Strike Witches: Battleship

by Thorthemighty321

Here is the rewrite for my Battleship/Strike Witches crossover! Here we go on the summary. Fate could be a bitch: Captain Alex Hopper has been in command of the new Bunker Hill-class Destroyer for six months. It was a command he didn't want. Trying to escape enemy forces, Hopper orders his ship into a squall. They come out of the squall in a totally different world.

3. The Harder

A/N: Here we go boys and girls; Chapter III of my Battleship/Strike Witches Crossover. This time we see the involvement of one last Friendly ship from the Earth that the John Paul Jones and Fubuki is from, except that this one is a Virginia-class Nuclear Powered Submarine, built with an experimental reactor and with a little more forward firepower.

Also expect during this chapter something unexpected to happen, something that will cut Francesca to her core.

Anyway, grab a refreshment, take a seat, strap those safety belts tight, and let's get this show rolling!

XXXX

"Report!" Captain Andrew Mancuso commanding officer of the Virginia-class Nuclear Powered Fast Attack Submarine USS Harder SSN-800 yelled as he pulled himself to his feet. Andrew Mancuso had been commanding the Harder since she had been commissioned in 2019. He was wearing your a typical NWU, just like the rest of the damn Navy; he had jet black hair and black eyes, and had an attitude somewhat similar to his father Bartholomew Mancuso.

"No damage to the hull sustained! The damage control board is green across the board." The XO of the USS Harder, Commander Marcus Cramer replied as he looked at the damage control board.

"Then would someone please explain to me why it sounded like the damn propulsor ranaway? I would certainly like to know why the hell that happened!" Andrew barked.

"Sir, I have no idea why that happened! A propulsor will only sound like it ranaway, is if it is brought totally out of the water when it is running!" The Helmsman answered.

"Alright, then thanks, prepare a diving team. I want the propulsor checked for damage of any sort, anything that could disrupt our noise levels. I want that dive team assembled within thirty-minutes. I want us on the surface within forty-five minutes. Helmsman make your speed five knots! What is the depth under keel!" Andrew ordered.

"One second sir!" The Helmsman said, he pressed a button on his console. A sharp resounding Ping! Reverberated through the hull, several moments later they received the return Pong! "Depth under keel is 149 meters, sir! We got plenty of room to go deeper if needed!" The helmsman said.

"That can't be right! Periscope depth!" Andrew snapped.

"Yessir! Periscope dive, sir!" The diving officer said as he sounded the diving alarm. The USS Harder quickly ascended to periscope depth, which even though the powerful Virginia-class didn't have periscopes as one would think. Well, old habits died hard.

"Up scope number one!" Andrew barked. The photonic mast quickly raised above the surface of the water and Andrew took a quick 360 degree view of the surrounding area. "What the fuck?" Andrew muttered when he saw it.

"Hey, Commander Cramer what does that look like to you?" Andrew asked stepping aside to let Cramer have a look. The Commander took a look pulled his head back from the viewing piece and blinked a few times before putting his head back to the view piece.

"That looks like Mount Vesuvius; which is impossible, we are on the other side of the world. Yet that is Mount Vesuvius, and these photonic masts cannot be fooled easily." Cramer said.

"Yeah" Andrew said.

He then walked over and grabbed engaged the 1MC switch. But before he did he engaged the SONAR room circuit. "Conn Sonar" Andrew said.

"Sonar aye, what is it captain?" The chief sonar operator asked.

"Are we alone? Any SONAR contacts?" Andrew asked.

"Negative conn, no SONAR contacts we are alone. However if we detect anything, I will let you know." The SONAR operated replied.

"Thanks" Andrew said, then engaged the 1MC circuit.

"Attention, all hands. This is the captain speaking. As you all may have heard, it sounded like the propulsor "ranaway" which is very hard to do, with one of these things. However, I have to believe that the United States Navy as we know it, can likely no longer support us. However, I still expect every last one of you to act like crew members of the United States Navy Silent Service. More information as we get it." Andrew said then hung up the talker.

He had no idea just how correct he was in the fact that the United States Navy as they knew could no longer support them. However he had also made a mistake, he didn't finish the 360 degree look around, and thus didn't know of the Royal Romangan Destroyer Turbine.

