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Close to Pikinni (Bikini) Atoll in the Marshall Islands (850 kilometres northwest of Mājro [Majuro]), Tuesday, suppertime (Tōkyō time: Mid-afternoon)...
"So...that is where they tested those awful things..."
Hearing that worn voice escape the second of the Pennsylvania-class super-dreadnoughts as she and the second of the preceding class of America's "standard" battleships flew on a circle route towards Japan as requested by the President of the United States, Saeru Hinako sighed. "Hai!" the native of Niigata breathed out as she gazed to the south towards the elongated pentagon-shaped atoll where twenty-three atomic bombs were tested from after World War Two to near the end of the Eisenhower era. "Isaac-san and Elizabeth-san put meson crystals on the islands to pull in all the bad-bad radiation to make it nice for people to go back living there, but it's still not really, really, really safe for people to do that now." Here, the youngest of Moroboshi Ataru's sisters twirled in mid-air to face Rhoda Rowland and Sonia Owings, her Kasa-tama twirling with her. Even if evening was falling on this most eastern time zone on Earth, Hinako could see them clearly; she had put on a pair of night vision goggles given to her by Hatoyama Rinrin for these occurrences. "Hina hopes people can come back soon..."
"GET AWAY FROM THAT CHILD, YOU YANKEE MONSTERS!"
Rhoda and Sonia gasped as they sensed someone soaring right at them...
...before the attacking reborn destroyer awked when the open end of Kasa-tama was shoved in her way, causing her to screech to a combat stop before she would accidentally knock aside the little girl she was actually moving to save. "You stop right there, Hayami-san!" Hinako snapped.
The silver-haired, brown-eyed seventh of the late Great War era Kamikaze-class destroyers blinked before she shook her head, gazing with determination at the cosmic empath. "Ojō-sama! Did these evil Western devils hurt you?!" she demanded as she pointed at the two hovering battleships close by.
Hinako sighed. "Sonia-san? Could you come here, please?"
The reborn martyr of Pearl Harbour floated over, then blinked as Hinako moved to balance herself on one of the battleship's hands. As the adopted native of Phoenix shifted her other hand to give the Spirit of Innocence a steady deck, the younger girl closed her umbrella...then bashed it five times on Taruka Hayami's head! "DON! DON! DON! DON! DON!" the native of Niigata barked out.
"ITTE!" the adopted native of Chūō in Tōkyō sunk in the Wake Island attack after Pearl Harbour yelped as she tried to cover her head, she giving the younger girl a teary-eyed look. "Ojō-sama...!"
Hinako sighed. "Hayami-san, why are you being SILLY?!" she demanded, making the woman now called the Sea Storm of the Heavens, Lekebo'o ("Hayate"), jolt to attention in mid-air. "That stupid silly war's over with! Where's your big sister Keiko-san?!" she wondered, looking around. "And what are you doing here anyway?! You better not be bothering people, Hayami-san!"
Almost as if in answer, a blast of wind made Hayami awk before a hand slammed down on her head, then she was made to deeply bow to the native of Niigata by the reborn eldest of the Kamikaze-class fleet destroyers, Taruka Keiko. "Please forgive my foolish sister, Shirei-kan!" the purple-haired adopted native of Nagasaki said as she turned her sister about to make her bow deeply to Rhoda. As both Sonia and her fellow Pearl Harbour veteran tried not to laugh at the younger shipgirl's amusing antics, Keiko pulled Hayami erect. "We've been spending some time here trying to make Nagato-san wake up and return to Tennō's service as we have, but she won't listen to us whatsoever, Shirei-kan!"
Hinako moaned, then she opened Kasa-tama, stepping off Sonia's hand to float serenely past the two destroyers towards Pikinni. "Hai, hai! Hina will handle this, Keiko-san! Sonia-san, Rhoda-san, you come, too! There are some of your friends here, too! Hina will wake everyone up, then we'll go to Ōmure-jima to let you all meet Onii-tama and have some nice lar'beke that U-chan is making!"
"But Ojō-sama...!"
Hayami's brain caught up to her ears. "Lar'beke?!" she squealed.
"Hai!" Hinako said as she gazed over her shoulder at the silver-haired destroyer, wagging her finger. "And if Hayami-san doesn't stop acting silly, she won't get any!" she threatened.
Hayami eeped before rapidly nodding...
Pikinni Island, minutes later...
Everyone landed on the largest island in this once-beautiful atoll, located at the northeast end of the lagoon close to where the epicentres of the two Crossroads tests carried out in 1946 were located. As soon as all five planted their feet into the sandy beach, running feet echoed from nearby as six more reborn destroyers raced over to join the lead and seventh of their class. Once in range, the newcomers stopped to stare in confusion at the young native of Niigata who had come with the two reborn American battleships to this place...before their cheeks slightly heated on sensing the powerful empathic aura being projected by Saeru Hinako. Finally, a tomboyish girl with shaggy black hair in a traditional uniform composed of a white top, green pants and gold belt and boots came over to focus upon the Spirit of Innocence. "Um...are you the admiral?" she hesitantly asked.
Hinako sighed. "No, Tsukiko-san, Hina's not an admiral!" she said, wagging her finger at the adopted native of Maizuru known on Yiziba as the Current of the New Year, R'bobo'o ("Matsukaze"). "Onii-tama is the admiral...!" She blinked as something seemed to teleport directly in. "Onii-tama...?"
People turned to look...
...then the Japanese shipgirls squealed as someone appeared in a flash of light, he accompanied by four more modern destroyers in the modern sleeveless model of battlesuit. "Ah! Onii-tama!" Hinako called out, waving...before she blinked in confusion on noting three strange faces accompanying Moroboshi Ataru and Kumasaka Asami. "A-ri-ri?! When did Asami-san's sisters come back, Onii-tama?"
"A couple hours ago, Hinako-chan," the male half of the Trickster of the Show said as he raised his hand to acknowledge the salutes given to him by the Taruka sisters. "Minna-san, welcome back! Everyone in Japan is going to be more than overjoyed that you're back with us," he added, making the eight teenage-form shipgirls blush madly at his appraisal. He then blinked on seeing the two reborn American battleships before clearing his throat as he walked over to present himself to them, bowing apologetically. "Captain Owings, Captain Rowland. As my granduncle Lieutenant Moroboshi Kyōsuke was in on the planning for the mission that saw so many of your ships' companies killed that Sunday morning in 1941, I can only but deeply apologize for my family's part in that madness."
Both Sonia Owings and Rhoda Rowland blushed at such a show of contrition, then the namesake of the Sooner State tilted her head. "Admiral, just to confirm something if I may," she mused. "When you and your sister Miss Katabarbe were actually one single being awaiting your chance to be Gifted, you were awarded our nation's highest civilian award for winning that tag race last fall, correct?"
"Hai, that's correct, Captain."
"And you RETURNED said award to His Excellency the President after your birthday?"
"That's correct."
As the Japanese destroyers gaped on hearing that, Sonia hummed. "May we ask why?"
"Three reasons, Sonia-san," he stated as he straightened himself. "First, members of my clan have traditionally served the Imperial House of Japan as special social observers for over a millennia. In doing so, we developed the philosophy that in carrying out that service for Tennō, such was reward enough. To be given medals for doing our duty simply became passé for my family." As people nodded — with the destroyers gazed with glittering eyes of sheer awe at him — Ataru held up his index and middle finger. "Second, given the situation we were forced to face last fall — plus what happened in its wake — Onē-san and I felt it wasn't right to hold such a medal given to us by His Excellency on behalf of the people of the United States of America when it was quite clear that the mission was nowhere NEAR done!" A sarcastic smile crossed his face as he lowered his hand before he thumbed towards Japan. "And third, our parents are a pair of greedy, lazy fools who can't be bothered to take any responsibility for their actions when they were MY age, so we weren't going to allow them to get control of monies that were ALSO awarded with our medals, so we sent those payments right back."
As Hinako snickered — she had her PAA on play — the destroyers screamed banzai cheers...
Back in Tomobiki at the Moroboshi home...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY MONEY! GIMME MY MONEY BACK, YOU STUPID BOY! I WISH I NEVER HAD YOU! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY MONEY?! MY MONEY...!"
KK-KRUNCH!
A still-hogtied Moroboshi Kinshō moaned after she had been smashed down by a cinder block, having been dragged to the living room to confront the sight of BOTH her son and her son-turned-daughter before Ataru teleported away with the four Yūgumo-class destroyers for Pikinni Atoll.
"Bitch!" Shigaten Benten sneered out.
