Chapter 11

Training and Relaxation

"Try this one!" Javelin shouted from her position, hidden behind an outcropping. The Royal Navy destroyer threw a pair if targets underhand, skipping the ceramic disks across the water like a stone.

A burst or four lasers vaporized the targets before they had bounced more than a few times.

"How about you actually give me a challenge!" Procurer dramatically blew on the barrels of her wrist mounted quad laser battery.

"Yeah! Give it to her!" Unicorn shouted from beside her.

"Alright! Take this!" Javelin gathered nine targets in her left hand, with a quick flick of her right hand she launched three high, then three low before launching the last three down the middle, in an attempt to force Procurer to split her aim.

"Tch..." Procurer initially aimed for the high targets, but quickly shifted her aim to the lower targets in order to strike them before they disappeared bellow the surface. The number of targets Javelin threw forced Procurer to open fire with both her quad lasers and her assault cannons, filling the air with dozens of red lasers. Procurer swept her aim across the targets, relying on her Anti-Starfighter sub programming and sheer volume of fire to destroy all the targets.

"You... got them all? Wow! You really got them all!" Unicorn exclaimed after Procurer stopped shooting.

"Of course." Procurer caught her breath. "The Lucrehulk carrier was designed for total airspace control." Procurer's red eyes glowed with pride. "I won't be beaten by mere fighters!"

"To be fair, those were targets and not fighters. They weren't even flying at you!" Javelin cut in as she left her hiding place and joined them. "That was still pretty good though!"

"Hmp..." Procurer glared at her. "Do you doubt me? Throw the targets at me if you want, I'll strike them down all the same."

"Challenge accepted." Javelin smirked. "Though I had something a little more advanced than that in mind." She gestured to Unicorn. "How about a little mock battle with Unicorn and I?"

"A mock battle?" Procurer asked. "Like in a combat sim or something?"

"Simulations are Iron Blood's specialty, the Royal Navy doesn't have them." Javelin answered. "What we'll be doing is a live fire exercise with special ammunition."

"So we're just going to shoot each other!?" Procurer was incredulous. "You can't be serious."

"No, I'm Javelin." Unicorn's groan told Procurer she was missing some kind of joke. "But as I said, we'll use special ammo. It still hurts to get shot and you can definitely still end up with some broken bones, but it won't explode or light you on fire." Javelin explained. "We generally try to target each other's rigging as well, rather than shooting each other directly."

"How uncivilized." It sounded barbaric to Procurer.

"I-it's not so bad..." Unicorn chimed in. "It can actually be kinda fun... when everyone get into it."

"Yeah! It really gets your blood pumping!" Javelin agreed. "Hmm... but you only have lasers don't you? Can you set them to stun or something?" She asked.

"Probably..?" Procurer began searching through her HUD. There was a lot of data to digest. By the Marker, even her submenu's submenus had their own submenus! "There's a lot of things I can adjust about my rigging. I'm having trouble finding a setting like that." Procurer admitted. "It doesn't help that all the data from my carrier ring is still active. I could maybe find something given enough time, but probably not today."

"Alright. I'll think of an alternative." Javelin thought for a moment, with her hand on her chin. "How about... an exercise in dodging attacks while maintaining AA coverage?" She asked. "Unicorn will send planes and I'll shoot at you. All you need to do is avoid being hit."

"Just survive against the firing squad, huh? So what's the lose condition?" Procurer asked.

"Hmm... normally we'd call it after your rigging was damaged a certain amount." Javelin answered. "But your rigging is integrated into that plate armor, so we'll be shooting at you directly." The J-class destroyer put a hand to her chin again. "How about "first blood"? We'll call it a loss the second you get hurt."

"So if it hits me and I get hurt I lose, but I'm fine if I deflect it?" Procurer smiled smugly. "In that case, you don't stand a chance!"

"We'll see, won't we!" Javelin shot back. She and Unicorn skated away to put some distance between them before starting.

"Get ready!" Unicorn slid into position and took a combat stance. "Unicorn... will do her best!"

"Ready!?" Javelin shouted. After Procurer waved her affirmation the purple haired destroyer raised her hand. "Three! Two! One..! SORTIE!" She chopped her hand down with the last word. Her guns roared as she sent her opening salvo in Procurer's direction.

