Author's none.
Yes, I'm a little unfocused at the moment. I thought I'd focus on SOMA for a while, but then World of Warships introduce "Arpeggio of Blue Steel" ships to the game, I got curious, and suddenly I sit with a 2k word long mind map of a story in front of me and have to write it _ I can't help it! This is what I'm doing for now. I have another SOMA story on the way as well, and I've written a little EVA, but this is what I'm doing for now. Enjoy!
End of author's note.
The Fleet of Fog-Human unification conflict; prologue.
The Pacific Ocean water is calm today. There's a rain squall in the far distance, just a speck on her sensors, not even the humans on-board are worried about it. They are all lined up on deck, standing along the railing or next to their gun mounts if they are open enough that you can look out over the side; she herself stands perched upon the highest point on her ship, at the very top of the pagoda mast, the wind brushing the locks of her dark purple hair gently over her face.
She is Nagato, lead battleship of the class with the same name; 32 700 metric tonnes and with a primary armament consisting of eight sixteen-inch guns during her time in World War II, she is now a flagship in the Fleet of Fog. Years have passed since the events surrounding the Iona Mental Model took place, and things have changed. Now, a truce of sorts have been declared with the humans, and Nagato's division, and the other two divisions gathered here today, are part of an outreach programme that has placed human crews on-board, just like with I-401.
She looks around herself. To the south-west is a great, white-painted warship with a plain and boxy superstructure, short but wide compared to Nagato; a hazel-haired woman stands on the top of her bridge structure, she is Warspite. To the south-east sails another battleship of roughly the same broad design but with triple-mounted turrets instead of Warspite and Nagato's double. On top of her second gun turret stands Arizona, tall and blonde with her hair tied up in a ponytail that reaches her waist. The three warships are arranged in a circle with their starboard side towards the centre, where all their crews are stood. Outside their circle sail the remaining ships of their respective divisions; to Warspite's port there's a cruiser and two destroyers, two cruisers and two destroyers for Arizona, and three destroyers and a cruiser for Nagato, making up a complete circle around the three battleships.
They are at Guadalcanal. Nothing of the island can be seen above water any more but they are not here for the island itself; they are here to visit Sealark Channel, or as it is more commonly known: Iron bottom sound. During the second world war four major naval battles were fought in this sound, resulting in the deaths of approximately 5 700 sailors and the sinking of almost fifty ships; this is sacred ground for the sailors, and Arizona had thought it only fitting that they visited this place. Since so many warships were sunk here as well, the Mental Models present also have some reason to show reverence, even though those ships sunk here were primitive by comparison.
After the decided two minutes have passed, Nagato nods solemnly to herself and looks out beyond the distant Savo Island; a dark purple halo forms above her head and the ship's humming rises somewhat as the ship breaks out of its gentle starboard turn and heads out of the sound, the rest of the ships following suit. Nothing is said before all ships have cleared the island and entered open sea again, at which point a low murmur rises throughout the deck as crewmen return to their stations as directed by their superiors.
"It is a curious thing with these humans, their obsession with this… This sense of tradition," she thinks out loud, just as the sole cruiser of her division pulls up next to her, an Aoba-class heavy cruiser; Kinugasa has climbed all the way up her radio mast and is balancing on top of the enormous radio dish. The black-haired girl turns her head down to Nagato, "I can understand why they like it. Every now and then on predetermined dates you go to a place and you remember the fallen, or you perform a task in a special manner because it has been done that way since times immemorial, or you hold a small celebration when it has been exactly 365 days since you were created… Not that a Mental Model would ever forget something, but I can understand the sense of comfort it gives the humans. A very special way of remembering and honouring the past."
Nagato crosses her arms, staring out over the water as the wind buffets her face, thinking. Without turning to look back up at Kinugasa -and considering the size difference between the two ships she wouldn't have to look up by much- she replies, "Would not such behaviour hamper efficiency? If one always holds on to these traditions, nothing will ever change."
Kinugasa flashes a smile and shakes her head, sending her shoulder-length black hair every which way, "Traditions are not rules; they are more like guidelines, I've found. Besides, most of the human are at least sensible enough to discard their old traditions when ground-breaking new methods and beliefs are invented." Nagato's brows furrow and now she glances over to Kinugasa, "I thought you just said that tradition is to honour one's past? Is it not a little hypocritical to call the past important and worthy of worship, only to throw it away the moment a more efficient solution is found?"