"And I thought MY mother was bad?" Aruka Ran wondered.
"Getting Lum-chan away from here would do her wonders," Oyuki calmly noted.
As the dazed Kinshō awked on hearing those comments from her would-be daughter-in-law's friends, Tariko Katabarbe smirked as she sipped her tea while the four Akamatsu sisters giggled...
On Pikinni Island...
"So what have we got here, Hinako-chan?"
The Spirit of Innocence hummed as she gazed out into the pristine-looking lagoon where so many ships had been sent to die in the wake of World War Two. "Lots and lots of sleepyheads, Onii-tama," Saeru Hinako breathed out, mentally reaching into the waters of Pikinni to locate the sunken wrecks that were sacrificed to the Operation: Crossroads atomic bomb shots. "Hina will wake them up..."
"Wait a moment, Miss Saeru."
She looked over her shoulder as Sonia Owings came up to join her. "Let me handle waking up this lot, young lady," the namesake of the Grand Canyon State declared before she took a deep breath...
"SARATOGA! ARKANSAS! LAMSON! ANDERSON! THE REST OF YOU LOT! GET UP!"
Everyone winced at that bellowed scream from the second Pennsylvania-class super-dreadnought even if the direction of Sonia's shriek was aimed into the lagoon. As Hinako herself reached out again with her empathy to lock in on the warship kami she could feel now within the waters of Pikinni, a sudden surge of bubbles began to rise from the depths off to the right of where everyone was now looking. "I think you got the attention of one of them, Sempai!" Taruka Keiko announced, pointing.
"Hai, hai, Aneki! That one sure got the message!" her tomboyish sister Tsukiko said...
...before everyone screamed as a twisted and nearly flattened yet still somewhat recognizable ship surged from the waters, it slowly righting itself to reveal the effective crushed upperworks of the second Wyoming-class dreadnought. As the very hull rapidly began to rebuild itself to pristine condition, a warp then appeared in the sky overhead to allow a glowing humanoid figure to descend.
Tene lomher'buo, Mary Jane Sevier...!
"Dear Lord! Is THAT what one of those horrid things can do?!" Rhoda Rowland hissed as she peered at the rapidly-rebuilding USS Arkansas, which had been tossed around and crushed by the underwater "Baker" test in the summer of 1946. "How close was she to where that bomb went off...?!"
"I think she was a little too close, Sempai-sama," Taruka Haruka, the reborn THG Harukaze, stated.
Nesu...RAMTATORO-TUTO!
In an instant, 26,417 tonnes of dreadnought was squished and fused with a first-generation battle doll to create a tanned twenty-something woman with blue eyes and ankle-length blonde hair done in a very long braid. Draped in a red traditional uniform with blue belt, white boots and white riding gloves, she bore the centrepiece of the Bear State's flag on her crest save the name, such supported by a bronze eagle, the whole on a wreath composed of apple tree branches wrapped in in a collage of the four campaign ribbons she won: The Mexican Service Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. On a ribbon decorated in the colours of the World War II Victory Medal was her motto REGNAT POPULUS.
Before people could react, the reborn native of Little Rock and Camden did a mortar shot drop flight to land in front of Sonia before snaring the younger super-dreadnought by the neck. "DAMN YOU, ARI! QUIT CALLING ME 'AR-KAN-SAZZ'! IT'S 'AR-KAN-SAW', YOU MORON...!"
Someone sniffed back tears, making Jane Sevier freeze. "Is that the admiral crying...?" she eeped.
"Hai, Jane-san!" Hinako declared, making the reborn dreadnought turn to stare in confusion at the pretty young girl in the utterly scandalous white jumpsuit with the red heart on her chest before she let go of her fleet-mate's neck. "Onii-tama doesn't like it when girls fight in front of him, especially shipgirls he helps bring back from being sunk!" She waved to a misty-eyed Ataru in emphasis.
In a flash — which caused everyone to gape as a Wyoming-class dreadnought wasn't a very swift ship — Jane was standing in front of Ataru, bowing her head as she clasped her hands, a hurricane's worth of apologies escaping her lips. Watching this, Rhoda and Sonia blinked before they snickered while the Taruka and Kumasaka sisters now with them tried not to fall on their butts laughing...
Now approaching Earth...
"Nirrti is a fool!" the swarthy-skinned man standing in the centre of the control platform of his flagship declared as he glared at the growing image of the Tau'ri homeworld on the main view screen. As his loyal retainers nodded in fierce agreement to his judgment concerning the more successful scientist among his kind, Hekau crossed his arms. "The only proper way to deal with the Shatan'af is to reacquire what they tried to claim as their own. Scan for the ship that Lum girl uses, Esna," he then bade his first prime. "According to the news networks the Shatan'af share with their allies, the stupid child keeps her ship in orbit over where her supposed 'husband' and his family live. Find that and we will trap the girl, then force her people to withdraw from this system."
"Your will is done, my lord," the somewhat handsome Esna stated with a bow, waving to the others on the bridge deck, who immediately jumped into action. "According to intelligence your spies reported to me, rumour has it this Moroboshi Ataru lad has connections to the Orak'nou." As the namesake to one of ancient Egypt's gods of medicine and magic tensed on hearing THAT WORD, Esna bowed his head apologetically. "I'm having your ship scan for abnormal high signs of ra-naquadah which indicate the Unspeakable Ones' presence, my lord. If there is none within target range of the Shatan'af girl's ship, we can take her and her 'in-laws' without interference." Noting the dark-skinned Goa'uld system lord gazing at him, he added, "'It's not my fight scene' as they say on the World of the Forge, my lord."
A cruel smile crossed Hekau's face. "You speak truth, Esna. Well done..."
"Forgive my impertinence, my lord...!"
He looked over to one of the science stations. "Speak!"
"We're now detecting the wormholes made by the Spirit of the Forge when it moves to Gift someone, my lord," the young Jaffa reported as he tapped controls to bring up a targeting symbol, placing that dead in the middle of the Pacific at the edge of the domain claimed by the shark-like Great Old One called Samiloluto. "At this small atoll here, my lord. There's a considerable number of Orak'nou present."
"I am trying to get a close image, my lord," his assistant declared, her hands flying over the control panel. "Also moving to scan the specific matrices that indicate individual Orak'nou Gifts..."
The image on the main view screen melted into a close up of a crescent-shaped island with a small cluster of people standing on it. As Hekau used his kara-kesh to better attune the visual devices to get as close a look as possible, a large chunk of water seemed to explode from the atoll's lagoon, allowing what appeared to be a flat-topped sunken ship to rise from its grave. "What is that...?"
"My lord!" the senior signal officer called out. "I'm tapping into the local net of the Great Show of Life here! There's a person — most likely a Gifted Orak'nou — with the battle name 'R'buor'buo' now transmitting from that very atoll you're viewing! She's reporting on the literal REBIRTH of the spirits of sea warships into what she calls 'maidens of the fleet'. As if they were safi'ra...!"
"What?! Impossible! Let me hear!"
A control was tapped. "...Aoba here, currently on Pikinni Island within the atoll of the same name in the Marshall Islands," a voice with the lilt common to a native of the lands once controlled by Amaterasu declared. "Right now, our wonderful admiral Moroboshi Ataru-kun — plus his beautiful little sister Saeru Hinako-chan, also known as Suiki — are moving to see the fleet sacrificed in the Crossroads nuclear weapons tests restored and Gifted. So far, the battleship Arkansas has returned..."
Tene lomher'buo, Olive Dionysia Doolittle...!
As many on the bridge tensed on hearing the voice of the Spirit of the Forge call out, the woman calling herself "Aoba" continued as if she was discussing the weather, "...and as you just heard, the kami of the famous aircraft carrier Saratoga has won the Conservator's attention. As her hull is fully rebuilt and restored, a first generation battle doll has just been teleported in to hover over her flight deck..."
"NO...!" the Goa'uld scientist croaked.
"My lord! What is it?!" Esna demanded.
To the shock of his underlings, Hekau dropped to his knees in wide-eyed horror.
"Batae Erba...?!" he eeped out the two words ALL Goa'uld feared to speak...
In geosynchronous orbit at the meridian of Chinhae in Korea (over the Halmahera Sea near Maluku Island in Indonesia), that moment...
A buzzing noise made the brown-haired lookalike of Toyama Sumie perk before she pulled the covers back to reveal a face pierced with silver eyes, she awakening as a thumb tapped the communications button at the head of her bed in the captain's cabin. "Yŏbuseyo, igŏs'ŭn Pongp'ung-imnida..." the woman known properly in her adopted homeland as Sŭng Mijin called out, rubbing her eyes.
