Lao poked her head around the tree, scanning the clearing the fleet's position was overlooking, "Did she get them?" she asked, as Hakone scooted up to her.
"I think so, look," The Ri-class stretched out a pale arm to point to where flames cast the surrounding area in an orange glow, "should we put that out? plants burn, don't they?" she asked a tad worriedly.
"Wait until we get confirmation from Georgia, THEN we can worry about starting a forest fire." Chitose said quietly, kneeling next to a slowly recovering Anne. She put her hand on the ship's shoulder, "How are you? Still struggling with your turbines?" She asked gently.
"N̸o̷t̵ ̵a̷n̵y̸m̸o̶r̶e̸,̶ ̸o̶n̷e̶ ̵o̵f̶ ̸t̴h̶e̶ ̶i̸n̶s̶t̶a̶l̵l̶e̸d̶ ̷b̸o̶i̵l̸e̴r̴s̷ ̷h̶a̸d̶ ̴a̶ ̶r̷u̷p̴t̷u̵r̷e̵ ̴w̸e̸ ̴d̶i̴d̸n̵'̴t̴ ̷s̸e̴e̵,̵ ̸h̷a̷d̴ ̷t̸o̷ ̷c̵u̵t̶ ̵i̵t̴ ̴o̷u̶t̷ ̸o̷f̷ ̴t̷h̶e̴ ̶s̸y̷s̵t̶e̷m̷ ̴f̷o̴r̸ ̵p̴r̸e̸s̴s̶u̸r̵e̴ ̶t̸o̶ ̷r̵i̴s̶e̷ ̶a̴g̷a̷i̴n̷." Anne said, trying to be quiet despite the loud crackles in her voice. The woman had been struggling ever since the fleet had quickly had to hide from the rest of the Abyssal fleet, they'd had to practically drag the girl into the small dip in the undergrowth they rested in. Diane, who now sported a large, off-color patch of hull on one side, had to do the lions share of the work, putting one of Anne's arms over her shoulder to practically drag the converted Carrier away.
Said Battleship put an arm over Anne's opposite shoulder, "Here," she offered Anne another piece of steel, which Anne gratefully took, "How is the spacing for the new barbette? It is nottoo tight, is it?" she asked, concerned.
Anne swiveled her new 16" turret in reply, there was a promising lack of grinding noises, which was a good sign, "I̴'̸l̸l̶ ̶h̶a̴v̶e̸ ̷t̷o̶ ̸t̸e̴s̵t̵ ̸i̶t̴ ̸a̸t̷ ̵s̵o̷m̴e̵ ̸p̵o̶i̸n̵t̶," she said, rubbing the connection port to her main hull, "s̶u̸p̷p̴o̷r̶t̵s̷ ̷m̶i̴g̵h̸t̵ ̴t̸e̷a̶r̴ ̴f̸r̷o̷m̵ ̵t̶h̸e̸ ̶r̴e̵c̵o̶i̵l̴ ̸o̸f̶ ̵a̴c̷t̵u̵a̶l̴l̶y̴ ̸f̴i̵r̷i̴n̵g̷ ̵i̶t̵,̶ ̴m̸i̴g̷h̴t̶ ̸h̷a̴v̸e̸ ̸t̸o̷ ̷r̵e̴i̸n̴f̸o̴r̷c̵e̸ ̴t̴h̸e̷ ̶b̵u̴l̴k̷h̴e̴a̶d̴s̷ ̶a̵r̵o̶u̸n̷d̶ ̴i̵t̶." she finished, speaking around the steel she was chewing on.
Diane opened her mouth to reply, but was inturrupted by her Princess coming in over the fleetwide channel.
"Guys!" There was a pause, "Girls, WHATEVER! Get over here! Over."
Chitose blinked owlishly, before coming in over the channel, "Georgia! What's wrong? Are you hurt?!"
The Seaplane Tender rose to a crouch, exiting cover and quickly approaching the flames at a half-sprint.
"Nah, I'M fine, but I need help dragging this Battleship clear of the blast zone, just incase that Ru has any magazines left to cook off! Over!" Came the reply. Chitose continued onward as Anne made to follow, rising to a half crouch before falling back again with a huff. Lao looked over.