XXXX

"Wow, this is Naples, Romagna?" Yoshika breathed amazed by the bustling city she was seeing.

"Yeah, this is Naples, Romagna. While it's not Rome by any stretch of the imagination. It is still very impressive with a lot of history behind it. Nearby is the city of Pompeii which was destroyed in the year 79 A.D. when Mount Vesuvius erupted." Francesca said, pointing the volcano out.

"Incredible, it looks similar to Mt. Fuji." Yoshika said as she gazed at it.

"Yeah, but it is actually shorter than Mt. Fuji by a substantial amount, but Vesuvius is more famous." Francesca replied.

"You got that right Francesca, it certainly is more famous than Mt. Fuji. No offense Yoshika." Shirley said, sparing a quick glance over at the volcano.

"None taken, I just never thought I'd see what Mt. Vesuvius looks like." Yoshika replied.

As the trio approached the Gulf of Naples. That was when Yoshika spotted something, at anchor roughly halfway out into the bay, with smoke coming softly up from two funnels.

"Hey, Francesca! What's that?" Yoshika asked, as she pointed out the ship.

"I don't believe it! That's the Royal Romangan Destroyer Turbine, lead ship of her class! She was recently outfitted with depth-charges and a Liberion made ASDIC system. However I would recognize the Turbine anywhere!" Francesca said, getting very happy for no reason at all.

"Why is that Francesca?" Shirley asked, curious.

"That's because the Turbine is commanded by my father." Francesca said, looking at the ship.

"She is pretty that is for sure." Shirley said looking at the Turbine.

The Turbine was a Turbine-class Destroyer, she was completed in the year 1927 and launched in the same year, and was commissioned into the Royal Romangan Navy in the year 1928. She is powered by three boilers turning two Parsons Geared Steam Turbines, she has a top speed of 36 knots, and is 305 feet long, 30 feet wide, and has a draft of 9 feet. She is armed with two twin 4.7in gun mounts, with one forward and one aft, she also has thanks to a refit in '43 two single 40mm Bofor Gun mounts, two single Breda 30 AA gun mounts, and fifty-two depth charges. She was a very sleek and deadly destroyer, and had one of the best crews in the Romangan Navy.

"We should visit Naples someday, it would probably be really fun." Yoshika said.

"Yeah, it sure...what the hell is that?!" Shirley said suddenly pointing to something as a large black thing exploded from the water. "Holy shit! I think that is a Neuroi Submarine! We can't do anything about it!" Yoshika said, gaping at the size of the thing. It appeared to be about as big as a Fusoan Sen-Toku-class Aircraft Carrying Submarine!

"No, but the Turbine can!" Francesca said, ready to watch her Dad's ship go to work. The anchor was quickly raised and the forward gun boomed, two 4.7in shells went screaming toward the submarine, and smoke began to billow from her funnels at increased intensity as the Turbine began to surge forward.

XXXX

"Holy fuck!" Andrew bellowed as the distinctive sound of shells barely missing the Harder resounded, two shell splashes erupted to life on either side of the Harder. They had her dialed in! He looked around and spotted a ship, gunsmoke blowing the wind away from the guns and beginning to bear down on the Harder " GENERAL QUARTERS, CRASH DIVE!" Andrew bellowed into the mic for the conn.

"Crash dive, aye!" The helmsman said oddly calm, as Andrew got out of the sail station and began to scramble down the ladder, closing the hatch as he went, and went back to CIC. He felt the engines on board the Harder go from quiet to full throttle, and crew members were slamming hatches shut as the powerful attack submarine quickly began diving. At the sametime the Klaxon alarm began to go off.

"Conn, Sonar! That unknown that opened fire on us is moving! She's picking up speed, making turns for twenty knots! Bearing 095!" The SONAR chief yelled.

"Helmsman make your course 275, all ahead flank!" Andrew ordered. "Designate that hostile Master 1!" He added.

"Yessir!" The helmsman responded.

"Yessir!" The Chief Sonarman replied.

