Ch. 4: A Rough Morning
0715 hrs - April 9th, 1972
UNS Matterhorn - Almada Docks, Lisbon
Ford POV
"And that concludes the morning briefing, team leaders head back to your duty stations. Commander Howell, inform me on when the Danube's radar is back up. Senior Chief Kyle, get with port security, I want that ammunition on board the Matterhorn within the next few hours. Any questions… good, let's get to work." As Captain Augustus finished her brief, the whole command staff stood up from their seats in the Matterhorn's briefing room.
It was the same one where I had been introduced to all the kansens of Third Squadron. Since then I had been touring the ships of the fleet, mainly the Matterhorn and the Danube, learning how to get to where and who was in charge of what.
It was a lot of information to take in, but thankfully the captain wanted me to keep going around the squadron for the remainder of the week in order to get familiar with everything.
Today was particularly exciting because I was scheduled to meet up with the kansens again and head out of port to do some gunnery training. I was looking forward to getting to know them better and see what they could do, they seemed like an interesting bunch, if not a little odd in some ways.
"Commander Ford, with me." spoke the captain, directing me to follow her down the hall. "Now today you will be getting a more in-depth introduction into the capabilities of our kansens. I guarantee you will be impressed with them."
"Yes ma'am. Still gunnery training then?" I asked, hoping she would confirm the plan, since plans often had a habit of changing in any military.
"Correct. Since the weather happens to be calm today, we'll be doing monthly zeroing roughly twelve kilometers offshore to the south-west. You may find some of their methods very… interesting" she said, once again giving me that familiar knowing smile. "Don't worry too much about it, they're styles at least get results. After you get ready, head to pier four to meet up with Pennsylvania on her hull."
"Understood." I said and turned to leave for my room, but halfway into my turn she stopped me with a firm hand on my arm.
"One last thing Commander." she glanced around then pulled me aside of the walkway and lowered her voice. "This hasn't been told to you yet, but Pennsylvania has a certain… habit that can sometimes get the better of her. As a veteran and a battle survivor, I trust you to not make quick judgments if you find her part-taking in her habit; if she needs help getting ready just get Kirov, she'll know what to do."
The way the captain looked at me spoke of how important that advice was, and considering it sounded like a personal issue with the kansen battleship, meant the situation might be delicate.
"Yes ma'am. I'll be careful." My words didn't seem to convince her, but she sighed and allowed me to continue as she left to complete some of her own last minute preparations.
As I walked down to my room, I thought of what might be this 'habit' of Pennsylvania's and why it would cause the captain to be so careful when discussing it.
An hour later, I was standing on pier four in my dark blue duty uniform with its sleeves rolled up and my name tapes written in clear gold stitching, a matching styled ball cap rested on my head. Under my arm was a folded windbreaker that I was bringing as a precaution. Open seas tended to be windy no matter the weather.
Feeling bold today, I had decided to leave my cane in my room.
This last week I had begun getting used to walking around the squadron ships without it. While I had been having some aching after taking the prosthetic off for the night, I found it wasn't as serious as I expected it to be, but I was still weary of stairs and ladders.
But despite that issue, I wasn't going to let that ruin my excitement for the day. After all it wasn't often you got to go aboard a battleship and watch its guns fire away at practice targets.
But that was where the fun part ended, what I had to do now was the… awkward part.
Resting in the water while she was moored to the pier was the large hulking form of the battleship USS Pennsylvania in all her glory and might.
She was painted a medium dark blue for the most part, save for the top half of her watch tower mast that was painted a gray-white. On one of its many signal lines flew her namesake Union state flag which she was gifted to be her personal colors, on another flew the blue and white striped flag of the UNDF with a silver UN symbol resting atop a golden anchor.
She really did look every bit like one would expect a battleship to look like. Strong and fortified, like a mighty castle that would take an entire army to conquer.
And this was the hull I just so happen to choose as my ride out to the exercise location.
While I could have gone along with any of the others, save for Eldridge who was having electrical issues on her hull again, I couldn't really help but pick the ship with the biggest guns.
Call it a childish notion, but I had never served on a ship with such firepower, and I couldn't help but be excited to see her in action. Back when I was a kid, I remember watching the large warships sail into the bay area and dreamed of one day being aboard one as they fired off a salvo into the distance.
Sadly by the time I had joined the Union Navy, the idea of large ships with big guns were going out of style in favor of smaller and faster attack ships and larger aircraft carriers, so the opportunity to be aboard a battleship now was a dream come true and I was giddy with excitement.
But my excitement became strained after arriving at the dock and seeing that the ship didn't look ready at all to sail out, by that I mean I had expected her to have various crews loading her ammunition and fuel, but instead all the crates and fuel lines remained unattended on the pier.
From what information I had gathered of how kansen hulls operate, they still need the basic essentials for an operation loaded into her holds and magazines.
