Two weeks after the meeting, the admiral is at the sea once again.
This time, she was on the bow of the superbattleship Yamato, with the six 46 cm guns standing proud behind her.
Today's training menu is another target practice.
With two acting secretaries helping out with the admiral's daily duties, Ayumi found herself having the time to help the girls out with hands-on training, and a this type of training would definitely be needed by Yamato, who was all but a novice in operating her entire hull.
Enjoying the cool morning breeze, the admiral leaned on a railing as she monitored the conditions of the battleship she was on to the minute detail with the tablet on her hand.
After knowing that Yamato had intentionally concealed the scars and damages she had in the past, the admiral asked the R&D team to improve the monitoring system under the girls' consent. However, this improvement could show a lot of details of the ship, even the status of every bulkheads and rooms present in the ship, so even the admiral would have a hard time going through it smoothly, especially if they're in the middle of combat, so they decided that she would look through it in detail if they had the chance for a respite and use the previous, simpler version during combat.
"All compartments have been scanned, admiral. I am ready for tasking."
"Good, all that's left to do is just wait until we arrive at the waypoint."
The admiral raised her face and smiled at the battleship who stood at the ready by her side.
She could still see some of the scars left on the battleship's fair skin, but it was comparably better than the first time Yamato removed her make up, so she could only sigh in relief and thank Akashi deep in her heart.
"Thank you very much, admiral."
"Hm? For what?"
"For taking care of me so meticulously."
Yamato knew that the admiral had requested an overhaul on the monitoring system because what she did, and that made her extremely grateful. Through that action, too, Yamato was able to see how much her new admiral cares about her fleet.
"Aah, don't worry about it. I think part of it is my blunder to not ensure detailed info on the girls' status, so this change is all for the better."
"I see…" Yamato exhaled as a stiff smile formed on her face.
She wanted to know more. About the admiral's thoughts, about herself, and about the family she's been adopted into.
But will she be allowed to?
Anyone could feel annoyed if someone suddenly starts asking questions back-to-back, so Yamato felt that it would be better for her to keep her mouth shut and ask other people in the base, but there are definitely some things that only the admiral knows…or rather, Yamato wants to see the naval base the way the admiral sees it.
So the question stands; Can I ask her?
However, the answer immediately presents itself.
"How are you doing in the naval base? I know it might be awkward for you to ask around, so I'd like to give you the opportunity here as we wait. Do you have any questions you want to ask?"
Yamato's eyes widened, as if she was shocked that the admiral can read her mind.
The admiral only tilted her pretty head seeing Yamato's reaction that she regarded as "slightly exaggerated"
"If you don't have anything or you don't want to ask it, then it's fine."
"N-No, there are plenty I wanted to ask!" replied Yamato, panicking as she saw her window of opportunity closing.
"Ask ahead then."
The next 15 minutes were spent with the two chatting with each other…or rather, it was mostly the admiral talking about her experiences as if she's a grandmother talking to her grandchild, while Yamato listened enthusiastically and gave the admiral several questions.
For example, "how is it that you can only eat spicy foods?" she asked, to which the admiral answered "I've eaten tons of crazy things in my life, so to negate the bad experiences I had with those, I think a part of me just straight up shuts down my entire taste buds, and the only way I could feel something if it's really spicy."
On the other hand, it was also the admiral's chance to get to know the new girl that was posted in her naval base, so Ayumi also took some time to ask Yamato questions such as her favorite food, favorite pastime activities or what things does she find amusing. Trivial questions might those be, she considered those questions important as a first step to get to know her.
Yamato also brought herself to ask a more serious question about the admiral's policies, such as the case of U-511 that she had in the back of her mind for a while.
"Yuu-san…was it? How come have you not upgrade her into Ro-500?"
"Mmm, that's actually something that has to do with Yuu-chan herself" said the admiral as she showed a difficult expression. "We all know that upon that upgrade, her personality would change greatly in a way, right?"
The battleship nodded.
"I talked with the girl about it, and it turns out that our Yuu-chan is uncomfortable with that change. She felt that the upgrade forcefully changes her personality, and she doesn't like that. She said something like "don't get me wrong, I want to change, but not in a forced way", so I thought I would just let her be and let her develop in her own pace."
The admiral looked away to the sea with a nostalgic expression.
