1ST SORTIE

Katsuragi felt the wind spray in her face as she skated across the rich blue water of the Pacific Ocean and loved every second of it. Just one month had passed since she had found her fellow Kanmusu or "Ship Girls," and she had already received her first big assignment. She was traveling with Houshou, the venerable mother of the Japanese carriers and a Destroyer escort of the 6thDesDiv to a new naval base that had been established here in the Pacific to combat the mysterious creatures that the kanmusu had been summoned to fight. The Japanese had been the first to name them: Shinkaiseikan. The Abyssal Fleet. No one knew where they came from, besides the general assumption of 'the ocean depths,' but one thing was for sure, they were the enemies of mankind.

Some looked like monsters, others seemed like kanmusu themselves, they nevertheless possessed an immunity to conventional weapons that forced the militaries of the world to scramble for new tactics as the Abyssals claimed the oceans and all ocean-based commerce and travel ceased. Then a breakthrough; the discovery of the Ship Girls, who seemed to be the Abyssal's opposites in a way. Japan had been the first to field them, with other countries quickly following suit. Now the fight against the Abyssals had turned enough, at least here in the Pacific, that the countries with enough kanmusu to fight had gathered here at this remote base to hopefully finish the fight against this mysterious enemy.

Now Katsuragi could see the base in the distance as they closed on it at about 20 knots. her happiness subsided just a bit, mingled with nervous anticipation. Not only were some of Japan's best kanmusu stationed here, there were also representatives from five other countries as well. Initially, the countries with the most kanmusu had been Japan, the United States and Great Britain but gradually France, Germany and Italy had been catching up. There were even rumors of the Russians and Chinese having made some ship girls but those were unsubstantiated.

Katsuragi's nervousness was partly because of having to meet and work with these gaijin (foreign) ship girls but also her own comrades. She hadn't had the time to get to know many kanmusu before she'd left and now she was assigned to a bustling base where there would be many of them. It was just a little daunting.

"Katsuragi-chan! Please try to keep up. We're almost there!" called Houshou. To Katsuragi's slight chagrin, she only now saw that he'd been lagging behind the elder carrier.

Now that they were closer to the island the base was situated on, Katsuragi could make out more of the details. A concrete bulwark had been constructed along the side of beach they were sailing towards and had a wide row of stairs built into them, leading down into the water. Behind those were a row of pre-fabricated hangers that Katsuragi guessed was where the kanmusu deployed from. Behind those buildings, Katsuragi could see a neat sprawl of other buildings, some of which looked like they were still under construction.

On the top of the pier's steps, they could see a white-haired figure waving to them. Dressed in a modified Miko uniform and an armored muneate, Katsuragi instantly recognized her as Shoukaku, a fleet carrier kanmusu of the 5th Carrier Division and one of her seniors. In point of fact, as the newest standard carrier in the Japanese fleet, all of the carriers, including Taihou and Katsuragi's own sisters were her 'sempai.'

They sailed up to the steps and, without missing a beat, stepped from the water's surface up the steps to meet Shoukaku. The white-haired carrier clasped hands with Houshou, although she lost a bit of her composure and let out a sort of "meep!" sound when Houshou suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"I'm glad to see you are doing well, Shoukaku-chan," said Houshou.

"Uh, yes, Zuikaku and I are doing very well," replied Shoukaku, still a little discombobulated from the hug. She turned to Katsuragi.

"And you must be Unryuu and Amagi's little sister that I've heard so much about," she said, also clasping hands with Katsuragi, "They will be so pleased to see you."

"Where are Unryuu-nee-san and Amagi-nee-san?" asked Katsuragi, glancing over Shoukaku's shoulders to see if they were coming.

"They're in a debriefing, I'm sure they'll come see you as soon as they're out," replied Shoukaku, smiling warmly.

"And Zuikaku-san is here as well?"

"Yes, she is. I hear you've been wanting to meet your idol for a while now!" Shoukaku said, with a grin and and a wink. Katsuragi immediately flushed pink while the 6thDesDiv girls traded knowing looks.

Shoukaku greeted the 6thDesDiv girls next. She then began to show them around the base. It had indeed been newly constructed and was about 90% complete. The alliance of nations that had collaborated to build it had chosen an island that was itself deserted but close to some inhabited islands, both so that ship girls could guard convoys that came through that area and so that ship girls and base personnel alike could have somewhere to go on liberty. Most of the buildings had been constructed out of materials on the island, as it was still difficult for large transports to be successfully escorted across the oceans. These took the form of huts, dorms and the like made out of bamboo and other island wood, thatch and palm tree roofs. They were surprisingly water-tight and of course had been provided with air conditioning units to stave off the heat and humidity. There were some pre-fab units, mostly used for hangars, storage and the "docks" where kanmusu were repaired and the arsenal. The only building that had already been there when the base had begun to be built was an old colonial-style house, built on a small hill. Apparently the island had been a stopover point for trading many, many decades ago and this was the last remnant of that. It was supposed to be the Admirals' quarters and offices, but it needed a lot of work from having been abandoned for so many years.

