Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, United States.
April 6.
0600 AM
Heavy panting is heard as blonde ten year old kid runs through the forest. The sound of waves crashing on a rocky shore is heard as he breaks through the bushes into a small clearing overlooking the sea. He grins widely as he sees the Montana-Class battleship, the U.S.S Montana, sailing into port.
"OI!" He shouts, waving his arms in the air. The men and women on the deck all wave back as they sail on by. He grins even wider.
"Scythe!" A female voice shouts, and a blonde ten year old girl bursts from the bushes.
"Silvia!" The boy shouts, looking to his twin sister.
"Mom made lunch! Come on!" The girl says, taking Scythe by the arm.
"Someday that will be me sis!" Scythe says, with childlike innocence. "I'm going to be an Azure Wave!" Silvia grins, as she waves to the passing ship.
"Defend the sea!" She starts.
"Establish peace!" He continues.
"And protect the world!" They both shout. "That's the Azure Waves!" They laugh as they make their way home.
7 years later,
August 16,
An older but obviously familiar Scythe rushes through the waterways on his Skiff with Silvia holding onto him as he speeds on. Both are heading towards the Pearl Harbor Naval Highschool for their first day. The two spent the three years of middle apart at separate schools, and today was the first time they've seen each other in three years, with Scythe being at the mainland.
"Silvia, if we're late I'm blaming you." The blonde male says.
"Eh bro! Sorry if I got cuddly!" Silvia giggles sheepishly. Scythe grins in exasperation as he drifts into a parking spot. The twins get off their skiff and briskly walk into the masses of other students. Silvia was spinning around with a slight skip in her step while Scythe calmly follows. Both where dressed casually, as they'd receive their uniforms one they're assigned their ships. The two fall into the mass of students in the courtyard. The twins talk to each other, catching up when the principal clears his throat.
"Welcome to the Pearl Harbor Naval Highschool." The principal says, "I'm Isaac Finch. Congratulations on passing the entrance exams. In a few moments we will be passing out your ship assignments. Come April the U.S.S Fletcher will sail to Yokosuka Marine Girls High School for joint operations, as well as the Admiral Graf Spee from Wilhelmshaven High School. We would send our Iowa Class Battleship the Missouri, but Yolosuka requested a destroyer it would be easier to keep up with their own destroyers." Isaac looks over the assembled students. "Instructors please pass out ship deployments and direct them to uniforms storage." Scythe and Silvia eye the white uniformed instructors as they make their way through the crowd, until a tall male walks up to them.
"You the Sasin twins?" He asks. Both nod. "Congratulations, same ship and everything." The instructor hands both of them a sealed envelope and moves on. Both open their orders.
"U.S.S Fletcher, Captain." Scythe mutters.
"Ditto, except I'm Deputy Captain." Silvia says. She grins and then…
*Glomp*
She nearly tackles her brother to the ground in a hug. Scythe sighs as he follows the rest of the students to uniform storage. Dressing in a blue and grey camouflaged fatigues. Joined by Silvia, he walks the docks looking for his ship. Standing beside the Fletcher, he stares at it.
"Five single mount 38 caliber cannons, two quintuple torpedo tubes that launch Mark 16 mod 1 torpedoes. Five twin 40 mm Bofos mounts plus seven single 20mm Oerlikons AA cannons. Two depth charge racks and six K-gun depth charge throwers." He mutters. "Maximum speed of 36.5 knots with side armor of 13 mm. Steam turbines." He grins. "She ain't a brawler but she's a run-and gun type. We got speed and maneuverability working for us." Silvia nods.
"We are supposed to report to the Fletcher classroom after we dress." She says. Scythe nods and the two quickly make their way back to the school. Making their way through the school, the siblings enter their classroom.
"Captain on deck!" A student shouts. Startling the twins. Everyone in the class snaps to attention. Scythe blinks.
"As you were, no need to be so formal around me." He says. "I guess I'll do introductions while we wait. I'm Scythe Sasin, your captain, just call me Scythe."
"I'm Silvia Sasin, I'm the Deputy-Captain, call me Silvia." Silvia says, a grin on her face.
"I'm Ryan Evans, your Chief Navigation Officer." A tall and muscular teen says, his voice booming.
"I'm Susan Queen, your personnel recorder." An African-American girl with pink hair says.
"I'm Paige Victoria, I'm your Chief Artillery Officer." A long, blonde haired girl says, her voice holding a slight British accent in it.
"I'm Mark Einz, your Chief Torpedo Officer." An Asian-American teen says.
"I'm Mary Russel, Chief Engineer." A bright-eyed brunette says. Scythe turns to the next when the doors open again.
"Take your seats!" The blonde instructor shouts, walking to the front desk. The students fill in the seats. "Welcome Fletcher class. I'm your instructor, Cynthia Frost. Captain, rise." Scythe stands and salutes. "At ease. Alright. We leave at 0600 tomorrow, I'm leaving it to you to get your crew acquainted to the ship." Scythe nods as he takes a seat. "Dismissed." Instructor Frost leaves the room, and once the door closes, the class continues their introductions. Cecilia Alice was on the sonar, Christopher Ryans was the Medical Chief. Amelia Smith was in charge of the galley. Scythe and Silvia made their way around the room, meeting everyone. Once introductions are over, Scythe moves to the front of the room.
"The Fletcher is in Pier 3." The captain says. "I'll trust that each of you have training in your positions. Grab your gear. Susan, can I trust you to get room assignments out?" The pink-haired girl grins and nods. "Thanks, everyone, get your gear and find your rooms, then check your stations. Get acquainted with it. After that get some sleep, we have an early morning and I need everyone at full alert. Orders delivered, copy?"
"Wilco." The class responds. Scythe leads the way as the class makes their way towards Pier 3. Boarding with their gear, Susan rushes off with her tablet to find room assignments for everyone. After settling in their respective quarters, Scythe and Silvia make their way towards the bridge. Running his hand over the wheel, whistling as he runs over the smooth finish. He stands off to the front, chuckling slightly as he looks out over the deck through the windows in the front. Silvia was watching as the rest of the bridge crew arrives. Ryan arrives first, slightly squeezing through the bulkhead door. The teen makes a beeline towards the wheel and adjusts to the feel of it. The large teen does the same for the throttle. Mark and Paige enter soon after. Scythe grins as he greets his combat officers while Susan slips in.
"Mary, how's the engine room looking?" Scythe asks into the coms.
"She's got two steam turbines, but make sure we don't max her out for too long." Mary says, watching over the rest of the engineers. Scythe laughs.
"Alrighty!" He says, before turning to the shipwide coms. "Heyo, this is the Captain. Once everyone gets used to their stations you should hit the bunks. Susan has directed your quarters to your personal datapads. Over and out." Scythe moves from the coms. "Ryan, you and I have night watch today. Tomorrow we will set up a schedule." The helmsman nods. The rest of the bridge crew slowly make their way towards their bunks. "Lights off."
"Roger." Ryan says, hitting the switch. The room is flooded with red light as the sun slowly sets. The two hunker down for a long night.
The next day.
Scythe woke the rest of the crew at 0530, and made sure that Silvia could handle launching before dismissing Ryan and himself for some quick shut-eye.
"U.S.S Fletcher moving out, one fourth speed, get us to open water bearing 170 degrees out of the harbor." Silvia says, "Steady as she goes." The Fletcher moves slowly away from the docks. Her crew waiting for whatever happens in the future.