"Tch!" The Lucrehulk shipgirl threw herself sideways to dodge the shots. She quickly cut power to her auxiliary systems and shunted the newfound excess into her frontal shields. The Royal Navy shipgirls didn't waste time sending their next attack. A pair of Unicorn's fighters lined up and dove towards her for a strafing run. Procurer took aim at the approaching fighters, only to have Javelin take advantage of her distraction and fire another salvo.

Procurer gunned her repulsors and shot upwards, jumping over Javelin's shells. The fighters were not so easily avoided. They pulled out of their dive and roared past her, peppering her with machine gun fire as they went. The core ship replied in kind, pivoting in place and downing the fighters with her quads after they had passed.

"98%!? Two measly fighters shaved off 2%!?" Procurer was shocked when she checked her shield capacity. "This is outrageous! It's unfair! How could two fighters possibly do that much damage!" She should've been able to withstand fighter attacks indefinitely while taking practically no damage at all. There had to be some reason they were hitting her so hard.

Procurer was so flabbergasted by the damage she didn't notice Javelin's next salvo until it was too late. She tried to jump aside, but an HE shell exploded against her chest plate, knocking her back. Her shields dropped to 90%.

"Physical munitions." Procurer suddenly realized. "My shields are designed to stop lasers, so they're struggling to take repeated hits from physical attacks." It was a bit like trying to push through an asteroid field, where shields fell at an increased rate. Turbolazers had been the standard for millennia and shields had specialized to match. Now that specialization was hamstringing their effectiveness.

Procurer pushed her revelation aside as she dodged another volley. Unicorn had launched more fighters while she had been distracted. The support carrier had eight planes in the air now, formed into two squadrons of four. The squadrons split up and prepared to hit Procurer from opposite directions.

"She's trying to force me to split my attention..." Javelin had done something similar with the targets earlier. "...and Javelin will shoot me while I'm distracted." Procurer realized. "Well, it won't work! Eat this!"

Procurer activated all available weapons, including her shoulder mounted Turbolazers. She aimed at one of the squadrons with her right arm and took aim, while simultaneously spraying at the other squadron with the guns on her off hand. She picked the right squad apart with her guns before they could get within strafing range, all the while watching Javelin out of the corner off her eye.

Procurer's vigilance was rewarded when Javelin fired another volley. The Lucrehulk cut her repulsors in response, dropping her altitude until she was just above the water again. Javelin's shells flew by overhead as Procurer pivoted to fire at the remaining fighters on her left. Unicorn's planes were nearly on top of her.

Procurer unleashed all her weapons on them, creating a veritable wall of red lasers. The first three fighters buckled under the onslaught, practically vaporized by the volume of fire they received. The rear fighter fared slightly better, having unintentionally used the debris of the first plane as a shield. Procurer still hit it multiple times despite it's good luck, and the final fighter burst into flames as it careened toward her.

"Aie!" Procurer involuntarily froze as the image of a flame cloaked Venator flashed through her mind. The burning fighter smashed into the stunned Lucrehulk, splattering her with burning aviation fuel as it disintegrated on impact. The force of the impact caused her to stumble back and shook Procurer to her senses.

"I'm on fire!" Procurer nearly panicked again, but the she realized her shields were still holding at well over 80% "Huh... guess I'll just let it burn off then?" The Lucrehulk had never had to deal with a fire on the outside of her hull before. She quickly retook her combat stance and prepared for Javelin's next volley.

Instead she found the J-class destroyer sprinting towards her with a worried look on her face. Javelin reached behind her and pulled out a red cylinder from her rigging.

"Wait, isn't that...?" Procurer's train of thought came to a screeching halt as Javelin closed in and swung the red cylinder into position in front of her.

FSHHH! Javelin discharged the fire extinguisher, drenching the Lucrehulk in flame retardant foam.

"Ack! Stop! Stop it!" Procurer spluttered, desperately trying to block the fire extinguisher's nozzle with her hands. For some reason the foam ignored her shields entirely, coating her face despite her best efforts to block it. Some even got into her mouth as she was begging Javelin to stop!

