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Washington, the White House, Monday, three hours before midnight (Tōkyō time: Tuesday, an hour before lunch)...
"How on Earth did this happen?!"
The chief executive of Earth's most powerful nation was trying NOT to scream out in frustration at the news that had been pouring in from Camden and Philadelphia over the last hour and more. "Ultimately, Mister President, it was the faults of Commanders Johnston, Hoel and Heermann," Admiral Percy Fitzwallace replied as everyone relaxed in the Situation Room near the Oval Office staring at the United States' senior military officer; he himself had been heading home from the Pentagon at the time initial news reports came in, then drove to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NE to prepare for a very long night. "According to what Miss Saeru found out, Captain Kenworthy was concerned about the lack of serious American representation in Thursday's planned fun against the Oni and their allies, thus ordered the commanders to fly down to wake up their old fleet mates. Rear Admiral Julia Dewey, Captain Kathy Hyde and Lieutenant Commander Denise Sturr — United States Ships Olympia, New Jersey and Becuna, for those who may have seen the false reports from elsewhere — were the first ones visited."
"They all have starship equivalents, don't they?" Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken of Missouri asked. All those from two of the three main branches of the federal government with clearance to know everything concerning what was called Operation: Liberation Shield in the halls of power in the White House and the Capitol were present, along with Josiah Bartlet's senior West Wing aides.
"Yes, Mister Speaker, they do."
"Wait a minute," Senator Arnold Vinick of California called out. "Olympia?! We're talking about the cruiser from the Spanish-American War, right? Could the Avalonians expand on THAT design?"
"Technically, Olympia was America's first true heavy cruiser as much as she was the country's first modern cruiser design even if she predates HMS Dreadnought by some years, Senator. With all the changes that followed her being built," Elizabeth Wakefield replied. The Wise Genius of the Circle of Thought had teleported over from her home in Sweet Valley once the news of the rebirth of three American warships got out so PUBLICLY on CNN. "The original design mounted two twin eight-inch turrets, practically making her a miniature pre-dreadnought battleship at the time. While she's quite compact in comparison to a modern design like Prinz Eugen or Long Beach, Olympia is capable."
Here, the blonde Californian reached over to tap a control on the table in the middle of the room. A hologram then appeared, revealing what naval historians would recognize as Admiral George Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War despite obvious changes to the hull — especially her mixed hyperluminal/subluminal engine assemblies at her stern under her "waterline" — needed to make the kilometre-long craft fly and ultimately fight in space. "Same type of eighty-inch guns on modern designs, Fitz?" Senate Majority Leader Robert Royce of Pennsylvania asked.
"Same type, sir," the Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff reported. "The old secondary armament was replaced by dual Mark 12S DP guns, increasing anti-small ship capabilities to sixteen from the original ten singles. She also has four quad Bofors mounts and twenty-four Oerlikons, plus hull-mounted anti-ship missiles at the bows, the stern and the sides; same level of reloads a Fletcher-class carries."
"Destroyer leader?" Royce's opposite number in the Senate, Don Gianelli of Massachusetts, asked.
"Effectively that," Elizabeth answered.
People nodded. "Well, that frees up Yvonne quite nicely," Josh Lyman mused from one of the chairs on the side of the room, where he and his fellow West Wing staffers were seated.
"What does that mean, Josh?" Leo McGarry asked.
"Yvonne is a 'cosmic-level' shipgirl, no different than Naomi or Itō Yoiko, Mister McGarry," the current incarnation of the first of Yiziba's hyper-genius polymaths answered on behalf of Bartlet's deputy chief of staff. "Were it not for the fact that she would be potentially needed to guide Enterprise to support the combined Canadian/American air task force in deflecting attacks from Toshitto or other places before E-Hour on Thursday morning, she could be used as the base of an effective frontier defence alongside Naomi. Atop that, even if she has considerable weight of prestige considering she was the Grey Ghost of all things, given what Hinako reported when it came to Rose, Madelyn and Kistiñe and how they reacted to Julia could see her become the spiritual 'commodore' of the Shipgirl Force."
"Unless Constitution decides to become Sarah Hull!" Toby Ziegler wryly noted.
"Toby! Please don't CURSE it!" McGarry snapped.
Rueful chuckles echoed through the room. "There is a United States Solar Sail Vessel Constitution being built right now as an experimental vessel, sir," Fitzwallace then assured.
Royce cackled. "Just in case, Fitz?"
A rueful nod even if the New Jerseyan found himself smiling. "Just in case, Senator."
More laughter. "How many battleships do we have finished, Fitz?" Vinick asked.
"Twenty so far, Senator: Florida, Utah, Wyoming, Arkansas, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, Washington, South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Alabama, Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri and Wisconsin." As nods answered the surface warfare officer from Newark, he added, "Save for Captains Jackson, Ashley, Stevens, Leigh Gatch and Jennings — Florida, Wyoming, Washington, South Dakota and Indiana respectively — we can account for the spirit of said warship since they were sunk as targets, became wartime casualties or are now museum ships."
"What time is it in Pearl now?" Bartlet wondered.
"Four-oh-eight PM, Professor," Elizabeth answered.
The former governor of New Hampshire took a deep breath. "Alright, flash traffic to the Commander of Navy Installations Command to be relayed to all regional commanders, Admiral. Prepare for the intake of all museum ships once they're rebuilt and Gifted, have them induced in the applicable NOSCs as required, then have them come here right away. I'll have Captain Swanson receive them..."
Rapid footfalls made people tense, causing Lyman to rise and unlock the main entrance to the situation room. That revealed his chief aide Donna Moss, who now looked quite harried. "I'm sorry, Mister President!" the Minnesotan breathed out as everyone focused on her. "We just got an alert from Commander of Northwest Region, sir. NOSC Sioux Falls is putting out an alert..."
"South Dakota," a new voice called out.
Moss quickly got out of the way as an amused reborn aircraft carrier looked in, dressed in her grey-and-blue battlesuit. "Ready for your proper public debut, Captain?" Bartlet asked.
"I've been getting Dakota's signals for the last half-hour, Mister President," the woman known on Yiziba as the Grey Ghost, Leduo ("Enterprise"), stated. "I felt it when Dragon and her friends from across the Delaware came back, so I put myself high for a bit to get a better sense of what's happening."
A concerned look answered. "Is Captain Leigh Gatch alright, Yvonne?"
Yvonne Swanson smirked. "Other than complaining that she feels like she's in about a thousand places all at the same time, she's rather peachy and wondering where Ida and Joanna are."
"Go get her, please," Bartlet asked. "Be public about it, Captain."
An anticipatory grin crossed the face of the adopted native of River Vale near Newark. "Aye-aye, sir!"
With that, the reborn second of the Yorktown-class fleet carriers was off. "C.J., can we get news feed?" Bartlet then asked his press secretary. "I never get tired of seeing this."
"Yes, sir!" C.J. Cregg answered as she walked over to a wall station. "By the way, Liz, thank you so much for making this a lot easier for people," she added as she tapped controls on the touch screen there to cut into public news broadcasts, then programmed the system to lock in on a local television station for the largest city of the Mount Rushmore State. "This is KELO coming in..."
A screen flicked on the opposite wall, that revealing an incredible scene over Sherman Park west of downtown. "Oh, my God...!" a wide-eyed Moss gasped on seeing the partially-rebuilt mass of the first of her class of post-Second London Treaty fast battleships literally FLOATING over the place where a memorial to "Battleship X" had been placed after she had been dismantled near the same place where USS Enterprise had been scrapped outside the Big Apple two years earlier. "Just looking at that...!"
"Makes people really believe in God," Walker noted, nodding in approval.
Cregg pitched up the volume. "...right now, it appears that South Dakota is about half-rebuilt," the reporter for the local CBS affiliate station called out from off-screen. "This event started about twenty minutes ago, when news came in from Philadelphia on the transformation of battleship New Jersey, cruiser Olympia and submarine Becuna into 'shipgirls' as has been done multiple times since the start of spring when the Japanese destroyer Fubuki was transformed into a woman calling herself Fukushima Fujiko, one of many who latched onto the famous alien invasion tag champion Moroboshi Ataru of Metro Tōkyō as her spiritual 'admiral'. While many news outlets nationwide have asked Navy commanders concerning a spiritual 'admiral' for America's growing shipgirl fleet, so far all is..."
Tene lomher'buo, Dakota Leigh Gatch...!
