A/N: Alright, Chapter 2! Here we go! First off, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Yes, this took way to long to write and publish, but I do hope the wait was worth it. Thanks to those who enjoy the first chapter, and ill see you at the end of the chapter
I do not own Asur Lane. All credit goes to the creators
Chapter 2: A New Assignment, A New Fleet
Naval Station Pearl Harbor Docks, Hawaii, Eagle Union
April 17th, 2014
10:55 AM
It had been two days since Michigan had arrived in this new world, and initially, he was nervous to have to relearn everything about this world. However, after a crash course in how this world works, Michigan was relieved to know that not much was overly different from his world. Mostly it was the Shipgirls currently active and the names of the nations being different. The United States was now the Eagle Union, Russia became Northern Parliament, and so on and so forth. Everything else was the same. So as of now, Michigan was down at the harbor checking over his submarine and to keep sharp on his seamanship. Old habits meant he had to keep it secured and safe, as what was on board was technically classified material. As he manned the sail of his sub, a girl walked up with a soft smile, looking over the other ships in the harbor. Michigan recognized her as Vestal, the repair ship of the Eagle Union who was assigned to watch over Enterprise.
"Ahoy, Vestal. I wasn't expecting to see you down here so soon. What can I help you with?" Vestal looked up at the boy and her smile morphed into a more stern look. Michigan could take a guess and say she wasn't happy, and he knew why.
"USS Michigan. You better not be deploying. You're still under observation and until I say otherwise, you will not be going anywhere that isn't on this base." Michigan sighed at hearing this yet. For one, she added the USS to his name, which was how he introduced himself to her and had asked her to call him Michigan. So he could probably tell he was in some form of trouble. For another, he wanted to get back out there into thr open sea and do his job, but because he wasn't allowing anyone onboard without permission from the Commander of Submarine Force Pacific, and because Vestal wouldn't let him leave until she inspected his submarine, they were at a stalemate as the Commander had yet to get back to them, and they had asked for said permission two days ago after his arrival. Vestal had tried to get into the submarine and sneak around but didnt even make it past the hull, and Michigan had escorted her off the sail and wouldn't leave until the Commander gave her permission. This encounter had now spurred yet another argument that lasted for a good thirty minutes until Ark Royal walked up to the two of them with something in her hand. Ark Royal, or just Ark to Michigan, rubbed her temples in frustration until she spoke up and interrupted the two quarreling ships.
"Good gracious, you two. I could hear your argument from the entrance to the harbor and this js going to stop now!" She sighed and made a motion of her taking a deep breath. "Besides, the submarine Commander gave a response. Michigan, you are to immediately allow Vestal onboard to inspect your ship. Vestal, you're to not say a word about anything you see, and are to fill out an NDA once you head back to your clinic where Enterprise is waiting for you." The arguing ships, who were now quiet from the verbal fight and didn't know what she would do to them if they kept fighting, nodded in response and Michigan waived Vestal onboard, opening the hatch for her and watching her disappear into the bowels of the submarine. It took Vestal a solid two hours to perform her checks, with Michigan knowing where she was at all moments, before she finally reemerged topside, giving Michigan a nod. "Alright. I've seen what I need to see. Michigan, I hereby clear you for duty. However, as any of us have yet to see what you can do, I must stress that you don't work yourself too hard or do anything crazy."
Michigan smiled as Ark Royal spoke up. "Good to hear, because now that he is cleared, I need Michigan for a recon mission and as a form of a field test. Michigan, report to the briefing room in thirty minutes." With that, Ark walked off and left the two behind. Michigan rubbed the back of his head and looked towards Vestal. "Sorry about how I acted. I was just following protocol that's been set in place for reasons like this. Habits, you know?" Vestal nodded and patted his arm. "All good. I understand. I was just doing my job as well. Glad we could resolve this issue. Now you better get going. It's a twenty-minute walk to the briefing room from here, and I don't wanna hear that you were late to your first briefing with us." Michigan nodded and ran off, a small bounce in his step. He was finally going to get back out into the sea, and back into the fight.
