Jesus, school suddenly decided to kick you in the ass on last time and thsu becomes even more of a hassle than normally, still all things will end eventually. Thus, school's now finally over and I am now stranded on this beach of even more things to worry about like getting a drivers license or how i am going to plan my time after conscription. But i digress, during those two weeks of not writing, i was able to get my head together and planned soem events in advance for the story. Stay thirsty and drink a lot!


Hammerhead

`` Speed and Power! ´´, the voice of a certain German Admiral resounded through the somewhat empty naval base as he charged his Wiesel tankette towards the training area.

While was rather joyful about this speedy voyage, the two ship girls in the back of the vehicle were not quite satisfied with the quality of their trip, though both of them acted quite different. Maya on the one hand tried rather hard to stay composed, not wanting to show any weaknesses which Hermann could exploit later on in the never-ending game of "teasing" and "counter teasing". Iowa on the other hand though did not make any efforts to disguise anything. Well, she had been hit a bit harder by the hangover and therefore had her restraints loosened up a bit, especially when Hermann made manoeuvres such as cornering a rather narrow piece of road while doing 50 kilometres per hour in a tracked vehicle.

Due to such unfortunate circumstances, the loud revving of the engine and her seat being not as comfortable as Hermann's couch, she found herself in a more pitiful state of being, amplified by each minute. If her constant complaining about the sound of the engine and Hermann's maniacal driving style did not give it away, then the hand that was constantly shutting her mouth, so that she would not barf into the vehicle, gave away more than enough.

Hermann of course was aware of the circumstances in the seats behind him but driving the Wiesel around was just too much fun, especially when the risk of accidently road killing someone was lower than the day before. Therefore, he made the decision to conform Iowa with words of support: `` My dear, there should still be a plastic bag form yesterday's shop around here somewhere! If ya thinking about barfing around in my ride, then you better use it, otherwise I might be forced to kick tie you to the front with steel wires! ´´, he accentuated his words with taking a sip from suspicious bottle.

Iowa was not all too pleased with his inappropriate words, but since she could very well unintentionally be emptying her stomach onto the vehicles floor if she got riled up too much, the American battleship remained content for now. From yesterday's drinking excurse, she very well learned that he would be true to his words and while he as a normal human should not be able to tie her up against her will, he could very well get the help of a ship girl for such actions.

In Iowa's mind this trip of hell could still be stretching out until Kingdome Come, but she was sparred from any longer narrow cornering, since he stopped the vehicle. This stop though was not salvation, but rather the grand de finale for Iowa's unstable stomach. In contrary to a vehicle with wheels, most tracked vehicles can be seemingly stopped in an instant, accompanied with a comedic lift of the vehicles rear section, after hitting the breaks. The concept applying to the Wiesel as well, the ride took an abrupt end and as such, Iowa's holding back against the ever-growing danger of vomiting too. In the last second however she was able to bail out of the Wiesel in order to not let Hermann's threats become real. Thus, with a quick motion she jumped out of her seat, mustered all strength that until now had been stored in her hungover body and left the tankette in an acrobatic way.

Nevertheless, upon hitting the floor the flood gates had been lifted and the American battleship now had to deal with the mistakes of yesterday. Hermann, who looked at her through the opened drivers hatch, erupted into mad laughter as he saw her in her miserable state. Maya, while not being able to see it directly, still connected the dots and therefore knew of Iowa's demise. She joined the German then in his laughter, not as intense but just as well.

Iowa finally finished her works due and turned back to Hermann with a glare in directed at him: `` Hey douche, just so you know the next time you will be having it coming! ´´

`` I dare you to do so! You need at least one hundred more drinking sessions until you are going to be having a level of resistance that could pose a threat to me! ´´, he paused shortly as he was forced to chuckle a bit, then pointed over to the vomit: `` Iowa, you could very well sell this as a modern painting. When it comes to creatively barfing, then I think you might get the better out of me. ´´

`` Thank you very much for the praise admiral! ´´, she answered him in a very sarcastic tone as she winked him the middle finger.

With a forced sigh, Hermann then left the Wiesel in a quick motion through the driver's hatch. Maya followed up, though took a lot longer than him, since she too wasn't feeling well, but not as life threatening as Iowa. After leaving from the top hatch, Hermann who just closed the drivers hatch jumped towards her exit and closed it too. He did not want any animals randomly entering his vehicle or birds building nests in there.

After having his hypothetical fears defeated, Hermann hopped down from the vehicle and joined the two ship girls that were already waiting for him. Iowa up until now had sucked her defeat up and accepted her fate of being the victim of verbal abuse for the rest of the day. She did not seem bitter about the laughter of the other two, since she would have done the same of the tables had been turned.

`` So, now that we have arrived, I would advise to you to just wait around here since I have some things that still need to be worked through. ´´, Hermann said to them.

Maya was not in the best of moods as he revealed to her that she would have to wait until the official meeting: `` Wait, wait, Admiral… Are you saying that instead of just leaving us to our businesses, getting up well and having a more enjoyable morning, you forced us into the waiting game? ´´

`` Yes. ´´

With a light, but still somewhat mad chuckle the heavy cruiser clenched her fists, while she knew that he wanted to be here earlier, she also thought that they were actually needed here, therefore he had to wake them up earlier than needed. `` Fufufufu, tell me Admiral…. What part of you body would you least mind losing? Arm? Leg? Just tell me….´´

Hermann read the situation well enough, thus he was about to prepare some kind of semi-original counter in order to combat the angry heavy cruiser. Revealing his true strength though wasn't an option, as randomly blowing his cover just because he had been forced into some stupid shenanigans wasn't what he truly aimed for. Running sounded a lot better, it would have even made the situation a bit more comedic, so that it looked more like an anime, but this would have just cost him time that he did not have. He still needed to meet up with Nagato in order to discuss some logistical things. All things considered he needed a quick solution to get her out of his way that did not reveal his true self. A serious order was required.