Bartlet gave the Californian hyper-genius polymath a look, earning him a smile in return. "It appears the still-unknown entity who has always been involved in these transformations has just announced Battleship X's human name, Dakota Leigh Gatch," the reporter continued almost without misstep...
Tomobiki High School, that moment...
"The Conservator has spoken. The Gifting has begun."
Hearing that from the Wise Jurist of the West — who was unanimously voted as team leader for the unofficial battle group composed of all the Gifted members of Class 2-4 — Mendō Shūtarō robotically turned to gaze hopefully upon one of the women who once worshipped the ground he walked on. "M-m-Momoe-san, there m-m-must be some w-w-way to stop this m-m-madness from happening..."
A cool look answered him, making his heart drop into his bowels. "You see all that MASS floating over where Dakota-san has been spiritually 'docked' all these years, Mendō?" the reborn judge demanded before she looked back. "Hideyuki-kun, what's a South Dakota-class warship displace?"
"Battleship X herself was different as she was a division flagship," Mifune Hideyuki reported. "Standard displacement is 38,580 tonnes." He then shook his head. "How the hell do you shrink something like THAT into a human-sized package anyway, Momoe-chan? Is it something about these first generation battle dolls you told us about whose bodies are being used by shipgirls these days?"
"Probably. Rumiko-chan?"
The Careful Planner of the Circle of Thought sipped her ice tea. It was supposed to be ethics class, but there was no way ANYONE in school was missing something like THIS, especially since it was so PUBLIC at the same time! "Can't really say, Momoe-chan. When I've examined members of Ataru-kun's fleet to determine how you could shrink THAT level of mass into a normal person's body — though one with the average ability to lift the CUBE of their old displacement once they're Gifted — I really couldn't find a thing. Not even pure magicals like Chikage-chan could figure it out." She giggled. "So Ataru-kun came up with a rather interesting term to describe that sort of phenomena."
"What did he call it?" Miyake Shinobu asked.
"MSSB." Here, Tsuruya Rumiko spelled out that abbreviation, "'Magical Sparkly Shipgirl Bullshit'. The one thing only the Healer of Destruction could possibly answer about his 'daughters'."
"Think he's come back?" Fujinami Ryūnosuke asked.
"With over FOUR THOUSAND people on Earth being Gifted BEYOND all the warship kami that have been reborn?" her old lover wondered. Ignoring the squawks from Shūtarō and many others, she shook her head. "Sucker's bet, Ryūnosuke. It'll be a man this time around. He's probably from here, too."
"Why's he called the 'Healer of Destruction', Rumiko-chan?" Hideyuki asked.
"Think of him as our version of Earth's Praetorian Guardian, Hideyuki-kun," the third of Yiziba's triumvirate of hyper-genius polymaths reported as she walked up to the board. Taking a bit of chalk, she wrote down some figures. "Twenty-five millennia ago — roughly at the time the so-called 'End War' that saw Rittmeister von Taserich become immortal and Lord Rjázan' empowered like he was — the same type of interdimensional invaders attacked Yiziba to seize the Seeker's Forge." As people nodded — they heard about Itō Yoiko's multi-million year old spiritual patron during the long-missing carrier's first public visit back to Japan in September — she pointed to the date indicated. "The living spirit of the Forge — whom we call the 'Conservator' these days — allowed someone to be empowered.
"He became the first Doctor Destructo."
People gulped on hearing that name...
That moment, nine time zones away (local time: Two hours after supper)...
Nesu...DAKHÓTA-MAM!
As a wild scream escaped the considerable crowd that had gathered on both West Twelfth Street and South Kiwanis Avenue to watch such an event, the glowing mass of the first of her class of fast battleships collapsed hard, metaphysically melting into the body of the first generation battle doll sent from the Seeker's Forge to see her become human. As the woman known now on Yiziba as the Masked Performer of the Black Hills, Dakhóta-mam ("South Dakota"), rose while the smoke and energy billowed around her as the impressive light show overhead began to melt into the dark of early evening. Instantly, cell phone cameras began to flash as portraits were taken of the rather curvy dusky-skinned woman with the long raven hair done in a hip-length French braid, chestnut brown eyes peeking out of a face that made a lot of people's hearts flutter at how beautiful she seemed.
As for her uniform...
Atop the proper hull numbers 57 on her upper thighs, the adopted native of Sioux Falls and Camden in New Jersey (where she was built) wore a medium blue jumpsuit with gold belt and boots replicating her namesake state's flag. On her chest was her new ship's crest, bearing an image of the still-incomplete memorial to the Lakota war leader Tȟašúŋke Witkó located in the Black Hills, that depicted looming over the Mount Rushmore Memorial. A wreath of pasque flowers lined the bottom and sides of the inner crest, that wrapped in the green-red-gold-blue ribbon of the Navy Unit Commendation, the flowers themselves holding thirteen bronze battle stars marking her the most decorated battleship of World War Two. A motto scroll forming a base for the depiction of both memorials declared SILENT STEALTH; for those who could see such, it was easy to conclude that motto represented the secrecy that cloaked USS South Dakota at first, where she was often nicknamed "Battleship X" in the press.
"Dakota!"
Dakota Leigh Gatch — being named in honour of her late first captain had made the reborn fast battleship blush when she heard the Spirit of the Forge declare she was ready...before she got confused as she wondered how the hell she could understand what that being was actually saying! — perked before she looked up, then her eyes went wide on seeing an old friend soar down towards her. "E!"
Before the second of the Yorktown-class could land to embrace her old fleet mate, the bright flash of teleportation energy produced a screaming girl out of nowhere, who ran up and hugged the restored name ship of her own class from behind. "YOU'RE BACK!" Chihaya Isabel squealed with delight.
Seeing the bookish-looking third of the Kongō-class fast battleships embrace the personification of the battleship she severely damaged before being sunk by Dakota's task unit mate during the naval battle of Guadalcanal, the watching crowd whooped in delight, making the dusky-skinned battleship blink in confusion as she looked over her shoulder at the now-sobbing Isabel. "Um...E...?"
A sigh escaped Yvonne Swanson. "It's a long story, Dakota..."
On the shores of the Pacific near North Bend in Oregon, that moment (local time: Suppertime)...
A relieved moan escaped the slender redhead teenager as she walked off the beach where she landed moments before, just north of the estuary of the Coos River near the border with California. Taking a moment to stretch herself, the reborn 108th of the world's largest class of destroyers ever built turned to gaze towards the calm seas beyond. Astronomical twilight had just fallen over this part of the States, which made the woman who had been given the name Michelle Joan Porter by the Spirit of the Seeker's Forge on her salvaging and Gifting relax herself. Much that she was more than happy to be back home again, the adopted native of New Orleans and Orange in Texas still felt herself totally lost at sea as to what she was to do now, especially with her becoming a human teenage GIRL along the way.
Fact: USS William D. Porter — which is what Michelle still pretty much thought herself as even if the human name she had received sounded nice — had been sunk in action by a kamikaze blowing up UNDER HER KEEL in early June of 1945 after a somewhat interesting time of active service; the one good thing she could feel proud about was the fact that all her crew had survived her sinking.
Fact: Because of the first fact, she would no longer be listed as an active warship of the United States Navy; vessels such as she would be struck off the Naval Vessel Register, usually within a month of one's sinking or longer if there was the possibility of said ship being salvaged and repaired.
Fact: It was now the year 2012, nearly SEVENTY YEARS since she sank. While the destroyer-turned-metahuman teenage girl — who could FLY, survive UNDERWATER and clearly had WAY more strength than probably anyone under MAJOR RAEBURN herself! — had seen modern warships bearing the name of some of her sisters, how was she to explain herself to competent naval authority?
Fact: While she was a cute teenage girl — with red hair done in buns at her temples and brown eyes under her protective goggles — and had a very nice oval-shaped ship's coat of arms on her upper chest with her ship name and hull number, she doubted that the Navy would be very comfortable with someone who looked like she just celebrated her sweet sixteenth birthday in uniform!
Fact: She wasn't THAT hungry, having scooped up some fish and used the pulse blasts her new hull's body could unleash to cook same so she could snack on her trip from Okinawa back Stateside...but she could use a steady source of food given that living on fish alone wasn't really healthy.
Heck, eating a few fresh potatoes would do her good right now...!
Where the heck is Bannie when you need her?!
"ORAK'NOU!"
Michelle yelped...
...before a chorus of energy blasts slammed into her side, causing her to jolt as her eyes focused on a group of local civilians with VERY familiar S-shaped ray guns blasting away at her...
