Sacrifice
"I don't know what has happened, but it looks as if we've somehow blown a turbine and its damaged the starboard engine" Maron reported to Akeno. "Because the ship was given an experimental new system just before we boarded her, none of us really have an idea on how to fully fix it"
"Can we still do the training?"
"Not with one shaft damaged and half power… We're going to have to stop to send some of my girls over the side to seal off the damage"
"Okay…" Akeno was saddened – her first command was going badly. "Do what you can and I'll turn the ship around and send a message to the school"
"Captain, perhaps I could handle the message to the school – I know some of the teachers there" the Deputy Captain spoke.
"I can have the radio room send the message without troubling you"
"Its no trouble"
"Oh, okay then" Akeno smiled. "If anybody wants me, I'll be on the Bridge" and, with that, she skipped off.
"She is our Captain…?" Maron dropped her head and sighed.
"Seemingly so" the Deputy Captain replied with a glare at the departing teen. "Chief Engineer, try to do the best you can to get us fit enough to travel home"
#
"Hey, I'm picking up all sorts of messages from the school, our ships, the Bloomers and civilian vessels as well as authorities ashore" one of the crew spoke, sounding very surprised as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing and reading.
"What are they saying?"
"Something about the training fleet firing on ships and sinking them. Seems our school ships have… mutinied"
"What?" Akeno gasped. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes – the school is asking all of our ships to report their current location and intentions"
"Report in, tell them we're almost home and request instructions" Akeno said. "Put all of our lights on to full and make sure that our location beacon is working and at maximum power. Have the deck crew man the search lights at full intensity and fire a starshell every ten minutes"
"Isn't that extreme?" somebody asked.
"If our school's ships have gone silent and dark, you can safely cross this one off the list if we're doing everything that screams 'Here I am' after all" the Deputy Captain sighed. "Captain, what do you think has caused this?"
"I don't know…" Akeno looked out to the sea. "How far away are we from the location of the trials?"
"Five hundred miles"
"Hmm… Radio Room, Bridge. See if you can raise the Musashi on the radio for me and get their Captain on" she said after another long look.
"Why?" asked the Deputy Captain.
"Because we're old friends and I know her as well as I know myself – she'd never start firing on civilian vessels unless there was an exceptionally good reason"
"And if she did…?"
"Then I want to be the one that stops her – after all, I know how she thinks" Akeno turned to walk off the Bridge but glanced back as she did so. "Find out our combat status… Just in case"
#
"Out of the question – you must stay here and help with the evacuation" the Principal said.
"But I know how she thinks, Ma'am… If I go to meet her, there is a chance I could try to reason with her or at least find out what is going on" Akeno said. "I know Moeka China, and she wouldn't fire on anybody unless it was the only option left to defend herself and others"
"You are on your first cruise as a class – what would you have me do? Send you all into mortal danger?"
"Its what we signed on for… Besides, you don't have a choice because the Musashi is heading at full speed this way" Akeno allowed herself a small smirk of triumph as the Principal frowned.
"How do you know that? It is classified information" she stammered.
"Perhaps you should have used a scrambled link – we picked it up and doubled our efforts to get repairs made with the help of other school pupils. As of half an hour ago, we are fuelled, armed, repaired and ready for sea in all respects… Ma'am, the Blue Mermaids will take seven hours to reach here and yet the Musashi will arrive in six – you have no choice but to let us try and delay it for at least as long as we can to give the Bloomers a chance to catch up"
"You have only training rounds and very little in the way of live ammunition"
"Um, well…" Akeno blushed.
"Ah"
"Yes, your daughter got into the spirit of things and decided to accelerate things. With others helping, we managed to get rid of our training rounds and fill the magazines with live rounds instead. Principal, we're ready to go and do what we have to do to save lives"
"I do not wish harm to come to you or those aboard the Musashi"
"I know, but it will have to happen some day and, if the Musashi has to be sunk…" Akeno looked down sadly, "I should be the one to do it"
"The thought troubles you"
"Yes, but it has to be done to save lives"
"I see" the Principal leaned back in her chair as the faint sounds of evacuation messages mixed in the air. "You actually think I'm going to allow you to go out there after her?"
