The naval district was one of the biggest complexes in the whole of the shipping industry, and therefore, was always busy. Ships of all kinds came and went there, but the most famous where the ships that were stationed here, from the Destroyers like Fubuki to the aircraft carriers like Akagi. But there was one kind of ship that was always kept in the background of operation, but was a key part for the fluent work of the district: the tugboat. These little ships were scattered around the district, but weren't really seen by the other ships, since they were always busy, transporting ammunition and fuel around. They were the humble workers, who set the stage on which the fleetgirls fought for the peace of the seas. But one day, that all changed...
It was a pretty normal day at the district, the ships were either practicing or resting, but not Fubuki. She was at the docks, after having been hit by an Abyssal battleship. She was relaxing, the hard fight still on her mind, but the peace wasn't to last, as a slight crashing sound could be heard from the doors. She looked over, just to find a young boat, with strange equipment, and even stranger clothes, standing in the door, with a load of boxes around him. He blushed deep red when he saw what he did.
"Gah! I'm sorry! I didn't notice you were here, Ms. Fubuki!" He said, bowing, before starting to pick the boxes up.
"Wait, let me help you." Said Fubuki, and got out of the water, putting a towel around her.
The two of them started to pick up the boxes, and soon, all of them were stacked away.
"Thank you for your help, Ms. Fubuki." Said the boat again.
"It was nothing really. But who are you? And where did you know my name from?"
"My name is Comet. I'm a tugboat from captain Walters fleet, and work around the district together with my friends. We were always taught to stay away from the bigger ships, and said that they would rip us apart if we came to close." Explained the young tug.
"But I didn't rip you apart, right?" Smiled Fubuki.
"That's right... I always admired you, Destroyers, Battleships, Cruisers and Carriers. You can fight for our sea, for the freedom on it, but we are stuck here, just doing the household." Said Comet.
"Well, it isn't all that good. Sometimes, it can be really hard to fight out there. You never know if you come back or not, and you sometimes loose a sister out there as well." Explained the young ship girl.
Just then, the call came for Comet to return to his captain. He said good bye to Fubuki, and went away. He returned to a run down house, where he and his friends lived. They were all tugboats, but some were bigger, and some were smaller than him. He himself was a railway carrier tug, which meant that he could pull barges with railway equipment with him, to carry them across the naval district. In front of the crew stood a man in his late 50s, with gray hair and brown eyes. He, along with all of them, wore blue pants with black boots, white shirts under light blue jackets, and blue flat caps on their heads. The man smiled when he saw the young boy.
"Ah, Comet. So nice to finally turned up! The others already have their orders, so all there's left for your is car ferry duties. Take your barges and get to the loading bay!" Ordered captain Walters, and Comet quickly went away.
He soon reached the yards, and was tied up to his usual two railway barges. Once reaching the railway yard, two trucks with large, kettle like fuel tanks were pushed onto the barges, and with the fairies' help, were secured for the trip across the bay, towards the warehouses. This was his favorite duty. He always loved the work with the railway engines, and the engineers. He usually helped them with the repairs on the locomotives, often getting scolded by captain Walters for neglecting his duties around the port while he did. While he made his way across the bay, he came past the training ground, where Fubuki was making a training run after her time in the docks. He tooted his hooter at her, but regretted it when he noticed her loosing her balance, and falling onto the water. He untied himself from the barges, and rushed off to help her. He stopped next to her and helped her up.
"Thank you Comet. I heard a strange noise, and lost my balance." She explained.
"That was probably me. I whistled hello, but I didn't know you would be frighted by my hooter." He said, blasting his whistle again.
"I was not afraid! I just... never heard anything like that before." She admitted quietly.
"That's because this is a steam whistle. I guess you never heard one of these, being surrounded by air horns all the time..." Started the tug, but ended his sentence in a low murmur.
"Wait! You run on steam?"
"Yes, me and the other tugboats from my fleet all have the soul of steam tugs in us. They were used in New York and other big ports, but were either replaced by diesel fueled tugs or rebuilt into those in the 40s and 50s."
"I never heard of someone with a steamship soul inside of them before." Admitted the girl.
"Well, we don't usually get to do much fighting, that's something for the more modern ships like you. We steamers have our use in the civilian market, not where all space is needed for guns and munition." Smiled Comet slightly, when the blast of another whistle rang out.
"Was that one of your friends?" Asked Fubuki.
"No, that was engine #12, and he's waiting for the next shipment, which is currently on board.. of.. my.. barges... damn I need to go! Sorry for scaring you; see you later!" Whistled the tugboat, and chuffed quickly to his barges, but couldn't tie himself up properly, and lost his second barge.