Such tasks took time and it was better to start sooner rather than later; yet with only less than an hour prior to the scheduled departure time, the Pennsylvania was deserted of any preparations.
Glancing around I saw a few groups of local dock workers that weren't paying the ship any attention, just standing around the ammo crates and fuel lines as if they were waiting for something, and I began to wonder if Pennsylvania was even onboard at all.
I had tried to talk with the workers about what the hold up was, but they apparently only spoke Portuguese so that didn't get me anywhere.
"Guess there's one way to find out." I muttered as I walked up the gangplank, hesitating for a moment before taking that last step onto the ship after remembering some advice I had received from Admiral Puttnam himself that it was best to be respectful when boarding a boat that happens to have a manifested consciousness.
"To a kansen, their ship is their private dwelling, it is then customary to ask permission to enter like you would if you were going into someone's house."
"Um… Permission to come aboard?" I asked loudly, but again, no answer save for some laughter from behind me.
Glancing back at the dock workers, a few of them were chuckling in my direction, hinting they knew something I didn't.
I swallowed my small feeling of embarrassment and threw caution to the wind as I stepped aboard while praying that the rumor that a kansen could feel every part of their hull like it was their own body was not true, otherwise I was basically a bug crawling on someone's skin.
"Pennsylvania, are you there?" I called out, still no answer.
After spending another fifteen minutes aimlessly walking about and calling around for the kansen woman, I managed to find an open hatch into the hulls top superstructure, and through it I walked around for a little longer. Eventually I made it to where I thought the captain's cabin might be, but I was beginning to get all turned around.
I started to think I might need to get Kirov to help me find her like the captain had suggested, that is until my attention was drawn to the sound of the hatch behind me clicking and I watched it open up to reveal a sight I was… not expecting.
Standing in the door was not the strong and intimidating form of the Union kansen, but a young man in shriveled civilian clothes.
He looked to be in his younger twenties but still had a charming boyish looking face with short curly hair and light caramel skin that was covered in dried sweat like an athlete after a workout.
He looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him and for a second I thought him to be a looter or something, that is until a voice behind him spoke up.
"Eduardo, algo está errado?" The voice was a woman's, smooth and soft, it spoke in Portuguese but held a noticeable Union English accent and it was strikingly familiar.
As the young man, who I guessed was named Eduardo, looked back behind himself he revealed the owner of the voice only to show me an even more surprising sight that I definitely was not expecting to see.
Sitting on a small mattress bed with its blankets crumpled to one side or another, wearing only a half tied blue robe that showed quite a bit of her chest cleavage and framed her body incredibly well was none other than Pennsylvania.
She sat with one of her bare long legs folded over the other and was combing her disheveled hair back into its usual fluency. From the sunlight of a nearby porthole, I saw that her creamy white scarred skin also had a shine to it from dried sweat, just like the young man did.
It was then that I noticed the smell coming from the room, a heavy scent of sweat of a variety only made after a lengthy time of intimacy, with that and the two's current state of dress (or lack of), it was incredibly obvious what had taken place here.
…And I had no real idea what to think of it.
This is her habit!? Suddenly it made sense why the captain hadn't talked about it too deeply.
Pennsylvania, after looking a little surprised herself at my presence, merely became annoyed upon seeing me standing at her door. Her brows furrowed as she groaned and went back to combing her hair more aggressively than she had been before.
"And just why the hell are you on my ship?" she asked.
"I…" I stuttered as I looked away from her, "I was wondering why you weren't getting ready to go. We have an exercise today-"
"I know, but that doesn't mean you can just waltz onto my ship like you own the place. Besides, we aren't sailing out until 0900, I've still got a few hours left to work with so just about-face and fuck off." she commanded, and I had to admit it wasn't easy not to follow her orders.
"But it's already 0842." I said, pointing out how very little time she actually had to work with.
Pennsylvania's eyes widened and she quickly looked around the room until her eyes landed on a fallen alarm clock that rested face down on the floor, quickly grabbing it up, she swore a list of curses that would have made an old sailor proud.
"Ugh, fine! Just have the squadron leave ahead of me and I'll catch up as soon as I'm ready." she said as she rose from her bed and walked to the door to stand next to the man she had spent the night with who'd been glancing back and forth as the tension of the room heightened and all he probably wanted to do was leave.
"Está tudo bem, eu cuido dele. Obrigado pela linda noite." she spoke calmly to Eduardo, touching his cheek with her hand while she gave the other a quick kiss. He smiled and nodded with a deep blush, but then gave me a look with a glance down the hallway.
Guessing that she was telling the young man he may leave, I stepped aside to allow him to go, having no idea what to do with him if I made him stay or whether I even had the authority to hold him.
After he gave the kansen woman one last affectionate look, he quickly made his way past me and down the corridor, seeming to know the way out fairly well already.