Then a VERY familiar scent tickled her nose.
"Lar'beke...!"
Licking her lips, the "unluckiest ship of the Navy" curled her fingers with their VERY razor sharp, diamond-hard nails, then she lunged off the ground, racing at flank for the idiots' exposed necks...!
That moment, about five hundred kilometres to the west...
Grinning as the beautifully cool breeze whipped past her shoulder-length brown hair, the reborn second of the Nevada-class super-dreadnoughts could only gaily laugh at the incredible twist of Fate that had befallen one of the victims of the Pearl Harbour attack now, so many decades after she had been struck from the Naval Vessel Register, then sank en route to being scrapped after the war ended.
At least, unlike Arizona and Utah, the woman who had been given the name Dorothy Rhoda Rowland by the Spirit of the Seeker's Forge on her salvaging/transformation into a VERY beautiful twenty-something woman not a day ago knew the war had been won and justice obtained for those who had died that horrible Sunday morning in 1941...save for those rescued by the Dragon Slayers, of course.
Such a pity those incredible dreadnoughts from Canada had to stay HIDDEN all the time...!
Chuckling, the reborn USS Oklahoma reached down to her belt to feel the mesonium-hardened tomahawk that had been teleported right into her hand by some nice woman named the Weaponeer, perfectly designed and balanced for her even if the noble tribes who had been forced into the region of the then-future Sooner State often used different types of weapons when they hunted or fought rival tribes. Still, it was a good present, had a VERY sharp edge for her to scalp some tuna and even a yummy shark to full her stomach — after the flesh had been properly tenderized by her force blast powers, of course — and she was relatively capable of making the coast of the Pacific Northwest where she would have to decide what to do with herself now that she was back in "commission"...!
Eh...?
«Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is USS William D. Porter, hull number Dog-Dog-Five-Seven-Niner! Currently at the estuary of the Coos River near North Bend and Steveston in Oregon at this time! Have detected a town — repeat, a whole TOWN! — of lar'beke currently active in Steveston! Am engaging the enemy, but need major reinforcements! Anyone hear me?!»
Rhoda perked before she concentrated. «Porter, this is USS Oklahoma, Baker-Baker-Three-Seven, now closing on your position! I assume you've been Gifted by the Seeker's Forge as I was?»
An excited squeal answered her. «OKLAHOMA?!»
The adopted native of Oklahoma City and Camden shook her head. «Calm down, young lady!»
That earned her a squawk. «S-s-sorry, ma'am!»
«Porter, Oklahoma, this is Washington, Baker-Baker-Five-Six!» a new voice chimed in. «Received your mayday, Porter. Am at Puget Sound speaking to what would have been Commander District Thirteen in our day; they changed everything in 1999. He understands the issue, but does NOT wish to have the lar'beke fully engaged yet. How many lar'beke are you dealing with now, Porter?»
«Um...none right now, Washington.»
«Repeat, please?»
«Um, I was engaged by about one-zero lar'beke, Washington. All eliminated. Just did a taste test. Real young ones, too! And they taste bland, but they're still edible. As for Steveston, I'm smelling what seems like a whole TOWN of them. According to the border sign, population is about one-one-double-oh total. They're armed light with those snake-shaped pistols they used long ago.»
«Washington, this is Iowa. Just getting my new sea legs on right now,» a new voice cut in. «Currently in L.A. now. Hey, Midway! You getting in on this?! It's chow time!»
«They're still evac'ing civvies, Stick. I'll need at least twenty minutes to change. Sorry!»
«Get them off, Midway,» Rhoda transmitted. «Washington, I'll be with Porter in about five minutes. What does the admiral want done with the lar'beke in Steveston itself?»
«MINNA-SAN!»
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
«Hinako?! Is that you?!» the voice of the reborn USS Iowa called out.
«Hai, Abigail-san!» that voice — which seemed to snare Rhoda's new heart with a grip of diamond! — called back. «Julia-san is being told by Bartlet-hakase that she's now the commodore to you girls! She'll talk to you in a minute, but as far as Bartlet-hakase is concerned, no killing lar'beke yet!»
«Who...?!» Michelle Porter demanded.
«That's NCA, Porter,» the voice of the aircraft carrier USS Midway declared before she caught herself. «Whoops! Sorry! I mean National Command Authority! The PRESIDENT!»
«I'll keep the little one calm when I'm on scene, Midway,» Rhoda called in. «Um...Hinako, right?»
«Hai, Rhoda-san!» that cheery voice called back.
The reborn super-dreadnought's cheeks reddened as she FELT that young Japanese girl's voice wrap warmly around her whole new hull. «Please inform His Excellency I personally recommend we kill these creatures. Given what these new hulls of ours were made to do five millennia ago...»
«Hai, hai, Rhoda-san, Hina knows that! Hina's Gifted like Rhoda-san and Abigail-san and Ida-san and Michelle-chan are! Oh, Abigail-san, Kathy-san wants to talk to you as soon as she...!»
«Yo, Stick!»
A squeal escaped the first of her class of fast battleships. «That you, Dragon?!»
«Yeah!» Kathy Hyde's voice chimed in. «Just got back into commission with Olympia and Becuna! Johnny, Hoel and Heermann are with me now; all of Taffy Three came back in late October on the anniversary of Leyte! We even got E back; she's with SoDak right now in Sioux Falls!»
«We overheard that, Kathy,» a new voice cut in, making Rhoda gape with delight as what she believed was the one called "Michelle" screamed with glee. «Dakota and I will meet up with everyone outside Steveston in about ten minutes. Michelle — that's you, Porter — listen carefully: The President does NOT want a mass slaughter of the lar'beke no matter how hungry you are!»
«But if they're here, ma'am...?»
«We know! That can't be tolerated! It will be dealt with, but the general public are NOT aware of what's going on with them, alright?! We don't want a panic like what happened when the Kidō Butai visited Pearl, understood?! We've got another issue with aliens to deal with first, alright?!»
«Yvonne's right, Michelle!» a new voice cut in.
Another excited squeal nearly deafened Rhoda's mind. «JOHNNY?!»
«Yeah! Yeah! Tone it down, huh?! And call me Rose! Admiral Moroboshi didn't go to all that trouble making human names for us to NOT use them, ya know!» the lead destroyer of Taffy Three said. «We'll be there, but Commodore Dewey — that's Olympia — has to do a 'May I?' dance with the President since it's the Army Air Corps that are in charge of dealing with the lar'beke!»
«Why is that, Rose?» Rhoda demanded.
«They got a goddamned Stargate with them now, ma'am.»
«Ah! Understandable! Coming in on your position now, Michelle!»
The southern Oregon coast loomed now before the second of America's "standard" dreadnoughts. Fixing her eyes on the sandy beach just to the north of the entrance to the Coos River near where North Bend and Steveston were located, the brown-haired adopted Oklahoman/New Jerseyan tilted herself down on spotting the woman in a more scandalous form-fitting jumpsuit — akin to what some of the mystery women of the era before the Second World War wore — waving. Dropping onto the ground as she lamented that she at LEAST was properly dressed in a more flowing uniform with billowing sleeves and baggy leggings, Rhoda accepted the salute — with a hand that was QUITE bloody — from the eager young reborn destroyer who had been first on scene. "Commander," she called out.
Michelle Porter blinked in confusion before she blushed on remembering that she had the rank insignia of one on the collars of her new white-and-blue fighting uniform. "Um, s-sorry, Captain!" she stated before lowering her hand, then she pointed over to where one of the rifle section's worth of decapitated dead bodies were. "I put all the lar'beke over there if you need to fill your tanks."
The older-looking woman's dark brown eyes sparkled at the younger-looking woman's thoughtfulness, then she knelt down to scoop up one of the dead symbiotes — the necks were effortlessly snapped as it had been done five thousand years before when the mesonium-forged synthezoids whose bodies were being used now by both reborn American warships had fought the "children of the gods" to drive them away from the Forge of the First Race at the behest of their creator — before snapping off the head to munch it down. "Yes, very stale tasting indeed. What on Earth is going on with these things?"
"No doubt, it's because they're all clones, Captain."
Both shipgirls' heads snapped over...
"Another one!" Michelle snarled, her nose flaring as she moved to lunge.
"HOLD IT, LITTLE RED!"
