Disclaimer: I don't own Kantai Collection.

Free Agent

Chapter 2: The Chuck Islands

By Nim Maj

A Kantai Collection SI Fanfiction

After the battle I inspected the corpses of our enemies. I made sure they were dead by poking them with my spear. Then we regrouped together.

"Hey! Nice job!" Akashi praised me.

"Thank you." I said. "That was… intense. I did better than I expected."

"It seemed kinda crazy, just rushing into the midst of them like that."

"I felt confident in my armor. I was trying to move too fast for them to torpedo me. That's what I was worried about."

"Heh, well it worked out. Speaking of fast, what's with that speed?"

"Yeah! That was crazy fast pyon!" Uzuki complained, the Mutsuki-class destroyer.

I nodded in affirmation. "I'm actually worried. Most carriers are hard on fuel. If I go so fast, that means there must be a trade-off in fuel consumption."

"True, but getting where you need to be is important too." Hamakaze added. "By the way, you weren't around for long but we were told you have something on your back."

"Huh?" I replied in confusion before trying to look behind me. I stopped the futile effort though and just turned my back to face them. "Uhm, can one of you get it?" I asked.

"Sure." Hamakaze replied while suiting deed to word. "You wanna open it?"

I turned back around. "Yeah sure. Can one of you hold my spear?" I asked, while offering it. Akashi took it and began inspecting it. Meanwhile, I took off my helmet and hung it on a strap for that purpose. I took the envelope and began opening it.

"You know, I think this is the first time I've seen a shipguy." Yuugumo offered.

"Meh," I offered noncommitantly. "This is the first time I've been a shipguy. Before, I was human. I completely remember teaching people." I add distractedly.

"Eh? You're not a ship?" Makigumo asked in confusion.

"Wasn't. Now I am." I just decided to quickly tear open one side. I inspect the contents which turn out to be a map. It showed several chains of islands. In the middle was an island chain with a big X on it. To its south and east was a small island with START labeling it. To the north of the X was an island chain with a 1 on it. To the west of the X was an island chain with a 2 on it. To the south, an island chain with a 3. East was a big skull.

"Huh, a map." I say while showing it to the gathered shipgirls.

"Really? That's useful." They too began to inspect it.

Now began a round of confused wondering and opinions. Too little made sense. I felt that we should go to the X-marked island though. It was centrally located to where we found ourselves. Soon Ryuuhou, Urakaze, and Iku caught up. Iku was handed to Akashi who began first aid with the help of Makigumo. Urakaze and Hamakaze had a joyful reunion. Ryuuhou, Yuugumo, Uzuki, and I deliberated on the map.

"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you about the letter." Ryuuhou apologized. I simply waved it off.

"It's alright. I didn't even know it was there. Plus, your comrades would have been more important than a letter at the time." Ryuuhou looked relieved. "What's important is that we now have a lead." I prompted. "Although suspicious, we don't have anything else."

"Hmmm," Yuugumo interjected. "That island might be the one we fled from. What about you, Ryuuhou-san?"

"Uhm, I woke up on a tiny island. Urakaze and Iku too. We were near each other but got attacked while we were still puzzling out what was going on. We simply ran in the opposite direction."

"I also woke up on a tiny island. I was in the midst of my shakedown cruise when I detected Ryuuhou-san's group. I deviated from my course to meet up with them. Sometime after that, I detected you."

Yuugumo perked up at that. "Detected? You have radar? We didn't know anyone was nearby until we detected Ryuuhou-san's scout. We were nervous until we spotted the Hinomaru."

I nodded. "I guess that means mine is really good. But then, as a carrier, there's plenty of room for equipment I guess."

"We're getting off topic." Ryuuhou interjected. "Yuugumo-chan, do you know if that group that was following you was all they had? Is it safe to go there?"

Yuugumo shook her head. "It was only part of the force that took the island away from us. There should be maybe six left there. They didn't pursue us. I'd say something like a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and three destroyers." She smiled though. "But I think we can take them now."

I nod. "Air attacks to mix them up, blindside with torpedoes, finish them with guns." I say. "I just hope they don't get reinforcements. That would ruin our day. Especially with only one light carrier and… my stuff." I finish lamely.

"Fafnir-san…" Ryuuhou says slowly. "I don't think you have to be ashamed of anything. Although I do find it odd that you can launch anything with… well." She gestures at my blocked flight deck.

"My fighters can take off like autogyros." I clarify. "It's just… I'm trying to deny their existence until I can properly deal with them. They… bring into question current beliefs about life, the universe, everything."

"The heck do you mean pyon?" Uzuki broke in.

"Don't worry. I'll launch them if I have to. I'd rather not deal with the sanity damage right now."