"You have no choice"
"You'll have no support. No means of defeating its more advanced and superior firepower. What makes you think you can win?"
"I have no choice"
"I'll be a daughter of a bitch if I go to your funeral, Captain Misaki"
"Yes, you will, Ma'am... But we'll talk about your mother when I get back" and Mashiro's mother's jaw dropped in astonishment before she managed to gain her wits.
"Go"
"Ma'am?"
"Get aboard the Harekaze and do what you have to do. If you have to fire upon the Musashi and sink it, I will back you up all the way… Go" and she watched as Akeno quickly saluted and raced out of the office. "Yeoman?" she snapped as she pressed a button on her desk
"Yes?"
"Have tugs readied to move the Harekaze away from the dock side – she is to be readied for immediate departure"
"Ma'am… Are you sure this is wise?"
"No, but right now she is the only option we have left to give us even a chance of slowing Musashi down"
"But to send school children into what is a hopeless cause for a second time…"
"A second time?"
"Yes… I lost both my daughters on the Honda" and the link was closed with a snap. The Principal looked at the box on her desk, closed her eyes and groaned – she had forgotten her last patrol where she had taken on an entire pirate fleet with just one outdated vessel that she commanded on its own last patrol. She had defeated them but at a terrible cost to her crew in lives lost and changed forever – she hadn't realised that her Yeoman had lost both of his daughters, though he never really spoke about his private life that much.
"Where have I gone wrong?" she asked the empty room.
#
"Captain, we're already being moved out and away from the dockside. Chief Engineer reports the engines are tested and appear functional, all departments and manned and ready and weapons are at ready status" the Deputy Captain spoke.
"Good. Chief Navigator, the moment we are cast loose from the tugs, I want you to go to full speed through the channel and onto a direct course for the Musashi. What is our time to intercept?"
"Assuming she's not changed course and speed, five hours and eleven minutes"
"That gives us enough time to run a couple of damage control drills"
"Shall I set them up?" asked the Deputy Captain.
"Please. Mashiro, once we are out of the channel and into the open sea, ask the Chief Engineer to start welding extra plates on the upper parts of the ship and on the inside of the hull below the waterline – tell her to take as many crew as she needs"
"Captain?"
"Just in case we have to get in a battle – I thought some extra armour would be a good idea"
"Ah, of course…" Mashiro turned to walk to the Engine Room to give the orders.
"Pass by the galley and tell them to prepare a meal and then have the Doctor pass out medicinal alcohol to all onboard"
"Captain?"
"Mashiro, I don't think we are all going to come back from this – let us dine and die like legends"
"I'm beginning to think I got on the wrong ship"
#
"Radar to Bridge"
"Go ahead"
"I have a contact on the edge of the scope steaming at over 30 knots"
"That must be the Musashi" Mashiro said quietly.
"Is she maintaining course?"
"Affirmative"
"That has to be her" Kouko said.
"I know" Akeno walked to the rear of the Bridge and picked up a handset. "This is the Destroyer Harekaze hailing the Battleship Musashi… Come in please" but, despite the many times she tried, there was no reply. "Is Musashi holding her course?"
"It appears so, Captain" Mashiro replied.
"Are we inside the range of her weapons?"
"We will be in about five minutes"
"Maintain course and speed and keep hailing her by radio and signal lamp"
"What if she doesn't respond or slow down? What if she fires at us?"
"Then we evade as best as we can and try to disable her… Or send it to the bottom"
"Radar – she has increased her speed – we will be in range of her main battery inside one minute"
"Damn… Sound off Battlestations"
"Aye, Captain" Mashiro got the crew to the places as quickly as possible. "All decks report ready"
"I have a visual" said Macchi from high above.
"Incoming" came the call from the Radar room.
"Hard to port" and Rin swung the wheel hard over to try and avoid the incoming shells. "Rin, zig zag until we get close enough to fire our own weapons. Mashiro, warn the Musashi off or else we will fire upon them"
"Captain, I can just about make out a flashing light signal coming from the Musashi's bridge" Macchi called out from her place in the crow's nest.
