Near Cao Lanh-Vam Cong suspension bridge, South of Long Xuyen, Vietnam.
Georgia POV
"So, are those your real eyes, or are you wearing contacts?" I said, more to fill the silence than anything as we watched Giang and Ducs tearful reunion with their father, I was happy for them, really I was! But almost having my head taken off by a 5" round sorta dampened it a bit for me. The small ship-person (I say small but she was still taller than me by a couple inches) Startled a little, as if she'd forgotten the Abyssal submarine standing behind her, and wasn't that a habit to get out of fast?
"M-My eyes are natural, I've seen pictures, and a lot of American Kanmusu have s-star-spangled eyes, I heard even one of the Battleships, Iowa, the nameship, has them." The girl stuttered out, before seeming to get her verbal feet back under her. "My name is Pham Ngu Lao, Frigate and Commander of the Peoples Navy of Vietnam, though I used to be called USS Absecon. Chitose has told me a lot about you." She cast a look towards Hakone for some reason as the girl talked to Chitose. "A lot of it actually makes a lot more sense now, is it true you capsized that Heavy Cruiser with just your tonnage?"
"Yup, don't know why people make such a big deal about it, from what I've seen a lot of Kanmusu and Abyssals like to prance around in really high rudder heels, I just snapped Hakone's off from below and she went flying, it was kind of funny to watch actually." Lao worriedly glanced down at her own black shoes, the rudder was relatively small, but still had quite a high heel to it. "Ah! Don't worry about it! I only ever did it the once so far, and you're a friend! Friends don't drag friends underwater screaming, now do they?" I smiled widely.
"Y-Yeah...Friends, totally." Lao stammered out, was she nervous or something? "So, Chitose mentioned you killed a Cruiser Princess, is that true?" She said, obviously trying to change the subject, I nodded, bringing up my right arm to rub at my left eye, the dang thing still wouldn't move.
"Yeah, shot a 109 right into her gut, blew open her inner compartments midship, but she had enough time to blow my left arm off at the elbow before I bifurcated her with my Mk48's, fairly certain the fires were what finished her off. Hakone said that her main magazine detonated while I was out cold." Lao looked a bit puzzled as she stepped a little closer to me.
"How did she manage to hit you underwater?"
"I wasn't." I looked at her shocked face. "We threw down in the ruins of the city, we were on a roof when my dumb-butt fired off two 109's into her, she deflected one into the roof we were on, we both fell down, she shot me, started to throttle me, then my Rigging shot off two Torps into her back." I pointed at my eyepatch. "Not the brightest idea I've had, shrapnel from her hull punctured my CAC, knocked me out cold."
"How did you survive? A cookoff that close would shred anyone, let alone submarine armor." We started to walk, giving the family some space as I gave my reply.
"Once Hakone finished off the Tsu she was fighting, she managed to track me down amid a massed bombardment from an oversized Destroyer formation on the River. The stupid fish didn't know where we were, so they were just flattening everything, she got together with Countess, who finished off the two Ne-class Cruisers that ran after her, and together they dragged my butt into the general hospital's basement, that's where they met up with the brothers there." I nodded towards the men, who'd finally stopped hugging and were talking animatedly in Vietnamese, likely sharing their time with us. "They waited out the bombardment, fixed me up and got my arm beaten back on, we had a little chase with the Destroyers, and here we are!" I bowed, crossing my good arm across my chest. "One USS Georgia at your service! With friends, of course."
Lao took a second look at Countess as I mentioned them, then a third. "She took on two Ne-class at once? They are usually almost as hard to take out as a Ru! Not that I've done either, but still." She looked harder at the woman, Countess had started to gnaw on a pipe she'd picked up. "What, what IS she anyway? I don't recognize the class, and I'm fairly certain almost every type there is has been involved with this theatre at least once. The profile almost looks like an aircraft Carrier, but... Is she another Princess-class?" I shook my head.
"Nah, I made her. Put together parts from a Wo, a Ne, several I-class destroyers... Probably some other stuff I don't remember." I put up my hand in a placating manner at Lao's horrified look as she reassessed Countess, now able to spot where one Abyssal ended and another began now that I'd named the class's involved in her reconstruction. "Chill out! She's totally fine! She may be hungry all the time, and we REALLY need to get the woman to a repair bath, but she's a good girl, aren't you Countess?" I said the last to the ship in question as she passed us by.