Both Michelle and Rhoda screamed as they felt themselves caught up in very sturdy containment bubbles just as the whooshing noise of a body flying down at terminal velocity echoed in their ears, that producing someone in a rather gaudy red-and-gold sleeved jumpsuit bedecked with flowers. "Chill, Little Red!" the reborn first nuclear surface warship built before she gestured with one hand.
The just-arrived Doctor Richard Fleming awked as he felt SOMETHING reach into his head and neck before the phased body of a struggling prim'ta was pulled out of him. As the Stamford University genetics professor dropped to his knees while nausea overcame him, Naomi Haight-Ashbury telekinetically passed the symbiote over to Rhoda, who effortlessly snapped its neck with her fingers.
"'Cloned'?" she wondered as she gazed on the newcomer, relaxing on sensing she had dropped those odd force bubbles around her and Michelle even as she blinked on seeing the echo of USS Long Beach in this woman's spiritual aura. Where on Earth are her GUNS?! the reborn super-battleship thought. She has a cruiser hull, but how on Earth is she supposed to FIGHT in the first place?!
"Yeah, Big O," the reborn native of her namesake city in California near where USS Iowa had been docked to serve as a museum ship replied as she moved to kneel beside the retching Fleming. "That means they're literally xeroxed off a body to make loads more of them to possess people and grow a damned ARMY of the little critters! You okay, Doc? What the hell's going on here, anyway?"
The middle aged geneticist groaned as he nodded his thanks; he could see this strange woman was a shipgirl herself — her ship's coat of arms over her heart declared that quite loudly, especially when the hull number CGN 9 became quite apparent to his clearing vision — then he took a deep breath, feeling his stomach finally settle down. "My ultimate employer got hold of blood samples from someone who was temporarily possessed by a Tok'ra — if you don't know, they're Goa'uld rebels who don't care for all that 'we are your gods, conquer all in sight' nonsense — to find a way to defeat a very fatal illness by using their natural immunity and regenerative capabilities to save his life," he then explained.
Rhoda's jaw dropped. "Was he behind having you and these people and that town be literally POSSESSED by those creatures?!" she demanded as Michelle gaped in horror at him.
"Yes!" Fleming snapped. "He's being supported by the NID..." He caught himself on seeing the hull numbers on the other shipgirls' lower legs. "They're like the OSS from your time, ladies..."
"Oh, THOSE squares!" Naomi groaned before she looked east towards Steveston, her eyes narrowing.
Rhoda and Michelle exchanged confused looks. "'Squares'?" the former wondered.
The latter helplessly shrugged...
Nerima, the Saotome home near Hikarigaoka Park, that moment...
"Crap...!"
"A whole TOWN full of the lar'beke?!"
Dean Raeburn snorted as she glared wrathfully at the modified PAA which had been given to her by Elizabeth Wakefield two years ago for her birthday; despite all the work the Wise Genius of the Circle of Thought poured into such a machine, the current commander of Canada's special forces didn't care for such newfangled things even if it made gathering intelligence infinitely easier. "Sadly, so," the nigh-immortal Protector of All Life muttered as she gently massaged a pressure point over the bridge of her nose. "Fortunately, with young Naomi there, it shouldn't wind up with a bloodbath, especially with so many American warship kami coming back with effective empty tanks and weapons stores."
"Yeah...!" eeped Chloe Zitzewitz from nearby. As the others looked at her, the reborn escort carrier blushed. "After Brooke and I came ashore at Sunnydale, all we could think of was getting something to eat. Even if we were driven there because of the memories that we got from our crews that weren't masked by the Mayor's magic anymore, we were both running on fumes back then..."
Saotome Genma and Tendō Sōun winced as they considered what the adopted Alaskan/Washingtonian went through after her salvaging/Gifting. "Will you need to go, Shihan-sama?" Kiryū Kazuma asked.
A shake of the head responded. "No. My operational unit commanders in the Regiment are trained to deal with shipgirls showing up suddenly, so I'm alright there. Jed has a good crew to advise him about this sort of stuff." She took a deep breath before she focused on the two would-be "masters" of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū, both of whom immediately stiffened as that icy stare fell on them.
"Now, for you two," she began. "To say I'm disgusted by what I've heard you have done since Kanami first contacted me after her departure from town is putting it LIGHTLY." She waved to the would-be "heir" of the Art who had trained her whole life to master in emphasis. As Yuhara Seiko squeezed Hayashi Kanami's shoulder in sympathy, the master of modern military metahuman combat added, "However, given my own personal experiences with your late 'master' when I was training with Papa-sensei back in the Twenties, I can understand what happened in the end. You two were played up like idiots by Happy. It's a miracle that you maintained SOME form of decorum despite what I've heard from other school masters concerning what you did after you sealed that little twerp in that cave."
As Genma and Sōun blushed on sensing that hidden compliment, Raeburn pulled out one of her Dutch Masters Honey Sports cigars from her flight jacket. As the second of the Kagerō-class fleet destroyers used a bit of ki to light up that sweet-smelling roll of tobacco — naturally, the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū summoned a ki field to prevent others from being bothered by the nicotine fumes — she gazed intently at one man, then the other. "Right now, you both should concentrate more on reforming what are left of your families." First, to Sōun. "You, Tendō-dono, literally ABANDONED your daughters to fend practically for themselves after your wife passed on. I am sympathetic at your loss, but your failure to move on and try to make a more stable home for them marked all three of them quite negatively according to Kanami-chan here. Now, you've got one daughter virtually at death's door thanks to what happened on Saturday, another is helpless on Yiziba of all places — with a dark reflection standing her place as you now know — and the third would gladly KILL you if you push her too far because of that fool stunt you pulled back in '03 after Tariko-chan got to her!"
A deep bow responded. "My actions are inexcusable, Shihan-sama!"
"They better not be excusable," the native of Queenston snapped before she gazed on Sōun's best friend. "As for you, Saotome-dono, you are aware of all the damn fool mistakes you made with your child. At least you gave Kanami-chan one hell of a decent grounding in martial arts even if you weren't much of a father to her. As you know, I lost my father when I was a child, but at least I understand what a father has to do. You're lucky she's had a chance to cool off after she left Nerima; if she was forced for any reason to stay behind, it would have been a BLOODBATH as I'm sure Kiryū-dono has already advised you!" As Genma winced and Kanami nodded, Raeburn summoned a tray to put her cigar's ashes into. "Fortunately, working with Summers-dono and her friends in Sunnydale has helped Kanami-chan to regain a new sense of balance, one she would have never got here even if certain issues were dealt with before her final departure. Even more so, thanks to what happened to your wife yesterday, there's no need to worry about the curses put on that sword Indy had forged for her relatives coming around to bite Kanami-chan in the butt when she least needs that sort of thing."
A deep bow responded. "Much that I do mourn my wife's passing, I am relieved my daughter has evaded those curses, Shihan-sama," Genma stated. "That my wife's family refused to acknowledge their relations to Jones-hakase — especially after what he gladly did for them before the late war — always mystified me. Still, I will do my best to support my daughter even if I don't approve of her current place of residence." As Raeburn's eyebrow arched, he chuckled. "We went there some years ago during the training trip. The 'night life' wasn't very kind even if they were quite easy to deal with."
"This was before Xander's 'turn back to normal' suggestion was put into play, Sensei," Kanami noted.
Raeburn nodded. "Alright. Now, I understand there are potentially other students of Happy running around the place. Like you two, they don't have any standing at all with the Tensei-ryū...and given what happened after I learned of this whole situation, they won't get much in the way of decent treatment from any of the ko-ryū from now on." She pointed at Genma, then Sōun. "Therefore, as your first step at properly establishing yourselves in my school, you WILL offer sanctuary to any of Happy's other students should they make their way to Nerima as they'll probably do now that the word's getting out that the stupid fool is finally dead. Since Kanami-chan here arranged with a friend to have all of Happy's stolen treasures returned to their proper owners, there's no issue there."
"More than understandable, Shihan-sama," Sōun declared. "Given the damage my foolishness unleashed on my family home on Saturday, the whole property will be lost since the house will have to be condemned due to the damage suffered from the backlash unleashed by Akane-chan's final Gifting."
"Good. I'm sure your friend will put you up here for the time being."
"It's the least I could do, Shihan-sama," Genma affirmed.
"Fine. Now, as for the possibility of getting proper teaching licenses..." As both "masters" tensed, their guest gazed on Kazuma. "I have a favour to ask of you, Kiryū-dono."
The wakagashira of the Tōjō Clan bowed. "Anything within my power, Shihan-sama."
