A/N: Wrote this story after getting some inspiration from Greatest Generation (big shout out, great story). This is an Australian-themed story that I got the idea for around about ANZAC Day. I've been sitting on this for a little while, but figured, why not, let's post it and see what people think.
xxxx
It was a calm day on the base as a small knot of girls made their way to the docks of the naval base. They were laughing and carrying on, but there was a nervous energy among them. After all, no matter what the politicians may say, this land did not welcome them here. Kanmusu were spiritual creatures in many respects, and they knew the ways of the land. Here there had been no Kemal Ataturk to say the "Issen Gorin" and Diggers lay peacefully side-by-side like the Mehmets and Johnnies of a century past. It had not been that kind of war. It had not been that kind of peace.
The land bore their tread with ill-grace. They were all desperate in their hope that they would only have to shed blood, not give blood, in its defence before these islands might warm to them.
But for now, the foreign kanmusu contingent did their best to frolic as duty drew near. Like would be the case at sea, the mostly younger-looking escort ships swirled around the stately quartet of battleships and carriers. These girls, Repulse, Prince of Wales and Indomitable, all moved with aristocratic poise and reserve, sharing subtle smiles while showing none of their nerves. Even the excitable and far less elegantly clad Melbourne was composed, the other capital ship girls rubbing off on her.
Products of an archetypal piece of geopolitcal horsetrading, the Commonwealth Battle Group had been detached to Japan to answer strident complaints from the Japanese right that they were doing the hard yards in the Pacific while the Royal Navy led the other EU nations in easily swamping the Atlantic abyssals. Surely, they argued, some force must be spared to where the bulk of the eldritch threat lay? Negotiations that only reinforced the adage about politics and sausage making resulted in the British detaching the capital ship girls of the ill-fated Force Z, including the former HMS Indomitable, who still blamed herself bitterly for having run aground in the Caribbean and thus missing the battle. Could her planes have saved the elegant ladies that walked alongside her? Whatever the case, she hoped to fly her planes in their defence today.
The damnable part of it all was the escort, however, as to satisfy all parties, units had been shifted across the globe, resulting in a truly unlikely Franco-German-Italian squadron now defending Australian shores, while the entirety of the Royal Australian Navy now stood in defence of the Commonwealth Battle Group. The deal had produced that diplomatic apex wherein no one was happy ... but no one was too unhappy.
Light cruiser Perth was a blonde girl with an athletic build, a bright smile and a smattering of freckles. Like all of the Australian cruisers, she was a very sporty sort. She wore a close-fitting sleeveless top in green and gold, along with shorts. Nearby were the two heavy cruisers Australia and Canberra. Australia wore long-sleeved white, with a cream-coloured cardigan vest and white pants. A baggy green cap was set upon her head. Canberra had a baggy, woolen long-sleeved top with hoops of alternating green and gold, as well as snugly fitted shorts and long socks that came up above the knee.
"Not a bad day for it, don't you think?" said Perth as the two heavy cruisers began to overtake her.
"Beats sailing into a gale, yeah," said Australia, rolling her eyes.
"I dunno," said Canberra, grinning insouciantly. "It'd make it all a bit more interesting."
"Yeah, nah," was all Australia in reply.
"I'd be more comfortable if Sydney were here," said Perth after a moment, her voice distant and low. "You know, to complete the fleet."
"I think we all would," said Canberra. "But don't worry your little head off, she'll respond to the the summons eventually. The Last Post and Reveille called us all back, Sydney will get her arse in gear eventually, she's just being lazy."
"Yeah, sure," said Perth, folding her arms.
A few of the destroyers, wearing green and gold tartan private school dresses, shot by, laughing playfully and throwing a ball between themselves. Canberra noticed and bided her time, waiting until a particularly long pass hung in the air, and then she pounced, snaffling the ball and breaking through their lines.
"Canberra!" was Quiberon's plaintive cry as she saw her pass cut off. "Give it back!"
The V-class destroyers reacted quick as snakes, leaping out to try and tackle the heavy cruiser, but for all that Canberra was slow, she shrugged off Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager, the girls sprawling across the yard. Perth laughed gaily as Canberra slipped the last tackler, ranging out ahead of the group with her prize in hand.
At the edge of the yard, outside of one of the dormitories, a number of Japanese kanmusu were gathering, watching the foreign task force pass. At the sudden rambunctious action, the chatter of the Japanese girls took off, and could be heard by the Australian girls. Kongo's bilingual exclamations were particularly discernible; the girl had been ecstatic when Royal Navy ships had arrived, and had actually hit it off with the British capital ships. The admirals had thought it a great sign for the future. But she could also hear Kaga's very dismissive remarks, and Perth knew it would take some time to build up trust.
"Put it up, Canberra!" called out Perth, raising an arm.
Canberra looked over her shoulder and grinned, and with casual grace chipped the ball high into the air over Perth.
God, that's coming down with snow on it, marvelled Perth as she began to backpedal. She wondered at first if Australia would try to contest it, but the girl just gave her space. Little Quiberon did, though, her battle cry of "give-it-back!" bursting from her lungs as she barged into Perth, followed by her sister Quickmatch. But the bigger cruiser wasn't going to be shifted by a young destroyer, and she held her ground. Shit, I need to back up a bit or it'll go over my head.
Melbourne's lackadaisical voice piped up, making a cry of, "Up there, Cazaly!" that echoed across the yard.
Wait, what? Fuc-!