There was also a training pool and training ranges set up for surface combat, Anti-Air combat, Anti-submarine warfare and Carrier training. Katsuragi was the most interested in this part of the base and was therefore pretty disappointed when no other carriers were there. The small party was just passing through the warehouse sector that stored the base's resources and equipment and other necessaries when they heard a raised voice from around a corner. Katsuragi, who had been the first of the group to round the corner, heard it too late and ran smack into the person coming the other way.

They both let out a startled, "oomph!" and collapsed to the ground, with Katsuragi falling flat on her butt. She shook her head few times to clear the disorientation and stared back at the person who had collided with her. She was obviously a ship girl, the rigging being a dead give-away, dressed in a blue coat that fastened down her right side with large brass buttons. The coat flared out below her waist, stopping just above the pair of navy socks she wore, tucked into typical "Ship Girl Shoes," shoes that resembled the hull of the ship they had once been, many of them with rudders for heels. Her midnight black hair spilled out in long black tresses from underneath a blue beret that had a tricolor, red, white and blue shield on it. The back-mounted rigging she wore included a flight deck mounted on her left side with the island assembly hugging the right side of her waist, indicating that she was a carrier. Her sea-green eyes glared back into Katsuragi's own.

"Fool! Watch where you are going!" she spat angrily, her voice carrying a strange accent Katsuragi had never heard before.

"Mon Dieu! Are you alright, Bearn?" asked one of the fallen ship girl's companions, who had bent down and began helping Bearn to her feet. She was dressed in a cream-colored jacket with a low-cut navy blouse underneath, a dark blue skirt. This was topped off by a beret as well but this one was cream as well with a red bobble on top. The third girl couldn't be anything other than a battleship, as if the two quadruple gun turrets with 15 inch barrels wasn't enough of a giveaway. This girl's outfit was very similar to Atago's but colored white with gold trim and double-breasted with two rows of brass buttons. She also had a blue sash, bordered in red running from right to left across her torso, and a shining leather belt with a brass buckle worn across her hips that had an officer's saber attached to it, sheathed in a scabbard made of the same shining leather and brass. This battleship girl did not wear a beret and had her dark blue hair tied up in a knot at the top-back of her head, with spiky strands artfully flaring out from it. Her violet eyes were narrowed in disapproval at the group of Japanese ship girls; clearly this battleship wasn't fond of the interruption either.

"I will be fine once I get this dirt of my clothes and rigging," grumbled the one called Bearn.

By this time, Fubuki and Houshou had helped Katsuragi back up as well. She was about to apologize to the foreign ship girl when she cut in again.

"You! What is your name?"

"I'm Katsuragi. I've just arrived here," she replied politely but with her impression of this foreign ship girl dimming every second.

"Well you should watch where you are going in the future!" replied Bearn haughtily, which only served to shorten Katsuragi's temper.

"Well maybe you should not hug the corners so tightly in the future!" she snapped back.

"Katsuragi," said Houshou in a low tone, clasping the younger carrier girl's elbow

The foreign girl looked like she was about to launch into a full blown argument but the battleship girl that had been with them fixed her with an imperious stare and said, "Bearn, Teste, we have places to be and things to do. Come along."

With a last imperious look from Bearn, the trio took off.

Before anything else could happen, a new voice called out to the group.
"Oy! Shoukaku-san!"

Katsuragi turned and saw a tall, dark-haired, fair-skinned man dressed in blue navy digital camo fatigues jogging towards them. By his accent they instantly pegged him as an American, although Katsuragi was somewhat surprised that he had added the honorific to Shoukaku's name.

"Shoukaku! Glad I caught you, Admiral Kawashima just finished debriefing Unryuu and Amagi and wants you to get prepped for deployment with them and the 2ndCarDiv."

"Thank you for letting me now," replied Shoukaku, with a slight bow, "But I'm surprised that you are delivering the message, Admiral."

Upon hearing this, the other girls immediately went to attention, as that was protocol, even when being addressed by a foreign flag officer.

"Oh I was already out and about. Indianapolis has gone to earth again and the others are raising hell so I thought I'd help find her."

"Well then, I'll head out. Admiral, can you take Houshou and the other up to the command building?"

"My pleasure," replied the American Admiral with a rakish grin.

Shoukaku said her farewells, receiving another hug from Houshou and the little group set off again, towards the old colonial house.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself," said the American Admiral, "I'm Admiral Samuel J. Kirk, commander, US Navy Pacific Allied Taskforce. I know Houshou-san by reputation," he said, giving her as much of gentlemanly bow as he could while walking, "And you four are the famous 6thDesDiv, right?"