"Hey wait! You lost your cargo!" Shouted Fubuki, but Comet was working so hard, the bark of his stack drowned out the noise around him.
"Who was that, Fubuki?" Asked Mutsuki.
"That was one of the tugboats who work around here, but he left half of his cargo here." The girl explained, and grabbed the rope to the barge.
"What are you doing?"
"He is already in trouble for being late, he will be in even bigger trouble if he delivers only half of his load." Said Fubuki, and started off, but was surprised by how heavy the barge was. She strained all the way to the wharf, where the first barge was already unloading, and Comet in discussion with the wharf manager.
"How do you explain this?! We expected you to come with 4 cars, on two barges, so where are the other two?!" Snarled the man, making the young tug shiver slightly.
"Um, they are, they are, I knew I had them with me when I left the loading bay... I must've left them somewhere on the way! I'll go and search them right a-"
"You don't need to, I've got it here." Panted Fubuki, as she slowed to an stop next to Comet.
"Fubuki! Thank you so much for getting my barge here! Here is the barge sir! With the final two trucks!" Smiled the tug, and brought the barge into position on the wharf. The locomotive was tied to the strings of trucks with a rope, and slowly pulled it from the ferries. They then transformed from their miniature size to their standard gauge size, and where properly coupled up to the locomotive. The engineer waved at Comet, who waved in return, and slowly, the train departed.
"Alright then, you can go, and take your barges with you! We need this bay clear for the Red Stacks!" Barked the manager, as Comet cringed slightly by the sound of the red stacks.
"Come on Fubuki, lets get moving." Said the young tug coldly, and started off with his car ferries, followed by Fubuki.
"What was that?" She asked the tug.
"What was what?"
"The thing with those small railway wagons."
"Oh that! Well, it's nothing really. It's practically the same as with the planes from the carrier girls. The locomotives bring the trucks, and when they get pushed onto the barges, they transform into smaller versions of their normal size. The weight is cut in half too, but its still heavy, so only special build tugs like myself and Rodney can pull them." Explained the tug.
"Who is Rodney?"
"Rodney, is the Red Stacks number 3 tug. He is snobbish, stuck up, and downright a bad character, as are the rest of the red stacks! They have the souls of the first generation diesel tugs, the ones that replaced us, inside them, and want to do just that: replace us! But captain Walters makes sure we are in top condition, and work like we did when we were build. The red stacks are working with mean tricks, and wouldn't be scared of a real fight, just to win a contract for their fleet, but it usually backfires on them." Explained Comet, smirking on the final bit, when a low blast of an air horn rang through the sky, and a tug, having a stricking similarity to Comet, came up to the two ships. The only difference was that he wore black and red clothing, with a red baseball cap on his head. He sneered when he saw Comet.
"Oh look, if it isn't my worthless cousin Comet. Didn't broke down again, have we?" He smirked.
"Very funny Rodney. How about you actually finish a job, without sinking the barges on the way, before you talk to your elder, hm?" Smirked Comet in return, as Rodney turned red.
"S-shut up, you outdated fossil!" He barked.
"Take that back!" Said Fubuki firmly.
"And who are you then, hm? Did my cousin find himself a little girlfriend? Stupid as you are, you have a good taste, scrap steamer." Oiled the younger tug, eying Fubuki hungrily, making the young Destroyer feel uncomfortable.
"Eyes off Rodney! And before you try any moves, you should probably know that this is Fubuki, namesake of the Fubuki special destroyer class!" Said the older tug angrily, not liking the look in the youngsters eyes.
"Pah! Good one there! She and a destroyer?! She would sink after receiving one bump from an Abyssal tugboat!" He laughed, making Fubuki feel very weak, and turning away, she rushed off.
"Pretty fast, for a tugboat." Rodney oiled, licking his lips.
"You're disgusting, you know that? You better not be in my sights when I get back. Hey! Fubuki! Wait!" Shouted Comet, and rushed after her, leaving the red stack with an naughty, pleased smile on his face, happy to have angered his steam powered cousin.
Comet steamed after the destroyer, but he was much slower than she was, and so he soon lost her, shortly after getting out of the launching station. He walked around the naval district, shouting her name out, but it was no use, he just couldn't find her. He sighted, and walked towards Mamiya's cafe, to get something to drink; the long time rushing about in the port has let him forget his water supply, and his stomach was starting to growl from the lack of food. When he got there, Mamiya had already prepared a bowl filled with all kinds of berries, along with a cold soda.
"Did you read my mind Mamiya?" Joked the tug as he sat down.
"No, but you only order this whenever you come here, and it wasn't that hard to figure out that you would get here sometime soon; the steam clouds of the goods train gave you away." Smiled Mamiya, and turned away to get to some other customers.