"Don't worry! The fire is out now! You're safe!" Procurer barely heard Javelin as she fell over, violently retching from the vile tasting chemicals. "Unicorn! Try to ease the pain of her burns!"

"Ok!" Procurer felt Unicorn place her small hand on her unarmored back. "Huh..? She's not injured at all?" Unicorn sounded confused.

"What? That can't be right!" Javelin exclaimed. "Check again! She's clearly in pain!"

"I'm in pain..." Procurer grabbed the front of Javelin's shirt and dragged her down to eye level. "...Because you sprayed me in the eyes with that blasted foam!"

"I'm sorry!" Javelin squeaked "I was trying to stop you from burning to death!"

"Have a little faith." Procure released Javelin and stood up. "My shields were barely even drained, and my doonium armor could've taken the heat!" She huffed, crossing her arms. "You better get back to your position, because we'll be here for a few more hours before you even break my shields."

"How about we call it a draw?" Javelin asked. "I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Besides, I'd like to check your skills later too." The destroyer continued. "Come'on let's go get cleaned up!"

"Well... as long as I didn't lose." Procurer's voice softened. "I definitely won't say no to cleaning my hair either." With the Lucrehulk's agreement the three Kansen started making their way back towards the base.

"Um... by the way Miss Procurer... what was that you where saying about a shield?" Unicorn asked.

"My shields were at 87% after the fighter hit me." Procurer reported "The fire wasn't really draining it either. I probably could've held you guys off for a long time." She continued. "I was thinking of shifting to double front and neglect the rear, but I wasn't sure if you would try circling around."

"But... I didn't see you deploy a shield. It looked like my attacks hit you." Unicorn said. "I thought I was doing a good job..."

"You were hitting me, from a tactical perspective anyway. The shield just stopped you from damaging me." Procurer frowned. "Don't you guys have shields...?"

"No... shields are a really rare skill." Unicorn answered. "Miss Illustrious can summon shields to protect her allies, but you can see her's. They're like glowing bubbles."

"There's a Cruiser in Iron Blood that can summon shields too." Javelin contributed. "Her's are made up of interlocking panels, and they rotate around you in three clusters." She gestured with her weapon. "She told us Nimi had the potential to do it too...but..." The young destroyer trailed off.

"I think mine are more like Miss Illustrious's. It's just that they only glow when something hits them. See?" Procurer demonstrated by smacking her chest plate with her fist. Instead of clanging together, her armor silently rippled with a rainbow of colors. The colors radiated out from the impact point for a short distance, before disappearing as her shields absorbed the impact.

"Wow... they're so pretty!" Unicorn marveled. "And the fire didn't even damage them? They must be really strong!"

"Of course." Procurer preened. "A Lucrehulk's shields are the strongest available. We're extremely important assets."

"You should clean the foam out of your hair before getting so prideful." Javelin teased. Unicorn giggled as Procurer glowered at Javelin's back and the three of them made their way back to the base.

Procurer was expecting to go back Bunker they had spent the previous night in, or at least the showers next to the barracks, but instead Javelin led the way into the nearby town of Valleta. The three Kansen walked the streets for a time before arriving at a large shop with broken windows.

"Sardinian Style Bathhouse" Procurer read the battered sign above the door. "Um... isn't the Sardegna Empire the ones bombing us?"

"Why do you think all the windows are smashed? I half expect the place to be destroyed every time I come by." Javelin replied. "I got permission to use this place from the owners, just before they were chased off." She shook her head sadly as she unlocked the door. "At least we're guaranteed our privacy here."

Procurer and Unicorn followed Javelin into the darkened lobby. Shards from the shattered windows crunched underneath their shoes as Javelin locked the door behind them.

"I'll go turn the main power on. Wait here for a minute please!" Javelin used her rigging to light the way as she moved deeper into the facility.

"Javelin really likes this place." Unicorn made small talk as they waited.

"Oh? I'll be looking forward to seeing why!" Procurer said. "I wondered why we came here instead of just using the showers at the fort?"

"It's... uncomfortable to use the main showers." Unicorn grimaced. "The soldiers use those showers too..."

"I hadn't thought of that. I've only used the showers in the bunker." Procurer said.