"Since I can't be here to watch over this myself, I want you to periodically test both Saotome-dono and Tendō-dono to ensure they can keep up their skills as well as don't stray anew down Happy's path," Raeburn declared before she focused on the two other men in the room. "Consider yourselves on a one-strike probation with me, gentlemen. You've got a LOT to do to redeem yourselves. Not in my eyes, of course, since neither I nor anyone I myself trained were responsible for your own training. But in the eyes of your daughters and most of all in YOUR own eyes!" As Genma and Sōun bowed deeply to the youthful-looking grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū for such a chance, she took a puff from her cigar. "Matter of fact, let me see where you're at right now. Let's step outside for a moment."
Everyone scrambled to get out onto the yard. Despite the size of the Saotome property, it had a decent-sized yard that could be used for the type of aerial training Genma long excelled at both under his late master and when he was wandering around the Pacific rim with his child teaching him/her. There, Kazuma slipped off his jacket and button shirt to reveal the dragon-grasping-pearl tattoo that was as famous in the Japanese underworld as this man's many deeds to defend both his clan's honour as well as live by his own strict code of conduct, right from the day he gladly took the blame for the death of his oyabun Dōjima Sōhei sometime after the end of the Cold War. A horrible crime both Genma and Sōun knew deep down that Kazuma would NEVER have done; that was how honourable the native of Yokohama really was, even for an up-and-coming wakagashira in the dark worlds of the Yakuza.
"A request, Shihan-sama," Kazuma called out.
"Being?" Raeburn wondered as she assumed a place between the combatants.
"I need a power limiter bond for this bout," the Grand Poobah of the Golden Springs declared, making Genma and Sōun gape while Kanami nodded. "Much that my Gifting gives me the knowledge of using my abilities, I don't want this fight to be potentially stained by questions of unfairness."
The woman who had gained use of the Power Jewel — the oldest sample of mesonium to have come to Earth three billion years before — nodded as she gestured with her hand. Kazuma's opponents were quick to see a nearly-invisible wave of ki wash over him, wrapping him in a shroud of power that caused his own aura to dim considerably. "Not too much, Shihan-sama!" Genma begged.
"I know how it's done," the Canadian declared as she gave him an annoyed look.
"I'm alright, Genma," Kazuma declared.
As Seiko moved to position herself opposite the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū while Kanami and Chloe both relaxed by the porch, Raeburn then raised her hand. "Ready?" she called out.
All three men braced themselves.
"HAJIME!"
Both former students of Happōsai instantly moved as the wakagashira braced himself...
Back across the Pacific...
"We heard a distress call."
Rhoda Rowland and Michelle Porter tensed on hearing that curt voice before turning...
"I see we're not the only ones this is happening to," the reborn second of America's famous standard battleships mused, a wry smile crossing her face.
"Chill, Big O! Yo, K-gal! Nice of you to bring your cool sisters here!"
An embarrassed awk escaped the brunette twenty-something in the white traditional jumpsuit with black belt and dark blue boots, the white-on-black mon of the Kaga-Maeda Clan over her heart, that topped with 加賀 in black. Before the reborn second Tosa-class battleship-turned-aircraft carrier could protest, Naomi Haight-Ashbury's hand landed on her forehead, she rocking Oikawa Kei's head to and fro. As Michelle gaped in awe at the strength shown by the reborn nuclear missile cruiser — THG Kaga displaced 38,813 tonnes standard while she now knew USS Long Beach only weighed 15,789 tonnes — laughter escaped the three other reborn Imperial aircraft carriers that came with the adopted native of Komatsu (capital of her namesake province), Kōbe (her place of initial construction) and Yokohama (her place of conversion) to North Bend. "NAOMI-SAMA!" Kei screamed in embarrassment.
"Oi! K-gal! No square stuff!" the adopted native of Long Beach bade before she perked, looking over her shoulder. "Hey, E! SoDak! Kiri-kiri! You're just in time for the party!"
Yvonne Swanson, Dakota Leigh Gatch and Chihaya Isabel dropped down from the supersonic flight all three had taken from Sioux Falls. As Kei awked on seeing the reborn USS Enterprise, her mates from the Kidō Butai grinned on seeing the fourth of the Kongō-class there. "And WHEN were you going to tell us they were back, Cass?!" the current "commodore" of America's shipgirls demanded.
"Um...w-we asked Naomi-chan to NOT tell you, Yvonne-san," Yamaguchi Hiyoko then answered. As people gazed on the reborn THG Hiryū, the raven-haired girl in the traditional jumpsuit with an orange top, green pants, grey belt and matching boots — topped with two ascending green dragons framing a red sun over her heart, her ship name 飛龍 framing same — added, "We needed time to adjust."
"And prevent THIS one from gutting herself in hara-kiri because of those mistakes," her division-mate Kaku Sei noted, thumbing Kei. As Michelle and Dakota blanched, the girl with her raven hair in twintails wearing a two-tone green jumpsuit with grey belt and boots, plus two protective blue dragons around a red sun topped with 蒼龍 added, "Thank the Kami for Naomi-chan here at least!"
As Yvonne winced, footfalls heralded the approach of the old flagship of the Kidō Butai. "My apologies, Swanson-taisa," Aoki Anna declared as she bowed to the second American shipgirl to return. "While we do feel great shame over the fact that our admiral's orders concerning Operation Z were NOT obeyed properly as he wished, Kei-chan rather does take it to considerable extremes."
Yvonne nodded as Kei winced again. "Thank you for making that point clear, Captain Aoki," she stated. "Though if you wish to keep Captain Oikawa in line, just remind her of what Captain Itō might think if she goes to such an extreme." Here, she turned away. "To say anything of Admiral Fujita."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"The admiral...is ALIVE?!"
That was a white-faced Anna. As Sei and Hiyoko exchanged shocked looks and Kei almost dropped to her knees in disbelief, Yvonne pointed behind her, an amused smile crossing the adopted New Jerseyan/Virginian's face. "Ask the Captains Matsubara and Captain Itō yourself, Captain."
The four carriers lost at Midway tensed before spinning around...
"Keep doing that, Naomi-chan!" Matsubara Suzue said as she focused her PAA camera at the sight of Japan's third carrier being manhandled by America's first surface nuclear warship. "This is too...AWK!"
THAT was Itō Yoiko's hand landing on her head. "Suzue-san, now is NOT the time!" the adopted native of Maizuru coolly declared as her would-be mission mates gaped in awe on seeing the lost seventh carrier of Operation Z clearly not so lost anymore. As Suzue's sister Kanako shook her head in despair at her sister's antics — at the beginning of their working together prior to Pearl Harbour, the pilots of the Fifth Carrier Division flying from Shōkaku and Zuikaku always resented the arrogance shown by their sempai in the First Carrier Division flying off Akagi and Kaga — the lone platform of the Sixth Carrier Division moved to bow respectfully to the just-returned veterans of Pearl and Midway. "Sempai-tachi, both Tennō and Teitoku will rejoice on hearing all four of you have returned to duty at this time. There is much to catch up on, but I believe we have issues with the lar'beke first."
Silence fell over the scene before the raven-haired converted battlecruiser in the red-trimmed white traditional jumpsuit with the red Japanese hilltop castle insignia embossed with 赤城 in black on her upper chest shook her head before saluting the taller woman in the green jumpsuit. "Well, if that's the case, Captain Itō, I stand relieved as flagship of the Kidō Butai," she declared.
The reborn fifth of the Yamato-class returned that salute. "I relieve you, Captain Aoki," Yoiko solemnly declared before she sighed. "Naomi-chan, for the love of all the Kami, let Kei-san go!"
"Just as long as she don't act stupidly square, Yoiko," Naomi said as she released her grip on the reborn carrier. "Papa A wants live fighters, not dead idiots, remember?"
Kei dropped embarrassingly onto her butt as the first of America's "cosmic" shipgirls headed back to where Richard Fleming was relaxing, he working away on his iPhone to contact people who might be able to help concerning the possessed natives of Steveston. Michelle watched her, then she gazed on Yvonne. "Um, E, are you SURE she's just a light cruiser?!" the reborn destroyer demanded.
The adopted native of River View rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, I wonder myself..."
Back in Nerima...
"You haven't changed a bit, Genma!"
"Neither have you, Kazuma!"