"Also, did you see a young destroyer by the name of Fubuki running around here somewhere? She rushed off and I need to speak to her." Comet said, in between his chewing.
"She rushed past here just a minute ago. I wanted to ask her what's wrong, but she didn't answer." Mamiya said.
"In which direction did she ran?!" Asked the tug, happy to have some clue on the whereabouts of the destroyer.
"She ran north of here."
"That's main junction...! She doesn't even know how dangerous it is up there! Put the rest of the berries in the fridge, I need to stop her before she races into the path of a train!" Said the tug boat, and rushed off.
Meanwhile, near the main junction
Fubuki stopped running, but now, she had no idea where she was. Rodney's words still played in her mind, calling her weak, and not looking like a destroyer at all, and even though she had proven her worth to the others times and times again, she couldn't help but feel like she just wasn't worth being here; That she was just a hindrance for the others after all. She walked further north, past factories of all sizes and soon found herself between big, long objects, that stood tall and long in her way. The sky was already dark and filled gray clouds, and suddenly, the first rain drops fell from above. She looked around, and saw that one of the objects was open. She quickly got inside, and closed the door behind her, so that the upcoming wind wouldn't be blown inside. She looked around, but it was too dark to actually see something. Just then, the object started to shake a little. She got to the door again, and opened it a bit. She looked outside, first to the front, then to the back. When she turned to the back however, she was shocked to see that a small locomotive had coupled itself to the object, what turned out to be railway trucks. She wanted to get out, but the engine already started to move. Fubuki looked outside, seeing the surroundings move faster and faster past the open car door.
"Oh no, oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no! Please stop! I need to stay here!" She shouted, but the engine driver didn't heard her. She walked back inside the car, and sat down onto the cold wooden floor.
"Mutsuki, Yuudachi, Akagi... will I even see you again?" She pondered, tear running out of her eyes.
"Who said you will leave them?" Came a voice from behind her.
She turned around, and saw Comet, standing behind her, a warm smile on his face. She jumped up and hugged him, starting to cry.
"Come on now Fubuki, lets get home."
"But how? We are still moving?"
Comet laughed at this.
"Yes we are, but only to the other siding! They needed that track clear for loading up food and ammunition! Come on! The next train to the wharf is set to move in 7 minutes, and the driver agreed to take us down to the docks!" Smiled the tug, and opened the door, reviling that the train had stopped. Fubuki now felt a bit foolish and blushed lightly.
"Hey now! No need to feel silly! I would've been scared as well if I didn't knew that this thing would only move a few yards forwards and back again." Said the Steam Tug calmly.
He jumped down, and helped her out, and walked with her towards a small goods train, with an old tank engine, with half open cab and gray, partly rusted paintwork, on which the letters "DOCKSIDE" stood.
"Hello there Chuck! Thanks for taking us home!" Smiled Comet.
"No problem Comet! Let's get you kids home!" Chuckled the elderly driver.
They both climbed into the warm cab, and slowly, the train started to move back towards the harbour. After a little while, they arrived back at the wharf, where, to the shock of the two ships, captain Walters and the admiral waited for them.
"Um, g-good evening, sir. I-I can explain everything" Said Comet, stuttering somewhat with a nervous smile on his face.
"No need for that, we know what happened." Smiled captain Walters.
"Really?" Asked the two ships.
"Yes. The wharf manager saw everything from here, and called us right away. I thank you for looking out for one of my ships, young Comet. Your captain here also told me that you wanted to fight for the freedom of the sea as well, is that correct?" Asked the admiral.
"Y-yes sir. I know it is a foolish wish bu-"
"Then grab a good head of sleep and bring your railway barges to the loading bay at 6am tomorrow morning! You will need some firepower when you'll move out with the 3rd Torpedo squadron after all!" Said the admiral, shocking both Comet and Fubuki.
"Y-yes sir, of course sir, thank you sir!" spluttered Comet, not believing this was actually happening.
"Then I suggest moving along now you two! The mission briefing will begin tomorrow, 0800 hours." Said the admiral, and walked away, together with captain Walters.
"Do you really think that Comet will survive out there? He is a tugboat after all." Warned Walters.
"Don't worry John, he has determination, and the will to fight. Plus, I think he has his eyes on Fubuki..."
"Wait, a tugboat? In love with a destroyer?! Come on now, not even I could come up with something as stupid as this!"
"Oh, shut up! Go and tell your tugs to get some sleep! We need Boomer to bring a fresh load of fuel for the girls first thing in the morning! Good night John."
"Good night sir."
And with that, John Walters walked off to the house of the steam fleet.