Time since first shots fired at the Harder; two minutes twenty seconds. The Harder was below the surface now, and turned away from the onrushing destroyer and cranked it up to flank speed, she quickly reached her top speed of 38.5 knots (just taking an estimate here since the top speed of the Virginia-class is classified, plus the Harder has more shaft horsepower than your normal Virginia-class), and quickly began to outstrip the unknown, hostile destroyer. Time passed slowly, Andrew took a quick glance at his watch, seven minutes had passed. "Alright, helmsman make your speed eight knots, course change, make your bearing 095. Fire Control Party get this bastard locked in. Weapons control, what is in our tubes?" Alex ordered.

"Yessir" Came the reply from the helmsman and the chief officer for the Fire Control Party.

"Sir! Tubes One, Two, Three, and Four have Mark-48 Mod 7s in them. Tubes Five and Six have Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles loaded in them sir!" The chief weapons officer barked.

XXXX

Back above the surface, Yoshika, Shirley, and Francesca were watching the Turbine as she went to flank after the enemy submarine which had crash dived from the looks of it. Then they heard a message from the Turbine to high command. "Okay, just what the fuck is this thing? It is out-running us! High Command we need a Catalina and a Witch equipped with Catalina Striker Units. Make sure that the Catalina is equipped with Sonobuoys! We need them to track this thing down!" The radioman barked. It didn't take long for High Command to respond. "Roger that Turbine, Catalina and Witch support will arrive in ten minutes!" High Command reported.

On board the Turbine, the sonarman judged the range to be roughly 7500 meters, the target had slowed for no reason and then had turned toward them. Then he heard the unmistakeable sound of a torpedo tube door opening, "TRANSIENT! TRANSIENT! TRANSIENT!" He screamed, moments later the distinctive sound of a torpedo being fired was heard. "TORPEDO IN THE WATER! BEARING 000!" He screamed, the destroyer instantly began zig-zagging, this tactic would have helped the Turbine dodge the torpedo, had it been a regular straight-running torpedo.

XXXX

Onboard the Harder, Alex Mancuso was waiting for the words he wanted to hear. "Captain! Target Motion Analysis is complete, we can fire when ready!" The chief of the fire control party barked.

"Good! Open tube one! Firing point procedures tube one!" Alex barked.

"Yessir! Opening tube one!" The chief weapons officer barked, a few seconds later he then said "Firing point procedures tube one! Torpedo launched, cleared and left the tube!"

A few moments later the sonar man piped up "Unit One is running hot, straight, and normal, sir! Time till unit one acquires the Master One is 90 seconds!" He said.

The 90 seconds passed in the blink of an eye. "Cut wires and close tube one! Reload with a Mark-48." Alex ordered. After hearing the Sonarman bark "Unit 1 has acquired Master One."

The torpedo that the Harder had launched was the pinnacle of United States Navy Submarine Launched Torpedo Technology. The Mark-48 Mod 7 torpedo; this beast of a torpedo is optimized for both littoral and deep-sea use, its swashplate piston engine was powered by Otto-II monopropellant, which when ignited turns into hot gas, which drives the engine. The thrust for the Mark 48 Mod 7 ADCAP Torpedo is delivered by a propulsor. With a range greater than 8 kilometers it has a reach greater than most torpedoes of the era and it almost never misses. This torpedo is wire guided but it has its own sonar as well, once this thing has you in its sights it is game over. The warhead is 650lbs of RDX plus whatever fuel still hasn't been burned. Has a top speed of over 50 knots. The torpedo was painted green to blend in with the water, plus it left no bubble trail, making it nearly impossible to detect by visual methods, the torpedo was designed to explode underneath a ship's hull to break its back, although it would often rip the ship half.

The torpedo had just acquired lock-on with the Turbine which had been doing evasive maneuvers, the torpedo made an adjustment in its course that would terminate right underneath the Turbine amidships right in between the two funnels.

XXXX

The Turbine was roughly 45 degrees off the Harder's port bow, when a lookout spotted something, green on green moving unbelievably fast right for the ship. "OH MY FUCKING GOD! TORPEDO TO STARBOARD!" The lookout screamed.

But the warning came in too late. Even as the ship began a frantic turn to starboard.

XXXX

"Unit One will impact in Five...Four...Three...Two...One…" Cramer said onboard the Harder looking at a small silver pocket watch.

