POV Lasky.
This was trouble. Due to the massive security breach the Infinity had just suffered at the hands of what amounted to teleporting aliens, as well as the total loss of a UNSC forward firebase to a single unknown hostile, the head of ONI had come onboard the Infinity to personally investigate the matter.
A bit of an enigma within the framework of the UNSC chain of command, Adm. Serin Osman was actually rumored to be a "washout" of the original Spartan II program, the very same one that created the Master Chief. Although she was physically frail and walked with a pronounced limp due to the failure of her carbide ceramic bone ossification procedure, she was a tactical genius, a standout even among the Spartans. This woman was not to be underestimated or taken lightly.
She, along with Lasky and his complement of senior officers were crammed inside one of Infinity's many conference rooms. The amount of security that Osman had ordered was imply insane, but given recent circumstances, entirely understandable. An entire platoon of ODSTs armed to the teeth with the latest in UNSC weaponry was stationed right outside (and inside) the double set of armored doors. In case a hostile somehow got through all of that, there were even two Spartan IV operatives jammed into a hidden room next door, ready to bust in a moment's notice. To say that the atmosphere was tense didn't quite cut it.
Right now, Osman was reviewing footage taken through the Chief's helmet cam showing the ambush. After they had both recovered from their respective injuries, Yamato had explained to Lasky that somehow one of the UNSC's ships had become "abyssalized" so to speak. Analysis of the shell removed from Yamato's torso revealed that it was a miniaturized experimental APBCHE MAC shell, the kind only equipped to a handful of wartime UNSC frigates.
"And right there. Pause it"
The video on the large holographic monitor froze, displaying the outline of a mysterious dark figure.
"OK someone explain to me what the hell that is!"
All eyes in the dim and packed full ONI meeting room fell upon captain Lasky. There was no point in trying to deceive her. This whole mess with Yamato, ship girls, and abyssals had gone way too far out of hand for that. Yamato herself had given him permission to reveal her nature, hoping that she could help save some lives. She was putting her own neck on the line with this move, after all who knows what ONI would do to her for a chance at some weapons tech, but she was just too damn altruistic to do otherwise.
Lasky took a deep breath.
"Well ma'm, if you want the direct answer, it's what we believe is a UNSC charon class light frigate."
Absolute silence.
Osman narrowed her eyes.
"Do you want to be court-martialed for insubordination? Lying or hiding information from a UNSC investigation is grounds for an immediate dishonorable discharge, and maybe even some jail time."
Lasky shrugged.
"I'm telling the truth. I'm sure that if you pay attention to my chest, my neck, and my pupils, with those surgically enhanced eyes of yours, you'd see that my breathing rate, heartbeat, and pupil dilation are all consistent with someone who isn't lying."
"Explain" demanded Osman.
"Actually I have a bit of a demonstration in order, as well as someone who can explain this whole thing a hell of a lot better than I can"
The armored doors slid open with a hiss, and out of the shadows stepped Yamato.
"And who might you be?" inquired Osman.
"Most refer to me simply as Yamato" said Yamato, her elegance contrasting with Osamn's gruffness.
If Osman didn't look happy before, she was certainly upset now.
"Oh don't tell me that-"
"Yes" interrupted Yamato. "I am the battleship Yamato"
Now Osman was really upset. Lasky winced, knowing what was coming next.
"Captain Lasky, I am hereby ordering you relieved of duty on the grounds of mental instability because people are not ships goddammit! As far as I can tell, we've got an extremely dangerous forerunner foot-mobile on the loose, and you're somehow convinced that it's the magical reincarnation of one of our own frigates all because some crazy civilian woman dressed in that ridiculous parody of naval uniform complete with a fucking miniskirt that you picked up from god knows which backwater planet for whatever immoral reasons that I don't even to know about has convinced you that she's the battleship Yamato. Does that sound about right to you?"
Lasky looked right into Osman's eyes and made the most serious face the possibly could.
"Yes"
Osman looked like she was going to hit something, and Lasky was pretty sure that something would be his face if he didn't do anything quickly.