A fucking hammerblow landed in the middle of her back, a shocking force that bowed her over and made her knees stagger. Her breath was driven out, and she felt a weight press down on her back. It was heavy enough that it could only be one of her fellow cruisers. Finally the force was beyond her and she tumbled to the ground, only to feel another girl land on top of her. Quickmatch and Quiberon went sprawling.
"Oh, fuck-fuck-fuck," gasped Perth though the wheezes as she tried to get up to hands and knees. "You bitch, Adelaide, you bitch, you fucking moll..."
She felt a rough pat on her head, then heard the old girl, the WW1 vintage Adelaide, laugh. "Thanks for the lift," she said. Adelaide walked on by, carrying the ball she had claimed while using Perth as a stepladder. Quickmatch and Quiberon were on her in a flash and for them the game began anew.
Gathering whatever shreds of dignity remained, and trying not to feel too sorry for herself, Perth began to try to get up. A hand appeared in front of her and she grasped it without thinking, happy for the hand up. "Thanks, I wouldn't mind a tow," she said with a dry laugh. Perth looked up and was shocked to find one of the Japanese girls there. They'd never met, but as she looked up into that smiling face, she knew deep down who it was.
"Are you okay?" asked the girl in her native tongue. The dark-haired lass was cute, like they all seemed to be. A few bandages spoke to either clumsiness or battle damage, she wasn't sure which. She was modestly dressed, and seemed altogether ordinary. Perhaps if Perth were not a kanmusu herself, she would not have recognised the destroyer soul that lay within. Certainly, she didn't have the esoteric appearance of a Nagato.
"Yes, I am," replied Perth in kind, eyes narrowed. "Thanks."
"I'm Fubuki, it's nice to meet you," she said.
You were there, thought Perth, even as she forced herself to smile. "Modified Leander-class light cruiser Perth, nice to meet you again," she said.
Fubuki hesitated, her eyes glancing at her comrades who were watching on. "Ah, I see," she said. "It's been a long time, then. But it's only Abyssals now, right?"
Night covered the Sunda Strait, rent time and again with explosions and star flares. Houston was there, dying with her. Long Lances everywhere, just everywhere. Nothing was safe. One torpedo, two, three, four. Her captain, "Christ, that's torn it!" Somewhere out there, she knew, the IJN Fubuki was firing everything.
"Right," said Perth, trying not to tense up. "Will you be deploying out there?"
"We will, our own task force alongside yours," said Fubuki. "I look forward to fighting alongside you this time."
With that the girl escaped the anxious eyes of the Australian ship-girls and returned to an absolute tumult of gossip and chatter when she reached her comrades. Perth sighed and dusted herself off, swearing under her breath when she caught Canberra and Adelaide snickering at her. Oh, they'll get theirs.
The group continued on to the hanger where the kanmusu deployed from. The door was open, but before the group could go inside, the heavy cruiser Australia walked away from it, turning to gesture in with her arms. "Alright, escorts, gather in," she called out. "Just escorts, you capital ships can go on ahead." The cruiser's eyes narrowed darkly. "Oh, come on, run it in you lazy bastards. Vampire, if you are not running by time... fucking finally."
"Escorts?" said Repulse loudly in her refined tones before turning to the carriers. "Shouldn't you two be in that group?"
Indomitable blew a raspberry at her, while Melbourne, dressed much the same as Perth, arced up. "Fucking... shouldn't you be decoying for torpedoes you giant fucking target?" she asked.
"My, touchy," said Repulse, touching her hand to her heart.
"I'll touch you," muttered Melbourne, eyes narrowed to slits.
Australia sighed and shook her head. As the capital ships bickered, all the destroyers and cruisers gathered near. She put her arms out, encompassing Vendetta and Canberra, and eventually the girls had all huddled together, arms around each other.
"Alright, ladies, here we are," said Australia into the gather. "First time the whole fleet has deployed as a single force, in fact. It's a big day. I don't want to belabour the point, so I'll try to be swift. There's a lot of eyes on us, so don't fuck this up," she said, leaning into the group, eyes like wildfire. "All of you bastards are too ugly to sink, so you can all settle, Gretel. Those two poncy little Poms over there...," she began before realising Repulse had crept up on the group and was leaning over. "Would you nick off?" asked Australia with a groan. "I don't care if you are a battleship, this isn't for you!"
Repulse raised her hands and smiled with all the innocence she could muster, backing away.
"Are the natives revolting, Repulse, darling?" called out Prince of Wales, the brunette girl trying to suppress her laughter.
Repulse snickered and shook her head. "My word."
Australia rolled her eyes. "Ignore that. Anyway, what I was saying is those two bastards will go down like the Titanic if the Abyssals look sideways at them. We all know its true. So keep it tight, play hard, watch each others back. Work for each other," she urged, taking her arm away from Vendetta to thrust a finger into the centre of the huddle. "I want effort, I want workrate, I want bravery from each of you. I don't care what anyone says, the IJN isn't here to back us up. I reckon half of those ship-girls over there, and all of those 'Admirals', would love to see us go down. We haven't forgotten them, and I'm sure they haven't forgotten us."
Around the group the smaller ships nodded back at her.
"Trust your sisters, trust your fleet," continued Australia. "Don't trust the capital ships, they are all as crazy as their chests are padded, and the silly slags are always thinking up cunning ways to get us poor escorts killed," she said, getting a laugh from the destroyers. "Battle is about who can go harder, for longer. So remember, when it's your turn to go, you go, no hesitation. Australia expects. Everyone understand? Okay, let's go fucking win this!"
The escorts broke from their huddle with smiles and new energy, while the four capital ships exchanged long-suffering looks. All of them disappeared into the building to collect their rigging and prepare to deploy.