaa, a fellow marine recruit whom she had met prior, could recognise her. This idiot again? Why was he assigned to night patrol? Still, at present, it was better to stay silent and take action. Even though her usual side was asleep, it was still preventing the currently in-control side from taking drastic action. This was a simple task, just knock him unconscious without causing any major damage.

Quickly and without much sound, Aluco rolled out from behind the laundry baskets, adopting a stance ready for hand-to-hand combat. Konaa was not exactly the most alert or skilled of marines, so defeating him should not be that much of a challenge. Then again, Aluco did not know what to expect; she had never once seen him in a combat situation. Even complete idiots can become ferocious warriors, as proven with a certain Straw Hat-wearing pirate whom Captain Smoker had left B-3 in pursuit of.

Examining his form from behind her tawny veil, Aluco could see that Konaa had a sword with him, just a standard issue sabre carried by recruits, but still, a weapon. Just in case, she had her daggers concealed across her body, should she need to defend herself blade-to-blade. Her heart raced, ten-to-the-dozen, waiting patiently for Konaa's first move. Stealth was no a necessity here, her marine comrade already had the upper hand, probably without even knowing it.

[Konaa]

There was something oddly familiar about the intruder. Definitely a girl, from her figure, that much he could tell. He couldn't place it, but he had the feeling he'd met her before...

Before he could really pin it down in his head, though, the intruder had rolled out from behind the baskets and raised her arms in a threatening manner. A small sound of surprise escaped Konaa's mouth before he stumbled back a couple of paces, hands raised in protest. Great, he had apparently interrupted the great laundry thief's flawless, no sightings career and now she was really angry about it. What should he do? From her stance, it was clear she knew how to fight, something that he did in well...in theory. Theories are rather tricksy things, though, that don't always hold up on closer examination.

Dammit, why did something like this have to happen on MY shift? What did I do to deserve this?

"E-ehehe, hang on, hang on." He tried waving his hands slowly in what he hoped was a peaceful gesture. "There's no need to get all violent with the hands and the hurting me and such. L-look, I'm sure you have a perfectly good reason for being in here! ...In a Marine base. In the laundry room. At around two in the morning." Konaa's face fell a bit with each addition. He didn't sound convincing. But it was her fault! Why was she doing something so weird, anyway!?

"So howsabout I just, uh, let you go about your business and we pretend this never happened, alright?" Fitting what he hoped was an agreeable smile on his face, Konaa prayed in a God he honestly didn't believe in even slightly that she didn't think he was up to something or anything.

[Vio]

Raising her fists and adjusting her stance, Aluco prepared herself for combat. Steadying her heartbeat and breathing, she readied herself for the scuffle that was about to come. Or, at least, would of, if Konaa had not of done everything in his power to avoid a conflict. And this was supposed to be a brave and honourable marine?

And this one calls himself a marine? He should be prepared to fight to the death for justice, regardless of the odds. Such a disgrace. Aluco partially dropped her stance as the cowardly Konaa continued his attempts at avoiding direct conflict.

"So howsabout I just, uh, let you go about your business and we pretend this never happened, alright?" Konaa blurted, obviously trying to hide his fear and persuade the masked woman, Aluco, not to attack him. She knew that, from his current display, he was of little danger to her, his usually unsociable attitude would be perfect for avoiding drawing attention to herself. As long as someone knew, the chance of her being found out was high, but in Konaa's case it was far less worrisome. All Aluco needed to do was 'persuade' the cowardly youth not to say a word about this encounter.

Just, try not to hurt him. Aluco plead in her mind. Her other self slid two fingers into her outfit, locking them around the slender grip of a smaller Hane no Tanken. This fluted steel knives were crafted much like a katana, forged of many layers of steel, folded again and again, giving the double-edged blades a feathery look, alternating streaks of light and dark metal.

Drawing the blade out slowly, Aluco flicked the knife in Konaa's direction, the blade quietly slicing through the air, aiming not for the marine's face, but at the stack of empty baskets that stood behind him. As quickly as she had hurled the knife, the fingers of her other hand reached inside her sleeve, grasping a lengthier knife and drawing it out about a third of the way.