The would-be "master" of Musabetsu Kakutō bounded clear of his opponent's grasp before bouncing off a nearby tree to deliver a diving straight kick at the Yakuza wakagashira's head. With a snap of his hand, the native of Yokohama snared the leg above the ankle, then did a merry-go-round spin to send the poor man flying right at his old training partner, whirling like a runaway propeller.
Tendō Sōun leapt into the air, doing a forward somersault to avoid being hit by Saotome Genma's flying body before executing another flip on the ground to get him within close range of Kiryū Kazuma. Immediately, snap punches went out to be intercepted by the veteran of the streets of Kamuro-chō southwest of Shinjuku Station, second only to nearby Kabuki-chō when it came to the available sinful delights often offered by the leaders of the various Yakuza clans such as the Tōjō-kai. Much to Dean Raeburn's personal approval, some of Sōun's hits did land on Kazuma's abdomen, easily absorbed by the wakagashira's growing natural ki aura, which he had trained long and hard to allow his "rush" skills to come out to play, increasing stamina and resistance to injury to last through heavy brawls.
"You've picked up your training, Sōun!"
"Hah! Can't laze about the house all the time, Kazuma!"
By then, Genma was on his feet and bounding once more in the air to land a kick on his opponent's upper back to knock him down. Sensing that Kazuma was tapping into his large reserves of ki gained from YEARS fighting on the streets against anything from normal thugs to the assassins of the Amon Clan — individually the best killers alive today even if they didn't have the terrible, devastating finesse and enhanced ki manipulation skills practised by someone like Moroboshi Negako — to boost his invulnerability and stay upright while dealing with Sōun. Sure enough, the blow landed hard, barely staggering the wakagashira as Genma dropped down on one foot akin to the stance he often took when balancing on a pole like that dark day in Jusenkyō. With that, he launched a roundhouse kick...
...only to have his foot caught anew by Kazuma's hand, then the dark-haired street warrior dropped and spun, sending Genma flying into the air towards the stone fence of his family property. Before Sōun could sense what was happening, Kazuma pivoted on one foot to trip the other would-be "master" up before vaulting to his feet to deliver a powerful stomp to the other man's jaw to knock him out. That got caught by Sōun's hand as he arched his lower back to use his legs to catch the Dragon of Dōjima in a cross-leg grab around the waist to pull him down to the ground and get him off his feet finally. At the same time, Genma bounded into the air to deliver a powerful punch to his opponent's face and stun him hard; given his greater ki reading experience, he knew that Kazuma was hardly winded.
Sensing what was coming, Kazuma twisted his head away from Genma's aiming point, thus allowing said punch to slam hard into the ground. The impact force was enough for Sōun to loose his tentative hold on the ground, which gave Kazuma the chance to arch his own lower back and send the longer-haired man flying right at his old training partner. Genma didn't dodge fast enough; a glancing blow sent him spiralling down to the ground while Sōun stumbled aside, dazed by such a quick set of moves by the wakagashira. Now free of his opponents grasp, Kazuma easily rolled onto his feet, then braced himself as he allowed the ki within his body to flood every muscle and bone, then he charged hard.
Sōun didn't recover in time before Kazuma's foot landed hard in his stomach, knocking all the air out of him as he was sent flying backwards into a nearby cherry blossom tree. Gaping at such a well-aimed blow, Genma snarled as he allowed the knowledge of his most devastating moves to flood his conscious mind once more. Even if he could have gladly used same against his errant child during the Week of Hell in a faint hope of bringing the renamed Hayashi Kanami down, he hadn't gone THAT far. Given the sheer aura of FURY that had suddenly exploded from the girl born a boy named Saotome Ranma, the would-be "master" of Musabetsu Kakutō didn't want to risk hurting or killing any bystander; since the reputation of the Nerima Wrecking Crew depended on their doing good deeds to help others despite the constant infighting between individual members, risking THAT would ruin too much...
"FREEZE! KIJIN RAISHŪ DAN!"
The air around Genma's arms turned into virtual vacuum as he sent a pair of spiralling cutting bolts right at Kazuma. Much to the surprise and inner awe of Kanami's father, the wakagashira actually stood his ground, focusing his own ki into his arms to intercept and shatter the incoming vacuum blades forged by the Demon God Assault Blast. That gave Sōun a chance to recover himself and more to hit Kazuma from behind while Genma also moved to close the range and get very personal...
...but before he could get in range, Kazuma pitched himself back into Sōun to get clear of Genma's hands, snaring the other would-be "master" of Musabetsu Kakutō in a three-quarter facelock before he dropped down HARD, whipping the other man's body up into the prefect position for a piledriver.
Kazuma didn't disappoint.
KK-KRUNCH!
Keeping Sōun's head where it was, the wakagashira dropped chest first into the ground, sending the patriarch of the Tendō of Ōizumi head-first into a handy stepping stone...though he did cushion the blow to only knock Sōun out instead of shattering the top plate of the man's skull! As a weak moan escaped the very dazed Sōun, Kazuma spun around to slam Genma in the back of one knee with a pivot kick, knocking the other man off balance. The "master" of the "Saotome-ryū" recovered, spinning around as he grasped his hands into a two finger-and-thumb arrowhead pointed at Kazuma's heart.
"DOKUTA TANKETSU SHŌ!"
Before the ki hardened heart-shredding attack of the Poisonous Snake Searching For Hole Palm strike could slam home, Kazuma's hands caught Genma's in a perfect sword-stopping grasp, making the balding man gape in shock at such a sudden show of speed before the wakagashira yanked up, literally pulling his opponent into the air by the power of his hands and lower arms alone. Once Genma's own hands were then forced apart as he tried to gain some control of his movement, Kazuma literally speared him to sending him flying backwards into the ground, his head bouncing hard over the spaced rocks partially buried as stepping stones in the soil to stun him. Kazuma let go before he would be trapped by Genma's weight, flipping forward to to get back onto his feet...
...then he dropped down onto his hands, putting himself into a handstand...
...before his knee came down to slam HARD on Genma's jaw!
Raeburn winced as she sensed that the blow was enough to knock out Kanami's father while Kazuma somersaulted to the side, regaining his feet and assuming a ready pose to scan the state of both his opponents. She snapped her hand up, sharply barking out "YAMETE!" to make him freeze in place.
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"Damn, Oyaji! Didn't expect THAT, huh?"
That was Kanami, who was shaking her head while her shipgirl escort was gaping in sheer disbelief at such an incredible show of what some of her crew from the states of the old Confederacy would have called "fancy rasslin'". After a quick nod was exchanged between the grandmaster of the Tensei-ryū and the lone practitioner of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū present, Raeburn raised her hand.
"Winner...KIRYŪ!"
A light burst of applause echoed from past the fence line, making the Ontarian turn to see several passers-by looking over the fence wall, quite stunned by such a show. Raeburn chuckled as she slipped her cigar into her mouth. "Captain, Commander, let's get these boys inside to check them over."
"Hai, Chūjō-sama!"/"Aye-aye, General!"
As Yuhara Seiko and Chloe Zitzewitz moved to carry the dazed Genma and Sōun inside, Kazuma and Kanami exchanged knowing looks and nods before the former moved to retrieve his shirt and jacket...
Approaching Ōmure-jima from the south, that moment...
She knew that her new admiral was here.
Sensing all the reborn warship spirits — "kantai musume" as they had been called by the Heavenly Sovereign himself when he first became aware of the phenomena that had touched many lost warships of his father's great navy since late winter this year — now on the island pretty much told the adopted native of Yokosuka that her personal quest to find someone to serve was about to be fulfilled.
Not to mention the quest of her immediate older sister and the others who had been retrieved from the scattered battlefields around the Philippine archipelago in the last couple of weeks.
Since SHE had come looking for them...
Shuddering as her cheeks reddened in hope of actually meeting the TRUE eldest sister of her diverse class, the woman with her raven hair tied in a short French braid over one shoulder and the grey eyes under protective goggles blinked on seeing the curious golden statute now atop what she knew was Stargazer Hill on Ōmure-jima. And while memories of her navigation charts did confirm that such a statute was there — as to what it represented, she had utterly no idea; none of her crew came from this island — she was quick to see that the island had been vastly expanded to nearly six times its pre-war landmass, mostly to the north where a considerable-sized town now lay, complete with a combination bridge/causeway connecting right into downtown Odawara off to her northwest...
Wait...
Ah!
There he was!
And what a fleet he had!