"Diane, you come with me after Chitose, Anne, you stay put and keep on top of your repairs." The small Frigate ordered sternly, only the most minor of tremors audible in her voice.
"Y̴o̶u̸'̵r̴e̸ ̴n̴o̷t̶ ̸m̶o̸m̸,̷ ̵d̷o̸n̸'̶t̷ ̸t̶e̶l̸l̸ ̷m̶e̷ ̴w̸h̸a̶t̸ ̷t̵o̷ ̶d̷o̶,"came Anne's saucy reply, struggling to stand again. Lao sighed, slightly frustrated.
"Do you want me to tell Chitose and Georgia you're being difficult?" She tried.
The ship froze in her efforts to sit up, before slumping back down next to the scrap pile they'd gathered. Lao nodded, and after gesturing to the silent Diane to follow, broke cover to chase after Chitose.
With Chitose:
Chitose ran forward, chewing her lip in worry as she neared the blast zone. Eventually, she saw the form of the Submarine, lit as it was by the light of the oil-fire that was slowly spreading out from the Ru-class burning nearby. "Georgia!" Chitose finally seemed to notice the Battleship the small girl was struggling with, "Wha-"
"Oh hey! Finally..." Georgia looked over, popping of a grin at the confused Tender, before gesturing to a piece of metal that glinted dully in the light a few feet away, "Quick! you grab the leg over there, you!" She pointed at Diane, who was coming up behind Chitose, "Grab her under the arms and start dragging, I'll keep her intact leg off the-"
'Snap!'
The leg Georgia tried to lift finally gave way, too much stress placed on too-little metal, Georgia fell back with a muffled 'Oof!' Before looking at the severed limb in her hands.
"-Ground... Uhm..." She waggled the leg, "I'll, carry the other leg?" she said weakly.
Chitose paused, staring, before quickly shaking her head, "What the hell happened? Why are you-" She noticed fairies in Royal Navy sailors' uniforms, scurrying around in a panic in the newly-made stump, "Georgia! She's still alive!"
Georgia grinned, setting the leg down carefully, "I know! Didn't you hear her surrender?"
Chitose blinked as Diane passed her, dutifully grabbing her fellow Ta-class under the armpits, "She... surrendered?" Chitose said, disbelievingly.
Georgia went over to the the other leg, dragging it over to the one she'd accidentally broken off, "Yeah! Though... hey, what radio frequency are you normally on, anyway?"
That brought the Tender's confusion up short, "Ah! Same as I usually am, 32 MHz, why?"
Georgia nodded, "Hmm, that explains it! I was talking to them on 23," Lao finally caught-up to the longer Diane's strides, stopping to stare gormlessly at the Submarine as she gathered the Ta's legs together like firewood, "Basically, I offered them the choice of either blowing up, going away, or giving up!" Georgia gestured at one of the legs for Chitose, before taking the other one, hefting it over her shoulder with a grunt, "The Ru-class picked blowing up, the Ne-class picked flight, and this big girl-" She patted the thigh of the leg, "Picked surrendering to yours truly!"
"She surrendered?" Chitose asked.
"Yes."
"To you?"
Georgia blinked, before looking around briefly, she looked back, "Yeeees? Who else would she surrender to? The mosquitos?"
"I...then why is she unconscious?"
"Wouldyou wanna be conscious for this?" Georgia jostled the leg over her shoulder, getting shouts from the fairies within, "if I remember correctly, you weren't awake until I'd alreadycapped off your legs, imagine if you weren't!"
Chitose looked at the Battleships ruined pelvis, before giving a slight shudder, "...Alright that's fair, but we can't just keep her as-is," she pointed at tyhe cluster of inert 6" turrets, hanging limply from where they sat under the Ta's cape, "we'll have to take out her barbettes at least, otherwise she could take our bridges off when we least expect!"
Georgia's eyes widened a little, "Damn, your right, I'm definitely getting those legs back on though, or... well, someone's legs at least."