[Konaa]

Oh jeez, if looks could kill, burlap-sack-burgler here would've dropped Konaa where he stood. For whatever, reason, there seemed to be some anger emanating from this intruder, in response to what he had said? What? It was perfectly reasonable! Surely they'd want to go unreported? Did Konaa offend the honor of the Great Laundry Thief or something?

Looking closely, he saw her arm reach inside her clothes, pulling out something...metal and sharp-looking. Oh no. Oh, this was bad. Konaa had faced people with weapons before, but never without backup. This was just him and this psycho laundry freak alone in the middle of the night. He knew that as a Marine, he should be prepared to face danger, but...he'd kind of just assumed that it straight up wouldn't happen to him and he could ignore that part. Guess not.

As the blade was drawn out and hurled, Konaa froze up. Sweat covered his face. He wanted to move and run, but his feet felt rooted to the ground. Fear was doing more damage to him than the blade ended up doing, as it passed by his head with a quiet whisper and stuck itself into something behind him.

What!? Come on, that...That was way too precise for some idiot laundry burglar!

And another one was already being drawn! She was fast. She wasn't just some thief...Was she an assassin?

...Did she come here to kill someone? The thought of it..Was odd. He was afraid, yes. But not for himself? No. She'd aimed to miss. She was attempting to intimidate him. Meaning that she wanted insurance that he would not tell anyone. Of course he wouldn't! Why would he try to get on the bad side of this crazy person?

Shivering, he raised a hand up, trying to convey his harmlessness. "I-I got it, okay!? I never saw you!" The same thing, more or less, that he'd suggested. But now? Something felt wrong about this. He felt...guilty. Why? What was so wrong about covering himself? He just didn't understand his own feelings..

[Vio]

Aluco watched as the knife flew by the marine's head, Konaa's face frozen with a look of terror, a cold sweat rolling over him. A few seconds passed, though for both parties involved it probably seemed like hours - Konaa was struck with the fear of an assassin, Aluco wrapped in the worry that she may be discovered by one of the higher-ups. Certainly, a nerve-wracking moment for both of these young marines.

Drawing the next blade a little further out, Aluco watched and listened to Konaa's unnerved response. Rather than reaching for a weapon to defend himself with, the intimidated recruit raised a hand, his entire physique shivering with fright.

"I-I got it, okay!? I never saw you!" Konaa exclaimed, his voice trembling along with his body as he tried to reason with his opponent. At least he is wise, Aluco. Your imbecile of a comrade will be spared. She released the knife, letting it quietly slide back into her sleeve and, with the same arm, pointed towards the door. It was a simple command, uttered without words, that even a complete simpleton would have clearly understood.

Leave. Leave. Aluco's body mouthed that very word which both sides of her had thought. Her amber eyes, hidden by her tawny veil, observed Konaa's every following action. It was fortunate that no harm had befallen him, he could probably count himself lucky. If he just forgot this ever happened, all would be well.

Even so, a look of confusion had moved across the marine's face just moments ago, as if he was struggling to understand his own feelings. Aluco understood that confusion all too well, having to contend with two forms of herself whose views on the world, though similar, were of two drastically different things.

[Konaa]

So far, the "flee and forget this ever happened" camp was enjoying quite the superior position in his brain. It was what he had already planned to do and was his first natural reaction to danger, at any rate. The assassin was even helping - a simple gesture with her arm, pointing towards the door. Right. Crystal clear. Even panicked, with the pounding of his heart echoing throughout his whole body, he understood that perfectly well.

But...this new contender in the politics of Konaa's brain, this...sense of duty, wasn't shutting up so easily. This person didn't mean well. She was armed and knew how to use these weapons. Someone could be hurt. Sense of duty was adamant to win the election on the platform of basic empathy. Draw your sword, Seaman Recruit! What purpose other than to protect the innocent did you enlist?