Briefing Room, Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Eagle Union
April 17th, 2014
12:55 PM
'Made it. Just in time. Damn, I had to sprint here so I wouldn't be late. Ohio would kill me if she was here, as this time is unacceptable.' Michigan had finally made his way to the briefing room and panted softly to himself. He made it with just a few minutes to spare. To him, this wasn't good enough, but it would have to do for now. Walking into the room, he took note of four Shipgirls already present. He had met them the day he'd arrived. They were Juneau, Laffey, Javelin, and Sheffield. Two Light Cruisers and two Destroyers. To Michigan, this was an escort unit, and with him added to this makeshift group, they would be a sizable scouting fleet. He made sure to make small talk with the girls present and answered them that he was doing well and was cleared for duty. Their conversation was interrupted when a ship Michigan has never seen before entered the room. Wearing a short blue dress with long sleeves, white gloves, a sun hat slanted to the right side, and a Union Jack-style cape, she held a posture and an aura of elegance and grace. The rest of the ships formed up into a line and saluted, with Michigan following suit and saluted at well, though he didn't form up with the others as the way these girls operated was new to him. 'She must outrank these other ships or something. Lets not upset her that badly.' The new girl walked to the front and saluted, then looked at Michigan with a soft smile.
"You must be the Shipboy I've heard of. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hood, a battlecruiser and the pride of the Royal Navy. I heard this is your first deployment with us, so I'll forgive the fact that you're not in formation." Michigan nodded at Hood, though he raised his hand to say that he wanted to speak.
"A pleasure to meet you as well Ma'am, and I'll learn for next time. Though I prefer the term Fleetman over Shipboy. Not to sound disrespectful, Ma'am" Michigan could feel Sheffield and Javelin look at him like he did something wrong. Hood looked him over, then chuckled. "Noted for later. Now, onto the mission at hand. A sizable Siren fleet was spotted by Ark Royal's recon planes approximately 70 nautical miles northwest of here. The fleet consists of a Queen-Class Carrier, two Bishop-Class Heavy Cruisers, and four Pawn-Class Destroyers. We don't know where they're heading, but only that they're moving in a southern direction." Michigan listened closely to what Hood was saying, and to him, the consist of the fleet sounded very familiar. "Respectfully request permission to speak, Ma'am?" Hood looked at him, then nodded and motioned for him to speak. "Ma'am, do we have any idea why the enemy has arranged these ships into a CSG?"
"What's a CSG?" That voice came from Laffey, who looked at him with curiosity. 'Do these girls not follow Navy formations and do their own thing? I have a lot to learn.' Michigan, once he got confirmation from Hood, made his way to the front and grabbed a marker, and began to draw it out. "CSG. Carrier Strike Group. It's a ship formation that consists of a Destroyer Squadron, one or two Missile Cruisers, and a Carrier. The Carrier is the primary offensive player, with the rest providing a strong defense and support role. It sounds oddly specific that they arranged themselves into this formation, as CSGs are a flexible form that can operate close to shore or in open oceans."
"Which is why you five will monitor what the enemy is up to and report back to me with your findings." Hood seemed confident in what she said, but Michigan wasn't so sure. "With all due respect, why send these four? I'm not doubting their abilities, but it would be smarter to send me out solo on this op as I can hide below the waves and shadow the enemy fleet." Hood looked at Michigan with a stern look.
"And yet we don't know what you can fully do. You will join these girls and you'll do as ordered. Dismissed." Hood turned towards a desk and started to do some paperwork and the rest of the girls filed out of the room, with Michigan following behind them towards the docks.
Naval Station Pearl Harbor Docks, Hawaii, Eagle Union
April 17th, 2014
2:05 PM
The docks were a little chaotic as the girls finished prepping their ships for the mission. They ran final hull checks, made sure weapons were in working condition and made sure that their ammo was fully topped off. But not Michigan, as he had already done so earlier that morning, and was currently awaiting the orders to cast off, donning his signature leather jacket that was still in shape after the journey to this world. As he waited on the cast-off orders, Ark Royal and Enterprise walked up to him. "Hey, Michigan. Good luck out there on your first mission with us. And when you come back, please come find me so we can have a word on how you acted with Hood." Ark gave him a stern look as she told him to come to talk with her after the mission. 'Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. Word must travel fast with these Royal Navy gals.' Enterprise spoke up next. "Don't mind her. You'll get used to how we do things here. Just take it easy, alright?" Michigan nodded as the order was given. As the ropes came loose and his reactor hummed to life, Michigan was the one to lead the charge out of the docks and into the ocean, followed by the cruisers and the destroyers.
