They didn't accept the offer, of course. Everyone knew Abyssals didn't fly well, and landed worse.
Caleuche waited for a moment, but when only Kitty Hawk seemed interested enough to approach the craft, she pouted.
"Oh, come now! Don't be shy."
Jersey let out a short laugh, not moving from where she stood, "Hahaha-no." She made a whirling motion with one finger, "You want all of the Himes in this entire theatre, to get into what's essentially a flying death box that's missing its fucking engine? One lucky asshole with an SKS could wipe out all of us in that thing, I'll walk, thanks."
Calueuche quirked a brow, "I've thought many things of you, New Jersey, but a coward was never one of them."
The Battleship-Hime simply rolled her eyes, "If I could, I'd sink you for that."
The Frigate simply nodded, "If you could, most likely, yes. Honestly, I don't see what the worry is all about, little Konnie here and I flew here just fine on this whirly-machine"
The named Ta-Class, who had been trying valiantly to remain unobtrusive in the presence of so many Risen, spoke up hesitantly, "It's, Uhm, a Helicopter, Miss Caleuche."
The ghostly Frigate looked at Konnie, "Oh! that's much better!" She turned to look at the Huey, as Kitty-Hawk gently ran a hand along its side, looking at a faded blue and white symbol painted near the "Hell-Copters! What an... oddly fitting name."
"I know this sigil." Kitty Hawk said, quietly, brushing a hand across a faded blue marker on the vehicle's side, "one hundred and seventy-third airborne... this bird went down near hill 875." She looked at the pilots, before shuddering, and turned to the white Frigate, "what have you done?"
Caleuche smiled, "Only what was asked of me."
Kitty Hawk drew herself up to her (not inconsiderable) full height, "What. Have. You. Done?" she ground out more forcefully.
"She's given us an army. I intend to use it." Jersey said.
Kitty Hawk turned to the Iowa-Class, eyes wide in outrage, "What!? She's made these... these perversions and you intend to actually use them!?"
New Jersey's face scrunched up in anger, before she looked back at the helicopter. Seeing the pilot staring directly back at her with his glowing eyes, she shuddered, before stepping closer to the Carrier.
Maddox stepped into her path, but the Iowa didn't pay the Destroyer-Hime any mind, simply leaning over the short girl to come face to face with the Carrier.
"We don't have the numbers to cover the ground we need, BatCat, you know that," Jersey said, uncharacteristically subdued, "If we're ever going to make any real progress, we need more coverage than those export-grade trash heaps Mae sends us can provide, we have enough heavy artillery now. What we need are grunts, things capable of holding the ground we take."
"And so we disturb the very men who fought on us, Black Dragon?"
"Disturb the men who let you get slowly torn to pieces and turned to kitchenware and bedpans?" Kitty Hawk reared back as the Battleship continued, "We came back to settle things, why not them? What makes the human rats so fucking special that they cant be 'disturbed', but we CAN?" Jersey turned towards Caleuche, "How... Selective, was your..." The Battleship struggled to come up with a better term, and failed, "fuck... spell, Anyway?" The Frigate merely blinked languidly, and Jersey specified, "Did you just bring back the Americans, or...?"
The Frigate shrugged, "You wished for expendable shock troops to fight in your little... war, and so I gave them to you." She held out her hands beseechingly, "A spirit is a spirit, I simply grabbed whatever I could find in the area and gave them... form. I can't be bothered with such petty things as former allegiance."
Kitty Hawk looked back, frowning at the pilot before turning back, "Are they... aware?"
Caleuche nodded, "Oh! Certainly! Well, to an extent." She made a broad gesture, "Sacrifices, both figurative and... Literal, were required to ensure obedience." She gave a short bark of laughter, "Couldn't have dissension in the ranks, now, could we?"
"You control their minds?" Asked Maddox quietly. Practically squished between the two Capitol ships, the Destroyer nonetheless looked at Caleuche with a spark of fear and disdain in her cold, dead-eyes.
"My goodness! If I'd known I'd have such a barrage of questions I'd have had cue-cards ready!" Caleuche crouched down to Maddox's height, letting out a soft giggle, as she looked at the small girl, "Their minds are their own, to be sure, they wouldn't be very effective if I had to micromanage every little thing about them! What I changed is their perspective. I..."