I ENLISTED because that stupid orphanage didn't prepare me for life on my own in the slightest! his ordinary self seemed to reply. And I'm NOT doing this crisis of conscience thing while being threatened at knifepoint at 2 AM in the damn laundry room! I am NOT crazy, nor do I argue with myself in my head!

That settled the debate. Sorry, sense of duty, but voter turnout was just not great for your party. As for the outside and ordinary world, he gave the assassin - no, laundry thief, she was just armed because she was stupid, much the same reason why she was a laundry thief - a brief nod, before shuffling outside and calmly closing the door.

Exhaling loudly, he took a couple of moments to gather himself, before he continued on his round, ignoring the guilt that seemed to weigh down his every step.

[Vio]

Aluco stared as Konaa stood still for a moment, probably mulling over his available options. Eventually, the young marine made his move, calmly shuffling out of the laundry room and quietly closing the door behind him. Finally. Aluco waited patiently, before the sounds of a loud sign and footsteps assured her that Konaa was leaving. Alone at last.

Aluco approached the stack of empty baskets, clutching the handle of the knife she had tossed and withdrawing the fluted blade, leaving a barely noticeable incision in the weave of the straw. Wear and tear were commonplace, many a basket had given way due to continuous usage, hauling dirty and clean uniform alike back and forth between barracks and laundry room. A small tear like that would be of no concern, if not completely overlooked.

Quietly, Aluco positioned a wooden stool beneath the air shaft in which she hid her gear. These simple ducts ran throughout the base, allowing airflow between rooms. Removing the grated panel, Aluco reached in and removed her original uniform, neatly folded and perfectly clean, as expected. Placing this on the worktop, she removed her hood and veil, undressing from her assassin's get-up, folding it and making sure it was clean as she dressed herself in her uniform. The knives, all present and correct, were quickly wiped clean of any blood, leaving them spotless, before being bundled up inside the outfit.

-----

The following morning, Aluco was up and alert, as always, with little to no signs of fatigue from the night's adventures. Years of training allowed her to keep herself awake for prolonged periods of time, but to make up for this, she slept like a log. Certainly, if not for her internal clock being so strict, she would probably never wake up even if Loguetown was overrun by Revolutionaries.

Still, as expected of Aluco Striggs, she had already taken on more than her fair share of work and training, bubbling with an enthusiasm which her fellow marines often found quite unnerving. By now, however, it was lunch and the overzealous recruit was taking a well-deserved break in the base's cafeteria, chewing on a sandwich that contained more mayonnaise than tuna. I wonder how Konaa's doing...

[Konaa]

There was something noticeably off about Konaa that morning. While his behavior within the base's halls was usually to slink down the halls, shoulders slouched and expression bored and drowsy, today, he appeared more than a little distraught by something, as much as he tried to hide it. Looking down, constantly tugging the ends of his hair, fingers twitching...His body language was not exactly quiet about that fact, and as a result, he got more than a few odder than usual looks from his fellows.

He'd had no idea that this would end up plaguing him so much. When he'd woken up that morning, there had been a massive sinking feeling in his stomach, like a rift. It only took him a few moments to remember why - the events of last night's patrol. There really was no ducking around the fact that he'd straight up abandoned his duties and let a potentially dangerous intruder run free just because she'd bullied him into keeping his mouth shut. The first thing he'd done after getting out of bed was observe the mood of the base - all of the higher ups were where they should be and there was no panic or news of an intruder, so in the end, it had been harmless after all.

Yeah, like you knew that was gonna happen. You thought she could be here to kill an officer and you let her go just because you were afraid that you'd be killed yourself. Having lost that little battle, Sense of Duty was now occupying itself with pouring salt onto the wound, and Konaa considered that rather petty and bitter.

Honestly, you didn't even shout or try to raise the alarm. Who knows, maybe she stole something important and nobody's noticed ye- Okay, NO. I am NOT doing this. I am not actually arguing with myself over this. If I had tried to stop her I would've gotten killed over damned laundry.