"Ra̵i̷n̶s̶ ̷g̴e̷t̶t̶i̴n̵g̶ ̸h̶e̶a̵v̵i̴e̴r̶,̷ ̷m̶i̵g̷h̶t̴ ̴b̵e̴ ̷t̷h̶e̶ ̵D̶e̶s̸t̶r̶o̶y̷e̵r̵s̷ ̴f̸i̵n̸a̵l̵l̵y̶ ̶c̴o̶m̷i̴n̴g̷ ̵u̵p̵r̴i̶v̷e̶r̵ ̸a̶f̵t̸e̴r̷ ̸u̴s̸." We both looked up at the stormclouds forming slowly overhead as Countess continued. "I̶ ̸s̸e̸e̶ ̴a̷ ̷b̸i̸c̷y̶c̴l̸e̵ ̴o̶v̷e̸r̵ ̵t̶h̷e̵r̵e̵,̵ ̷i̷f̵ ̵y̴o̸u̶ ̷n̶e̶e̴d̶ ̶m̶e̸ ̷I̸'̸l̴l̸ ̸b̵e̶ ̷g̴e̵t̶t̷i̶n̶g̷ ̷t̸h̸e̸ ̴a̷l̷u̶m̷i̴n̵u̶m̷.̷ ̸H̸i̶,̶ ̴b̸y̵ ̶t̸h̴e̵ ̴w̸a̸y̵,̶ ̷I̷'̵m̸ ̵C̴o̸u̵n̶t̴e̴s̷s̶,̵ ̸y̵e̵s̸,̶ ̸m̶y̸ ̷v̵o̶i̷c̵e̴ ̸i̴s̶ ̷b̸a̴d̶,̶ ̴y̷e̸s̵ ̸I̷'̶m̴ ̴w̶o̴r̵k̵i̸n̵g̵ ̴o̸n̵ ̴i̷t̸." I sighed as the large woman moved off, I turned to Lao with a look of sad acceptance.
"They grow up so fast, don't they?" I made to continue as my Captain got my attention. "Excuse me, Captains talking to me," I said as I turned my attention inwards. "What?"
"We have contacts to the South! Radar picked them up at max range, whatever it is, they aren't trying to hide!"
"How many?" If it was just the Destroyers we'd left in our wake I think-
"Too damn many!" I didn't like the slight panic creeping into my Captain's tone as I turned to Lao.
"You have radar?" The girl nodded. "Check it, to the south." I could see the moment she did, all the color draining from her face. "Something tells me we should get moving, fast." The Commander nodded, before speaking loudly in Vietnamese, The two men with Lao stiffened, before sprinting off, probably towards the truck they'd arrived in, Duc's father stopping to pick the younger boy up as Giang lugged his dropped rifle behind him. The small Commander turned towards me, former hesitation seemingly forgotten.
"We need to warn Long Xuyen and get the defenses ready, something tells me you killing one of her lieutenants pissed off Jersey, and if the force is that big? She's with them." Well, crap, just when I'd thought I'd be able to get a breather too.
"What are we waiting for?" I asked rhetorically, before calling out to the others. "Girls! Get to the transport! we have a metric heck-tonne of Jersey coming down the river on our heads! Let's get out of here!" They stood in silent shock for a second, before seemingly confirming with their Captains as they sprang into action. Lao began to run as well as I kept pace with her.
"You still have any 109's left?!" She said, as we got within sight of the truck, the men already there startled at me and my girls, but Lao barked something at them in panicky Vietnamese and they seemed to forget about us quick enough in their mad scramble into the vehicle.
"Haven't had any good meals in a while, but I still got a fair amount, why?" I said as I scrambled into the passenger side of the cab, followed by Chitose as Countess and Hakone packed into the back with everyone else. Lao got in the driver's seat, squeezing one of the militiamen between us, feet barely able to touch the pedal as she slammed the door shut, and after flinging the broken-off door handle into the back turned the ignition.
"We're going to need them, all of them!" She slammed her metal to the pedal, and the truck started off with a lurch.
Something told me after all this there would be fingerprints indented into the steering wheel.