"Can you read it?"
"Not right now"
"Let me know the minute you can… When will she be in our weapons range?"
"Effective range in five minutes" Kouko did the sums in her mind.
"Radar, consult with the Gunnery Officer and prepare to fire by Radar plot" Akeno smirked.
"By Radar?" Mashiro frowned.
"Its something I read when studying for the entry exam… We know the target is holding course and a constant speed, we hold our course and speed and fire by the position the Radar indicates"
"Radio to Bridge. I am getting a low powered radio message on an emergency channel from the Musashi"
"Put them through" Akeno grabbed the nearest handset. "Harekaze to Musashi… Harekaze to Musashi…"
"Mike, is that you? Look, I don't think I have much time to talk" Akeno was relieved to hear the voice of her old friend. "Something has infected the crew and they seem to be acting like zombies or a hive mind since we waited for you to arrive at the exercise point. I'm trapped on the Bridge with my Helmsman and two others. They've disabled all the controls up to the Bridge and Wheelhouse, but we can still see readouts"
"Are you safe for now?"
"Yes, but I don't know for how much longer, Mike. I honestly don't know whats happened after we had a transfer with the Sarushima"
"She's gone missing too – do you know where she went?" Akeno felt powerless to help her friend.
"No… She took off into the oceans along with a majority of the fleet. We've tried to stop them sailing the ship to home and doing whatever it is they want to do, but its just too damned hard" the ship shuddered as rounds from the Musashi hit and the Harekaze replied with her own weaponry.
"Have you been able to speak to any of them?" asked Akeno.
"No… They just don't seem to be able to communicate with us, but they must do somehow because they control the ship"
"Rin, get us facing broadside on to the Musashi's stern. Mei, standby torpedoes at half charge… Lets see if we can slow it down by damaging the propellers" Mashiro could see they had a chance.
"At least we won't draw all of her firepower" Akeno agreed as the ship swung round to avoid incoming fire. "Moeka, could you get to a lifeboat if it came to it?" she asked.
"We could get to a float and throw it overboard if it came to it"
"Be prepared to do that if you have to" she looked at the little damage that they were causing. "Tama, standby to switch to armour piercing rounds"
"Captain, they will not do much damage underwater" Mashiro reminded her.
"I know. Tama, prepare to fire into the Musashi's hull – aim at her aft batteries to minimise the danger. Mei, I need you to reload both launchers as fast as possible because when we come back around to the other side, we're going to come alongside and fire them. I am hoping that if we can cause flooding on one side of the ship, her guns will not be able to train down from the port side so we can board her" Akeno picked up the handset again. "Moka, we're going to try and cause flooding on one side of your ship and make it list so that it both slows down and allows us to board from the other side. We'll try to get to your engines and shut them down as well as the generators" she hung up. "Mashiro, look over the crew records and see who has the best unarmed combat training and have them stand by for a boarding party"
"Aye"
"Macchi, is her rudder midships?" Akeno called up.
"I think so… She seems to be holding her course"
"Good" Akeno tried to work out the plan as she went – trying to remember things she had read during her entry exam as well as a number of books on tactics. "Standby all weapons… Standby… Standby" she offered a quick prayer to the Gods of the sea her plan would work. "FIRE!" and all of the weapons fired together. The shells from the Harekaze's guns tore through the air and impacted on the aft main turret of the Musashi – not causing that much damage but at least putting some dints in the cover. The torpedoes, on the other hand, flung themselves into the sea from their launchers and powered through the water and struck their target with devastating effect.
"Report!" Mashiro yelled over the sounds of battle.
"I think we've jammed the rudder, we'll have to see on that, but we've damaged the propellers because the Musashi has slowed down" Mei replied.
"Moka, what have we done?" Akeno picked up the handset and called the Musashi's Bridge.
"We've had to slow down a bit" came the reply, "And we've got a red light on the rudder… I think you jammed it"
"Good. Now, brace for impact"
"Impact…?"
"Mei, standby on second salvo… Tama, are you switched to armour pircing?"
