PART THE THIRTY-THIRD

IN WHICH KONGOU WOULD BE PAINFULLY STUFFED INTO THE FACTORY

"One, two, one, two, testing." Kirishima's voice echoed over the briefing room. The mic on her collar was working perfectly; and Kirishima did adore her own voice over the sound system to some extent. "Alright," she said. "We're all here, aren't we?"

This was not, per say, where she would rather sit. She did not get to talk to Gandalf (or give him a piece of her mind). She did not get to talk to the returnees from Rivendell and ask what exactly had gone on (beyond an impersonal report). She did not get to see Kongou at all (or attend her hearing).

In fact, for the last two days she was essentially under partially self-imposed house arrest, by the Admiral's advise. If they were to keep the place cohesive and eliminate any rumor of nepotism or favoritism, he had said, then this was required.

Besides, this the Admiral had told her also, and only her: "I need you to think up something for me."

This 'something', incidentally, was the reason why she was here in this orange-lit room, at a square table around which gathered the base's operational mid-level echelon.

Cmdr. Nanbu, naval infantry brigade.

Cmdr. Minase, logistics and supplies.

Lt. Cmdr. Fujiwara, combat engineering company.

Lt. Cmdr. Date, air transport brigade.

Lt. Cmdr. Hikawa, amphibious company.

Captain Luckfield, Spec-ops specialist (and one of the few Yanks in a light-year).

Captain Mizuha, military medic company.

And a Mr. Ohmiya Kensuke, representing the civilian contractors on premise.

The rest of the space was disproportionately occupied by carrier fleet girls: 2nd and 5th Carrier Division, Hiryuu, Souryuu, Shoukaku and Zuikaku. First Carrier Division, Akagi and Kaga, flanking Nagato – sitting there half as an observer and half as advisor – at the far corner of the table.

A series of collated maps of the Misty Mountains was spread over the bulk of the table, collated into a patchwork panorama six feet by twelve, dotted with annotations in romaji and katakana.

Kirishima could hear her every inner organ grumbling. She hadn't eaten well, or slept well, or actually done anything but brainstorming. This has to work, she told herself. For the Admiral, and...

"Shall we begin, Nagato-san?" Kirishima asked, throwing a mostly deferential glance at Nagato. Mostly.

"You're calling the shots here," said Nagato. "Go ahead, Kirishima-san."

That was a little too... encouraging, coming from Nagato, that Kirishima was taken aback – but only momentarily. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen," she said, and rapped her pointing-stick against the map.

"According to my calculations, there is an eighty-nine-point-sixty-eight-and-a-half percent chance to the nearest digit, that the Admiral will approve assistance to be granted to Thorin Oakenshield's company," she began. "But I think this assistance should be more than just bringing a foreign head-of-state and his bodyguards over the Misty Mountains and beyond."

Foreign head of state. Yeah right, thought Kirishima. And I haven't seen heads or tails of him yet. But if that was what the Admiral insisted, then that was what the terminology would be.

She looked about the room. "While waiting for the general staff office to approve, I thought... maybe we should get started with the planning part. So, that brings us to... Operation MM. On paper, at least." No mumbling in objection. Good.

"Our objective is thus twofold: One, to take Thorin's Company over the mountain range without incidence or loss without incurring unacceptable losses ourselves or wearing thin our new friends' patience due to excessive destruction of the local landscape." Kirishima shot a glance at Akagi and received an approving nod back in return. "And two, to establish a foothold on the East side of the Mountain."

And now the mumblings and looking about started. Kirishima clutched the pointing stick like it was a sword; knowing this reaction would come around was one thing, actually facing it with an iron will was another.

"Wouldn't that be too soon?" said Minase. "We've hardly consolidated any sort of territory here yet." He turned up the bill of his cap.

"And what about my boys' plan to rework a suitable infrastructure system from the Old Ford to Bree?" said Fujiwara, raising his massive brows. "I'm sure we've submitted the outline two weeks ago!"