Her cheeks reddening even more as anticipation seized her new heart, the reborn warship twisted herself in mid-air to prepare to land close to the street-side tea shop where the admiral and his personal fleet — she could identify three Kongō-class fast battleships, the two Kuma-class cruisers converted to be floating torpedo batteries, one of the Ayanami-class destroyers, plus an unknown battleship and two unknown heavy cruisers — while they enjoyed snacks and conversation. Also present were locals, all busy chatting away with the admiral and his squadron, no doubt passing on choice bits of local news. While she knew the war was long since over and the Americans had won, she also knew they had shown extraordinary levels of mercy to their foes after that conflict.
Given how much she had seen Japan rebuilt from the ravages of the B-sans...!
"Eh?! Um, Ataru...?"
That was one of the strange heavy cruisers, one with a pronounced bust indicating her builders didn't seem to care at all for treaty limitations, she now looking up at the approaching formation soaring right for the street beyond the café's gates. That made the others gaze her way before they looked up, all of them clearly not surprised to see such a formation come towards them.
"About time you guys came to the party," the admiral then declared.
That made the newcomers all blush as they made soft landings on the ground...
...even if the landings of the adopted native of Yokosuka and her next-oldest sister from Nagasaki caused the ground to slightly quake thanks to their treaty-breaking displacement; she herself had a standard displacement of 65,800 tonnes while her sister tipped the scale at 69,888 tonnes standard.
Of course, her sister was more than ready to announce themselves properly.
"This Musashi has clearly kept you waiting, Teitoku!" the silver-haired woman with the chestnut brown eyes under protective goggles declared as she properly saluted the young man currently surrounded by such an impressive fleet. "Second of the Yamato-class battleships, Musashi, has arrived!"
He nodded. "Mutsuko-san," he greeted her in return, causing the adopted native of Fuchū (capital of her namesake province) and Nagasaki (her place of construction) to blush madly at such a personal form of address. "And Shizuka-san as well," he then focused on Itō Mutsuko's sister, who awked before she bolted to attention. "Relax! I may be an 'admiral' to you girls, but I don't stand on ceremony."
"He's too casual for that," the purple-haired destroyer present — the reborn Akebono, the newcomers were quick to sense — said with a saucy wink while she stretched out one foot to rub his knee.
"Akemi..." he scolded before turning back to take in the other people's uniforms. "Okay, we have Fujiko-san and Yaeko-san..." — here, he indicated the two Fusō-class dreadnoughts, both of whom had been reborn as very tall and slender raven-haired beauties with chestnut eyes, wearing matching traditional sleeved jumpsuits in white with red trim — "...plus Michiko-chan, Tomomi-chan, Yoriko-chan..." — here, he indicated three reborn Asashio-class destroyers, all in more modern sleeveless jumpsuits bearing white tops and grey pants; Akatsuka Michiko (née Michishio) had a green belt and boots while her sisters Tomomi and Yoriko (née Asagumo and Yamagumo) had light blue belt and boots — "...and last but certainly not least, Wakana-chan." Here, he nodded to the reborn THG Wakaba, now dressed in a gunmetal grey jumpsuit with white belt and red boots. "Everyone from Surigao Strait and the Sibuyan Sea." He focused on Haruguchi Wakana. "Wakana-chan, is there any sign of your other sisters?"
Blushing as she sensed his concern, the adopted native of Sasebo took a deep breath. "Um, I think I felt Nenohi-onēsan and Hatsuharu-onēsan somewhere to the north-northeast of here, Teitoku..."
"Miko was sunk near Attu, Ataru," Ashikaga Akemi reminded the man she now loved more than Life itself...save for her own sisters, of course. "Harumi went down in Manila Bay after Leyte. I wonder if she didn't salvage herself sometime after Hinako-chan came to help me get back into the game back in April, then went off to find Miko since she was the first one of their class lost."
Moroboshi Ataru hummed. "We'll have to ask them when they get here finally. Aria-chan and Yumi-chan were both lost in 1943 and Hatsuyo-chan was scrapped after the war ended." As the newcomers winced on hearing about such a fate, he waved them over to nearby empty tables. "Here, girls, sit down and relax. Master! We need loads of tea for everyone out here!" he then called out.
"Hai, Ataru-kun!" the elderly proprietor of the café called back.
"Ooh...do I sense DESPAIR here?!"
Everyone perked...
...then looked over as Nishimura Yaeko, the reborn battleship Yamashiro, screeched in horror as arms covered in solid black sleeves wrapped around her neck. That caused the sputtering woman to turn VERY pale as the Herald of Cosmic Doom moved to suck up the negative emotions that had haunted the adopted native of Kyōto (capital of her namesake province) and Yokosuka (where she was built) since her salvaging and Gifting a week before when Mutsuko's sister Shizuka — the reborn aircraft carrier Shinano — came into the area looking for her "Onē-san". As Yaeko's elder sister Fujiko visibly winced on feeling the effects of Enoshima Junko's empathic vampirism, Yaeko seemed to sway in echo of the famous Edvard Munch painting The Scream as her sense of misfortune was literally ripped right out from her soul. The reborn destroyers blinked on noting that none of Ataru's personal fleet were adversely reacting to the sudden appearance of the native of another universe's Machida, much less what she was doing to Yaeko. "Forgive this Musashi for asking this, Teitoku, but is there a reason this yōma's presence is tolerated here?!" Mutsuko finally demanded as she indicated the now-giddy Junko.
Ataru sighed. "She grows on you after a bit, Mutsuko-san..."
Multiple beeping noises then made Yaeko shriek. "THE EVIL BOX!"
"Settle down, you wimp!" Chihaya Sarah snapped as she pulled out her PAA, then placed it on the table, tapping the crystal to allow an image to project, that making the people seeing this blink in surprise on noting who was calling in. Much less that she was standing on a beach somewhere in lieu of on the deck of her starship namesake. "Oi! Yoiko-san! Shouldn't you be with Fujita-taishō?!"
As some of the newcomers gasped on hearing THAT name, the fifth of the Yamato-class sighed. "A most interesting incident is occurring now here in America, Sarah-san. It appears some fool industrialist went and infected a whole TOWN full of lar'beke clones in hopes of finding a way to cure himself of a fatal illness." As all the shipgirls — including the newcomers — all squawked on hearing that, Itō Yoiko added, "Naomi-chan is culling them right now for evidence to present to Bartlet-daitōryō before this particular traitor to humanity is properly dealt with, but we might have enough prim'ta to allow young Utako to make her planned barbecue feast for all of us before we deal with the Oni."
"Onē-sama...is that you...?!"
That was a wide-eyed Shizuka, who was now leaning between Sarah and her elder sister Anne to gaze wide-eyed at the reborn seventh carrier of Operation Z. Seeing the giddy-looking woman in the green jumpsuit with red hooded demi-cape slung over her shoulder, the tunic bearing a black shrine torii insignia over her upper chest framed with the kanji of her ship name 信濃 in red, Yoiko hummed. "Shizuka-san. And Mutsuko-san, I believe?" the adopted native of Maizuru then wondered. As Mutsuko moved to lean over her sister's shoulder, nodding in delight, the true flagship of the Kidō Butai then fixed her sisters with a piercing look. "Where is Yasuko-san then?" she demanded.
Instantly, sweat drops appeared over the hair of the two "elder" Yamato-class shipgirls. "Um...that's a problem, Onē-sama," Mutsuko then declared, scratching the side of her neck.
"Try as we might, we couldn't sense Onē-san's spirit within her wreckage," Shizuka added.
Everyone blinked as they took that in, then Yoiko sighed. "Have you an idea, Naomi-chan?"
A strange woman's hum answered her before that melted into a groan. "We got a problem, Big Y."
Yoiko shook her head. "Said problem being?"
"Some kid kami practically kidnapped Little Y. She's keeping her close to her commune right now."
Jaws dropped as everyone gaped on hearing that...
To Be Continued...!
WRITER'S NOTES
As before, the scenes with Saotome Genma, Tendō Sōun and Kiryū Kazuma (Tekiya) were written in first draft by Dr. Tempo.
The West Wing character notes: Senator Glen Allen Walken (R-MO) first appeared in the finale of the fourth season, "Twenty-five"; he would temporarily stand in as Acting President due to the kidnapping of Josiah Bartlet's daughter Zoey Bartlet at that time. Senator Arnold Vinick (R-CA) first appeared in the eighth episode of the sixth season, "In The Room". Senator Robert Royce (R-PA) first appeared in the fourth episode of the third season, "On the Day Before". Senator Don Gianelli (D-MA) was mentioned in the seventeenth episode of the second season, "The Stackhouse Filibuster"; his given name and home state is my invention, as is his party of affiliation since he was there to help fellow Senator Howard Stackhouse (D-MN) during his long filibuster.