"You're weird pyon." I just shrug my shoulders before turning to Ryuuhou. "We do need a base of operations. I'm also worried about my fuel situation. I don't know how much I've got left but my speed probably means I don't have as much storage for fuel. I was probably not designed for long distance missions." Ryuuhou nodded at that.

She quickly arranged for a recon flight. We got on our way back to the island Akashi's group had run away from. The recon flight however brought surprising news. They were Naganami, Maikaze, Hatsukaze, Amatsukaze, Tanikaze, and Yamagumo. Although hurt, they had succeeded in wiping out the six defenders. None got away uninjured but they could still run if they had to.


"That's surprising" I noted as the destroyers had their reunion.

From what Ryuuhou told me Maikaze, Hatsukaze, Amatsukaze, and Tanikaze were all Kagerou-class destroyers but they varied wildly in their uniforms.

Maikaze and Hatsukaze had a dark gray vest over a white button up shirt and matching dark gray skirt. They had white gloves. Maikaze was a cheerful blonde, her hair done up in twintails angled backward with green eyes. She also had a red bow tying her collar closed.

Hatsukaze had long light gray hair with a bluish tint to it that fell straight down. Her bow was yellow.

Tanikaze had similar clothes to Hamakaze and Urakaze. She was however, shorter, and hand short brown hair.

Amtasukaze differed greatly from the others with her long gray hair, and brownish-black one-piece long sleeved sailor uniform.

Naganami is a Yuugumo-class destroyer similar to her sister Yuugumo and Makigumo. She had similar clothing but her long hair was mostly black but somehow was pink on the inside.

Yamagumo is an Asashio-class destroyer. She greatly differed with her white button-up shirt, gray skirt and suspenders, a green and white bow, and green headband attached to radio antennas I believe. Her hair was also a bluish gray.

It was Yamagumo who was reporting to Ryuuhou and I. "What's surprising mister?" she said in a relaxed tone.

"That you took on a force more heavily armed than you, and won. I'm impressed."

"Heehee. Thanks mister. But who are you?"

"Independent ship Fafnir. It's a pleasure to meet you." I introduced myself.

"Hm? Oh, I'm Yamagumo. Sixth Asashio-class destroyer. Please treat me well." She replied with a short bow.

"Yamagumo-san then." I said. This however, invoked a blush on Yamagumo.

"Oh my, please call me Yamagumo-chan, Fafnir-san. As a carrier you're our elder and sempai, it's your right."

I looked at Ryuuhou for confirmation who nodded. "Very well. However, I would like the chance to get the opinions of the others before addressing them with such familiarity." I conceded.

"Okay~" Yamagumo said playfully.

With that done, Ryuuhou, Yamagumo, and I turned our attention to the island we were on. The island was was shaped like a cross between an X and an H, literally a sort of X marks the spot island. It was pretty large and heavily forested with jungle. One side, where the destroyers and Abyssals took shelter had another island on its easter end blocking the view of the bay, sheltering it from storms. It to was large enough to sport some vegetation.

It seemed that the island had suddenly sprung to life. Out of the jungle streamed fairies that began constructing facilities. Heading straight to us however, was a delegation of fairies that were pointing in the direction of the jungle.

"Do you think they want us to go there?" I asked Ryuuhou.

"Perhaps. The feeling I'm getting is that there is something important in the jungle." She said unsurely.

I nodded my head. "It would be best to explore the jungle, just to make sure there are no surprises." With that, we headed in after telling Yamagumo to inform the others once they finish with their reunion.


Not too far in the jungle was a shrine. Now, unlike the traditional stereotypical shrine, although it followed the Japanese style, the materials all seemed to be… the forest itself. That's right. If the forest itself came alive and intertwined to shape a Japanese shrine, that's what it was before us. It also wasn't too hard to spot, what with the clusters of will-o-wisps all over the place. It was also small enough to be a bird house. Sitting under the torii (shrine gates) was a black-haired fairy dressed like a miko. I noticed her skirt was blue to denote a high rank.

As we got closer, our noise caused her to wake from her nap. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and gazed up at us with a dopey smile.

"Greeting travelers! At last you have come! Welcome to the Chuck islands!"

I blinked. To understand my surprise you have to think: Do the fairies talk? The answer is some do, but most communicate telepathically. As supernatural creatures, you can simply lump how they communicate under "it's magic." Or they communicate heart-to-heart. I heard that in the game some fairies do talk, but most don't. They aren't really in a position to. That said, Chuck Islands? Really?

"Uhm, don't you mean Truk?" Ryuuhou asked. The fairy emphatically shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her.

"No! These islands are based off the Chu-uk Islands." She said pronouncing the second "u" clearly. "You've been saying wrong all this time because it is easier to pronounce."