"That's is too much work for questionable gains," said Kirishima. "You have got Fubuki-san's report. There is not much economic activities of gain that we can partake of by making headway to Breeland without investing more to build up that area."

"Really," said Fujiwara. "What are the odds Fubuki-san's report has been compromised by-" He coughed quietly. "You know what I mean, Kirishima-san."

The mere mention of the incident made Kirishima want to choke a certain grey-haired bastard with his own hat. Perhaps this was why the Admiral had decided to give her a task far away from anywhere the wizard was. Good for the geezer. She might as well beat him into a pulp on sight.

"It is-" Kirishima tried to hide her shudder – and largely succeeded. "It is certainly possible, but not probable," she said. "You've seen the aerial shots. Bree is not an industrial center, and the dwarves' homes is even further West." She looked around, and old Fujiwara's twitching eyes made her more confident. "Can we rework a hundred-miles road? Yes, if we strain ourselves to the limit. Should we? I think the answer is obvious. Too much work for too little gain while we're too resource-strapped."

"Well, what is there to gain on the East side of the Misty Mountains that we can't have here?" said Minase. "It's miles upon miles of wilderness either way."

"Operationally, or strategically, Commander?" said Kirishima. "The operational gain is obvious. There's a very large countryside from the East slope of the Misty Mountains to the Lonely Mountain, and anything can happen along the way. We need at the very least a depot and some fortifications as a fallback option should anything go wrong. And strategically... being able to project an air presence on either side of the Misty Mountain would open up many more possibilities – not least being able to procure more maps. Which translates directly into food."

"I don't necessarily object to that," said Fujiwara. "But wouldn't it be too ambitious to think of anything more than temporary fortifications at this point? It's not like we have an abundance of resources for any expansion."

"Because," said Kirishima, "given the incident with Akagi-san and the information we've gleaned from other … interactions, there's sufficient ground to believe that any foray into the country East of here will meet with considerable opposition from what the locals call goblins. You've got Akagi-san's report on the April 20 Incident."

There was a shudder to her voice. She spoke louder; hoping it would conceal her nervousness. "Anything less than going all-out into fortification and turning this temporary installation into a permanent outpost would risk casualties or attrition or other unacceptable losses due to underpreparation. "

"And how are we going to ferry materiel that way?" said Date; the rising star among the commissioned officers and well on his way to an early promotion before... well, this happened. "With how low fuel's getting, our cargo planes aren't taking off any time soon. Or ever, unless these elves and wizards can somehow conjure jet fuel out of nowhere!"

"By eagles," said Akagi. "I've spoken to Gwaihir-sama – their... king, so to speak. He'd be happy to lend us some help as far as air transport is concerned; as long as we don't overstay our welcome, or put his subordinates in harm's way. They obviously can't carry as much as quickly as good as modern cargo planes, but if we're talking basic equipment, materiel and manpower they should make it.""

"Beyond that, spare parts, electronics and smaller equipment can be ferried by our air wings," said Zuikaku. "And hooking together several planes could produce just the lift for moderate-sized equipment as well!"

"And what if the eagles can't – or doesn't want – to help us ferry materiel and men across the mountain?" Date said.

"I've got a guarantee from their leader," said Akagi. "Isn't it good enough?"

"No it isn't!" cried Date. "Depending on talking giant animals who might sooner eat our men than help them? No thank you!"

"Let me remind you, Lt. Commander," said Kirishima icily, "that for the last five years the JSDF has had to depend on talking ships to keep our shipping lanes open and our citizens from starving; and until this mess landed us all here? It had been working."

The young officer went a little pale. "That's-that's different like day and night!"

"Not that different in spirit," said Kirishima. "The JSDF had been faced with a new issue then and had to adapt and adopt previously unthinkable solutions – or else fail in the mission given to us. The same applies here. New issues. New solutions. Adapt and adopt, or fail."

"Besides, it isn't like we don't have our precautions," said Souryuu. "Keep the eagles escorted at all time by a full squadron of fighters – or several. If someone attacks them, they'll get machinegunned. If the eagles turn against us, they'll get machinegunned."