"Ready"
"Aye"
"Rin, hard to port"
"Hard to port" the frightened girl replied and the Harekaze swung round to port.
"Hard to starboard"
"Hard to starboard" and the swing round was countered.
"Midships"
"Midships"
"Steady as she goes… Engine Room, when I hit the collision alarm, I want you to put the ship into a full reverse"
"What for?" called Maron.
"Because, Chief Engineer, we shall be blown up" Mashiro interrupted.
"Oh… That's important not to be"
"Captain, she's bringing her guns round" Kouko pointed out.
"Mei, open fire the moment they open up" Akeno's hand hovered over the alarm.
"For what we are about to receive" the Musashi's guns finished training round, "May we be truly grateful" Kouko made a small sign as flashes of light came from the barrels.
"Torpedoes away" Mei shouted and, at that exact moment, Akeno slammed her hand down and the Harekaze seemed to dig her nose into the water as she suddenly put all of her power into slowing down. The sudden reduction in speed caused the Musashi's salvo to fall where their ship wasn't and Mei had chance to fire another salvo of torpedoes before the engines came back to full speed and Rin put them astern of the Musashi.
"Did it work?" asked Kouko as she peered through the windows.
"I can't tell because we're moving around to avoid the fire, but she does seem to be listing slightly to starboard" Mashiro squinted.
"Harekaze to Musashi – whats your status?" Akeno called her friend.
"We've got a few new holes where we didn't have them before, but we seem to be okay for now. The damage control panel still works and we can see hull breaches where the torpedoes hit and a small list to starboard" Moeka chuckled. "My compliments to your Torpedo Officer"
"We're going to do the same again, but with a little trick to take out your turrets" Akeno said. "Standby" and she turned to Tama, can you have your girls fire from inside the turrets?"
"Yes, but why?" asked the normally quiet girl.
"Because you are not simply aiming for the Musashi – I want you to slam the shells right down her barrels"
"That's impossible"
"Nothing is impossible unless you try" Mashiro said.
"Maron, I am going to do the same thing again but, this time, when I press it a second time I want every last bit of steam you can give me for flank speed" Akeno called down.
"I don't know how much more of this she can take… We've got a fair amount of damage"
"I know, Chief Engineer, but this will be our very last attack because if we fail to cause enough of a list to slow the Musashi down enough, there is nothing that can stop her from attacking Tokyo"
"What about the Bloomers, other schools or the Navy?"
"Still three hours away at hard steaming"
"I see… Ready for signal"
"If we fail, can the ground forces do anything?" Rin squeaked.
"If Musashi get close enough, perhaps… But I doubt it" Mashiro looked at Akeno who seemed caught up in the moment. "Captain?"
"Mashiro, do we have any explosives onboard?" she asked quietly as the ship shuddered from an impact on the forward deck.
"Only a single case we were going to use for the salvage test" Mashiro was surprised by the question.
"Deputy Captain, please remove the explosives and divide it into two portions and hand them to the boarding parties. The minute we ram the Musashi, they are to board and make their way to the engines and either disable or destroy them with explosives. If they can't do that for whatever reason, they are to try and fight their way to the magazines and detonate them" Akeno clenched her hands by her sides.
"That would kill the Musashi's crew" Mashiro said.
"Carry out my orders or I will find somebody who will" something seemed to snap in Akeno. "You have five minutes to get your boarding parties together – go" and, at that moment, the aft turret fired right into the heart of the Harekaze – sending shells deep inside before detonating and causing horrific damage.
"The wheel is jammed… I can't turn it!" shouted Rin as she and Kouko tried hard to haul it round whilst the rest of the crew picked themselves up off the various decks.
"Communications are down throughout the ship" somebody called out.
"Electrical circuits are damaged" came another report.
"Fires next to the forward magazine" Kouko glanced at the damage control board. "Captain, fire suppression is down"
"Engine Room, can you hear me?" Akeno called, but there was no reply because the incoming fire had severed all of the voice piping.
"Send somebody down to the Engine Room and find out what is going on down there" Mashiro ordered.