"That's what we usually do too." Unicorn said. "But it's nice to come here sometimes, even though it takes a lot more effort." The support carrier giggled as she continued. "Javelin has been chasing the Onsen experience ever since Ayanami took us to one several years ago. This is the closest thing she could find!"

The lights flickered on around them, revealing a classically themed lobby covered in broken glass. Aside from the windows, several lights near the front of the building had also been smashed. The front desk was overturned, and the word "Traitor" had been crudely scrawled on the wall behind it.

"Come on, let's get changed!" Unicorn, unperturbed by the damage to the lobby, led Procurer through a door labeled "Apodyterium". Javelin rejoined them just after they finished getting undressed.

"I've got one of the smaller baths warming up, and I turned on the steam room too!" The destroyer announced. "Oops! That's the small Calidarium and the Sudatoria!" She corrected her terminology. "We'll head to the Sudatoria after we take a quick shower. We can wait there while the bath warms up."

Procurer wasn't sure what to make of the Sudatoria. At first, it was uncomfortably hot as they sat around in their towels. Then, a few minutes later, the heat started to feel really nice! After blissfully sweating it out for about fifteen minutes she started to feel light headed, so Javelin dragged her out and made her take a cold shower. All in all, it seemed like the experience was a net positive, but Procurer wasn't sure she could handle it alone.

The Calidarium was next, and Procurer definitely enjoyed that one. It was extremely awkward being naked in front of others, but Javelin and Unicorn didn't seem to think much of it, so she pushed through her embarrassment. The reward for her perseverance was the delightfully warm water of the bath.

"Ahhhhhh!" Procurer shuddered as she lowered herself into the water. Her muscles, already loosened by the steam room, practically popped with relief. She submerged herself up to her chin, closing her eyes and simply enjoying herself. Laying around in the bath like this was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. There was one problem however.

"Someone keeps looking at me..." Procurer seemed to have developed a sixth sense for these kinds of things when she gained this organic body. She cracked one of her eye lids just in time to catch Javelin glancing at her with furrowed brows.

"Is there something the matter?" Procurer asked lazily.

"Uh... you said you were originally a cargo ship right?" Javelin asked. "For the Trade Confederation?"

"That's the Trade Federation." Procurer corrected. "But yes, I was once a cargo ship."

"Hmm... maybe cargo ships are all just massive..." Javelin mumbled, her eyes flicking to Procurer's chest. "Kashino was also..."

"Huh..? I didn't quite catch that." Procurer could barely hear Javelin's voice.

"Oh! Uh... It's nothing!" Javelin blushed red with embarrassment. "Anyway! So, you said you also said you were a Battleship for the Confederacy of Independent Systems." The destroyer changed the subject. "How does that work?"

"The Trade Federation is a member of the Confederacy." Procurer explained. "The Viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray, is actually third in line to lead the Separatist Council. He holds that position because the

Trade Federation has committed more to the Separatist cause than any other." The Lucrehulk motioned to herself. "I'm part of that contribution. I was retrofitted into a Battleship shortly before the war started."

"You said you where a Battleship with a carrier loadout right?" Javelin asked. "How can you be a Battleship and a Carrier at the same time?"

"Most large warships function as Carriers in some capacity where I'm from." Procurer answered. "I'm considered a Battleship because of the amount guns I carry. I'm a carrier loadout though, so I'm more specialized for airspace control. My guns are generally lighter and more suitable for engaging small and fast targets." The Lucrehulk continued. "I have a large air wing for the same reason."

"So what's a Battleship loadout then?" Javelin asked. "Assuming that's what the other loadout is."

"The Battleship loadout is better for direct ship to ship combat than I am." Procurer answered. "Don't get me wrong, I can take on a Venator or three, but they're on another level. They have a lot more armor, and even more Turbolazer emplacements than I do." The black haired carrier explained. "Their abilities come at a cost though. Literally. They're more expensive and time consuming to convert. The extra armor and reinforcement of their cargo bays lowers their carrying capacity too, so they have smaller fighter compliments."

"How big is your air wing then?" Javelin asked. "Just for reference."

"Right now it's zero." Procurer grimaced. "All my hangars are in my carrier ring, thus the name. When I get it back I'll have around 1,500, minus the squadrons I sacrificed at Ryloth."