Caleuche brought herself up short then, a slow rueful grin appearing on her lips as she straightened, "My my my... I've become far too used to answering little Konnie's questions, haven't I? Suffice to say, no dear, I don't. But they will do as they are told regardless, to the best of their... abilities."
The Sailing ship turned to Jersey, who had stepped back from Kitty-Hawk, letting the Destroyer sandwiched between them move again, "That brings me to the next point, I wish to alter my... payment."
Jersey snarled, "I've yet to see anything more than a shitty hell-copt- HELICOPTER," she corrected herself, "and you are already looking to suck more out of me? If your troops are anywhere near competent this attack should provide everything you need and more-"
Caleuche waved her hand, "I've decided I don't care as much for this theatre's... resources, but I do have one add-on, a pittance really, one that I'm more than willing to make up for in... other, services."
Galveston, who had been mostly silent, stepped up on Jersey's flank, keeping a healthy distance from her oddly sullen Rigging as she did so, "I don't like this either, Jersey, but we should at least hear out what the witch wants first."
New Jersey sighed, running a hand down her face in a clear attempt to calm herself, before opening her eyes and looking at the Frigate, "Well?"
Caleuche blinked, before smiling slyly and stepping back, putting a slender arm around Konnie's shoulders before shuffling the Battleship forward, a simple task made slightly cumbersome due to their relatively bulky Rigging, "I wish to have this woman."
...
...
"I don't give a shit what or who you do in your free time, Caleuche. As long as it doesn't impact your work." Jersey said after a short pause, "Don't tell and I won't ask and all that shi-"
The wooden Frigate gasped out a bark of laughter as she brought a hand to her mouth, not letting go of the Ta-Class, who had gone a light shade of blue, "Oh! No! Nonono, my dear Jersey, I don't mean it in that manner, haha! Besides, I prefer my partners to be a little bit more... experienced, shall we say?" Caleuche rubbed Konnies' shoulder reassuringly, which seemed to only further the distress of the Fast Battleship, "No, I wish to have her in a more... literal, sense."
Jersey narrowed her eyes at the Frigate, putting her hands to her slim waist as she cocked her horned head, "You want one of my Battleships?"
The Frigate slowly nodded, smiling, "She's an inquisitive young thing, has a young, healthy mind, as well as a few other... requirements." She turned to look at Konnie, who returned it in shock, "I've even taught her one or two of my more... essential, tricks. She picked them up with only, minor, difficulty." She continued, splaying her hands beseechingly, "Ships of my talent are rare, and have been for a... well, a long time." She turned to look at the Fast Battleship, "I've always been... curious, you see, as to what a more... recent, vessel, could accomplish, should she study my art. You see, most of us are rather... antiquated, as ships."
New Jersey pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fuck, there's more of you assholes?"
Caleuche lightly waved away the question, "A mere handful, and I haven't personally met another since... oh, I think it was 1899 near Purto Rico. We had a small... disagreement, caused quite the storm, I was later told."
Kitty Hawk stepped forward, "She's Turner's ship, she gets to decide what happens to her fleet."
"And she answers to you, and you answer to me. And remind me, WHO was it that commissioned her construction in the first place?" Jersey said, looking at the Ta-Class contemplatively, "I've found myself less than impressed with the Class recently, myself. And I've had niggling suspicions that machiavellian-wannabe Installation Mae did something greasy with them."
Konnie's eyes widened, "M-Ma'am?"
New Jersey stepped forward, the Iowa-Class towering a good head and shoulders above the smaller Queen's Elizabeth, "Consider yourself reassigned, Construct." She turned to a grinning Caleuche, ignoring the fuming Carrier at her side, as well as the shocked Fast Battleship, "Now, you'd damn-well better show me what you are planning to do, to pay off what I just gave you one of my subordinate's Capital ships for. Wanted ship or not, she was fucking expensive."
Caleuche nodded, closing her eyes before giving a slight curtsy, "But of course, New Jersey-Hime, now, do be still for a moment."
The air grew cold, and the Frigate opened her eyes again, the faint white glow behind them stronger than before. A copious amount of white mist sloughed off of her form, adding to the fog around them. The mists quickly became so thick that from an outside view all that could be seen was white, with the dull glow of the Abyssal's eyes the only source of dim color. Color that winked out, one by one, the last being Caleuche's white orbs.
When the mist's faded, it was to reveal an empty parking lot, silent save for the cautious cawing of the returning local birds.