"Why? So the bitch can run off once our backs are turned?" Lao said, sending a scathing look at the inert ship.
Georgia startled, before looking at the Frigate as though she'd just noticed her presence, "Oh hey Lao!" she turned and gestured at Diane to set the Ta down, which she did with a grunt, "How nice of you to volunteer tocarry this god-awful heavy Ta-class Battleship!"
Lao backed off a step, "I... I didint..."
Georgia shrugged, making a 'what can you do?' gesture with her un-occupied hand, "Well, there's no way I'M going to do it, Anne's a bit under the weather right now, so she's not gonna do it." Lao grimaced at that, "I completely agree with the turrets, having a maybe hostile Battleship within talking distance with sixteen-inchers isasking for trouble, but I'm not carrying..." she looked at the Ta, nudging her with a foot.
The ship didn't budge.
"However many tonne's of steel she is, all the way to Da Nang!" She finished.
"Why not just scuttle her then?" The other ships looked at her in various levels of shock, "What?! She's an enemy ship! She's killed... Who knows how many people! And we're just gonna give her a pass for that?! Just...Take her prisoner and hope some jail could keep her there?!" Lao almost yelled the last, crossing her arms furiously.
"Of course not!" Georgia waved, "Don't you remember those papers I signed back in Gnome-pen?"
"Pnom-Penh, Georgia." Chitose said, quietly.
Loa scrunched her brows together, giving her an angry-puppy-like appearance, "What about it!? What does that have to do with ANY of this?!" She made an encompassing gesture around them angrily.
"Just one sec," Georgia's un-occupied arm shot down her shirt, rustling around as the two Kanmusu suddenly found more interesting things to look at beside the Submarine, "I know I had it somewhere... AH!" She pulled out a paper document.
"Ahem," she started reading, "the Office of Admiral are authorized to issue forth and grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal to any of His Majesty's Subjects or others, whom we shall deem fitly qualified in that Behalf for apprehending, seizing, and taking the Ships, Vessels and Goods belonging to the Fleets of the Abyss."
She pointed with the papers at the unconscious Ta-class, "That includesher, fairly certain."
"What does-" Lao started again.
"Shshshshh! Getting to it!" Georgia interrupted Lao to continue reading, in a faux-British accent.
"In addition! They are to bring the same to Judgement in any of His Imperial Majesty's Courts of Admiralty with his Dominions, for Proceedings and Adjudication and Condemnation to be thereupon had, according to the Court of Admiralty, and the Laws of Nations. These are, therefore, to will and require you to cause a Letter of Marque and Reprisals to be issued out of the High Court of Admiralty unto the United States Ship Georgia." She looked up from the paper, before tilting it to point at herself, "That's me by the way, last I checked anyway."
"That still doesn't explain anything!" Lao said, starting to go red in the face as she stamped her foot impatiently.
"Patience young Padawan!" Georgia chided, before flicking the document straight to read once more.
"And you are to keep an exact Journal of Proceedings, and therein particularly to take notice of all Prizes taken, the nature of such Prizes, the Time and Place of their being taken, the value of them as near as you can judge, as also the Situation, Motion and Strength of the Abyssal vessels encountered, as well as you can discover by the best Intelligence you can get; of which you shall from Time to Time as you shall have Opportunity, to transmit an Account to our Secretary. Provide always that security be given according to His Majesty's Instructions before mentioned; the Said Letters of Marque and Reprisal to continue in force until further orders, for which this shall be your Warrant."
Georgia looked up, "I'm having some of my bitty-girls write down the fight as we speak, date, time, all that jazz." She looked back down.
"Given under my Hand, and under both the Paulownia and Chrysanthemum Seal of Japan this bearing Date the 26th Day of January in the year of 2026, and in the 7th Year of His Imperial Majesty's Reign of the Reiwa Era!" She flicked the document one more time, before stuffing it down her shirt again.
"SO! What all that legalese verbal-diarrhea basically means, is that SHE-" she pointed at the Ta, "Is not our prisoner!"
Lao's expression was asconfused as it was angry now, "Then, then what the hell is she?!"
Georgia grinned.
"A Prize-ship!"