"Wha!?" Unicorn jerked with surprise and fell over into the water. She reemerged, coughing and spluttering, so Procurer started to help Unicorn clear her lungs of the water by patting her back.

"1500..? How..? How can that even be possible?" She choked out "I only carry 33!"

"Only 33..?" Procurer suddenly had a weird feeling. "Unicorn how, um... how big is your ship? If it's not weird for me to ask?"

"I'm about... 200 meters long and 30 meters wide." The flabbergasted support carrier answered.

"Only 200..." Procurer sat back against the edge and slowly sank back into the water. "And how does that stack up against the rest of the Royal Navy? How big are you Javelin?"

"I'm about half Unicorn's length." Javelin answered slowly, still struggling to process the size of Procurer's air wing. "Unicorn is only about 25 meters shorter than Miss Illustrious. Her majesty is a little smaller than Unicorn, so I guess she's average sized when you think about it." The destroyer answered.

"Average huh." Procurer sat and processed that for a moment. "Average..." The Lucrehulk had another thought. "How many capital ships do you have?"

"Well, I'm not sure I should just answer that, you know?" Javelin replied. "I mean, I trust you! You seem nice and everything!" The destroyer wrung her hands. "But with 1,500 fighters..."

"Just... tell me a rough number, for fun." Procurer closed her eyes again. "You don't have to tell me their classes or load outs or anything either."

"Let's say... 40." Javelin gave her a number.

"40." Procurer suddenly felt the urge to laugh "40! 40 ships that are around 200 meters long!" She began laughing hysterically.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Unicorn asked, but the Lucrehulk simply continued laughing to herself.

"Procurer..?" Javelin grew concerned. "Are you ok?" She touched the larger girl's shoulder.

"Haha...ha...hooo." Procurer wheezed as she got herself under control.

"What was that all about?" Javelin asked. "You went pretty crazy for a minute."

"Oh, you know. Just something funny with my loadout." Procurer answered.

"Is there... something you left out?" Unicorn asked. "Because 1,500 fighters is already pretty crazy."

"I also carry some support vessels." Procurer answered. "C-9979 Landing Craft. They're basically a militarized version of the cargo barges I carried when I was a civilian cargo ship." She smiled to herself. "I guess we both got converted, huh?"

"What's so special about the barges." Javelin asked.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just remembering that sometimes the Confederacy converts those barges into light carriers." Procurer answered. "They're pretty terrible in combat, but they're ok for running patrols and stuff, when nothing else is available anyway. They carry about 30 fighters."

Procurer put her arm around Unicorn. "That's not the only thing they've got in common with you! You're about the same size too! They're 210 meters long" She motioned with her free hand. "They're much wider though, because of their 370 meter wingspan."

"Wingspan?" Unicorn was confused. "Then they're flying barges?"

"Yeah. The wings add some maneuverability and reduce strain on the repulsors during long flights." Procurer said.

"And you carry these barges alongside your fighters." Javelin began to realize where this was going. "How many?"

"You really want to know?" Procurer asked.

"Yes." Javelin resolved herself. "How many C-9979 transports do you carry?" She asked again.

"Fifty."

Authors Note: It's been a little bit huh? I got sidetracked writing a different story, "Waltzing Matilda". Sometimes a guy just wants to write about his shipfu, you know? Since I'm apparently physically incapable of writing more than one chapter of anything a month, "Fallen Stars" suffered. Oops.

Anyway, Lucrehulks are also really big huh? I felt like I needed to bring that up for Procurer like I did with did with Defender. She's even bigger, obviously. She kinda power crept the whole RN in one move. I nerfed her shields, by having them be weaker to physical shells, to even it out a bit but she's still OP. She is meant to conquer worlds though, so I guess that's fair.

That brings me to another conundrum though; would the C-9979 transports be Kansen?

I never even considered this when I started, but looking at the numbers for this chapter really made me think about it. They're very comparable to the carriers in Azur Lane, as Procurer told Unicorn in the chapter. At the same time, they're carried around by Lucrehulks the same way Unicorn carriers her fighters around and they don't have Hyperdrives so they can't function as warships on their own. It's something to think about.

Procurer's C-9979's are on her carrier ring right now, so I've got some time to decide at least.