As he was about to form correlating words out of his thoughts, he was quickly interrupted by not too pleasant invaders. In that case they were the ships of the Akizuki destroyer class. In a manner, which one could describe as classic, considering their actions up until now, they formed a well-fortified circle around him in order to keep the raging cruiser at bay. While he was a bit flabbergasted, this sudden revelation gave him a needed excuse to get away quickly, even if it meant that he then needed to get rid of the four destroyers. All in all, he could manage to get this done in a few minutes, meaning that he would have enough time to get things going with Nagato.

So, with his plan in mind Hermann was about to issue an order for the destroyers, keeping Maya away from him in that case. His plan though did not even get a chance to come into fruition as the eventful scene became even more dramatic. Since Hermann only activated his sensors a few seconds before, he was not able to sense the charge that had been aimed at him and while he could have dodged it with his cyborg body, doing so would only raise suspicion about his true self, thus he was only able to mentally steel himself for it

With a loud "thumb" a certain ship girl, notorious for such acts, collided with him and tackled the man down with her. Upon collision, one could easily make out her battle cry, that being "burning love". Nevertheless, the only thing that burned in Hermann now was not the sweet feeling of hot love, but rather a craving dose of annoyance about being tackled to the ground as he did not want to get his clothing ripped apart, as it similarly happened the night before when a dreadnought accidently did tackle him.

`` Don't you have better things to do than randomly pushing people? ´´, Hermann asked her in an unfazed manner.

`` Teitoku don't just assume that I do so! ´´, she pouted at him, but as it was only acting she changed her expression quickly into a joyful one: `` I only push people down that mean a lot to me! ´´

Hermann sighed, not in an annoyed way, rather with a smile as he did not hide his flattery. Still, she stood in his was right now, therefore he hoisted himself up in a manner that did not give away that she was still clinging to him. As she did not waver from his motions, the scene changed from romantic to comedic, since she still clung to the admiral. The four destroyers that swore to protect the admiral were now in a rather downcast mood as they again did not manage to protect him from the fast battleship.

`` Hey don't look like someone just passed on, you still shielded me from this raging buffoon over there. ´´, Herman praised them.

`` How did you just call me?! ´´, she cried over to him.

Hermann put on a playful smile and said to the destroyers: `` See, she is still dangerous! Therefore, I will commence a tactical retreat and I want you lot to cover me while doing so. This is an order, keep her at bay until I am out of reach. ´´

`` Understood! ´´, they answered in unison.

After the affirmation, Hermann jogged off towards the location where he wanted to meet up with Nagato. `` Come back you coward! ´´, Maya shouted at him, but to no avail as he did not give into her taunt.

With this problem solved, he could now focus onto the next one and that was Kongou. She still clung to him, resulting in the comedic image of him running while she still though of him as some kind of transport vehicle. Even though the reason for the clinging was not utilitarian, he did not want to get to affectionate now. Therefore, when he was far enough away from the angered cruiser, he stopped and turned his face towards the ship girl that thought his should was some kind of pillow.

`` My dear, I thin-´´, he suddenly felt something wet on his shoulder. With a quick gaze he correctly identified it as drool: `` Are you fucking drooling on my shirt right now?! ´´, his voice was not so friendly, but still funny for a third party to listen to.

`` Hmmm, Teitoku is comfortable….´´, she drooled on.

Herman, angered by this, grew impatient and therefore was about to painfully remover her form him in various quick and concessive motions which would have included things as jumping and then crashing into the ground. While it certainly sounded gruesome, one needs to consider that Kongou is a ship girl, a battleship to be more precise; thus, not getting hurt by something like this should be a given. Well, Hermann had no doubts that he could harm or even kill her, but that is a whole other issue.

As he was about to get back from his train of thought, a certain other ship girl arrived at their location, her being Kongou's sister ship Haruna. Upon getting her into view, Hermann took on quite a pleased look, since she could very well be the saviour who would pull him out of this pinch.

`` Nee-san, what are you doing to the admiral again? ´´, she cried out to her, then she looked towards Hermann and bowed: `` Admiral, please forgive her. She did not have her morning tea up until now and because of that she is acting in such a way….´´

Hermann sighed, Kongou still clinging to him, and said: `` Firstly, be at ease. Secondly, I shall now guess than why she is behaving in such a way: Kongou here was not so keen with the whole sleeping ordeal, therefore only got the bare minimum of sleep, most likely about only three to fours hours, and since she did not get her needed morning beverage, she probably thinks that this here is some kind of dream. Am I right to at least some degree? ´´

`` Yes, admiral! ´´, she replied in a short manner.

`` Good to hear. Then would you like to get her off me? I still need to get some things done and she would be a bother if I had to discuss confidential things. ´´, he pleaded.

Haruna nodded in agreement and thus began to help Hermann with the arduous task that was removing the now asleep fast battleship. `` She is holding onto me like I am some kind of oversized steel pole that she has to climb up…. Hmmm, Haruna you should grab her by the legs so that we can get that going her. ´´

Haruna followed up, which led to the whole scene looking even more hilarious than it had been before. After she gave him a nod as a sign to proceed, Hermann, whose hands were luckily free, grabbed Kongou's hands. `` Good, now when I count to three we will try to spread her extremities apart, which will hopefully give me an opportunity to escape. Ready? ´´, he asked her and upon receiving a nod as conformation, Hermann started to count: `` One, two, three! ´´

Immediately thy started to pull, Hermann intentionally held back a lot of strength in order to not look suspicious towards Haruna. Seconds later, a little creek appeared between Kongou's former folded hands, which gave the German an opportune time for escape. Therefore, he pushed himself towards the slit between her fingers, purposely winced to make the act perfect and pressed himself out of Kongou's tight embrace.