Akagi coughed. Zuikaku burst into a tiny laugh. "Sorry," she said.

Date opened his mouth, and closed it again, and Kirishima nodded. "Any other objection? Good."

Now she circled the pointing-stick around two annotated spots on the East side of the mountain. The first, "MME-01", was smack on the Eastern slope of the mountain range, to the Northeast of the naval district. The second, "MME-02", was a little further South and East, well into the wilderness beyond the Eastern foothill, where the terrain was flatter and more open.

"We would then establish an airfield, either at point MME-1, here – next to the mountainside and easy to dig in," she said, tapping the stick on the map. "Or point MME-2, here – close to a stream for water and plenty of options for expansion. Construction should be done in stages: First a landing strip, then a depot, then bunkers, trenches and redoubts, and then perhaps barracks."

"You'll forgive me, Kirishima-san," said Fujiwara. "if I am reluctant to involve my men in this gamble. Even if we can trust the eagles not to eat them or dropping them to their death or get shot down on the way somehow, that's still exposing them to a complete wilderness, cut off from all means of resupply except by air. What if these goblins attack them while they're still setting up?"

Kirishima smiled. Triumphantly. That's it.

"That's where fairies come in." she said.

"But- aren't fairies inseparable from their vessels?" said Mizuha.

"Not if they are air crew and repair engineers," said Kirishima, bending her pointing-stick for emphasis, and cast a glace all over the rank of carriers. "There is a reason I've summoned here today only carriers. Your air crew will be instrumental in this operation."

"Kirishima-san," said Akagi sternly. "I... hate to be that carrier, but I'm not going to have my pilot fairies fight as infantrymen!"

"Who said I'm having your air crew fight as infantry?" said Kirishima. "We still have access to a company of fairy paratroopers and several airborne armored and artillery units. On the mountainside their size becomes a strength, not a weakness: fairy-sized artillery can lock down an entire mountain pass while not compromising mobility much."

"Aren't our paratrooper fairies naval infantry though?" said Nanbu. "I don't know if sending them to fight in mountains is a good idea..."

"They're supposed to be defending, not assaulting, a position, for which they should be well-equipped enough," said Kirishima. "And if that doesn't work well enough, there's also the possibility of using landed Zeroes as semi-mobile machinegun emplacements, and strategically placed jury-rigged bombs as defensive traps – and that's only until we've got enough infrastructure down to actually send in destroyers and a battleship or two! After that, it's all a question of keeping supplies air-dropped for the garrison fleet, while circling planes in and out of ground duties. Add human combat engineers as needed, until the job's done. It gets easier the more infrastructure goes up." Breathe in. Breathe out. Deliver the cincher. "And then it's only a matter of delivering the dwarves cross the mountain via eagles."

Silence. Followed by staring. Very much staring.

"That's... unexpected," said Kaga.

"And risky," said Souryuu.

"And crazy!" exclaimed Hiryuu.

"... and crazy enough to work!" said Zuikaku, only to balk at the collective stare every other carrier was pelting her with. "What? I'm just speaking my mind!"

That little exchange summed up the briefing room's opinion of Kirishima's idea. A few were nodding. The vast majority... didn't know if they should shake, or nod, or simply slam their palm against their forehead.

Kirishima didn't mind the doubt. In fact, that was a lot better than the reaction she thought she would get. "So, Lt. Cmndr," She glanced at the combat engineer chief. "I promise I will not commit any of your men to frontline construction unless and until the perimeter has been secured. Does that answer your question?" She looked to Nagato's side of the table. "Nagato-san?"

The Big Seven battleship was nodding and smiling. It was one of those very few times Kirishima saw Nagato smiling – in earnest.

"Not bad," she said. "You can do this after all, Kirishima-san. Though there's just one thing I'm a little doubtful-"

Nagato never had the opportunity to voice her concern: a sharp knock at the door caused her to fall at once silent.

"Come in."

Hardly had she finished the sentence when the door swung open into the opposite wall with enough force to sunder it from the pivot. The whole room turned around; but everyone could probably have guessed what had happened before irrefutable proof came crashing into them in the face.