Looking back at Pennsylvania, I gave her the most blank look I could muster while also trying my best to avoid giving her lower body a closer glance now that she was standing right in front of me.
Seeing her closer than I ever had before, her beauty was undeniable even in such an awkward situation, yet her skin still bore those same scars I had seen on her before, only now I saw she had a few on her chest and legs too.
"Chm, chm." Pennsylvania grunted, bringing my wandering eyes back to hers.
She simply looked back at me with an annoyed look and her arms crossed over her still half tied robe, no doubt expecting me to leave as well.
"I'll just…head back up and wait for you then." I said, deciding it was best to be discreet in this situation.
"If you were hoping for a ride out, you'll have to jump ship, I sail solo." she stated, unknowingly crushing my childhood dreams, but with her so close, my nose caught the scent of alcohol on her breath.
A night of sex and drinking? I thought to myself, my opinion of the battleship getting lower the more disrespect and attitude she presented to me.
Guess it's time to draw the line.
"That's fine, but the fleet will wait on you." I said, choosing to hold her accountable for her actions, and by the look she was giving me I was definitely digging my grave deeper with her.
"Don't waste their time, I'll be less than an hour behind them so just go ahead without me, you can bring this up with Captain Augustus if you want but it'll be easier for everyone if you just let this go." she said, her glare getting even more serious and her tone was stern and unyielding.
"You are their flagship, the squadron moves when you move. So the faster you're ready, the sooner we'll head out." I stated, hoping my strategy worked.
I had served under a variety of officers throughout my career. The friendly one's were easy to get along with but often let their crews get away with a lot of things they shouldn't. Then there were the ones who would be called the 'hard asses' who put a heavy emphasis on discipline and efficiency.
Both styles had their negatives. But then there were those rare few who somehow balanced in between the two, and that was what I was aiming for. To be firm and resolute while maintaining a feeling of trust and camaraderie with my subordinates.
There were going to be times when I could allow a certain level of flexibility on discipline, and then there were times when the hard line must be towed. This situation, I had decided, required the latter of the two options.
Of course, this decision had now earned me the ire of the most powerful woman in the squadron who I half expected to slug me in my face then throw me overboard, no doubt she could do that and more if she wished to, her glare hinted that much.
"Get. Off. My. Ship." she ordered through clenched teeth, then slammed her hatch in my face with far more force than I expected to be given by a woman of her stature, but considering she was a kansen I supposed the act wasn't too surprising.
Deciding that there was no further point in standing outside of her door, I turned down the hall and made for the top deck. On my way I began thinking of a way to work this issue out now before it got any worse.
If I remembered right, the captain had said we didn't need a full stock of fuel on each ship for this exercise. But that didn't mean we couldn't have a full stock of fuel.
I waited on the dock for just over half an hour before I finally heard the clicks of shoes make their way over to me on the gangplank. Glancing over, I saw Pennsylvania had cleaned herself up well for the day.
She now looked just as she did when I first met her, wearing a blue short-sleeve buttoned uniform shirt and matching skirt. Her skin no longer had that same glistening look to it from before and I could smell the faint scent of lavender soap from her shower.
In her hand was a white mug of coffee she sipped as she stopped next to me, her face still holding a glare that I began to fear might be permanent.
Seeing her now, despite her sour demeanor, I once again couldn't help but find her simple beauty to be both attractive yet still hard to look at. She reminded me a lot of someone else, someone I'd lost…
She took a long sip before she finally addressed me with that same harsh tone as before.
"Alright, I get the whole 'making everyone wait on me' tactic. But if you're going to start berating me on how inappropriate I am or how I violated some regulation or some other bullshit, save it until I finish my coffee at least." she said, leaning her back against a guard railing and continued sipping away.
Before I could say anything in return, a whistle drew both of our attention and I saw one of the dockyard workers I tried to talk with before waving his hand to us.
"Estás pronto?" he shouted out, to which Pennsylvania raised her arm and gave him a thumbs up in answer to the question.
The worker merely nodded and began ordering others nearby who got to work quickly, boarding the battleship and working the onboard cranes as they began to load the battleship with her needed supplies and hooking the fuel cables up to her tanks.
Watching them go about their duties, I admired the efficiency they showed in their tasks. Considering Lisbon was the largest port in Portugal, I imagined loading and unloading cargo and supplies was well mastered here.
At the same time, the fact that they had waited for Pennsylvania to give them the go ahead showed they were used to waiting on her. Either that or they felt it was inappropriate to start loading her hull up without her permission, if so I had to give them credit for being respectful.
"Okay." Pennsylvania said as she turned to face me and waved her empty mug on a single finger, "Go on then, berate away."
Despite her irritation towards me, she remained relatively calm about her situation and didn't seem worried at all that I had found out in the first place. Most would think she ought to be panicking or coming up with excuses, yet she seemed so dismissive of any worry.