"B-But would there not be an issue with her overall capability?"
"You mean stats? Stats doesn't mean anything if it makes her unhappy with herself", those words left her mouth casually, as if she thinks that it's only natural. "Besides, despite it being called a "retrofit", be it Yuu-chan or Ro-chan, she's still a Type-IXC U-boat. Nothing much about her changed. Yuu-chan is Yuu-chan, so it never really mattered to me whether she changed or not, and even if she does, I'd still cherish her as much as I always do."
"I see…"
Little did they know, a certain Type-IXC German submarine living in their base squealed in full glee as she listened to the admiral's transmitted voice. The admiral had worn a device to allow her to communicate with Yamato amidst the sounds of barrages being sent from the battleship's main and/or secondary guns and muffle them so she wouldn't burst her eardrums, but she foolishly left the channel open for everyone else, including those left in the base, to listen in to her conversation. Although, even if she didn't do that, they would still be able to do so if they choose to since the girls had managed to sneak in some more button-sized transmitter in the folds of her clothes.
The battleship murmured, "if it's her, then maybe…" but her voice was too low that the sound of the waves crashing onto her hull drowned it.
Before long, they arrived at their waypoint, and all that's left to do is for Yamato to position herself to prepare her firing exercise.
"Alright, we've arrived at our waypoint. Kashima, come in."
"Aye aye ma'am! The destroyers, Katori and I are already in position!"
"Good," the admiral replied, glad that she didn't need to ask the question to get the answer she needed. "We'll begin in 3 minutes, get ready."
"Copy!"
After she received Kashima's confirmation, the admiral turned to the battleship again.
"I'll go to the bridge; I'll brief you in the meantime," she said, passing through Yamato's physical body and towards the large superstructure just behind the turret Bravo. After she gained her distance, Yamato started listening to the Admiral from her comms better than she could directly. "Today's training is another live fire training, but this time you won't be shooting at the broadside of a mountain and instead you'll be shooting moving target on the move."
Yamato had a pretty solid resume of hitting her targets in the previous exercise, but the admiral would love to make sure that she had more than just beginner's luck.
"You will have five ships way in front of you who will tow a bunch of targets for you to shoot at. They will move freely, which would obviously mean that it would be considerably harder for you to hit them."
"Eh…?"
"The five ships will periodically launch a combination of flares and fireworks to make sure you can constantly spot them, so that wouldn't be a problem for you."
"W-wait, um…"
"You have a question?"
Yamato nodded, but remembering that the admiral couldn't hear her nod, she expressed a hesitant "yes".
"W-wouldn't it be dangerous for the other ships to be in the line of fire?" her tone carries worry, hesitation, and a tinge of self-deprecation. Immediately, the admiral understood why she had felt this way.
However,
"Be confident in yourself," said the admiral, trying not to phrase herself negatively; "I believe that the girls will be able to evade the attacks and ensure that your shells would only hit the targets and not them. Am I right, girls?"
In response to her call, the five ships, consisting of Kashima and four destroyers expressed their confidence. Kashima said she'd coordinate the girls flawlessly, Shimakaze boasts her speed, Murasame responded calmly as if she was singing it, Ushio shyly giggles as she said she'll try her best, and finally, Fubuki audibly tried to pump herself up by jumping up and down on her deck.
"And finally, I believe in you. I believe that the way you detonated Kako in the training wasn't mere beginner's luck, so I believe that you wouldn't hit the girls." It sounds like the Admiral had reached the bridge as everyone couldn't hear her footsteps anymore. "Besides, I will be your spotter today, so your mistake is mine as well. We're in this together."
"Wait, wh—"
"All units, launch your flares!"
As soon as she said that, small, distant explosions could be heard from the distance along with bright red flares shooting up to the sky from five different directions in front of her, and soon after, she could faintly see smoke pillars billowing from the towing ships' smokestacks.
"Alright, ready or not, training is commencing. Yamato, full speed ahead, targets at roughly two-five-zero, two-seven-seven, three-five-seven, zero-three-zero and one-three-five."
"Eh? Ah…umm…" stuttered the battleship, looking around in a panic.
"Try to spot your targets first. Choose your target and relay to me what you see. If you're not sure who or what it is, call out what they look like and I'll ID them for you."