List of shipgirls introduced or mentioned here. First, from the United States:
Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Sarah Eliza Hull USN (United States Ship Constitution [no hull number])
Captain Brenda Wynter Ripley USN (United States Ship Midway [CVB-41, later CVA-41, then CV-41])
CAPT Rachel Mary Jackson USN (United States Ship Florida [BB-30])
CAPT Miriam Abigail Young USN (United States Ship Utah [BB-31, later AG-16])
CAPT Joan Emma Ashley USN (United States Ship Wyoming [BB-32, later AG-17])
CAPT Mary Jane Sevier USN (United States Ship Arkansas [BB-33])
CAPT Yvette Paula Stuyvesant USN (United States Ship New York [BB-34])
CAPT Emily Mary Austin USN (United States Ship Texas [BB-35])
CAPT Sarah Jane Blasdel USN (United States Ship Nevada [BB-36])
CAPT Dorothy Rhoda Rowland USN (United States Ship Oklahoma [BB-37])
CAPT Margaret Hannah Penn USN (United States Ship Pennsylvania [BB-38])
CAPT Sonia Lily Owings USN (United States Ship Arizona [BB-39])
CAPT Anne Edwina "Winnie" Hyde USN (United States Ship North Carolina [BB-55])
CAPT Margaret Ida Stevens USN (United States Ship Washington [BB-56])
CAPT Dakota Leigh Gatch USN (United States Ship South Dakota [BB-57])
CAPT Joanna Ann Jennings USN (United States Ship Indiana [BB-58])
CAPT Rose Barbara Standish USN (United States Ship Massachusetts [BB-59])
CAPT Francine Mary "Frannie" Bibb USN (United States Ship Alabama [BB-60])
CAPT Minerva Abigail "Gabby" Lucas USN (United States Ship Iowa [BB-61])
CAPT Marguerite Suzanne "Rita" McNair USN (United States Ship Missouri [BB-63])
CAPT Christiana Heidi "Annie" Dodge USN (United States Ship Wisconsin [BB-64])
Commander Matilda Patricia "Bannie" O'Bannon USN (United States Ship O'Bannon [DD-450, later DDE-450])
CDR Michelle Joan Porter USN (United States Ship William D. Porter [DD-579])
Abigail "Gabby" Lucas (USS Iowa) takes after her Kantai Collection self. From the KanColle fan production Pacific, we get the images of Rachel Jackson (USS Florida), Yvette Stuyvesant (USS New York), Sarah Blasdel (USS Nevada), Rhoda Rowland (USS Oklahoma), Margaret Penn (USS Pennsylvania), Sonia Owings (USS Arizona), Marguerite "Rita" McNair (USS Missouri), Christiana "Annie" Dodge (USS Wisconsin) and Matilda O'Bannon (USS O'Bannon). Azur Lane gives us Edwina "Winnie" Hyde (USS North Carolina), Ida Stevens (USS Washington), Dakota Leigh Gatch (USS South Dakota), Rose Standish (USS Massachusetts) and Francine "Frannie" Bibb (USS Alabama). Warship Girls gives us Michelle Porter (USS William D. Porter). Sarah Hull (USS Constitution) resembles fan art done of her by Trevmun which can be seen at Deviant Art under entry #489975048, titled "The Oakenhearted — Teaser". Miriam Young (USS Utah) takes after Sarah Blasdel's Warship Girls interpretation. Emma Ashley (USS Wyoming) will take after the Warship Girls version of Augusta Pierpont (USS West Virginia). Jane Sevier (USS Arkansas) will take after Rhoda Rowland's Warship Girls interpretation. Emily Austin (USS Texas) takes after fan art done of her by PJMoyer, which can be seen at SpaceBattles at post #29056648. Wynter Ripley (USS Midway) also takes after fan art done of her by by him, which can be seen at post #27915601. Joanna Jennings (USS Indiana) will take after Ida Stevens' Warship Girls self. As always, many thanks to Sasahara17 for making Battleship X's human name, which also first appeared in The Greatest Generation.
Note that Wynter Ripley (USS Midway) was first built as a large aircraft carrier (CVB) before she was reclassified as an attack aircraft carrier (CVA) in 1952 before being rated as a standard carrier (CV) in 1970. As for Matilda O'Bannon (USS O'Bannon), she was built as a standard destroyer (DD), but then converted to an escort destroyer (given new hull classification symbol DDE) in 1949. Finally, both Miriam Young (USS Utah) and Emma Ashley (USS Wyoming) were reclassified as miscellaneous auxiliary vessels (AG) when they were converted to training ships.
And now, from Japan:
Aoki Anna-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Akagi [KB-2, formerly JS-10])
Oikawa Kei-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Kaga [KB-3, formerly DS-25])
Kaku Sei-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Sōryū [KB-5])
Yamaguchi Hiyoko-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hiryū [KB-6])
Itō Shizuka-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Shinano [KB-41, formerly DS-37])
Nishimura Fujiko-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Fusō [DS-19])
Nishimura Yaeko-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Yamashiro [DS-20])
Itō Mutsuko-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Musashi [DS-36])
Haruguchi Harumi-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hatsuharu [KK-180])
Haruguchi Miko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Nenohi [KK-181])
Haruguchi Wakana-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Wakaba [KK-182])
Haruguchi Hatsuyo-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hatsushimo [KK-183])
Haruguchi Aria-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Ariake [KK-184])
Haruguchi Yumi-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Yūgure [KK-185])
Akatsuka Michiko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Michishio [KK-198])
Akatsuka Tomomi-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Asagumo [KK-200])
Akatsuka Yoriko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Yamagumo [KK-201])
Save for Haruguchi Yumi (THG Yūgure), all the above listed people take after their Kantai Collection selves. As for Yumi, she would take after her Azur Lane interpretation...WITHOUT the therianthropic parts making her seem like some form of yōma or oni.
Translation list and source language: NOSC — Naval Operational Support Centre, the term applied to individual units of the United States Navy Reserve (English abbreviation); OSS — Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of today's Central Intelligence Agency (English abbreviation); Oyabun — Foster father, head of a Yakuza clan (Japanese); Hajime — Begin (Japanese); Yamete — Stop (Japanese); B-san — Literally "Mister B", the ominous nickname given by civilians to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress strategic heavy bombers used to drastic effect in World War Two (Japanese).
The term MSSB (Magical Sparkly Shipgirl Bullshit) has long been used on discussion boards like SpaceBattles and Sufficient Velocity to describe the impossible things shipgirls as a whole can do, such as convert a tonne of food into the necessary fuel, ammunition and aircraft (for those capable of launching same) to operate against the Abyssals. As to who originally coined this term, I simply can't say; it's THAT pervasive in English-language KanColle fandom. Since I streamlined what metahuman shipgirls can do in this story, MSSB is applied to explain their strength as described before.
Tȟašúŋke Witkó is the proper name for the man known as Crazy Horse (1840-77). Currently, there is a VERY incomplete and controversial monument to the man which has been built upon on and off since 1948, located about twelve kilometres west-southwest of the famous Mount Rushmore Memorial.
Note that the Joint Army/Navy Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet used by American forces in World War Two went differently than the international NATO-based system used today. In alphabetical order: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, George, How, Item/Interrogatory, Jig, King, Love, Mike, Nan, Oboe, Peter, Queen, Roger, Sale/Sugar, Tare, Uncle, Victor, William, X-ray, Yoke and Zebra. No doubt, word substitutions for letters "I" and "S" as indicated above would be necessary to prevent confusion.
Stargate SG-1 character/situation note: Both Doctor Richard Fleming and the situation within the Oregon town of Steveston is shown in "Nightwalkers" (fifth episode of the sixth season). Note that the location of Steveston as indicated here is my choice. In actuality, Steveston is a neighbourhood in the city of Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver in British Columbia (where the series was mostly filmed).
The various manoeuvres of the Yamasen-ken (Thousand Fists of the Mountain) demonstrated by Saotome Genma here were first shown in the Ranma 1/2 story arc surrounding Kūmon Ryū and his quest to master the Umisen-ken (Thousand Fists of the Sea), which appeared in manga chapters #290-299. The two spoken elements said by Genma here are translated in the narrative following.