Vice Admiral Williams surveyed the shipgirl in front of him. The same who had filled the summoning chamber just hours earlier. She was, intriguing to say the least. All the Americans who had been summoned thus far were clearly of one design and purpose, be it battleship, destroyer, cruiser, etc. The same was true for the Japanese. (Shinano, despite her battleship upperworks, was clearly a carrier) Only the Royal Navy's Formidable, with that oversized gun on her flight deck, was the exception to that. But she paled in comparison to the utter complexity of this girl.
She was a combination of several designs. She carried an aviator's bow but lacked a flight deck. Instead her decks were composed of a mixture of massive sized luxuries and at least several large gunmounts. Her reddish-brown hair was braided down the center, the rest tucked behind her ears. The blouse she had on did nothing to hide her massive upperworks. She was well formed, extremely curvaceous even in shipgirl terms. Williams could already see the human woman and even some of his own shipgirls throttling her as they attempted to discover the secret of such curves. SMSB could only take the unnatural beauty so far right... right...? Oh and on top of all this, she's French! Well, is, was... Williams felt his sanity draining away just thinking about it. So she was summoned in America, identified herself as American but is clearly French in looks, charm, speech etc. Not too unlike Prinz Eugan come to think of it but anything relating to that girl and her habits he'd mercilessly shoved onto Gale, only hearing the essentials. Ever since she teamed up with Frisco and Lou, the three had been right terrors. When they weren't at sea, they could be found scheming or actively pranking usually with Taffy 3 in tow or sometimes acting as ringleaders. Williams shut down that train of thought before it took him places where his mind really didn't want to go at the moment. Because just the mental image of the last prank... Gah! He needed a drink! Right now! But first, to deal with the shipgirl in front of him.
"Lafayette."
"Sir." Though lacking experience, one could not fault her for her military discipline. Unlike most shipgirls he knew *cough*NewJersey*cough* Lafayette was exceptionally proper. She could almost be considered Washington's twin in that regard.
"Has Yeoman Gale briefed you on recent events?" He asked.
"Let's see. I know ze year is 2017, zere are very dangerous and deadly creatures zat you call Abyssals out at sea zat have been terrorizing ze world. And nations like America have been recruiting zeir own girls from WW2 to boost zeir depleted forces and fight back. Am I right, sir?"
"To the letter." He replied. "You're taking this better than I expected, Lafayette."
She nodded. "Zank you sir."
"Just one question." He began, noticing how she stiffened to an even straighter stance than before, if that was possible.
"You want to know why I came back to America when America was ze country zat destroyed me ze first time." She finished for him.
"On target as usual." He sighed.
"To answer your question Admiral, yes you destroyed me. But not on purpose, I know. You were try-ing to give me a chance to save my country. France is, not more than a distant memory for me now. I had, come to accept in New York zat I would likely never see its shores again. If zat remains the case, so be it. Even if it is not, I am a United States Ship. I announced myself as such when I arrived here. And I will serve in whatever capacity you see fit to put me in Admiral."
Surprised, and a bit stunned by her speech, Williams took his time responding. "Lafayette, welcome aboard."
She looked so happy, she could have cried. "Thank you Admiral!"
...
She was young, so young when it all ended for her. Her nation was in jeopardy as the storm swept across Europe, devouring her beloved homeland hill by hill, tree by tree. There was only one safe haven she could go to. A friend that would always welcome the stragglers, the poor, the weak, the afraid, the refugee... And they did. New York welcomed her with open arms, the people's hearts and thoughts warm towards her. Warm thoughts, warm feelings... And then that warmth became a blaze. She was to be converted. To become one of them. To help fight the evil reign that had her country in its grasp. And she longed to fight but it was not to be. The fire consumed her, leaving a lifeless corpse to be left to rot in the harbor in which it fell. Until war's end. GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS! The sound of her cloister bell broke through her slumber like a thunderclap! She could hear it, feel it! Hundreds of voices begging for her to return. ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! And why shouldn't she? She was a mix of many things, but was united in
"USS Lafayette AP-53 reporting. Vive l'amérique!"