"Hey, Commander! Did I wake you up!"
Hearing that familiar voice, the girl known on Yiziba now as the Cosmic Storm of the Mountains, Bu'obo'o ("Pongp'ung"), squealed. "Jack-kun! What is it?!" the first of the Chō-Shimakaze-class destroyers — known in Korea as the "Pongp'ung-class" — who gained life as shipgirls without serving as warships for either the Land of the Rising Sun or the Land of the Morning Calm called back.
"Did I wake you up, Mijin?" Jack O'Neill asked again from Enterprise.
A rapid nod of the head answered him. "Ne, you did! It's okay! What is it?!"
"Well, we got us a ha'tak now approaching Earth," the leader of SG-1 declared. While she got to her feet and moved to dress in her form-fitting battlesuit, Mijin's eyes instantly glistened at the idea of dealing with LOTS of those oh-so-yummy lar'beke while the native of Minnesota added, "You're kinda close to him and he seems to be heading towards Bikini Atoll where Ataru and Hinako are..."
"I'LL STOP HIM!"
With a shriek of air being instantly sucked around her body, Sumie's next-youngest half-sister was racing out of her cabin and down the corridor that ran along the starboard side of Number 2A Deck right below the long weather deck of her namesake starship. Passing by the three five-tube anti-ship missile launchers contained in hangar-like spaces to be fired out the sides once airtight doors were opened, she made it to a gangway that led to the pilotage in the forward superstructure overlooking her Number Two Type C-S gun house mounting twin 127 centimetre 50 calibre 3rd Year Type Mod S-K1 dual-purpose auto-cannons, then shot updeck. Atop the small crew of Terran-form Avalonians forming the maintenance crew of TMU Pongp'ung, several of Mijin's sisters were there; the first of the Pongp'ung-class star destroyers was the only one complete and ready for service at this time.
"Oe! Ŏnni! Why are you running so fast?!" her second-youngest sister Sŭng Tamyŏn — known on Yiziba as the Mistress of the Solar Winds, Kaeyu'obo'o ("T'aeyangp'ung") — demanded from the helm station as Mijin hopped through the air to land right into the captain's chair. "What's wrong?!"
"Everyone! Scan for lar'beke ha'tak!" Mijin barked. As the bridge watch instantly leapt into action, her sisters' eyes lit up with interest. "Jack-kun called in just now, Tamyŏn-a! He says there's a ha'tak full of lar'beke coming in right now, moving towards where Chedong-nim and Hinako-ya are!"
Shocked screams escaped the others before Tamyŏn tapped controls to power up Pongp'ung's in-system manoeuvring thrusters while several others raced off the bridge to get to the primary gun turrets fore and aft, not to mention the missile control station amidships. Manning the navigation board was Mijin's next-youngest sister Sŭng Sŏnghan, known also as the Stellar Hurricane of the Marshlands, Latobo'o ("T'aekp'ung"), on Yiziba. "Navigation scanners have it, Ŏnni!" the green-haired near-clone of their half-sister with brown eyes called out as she tapped controls to bring up a tactical scan on the main view screen hanging over the deck-to-deckhead transparent titanium pilotage windows. "Halfway between Luna's and our orbit. Recommend half-ahead on sub-light to put us in their path...!"
"'Half-ahead'?!" Mijin snapped, staring aghast at her sister. "NO! FULL AHEAD!"
The eyes of ALL the shipgirls there lit up, then Tamyŏn grabbed the levers that controlled the secondary engines. "FULL AHEAD SUB-LIGHT! AYE-AYE, ŎNNI!" the flame-haired sister screamed...
Approaching Hekau's flagship from the rear...
"Iceman, this is Edo Six! I have the enemy vessel in front of me now!"
"Edo Six, Iceman! Be advised, Marsh Wind is moving to interpose herself between the enemy and Pikinni. Begin strafing runs! Garb Alpha Two is moving to proceed with anti-fortification attacks!"
"Understood, Iceman!" Lieutenant Commander Matsuhara Yoshi said as he shifted the joy stick of his Mitsubishi F-7 Kotora space superiority fighter into a gentle bank to line up his weapons at the stern of that flying pyramid with its wide waist-collar packed with primary gun emplacements. A quick glance out of the corner of his eyes confirmed that his wingmen were in place at prescribed limits demanded by the magnificent "little tiger" that would arm the Japanese navy and air force — the doho from Los Angeles who graduated from UCLA in 1936 adamantly refused, as did all his crew mates, to use that stupid "self-defence force" term for those particular armed services — with powerful warcraft that would help them remove the alien gaijin from Earth's claimed territory in space forever.
Grinning as his targeting computers locked on the distant grey-and-gold mass, Matsuhara tapped buttons to arm the Kotora's twin cannon — space-capable versions of the American M61 Vulcan 20 millimetre rotary guns that outfitted modern Western-style atmospheric fighters — and prepare for strafing. While privately cursing the idea of not having anti-ship missiles for this particular mission — such would necessitate the need for a weapons control officer to fly with him — the amateur poet who won the attention of the Heavenly Sovereign himself thanks to Moroboshi Negako of all people would do his duty, as would his wingmen Lieutenant Takamura Tetsu and Naval Air Pilot 1st Class Kojima Hitoshi. Glad to have friends who had been with the handsome nisei since the days of the Second Sino-Japanese War flying Mitsubishi A5Ms and later A6Ms against the hated communists under Máo Zédōng to free that ancient land from Western and Soviet domination — as had been explained by their leaders at the time; these days, all of THU Yonaga's crew knew much better — Matsuhara could only smirk, hoping this particular false god who DARED stain Earth with his lies and misery ages ago would send his "death gliders" out so he and his friends could have a very cathartic dogfight.
He perked as he looked over to where Takamura was holding position on his port wing, a knowing smile on the face of the native of Nakajima near Fukushima. A glance to starboard showed the eager look on Kojima's face; sensing his flight lead gazing his way, the native of Yokohama flashed a thumbs-up. Noting his friends were ready for battle, Matsuhara made a hand signal to instruct the two to remain at his side when they did their first pass of the enemy ship. Getting nods from both — and another thumbs-up from Kojima, who had been one of many who had taken well to Brent Ross over the last few years — the Californian focused on the looming starcraft. A glance to the scanner showed range to be fifty thousand kilometres, still well clear of the outer limits of his fiery pair of Vulcans...
Suddenly, the pitch black of cislunar space lit up to port of Matsuhara's course as four pairs of close-in explosions seemed to back-light the ha'tak. "Gods, Yoshi-san!" Kojima called. "Sumie-chan's crazy sisters must have put themselves right in front of that thing! They have to be hungry!"
As laughter echoed over the communications net from dozens of places, Matsuhara resisted the urge to snap at the younger pilot for such uncontrolled radio discipline, remembering then that the frequencies used by their fighter craft were sent through hyperwarp transmitters perfected by Isaac Thomas, which prevented their being eavesdropped on by the Goa'uld or their slaves. "Control, Hitoshi-san! Control!" the commander of the 261st Fighter Squadron chided, getting a ducked head and blushing face in response. "Garb Alpha Two-One, this is Edo Six. Marsh Wind seems to be stealing all the fun from us. I take it you overheard what Edo Eight just surmised considering who is on that ship."
"That's an affirm, Edo Six," a voice with an accident that hinted at eastern Ontario replied. "Can't blame the commanders for wanting decent chow. The Rainy Scrapper's said to be cooking up quite the storm on Promised Island as we speak. If they grab all the snakes on this tub ahead of us..."
Matsuhara rolled his eyes as a wolfish grin crossed his face. "Suggestions, Pilot Sergeant?"
"Climb overhead to keep clear of those fifty-inch guns of hers, then orbit for targets of opportunity, Commander," the leader of the flight of four CF-198s that were now sliding into place off Matsuhara's far starboard beam in two "loose deuce" pairs called back. "Whoever the head snake is on that tub might get clever and send out some playmates to entertain you and your friends."
"Agreed. Tetsu-san, Hitoshi-san, climb to one hundred kilometres over the plane of Pongp'ung's main turrets. Stay with me; we'll orbit around that thing's top works counterclockwise."
"Hai, Yoshi-san!"/"Yokai, Yoshi-san!"
"We'll fall in on your six and up, Commander."
"Appreciated, Pilot Sergeant!"
Nerima, the Saotome home, that moment...
"Aren't you going anywhere, Kanami-chan?"