"As a veteran and a battle survivor, I trust you to not make quick judgments." the captain's words started to make sense after seeing Pennsylvania's chosen… habits. Remembering back at what I read on her file also helped connect a few of the dots too.
The battleship was a distinguished veteran of over a dozen large scale engagements with the enemy during the war, and each time she would end up limping back to drydock after receiving too much damage in battle, but always seemed to be ready and present for the next mission whether she was officially cleared for it or not.
Such drive and determination was exemplary for a battleship such as herself, but through all the glory and embellishment, I could see she had an intense and near obsessive need to protect her friends.
Perhaps owing to the loss of her sister, Arizona. I thought, remembering what I had briefly read about Pennsylvania's sister ship and how she and many others were lost after the first Siren attack on the Union in Pearl Harbor.
A loss of someone so close would always leave scars on one's mind, and lead them into decisions that would otherwise be considered unwise.
And now after years of one battle after another and seeing more of her friends die horrible deaths… I really wasn't surprised she turned out like this. I had seen it before after all.
Back during my months in recovery after surviving the loss of the Barry and soon learning of… my own personal losses, I had seen and experienced how taxing war and death could be on soldiers and sailors; more specifically, I knew how they chose to cope with their pain.
Most turned to alcohol and drugs as the most common methods of dealing with their grief, but there were some who turned to more intimate approaches for relief.
I personally held nothing against anyone who chose to part-take in sexual relations just for the sake of it. Sex, if done correctly, was a very pleasing and passionate form of relief so long as all participants agreed to it of their own volition.
Sadly not everyone accepted no for an answer, which led me to asking my first question to the woman before me.
"Was it consensual?" I asked, my eyes were carefully watching her and how she answered.
"Tch! Of course that would be your first question." she muttered with a role of her eyes before looking back at me. "Yes it was, we both knew what we were doing, and we both agreed to it. No money exchanged, no favors promised, it was just sex. Nothing more."
While I was no expert in reading someone, I saw no obvious signs she was lying to me.
Still, I can't be certain of her just yet. Perhaps I should talk to Captain Augustus about this, since she is already aware of the issue.
Before either of us could ask or say anything further to each other, the sound of a motor engine turned both our attention to the part of the docks where the warehouse storage for the squadron was located, driving up to us was an old topless green jeep with three persons seated in it.
Once it got close enough I saw it was Senior Chief Kyle, the senior enlisted of the squadron who the captain had placed in charge of unloading the docks this morning.
"Oh, fuck. Not this ass." I heard Pennsylvania mutter as the jeep parked near us and Kyle hopped out, an annoyed look of his own greeting us.
"Commander Ford," he said with a salute which I returned, then he glanced at Pennsylvania with a look I could only say was leery.
"Something I can help you with, Chief?" I asked.
"Just curious sir, the squadron was supposed to be out of the bay by now, is there some sort of… hold up?" His eyes briefly glanced at Pennsylvania implying his assertion as to the cause of the issue.
Pennsylvania, surprisingly, shrank away from the chief's gaze as her arms folded more inward on herself and she turned herself away from the man, going from the annoyed hot head I was dealing with before to having a rather shy and nervous demeanor.
What happened to all that attitude? I thought, before I looked back at the senior chief.
The two of us had only met a few times in the last few days while I had been going through my introduction into the squadron.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Tyler Kyle was in charge of supply among the squadron but had a long history of service during the war serving in the Pacific theater with the Royal Australian Navy.
The man had a very intimidating physique, standing somewhere above six feet and having an upper body frame that was built from years working within the supply corps of the navy that was a very physically demanding occupation. His skin was well tanned and his voice possessed a slight gurgle to his Australian accent, but it was no less clear or intimidating.
"It's nothing chief, just a small last minute change in the supply orders. We should be headed out within the hour." I said, getting an annoyed look from Kyle, and a confused one from Pennsylvania that I noticed out of the corner of my eye.
"I wasn't made aware of any changes, sir." he said.
"My apologies for that, but it's just filling up on our fuel reserves, we were going to head out at half tanks for all ships, but I decided to have them top off on the chance we need extra time out there." I replied.
Kyle's brow raised, probably thinking the change somewhat odd, but it was technically regulation that all ships leave port with full fuel capacity.
At least, that's what it is in the Union.
"I see… I can understand your mistake in not informing me since you're still new to the squadron. But you see commander, with fuel being somewhat difficult for the Defense Fleet to supply as abundantly as the other navy's, it's preferred we be more conservative of our fuel reserves." he explained.
"Really? I guess I must have missed that in a briefing somewhere, they kind of info-dumbed so much on me back in Dublin, I'll have to dive back into it all once I'm back from the exercise. Sorry if I caused a mess for you." I said, hoping my small lie was believable.
"No, it's alright sir. If you have any questions in the future, just ask away." Kyle said as he waved off my apology, his tone had become more respectful after hearing me out, but he was probably thinking me as somewhat incompetent for making such a rookie error.
