Morning came too early the next day for many of the district's girls, as Mutsu had ordered all alarms set for 0530 in order to begin preparations. She was up an hour earlier in order to already be working on preparations. As soon as the video call with Jer was over, Mutsu and Northampton had made an announcement to the entire base, explaining their plan, which was well received. She also explained the new schedule, which was much less enthusiastically welcomed. Yawning, Mutsu forced herself out of bed, lightly smacked her sister Nagato with her pillow, before getting dressed for the day and heading out to oversee today's preparations to leave.
"I'll have to find Northampton first, then we can begin figuring out who we're gonna bring. We'll need a sizeable fleet, but not too many. Jer said we were limited to 25, so we'll have to be conservative." As Mutsu hurried down to Mamiya's to grab a quick cup of coffee, she ran through a potential list of who could go. Mutsu didn't see the smaller blonde also reaching for the door, sleep clinging to Northampton as well.
"Ah!" Northampton jumped, her eyes going wide. "Oh, Mutsu. Hey. What brings you here?"
"Coffee."
"Great minds think alike," Northampton murmured. "Join me?"
"I was actually looking for you. Yeah sure, I have ideas to run by you," Mutsu ushered Northampton inside, while ordering two coffees from Mamiya.
Northampton led her to a corner booth out of the way. "So whatcha got?"
Yawning again, Mutsu slid in across from the American. "So we've got 25 slots to fill, and need to be well-rounded and able to function their our own. That means a mixture of all types."
Nodding thoughtfully, the tired blonde reached into her pocket. "I actually had similar thoughts last night. I wrote up these for you." She slid a few papers across the table.
Smiling, Mutsu leafed through them. "So you want more small ships than capital ships? Seems kinda opposite from the detail that they have to be self-sufficient."
"Yes I did think about that, but I have confidence in your ships. However, yes. We need more destroyers and cruisers than capital ships. The more cruisers and destroyers you can spare, the better." Northampton looked up as Mamiya brought their coffees over. "Awesome thanks. I need this."
Mutsu leaned back, stretching. "Okay, so how about this?" She flipped the paper over, pulled a pencil out of her pocket, and wrote out a list. "We'll bring ten destroyers, ten cruisers, three carriers, and two battleships."
Smiling, Northampton stood up and walked around the table. She slid in beside Mutsu and moved the paper so she could see better. "I like how you think. Any ideas on who, exactly?"
Flushing slightly, Mutsu nodded. "I-I had a few ideas. For the battleships, I was thinking of Nagato and Kongou. Carriers would be Hiryuu, Taiho, and Shokaku. As for the cruisers, I'm not entirely sure, besides Tenryuu and her sister. We'll want fast escorts though, so probably Kako and Furutaka, as well as Atago, Ashigara, and Maya." She paused, doing the math. "That's, uh, seven. We'll also bring the three Sendai sisters. We could probably all use the comedy relief they can provide."
Northampton nodded. "Sounds good to me. What about destroyers?"
"Ah, destroyers. Hmm. Again, I wasn't exactly sure here. I was thinking of Yuudachi, Hibiki, Akizuki, Hatsuzuki, Shimakaze, and Yuugumo." Other than that, it's just pulling names out of a hat." She sighed. "Kuroshiro. Asashio. Hatsushimo."
Groaning, Mutsu leaned back in her seat. Northampton put an arm around her shoulders. "You okay?"
Mutsu nodded. "Just tired. Thinking a bit too much. But it's alright now. I had some coffee. How about we get some food before seeing to everyone else?" She glanced at her watch. "It's five of. We have a half hour."
Waving Mamiya over, Northampton nodded while downing the last bit of her coffee.
As Northampton and Mutsu made their way up to the stage in front of the former dorm-turned-dance hall, they could hear all the yawns and suppressed groans of tiredness. A few calls came from somewhere in the crowd, but neither girl took note of them. As Mutsu picked up the microphone, the crowd hushed.