Hearing that concerned question from her father's best friend, the Untameable One shook her head. "Yizibajohei social custom, Oji-san," Hayashi Kanami advised. "It's seen as rude to butt in on other people's fight scenes. Right now, Sumie-chan's half-sisters are leading the charge on this idiot, followed by Yoiko-san's and Sensei's flyers. Don't worry. If they need help, they'll scream for it."
"Will they be able to succeed, though?" Saotome Genma asked.
"Mijin and her sisters are woefully inexperienced, but they are eager," Moroboshi Negako explained from beside Dean Raeburn as they watched the action thousands of kilometres high over the Equator south of Pikinni play out on the holographic projection emanating from Kanami's PAA. "Furthermore, the combination of Sagussan, Yizibajohei and Karollan technology used to construct Pongp'ung and other starships like her are — to borrow the colloquialism — 'idiot proof'. Since Sumie herself did much to teach her sisters how to properly operate as shipgirls before they were accepted as reserve officers within the 707th Special Mission Battalion, I believe they will do well." A slight smile crossed the ninjutsu grandmaster's face. "After all, there are fresh Goa'uld within that ship to consume."
"Hence the reason they are using particle beam weapons in lieu of solid-shot rounds," Yuhara Seiko mused as her sisters and Chloe Zitzewitz avidly watched the continued bombardment of the strange ha'tak by Pongp'ung thousands of kilometres away from where Moroboshi Ataru and Saeru Hinako now were. "Will those fighters be of any benefit for this battle, Chūjō-sama?" she then asked.
The current leader of CANSOFCOM shook her head. "They're there as a guarantee, Commander. No doubt, Yonaga and her division, plus Zeppelin, are redirecting aircraft to be in range in case this yahoo sends out Death Gliders to try to strafe away on Pongp'ung...! Hello, who's coming in now?"
The image of another starship approaching the scene made people perk. "That's a Butler-class," Yuhara Minami announced. "Can we get her ID number? How many of them are back now...?"
As if in answer, the image changed to show the space frigate. Sure enough, the proud numbers 413 shone at her bows. Seeing that, Kanami chuckled. "I better go up there to make sure Brooke doesn't overdo it," she mused, standing. "Be back in a bit, people," she announced as Chloe stood as well.
Both teleported away. As people turned back to gaze on the image of the ongoing fight over Earth, Genma gazed on Kiryū Kazuma. "So after she was Gifted, my daughter actually promised to have another fight with you in answer to what happened back in May?" the balding "master" asked.
The Grand Poobah of the Golden Springs nodded. "When she was still Ranma, your daughter vowed to challenge me again once she had fully resolved things to her satisfaction here in Nerima. She did that right after we liberated the Avalonians on the anniversary of the Normandy invasion in June..."
"'Avalonians'?" Tendō Sōun asked.
"They are a race of biological androids, Sōun. Designer clones, in effect," Negako explained. "They were a byproduct of moves on a planet named Sagussa over fourteen thousand years ago to attempt to save elements of their worldwide culture and civilization as it entered a downward spiral into a final apocalyptic conflict known as the War of Clone Rights. The factory vessel built to create these clones was placed on a planet in the Phentax system fifty-two light years from Earth. There, it was discovered a century ago by natives of the second world, who turned that into a convenient source of cheap slave labour." As Genma and Sōun scowled on hearing that, the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū added, "The Avalonians' existence was kept secret from their masters' allies — the Urusians being one — but they came to be known to Tariko early in her quest. Once she felt the time was right after she was Gifted, she teamed with allies — Kanami and Kazuma being two — to effect a liberation. The success was total, thus ultimately allowing those ships to be constructed." Here, she indicated the image of TMU Pongp'ung and USS Samuel B. Roberts as both continued to blast away on the ha'tak.
"That must have been some fight," Yuhara Chikako mused.
"It was. You will be pleased to learn Kanami performed well, Genma," Negako added. "She claimed ten starships of the same general design as Redet Invader's vessel from last fall by herself."
That made both students of the late Happōsai howl with laughter. "That's my girl!" Genma whooped as Sōun reached over to pat his shoulder in congratulations. "So what happened after, Kazuma?"
"She came back to Kamuro-chō looking for me," the native of Yokosuka answered. "As you know now, she lives in Sunnydale, helping the two current Slayers, Buffy Summers-san and Faith Lehane-san — Virago and Wildflower — in dealing with the issues stemming from the Hellmouth. Of course, absorbing the knowledge of the previous incarnations of Mustang helped improve Kanami-chan's skills incredibly, so she wanted to test herself on me. But she knew that she could kill me thanks to sheer strength alone, given she's practically our version of Superman or Captain Marvel." As his hosts grimly nodded, Kazuma shrugged. "So she did as I did in our bout before her Gifting: Found a way to handicap herself to make the fight 'fair', then asked Daigo-san to officiate the rematch near the Tower."
"How did Kanami-san do that, Sensei?" Yuhara Kunie wondered.
"She got an energy shield from Elizabeth Wakefield," Kazuma replied. "That's one of the Circle of Thought and leader of a group based in Sweet Valley, which is not so far from Sunnydale..."
"Wait! Elizabeth Wakefield? You mean Ned and Alice Wakefield's daughter?!"
That was a surprised Genma. "Genma, I hope you didn't..." Sōun began.
"No! No! No!" his old training partner declared, waving the patriarch of the Tendō Clan down. "This was just after my child and I left Sunnydale. We had fought some vampires there. It was tiring given the sheer number of them and we were both rather dead on our feet. We camped out near the limits of Sweet Valley, which is where Elizabeth-chan and her twin sister Jessica-chan encountered us."
"When was this, Genma?" Negako asked.
A hum answered her. "Spring of 2007, if I recall..."
She nodded. "Ranma was pre-Gifted at the end of March in 2005. Tariko's first contact with Elizabeth and Jessica — what she calls the start of 'Sweet Valley Summer' in The Book of Pretty Girls — was the summer after you met the twins. I suspect that element of your training journey ultimately helped they and their friends be Gifted, forming America's first metahuman team since the Liberty Legion."
As Genma flustered, Minami blinked. "So what happened with Kanami-san, Sensei?"
Kazuma sipped his tea. "The shield system Elizabeth-chan gave her was designed to decrease in power in simulation of how a human being tires out after long bouts of fighting, Minami-chan. Kanami-chan stated that if she could beat me before that shield came down, she would win. If I was still up and active when the power ran out, I would win. So we had it out for over an hour..."
Raeburn whistled. "She told me you won. How did it go down?"
"I could tell she was holding back a lot, no doubt out of fear of her strength causing me permanent injury," the wakagashira of the Tōjō-kai explained. "But since I knew she could take all the punishment in the world, I literally pulled out all the stops on her. I was still far more skilled than she was." Here, he held up his finger as he gazed on his hosts. "Despite all she learned while living with your family, Sōun, the fights were getting very, VERY stale in her mind." As Kanami's would-be father-in-law nodded in grim understanding, Kazuma smiled at Genma. "The one thing you definitely DID do right for her over the years was to teach her how to properly analyze her opponents' moves, Genma. Even if I had it over her in experience and actual skills, she was starting to pick up things at the end."
"So you won after the hour was over," Raeburn recapped. "What then? From what intelligence people in the Regiment who help me keep track of all of Tariko's kids tell me, I know you've visited Sunnydale on occasion, even helped out once in trying to trap Buffy's old boyfriend. Given how many of those kids have that 'Don't butt in my fight scene' attitude of theirs, that's rather surprising."
"Mostly to help train her more, Shihan-sama," Kazuma answered. "She's got oceans and oceans of fighting skill, but it still needs much in the way of fine-tuning. And while I will never be able to thank Buffy-chan and her friends in town enough for helping Kanami-chan better adopt to interacting with her peers in normal circumstances, there are things I can teach her about the darker sides of life."
Genma moaned. "What I tried to shield my child from all along..."
"As I did Akane-chan," Sōun lamented, gazing at the ceiling.
Negako looked over to the three other women who were in the room. "You three are quiet."
Ōgami Sakura and Chabashira Tenko both awked while Harukawa Maki giggled. "I apologize, Sensei-tachi, Chūjō-sama, Shihan-sama," the ultimate martial artist from another universe's Minato declared as she and her fellow "bullet deniers" bowed their heads apologetically. "Hearing such stories about what happened to those such as Kanami-san were enthralling. I would wonder, Kiryū-dono, if you'd be willing to visit us on Ōmure-jima when you can spare time to brief us..." — here, she indicated Tenko and Maki — "...on what we could fully expect from those realms you yourself are expert in. Given that our knowledge of certain aspects of life in this dimension is woefully inadequate..."