Sounding hesitant, Yamato looked from left to right, trying to look for a target that expels a less erratic smokestack pattern, and reported her target.
"Bearing two-seven-seven. I spot a vessel of small displacement with two twin-barrel 14cm guns and towing an orange target."
"Good choice of target, that's Kashima. Target is moving straight towards the north; speed is 15 knots. Go to glass and check elevation and target lead."
Yamato correctly assumed that "go to glass" means start aiming and enhanced her vision to look into her target closely and align her target to her reticle. The notches on the target reticle built in the shipgirls counts the distance and the time required for the shells to reach its target, but it doesn't show much about other things she needs to accurately fire her weapons, like the Magnus effect, the Coriolis effect and the likes.
With the heavy lifting done by Yamato, it's up to the admiral to do the rest, which is why she had a handheld computer with her from the start. Combined on how she had Yamato's aiming system outlined on top of her palm, she can make the calculations necessary to allow Yamato to hit her shots.
"Adjust both turrets clockwise by 5 degrees, increase elevation of turret Bravo by two degrees. Fire!"
"On the way!"
The two front turrets unleashed their salvo with huge impact, while her rear turrets stayed silent for it doesn't have the angle to fire at the target.
For a second, one could hear the admiral gleefully squealing because of her cannon fetish.
The shell flew for about 15 seconds before reaching the target. In the meantime, Yamato was busy reloading her huge guns while the admiral keeps track of the flying shell and Yamato's target. Being inexperienced with battles, Yamato peels her eyes off from her target to properly insert her shells into the breech of her guns, giving the admiral a clear agenda of what sort of training Yamato could do back at base.
"Target splash in three…two…one…Hit!" reported the admiral, "One penetration confirmed, good shot; get ready for the next one."
Kashima was an easy target. Being a training cruiser, she could only muster up a top speed of 18 knots, and now that she had the burden of towing a floating target, her speed considerably dropped. Shooting the target she towed should be like shooting fish in a barrel.
"Honestly that's such a weird expression. Have you seen actual fishes? Slippery little shits I tell you. Try shooting it with something less than a cannon and you'll have a better chance killing them by draining the water through holes the bullets make than actually hitting them."
First of all, who says the fishes are small? They might be those giant tunas jammed and trapped in a barrel and you'd have to be a caveman to not hit them.
Second of all, what did I tell you about breaking the fourth fucking wall.
"C-Can you repeat your last, Admiral?"
"T-that was nothing…", stammered the potato, "Anyways, what's the status of your reload?"
"I'm five seconds off!"
"Copy. I've gone ahead and picked a target for you. Ready?"
"Yes!"
The admiral would like to train Yamato on the two types of target designation: one she does by herself and one others do for her. She did the former, so it's time for the latter.
First, the admiral would give her a quick but vague target direction. "Go to zero-eight-five, target twelve kilometers away."
To confirm the target, Yamato would relay what she spots at that vague direction to see if the one she sees is the one her spotter sees.
"I see a vessel with two sets of 127mm dual-purpose guns and—"
"That's not your target. Target is on its 10 o'clock, about 5 kilometers away."
"Spotted. I see a vessel with three sets of 127mm dual-purpose guns and three triple torpedo—"
"That's your target. Speed is 25 knots going Northwest. Go to glass." This time, Yamato took less time than she needed before to acquire her targets, and being a quick learner, even the errors she made was less critical than before. After calculating the adjustments needed to be done by checking her tablet, the admiral quickly passes the information; "Adjust turret Alpha by 3 degrees clockwise and Charlie by 2 degrees, fire when ready."
The number representing Yamato's aim on the tablet's display shifts slowly to match the numbers generated by the final calculation. After steadying herself, the battleship should be ready to fire.
However—
"On the way!"
Gigantic flowers of flame and smoke burst out from all of Yamato's main guns as nine 18.1-inch shells flew out of the nine barrels with more than double the speed of sound…but not before she flicked her aim away from the direction the target is heading. At this rate, those shells will fall way behind the target's predicted position.
The change was subtle that it was nigh unnoticeable just by looking at the turrets, but the attentive Ayumi was able to notice by the sudden shift in numbers displayed in her tablet and through the sound of the mythical engine rotating the three turrets. Additionally, small of a deviation it was, the vast distance between the battleship and the target would mean that those shots will fall about a kilometer behind the target.