"Uhm, miss fairy, does that mean we are not on Earth?" I asked.

"Call me Miko." The fairy asked while posing proudly, hands on her hips in a pose reminiscent of Superman, with her eyes closed, chin in the air and a smug smile. "And to answer your question, not quite."

Miko elaborated. "This world is one created to deal with the unresolved issues of the dead." She pointed at Ryuuhou, "That means you and your comrades. Your feelings of dread, despair, fear, anger, hate and more are preventing you from moving on and continuing on the cycle of reincarnation. This is your chance to deal with your past, to gain enlightenment, to attain peace."

I raised my hand. "Pardon Miko… sama, but that doesn't sound like me."

"Of course," she grinned, "because you are here to help them through this time… sensei." She said, placing special emphasis on the title.

Ryuuhou actually perked up at that. "You're a teacher?" She asked.

"Uhm, yeah. Licensed and all."

"Ah, then, we'll be in your care Fafnir-sensei." She said with a short bow.

"And I in yours." I said before turning to Miko. "So who or what are the things we've met that have attacked us?" I asked.

"They are the Abyssals. They are the manifestations of your regrets and negative emotions. If you do not succeed against them, you will continue to be reborn in a never-ending struggle against them. Truly, a form of hell."

Well crap. At least if we fail, try, try again. "Is there a catch if we do fail?" I probed.

Miko nodded sadly. "Each time you fail, you lose more and more of your memories to the Abyss. You grow weaker, they stronger, and you lose a sense of yourself. If you ask around, not all girls have complete memories, only their strongest ones remain intact. Even then, some have highly traumatic deaths that they would rather forget."

"I see."

"However, you only need to succeed once. So long as they are at peace, they can move on."

"Uh, define "at peace."

Miko spread out her hands. "This entire world was created to reenact one of the greatest battles of the Pacific War. A battle that changed everything, and doomed an empire." She said grandly.

Ryuuhou had gone still. "A battle that changed everything, and doomed an empire." I echoed with narrowed eyes. "The turning point of the war?"

"Yes."

"I'm guessing but, its Midway isn't it?"

"Hai." I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning to her, I noticed that she seemed to have shrunk into herself, trying to make herself look smaller. This was probably shocking to her.

"So what do we do?" I asked Miko.

"Reenact the Battle of Midway… and win." She declared with finality.

"Realistically speaking, the IJN could have won that battle if it weren't for a series of lucky decisions."

Miko nodded. "This is true, and known in their heads…" She said while tapping a finger to her head. "But not in their hearts." She said while moving her hand down to tap her heart. "It has weighed heavily on their souls." She then bowed deeply to me. "Please, help them to win. Help them pass on. I beg you."

This was making me a bit uncomfortable. To be honest, this was a no brainer. I sighed. "I have nothing better to do. And this does sound like a good cause. Very well. I'll help them."

Miko brightened up at that. "Oh thank you! Your benefactor truly chose well."

I grimaced at that. Apparently she may know who sent me here, but first things first. "So how do we go about winning Midway?"

"Do you have the map?" She asked.

"Ryuuhou-san?" I prompted, as I had given her the map to keep.

"Oh, yes." She said as she produced the map and laid it out before us.

"The X marks the Chuck Islands in the center. Each of the numbers in the nearby archipelago marks the location of a key ship you need to properly reenact the Battle of Midway. The skull marks Halfway island, the stand-in for Midway."

"Halfway Island? Really? Couldn't you come up with a better name?" I asked not believing they gave it such a corny name.

Miko just smiled. "I didn't name them."

I pressed on. "So who are these ships? Historically, four aircraft carriers were at Midway. I guess I could count as one and Ryuuhou two, but does that mean we have two more to get? But we have three places so that doesn't make sense."

"Ah, but there was a fleet under Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku that didn't get involved since they were too slow. This is one instance of how you can change the outcome of the battle."

"I see. Also, historically, the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu were the ones involved in the battle: are they here?"

Miko shook her head. "Unfortunately no. you must make do with the other two carriers that you find, and yourselves." I guess that means I count as an aircraft carrier.

"I see. And the last one?"

"Unfortunately, all I know is that she will stand in for the battleships that could not fight."

"Right, one last question: How can I understand you?" I asked something which was bothering me since the start. "As far As I know, I am speaking English, but I can understand all of you though you seem to speak Japanese. How does that happen." Ryuuhou too seemed taken aback at this. Miko seemed amused.