`` Jesus Christus, hassle would be an understatement, ordeal sounds much better. ´´, Hermann turned towards Haruna, who held Kongou in her arms: `` Still sleeping? ´´

Haruna looked a bit troubled as he uttered his words: `` Ah-ah, Haruna am terribly sorry for that admiral! Haruna will do her best to get Kongou nee-san up and well until the meeting. ´´

Hermann complied with the standard sigh: `` Why are you sorry now? Christ, no point worrying now I guess, just get wake her up until the meeting. ´´

Haruna nodded in agreement and Hermann was about to walk away, but in the last moment remembered a small detail from yesterday: `` Tell me Haruna, are the other two of your class still in hospital? I heard they were badly hurt during the last battle. ´´

With a downcast gaze she replied: `` Yes, admiral…. It was Haruna's fault for that to happen, for Haruna was not able to guard the flank when the enemy breeched it. ´´

Hermann snickered: `` Not it was not. ´´, she looked at him with disbelief, then he continued: `` Coms had been cracked, enemy underestimated, own strength overestimated yada yada. When the enemy got to your position, they did so with an overwhelming force. If you would have tried to stop, certain demise would have awaited you. ´´

`` Haruna would have gladly accepted that to protect her sisters! ´´, she pleaded.

Hermann shook his head: `` Honestly, there is rarely honour in willingly dying….. Certain, unfortunate conditions need to be meet for that to work out, otherwise you will just end up becoming a coward, who ran from the battle. Putting it into context, the moment they got your flank, well, was pretty harsh, but you still had an open rear; thus, the majority was able to retreat. And while your sisters got hurt, they still survived and can fight another day. If you had willingly killed yourself off so that they could have been able to escape unscathed, you would not have only done your country a misdeed by losing a valuable ship, but also driven your sisters into grief. Just imagine the following: How would they have dealt with your loss? If it is comparable to how you do it here, then they would most likely have ended up in a state where they would have been far from peak condition. ´´

`` But admiral, Haruna can't just…..´´

`` My dear, I never said that you needed to be some kind of emotionless terminator. Critically reviewing one's actions is one of the most important procedures in warfare, but you need to do it in a sensible way, a way that can be put into action without costing one's life. ´´

Haruna composed herself and answered: `` Understood! Haruna will try to live up to your expectations! ´´

Hermann sighed: `` That's not directly how I wanted it to end, but fine by me I guess. ´´, he looked at her again as she positioned the still sleeping Kongou onto her back: `` Are you okay with carrying her alone, I could get someone to help. ´´

Haruna shook her head: `` Worry not admiral, Haruna is all right. ´´

Hermann put on a smirk and replied: `` Well, if it's like that, I won't be bothering you any longer. Until we meet again. ´´, Hermann waved her a good bye as he left the place.

A few minutes and hundred metres of tarmac later, Hermann arrived at the designated meeting point at which he wanted the to meet with Nagato before the official meeting. Upon arrival, Hermann was struck with surprise, for he seemed to be the first one there. Hermann would have expected the normally diligent battleship to get here before him, but as it turned out, punctuality wasn't her strength.

Or so Hermann thought.

Behind the building that had been chosen as their meeting point, he was able to make out rather interesting noises. They sounded like someone who was trying to communicate with an animal, but most brain cells had momentarily been deactivated. Normally one would hear such voices when rather weak-willed people saw a cute dog or cat, but someone fitting in this category should not have become a soldier. Adding these things now into context, Hermann deduced that it had to be a ship girl, anything other would not have looked good for this base.

Three wide steps later, Hermann turned around the corner of the building and was able to identify said person. True to his assumption, it really was a ship girl. However, it had not been a destroyer like he expected, rather it was the person he least predicted it to be. The all-so proud and dignified Nagato had turned into a mindless zombie of blabbering, captivated by the cute eyes of a squirrel, which roamed around the naval base.

At first, she did not really recognize that the Admiral stood before her, but after a few seconds and a relatively loud "ahhmm" being uttered by Hermann, the seemingly bipolar battleship jumped up from her former location and grew red like a strawberry. Even some tears formed around her eyes and instead of forming consistent sentences, her speech most likely still remained with the little mammal: `` I-I aham ca-ccan ex-ppp-l-´´

Hermann cut her off with explosive laughter, the German who up until now never held back his amusement followed this trend even now and would still do so in the most precarious situations. This time though it had reached a new level quite easily as the absurdity of what just transpired before his eyes pierced through any barriers of decency. Comparable to the reaction coming from a Monty Python sketch, Hermann easily broke the decibel scale with his laughter. Nagato though, instead of not taking herself too serious and therefore joining the fun, wanted to die right now. She always tried to be the ideal ship girl; proud, determined and full of honour. Right now, she was none of those three things, just a pitiful existence.

A small glint of these emotions was recognisable in her eyes and Herman caught these expressions quickly. So, he decided to abruptly stop his show of laughter and to try his hands at rapid damage control. First step were some words of comfort: `` Nagato my dear, don't be so freaking hard to yourself. Everyone has a guilty pleasure, even the strongest. Instead of whining about them, turn them into a strength of yours. ´´, in order to proceed he stretched a hand towards her.