XXXX

Francesca, Shirley, and Yoshika watched in horror as the water around the Turbine amidships, between the two funnels turned to a frothing white. Then a large explosion blasted upwards, a massive detonation that ripped the Turbine in half in one brutal instant, and wrenching the hull open in numerous places all over the hull that was still intact. The bow section seemingly disappeared, it was gone within fifteen seconds of the impact of the torpedo, the stern didn't fair any better. It lasted a little longer but was gone within a minute. All that remained to show that there had been a ship there just a few moment ago, was some scattered debris floating in the water, an oil slick, and a few items floating up from the depths.

The Turbine and all 179 men on board were gone, in the blink of an eye, their lives ended so brutally it made the witches want to throw up.

However Francesca began trembling and tears rolled down her face as she came to the realization that her father was gone. Then the dam broke and she began to openly weep as the reality of what she had just seen hit her full force.

Yoshika was horrified by what she had seen, sure she had seen ships get sunk by the Neuroi before, but their should have been no way that torpedo should have impacted, it should have missed by a mile. Yet somehow it did, the evidence pointed to a acoustic homing torpedo (they did exist in WWII so they would also exist in the 2nd Neuroi War as well), that was the only explanation for why that torpedo impacted and destroyed the Turbine sending it down to the bottom .

"Holy fuck" Shirley simply breathed, not believing what she had just seen. Sure she had heard of torpedoes snapping ships in half, and knew that Fusoan Type 93s did it on a regular basis to Neuroi Corvettes, Frigates, and Destroyers. But she had never seen a torpedo explode in that fashion, before.

XXXX

"Impact!" Cramer said, at the same time the reverb from an explosion went through the hull, moments later Sonar confirmed what everyone already knew. "Direct hit! She's going down fast; she probably began to break up the moment that torpedo hit her!" The chief sonar man said.

"Let's get the hell out of here. Plot a course bearing 180, speed 10 knots" Alex ordered.

The Harder quickly slipped away from the engagement sight, total time elapsed between the first shots being fired to the enemy ship being sunk ten minutes.

XXXX

The PBY and the Witch with Catalina strikers tried for two hours to find the submarine responsible. However even though they had dropped nearly sixty of the new-fangled Sonobuoys they didn't find it. This completely demoralized the crew of the PBY and the Witch that had been deployed to find the submarine that had sank the Turbine with all hands lost.

In the Meantime Shirley, Francesca, and Yoshika landed at the airfield at Naples, Italy. Shirley had told Yoshika to go to the base commander to send a message to the 501st JFW base at Pescara and to ask for transport. Something happened out here and Francesca was emotionally unfit to fly. When the base commander had heard of what had happened, he understood instantly, no one, no matter the age, should witness one of their own parents being killed.

XXXX

At Pescara, Minna was being shown around the John Paul Jones, they had started forward and Hopper had explained in great detail what the 155mm Gun was capable of, had Lt. Cmdr. Raikes open up a hatch in the deck, revealing the tip of a rocket of some kind. Hopper had explained that it was something called an SM-3 Anti-Ballistic Missile and could swat a V2 out of the air no problem, he had also explained that the SM-3 wasn't the only weapon contained in the cells. "It's hard to believe that this ship is just a destroyer, because it packs more firepower onboard then a Yamato-class Battleship, and is as big as some cruisers." Minna said in awe.

"Yep, in my time, the year 2020. The Big Gun Battleship has long since passed, and the aircraft carrier has taken over as the primary capital ship of the world. With Guided Missile Cruisers and Destroyers providing protection. Although the Battleship does have a special place in my heart. Particularly the Iowa-class of battleship." Alex said.

"I can understand that, the Liberion made Iowa-class Battleships are very impressive." Minna replied and Alex simply nodded.

Hopper led Minna deeper into the ship. Showing the various spaces except for one with a hatch marked CIC. "Um, Alex?" Minna asked.

"Yes Commander?" Alex replied.

"What is CIC?" Minna questioned.

"CIC is the nerve center of the John Paul Jones, it is where all of the data that is drawn in from the AEGIS sensor suite is processed and turn into useful information. Plus the ratings in their, generally don't like to be interrupted as it disrupts their focus on the task at hand." Alex explained.

"I see." Minna said; when suddenly the 1MC circuit engaged, and Walter's voice blared over the intercom. "Captain, you are needed in the radio room." He said.