"Thank you chief, I'll see you for the evening briefing." I said, offering my hand and hoping he takes it as a sign to leave.
"Yes sir, pleasant sailing." he said, returning my shake. He gave one last look to Pennsylvania, who remained facing away from him, then got back in his jeep and drove away.
After a few awkward minutes passed of us watching the workers continue to load the ship up, I looked back to Pennsylvania only to see her looking back at me, her previously shy attitude gone.
"...Did you change the fuel load order before or after I sent you off my ship?" she asked, her eyes returned to her permanent glare, but there was less hatred in them than before.
"If I said it was before, would that make things better between us?" I asked, extending a metaphorical olive branch.
"I… suppose it might." she said as she shifted back to leaning against the railing.
"Alright then. Well, I'm going to go make sure the rest of the squadron is informed of the changes. Be ready to go when I get back." I instructed her, while also hoping the rest of the squadron didn't make too big of a deal over this.
Pennsylvania gave no verbal acknowledgment of my order, but neither did she give any condescension to it. Whether her silence was out of a newfound respect or simple dismissal of me I couldn't say, either way I decided it was an improvement.
As I left I did my best to look ignorant of the two young destroyers that were hiding behind one of Pennsylvania's secondary turrets, and the little periscope that watched me from the water blow, and especially of the matured snow haired cruiser whose golden eyes followed my movements down the docks.
All of these observers would probably be watching me like a hawk for many more weeks to come, wondering what type of commander I would end up being to them. I could understand their caution, but they could have at least made their observations a little less obvious.
It's only morning, and this might already end up being a long day.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The thundering of Kirov's guns muted everything imaginable as the salvos rocketed out of their barrels followed by the raging inferno of the powder blast that powered the shell's high velocity out of the barrel and through the air.
Recovering from the blast, I straightened myself and brought up the binoculars to spot the splashes of the rounds. It was an interesting thing, being next to such a powerful weapon as it fired but then having to wait as the shot fought off the laws of gravity, physics, and wind to hit where it was meant to.
It was only a few seconds later when I was greeted with the expected splashdown of the shot as it struck the water surface five hundred meters away… sadly missing its intended target buoy, but only by a marginal amount. Had it been a full sized ship turned broadside, there would have been no doubt she would have hit it… probably.
"Missed by about five meter-" BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
I flinched as suddenly Kirov fired another barrage, the unexpected blast ringing through my ears and teeth, before I could address the lack of warning on her part, she just went and fired again!
It wasn't until three full salvo's later that she finally seemed to be satisfied and finished blasting away.
As I recovered from the repeating concussive explosions, I glanced back up to see the proud kansen standing atop her second turret with the smoke from its barrels still blowing around her figure. Her hands were clenched but rested smugly on her hips with her long white hair and newly adorned white cape fluttering in the breeze. Her face was set in a firm smile and hard set eyes that threatened to invigorate my own attitude despite the suddenness of her broadside musketry.
It's no wonder she was dubbed the pride of the Northern Parliament, she certainly looked the part. I thought, remembering what I had read about her and her accomplishments.
After I had arrived at the designated AO aboard Atlanta's hull, I had started watching the squadron go in turns as they took aim and shot away at their targets. Since this was my first time seeing them all at work, I had decided to go from ship to ship and observe how they went about aiming and firing.
Most had done fairly well overall, with the highest accuracy coming from Pennsylvania and her large fourteen inch guns whose broadside had taken out the target after only two volleys.
Now it was Kirov's turn, she was the second to last one in the squadron to fire, and she apparently was the type of person who didn't accept a failing grade easily. Glancing back out at the target through my bino's, all that seemed left of it was a few pieces of debris.
The target had originally been basically a large billboard afloat atop several connected buoys, it was considered a passing grade if she had made one hit, but after her intense assault of multiple volley's, only one single buoy remained floating.
I wonder if all the rest of Northern Parliament is as intense as Kirov is? I thought as I turned back to the cruiser and saw she was looking back at me with that same look on her face.
"I… think you got it." I spoke, giving her a flat look. "But did you really have to go all out like that?"
"Da! Of course I did, comrade commander! For a cruiser like myself, our kills often require more than one shot to put down. Does it not make perfect sense to practice like we fight?." spoke Kirov.
"Sure, I guess that works. But still, try to give me a warning next time at least. This is just a zeroing exercise, there's no need for overkill." my statement was met only with a hearty laugh.
"There is no such thing as overkill, comrade commander!" Kirov proudly announced. Seeing no point in arguing, I relented to the cruiser's logic; half because she wasn't wrong per say, the other because I liked her style.
Despite Kirov's intimidating persona and the possibility of being a bit of a handful in battle, I was relieved to have her with us in an odd sort of way. While overly passionate people like her may be difficult at the best of times, they are often the ones you look to for help at the worst of times.