The still ashamed ship girl though refused his offer of instant relief: `` Admiral, I am not worthy of any longer being the secretary….´´

First attempt failed right away, initiating the second: `` Are you kidding me? You act like some kind of unwavering maountain in the face of a storm, but the moment someone gets you from behind you crumble all? Look at yourself! Should someone who normally radiates with dignity sob around just like that? Get a grip for god's sake and show the world that you are stronger than that! ´´, this time he tried his luck with harsher words and a commanding tone.

Luckily for him, Nagato's prideful nature kicked in and thus was able to climb over this obstacle. She sobbed up, washed away the last tears and took Hermann's still outstretched hand. Hermann then threw a smirk at her in conformation for her brave deeds and congratulated her: `` Well done, you have shown strength when being confronted by your utmost fears! Now, instead of ever again acting in such a way, you will walk this plane with more confidence and show the world your true self. ´´

After giving him a conformational bow, she then added: `` One plea, I still have for you admiral. Would have the time to hear me out? ´´

`` Very well. Tell me your desire. ´´

`` Tell no one about what you saw me doing before. If you do so, I will even….. ´´, she paused for a short moment, looked down with her eyes and grew a bit red: `` …do certain things. ´´

Hermann saw in this misunderstanding another way of teasing someone: `` Hmmm, if you really mean that then we have to confirm this. Not with a hand shake though. ´´

`` W-what do y-you mean? ´´, she stuttered a bit as her recently built up confidence wavered again.

`` A kiss. ´´, Hermann started the teasing game.

`` H-huh? ´´, she was surprised.

`` Hmmm, let's kiss, then this contract and my lips will be sealed. What do you say? ´´

`` ah-ahm, I-I d-don…. ´´, she dug up some confidence and faced him: `` Very well! ´´

Hermann smirked at her commitment, then came closer to her. Nagato, very flustered now, closed her eyes and grew even redder. While kissing her would be some kind of achievement for certain people, he only looked forward to her following reactions to his teasing as they were finest entertainment for him.

The seconds now felt like hours for her as Hermann slowly came closer to her face. Her senses reached new heights under so much stress, even for ship girl, which lead to her sniffing out varying things. At first there was his body heat, which seemed to radiate with ever growing intensity, then there was the smell of Hermann's deodorant, that he applied in the morning. But there was also the faint smell of tequila, coming from a bottle that he carried with him. Using her proximity sensors, she found out that he was only centimetres now away from her, slowly but steady coming closer. The weight of the now approaching action weight ever heavier upon her shoulders, but Hermann showed no signs of similar behaviour.

*flick* Nothing more, nothing less. Hermann just quickly delivered a light flick towards the anxious Nagato. Upon impact, her head falls back in a very comedic sense, like she just had been hit by a cannon ball, only that it really just was the tip of Hermann's middle finger. This of course invoked great amusement in Hermann's mind, his plan succeeded just as he devised it a minute ago. The still somewhat shocked Nagato couldn't really make sense out of his actions, at first, he wanted to force his lips upon her, but then he just led it end as a joke.

Anger. This emotion filled her now to the brim, not only did he not take her serious, he also completely and utterly made a foul out of him. Here she was, waiting for him to kiss her, but he just played this number on her. With her honour and dignity completely shattered, she looked at him in a predatorial way; she would pay him back! Thus, she acted quickly in order to catch him off-guard. Two steps forward, closing in on the still laughing jester. Grabbing his shoulders, so that she got a good hold on him. And then she did what he formerly announced to do; she kissed him.

Not just a quick pick though, Nagato held nothing back as she fired at him with full force, making hi understand what a battleship's broadsided truly is. She even put in some passion, if it was just acted or actually honest, nobody could tell, but she just couldn't let him get the better of her. She was the flagship of this fleet and would never waver. The action lasted for a few more seconds.

Hermann however anticipated this the moment he caught the first glimpse of fire inside of her eyes. Dodging this bold move would have only revealed his secrets, therefore not an option, but he couldn't just let her win, after she challenged his competitive spirit with this move. So, he quickly devised a new plan, that would incorporate her getting a hold of the lead first but taking it back in the aftermath of the battle. He just waited for her to part his lips, then instead of being surprised and flustered like one would expect, he will confront her with the complete opposite.

Nagato grew in confidence with every second. The admiral wasn't a bad person in her opinion and while she still thought that he lacked sincerity, she still believed him to dependable. With this in mind, the battleship viewed this more like a challenged which he issued her, than just him teasing her. And Nagato would never back down form one.

After seven seconds of smooching passed, she parted lips with the German and took on her standard look, representing pride and an unwavering spirit. This would surely impress the admiral. But just as surprising as her reaction to Hermann's head flick was, so was his reaction to her kiss. A smirk. He even chuckled at her. Not flushed cheeks, no stammering, only his contend face bearing an intrigued expression. He locked her down with his eyes and said: `` Not bad, not bad! I really have to say this, for a beginner with close to no experience than some dirty magazines, you really showed me some of your inert talent. Hmmm, if you want more, than you can always call me, Nagato-chan. ´´, he finished her off with witty words, letting her stand dumbfounded. Still, he did not have too much time to spare as the meeting would commence in fifteen minutes: `` Well, meeting is going to start soon, therefore I will just talk with you about the essentials. ´´

Nagato was still flabbergasted, she stood there not really getting a gist as all of her actions turned to just have been in vain. Hermann could have pushed the offensive now, but that would have only harmed her confidence more than it already had been. So, he gave her the needed time for recovery and patiently waited three seconds for her to come back to planet earth.

`` Ahhh, shit, yes admiral! ´´, she replied.