Looking up from his totally not crazy internal monologue, he saw that his wanderings had brought him to the cafeteria. Normally he didn't have much of an appetite around lunchtime, but today it felt like trying to eat would make him sick. Turning to go, he spotted a familiar silhouette out of the corner of his eye. For a moment - it seemed almost like that girl from last night. But, no, it was just Striggs.

Now, Striggs would've fought tooth and nail to defend their underwear even if it meant death. ...Yeah, that wasn't exactly what he considered ideal, but it was honestly looking admirable in comparison by this point. He found himself walking towards her table, before he even knew what he was consciously doing. For whatever reason - he felt some sort of need to speak to her.

Stopping somewhat short of sitting down, he looked up at Aluco, only a few feet away at this point, and coughed. Awkward. "Striggs." It wasn't much of a greeting, but it was the most people usually got from him.

[Vio]

Aluco continued, steadily picking away at the sandwich, staring off into space. She was repeating the night's events in her mind, shaken a little by the fact she had been discovered. While she allowed her other self to take control at night, this was only a countermeasure, one she wished she did not have to employ. It was a way to balance out the actions of her two selves; the lighter Aluco would be in control during the day, but when night came, her darker side would be allowed free reign for a while. This way, internal conflict was kept to a minimum so that her body did not do anything drastic while both personas struggled for control.

However, the previous night's events had caused unwanted conflict, partially shaking the very foundations of Aluco's balanced mind. The kinder side had interfered--she had had to, else Konaa would have been injured--and so her alter ego was more restless as usual during the daylight hours. Like an owl, a normally nocturnal animal that hunts during the night, it will not hesitate to search for food during the day when hunger persists.

A coughing out of her surname caught her attention, Aluco turned, seeing the familiar visage of Konaa. He looked drained and restless, more so than was normal of the slothful recruit, clearly the remnants of his prior experience. Tilting her head back subtly and anxiously swallowing a mouthful of sandwich, Aluco looked at Konaa, unsure of what to say. You have to keep our indentity a secret, Aluco. You know what would happen if they found out.

"Good afternoon, Konaa!" Aluco said, a little more calmly than was normal of the bright and cheerful marine. She was trying to hide all her nerves and anxiety, and was doing quite a good job of it, at that. If she could just keep her cool all would be well, if not, she risked her violent personality lashing out at the kind of time when such behaviour would not go unnoticed.

"Looks like I won the race yesterday, didn't I?" Aluco smiled, referring to her previous encounter with her comrade, and one which he would recognise without suspicion. Just keep it together, Aluco.

[Konaa]

Given that he himself was way out of wack, it was perhaps not surprising that he failed to detect anything unusual about Aluco's behavior. She was just as incomprehensibly bright and active as ever, likely taking her one minute lunch break in between her self imposed 20 hour work day. Perhaps a slight exaggeration - perhaps.

Honestly, given that he hardly talked to anyone, it made little to no sense for him to be talking to her, someone he found to be annoying and completely opposite him in personality. But for whatever reason he had a hard time holding his usual mental grudges against Striggs. She was at least nice. That counted for something. Also, he found her clumsy nature somewhat endearing. Like a puppy trying to act like a police dog.

"...Race..?" What the hell was she- oh. Right. The "race." He'd totally forgotten about that. "Right, uh, sorry I...didn't really find you afterward. Something came up. You know. Marine - someone yells pirate you say 'bring em on' and such..." Why was he even bothering with this girl? Was he so guilty about his derelict of duty that he felt obligated to talk to someone who always fulfilled hers without question?

...Maybe she'd have a better idea than he did. Why not. Konaa decided he'd might as well try a new tact - honesty. Or something approaching it.

"...Say, Striggs, I had a question. I know it's a weird one, so you obviously don't have to answer. But...why do you try so hard?" He waved a hand about, gesturing at the other Marines eating and the like. "These guys...Yeah, sure, they're dutiful and all that great stuff, but you seem to push yourself way past anyone else. It's...well, frankly, I find it odd as hell and can't help but ask."