"Hey, hey! Missed me, dess?"

Into the room walked Kongou with such a broad grin one might be forgiven to think she'd just had quality time with the Admiral, rather than having just faced an inquiry. She walked in front of Nagato, and raised her hand and made like she would give the former Secretary Ship a headpat. Then she skipped towards Kirishima's place at the head of the table, and made like giving her a headpat.

She did neither of the sort. There was a flash of newly-acquired maturity in her eyes, although one would need to squint. Any maturity inside Kongou was more often than not drowned under several layers of energy.

And Kirishima found herself smiling, because why should she have expected any less?

Now Kongou had marched in front of the row of commissioned officers. She spun around with a flourish.

"Thought I'd come down to say hi to our new bosses." And then at once she flipped towards the wide open doorway. "Right, guys?"

"K-Kongou-san!" squeaked Fubuki's voice. "P-please don't cause any more trouble!"

And it really was her: as if on cue, into the room inched Fubuki into the room, her cheeks rapidly turning beet red, and started bowing at the row of officers. After her came Mutsuki with much the same embarrassed-half-to-death expression, except there was a tweeting bird on her shoulder and it made her bowing look that much more comedic. And Yuudachi? Pouting as though entirely disappointed at how things had happened. She, alone, only tipped her head.

"Wait, isn't the inquiry still ongoing? What... exactly happened up there?" Nagato said, and now she was blushing too. And who could have blamed her? The energy and cuteness contained in the hurricane that used to be Fubuki's fleet was overwhelming.

Yuudachi folded her arms and puffed her cheeks. "Nothing exciting happened, poi..." she said, "Um... except we got scolded-"

"And given a new task!"

Kongou marched right in front of the engineering chief, and saluted with a very broad grin on her face.

"Fujiwara-chuusa," she exclaimed with a salute and a stomping of her heel. "Fast Construction Battleship Kongou, awaiting deployment!"

"Now, now, what could possibly have-" The Lt. Commander's jaw dropped as realization sank in. "Wait. Fast Construction Battleship?"

"Yes sir!" said Kongou. "From today, I'm a Field Engineering fleet girl! New rigging coming in a few days, dess! Something about replacing some of my guns with cranes, wrecking balls and other materiel as needed." She dusted her shoulders. "Mou, I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"I... um... I don't think it's a good idea making such a splash," said Fubuki. Now she dragged Mutsuki after her, and presented herself before the engineering chief, salute and everything "Um... Special-type Destroyer Fubuki, Mutsuki-class Destroyer Mutsuki, and Shiratsuyu-class Destroyer Yuudachi, awaiting order! We'd be glad if you'd have us after-"

"Come on, poi!" said Yuudachi. "I said nothing of importance happened except them giving us a bit of a scolding!"

"I, I don't think that's how you can describe what actually happened though..." said Fubuki.

It took the whole room five minutes for the energy infused by Kongou's presence to settle down, and for an account to actually be provided. By Yuudachi of all people.

To trim down her account of all the pouting and all the poi, Fubuki's fleet did not got away completely unscathed. Fubuki's pending commendation for valor during the Ironbottom Campaign (which was all but pinned on her chest) was suspended. Kongou was reminded that she was this close to actually being court-martialed, which would mean kissing her entire medal case goodbye. Mutsuki and Yuudachi... well, got a reprimand and a reminder to "not engage wizards without explicit permission from a direct superior."

And finally, the entire fleet was now moved to the Combat Engineering company, except it was no longer a fleet and therefore under the direct command of the base's engineering chief, awaiting the next operation. Something about "extraordinary allowances given for an extraordinary unprecedented situation" was cited for their punishment - if it could indeed be called a punishment. Well, perhaps for Kongou it kind of was.

Kirishima kept her mouth shut and her lips turned up into a smile. But anyone who would look at her closely that exact moment would perhaps find her eyes sparkling beneath her glasses.

Just according to keikaku.

Notes:

- All human officer names are references to various Super Robot Wars characters.

- Translator's Note: Keikaku means plan.