`` Hmmm, very well then. There are three things which need to be done today: First one is the upcoming meeting that will deal with things like training et cetera. Then I will need you as a guide, so that I do not lose the way when visiting the ship girls that are still in hospital or repair dock, don't know what it really is. ´´, Nagato pointed out that it was the latter, he then went on: `` And lastly, I need to know where I can issue a subscription for a weekly food delivery. Keeping check on my fridge is enough work alone, therefore someone else should deal with the one in my office. Concerning the first aspect of my neat list here, could you enlighten about how training was handled here before I became the executive? I don't need an extensive explanation; the most important aspects will suffice. ´´

Nagato replied: `` Up until now training consisted of two parts. The first one being a theoretical part, were mostly tactical aspects are being taught. Then there is live-action training, consisting of teamwork training, weaponry and mock battles. And concerning the food delivery, I think that should be doable. ´´

`` Good. Were the ship girls put into consisting teams or would these be put into place sporadically? ´´, he asked.

`` Good that you ask, admiral. This had been bothering me up until now, as it truly had been the second option you just listed. The negative effects of such inept behaviour were shown in the last battle when the enemy put more pressure onto us than usually. ´´

Hermann sighed: `` Problematic indeed; squads need to work perfectly together; the best is just good enough in that sense. The other things can not be changed as they are essentials. However, I might have a look in the tactical curriculum in order to adapt it in my strategies and vice-versa. ´´, he paused shortly as he looked at his phone in order to check the time: `` Meeting is soon gonna start, we better get ourselves moving or we will be late. ´´

`` Yes, admiral. ´´, Nagato firmly replied to the admiral.

Before they could march off towards the meeting point in front of the training dock, Hermann's second phone suddenly ringed. He quickly reacted towards the ringing with an annoyed sigh and successively put his smartphone away. Quick motions followed, he then had switched the phones, saw the person who was calling him and picked the call up: `` Am Apperat, mach es kurz; hab noch einiges zu tun…´´ (Tl: Listening, keep it short; still have a lot to do. )

Hermann's words were followed by several sounds of agreement as he carefully listened to the caller's words, he tried to put up a chilled composure, his annoyance however was very obvious. Several moments later he added: `` Verstanden, geht mir zwar ziemlich auf die Nerven, aber da kann man jetzt auch nichts mehr machen. Hoffentlich hast do noch einen schönen Tag Sepp. Tschüss. ´´ (Tl: Understood, this is certainly getting on my nerves, but we can't do anything about it any longer. Hopefully, you can have a good day Sepp. Good bye. )

Hermann waited for the other man's reply and then cancelled the call. Nagato was now somewhat intrigued about the sudden call and therefore asked Hermann what it was about. Since he was still annoyed about the phone call's subject, he replied in an aggravated fashion: `` Jesus Christus, if I get the person responsible for that shit into my hands, then he definitely will be pushing daises form six feet below, I tell ya that. You want to know what's pissing me off? Fine. For formal reasons those douches had to assign a freaking bodyguard to me. ´´

Nagato was somewhat puzzled at his answer, she further inquired: `` And that is why you are so annoyed? ´´

`` Girl, it is just as I said it. For no apparent reason at all I am getting a freaking bodyguard! It's not like I can't properly defend myself, for fu-´´, he paused as the weight of his words and to what they could lead became clearer to him: `` That however is not the big problem here, the main issue is that there are four destroyers here who think that they need to act as my bodyguards. Combine this attitude with the information that there will be someone coming to be my official bodyguard…..´´, he paused shortly: `` Just the stress of imagining this gives me a goddam migraine and grey hair! Also this will not be some kind of standard bodyguard, rather they decided to send me some kind of proto cyborg/ship girl for the means of testing. Ahhh, but fuck that right now, there is more important stuff to do. ´´, Hermann cursed as he walked towards the designated meeting point.

Nagato silently followed the man as she did not want to further his anger by asking obvious or unnecessary questions about these circumstances. Politeness and the expected courtesy are most important in such moments, lessons like these had been imprinted into her artificial mind from construction on. Nagato should represent her countries traditional values. Nevertheless, she did not only get the good stuff, but also carried with a her an air of superiority and blatant arrogance. And while the first one is not a bad thing for person who is supposed to lead her comrades, too much will only accelerate the downfall.

Several steps later, both of them arrived at the place only half a minute too late, about which Hermann of course silently complained as even the smallest delay felt like a disgrace to him. Upon arrival, he spotted several know, but also a lot of unknow faces. In order to skip any formalities with the know ones, he quickly cut it too a chase with a hand wave and spoke: `` First of all, it is good to see that most of you took this serious enough and came to this meeting. Those who are still in the repair docks are of course excused and will receive a bare bone script of this here when I visit the repair docks. ´´

`` There are several aspects that I need to talk about right now. The first one, which is also the one most important, concerns the rather lax team building rules which up until now reigned supreme here. Yesterday I devised a general strategy for combat, which also includes the fleet composition. The main spear head will be consisting of several squads that will be made up of three destroyers and one light cruiser. I have yet to further detail these squads, therefore if you wish to be part of a certain squad then I would advise you to file in a written application for that, so I can put it to use. ´´

`` Concerning battle situations, teamwork does not only need to be consistent, but also fluid. One needs to know all bits and pieces about their squad members, otherwise defeat will be on the advent. "If you know your enemy and yourself, you don't need to fear the outcome of any battle." I want you to memorize these words very well as they are one of the basic principles of warfare. Furthermore, I will also be evaluating your standard live-action training regime, in order to implement further strategies. Most likely there will also be changes and additions in the theoretical part of training. ´´

`` My second point to make is about communication between us here. I don't know how it was handled before I arrived here, but I would like to tell the way how I handle such things. Most importantly, I have an open-door policy concerning direct communication, thus if there is something you are concerned about, you can very well just knock on the door in my office and start a conversation. If I can not talk right now, for which reason that maybe, I will put a sign before the door, so that everyone is informed. ´´, then he pulled out his smartphone: `` I do not know if all of you have a phone, but if possible, we could create a Q&A group with the additional purpose of announcing events. You can also mail me if you like it more formal, but I don't really care about how you do it, as that is not particularly important. I am not someone who will dismiss your complains or arguments because of my higher rank, but if there is one thing that I would like to be absolutely be clear about, that would be a need to for respectful dialogue. Just as I will listen to you, I want you to listen to me and, when your criticism had been rationally dismissed, to accept the loss and learn for it. For now, that is everything, all of those who are interested in joining the already mentioned message-group, I want you to give your number to Nagato. I appreciate your attention and wish a good day to everyone. ´´, Hermann repeated one of his copy-paste phrases as he slowly walked away from his central position.