"All ships, this is the USS Michigan performing a secure comms check. How do you four hear me?"
"This is Laffey, I hear you"
"Juneau here, I read you"
"Sheffield hears you five by five"
"Javelin to Michigan, I can hear you"
Michigan nodded and looked forward toward the open ocean. None of them had taken up their rigging yet, but they were ready to when needed. Now, with the small scout fleet having left the harbor and entering open waters, came the fun part for Michigan. He opened a hatch and scrambled down into the submarine and navigated his way to the Command and Control Center. "All ships, this is Michigan. Stand clear, stand clear. All hatches closed. Navigation course plotted in, setting dive depth to one five zero feet, speed set to two zero knots, standby to dive." As the computers set to work setting the dive depth and all the hatches closed and locked into place, Michigan said the word he loved saying over anything else, as with this word, Michigan would finally be back in the saddle and ready to do his job. "Dive! Dive!" Two loud and long blasts from the dive alarm rang out through the submarine and the ship began to submerge below the waves. The girls, unknown to Michigan, had to cover their ears from the alarm as Michigan, due to his excitement, forgot to turn off the radio channel before he sounded the dive alarm. He would apologize later, but right now there was work to do. As the sail of the submarine disappeared below the waves, Michigan monitored the dives' progress until he hit 150 feet below the surface. "Dive depth reached, sonar set to passive at maximum range. Feels good to be back at work."
"Yes, good to hear, but please alert us next time before you do that again." Sheffield was not happy with Michigan, and she rightly told him so. Michigan spoke back to her. "Sorry, Sheffy. But I hate being stuck on land and I was a little eager to get back out there. Now you four can keep chatting. Michigan is going radio silent. I'll let you girls know if I pick anything up." And with that, Michigan turned off his radio transmitter. He could hear them, but he chose to stay quiet so he could focus on his role in all of this. Michigan sat down in the captain's chair and closed his eyes, settling in for a long trip.
42 Nautical Miles Northwest of Naval Station Pearl Harbor
April 17th, 2022
14:32
The submarine was quiet, save for what few radio transmissions came in from the girls on the surface. As he sat there, Michigan ran through his supplies and made system checks. He had rearmed himself with the seven tomahawks he had fired off the day he came to this world, which took a while to rearm himself with as they had to be brought in on a supply ship. He made a mental note to put a request in one day to have his missile count go from 119 of his ship-to-shore missiles and 35 of his ship-to-ship missiles, and instead make it an even count of 77 of both. A sudden ping on his sonar caused him to jump out of his seat, and he bolted to the sonar room. Seven blips on the edge of his sonar screen to their west. Michigan ran back to the CC room and turned on his radio. "Enemy strike group on sonar, due west. All ships should turn to port, heading two seven zero degrees." He could hear the confusion in their voices, then Sheffield's voice was quick to silence them before she spoke to him. "Are you sure about this Michigan?"
"Are any other friendly ships supposed to be out here, Sheffield? If I'm wrong on this, I'll not only stay docked for a month, but I'll do twenty laps around the base non-stop." Michigan was dead serious on this, and he had his moments where he would make a bet like this if it meant he could prove a point. Sheffield was quiet, then answered. "No friends that I know of would be out here. Turning to port, two seven zero degrees." The others did the same, and Michigan brought up the rear as they made their way to intercept the enemy. Michigan was ready. He wanted to dish out some payback for what they did to his sisters. The submarine glowed brightly for a few seconds, and soon Michigan had taken up his rigging. The others followed suit, which caught the attention of the Siren Fleet, who turned into them for a head-on pass. Soon, the battle would start. And the girls would see what level of firepower Michigan was capable of unleashing.
A/N: And that's chapter 2. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Yes, there will be a battle, albeit a somewhat short one, but also a new OC added as well. Feel free to take a guess what type of ship they are. Here's a hint on the ship type and what the ship's name is.
This ship was known for taking a round, took barely any damage, and got so ticked off that it not only killed the crew, but the land mass they were on
If you know the ship, feel free to comment the ship's name, class, and type. Until then, fair winds and see you next chapter!