"Hold out your right hand, flat and palm down next your left ear like this." She said while putting her right hand next to the left side of her head. I did after leaning my spear on a tree and to my surprise, I felt to small points of pressure on my hand. I slowly pulled my hand in front of me while leaning back to look at my hand and there, standing on it was a fairy with glasses. She seemed to be holding a Japanese flag in one hand, and a flag of the United Kingdom in the other. Ah. I get it.

A translation fairy.


The meeting wrapped up after that. We headed back to the camp though I made a mental note to go back to her if we needed help or clarifications.

Ryuuhou explained things to the others but placed greater emphasis on finding our comrades first, before talking about why we were here. She wanted the others to also weigh in on the decision to fight Midway or not. There were several daunting prospects to that all things considered, but that was for another day.

The following day, I saw her set out for the first destination, the northern islands. Ryuuhou took Urakaze, Hamakaze, Yuugumo, Makigumo, Uzuki, Naganami, Maikaze, Yamagumo, and Iku who was recently repaired to find our comrades.

Akashi would stay in the Chuck Islands with me, Amatsukaze, Tanikaze, and Hatsukaze, the most heavily injured girls from yesterday. Akashi would finish their repairs one by one after Ryuuhou would have left. Ryuuhou wanted me to come, but I expressed concern regarding our supply problem. I volunteered to do inventory and get Akashi to help me find out my fuel consumption. We had limited supplies. We had to scavenge everything. I expressed hope that they would find more resources while they were out.

While I inspected the buildings, I had Amatsukaze, the first repaired destroyer to keep on the lookout. My radar could keep a watch for surface and air threats, but I wanted her to watch for submarines making a raid on us.

The fairies were busy since yesterday. The first thing they constructed was a barracks so we could sleep. Then There was a warehouse that could store our supplies. It was pretty big but only partially stocked. I estimated about a week's worth of steel, ammunition, fuel and bauxite, depending on our consumption.

A mess hall was being assembled at the moment and judging by the bags of rice, at least we will have food. I don't know about meat though. If there's no meat, then morale will be in trouble. Fishing… maybe.

A workshop had already been constructed right next to a bathhouse. It was the second one constructed, so as long as we provide resources, we can easily repair. Akashi was inside the workshop repairing the outfits of the girls however.

I then investigated the jungle but found nothing new.

I was making my way back to the beach when my radar picked up contacts. I hurried to the beach where Amatsukaze was waiting. It seemed Tanikaze had also finished repairing.

They called out to me when they saw me hurrying back.

"Sensei, why are you in a hurry?" Amatsukaze asked. Yeah, I'm gonna have to get used to that. Word had finally gotten around that I was an actual teacher.

"I picked up new contacts. They're coming in from the southeast." That alarmed them. "They're still kind of far but I don't think they're very many."

"They don't seem to be from group three though," Amatsukaze mused. "They would come from the south if they were."

"Unless they met up like we did. It's farfetched though. About two of them if I'm reading this right." I added as I looked at my radar.

"Should we contact them? We outnumber them if they turn out to be Abyssals." I offered.

"Eh? Sensei?" Tanikaze asked in confusion.

"You girls are still military while I'm a civilian. I'll defer to your judgment in this."

"Uhm…" The girls looked at each other. "Yah, I think it's safe." Tanikaze opined. "And besides, even if they turn out to be battleships, we have you right?"

"Yes. But judging from their speed, they probably aren't battleships. They're moving pretty fast. And they're too small to be carriers."

"Alright. I'll radio them." Amatsukaze said. "Attention, approaching ships, this is Imperial Japanese Naval Base Chuck Island, identify yourselves." She paused to wait for a reply while looking out to sea in the direction of the incoming ships.

I was able to catch their reply on an IJN frequency I was given. "We're saved pya! Chuck Base, this is Sakawa! I'm here with Akigumo! Please prepare defenses! Battleships are right behind us!"

Amatsukaze and Tanikaze stilled at that. "S-say again Sakawa? Battleships? How many?" Amatsukaze replied.

"Four battleships pya! They're carrying these big shields with guns on 'em!"

Mother of god….


Author's Notes:

I just wanna say that I'm also running rather long games while I'm writing this story. Civ5 is still my favorite game and it doesn't get old, especially with new civilization mods.

I'm also preparing to move to my grandparent's place since she's alone their and conveniently located next ot a good university where I can take my Masters.

So, has anyone guessed what my "fighters" are? It shouldn't be too hard but they can't use the flight deck (much) because of all the crap littering the middle and they aren't Harriers. They are also not duckplanes. They vertically take off and land and can damage SAN. I'm asking cause I'm gonna have to use them next chapter!

If anyone has a good strategy for taking on four Ru-class battleships and two destroyers with a handful of destroyers, a light cruiser, a battlecarrier, and a repair ship I'd like to hear your ideas. ^^