To his surprise more than half of the ship girls immediately went to Nagato in order to get their phone numbers on the list, some following after. This though played into Hermann's hands as it meant that he could safely walk away from the crowd without getting stopped by anyone who had "sudden complains" or wanted small-talk. Right now, there were still many things to do, list had to be made, papers had to be signed and he still had to visit the ship girls in the repair docks, Hermann however was not completely spared, this time not by over-protective destroyers or a sleep walking battleship, rather by a heavy cruiser that had remained notorious in Hermann's mind due to a stolen bottle of vodka.

`` Hey, you could at least have greeted me..´´, she remarked in a somewhat envious way, accompanied by a pout.

Hermann shrugged her off by chuckling: `` Girl, even I can't think about one hundred things at the same time and work sometimes comes before formalities. ´´

`` I am not a formality…..´´, she muttered silently: `` Still, I at least need some attention Echii-Teitoku. ´´

As his now official nickname was uttered, Hermann broke out into a light-hearted laugh and added: `` I am not even mad about the name, it's fitting well I guess. Furthermore, I actually have something for you. ´´

Suzuya's eyes gleamed at his words: `` Really? Really? ´´

Hermann nodded in approval and pulled a small bottle out of his trousers: `` Here! Some good Vodka, so you don't have to worry about it. ´´

Suzuya took the small flask into her hand and contrary to her sometimes stuck up and childish behaviour, she laughed about the situational joke. Interrupting the chuckling though was the scolding voice of another ship girl, wearing practical the same clothes as Suzuya, but having light brown hair: `` Nee-san are you again keeping the admiral form his work? ´´, she turned to Hermann: `` I am very sorry for that. ´´

Before Suzuya could complain about the interruption, Hermann shrugged her off: `` Don't worry, I got the perfect opportunity for a practical joke because of her, therefore giving me time to do contrary things to the standard concerning. ´´

Kumano sighed, but accepted it: `` Fine, fine I get it, I am the party crasher again. Well but someone needs to be the one doing it. ´´, she turned to her sister after some self-concerned muttering: `` Nevertheless, Nee-san you should not keep the admiral form work all too long, he definitely has a lot of things to do. ´´

`` I don't think that he loo-´´, Suzuya though was interrupted by her sister as she suddenly picked her up and walked away.

Hermann could only shrug in disbelief, but after two seconds he accepted this chain of events without investing any more though into it. Next goal would be his office; thus, he pointed the tips of his feet towards the Wiesel that was still standing alongside the training area. Upon arrival though he noticed the figure of a certain person, who he actually expected to arrive sooner or later. For the location however, he narrowed it down to his office, but as a matter of fact, that won't change anything in his mental checklist.

`` Good morning, what can I do for you? ´´, he greeted the woman in her blue uniform.

`` Darling, why don't you sign this paper? I would mean a lot to me….´´, she said as she held a rather suspicious paper towards him.

Hermann quickly gazed at the paper, deducing that it indeed was an official marriage form, just as he thought it to be. His reply came shortly after, chuckling and a standard negative answer by shaking his head.

In accordance the woman in front of him pouted at his response, slightly, but playfully, glaring at him. Hermann then continued his head shaking and added a sigh to further emphasize his emotional stand point. To increase it ever more, he said: `` Christ, ohh Christ…. This shouldn't be a fictional world, thought out and orchestrated by a someone whose only clear picture of loves comes from stupid rom-coms and harem anime. Better take a sip to deal with this. ´´ Hermann acted the way as he announced just before and pulled a small flask of tequila from his pocket. He quickly took the lion's share of the Mexican agave spirit, it's spiciness slowly wandering down his throat. `` Still, if I have one thing to say, which would come close to a complement than it would be the superb quality of the nude you sent me yesterday. ´´, he continued.

Homura was delighted by his, this time affirmative, response towards one of her acts. This though would need to be celebrated, leading to her engaging in an onslaught of overreacting affection as she stormed towards him, ready to initiate a hug. Contrary to what would be expected, Hermann neither dodged or had been pushed down by it, instead he accepted it, hoping that it would not last all-too ling as he still had many things to work out. He even though about patting her head like a dog, this would have given him something to laugh about and her something to be excited about.

But before anything close to that could even start to happen, a rude American voice called him out from behind: `` Hey, admiral! Instead of fooling around you could at least give me some info about what I am supposed to do! ´´

Hermann, with the girl still clinging on him, turned around and replied: `` Seems like the puking session restored your aggressive spirit. Such a recovery rate is commendable, if I could, I certainly would give a medal for your prowess here. ´´, he paused shortly: `` Well, I guess you are somehow right, but I too do not know what you are exactly supposed to do now as your arrival had been more of an unexpected wildcard than some long-sought after gift from heaven. ´´

Iowa, somewhat flabbergasted about his unfazed reaction towards her calling him out and the woman still clinging to him, then added: `` Isn't it your job to know such things? ´´

`` My job is to command you, manage your training, to bring victory and to deal with a lot of paperwork. I am not here to design your daily lifestyle, show your around this place and to a further extend be knowledgeable about every act around here. I will call someone who can show you around, but I don't think you will be happy about the person I am calling. ´´, he said as he pulled out his phone.