"I gotta say Kirov, you certainly have the right attitude. I look forward to seeing what you can do in a real fight." I said as I wrote down her results on the paperwork I had to write up for this exercise.
One of the downsides to promotions was always more paperwork.
As I wrote, Kirov hopped off from the top of her turret and joined me on her pilot bridge. She entered and went to her coffee kettle to pour herself a cup of her own personal brew. After boarding her hull, she immediately insisted I try it.
I would never call myself a connoisseur of such drinks, but I had to admit Kirov knew how to make a good brew of coffee. After telling her of my approval for the warm drink, she went on for a time explaining how she had concocted the recipe together with a fellow coffee enthusiast (or perhaps a rival of some kind) from the Ironblood named Mainz.
"Da, I too am excited to demonstrate my full potential to you, I swear you will not be disappointed." she said as she filled her mug then came to stand near me as we entered into a calm silence as I made sure not to make any mistakes on the papers.
"If you do not mind, may I ask you a question, comrade commander?" I looked over to see that her expression had become curious as she took a sip of her drink.
I had suspected she might have questions for me, just like the rest of the squadron kansen who all had asked their own questions that they hadn't thought of the night we met. So for the majority of this exercise, whenever they hadn't been shooting, each kansen had asked their own questions of me, some having more variety than others (cough-Eskimo-cough).
They all were pretty much the same: where I'd come from, what were my future plans, and what my favorite foods were, etc... Simple questions that I didn't mind answering and I'd asked them the same in return.
So far I appeared to be doing quite well in getting along with the kansens, which had been the biggest worry of mine after getting posted here.
Although I still haven't talked with U556 yet, how am I gonna go about that? I thought absently to myself before answering her.
"Shoot." I said as I completed her zero sheet and started writing up one for Chaser.
"I saw that you found out about Penny and her nightly -how do you say it- indulgences. What do you plan to do about that?" she asked.
The question was far from the ones I had expected from her. Looking back up at Kirov, her arms were folded over her chest with one still holding her mug as she looked at me expectantly. But there was no nervousness or hesitation in her words, she had asked the question like someone would ask about the weather or time of day.
"For the moment, nothing except a warning I guess." I said, earning a raised brow.
"Just a warning you say, why not more? Surely her actions were inappropriate?" she asked, and I began to wonder if Kirov had a nosey side to her.
"Well aside from being late, she's broken no regulation that I am aware of. She was off duty last night and said there was no money exchanged, as far as I am concerned she simply needs to keep a better track of time." I said as I completed writing up Chaser's paper and folded it away for later use before I looked back up at the Northern Parliament woman as she replied.
"Interesting, you give a lot of trust towards a woman you only just met, and what of the decision to give us additional fuel that also happened to push the time table for the morning exercise back? Rather convenient that it allowed Penny the time she needed to prepare." Kirov pointed out with a small smirk on her lips, showing a bit of teasing in her tone.
"Well I…" Actually I didn't have a good enough excuse made up yet other than that it made sense at the time. "Just take what you will from that. But my job is to look out for you girls, I admit I wasn't expecting to start off so quickly, but I worked with what I had."
"I see, so if the rest of the squadron chose to part-take in such things, you would not find issue so long as we remained ready for orders?" she asked as she leaned forward on one of the windows, her revealing chest becoming ten times more noticeable than it already was and her tone becoming even more teasing.
"I guess so but- wait, don't tell me all of the other girls are doing that too?"
If it were any of the matured kansen I wouldn't have so much of an issue with it, but the younger destroyers… I felt that was a little too far. They may be veteran warships, but they still looked and acted like young children!
My worry, however, was interrupted by Kirov's laughing.
"Ha ha ha! Oh you should see your face, I wish I had one of those portable cameras!" Kirov laughed a little longer before she finally controlled herself. "Rest easy comrade commander, the little ones are kept safe enough. Though I have heard that Z23 is engaged to a young boy back in Germany."
"I see, that's a relief at least." I breathed a sigh of relief, and took a long drink from my own mug of coffee and relished in the slightly bitter mocha taste.
Honestly, is this what I would have dealt with if my own child had reached a matured age? How frightening. I thought to myself, but then felt a prick of grief and figured perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if she had.
"But since we are on the subject, what might your relationship status be, comrade commander?" Kirov bluntly asked, and suddenly my throat found it hard to swallow my drink and I coughed out trying to clear it up.
Looking back at Kirov, she was still leaning against the window frame looking rather smug with herself at once again catching me off guard.
"I'm…well I'm…" I stuttered out, then glanced at my ring finger that was more than obvious in the sunlight and I wondered why she would bother with such a question.
"… I'm… not interested in looking for anything. Why?"
Her smile weakened as she peaked a brow and then glanced down at my ring.
"You wear a ring band that tells me you are obviously already promised to another, but in my experience not all follow such promises. Do you?" she asked, her face remained relaxed but her eyes were heavily watching my own.