"I can spare time," the Grand Poobah stated. "Are you finally going to take that jump, Sakura-san?" he wondered, pointing to the pocket in the martial artist's gi tunic where a certain Gift crystal was.
Everyone gazed expectantly on the silver-haired woman, making her yelp...
Approaching geosynchronous orbit at the meridian of Pikinni Atoll (seventy kilometres west of Nauru), that moment...
"HOW DARE THOSE CREATURES ATTACK THEIR GOD?!"
As Hekau glared at the sight of two LARGE starships now hovering directly ahead of his ha'tak blasting away with large particle cannons, his first prime was gazing at a holographic screen over his station, which was taking in information ship's sensors were now relaying in for analysis. "My lord, the vessels ahead of us bear Orak'nou and what appear to be Ra'kalach aboard!" As the namesake of one of Egypt's gods of magic turned to stare wide-eyed at him, Esau added, "The technology is clearly a mix of what the Orak'nou and the Ra'kalach make use of, with additions stemming most likely from the unknown race who placed that station in the domain of the Great Old One ruling the Tau'ri homeworld's far north. It's all quite seamlessly merged together to create a very efficient design...!"
"Then we will capture them and make use of it, Esau!" Hekau declared, his other Jaffa roaring their approval; even if there hadn't been any physical damage to the ship since this rather one-way duel began, the shields were being strained by the constant blows from TMU Pongp'ung and USS Samuel B. Roberts. "This should make things quite interesting for us in the near future, my friends..."
Laughter escaped the others on the bridge. Like all minor system lords, Hekau had long dreamed of the chance to become one of the High Council, which would earn him respect from beings such as Apophis, Cronus, Ba'al and Yù Huáng, the admittedly quite brilliant leaders who swept in to mop up huge levels of the late Ra's domain under their direct control. Even more so, if what was now being scanned by his vessel proved to be THAT good, the possibility of actually becoming the Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld was there. Wouldn't THAT annoy Nirrti a lot? Grinning at that possibility, the experienced scientist looked over to the signals station. "Hail those two ships! I will speak with them!"
"As you command, my lord!"
A moment later, fire ceased from the two attacking ships even if the space above the ha'tak's foretops was now crowded with a mixture of fighters and attack aircraft; the harshness of the bombardment from the two mixed-technology vessels ahead of him had prevented the launch of Death Gliders. The main views screen then clicked on in a split screen format. To the left was a slender older teenager with long straight brown hair and eerie silver eyes, she dressed in a uniform quite similar in cut to that of the infamous Wild Warrior of Passion who had been a particular bugbear to Apophis over the incarnations, that woman appearing descent of the realms once controlled by Amaterasu. To the right was a younger woman with square-cut azure blue-tinted blonde hair with long bangs done in two buns, golden-brown eyes peeking out of a face befitting one of the former realm of Cernunnos; she was dressed in the standard modern model of battlesuit worn by younger Orak'nou these days.
"Okay, pal, we're listening," the younger girl declared as an evil smile crossed her face, speaking what appeared to be the native language of the infamous Tau'ri team SG-1. "You got thirty seconds to turn that garbage scow around and leave our solar system or we get to snack on ALL your lovely bodies."
"Ne," the older woman said, speaking a lilting language that Hekau couldn't place. "It's been five thousand years since we LAST had lar'beke after that mich'innom Ra tried to access the Forge, then our new hulls' creator decided to punish him!" A thirsty smile crossed her face. "We're VERY hungry!"
Of course, as the experience of Stargate Command gained over four years had proven, Goa'uld system lords had NO patience when it came to dealing with dangerous threats made to them specifically.
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN TO EAT YOUR GOD, ORAK'NOU?!" Hekau shrieked.
Neither of the two women on his view screen seemed bothered by that bluster. "No surrender?" the younger one casually mused. "We're cool! See you in Davy Jones' Locker, buddy!"
"Ttorai...!" the older girl sneered out, that making Hekau sputter as the insult hit home, she waving in farewell. "Fine! We can use the nice snack! Chal kaseyo!"
The screen blanked out, making Hekau gargle at such disrespect...
...before the whole ha'tak shook violently from above, the ominous echo of very powerful explosions sounding off. "My lord! The Tau'ri kek'tak and al'kesh are diving on us now!" Esau exclaimed.
Systems sparked as metal squealed in the background. "Don't just stand there, fool!" Hekau shrieked. "LAUNCH OUR FIGHTERS! WIPE THOSE IMPUDENT ORAK'NOU AWAY FROM MY SPACE!"
"At once, my lord!"
Tomobiki High School, that moment...
"You guys aren't going up to help out?!"
People gaped at the Gifted members of Class 2-4, all of whom had put on their battlesuits once the "fight scene alert" came in over everyone's PAA. "It's an issue of propriety, Hiromi-chan," Tsuruya Rumiko explained as she monitored things from her large PAA, now on the teacher's desk to allow everyone to get a good look at the current duel. "It's seen as very gauche on Yiziba to intrude on other people's fight scenes unless you're specifically invited to help out or the situation is about to go so out of control that interference is pretty much seen as necessary. Since Brooke-chan and Mijin-a are in charge of the response concerning the lar'beke in this instance, only they can say if other people come in or not. I'm sure that other shipgirls will be invited in since eating those symbiotes is seen as quite a delicacy among first generation battle dolls like them, but beyond that..." She shook her head.
"These Goaurudo things actually POSSESS people, then pretend to be literal GODS?!" Obinata Hiromi demanded as she looked at Fujinami Ryūnosuke's PAA, horrified to see an internal scan of a human being's neck and skull where a symbiote would implant itself to possess its host. "And they did that to OUR ancestors up to five thousand years ago, when Master Hozan chased them away?!"
"Hai," the Careful Planner of the Circle of Thought affirmed.
"The Americans are the ones who are normally fighting these things?!" Mifune Hideyuki asked.
"Normally, yes. But no thanks to a certain someone's race..." — here, Rumiko gazed at the empty desk where Redet Lum sat; doing such made several boys shudder — "...these idiots have probably decided that since the Oni are nosing their way in on what they see as Goa'uld territory, they're going to be more overt about it than using the Stargate that's now in America to attack through there."
"How...DARE...he...do...this...?!"
Many girls' eyes rolled, then Arakida Yui looked over. "What's with you, Mendō?"
"THAT!" the scion of Japan's richest family exclaimed, waving at the image of the duel being fought way over the central Pacific. "That's one of OUR ships! And it's being used by the KOREANS?!"
"So what?!" Ryūnosuke demanded.
"THOSE ARE OUR SHIPS!"
"Tennō disagrees."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"Wh-what...?" Mendō Shūtarō eeped as he turned VERY sallow.
Rumiko smirked. There was no humour whatsoever in that smile. "The living spirit of the Shimakaze was brought back by a Korean shaman friend of Tariko-chan's," the school's only declared lesbian announced. "Since Sumie-chan — that's her name, Toyama Sumie — was a one-off design, she was lonely and wanted sisters. So Su Muwol-a — that's the shaman's name — did a divination and found all SIXTEEN kami of the so-called 'Chō-Shimakaze-class', which were never built. When she summoned them and had them Gifted, they were so grateful for the chance to serve, they joined the Korean armed forces as part of their White Tigers special forces unit. Tariko-chan went directly to Tennō to tell him that and he released a Rescript that absolved any of those girls from serving Japan."
"WHAT?!"
KK-KRUNCH!
"Shut it, idiot!" Gekasawa Kumiko snapped after flinging a chair to knock him down.
Much to Rumiko's amusement, even the more stalwart fans of the man hadn't reacted to such a move by the Living Omnissiah of Technology. "So the Koreans will have a good-sized shipgirl force," Miyake Shinobu noted. "Do they recognize Ataru-kun as their 'admiral', too? He's got enough shipgirls to handle where he lives with his sisters, even if Roberta-san, Catarina-san and Paola-san are there."
"They do, but Ataru-kun gave them orders to obey their superiors back in Sŏul..."
"WHAT?! THAT TRAITOR...!"
KK-KRACK!
"No one asked you, moron!" Shirai Kōsuke snapped after bashing the leader of the Stormtroopers into the floor, then cowed the others with a look that promised a load of pain if they decided to push it.
A knock echoed from the doorway. "Hai, come in!" Randō Serika — who had not changed into the battlesuit marking her as the new incarnation of the Burrowing Maiden, Tyuosim ("Vagón"); while doing such would not cause uncomfortable questions to be asked, it was just being prudent — called out before she blinked as the door slid open to reveal the vice-principal. "Hai, Onsen-sensei?"