"I know you're all tired and asking why I have you up this early. You were told that, after my discussion yesterday with American Battleship New Jersey that we had about a week to prepare for our mission. However, things have gone south since then, badly south." She paused and several gasps came from the crowd, and from Northampton. "Calm down, panicking will do nothing to help. Last night I received a message from Jer, explaining that a few ships she had sent out on a routine patrol had been attacked. While this wouldn't usually constitute any undue alarm, all of the ships, while none we lost, all exhibited some sort of damage similar to what Northampton and her fleet ran into."
As the gravity of what Mutsu had said sunk in, Northampton choked back a sob, and many others began shouting questions. Mutsu held up a hand. "Now, before you all ask questions, allow me to go on. Jer made it clear that I only explain this in front of everyone, so as to not spread rumors or false beliefs. All this now means that we don't have a week. We are leaving tomorrow. At 0600." She paused and took a quick glance at Northampton, who looked even paler than normal. "As for those who will be going, there are 25 slots, all of which have already been decided. I will call them up now, then explain what needs to be done in order to prepare." She stepped back, pulled out a piece of paper, and turned slightly to the side again. We will be taking three carriers-Hiryuu, Taiho, and Shokaku, and two battleships-Nagato and Kongou. These will form the core of the fleet. As for escorts, they will have ten cruisers and ten destroyers. Furutaka, Kako, Tenryuu, Tatsuta, Atago, Ashigara, Maya, Sendai, Naka, and Jintsuu." Mutsu cleared her throat. "As for the destroyers, Yuudachi, Hibiki, Akizuki, Hatsuzuki, Shimakaze, Yuugumo, Kuroshiro, Asashio, and Hatsushimo."
As the 25 girls assembled on the stage, Northampton took the mic from Mutsu. "I am aware of the suddenness of this operation. However, given not only what happened to my fleet, but what I just learned from Mutsu now, we need to move quickly. Jer has already agreed to not only cover all costs involved, but to also meet us near Midway Island to escort the fleet back to Avalon." She paused. "I know that 25 is not a large fleet, especially given what we may be facing is not well known. However, I have faith in these girls, and I trust that you will all do your best. We don't have the facilities to support more than 25-30 more girls, but we're doing what we can." Northampton forced a smile and stepped back.
"Almost all of you were here last year when Bismarck led a fleet to rescue Mamiya. Those who are new, ask those around you to fill you in when the time is appropriate." Mutsu paused, as a bout of cheers came from the crowd at the memory. "You remember the preparations for that mission. We have to do the same thing again. However, this mission will not only last longer, but there is now a very real threat to your lives. So make sure that everything is in tip-top shape, and has been double and triple-checked. It's almost seven, so we need to get moving. There's a lot to do. The rest of the day will look like this. You will all divide up into groups to assist the girls who are leaving in preparing their equipment, as well as stocking extra supplies. Carriers help carriers, battleships help battleships, and so on. After all the equipment is ready, you will all join myself, Northampton, and Tenryuu back here for a briefing of what we do know. Then it's to bed early, as the fleet will be getting up at 0430 in order to eat a good breakfast and have time to say goodbyes before setting off at 0600 tomorrow."
Again, Mutsu paused to clear her throat. "Okay enough talk. Let's get going. Be ready to work as soon as you get your breakfast. Make it quick. Dismissed."
As Mutsu put back the mic and heaved a sigh of relief, Northampton was already talking to those assembled on stage. Hiryuu waved Mutsu over. "One thing you didn't make clear is who's gonna be in charge of the fleet overall. That's gonna be huge in terms of how this whole operation pans out." The orange-clad girl glanced at the other capital ships with her. Any nominations?"
Nagato smiled. "I was thinking you would lead." Kongou and Taiho nodded in agreement. Shokaku patted Hiryuu on the shoulder.
Hiryuu paused for a moment, then grinned. "I accept. Now let's get going."