"I do, but…" I responded, a feeling of grief surfacing once again and I wished she would drop the subject..
"But what?" she continued, her eyes never yielding from mine as she looked at me with an icy stare.
Silence was all that filled the air as she waited for my answer. I tried my best to keep my gaze with her, but I faltered and looked away as I struggled to keep the harsh feeling of anguish down.
"My wife… passed away." I answered, seeming to have surprised her, that is if her face's reaction could be trusted.
My gaze looked out to the shining sea that beautifully glistened in the afternoon sun, a sharp contrast to the sad mood the conversation had now sunken to.
"I see… then I must apologize." Kirov spoke in a soft tone, glancing back I saw her arms had moved down to her lower stomach with her hands together, her face had lost its stone look in favor of her regret.
"My words were harsh and undeserving, I didn't mean to insult you or your wife if you feel as though I have. Please forgive me, comrade commander." she said, then bowed slightly in apology.
"It's alright." I said, wiping my face in an attempt to stop any notice of my watering eyes.
"Net, it is certainly not alright, I have overstepped. I only asked such things because I was worried for the others and I didn't trust you enough. But I-"
"I know Kirov." I said, interrupting her. "I know what you meant. You're a good friend to them, and I hope I can earn the same loyalty you show to the rest of the squadron one day."
I already knew why she and the rest of the squadron were cautious of me, they were right to be.
The Defense Fleet had gone through more than a few scandals lately where officers were found to be suspected of inappropriate relations with their kansen, so it made sense that Kirov would be protective of her own squadron.
An awkward silence returned to the bridge, and before either of us could say more, the radio squawked.
"Commander Ford, this is Chaser, can you hear me?"
I glanced at Kirov who nodded for me to answer and I picked up the receiver on the radio equipment.
"This is Ford, go ahead, Chaser." I replied.
"Afternoon sir, I am ready to receive you whenever you are ready."
"Understood, I'll be heading your way aboard the Kirov. See you soon."
"Very good then commander, Chaser out." the line ended and I looked back to Kirov.
The cruiser kansen simply nodded again and we both fell back into the same awkward silence as she willed her ship over to Chasers.
Hopefully the two of us could go back to the relaxed attitude we had been having before the touchy topic of fraternizing got brought up; I hoped we could, regardless of her intimidating beauty, Kirov was actually quite a lot of fun to talk with.
That aside, I took great interest as I watched the strange scene inside Kirov's pilot house as various levers and instruments began moving all on their own, even the steering wheel looked possessed as it corrected one course turn to another. All while the kansen woman remained away from the controls and looked like she was simply in deep thought.
Kansen really are strange and wondrous beings. I thought to myself while fighting off the urge to re-enter a conversation with her about how it felt to move such a large craft with just her mind. The mood simply didn't feel appropriate.
As we pulled up, Kirov and Chaser demonstrated amazing mastery in controlling their hulls as they were able to keep a firm course alongside each other.
Once they were satisfied with their placement, they connected their hulls together with a stretchable line with a retractable swing seat attached to it.
This was the basic and fastest way to transfer personnel and supplies from one ship to the other at sea without the hulls coming into direct contact which was a dangerous idea on the open sea. The first time I rode on the swing between ships was very entertaining… at least it was for those who got to watch as I gripped the rigging for dear life.
As I placed my papers and other items in a pouch attached to the seat, I heard Kirov walk up next to me and clear her throat.
"Commander Ford," I turned and straightened to listen to her proudly state her words, but saw that she actually looked a bit awkward compared to her usual proud demeanor, "I apologize again for my bluntness and… I want you to know that, in the past, I too lost people who were precious to me; many of us here in the squadron have suffered the same pain so, if you ever wish to talk of it, I would be willing to listen."
Surprising me with her words, I didn't answer for a few seconds, but I quickly relaxed with a smile in gratitude.
"I appreciate the offer Kirov, and the same goes for any of you. My door is always open if you need help with anything." I replied, and offered my hand.
She didn't seem to understand the gesture at first, but after figuring out I was offering my hand to shake, she smiled kindly and took my hand in her own. After our little moment of friendliness, I stepped back and saluted her.
"Permission to disembark, ma'am?" I asked and her eyes brightened in appreciation for my courtesy towards her and her ship, she quickly snapped a salute back.
"Razresheniye polucheno, I'll see you back in port, comrade commander." With that, I strapped into the seat as best I could and tugged the line three times to signal I was ready, then off I went from the deck of the cruiser over the breezy waters between the hulls.
After the fun ride on the seat was over and I was now safely aboard the escort carrier, I was met with Chaser herself who looked as proper and elegant as before. Showing her the same courtesy I had with Kirov and the others, I gave a salute in greeting and requested permission to board.