"Lookout reporting… Just… Ship bearing five points off our starboard stern" Macchi called.
"Can you see who it is?"
"Smoke is too heavy"
"Okay" Akeno sighed. "Get down from there as quickly as you can before anything happens. Tama? Mei?"
"Yes?"
"Aye?"
"Have you got any way to fire the weapons manually?"
"The guns are ready to fire from inside the turrets if we have to – just press the button"
"There is a lever on the forward tubes I can use"
"Bridge, Engine Room" one of the internal battery powered radios crackled into life.
"Kouko? Report" Mashiro grabbed the mic handset before a stunned Akeno could react.
"I took a radio from one of the boats… Bridge, the Engine Room is barely holding things together. We're taking on water and there are fires all over the ship. Mono and Hime are doing what they can with hand held gear, but there is too much damage for us to do anything else"
"Do we still have control over the engines?"
"Maron says we do for now, but she can't say for how much longer"
"Captain, I have the explosives ready" Mashiro came back on the Bridge.
"Change of plans" Akeno had made a decision. "I want you to go to the magazines and put them there. I am going to try and get the ship alongside and then blow it up – hopefully taking the Musashi down with us"
"Battleship approaching from astern, moving out from behind to take position to starboard – closing very fast" one of the uninjured lookouts reported.
"Can you identify?" Akeno asked – she had forgotten that was closing up from behind.
"She's not one of ours" the lookout said before using a handheld lamp to send out a message. After a few moments, a reply came faintly back from the ship as its turrets swung round. "Captain, it's the Kii"
"How…? She was hundreds of miles away?" Mashiro said.
"With another Yamato class here, we can keep on fighting. Kouko, tell Maron to give me everything she has – damage acceptable. Mashiro, go round the ship as quickly as you can and tell everybody to get ready to go. Lookout, tell the Kii to give us fire support during our boarding attempt" and, for the first time, Akeno allowed herself to smile with a bit of humour. "Make to Musashi – 'brace for impact'"
"We're never going to make it out of this alive" Rin groaned.
"Look on the bright side – we'll all have High Schools named after us" Mei said with a smile. A few moments later, they felt the Harekaze's engines start up once more and then kick into overdrive as Maron diverted every last bit of steam into the engines. They could hear the sounds of the Kii fired its weapons as quickly as possible to try and stop the Musashi which replied with almost exactly the same firepower as both were Yamato class ships. It wasn't until they were almost at the ship that the Musashi seemed to take notice of the Harekaze again and her aft main turret swung round as well as her secondary batteries but it was no good as they couldn't train down low enough due to the listing.
"Helm, wheel hard to starboard – ramming speed!" Akeno called as Rin said she had Helm ability again.
"Hard to starboard, Aye" the girl seemed frightened but determined to do her bit and help stop the Musashi. She swung the wheel as far as it would go and braced herself for the impact as the rest of them over the ship did. When it came, it threw them all but Rin to the deck as she spun the wheel hard over to port so that the Harekaze would be wedged hard on the Musashi's anti torpedo bulges.
"All stop… Finished with engines. Away all boarding parties" Akeno groaned as she felt a wetness dripping from her forehead. "Rin, go down to the Engine Room and find Maron. Have her find out what damage we have taken and see what can be done to keep us floating until the Kii can get over here and aid us. Anybody not a part of the boarding parties are to help in the repairs except for communications – we need our radio back up and working" and Rin nodded and hurried off the Bridge as the others joined the repair efforts or to help the injured. As she waited alone, Akeno looked up to the Musashi's upper areas and wondered how her old friend was doing and if she was still safe. She hadn't wanted any of this to happen, but she had had to put her ship and crew in danger to save lives in the same manner as if they were all Blue Mermaids… She was still trying to settle these thoughts when one of the rear intercom handsets started beeping.
"Captain, we've got a problem" it was Kouko calling from down below. "Maron says that we're not going to flood, but we've got fires heading towards the forward and aft magazines and that we can't fight it for much longer with the hand held equipment". Akeno paled as she looked and saw that the Kii was still some distance away from the Harekaze.