"How goes this fight, Tsuruya-kun?" Onsen Mark asked.
"So far, so good," Rumiko answered. "Right now, Yoiko-san's and Amélie-san's pilots, plus Raeburn-shihan's subordinates from the Saskatchewan Cavalrymen and the London Rifles, are having target practice on that thing. No doubt, the shipgirls will carry out an insertion exercise to get their hands on all the symbiotes they can before gutting that thing and dumping it into the Sun."
The gruff English teacher chuckled. "And the girls young Hinako-chan have found all this time gained bodies that were specially made by this Doctor Destructo of yours to EAT these fake gods?!"
"Hai! It took the Goa'uld MILLENNIA to recover from that!"
"At least the Americans won't have to fight them alone from now on," Serika noted.
"Hai, Randō-kun, that's a good point. I hope young Hinako-chan is having an easy time of it salvaging Nagato-dono and the other warships destroyed in those tests at Bikini Atoll back in '46. Since Mutsu-dono is back..." He then perked. "What name did Moroboshi-kun give Nagato-dono, Tsuruya-kun?"
"'Yamamoto Reiko'," Rumiko answered. "Mutsu is 'Yamamoto Chiyoko'."
"I read about that," Marubeya Momoe noted. "Cadets at Naval Academy Eta-jima used the surviving turret from Chiyoko-san to summon her back. They also got the girls of the Seventeenth Destroyer Division while they were at it, plus the girls who were part of the Ten-gō force outside Yoiko-san's sister Yasuko-san." As people gazed her way, the Wise Jurist of the West shrugged. "She's missing."
"Was her wreck salvaged, Momoe-chan?" Shinobu wondered.
"No! Her wreck's still there! Her very KAMI is missing!"
"That is not a good thing."
People perked, then turned...
...before Rumiko hummed. "You're lucky your niece ASKED me nicely, Cherry!"
"Hai! Hai! I can understand that, Rumiko-san," Sakurambō Hayao mused as he walked into the room, then hopped up on Rumiko's empty desk to gaze intently at the battle now in space. After a moment, the itinerant monk grimly nodded. "To believe young Hinako is so powerful that she could actually link the very kami of warships into these battle doll creations of your adopted planet's guardian kami. Do you think the Healer of Destruction is ultimately responsible for this, Rumiko-san? Given that his or her coming back to life always heralds times of enormous change on your adopted homeworld..."
"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine," the third of Yiziba's triumvirate of top-tier hyper-genius polymaths affirmed, shaking her head. "Still, the instant Fujiko-chan was brought back during spring break while Hinako-chan was touring all over Earth with that flying umbrella of hers, it was seen as a necessary resource to tap into. All shipgirls that do come back always affirm that the ghosts of their lost crews actually LIKE the idea of their being transformed and Gifted like that, though. Never mind how much clearing away of wrecks with the contaminants in the hulls like oil is doing the environment a world of good as well. Spares my friends and I loads of work in the future, I'll admit..."
The near-crack of sound being broken then made people jolt. "KONNICHI WA!"
People's heads turned to the hallway...
"Sumie-chan!" Rumiko scolded. "Do you mind SLOWING DOWN when you're in a building?!"
A scowl crossed the face of the adopted native of Maizuru before she walked in, making many boys' eyes turned into instant hearts on seeing that very form-fitting uniform showing acres and acres of tantalizing skin, well-honed muscles and all the naughty bits sensuously covered in the right way. "'Slow'...?" the fastest destroyer in the Pacific War called out as if she had bit into something vile.
"Never mind, Sumie-chan," Shinobu said, waving Toyama Sumie down. "What are you doing here? Your sisters are up in space about to dig into a pretty big feast of lar'beke...and FRESH ones, too!"
The Cosmic Speed Demon of the Solar Wind waved the other woman down. "Don't worry about it, Shinobu-chan," she affirmed. "Mijin-a and the others promised to send lots of those lar'beke to U-chan so we could have a big cookout! Tubs like that carry over two thousand lar'beke with both the Goa'uld and Jaffa! Even if Brooke-chan gets a lot for her friends in America, we can still have good food...!"
Shūtarō appeared in her face, grasping her hand. "Shimakaze-sama! You CAN'T allow those dog-eaters across the Sea of Japan to possess your sisters! You MUST make them come back...!"
KK-KRUNCH!
"My sisters don't eat dogs, bakayaro!" Sumie declared after bopping him on the head, dropping him to the floor. Stepping on his back in emphasis — which made almost all the other boys and a lot of the girls laugh on seeing such an insult delivered by the sexy, slender blonde — she walked over to stand close to Onsen. "And Tennō's words are more important than a merchant's brat like you!"
As the scion of Japan's richest family croaked in obvious horror at that vile insult delivered to him, his film-clone twin shook her head. Like her peers in the class, Mendō Tachiko donned her gold-trimmed black battlesuit when the fight scene alert went out; she was now sporting new model finger-less gloves like her fellow ki mistress wore thanks to Rumiko. "Onii-sama, you idiot...!"
"So what are you doing here, Sumie?" Ryūnosuke wondered.
Sumie perked. "Ah! Right! Forgot!" She reached into her belt pouch to pull out a folded letter, handing it to Onsen. "From Ran-chan with her sincere compliments, Kōchō-sensei," she announced.
Blushing again at being called "principal", the older man took the note in hand and opened it to scan the letter there. "She's withdrawing from school," he declared, making everyone tense. "Acknowledges the decision of the Diet and thanks us for putting up to her mood-swings over the last year or so. Even apologizes for what Redet-kun's old fiancé did here." He nodded his thanks as he pocketed the note. "Well, I'll get Nanase-kun to have her struck from the nominal rolls," he said as he moved to leave the classroom. "It'll be NICE to have PEACE and QUIET in this school finally..."
"You might as well get Redet off those lists, too, Sensei!" Ryūnosuke added. As many boys hissed on hearing that, the Huntress of the Wild snorted. "There's no way in heck that she's going to be allowed to live here come Friday morning when Ayumu-san clears out the planet like she will!"
"Hai, Fujinami-kun, that's true..."
As he walked out, many of the boys exchanged worried looks. "It's for Lum-san's safety as well, minna-san," Tachiko declared. As people gazed her way, the Passionate Pugilist crossed her arms. "Don't you remember what provoked the Pseudo War in August? Someone wanted to hurt Lum-san. Tariko-san and others now suspect that something or someone is still trying to influence her to remain on Earth and continue to harass Ataru-san, so removing her from Earth will do her much good."
"That's true," Sŏ Yŏn'i noted. She was also in her uniform even if those who weren't in the know still saw her as Inoue Tamako. "Both Tariko-chan and Ataru-kun were really worried about that."
"So he DOES love her!" Shūtarō snapped.
"No, he does NOT!" the Ryanggang-saram said as she gave him an even look. "Thanks in large part to that alien, Ataru-kun lost the chance to be GIFTED, then was forced to live as a battle doll — almost no different than Sumie-san here! — after Ayumu-san rescued him on his birthday from a FATE WORSE THAN DEATH ITSELF to ANY Yizibajohei!" As people winced, the latter of the Terror Twins snorted before sipping her ice tea. "That makes the Oni a GIFT THIEF in Ataru-kun's eyes, Mendō! The Mother of All Fight Scenes almost three centuries ago was fought BECAUSE of attempted Gift thievery!" Sitting back in her chair, she smiled as Kumiko hoisted her own can of ice tea to share a toast. "If Tariko-chan didn't call him off, the Oni would have been sent back to Uru as a CORPSE!"
"Thank the heavens for his sisters, then," the school's ethics teacher noted, a wistful smile crossing her face as she recalled the times her master had seen to her own intimate programming to ensure she was safe from Mother before she was Gifted. "Not to mention all the shipgirls who've become part of his personal 'fleet'. Any interesting rumours in that direction, Sumie-san?"
"Teitoku SERIOUSLY needs more destroyers!" the lone of her class asserted. "He's got one battleship, four battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, two torpedo cruisers and ONE destroyer!"
"Roberta Ansaldo-san, all the Chihaya sisters, Hōjō Chiyo-chan, Catarina von Savoyen-san, Paola de Lerici-san, Kumamoto Kiko-chan and her sister Otsune-chan, plus Ashikaga Akemi-san," Hideyuki affirmed, counting off on his fingers before grimly nodding. "Yeah, that's a seriously whacked-out balance, Sumie-chan. What about all the new girls that just got in, like the Hamamoto sisters?"
"Aren't you interested, Sumie-chan?" Momoe asked.