Hopper grumped; "Alright, didn't expect this." He said, and began to walk in a different direction. Minna followed, after five minutes she was totally lost. They then came to a hatch marked radio room. Alex opened it and stepped in. "What do we got?" He asked.

"Sir, you need to take a look at this." One of the communications specialists said handing Alex a piece of paper. Alex took the briefest of looks at it then said "Commander it's for you, reason we picked it up, is because well our communications equipment is some of the most sensitive in the world." He said.

Minna took the piece of paper and read it over. "My god" She breathed, stunned at what she was reading.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Hopper asked.

"Is there someplace we can speak in private?" Minna asked.

"Yes, we can do this in the conference room where we started this morning, then if need be cut the tour short." Hopper said.

"Thanks" Minna replied; still mentally reeling from what she had just read, Francesca's father and his entire crew had been killed in action when they engaged an assumed Neuroi submarine. Worse of all, three of her witches had witnessed the whole thing, including Francesca.

XXXX

After they walked into the conference room and had sat down, Minna then read the message aloud. When she was done, Hopper cursed pretty creatively. "Damn, alright I will cut the tour short and have Boats take you back to base. I guess in the meantime, I am going to have to get my ship ready for a visit by the big brass." Hopper said.

XXXX

Five minutes later, Chief Boatswain Mate Lynch was helping Minna into the JPJ's motor launch. "You ready?" He asked after the launch slapped into the water.

"Yes" Minna replied.

The motor launch shot back towards the base at Pescara. About halfway their Lynch spoke up and told her something that would come in handy later. "Commander Wilcke just to let you know, everyone on board the John Paul Jones and to a degree crewmembers on the Fubuki call me "The Beast" or "Beast" mainly because I am the biggest guy on the ship, and probably second strongest after Captain Hopper. They only call me by my name unless the situation is tense or critical." Lynch said.

"I see, thanks." Minna said, still trying to think on how to calm Francesca down when she got back to base. Once again Beast showed some very impressive skill, bringing the launch right up to same spot where Minna was picked up.

"Have a good day Commander." Beast said as Minna climbed out of the Launch and onto the quay. "Thanks Beast." Minna replied. The launch quickly left the quay and went back toward the John Paul Jones.

XXXX

Major Sakamoto meet Minna the moment she walked inside the base. "Commander, have you heard of what happened near Naples?" She asked.

"Yes Major I have. The John Paul Jones also picked the message up, completely by accident. We need to have the Ju-52 prepped and sent to Naples to pick Shirley, Francesca, and Yoshika up, and we need to tell the brass. They have to know about this latest development; however they also need to have their weapons replenished or they won't be able to fight." Minna said.

"I see, okay; I'll alert the crew of the Ju-52 to get ready for the mission, I will also accompany the Ju-52, because well we need to learn what has happened." Sakamoto replied, with a note of concern for the Witches who had witnessed the whole thing, she started to jog toward the hangar. Good lord I wonder what happened out there; the Turbine had one of the best crew's in the entire Royal Romangan Navy. Minna though as she watched Sakamoto jog toward the hangar.

XXXX

Twenty minutes later, Minna was watching as the Ju-52 that had been assigned to the 501st JFW began to power down the runway, heading for Naples. The problem was, that was the only Transport plane that they had. She was trying to figure out what she would tell the brass. This was going to be interesting, however she figured she should only tell a few commanders, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Air Chief Marshall Dowding, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt, and lastly Admiral Stanforth Whitcomb of the Polelentsy Federation Navy; however Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt, well she wasn't sure if their busy schedule would allow them to be able to visit.

Still, there was something that she felt when she was around Captain Hopper of the John Paul Jones that she hadn't felt in a long time, but what was it?

XXXX

Major Sakamoto sighed after the Ju-52 landed, and had come to a stop on the taxiway, at the airfield here in Naples Romagna. Something told her she was in for a very rough time trying to get Francesca to tell her what had happened.

A young private opened the door, and promptly saluted. "Major" He said with a curt salute which Sakamoto returned. "Private" Mio said.

"The three witches from your unit are in the base infirmary. This way, Major." He said.

"Lead on private." Mio replied.