`` Is it the cunt? ´´, she asked in a bitter tone.

`` My, my I don't think you should speak about a comrade of yours in such a harsh tone. If you mean the battleship Nagato, then yes, I will call her as she is the only one here I could actually task with something like this. ´´, he answered.

All this time along, from the beginning of the conversation towards the present, the clingy Homura knew that the ship girl talking to her darling had the same smell as on of the two girls whose smell she pointed out yesterday on the shooting range. Now she stood within reach, if Homura acted fast she could theoretically get at her before Hermann could act and quickly eliminate her so that he could be safe form those whores. In Homuras twisted mind, only she was allowed to be in touch with him.

Hermann though was able to quickly realize this intent and in one of his pauses of dialogue, he commanded her with a glance to not attack. In this case the moment of surprise, needed to bypass Hermann's reaction was not there anymore and she would no longer be able to rip Iowa's head off. If she were to try now, Hermann could easily grab her and toss her into the sea or at some building. Covering it would not be all to hard, as he could just say that he got annoyed with her clingy attitude and Homura wasn't even resisting. In this situation he was in a much better position, therefore she refrained from acting to not infuriate her darling.

Back to the present, Hermann was currently calling the all so proud Nagato, whose image of being a solemn rock in the face of a storm her busted by seeing her well-guarded secret of being a love of cute things. He ringed once, the she picked up the call. After hearing a "yes Admiral", Hermann said: `` Nagato, I need you to do me a little favour, even if it makes you a bit uncomfortable. ´´

Having received an unwavering affirmation, he went on: `` Fine, then I want you to head towards my current location, I am standing beside a rather small tank, about fifty metres away from the training area. Afterwards I need you to guide a certain American ship girl around this place here and show her the dorms. ´´

The battleship remained silent for around three seconds, if she were to face Hermann, he would surely be able to make out the grim expression that had formed on her face. Nevertheless, he issued an order and it is her duty as a proud secretary ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy to follow it, even if it is about to spell doom for her. Thus she agreed with a short, but convincing "understood" and ended the call to show him her dissatisfaction. Hermann in correspondence put the phone away and turned towards Iowa: `` Well, said cunt will be coming now and showing you around. I hope you will find it possible to not lash out on her. ´´

Iowa scuffed: `` I wouldn't even have said anything if that fucking annoyance didn't just blatantly insult. But fine, fuck it, I will hold my horses for now. Gotta pay you back for the alcohol and the housing! ´´, she replied with a wink.

While it was certainly a polite gesture coming from her, Hermann had been immediately overwhelmed by a feeling of dread as she uttered the word "housing". Not because he was someone to be easily embarrassed or so, no, he was actually afraid of the girl that still clung to him and her psychotic tendencies. Until now, several seconds after Iowa worded this, she remained without movement. Nevertheless, she mumbled something, with an ever-louder growing voice.

`` Housing…Housing….Housing…..Housing. That…..that m-means sleeping…´´, she looked at Hermann with a crazed gaze: `` Darling, did this thing sleep at your bungalow last night? ´´

Iowa was about to react towards her being called a "thing", but Hermann cut her off with a distressed stare and quickly waved her good bye as he turned around and ran towards the Wiesel. Jumping on top of the tracked vehicle, Hermann then was quick to react as he dropped the female maniac, who was not far away from a total crack, into the tankette. Before he joined, his head turned towards Iowa: `` Look, Nagato's already coming and I got no time to explain now. Bye, bye. ´´

Microseconds later, Hermann entered the vehicle, where he was quickly assaulted by the woman. Nothing short of a brawl started in the small interior of the vehicle. Her goal in that sense was to somehow push him down onto the floor and do immoral things to him. Hermann however wanted to avoid this, there are still many administrative things left to get done and he didn't have the time to do it to her right now. Additionally, the hatch on top of the Wiesel was not locked, meaning that suspicious ship girls and other personnel could easily look inside if they were to do it and from his past experiences he knew that Homura tended to get loud when having sex.

Luckily for the German, he was stronger than the female specialist and therefore soon got the chance to push her down instead. With most other people, this would have meant that defeat had to be excepted, but Homura wasn't most other people. The moment he was able to push her down onto the sparsely available floor in the tankette, she looked at him in an aroused way, literally offering herself up to him. He could only sigh at such development, true, he would have liked to grind something down, but he just didn't have the time right now and he had no repercussions when it came to rejecting people. Thus, he concluded: `` Girl, later. Not now, as I have a lot of things left to do. ´´

With a pouting face, she replied: `` Hmph!´´, she then stretched out her left pinky finger: `` Promise then? ´´

Hermann reluctantly agreed to this proposal with a grumpy "fine" and crossed her finger with his. After having resolved this, he moved to the driver's seat and sat down in order to start the engine. Btu before he was able to do so, he was cut off by the woman behind him as she slowly crept upon his shoulder and whispered into his ear: `` Still, darling we have to do something about these pesky girls, don't you think? Those kids shouldn't be coming to close to you or they could get hurt, remember that you only need me….´´

Hermann added his standard sigh and shook his head: `` Christ o christ, I think you could stop that act crazed lovey-dovey act for now. Got enough Yandere-shit after watching Mirai Nikki, mate. But seriously, what do you even find so attractive in me? ´´