"That will miss," said Ayumi without waiting for the shells to splash. Her eyes were peeled away from the target briefly, checking once more at the tablet that showed the suddenly changed nominals. Refusing to believe that Yamato did it on purpose, the admiral decided to move on and readjust the aim. "Adjust aim on all turrets by 10 degrees counter-clockwise. Hold your aim steady this time."
Yamato silently readjusts her aim, a point that the admiral would like her to fix, and once again, the number returned to the numbers after the admiral's initial adjustments since her target did not make any change of course. Right after all nine guns were loaded, Yamato took no delay and pulled the trigger.
"On the way!"
"…"
However, there were no immediate responses from the admiral.
"…you don't need me to tell you how awful that shot was. Again!"
Yamato's heart beats faster. Energized, her arms that are now warmed up carried shells from her magazine compartment quicker into the breech of her guns.
"Firing!"
"YAMATO!"
The admiral's yell caused everyone on the radio frequency to freeze. Yamato's guns stopped turning completely as the girl herself inadvertently dropped the shell she held on her hand due to the shocking dread the admiral sent up her spine.
This…
It took the admiral several minutes to get down from the bridge to where Yamato stood, but her chilling rage made Yamato feel that it was but an instant.
"A…admiral…"
"Why?"
The battleship was greeted with a quiet inquiry. Yamato had noticed that her admiral is unusually observant, so she fully understood why the question she asked her was "Why" instead of "What happened".
The response the admiral got in return, however,
"It was my mistake."
Was a plain, rather meaningless admittance of her mistake, and not even an apology.
"…"
But there was a shade of cloud in Yamato's eyes that was…filled with expectation. Something that the admiral quickly noticed, and in turn, felt troubled with. She had worked with countless people in the past, and tons of them were people like the shipgirls; people under her command, and given that entire roster, it wouldn't be impossible for two people of the same traits would appear before her despite the unlikeliness.
However, the admiral believed that making assumptions is going to do nothing more than making an ass out of u and mption, so she decided to test her hypothesis. She changed the rout of her expression after noticing Yamato's uncanny expectation. Her face twists, her lips frowned, and her eyes turned to look at the battleship before her in absolute frustration and a tinge of powerful disdain.
In turn…it seemed that it was the correct decision. Yamato's clouded eyes widened, and her pupils shone at that minute change, and her expecting gaze warmed up as the corners of her lips rise despite the fact that she's being scolded.
Yeah, she's that type of person… the admiral thought.
She wasn't quick to judge whether or not she was like this because her previous CO broke her, nor was she willing to come to a conclusion if she's broken at all. People's tastes truly differ, and she can't say much regarding what Yamato likes as much as everyone else can't say anything about her inclination towards foods that could bring up a nuclear explosion if someone else were to eat it.
However, with her position as the admiral, she had the obligation to answer to her subordinate's expectation, while Ayumi herself also saw this opportunity to strengthen her bond with her new subordinate
Thus, the woman slowly but clearly changed her facial expression from confusion to a condescending disgust, and as a result, she could now clearly see the true nature of the battleship in front of her; a person that would shine brightest under the deepest scrutiny.
However, Ayumi's conclusion and sigh could only be interrupted by a familiar beeping from both her and the battleship's handheld device.
"…seems like this'll have to wait for another time," she muttered, her brows still creased as she opens the radio channel. "We have intruders. My ship is spotted and targeted by at least five vessels. Does anyone have eyes on targets?"
The first one to respond was the most enthusiastic scout in the base, Shimakaze.
"Nothing, I'm seeing nothing. Targets are likely behind islands southwest of our location."
There was a line of islands that stood between Shimakaze and the rest of the target ships while Yamato could see both sides of the island from where she is, which might be why the smaller ships wouldn't be able to see what's behind it but whoever they are could see Yamato's towering bridge.
"Yamato point your guns toward two-nine-zero, thirty kilometers away just behind that island" said Ayumi, deducing where they could be spotted from. Her next transmission was then meant for the spotter ships who already detached their cargo the moment their admiral declared an emergency. "They will notice that we're pointing our guns that way so if they're intelligent, that'll delay their advances. Use this time to circle around them."
All of her ships voiced their acknowledgment and spent no time delaying their movement. After all, with the situation at hand, the enemy ships have a direct line of fire towards Yamato, and therefore, their beloved commander.