The Cosmic Speed Demon shook her head. "Nah! I like Teitoku — and his KISSES are like nothing else in Existence! — but not as a lover!" she asserted, making many boys gape while Shūtarō himself gargled in offended horror. "I think Akiyama Suzumi-chan — that's Suzutsuki — is interested. She came back last night because of a fight between some American metas and the Bullet Deniers."
People blinked. "Who are the Bullet Deniers?" Shitto Kōsuke demanded.
An evil grin crossed Rumiko's face. "Junko-chan! Can you join us, please?!"
A flash of teleportation energy made people gaze towards the northwest corner of the class...
...then people jolted at the presence of a certain reality warping empathic vampire, who immediately moved to suck in all the depression many boys in class were feeling concerning the pending expulsion of their favourite classmate from Earth in under seventy-two hours. "Ooh...such DESPAIR!" the poverty-born fashion model from another universe's Machida trilled in anticipation.
Jaws dropped, with many boys who were video game players jolting as they wondered how to react: With awe at such beauty...or with mortal TERROR! "Enoshima Junko...?!" Hideyuki gargled.
"The one and only, her soul having been moved from her home dimension at the very time of her death to this one," Rumiko affirmed as the Herald of Cosmic Doom walked over to join the polymath by the teacher's desk. "Not to mention her peers from Hope's Peak Academy, plus their sempai in the older class and two more groups as well. As you're no doubt feeling now, Junko-chan FEEDS on despair!"
Junko nodded. "Friday morning is going to be a FEAST!" she gushed.
As cackling laughter escaped the architect of the Tragedy, people gulped...
Aboard United States Starship Enterprise at the first Sol-Earth libration point, minutes later.
"General on the bridge!"
"At ease, people!" George Hammond declared before acknowledging the salute from Bartolomeo Mancuso. He was accompanied by a very familiar blonde, she dressed in her grey-and-blue battlesuit. Also present was the technically oldest American navy warship turned into a shipgirl as well, the single star of a rear admiral visible on her more traditional battlesuit despite she STILL bearing the special sleeve insignia of her late admiral on her uniform top. "Commander Mancuso, much that I would prefer to have you retain command of Enterprise — Lord knows, you're up for promotion after you command of Dallas — the CNO is being a little obstinate about this. But the President has granted me final veto over who gets assigned here and I will want your personal input over this."
The attack submarine veteran nodded. "Appreciated, sir. Commodore Dewey, Captain Swanson, welcome aboard," the native of Pittsburgh said, nodding politely to the reborn flagship of Manila Bay and his starship's reborn template. "Will the commodore be raising her flag on Enterprise, General?"
"They're preparing a starship version of myself at that impressive dockyard opposite Mars as we speak, Commander Mancuso," Julia Dewey stated. "Once she's ready to sail, I'll switch my personal flag over. Still, I want a chance to talk to you and your men. Submarine warfare was just in its infancy back in my day. I want to know all the wonderful stories of how much it's improved since then!"
That made the Dallas veterans on the bridge grin at the reborn protected cruiser's supportive words. "We'll be glad to have you in the wardroom, ma'am," Mancuso declared. "I'm sure the goat locker will gladly host her as well. Right, COB?" he then asked as he looked at CMDCS(SW) Larry Ferguson.
"Aye, Captain!" the senior enlisted rate affirmed with a nod.
"I'll bring some good Royal Navy pusser rum for the occasion, Chief," Julia promised, making people laugh. "And something for the lower rates as well! Remind me of that, Captain."
"Aye, ma'am," Yvonne Swanson affirmed with a nod and grin.
"What's going on now, Mister Thompson?" the commander of the SGC asked.
LCDR Philip Thompson tapped a control to bring up a hologram showing the battle many kilometres away. "Sir, Pongp'ung and Roberts ceased fire to allow the pilots their turn at the target vessel fifteen minutes ago," the carrier's operations officer reported. "Some enemy fighters got free before the Canucks blew the launch tubes apart. Fighters have been dealt with by VF-261 from Yonaga; they're sending VA-566 to take over when the Camels RTB. No losses on our side, but Commander Roberts and Commander Sŭng are preparing for boarding actions to get the snakes out of people's bodies."
"Yes, a good celebratory feast," Julia noted. "What of that fleet in Bikini?"
"All but Nagato are back, Commodore," Yvonne answered, having got a quick update on things from one of the stations near Mancuso's position. "She appears to be stubborn. Captain Yamamoto Chiyoko is heading there from Ōmure Island to help Miss Saeru in the summons as we speak."
"Damn pity we have to keep relying on her all the time," Thompson noted.
"Why's that, Tommy?" Mancuso asked.
"She's just a Grade Two student in elementary school, Skipper!"
"You're right about that, Commander," Hammond grimly declared.
"Con, Lookout!"
"Con!" Thompson called back.
"Sir, the enemy vessel is firing on Bikini!" one of the sonar technicians manning Enterprise's vast array of sensors, STS3 Tom Fischer, barked. "Direct hits on Bikini Island near where Suiki is!"
Stunned silence fell. "Con, aye!" Thompson called back before he breathed out. "Fuck!" he snapped. "Skipper, those girls on Promised Island are going to go apeshit when they get wind of it...!"
"No."
People looked at the reborn USS Olympia. "Ma'am?" Mancuso probed.
The adopted native of her namesake city grinned. "It's enough to bring young Reiko back..."
People blinked in confusion as Yvonne nodded in grim understanding...
Pikinni Island, that moment...
"Itte-te-te..!"
"Hinako-chan!"
A moan escaped the Living Spirit of Innocence as she grasped her wounded left leg while sitting on the beach; a piece of sharp stone had cut open the jumpsuit and the skin under the knee. As her bro-bro put a PAA over it to do some field healing, the shipgirls that were there from two nations move to gather around them, moving to use their bodies to protect the admiral and his sister from the bolts of energy soaring down from the skies overhead. "DAMN IT, SAMMY! FIRE BACK, YOU LAZY TIN CAN!" Dionne Doolittle, the reborn USS Saratoga, screamed. "WE'RE TAKING CASUALTIES HERE!"
«Who got hurt, Sara?!» Brooke Roberts transmitted back from orbit.
"THE ADMIRAL'S SISTER!" the second of the Lexington-class battlecruisers-turned-aircraft carriers shrieked. "DESTROY THOSE GUNS ON THAT TUG AND GET THOSE SNAKES! YOU WANT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE DOCTOR CREATED US ON YIZIBA TO REPEAT HERE ON EARTH?!"
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
No...!
Yamamoto Chiyoko's ear twitched. "Reiko-nē...!"
Everyone turned to look where the old flagship of the Combined Fleet had sunk.
A CHILD was hurt...?!
"Oh, boy...!" Taruka Keiko moaned.
"Um, Keiko-san, what's with her?" Ataru wondered.
YOU FILTHY NISEGAMI DARE HURT A CHILD...?!
"Holy Hannah! She's damn PISSED...!" Hallie Lamson, the reborn USS Lamson of the Mahan-class destroyers who had been sunk thanks to the "Able" test at the start of July in 1946, warned as the waters of Pikinni Lagoon began to bubble ominously over the wreck of Chiyoko's sunken sister.
«HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A FALSE GOD, ORAK'NOU?!»
"That's rather understandable, Hallie-chan," Chiyoko noted.
NOT — ON — MY — WATCH!
"Reiko-nē is very partial to children," the adopted native of Aomori added.
Tene lomher'buo, Yamamoto Reiko...!
The Japanese destroyers screamed as the wreck of THG Nagato surged to the surface, reforming at speeds that made both Ataru and Hinako gape before the whole mass collapsed in, making the light of her transformation vastly pale the brilliance of the nuclear hellfire unleashed many years ago...
Nesu...KUONUM!
As people turned to look back, a meteor of blazing energy then soared heavenward.
"Uh-oh," Hinako breathed out. "Reiko-san's really, really, really mad...!"
"That's Nagamon for you..." Taruka Tsukiko ruefully chuckled...
In orbit, a moment later...
The whole bridge structure of Hekau's ha'tak exploded inwards, nearly crushing everyone there as the metaphysical mass of a VERY enraged 32,720 tonne fast super-dreadnought smashed her way in. As shrapnel flew everywhere, the reborn native of Hagi (home town of the Mōri clan who ruled over her namesake province) and Kure (her place of construction) emerged to reveal a gorgeous, muscular woman in a black traditional jumpsuit trimmed in gold, the Mōri mon over her breast topped with her ship name 長門 in black. As several Jaffa and the namesake of one of ancient Egypt's many deities — who had been protected by his kara-kesh — turned to gaze on the monster that just stormed aboard, Yamamoto Reiko's chestnut brown eyes glowed a burning lava-like red while her long, straight black hair writhed like Medusa's snakes, the battle aura cloaking her making even Hekau cower.