She answered him with a bright smile: `` Your eyes, your smile, your crazed nature in combat, your tendencies to rape and cannibalistic tendencies when it comes to the enemy. All of it. Darling, I love all about you, safe for your resisting nature when it comes to my unwavering love. That's something you need to change about yourself. ´´

He scratched his head: `` I don't really think so but considering all your actions that won't be changing your way of thinking. Homura, you should know that I will not engage in any kind of love-relationship. The concept of binding myself to someone, leading to a mutual dependency is neither something I desire nor would fit into my current lifestyle. ´´

Instead of reacting negatively to his outright rejection, she beamed at him: `` Don't worry if you don't change by yourself than I will be the one changing you, darling. ´´

Hermann chuckled: `` Many have tried, many have failed. Do what you want, but if you join their ranks, don't sob around and do something productive. Changing the topic, since you are in my vehicle is I guess there certainly is a place where I am now supposed to drop you off. ´´

She nodded, Hermann went on: `` Pray tell? ´´

She smirked and said: `` At your office, admiral. From now on I am the official vice admiral of this fleet and your personal advisor when it comes to the politics around here. ´´

Hermann grew a bit pale as he deduced the meaning behind her words, which he at first though to be something cryptic, but after running countless simulations in his head found to the quite literal. `` You have got to be kidding me…. How in the name of Christ were you able to get this position?! I mean you are a specialist for fucks sake! ´´

`` Darling, don't be so mean to time. Certainly, you as someone who worked in the same sector as me should show some understanding. ´´

`` But contrary to you I went into military academy and even before getting into this position had experience with subordinates under my command. In that case I will have to teach the bits and pieces of this to you…. Ahhh, fuck it better having someone who is at least competent when it comes to military matters. If I had gotten some officer wanna-be who never set foot on a battlefield I would have surely needed double the amount of booze. ´´, Hermann added as he slowly drowned his remaining sorrows with sweet tequila.

Homura chuckled in reply: `` I will value these compliments dear to me, darling. ´´

Hermann raised his right hand: `` One thing thou, during work please address me as Scipio, admiral or even dude if you like, can't have you calling me darling or Hermann there. ´´´

She agreed to his proposal and soon got into the passenger's position of the Wiesel, just as she did so, Hermann brought the engine to a start and took off with the vehicle. The short and uneventful voyage finished, Hermann and Homura found themselves in the backyard of the Hermann's office which he hopped was now freed of any rubble. With quick and gracious motions both of them jumped out of the tankette, thus reaching the backdoor rather quickly compared to standard walking. Hermann was about to start the hassle of finding the fitting key, then Homura quickly cut in: `` Furthermore, I was able to get your request handled quickly. ´´

Hermann was surprised: `` Really? That's cool, I imagined this would at least take the whole week to get done. How in the name of Christ did you manage to do this? ´´, realization hit him: `` Don't tell that you threatened the administrative division? ´´

Answering the question without words as she looked away and tried her best to whistle in a stereotypical way, Hermann was sighing once more: `` If something like this happens again I don't think that it will just pass by. ´´

Homura laughed: `` I am just kidding, used some of my influence that I got after doing some favours for the government like killing important people and so on. ´´

`` Should've known better, even you wouldn't be allowed to randomly go around and threaten people, safe for a certain ship girl. Why did you even start this? I mean, you as a specialist shouldn't have anything to do with ship girls as these occupations are in completely different sectors. ´´

`` Well, you are not completely in the wrong here, but there are a lot of places that you will run into them. Cantina for example or various training grounds, but if that had been reason for my actions than I would be torturing all of them. Rather, as you certainly found out last night, this kid tends to do a lot of secret training in the night and as a fellow night dweller we were soon to run into each other, in that case me stalking her for hours and then deciding on what to do with this puppy. She acted so immature, was so full of herself and couldn't get a grasp of reality. Crushing this dream world of her is pure bliss, surely you understand admiral? ´´, she told with a slightly aroused face.

Hermann chuckled a bit and replied with a gleeful gaze: `` After having to supress all of my urges for so long, it makes me quite delighted to hear something like that, it really does. Normally, I would have instantly joined the fun, but as she is a valuable asset and thus I can't just wreck her completely. To put in other words: A toy should not be destroyed. ´´

Homura smiled back at him: `` See, this is why I love you. ´´

Herman continued with his head shaken: `` And as I said before, relationships are not for me. But more importantly, I managed to get the right key figured out in under one minute. New record in that sense, but for now I just want to look how everything had been set up here. ´´

`` Concerning that, I added something which you have seemed to have forgotten on the list you had that bitch fill out. ´´, she interrupted as he was about to open.

Hermann was a bit surprised: `` Okay, putting the first part of your statement besides for a while, I am more interested as to how you found out that she filled out the papers. ´´

`` I just took a look at them and immediately realized that it was not your writing. ´´, she replied a bit taken aback by Hermann's indirect accusation.

`` Really? Girl, I thought that you were stalking me during work like you did back on your trip to my office in Germany. ´´, he sighed.

`` Weren't that good memories, Admiral? ´´, she beamed at him.

`` Getting back to old times, aren't ya. But there is no kidding about, that freaking week was a whole lotta fun. Especially when I showed you the R&D area where he kept the abyssal for testing. Jesus, that one is still suffering from PTSD, those weaklings can't take a punch. ´´, he sighed in a disappointed manner.

`` Hmm, you can't really compare them and us in such manners, they are like children in that sense. On other hand you are someone who acts like nothing happened after he got his right arm ripped off by some abyssal creature. ´´, she replied.

`` Good, composure in combat is a crucial thing. Also, in that battle I still had my left arm and support from not only you, but also my squad. Thus, I didn't really see the threat of suddenly loosing my life there. ´´, he added as he walked into the building with her.