The private trotted toward the hospital, and then led her to the ward where the three of them were. He led them into the ward and Mio; Shirley was holding Francesca close who was still crying, meanwhile sitting on a bed was Yoshika, she had that sort of look in her eyes that said she was shell shocked like she couldn't believe what had happened.

Mio took a deep breath before walking over. "Sakamoto" Yoshika said softly, her usual smile replaced by a blank expression. "Major" Shirley said as she held Francesca close.

"Shirley, can you please tell me what happened?" Sakamoto asked.

"Well, we were flying over the Gulf of Naples, about to finish our patrol and return to base. When we were over the Gulf, we saw a Royal Romagnan Destroyer; which Francesca told us was the Turbine. She was really happy to see the Turbine because her father was in command of the Turbine. Well just before we turned to leave, a large back tear drop shaped submarine, surfaced. We instantly knew it was Neuroi, but it didn't appear to be a Blue Neuroi submarine at all. The Turbine opened fire with her forward gun turret at it and missed, and the thing promptly crash dived. The Turbine went after it and we followed the Turbine out of curiosity you could say. Well suddenly the Turbine began to zigzag; which meant the submarine had stopped running from it, in fact we actually picked up a message from the Turbine saying that the thing was outrunning them. Well it had just finished a turn to port and had been going for at least 100 feet like that, when suddenly she began to heel over to starboard. Just as the water around her amidships turned white, and then blasted upward with such force that it ripped her in half, the bow was gone within a matter of seconds, but the stern stayed above the surface for like a minute maybe, before that too sank. We saw no survivors in the water, to be frank I am certain that most of the crew was likely killed when that torpedo exploded, that had to be what sank her, a torpedo, a wakeless, acoustic homing torpedo. I have never seen anything so brutal in my life." Shirley said, explaining what had happened.

"Dear lord, this thing outran the Turbine?" Mio asked shocked.

Shirley nodded in response.

"This is a startling development, that's for sure. Nevertheless, let's get you three back to base. However Francesca, when we get back to base, I want you to see a counselor, to help you get through this." Mio said.

XXXX

Sakamoto decided to have Shirley carry Francesca to the Ju-52. Yet something was bugging Mio, a feeling of foreboding that something bad, would follow the 501st. What that thing was she did not know; however she had a feeling that it when it was over it would shake not only the 501st but all of those involved to its core. The question was, what had nailed the Turbine? Whatever this submarine was, it had turned the tables on its attacker in an instant and a destroyer at that, which were thought to be a submarine's natural enemy. Yet this thing had effortlessly sunk the Turbine which was a destroyer. The only submarine the Mio knew of who had a skipper that could turn the tables on an enemy destroyer like that was the Liberion Gato-class Submarine USS Harder SS-257 and she had recently meet her end with all hands lost near the Fusoan Island of Iwo Jima. What this meant did not bode well for humanity if this was in essence a Plaat version of the USS Harder SS-257, the amount of damage this thing could do was not good at all for the Allied war effort.

XXXX

Nearly six hours had passed since the USS Harder SSN-800, had sunk the Turbine with all hands. The boat was now moving south at ten knots at a depth of 150 meters; what they didn't know was that they were about to discover something that really convince them that they had left the Earth they knew.

"Conn, sonar." The chief sonarman said.

"Conn aye, what is it Victor?" Mancuso asked.

"I have quite a few number of sound contacts, the computer has identified several as Fletcher-class Destroyers, but from the sound of it, there are some really big ships in this fleet." Chief sonarman Victor said.

This got Mancuso's attention, because the last Fletcher-class Destroyer was decommissioned from active duty in the year 2001. "How many sonar contacts have been identified as Fletcher-class Destroyers?" Mancuso asked as he walked over to the sonar room.

"Four have been identified by the computer as Fletcher-class Destroyers, the rest are pulling up a blank from the computer. Sir if anything, I'd recommend we go to periscope depth and figure out what we can see." Victor said.

Mancuso nodded and then walked back to the conn "Periscope depth" Mancuso ordered. The Diving alarm rang and the Harder climbed up to Periscope depth. "Up scope number 1!" He barked, he then grabbed the folded up handles and brought them down, and peered into the viewer just as the photonic mast breached the surface of the water.