As the admiral waited for her subordinates to get into position, she deftly switches her radio to open channel, deliberately allowing whoever the opposition is to intercept her message.
"This is Admiral Ashikaga Ayumi of the Third Mechanized Fleet," she said, sternly and proudly into the radio, "You have entered restricted waters belonging to the Third Fleet. Turn back now or we will open fire."
Her voice was menacing while it was overflowing with caution, and those who know her well knows that there is a hint of nervousness in her deep voice. Which is only to be expected seeing how they have come across a second security breach in just under two months and even after a completely revamped and tightened patrol schedule.
"We will surround your AO shortly and you are clearly outgunned. Shut your engine and raise your white flag."
Loud clunking sounds were heard from all 9 of Yamato's gun turrets, loading live ammo into the breech of the world's biggest cannon. The admiral's warning aside, the guns currently pointing at the direction of what the admiral assumed are the possible location of the enemy ships should be an enough deterrent for the unknown units to do anything stupid.
Of course, the possibility of the ships being of civilian origin isn't nonexistent, but Ayumi had just lectured her subordinates about tightening patrols just some weeks ago, which should make it virtually impossible for civilian vessels to even accidentally enter their waters so deep that they reached target practice area.
"Yamato, approach the location with caution and keep pointing your guns at them. If they're not coming out, then we'll flush them out."
Perhaps irritated with the facts that problems keep popping one after another, the admiral's ire that had finally find a possible target of venting manifested in the form of an extremely heated tone she directed towards the great battleship.
"Wait, wait, wait, miss Admiral?! Are you abusing the fact that miss Houshou isn't here and just recklessly push unknown vessels in a ship you're on board in!?"
"The rest of you are far, right? By the time you all got here, they will scatter away," The admiral suggested, her tone gentle this time, "And you will all cover us, right?"
"The fact that you need to ask insults me, Admiral."
"Then I apologize," the admiral sighed with a smile. "Come on Yamato, what are you dilly-dallying for!? Fire up your turbines!"
In a flash, the admiral's tone turned so aggressive that it even shocked the training cruiser and destroyers that were in their channel.
Without delay, the massive structure that is the lead class of the Yamato-class battleship inches forward as its smokestacks billow black smokes.
The battleship picks up speed, and before long, the admiral's hair sways in the mercy of the wind as Yamato finally reached her flank speed of 27 knots.
Bit by bit, the admiral's eyes start to be able to come to view the other side of the island, and through the binoculars covering her eyes, she begun to see the prow of a ship. Its shining white hue were darkened only by the shadow of the islands, and finally, she could see a gun turret that removed the possibility of a civilian ships. Its three guns that were set up in one turret were pointed upwards, and there were no signs that it's making any form of movement. Perhaps even their turbines are off, the admiral thought, which would be good news.
…If not for the dread she felt when she saw the individual standing on top of that gun turret.
The woman's tidy, silver hair scattered by the wind and the sharp eyes that met the admiral's gaze through the binocular looked all too familiar to the admiral, yet the mighty battleship training her guns at the stationary cruiser could not recall anyone having what seemed like an indecent take of a maid uniform, with the top half of its torso open leaving the woman's abundant cleavage in full sight, stationed in the naval base. The most she knows that whatever ship the woman is on is not of Japanese origin.
The battleship and the trainer girls could only hear a strained urk… through the radio as the admiral's breath got caught in her throat as she saw the outline of the unidentified vessel.
As the ship she boarded kept coursing in the same direction, the admiral finally came to see the entirety of the ship's length, and just behind it, closely stacked in a neat diamond formation, were two other ships that largely looked similar to the first, with yet another two individuals on board its first turrets, wearing yet another indecently exposed maid uniforms though each in their own styles.
A radio crack ensues, their open radio channel seemingly receiving a direct transmission from the woman who put her hand on top of her right ear.
"It has been too long, my respected Master. It is no mere understatement how much we suffered your absence."
"B-but…"
The admiral's composure was gone. Her panicked expression could not carry her words completely in one piece as she stammered through what seemed to be anxiety that she felt coursing through her.
Finally, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, the admiral reached for the radio to change the channel and allow her to transmit her message to the unidentified ship.
"THIS IS NOT EVEN YOUR TURN!"