That pronouncement cause all four sisters to go wide-eyed.

"You've heard of us in America?" asked Ikazuchi.

"Oh yeah, you've got quite a following. Something about, 'cutest Destroyers in the world.'"

That pleased Ikazuchi, Inazuma and Hibiki to no end but Akatsuki grumbled, "I'd prefer to be thought of as a splendid lady…"

"Although… you must forgive me, I don't know who you are, miss…?" Admiral Kirk asked, looking inquisitively at Katsuragi.

"I'm Fleet Carrier Katsuragi, third of the Unryuu-class! Um.. sir!" she said, puffing out her chest with pride.

"Ah, so you're Unryuu and Amagi's little sister, that was coming from Japan, right?"

"Yes sir! This is my first major assignment!"
"Well with an attitude like that, I'm sure you'll do very well," replied Admiral Kirk gracefully, "And here we are!"

They had stopped just outside the front porch of the house and now that they were close up, the peeling paint and splintered woodwork where much more obvious. But as soon as Admiral Kirk showed them through the front door, the newly-arrived ship girls could see that the interior had clearly been worked on first. There was some wear and tear still visible but fresh coats of paint had been applied, cobwebs cleaned out and the whole place smelled faintly of PineSol. Kirk then led off the entrance hall, past the stairs to the upper floor and to a suite of rooms that had nameplates fastened over them. They stopped at the door marked—

ADMIRAL KEIKO KAWASHIMA

JMSDF

CMD. 1ST EXPD. FLEET

Kirk was about to say something when a ship girl with flaming red hair appeared at the end of the hall behind him and called out, "Admiral! Indianapolis is making a run for it again!

"Ah well, duty calls ladies. Besides, I don't need to lead you any further. Have fun with Admiral Kawashima." He executed a short bow and then turned and ran off with the red-haired ship girl. Katsuragi couldn't help but stare after the pair as they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight, so much so that she didn't even notice Houshou knocking on Admiral Kawashima's door and then opening it to allow the other girls to go in.

"Katsuragi? The Admiral is waiting for us," she said gently.

"Oh! Right! Um, Houshou-san, who was that ship girl that Admiral Kirk ran off with? I had a strange feeling from her…"

Houshou laughed softly at that, "Oh her? I'm not surprised you said that, lots of our kanmusu feel that way around The Grey Ghost."

Admiral Keiko Kawashima was seated at her desk when Katsuragi and Houshou came in through the door.

Katsuragi, still somewhat surprised by the fact that she had just seen Enterprise herself at the base, didn't take notice of Keiko until she let loose with a wild cry and actually vaulted over her desk, grinning wildly, and flung her arms open, gathering up the Akatsuki sisters in one massive bear hug.

"My little 6thDesDiv has finally come back to me!" she cried in a very kawaii-tone of voice.

"This, this is not how proper ladies greet each other!" spluttered Akatsuki

"Squishing! Nanodesu!" cried Inazuma.

"Tight," grunted Hibiki

"Admiral, I'm here for you so you don't need to hug so tight!" exclaimed Ikazuchi.

This did nothing to deter Admiral Kawashima, who actually did a pirouette, the girls still clutched tightly to her, before starting to cuddle them a bit more.

Katsuragi, for her part, just blinked numbly at the scene. This was supposed to be her new Admiral?

"Admiral?" said Houshou in a sort of false falsetto, accompanied by a rather frightening smile, that immediately caused Keiko to put the Akatsuki sisters back down on the floor. She smoothed out her white uniform, coughed once into her fist and then… to Katsuragi it was like her entire personality had shifted and suddenly there was a person in the room that could only be described as The Admiral. Keiko stepped forward and clasped her hands with Houshou and smiled warmly at her, much different from the wild joy she'd shown earlier.

"Houshou-san, it's wonderful to see you again. The fleet can only benefit from your experience, especially with all the new carriers that have arrived."

"New carriers?" said both Houshou and Katsuragi at once, Katsuragi voicing more surprise than her senior.

"Yes, carriers in the plural," replied Keiko brightly. "Your orders changed slightly while you were en route. The other flotillas at this base have received some extra ship girls as well, which brings the total number of new fleet carriers here to four, you Katsuragi, the Italian carrier Aquila, the German carrier Graf Zeppelin and the French carrier Bearn. And before I forget…" Admiral Kawashima moved over to stand in front of Katsuragi and saluted her. Katsuragi returned the salute, a little surprised because protocol dictated that ship girls and subordinates were supposed to salute an Admiral first.

"Let me formally welcome you to Pacific Allied Naval Command's Sentinel Base."

Katsuragi returned the Admiral's salute sharply, a bright, fierce smile on her face.

"Fleet Carrier Katsuragi! Reporting for duty, Admiral!"