"Look it sounds ridiculous but you have to trust me on this."
Lasky quickly took out a bar of metal that he had been keeping in his pocket.
"Yamato, if you may"
Yamato quickly stepped over and took the metal bar, grasping its ends with each of her hands.
"This is a 5 inch thick bar of high-carbon steel" explained Lasky. "it can take more than 7,000 pounds of lateral force before bending. If you gave two Brutes a couple of wrenches and a whole day with this thing, they'd be unable to make a dent. Yamato on the other hand..."
With what looked like absurd ease, Yamato bent the metal into an L shape.
Just about everyone in the room save for Lasky and Yamato froze.
Osman was clearly stunned, but she seemed to regain her senses quickly.
"Nice try Lasky, but a cheap trick isn't going to change my mind or convince me. Though I am curious as to how you managed to pull that one off. Pre-arranged molecular weakening of the metal, or maybe a thin coating of steel over a softer metal like gallium?"
"None of the above Osman. She's just really strong."
Lasky sighed, a more extreme demonstration was in order. Looking around the room at the numerous guards gave Lasky an idea.
"OK I want all of you tough-guy spec ops soldiers to try and get Yamato in a pair of handcuffs. By any means necessary."
None of them budged, but Osman spoke up.
"technically, you don't have command over them anymore. you've been stripped of rank so they don't have to listen to you. However, I'll allow it. Guards, do as Lasky says and restrain this woman!"
One of the guards, an incredibly muscular man whose bulky ODST combat armor made him look even more intimidating, stepped forward with a sneer. He calmly walked up to Yamato and clipped one side of the handcuffs to her left hand. Yamato was clearly making no effort to resist, but as he tried to move her right hand behind her back to fit the other side of the cuffs, he found that it wouldn't budge.
"What th-"
Yamato gave him what looked like a light tap to the gut with her elbow, but the results confirmed that it was anything but light. The guard was knocked clean off his feet. He growled, then said "any means necessary right?" before pulling out his stun gun.
Osman's eyes widened. That was an ONI experimental weapon meant to subdue brutes. It was lethal if used against a human! If a UNSC operative killed a civilian in cold blood it would be a PR nightmare.
"Don't do it!" she shouted, but it was too late.
The guard lunged towards Yamato and jammed the oversized stun gun right into her neck. A loud buzzing filled the room, and although the tips of her clothes began to singe and wisps of smoke rose up out of her skin, she didn't seem to show any signs of discomfort. She calmly grasped the weapon that was discharging into her neck and crushed it.
Apparently that guard wasn't chosen for his job because of his brains. Backpedaling, he pulled out his hefty SAW machine gun, raised high over his head, and brought it down as hard as he could on top of Yamato.
*CLANG*
Huffing and out of breath, the guard looked at what his efforts had accomplished. Looking back at him was Yamato, head cocked towards one side and looking more amused than anything else. There were bits and pieces of SAW sticking out of her hair.
"M-m-m-monster!" shouted the guard before sprinting out of the room a fast as he could. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten the fact that the conference room was protected by a double set of armored doors, and more importantly, that those door were in fact, closed. He would feel that one in the morning.
Lasky looked towards the unconscious guard near the doorway, and then back to the rest of them.
"Anyone else want to have a go?" pronounced Lasky.
None of them moved.
He then addressed Osman, who by this time was looking rather flustered.
"I think you owe me an apology."
"I owe you nothing, but I am reinstating you as captain of the Infinity for now since you've proven your sanity. However, once this whole thing is over, there will be a full blown investigation, and I cannot garuntee amnesty for your actions. After all you did choose to keep quiet about this erm- "shipgirl" -if that's what she truly is- until just now."
"Understood ma'm" replied Lasky. "What should we do about the frigate?"
"I'm still not 100% buying this whole shipgirl thing, but whatever the case, it's incredibly powerful and seems to be utilizing our tech so we're going to capture it of course. Think of it as reclamation of lost UNSC property."
Lasky really didn't like where this was going.