"Come now, sister," Kinugasa says with a dismissive wave of her gold-and-black gloved hand, "There is no sense in remembering a technique's inventor if that technique isn't the best."
"But if it were not for that inventor then the present techniques would never have been invented, surely?" Nagato retorts. Kinugasa shakes her head, again, "True, but if we pay respect to every single step taken on the way to where we are, we would not have time for anything else, and that would hamper efficiency."
Before Nagato can respond, however, she can hear someone call to her, down in the bridge; she can hear everything being said on the ship, "Mental Model Nagato?" She perks an eyebrow and suddenly stands on the bridge, amidst the human command staff. Some are a little startled but at least the captain has gotten used to her ability to seemingly teleport around the ship, even though she is technically everywhere on the ship at all times; she is the ship. "Yes, captain, what is it?"
The grizzled old man straightens his back and salutes briefly before going on, "We have received communications from the Arizona, ma'am. They are advising us the destroyers William D. Porter and Hoel will be engaging in a combat exercise." Her nostrils flare a little at the captain's use of the terminology 'the Arizona'. They're still determined to view us as machines, she thinks. Nagato nods nonetheless, however, and glances out of the ship, over the water to where the little Fletcher-class destroyers are separating slightly from the fleet and launching out target buoys. The two vessels each fire one volley of five shots each, Hoel hitting four targets and William D. Porter two. The two ships were sailing roughly next to one another, shooting in different directions, and now they begin a series of manoeuvres designed to dodge incoming shellfire. The Hoel slows down and the William D. Porter increases speed to cut ahead of her sister ship, but just before they begin turning Nagato spots something small and black being dropped from the Porter's stern: they fall into the water behind her, right in the Hoel's path; the Hoel will cut to the side to fall in behind Porter and cross over her wake as a part of the manoeuvre.
A call goes up over the communications link all Mental Models share from the Arizona and Hoel abruptly halts the turn and swings the other way; there's then a bright flash of azure beneath the water and a great plume of steam shoots into the air with a dull thud and a booming noise, like a thunderclap; the hot water and steam rise into the air in a geyser a hundred metres tall in the wake of the massive explosion. Hoel is rocked a little but appears undamaged, and immediately Nagato transfers into the Mental Space, the blue-tinted room lined with pillars where you go to communicate with other Mental Models in private: both the Fletcher-class destroyers are there already, Porter cowering before the Arizona while Hoel stands to the side, rubbing her left arm that seems to ache.
"What did you do, Willy Dee?" Arizona growls at the tiny, pink pigtail-haired girl that is William D. Porter, affectionately nicknamed Willy Dee, "It was a simple firing exercise!" There's a mix of irritation and plain, dumb-struck exasperation in Arizona's tone, and Willy Dee seems to shrink just a smidgeon more under her commander; hurriedly she stumbles out an explanation, "I-I thought t-that when you meant combat exercise y-you meant a f-full combat scenario, a-and told the crew to engage a-any and all targets… I-I might not have been e-entirely clear with the crew a-about the plan…"
"And they dropped an antimatter depth charge right down Hoel's throat, did they?" asks a sneering voice to Nagato's right, followed by a quiet snickering; it's Huntington, one of Arizona's Fargo-class cruisers. Dressed in a beige-brown leather jacket and pants she walks over to Arizona, hand at her hip, and pats her commander on the shoulder, "Cut 'er some slack, will ya'? No harm done."
Arizona straightens her back, indignantly brushing her somewhat messed-up blonde hair back over her shoulders and turning to Huntington, "Only thanks to your quick warning." She glances back to Willy Dee, who's now hiding from her behind a frowning Hoel. "Just try to be careful, Willy. Pay more attention to your humans." She shakes her head with a sigh and turns around, and then is gone; back to the Model Space, or 'reality' as the humans like to call it. She's very quickly replaced by a slightly shorter woman dressed in a blue-and-white maid uniform, her cyan hair tied into a short horsetail. She strikes the heel of her shoe gently against the floor to announce her presence, straightens up and clasps her hands behind her back, "I assume everything's alright, ladies?"