What Andrew saw, elicited a long, slow whistle. As he slowly rotated the photonic mast, he saw various powerful warships, however they were all of the "All-Gun" Mantra of main armament. However as he swung the thing around to bearing 352 relative, he caught a glimpse of something, he pointed the photonic mast at whatever was at that bearing and saw a ship with a distinctively Japanese Pagoda Style Mast. "What the?" Mancuso said as he looked at the ship, blinking to make sure that he wasn't imagining it, nope it was still there.

"Hey Cramer! What do you see?" Mancuso asked as he stepped aside to let Commander Cramer take a look through the scope.

"That, is a Japanese Battleship. I can tell you that much, however one of the ship's that I can see has the number 446 emblazoned in white on its grey hull. Only one ship has had that number, and she was a Fletcher-class a member of DesRon 21." Cramer said.

"Damn, I didn't notice that! I was too focused on the big Japanese Battleship, and didn't notice the Fletcher-class Destroyer." Mancuso said.

What Mancuso had discovered was an Allied Task Force, composed of the Battleships IFN Nagato and HMS Warspite, heavy cruisers IFN Myoko, IFN Tone, HMS Berwick, HMS Cumberland, USS Astoria, and KKK Prince Eugen, light cruisers USS Oakland, HMS Dido, HMS Royalist, IFN Tenryuu, and KKK Emden, and destroyers USS Radford, USS Nicholas, USS Fletcher, USS O'Bannon, IFN Hibiki, IFN Inazuma, IFN Ikazuchi, IFN Akatsuki, KKK Z51, KKK Z52, KKK Z45, HMS Trafalgar, and HMS Agincourt; otherwise known as Task Force Archimedes, this force was sailing to Naples, Romagna in preparation for a strike against a major Neuroi base at Santorini. They had no idea that they were shadowed for almost twenty minutes before Captain Mancuso lost interest and ordered the Harder to return to course, heading south and to relative safety.

XXXX

Minna had to carefully think of a proper way to word the message to the members of the Brass that needed to know. She also decided that she would have them encrypted before they were sent, and have them marked as urgent. This was something that needed to be sent to the right Generals and Admirals without the wrong ones, the ones that despised witches knowing about it. So at the moment it was best to keep it limited to only a few at most. She had already tried to figure out several different ways to try and tell those members of the brass what had happened here at Pescara. She was struggling to figure out how to word it.

Sighing, she got up and went to the window, noting that the Ju-52 had returned, but what caught her attention was the fact that besides the fact that Shirley was carrying Francesca, was the solemn look on Yoshika's face and the downright distraught look on Shirley's face. She quickly left her office, she needed to talk to Francesca, figure out how to calm her down. However just before she left her office she figured out what to send to those members of the brass.

XXXX

After a quick trip to the radio room, where she had the message sent; she hurried to the common room. Just as she got there she was met by Mio. "How's Francesca holding up?" Minna quickly asked.

"Not too well, Minna. She's taking this very badly and to be frank I don't blame her. She witnessed her father get killed. If anything, she probably will never be the same." Mio said with sorrow.

"I see, thanks for letting me know. If anything, the first order of business is getting her calmed down and having her voice out her feelings." Minna said.

"I agree with you on that." Mio stated.

"Thanks, I'll go talk to Francesca, once we get her calmed down, I will call a counselor to help her through this tragedy." Minna said as she walked into the common room and over to the couch that Francesca was sitting on, with her head in her hands and openingly crying.

It took roughly an hour to get the youngest member of the 501st to stop crying; however she didn't talk afterward. Thus she was taken to the medical ward, where it was determined she was in a state of shock. It was heart-wrenching to see, for that morning Francesca had been well herself, seeing her in the state she was in, it just wasn't right.

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A/N: There we have it! Chapter III of the Battleship/Strike Witches Crossover. Note I will accept ideas for a better title, if you have an idea for one, shoot me a PM or leave it in the review section. Next Chapter expect some members of the big brass to visit, and something that is very much needed before one of the ships is ordered to find the ship that sent the Turbine to the bottom. Also expect to see some small arms next chapter, M107.

Note the idea for killing Francesca's Father wasn't mine, it was someone who would like to remain anonymous. This story is still in the first arc of chapters, which is called Arrival. As always, please review, as it helps me figure out what I need to do in order to make the story either better or in what direction to take it.

Thorthemighty321 signing off.