Chaser, though she hid it better than the others, also seemed unprepared for such a greeting but happily granted my request along with a returned salute.
"Welcome aboard sir, I have a full squadron of HE bomb equipped interceptors on deck ready to go." she said as we both relaxed.
"Perfect, let's head up to your bridge tower and then you can send them off." I said after retrieving my things. With a small curtsy, she led me through her hull to where I would watch as her aircraft got to work.
"How was Kirov? I hope she didn't intimidate you too harshly." Chaser spoke, reminding me of the discussion I had just had with the Northern Parliament cruiser.
"She wasn't too bad I guess, her aim could use some work but she is certainly thorough, this squadron is very lucky to have a woman like her watching your backs." I said, with Chaser nodding in agreement.
"Yes, it's actually one of the reasons why I stayed in the Defense Fleet after the war, the unspoken golden rule that no matter what happens we will always protect one another. I only wish the other navies followed such philosophies." she said.
"I'd like to say the Union works the same way, but sadly that would make me a liar, I think it depends more on the circumstance of the situation. This squadron has been together a long time and fought in many battles, which has a way of creating lasting bonds with each other. How does the Royal Navy compare?" I asked out of curiosity for the unofficial rival to the Union Navy.
"The Royals are, well…" Chaser seemed hard pressed to find the right words to describe her home navy, "No, I would have to say they do not really work like that most of the time."
"Then how do they work? If you don't mind me asking." I asked, imagining I was chipping at the tip of an iceberg.
"Not at all. If I were to describe them in one word, it would be: …Traditional." The frown on Chaser's face as she said this told me there was more to that story, but before I asked further, we came to my worst enemy as of late.
"Stairs." I said as I looked up at them and saw that they zig-zagged up probably all the way to the bridge.
My leg is not going to like this. I thought, now wishing I had brought my cane after all.
But then I saw Chaser hold out her arm, a kind smile adorning her face.
"May I help you climb up, commander." she asked. I couldn't help but sigh, both in relief for her offer and embarrassment for needing it in the first place.
"The honor is mine, my lady." I joked, causing both of us to laugh at the situation.
As we climbed up the stairs, she was polite enough to not say anything towards my leg and instead distracted me with facts on her aircraft's abilities and such. Once we reached the top, she got her planes started and off they flew towards the targets in the distance.
It was nearing evening time upon our return to the docks, yet something seemed to have happened while I was away.
The entire port had a tense air to it, several cargo ships that had been about to leave port were turning around, and from my binoculars the city's defenses were being brought on alert. A flight of local military fighters zoomed overhead as they observed the squadron for a minute then turned away down the coastline.
"Do you know what's going on, Chaser." I asked, she shook her head but I saw in her eyes that she might have an idea, but before I could ask her more the radio squawked.
"Commander Ford, this is Lt. Commander Howell. How copy? Over."
It was the voice of the escort ship Danube's CO, Lieutenant Commander George Howell. Like myself, he was former Union Navy, but he had been serving in the Defense Fleet much longer than I. Grabbing Chaser's radio, I hit the talk button to respond.
"Howell, this is Ford, good copy. What's the sitrep? Over." I asked.
"Wish I had better news for you sir. Third Squadron is being mobilized, the captain wants you to get the kansen's to the docks for resupply and full rearmement, then head up to the Matterhorn for her briefing. Over"
I took a full second to process what I was told, the suddenness of it all throwing my brain for a loop with questions such as why, where, and who. A glance to Chaser showed she shared my questions, but she was looking to me for the answers, and that's what made my mind focus.
You're their commander, start commanding.
"Understood, is Senior Chief Kyle still coordinating with the docks?" I asked, formulating a 'to do' list.
"Yes sir, channel eight."
"Thank you, tell the captain I'll get to her as soon as I get the squadron situated."
"Copy that, Howell out."
From there I got in contact with Chief Kyle. After making sure each kansen ship got to the correct dock, I disembarked from Chaser and left Pennsylvania incharge of the girls until I got back from meeting with the captain.
Onboard the Matterhorn, everyone was busy at their tasks and I had to be careful weaving my way over to the CIC room where I knew the captain would be, but on my way there I happened to run into Warrant Officer Baker in the halls.
She was a little messy from working in the hangar bay, but otherwise looked no worse for wear.
"Baker, what's the word? Do you know why we are being mobilized?" I asked.
"You weren't told yet? Apparently a small convoy of British merchant ships came under attack an hour ago just a few kilometers east of the Azores Islands. They're sending us out to help find them." she said, then she had to leave to see to her own duties.
After quickly thanking her I doubled my efforts to find the Captain and get the full picture from her, while also trying my best to keep my anxiousness down. Now was not the time to worry, it was the time to focus and prepare.
Because whether I liked it or not, Third Squadron was mobilizing.
Next - Ch. 5: An Initiation.
A/N: I hope this was easier for readers to read through. Please comment how the story looks so far.