"To paraphrase a former enemy admiral who was passionate yet at times reckless..."
Here, Reiko's smile turned demonic.
"...by the time we're done with you, the Goa'uld language will be spoken only in HELL!"
Massive teleportation flashes brought in dozens of shipgirls at that point.
"The black flag is raised, everyone!" the reborn flagship of the Combined Fleet snarled.
Howling screams escaped the boarders as they charged...!
To Be Continued...
WRITER'S NOTES
Shipgirls introduced or noted on in this part. First, the Kamikaze-class destroyers from Japan:
Taruka Keiko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Kamikaze [KK-135])
Taruka Asami-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Asakaze [KK-136])
Taruka Haruka-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Harukaze [KK-137])
Taruka Tsukiko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Matsukaze [KK-138])
Taruka Takako-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hatakaze [KK-139])
Taruka Taeko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Oite [KK-140])
Taruka Hayami-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hayate [KK-141])
Taruka Nagisa-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Asanagi [KK-142])
Taruka Yūko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Yūnagi [KK-143])
Taruka Keiko (THG Kamikaze), Taruka Asami (THG Asakaze), Taruka Haruka (THG Harukaze), Taruka Tsukiko (THG Matsukaze) and Taruka Takako (THG Hatakaze) take after their Kantai Collection selves. Taruka Taeko (THG Oite), Taruka Hayami (THG Hayate) and Taruka Nagisa (THG Asanagi) take after the Azur Lane versions of Takako, Keiko and Tsukiko respectively. And Taruka Yūko (THG Yūnagi) takes after the Warship Girls version of Fukushima Hatsue (THG Hatsuyuki).
Now, the other sisters of Toyama Sumie (THG Shimakaze) from Korea:
Sŭng Mijin-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Pongp'ung [KC-36])
Sŭng Sŏnghan-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan T'aekp'ung [KC-37])
Sŭng Nayŏn-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Ch'ungp'ung [KC-38])
Sŭng Naŭn-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan T'anp'ung [KC-39])
Sŭng Yuran-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Ship'ung [KC-40])
Sŭng Hyein-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Up'ung [KC-41])
Sŭng Sŏngja-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Sŏkp'ung [KC-42])
Sŭng Yuri-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Sap'ung [KC-44])
Sŭng Tohŭi-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan T'aedop'ung [KC-45])
Sŭng Sŏng'a-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Pŏmp'ung [KC-46])
Sŭng Nar'ae-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Yap'ung [KC-47])
Sŭng Nihŭi-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan P'ap'ung [KC-48])
Sŭng Sŏg'yŏng-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Sop'ung [KC-49])
Sŭng Tamyŏn-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan T'aeyangp'ung [KC-50])
Sŭng Hyebin-jungnyŏng THMK (Taehan Minguk Kunhan Ilp'ung [KC-51])
As noted when Sŭng Ch'unghwa (TMK Ch'up'ung) was introduced, the girls listed above also have Japanese names; respectively, they are Toyama Minako, Toyama Sawako, Toyama Okiku, Toyama Natsumi, Toyama Yayoi, Toyama Harumi, Toyama Shiori, Toyama Yū, Toyama Tachiko, Toyama Shiho, Toyama Nomi, Toyama Namiko, Toyama Mahoko, Toyama Taeko and Toyama Hinako. Their Japanese ship names would respectively be Minekaze, Sawakaze, Okikaze, Nadakaze, Yakaze, Hakaze, Shiokaze, Yūkaze, Tachikaze, Hokaze, Nokaze, Namikaze, Numakaze, Taiyōkaze and Hikaze. All physically take after their half-sister with differences of eye and hair colour.
Now, the ships sunk in Operation: Crossroads in Pikinni (Bikini) Atoll not introduced yet:
Captain Olive Dionysia "Dionne" Doolittle USN (United States Ship Saratoga [CV-3])
Commander Rosalin Hallie Lamson USN (United States Ship Lamson [DD-367])
CDR Edena Alexandra "Alexa" Anderson USN (United States Ship Anderson [DD-411])
Lieutenant Commander Wanda Paula Schoeni USN (United States Ship Apogon [SS-308])
LCDR Rosemary Hope Close USN (United States Ship Pilotfish [SS-386])
LCDR Hannah Bernice Olsen-Gilliam USN (United States Ship Gilliam [APA-57])
LCDR Hunter Rayna Adams-Carlisle USN (United States Ship Carlisle [APA-69])
Dionne Doolittle (USS Saratoga) takes after her Kantai Collection interpretation. Alexa Anderson (USS Anderson) takes after fan art done of her by Yorktown CV-5, which can be seen on Pixiv at ID #55196939 alongside her sister Sims-class destroyers. Note the hull classification symbol APA (literally "auxiliary personnel transport, attack") is meant to represent an attack transport, a vessel designed to help land troops in potential battlezones without the need of prepared docking facilities. Said type of hull classification was changed to LPA (literally "landing platform, amphibious") in 1969.
Translations and source languages: Regnat Populus — The People Rule (Latin); Ra-naquadah — Literally "naquadah of the sun", a term for mesonium (Goa'uld); R'buor'buo — Literally "green leaves", translation of the name Aoba (Yizibajohei); Safi'ra — Warship spirit (Goa'uld); Yŏbuseyo — Literally "look here", how people greet each other over a telephone (Korean); Igŏs'ŭn Pongp'ung-imnida — This is Pongp'ung (Korean); Kun — Suffix honorific for unmarried males (Korean); TMU — Short for Taehan Minguk Ujuhan ("Star Warship of the Republic of Korea") (Korean); Ra'kalach — Literally "souls touched by the sun", name for natives of Sagussa (Goa'uld); Mich'innom — Crazy bastard (Korean); Ttorai — Nutjob (Korean); Chal kaseyo — Go well (Korean); Kek'tak — Literally "death ships", a potential local term for death gliders (Goa'uld); Al'kesh — Medium-range bomber (Goa'uld); Goaurudo — A rendering of "Goa'uld" with local phonemes (Japanese); Vagón — Subway car (Czech); VF — United States Navy code for a fighter squadron (English abbreviation); VA — United States Navy code for an attack squadron (English abbreviation); RTB — Return to base (English abbreviation); STS3 — Short-form of the United States Navy rating Sonar Technician (Submarine) 3rd Class (English abbreviation); Nisegami — False god (Japanese).
The Seventh Carrier character notes: Matsuhara Yoshi's wingmates Takamura Tetsu and Kojima Hitoshi were introduced in the second book, The Second Voyage of the Second Carrier.
Stargate SG-1 character notes: Hekau and his subordinates never appeared in the series; they are my own creation. Apophis was the original "big bad" of the series, appearing in the pilot episode. Both Cronus and Yù Huáng first appeared in "Fair Game" (third episode of the third season). Ba'al first appeared in "Summit" (fifteenth episode of the fifth season). Amaterasu first appeared in the two-part "New Order" (first two episodes of the eighth season). And Cernunnos was first mentioned in a magazine sold with the nineteenth DVD collection for the series, which contain the episodes "The Devil You Know", "Foothold" and "Pretense" (episodes #13-15 of the third season).
The 707th Special Mission Battalion (in Korean, Che-ch'ilbaekch'il T'ŭksuimmu-daedae) is the Republic of Korea's counter-terrorist unit, based in Ich'ŏn southeast of Sŏul. Nicknamed the White Tigers, this force was established in 1981 in response to the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics; such was to guard against a similar incident at the 1988 Olympics in Sŏul. In the universe of this story, the White Tigers were tasked with forming a squadron of metahuman operatives to assist with missions straying into the paranormal range. Naturally, the Republic's corps of shipgirls would be part of the 707th Battalion, even if they're administratively seen as part of the Navy in lieu of the Army. This runs parallel to the White Tigers' recruiting of female personnel for specific infiltration duties.
Sweet Valley High character notes: Jessica Wakefield (Rampage), who is the twin sister to Elizabeth Wakefield (the Academician), is the other main star of the whole novel series. Naturally, the twins' parents Ned Wakefield and Alice Wakefield are background characters throughout the series.
To understand the "Nagamon" nickname for Yamamoto Reiko (THG Nagato), watch the eighth episode of the KanColle anime series or go to Danbooru and look at the entries in pool #8242.