Huntington spins on her heel and a wide grin spreads across her face, "Ohh, Belfast! So glad ya' could join. Yeah, everythin's fine, a lil' misshap is all." She puts her right hand to her hip, leaning on her right leg a little as she regards Belfast, who curtly replies, "Good to hear, Warspite was worried. From our perspective it looked like Hoel was hit square on." Belfast turns her head just enough to throw a censorious glance in Willy Dee's direction, who's still cowering red-cheeked behind her bright purple-haired sister, "That would've torn Hoel a new one alright."
"Awh come on, knock it off," Huntington says with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Pull the stick out of your ass, will ya'?" Belfast perks an eyebrow, her head tilts slightly to the side, "And then what? Stick it up William D. Porter's arse instead? At least that way she might learn how to behave like the warship she is." Huntington raises an accusing finger towards Belfast and opens her mouth to argue, but the cyan-haired woman holds her palm up defensively and cuts Huntington off, "Say what you will about me, but at least I've never bombed my own sister ship. Let's move on," and then she is gone. Nagato shakes her head, deeming she's heard quite enough, and leaves the Mental Space as well.
For the humans, this conversation would have passed altogether within the fraction of a second, they would never have noticed her absence, and are still staring out in alarm at the plume of vaporised water falling down over the Hoel's deck in the wake of the depth charge's detonation, soaking her poor crew. "There's no cause for worry, it was merely an accident," Nagato calmly states to the bridge crew; they are all aware of her ability to access the Mental Space, so they do not question her knowledge of this and just nod, returning to their duties. She turns to the captain, "I assume we are to proceed back to the Mariana Islands for combat exercises now, captain?"
"Correct," the old man says with a nod, "Should be calm sailing." Nagato nods back, and then returns to standing on top of the bridge of the ship, looking out over the waves. Kinugasa is sailing ahead of her with Ayanami and Shikinami on either flank, Makinami having taken up position behind Nagato. To her right sails Warspite with Belfast behind her and Zulu and Mohawk taking up the front and rear of their formation, and to Nagato's left Arizona is flanked on either side by Huntington and Fargo, with Hoel and Willy Dee sailing along a little bit off, continuing their firing exercise; volleying in perfect unison on targets and making dummy torpedo attacks on one another, no accidents this time.
Then she feels a tinge at the back of her head, and she's back in the Mental Space again. Warspite is sitting behind the small table that is the room's only decoration apart from a set of chairs; one elbow rests on the table, she's leaning her forehead against the knuckles of her right hand and looks up at Nagato as she appears, "It's always got to be the little ones, doesn't it?" A small smirk tugs at her lips as she says this, only half humorous. Nagato calmly walks up to the table and sits down, replying as she does, "The destroyers can be chaotic, yes." Warspite chuckles softly at this and shakes her head, still keeping it resting against her right hand, "Yes, you of any of us should know. I'm surprised yours haven't come over to Willy to gloat and sneer."
"Ayanami talked them out of it, I imagine," Nagato says thoughtfully, and then looks up at the blonde Mental Model with sudden curiosity, "Why did you call me here, Warspite?"
"Ohhh, it's my own two," she responds with an air of resignation, throwing her hands calmly into the air for emphasis. "They were always the dubious ones when it came to this enterprise, and when they caught air of the fact that Willy's humans almost blew Hoel to smithereens, regardless of a failure of command on Willy's part, it put them on edge let's just say."
Nagato's eyebrows furrow almost unnoticeably, "Do you believe they will resign from the programme?" Warspite in turn shakes her head, "No, I doubt it. It shouldn't be too hard convincing them of seeing it as a challenge to make the humans into a functional crew, and they can't resist a challenge."
"I hope you are successful, Warspite," Nagato says with a nod, "Perhaps they can lead by example." This just provokes another chuckle from Warspite, however, who straightens out and shakes her head, "I wouldn't bet on it, mate. But we can hope at least." She cracks a small smirk and rises from the simple chair, "I'll try to not cock this up. I know this means a lot to you and Kinugasa."Nagato smiles back at Warspite with a small yet grateful smile, "Thank you, my friend. Your heart is greater than the rest of us combined."
"If I had a heart…" Warspite retorts with a playful wink and a smile, and then she's gone. Nagato chooses to remain for a moment, staring out into the white nothingness beyond the blueish pillars that line the room. A frown grows on her face, 'If I had a heart'… Don't we?
End of prologue chapter.