"How long do we have?" asked Akeno with a shaky voice.
"She says maybe ten minutes at most"
"And there is nothing that she can do at all? Not even flood those compartments?"
"The Musashi did enough damage to cut out the fire suppression systems and even the flooding ability"
"Right…" Akeno closed her eyes as if in pain as a calmness overcame her. "Tell Maron to get the engines back on and at full speed. All hands are to abandon ship. I'll steer the ship away as far as possible and jump over the side"
"Aye, Captain" Kouko said and hung up. Akeno hit the right alarm and then looked around at the empty Bridge of her first command – she had never thought that it would end like this.
"Captain, this is Mashiro… What is happening?" came a call from the Deputy Captain.
"All of our fire suppression systems are offline and we've got fires heading towards the fore and aft magazines – we'll blow up in ten minutes or less. I'm having everybody transfer to the Musashi and I'm steering the ship away before jumping over the side"
"We'll come back onboard and help"
"There isn't time… Get to the Musashi's radio room and tell the Kii what is going on and what I am doing. Harekaze out" Akeno hung the handset up as she noticed the engines building up to full speed.
"Captain, this is Kouko… All hands have been evacuated to the Musashi and the log book has been taken aboard"
"Thank you, Ship's Secretary, for your work to the ship. It was an honour to have served with you and the rest of the crew" and with a deep understanding of what was to happen, Akeno Misaki placed her uniform cap on her head, crossed to stand behind the wheel of her ship – swinging it hard over to tear her destroyer off the still listing Musashi and away as fast as possible. She hated to have done so, but with the damage to the ship, there was no chance that the Harekaze could have been left to her fate alone – somebody would have had to stay behind and, as the Captain, that task fell to her and her alone. "Forgive me, Moeka, but I had to do this to save your life and the lives of our crews and people…"
There was a huge rumble from below her feet, a blinding flash and then…
#
The roar of both magazines detonating and tearing the great ship to pieces almost deafened the watchers and the heat from the fireball was near blistering to the skin.
"My God…" Mashiro breathed as she saw the destruction of the Harekaze and the sacrifice of their Captain and class leader.
"Does anybody see the Captain?" asked Mei with worry.
"I can't tell" Mono strained her eyes. "Macchi?"
"I don't see anything" the lookout replied.
"Deputy Captain, I… I think Maron and Kouko were still aboard"
"Rin, Tama, Mei… Take the Musashi's boats and go and look for her. Kaede, get a register of the crew together and check we have not lost anybody else" Mashiro looked to where the Harekaze still tore herself to pieces in a great series of explosions which sent parts of the ship flying through the air and into the sea.
"What about the infected?" asked the Doctor with tears in her soft grey eyes.
"Make sure they are safely under sedation and then through them in their quarters and weld the doors shut" Mashiro said. "I am going to take a few people and storm the Bridge to relieve Captain China and get her side of what happened"
"There is no need" said a soft voice, causing them to turn around and see Moeka ashen faced walking towards them. "Your crew has managed to secure the infected amongst mine for which you have my thanks. I… I regret the loss of Captain Misaki"
"Regret?" hissed Mei harshly. "Why didn't you do something about stopping your own ship when you knew what was happening?"
"There was little that we could do apart from wait and hope for the best. The only path apart from jumping over the side of Musashi with a float was down to our ammunition stores – I did not think it wise to anger the infected more then was needed"
"So you had a way to stop them?" Mashiro could not believe her ears.
"I did, but that would have been at the cost of my crew and I could not kill them when they could not help themselves" Moeka watched as the Harekaze's remains burned on the surface before tipping upwards and slipping beneath the waves.
"Even though you had a feeling they would cause injuries or worse?"
"That was my decision as Captain"
"And your last" Mashiro could not believe how somebody her Captain loved like a sister was such a coward. "Captain China, by order of the Principal, you are hereby relieved of duty as Commanding Officer of the Musashi pending an investigation into what happened. Kaede, see to somebody detaining her in her cabin under guard for the time being as well as these others. Tsugme, go to the Radio Room and signal the Kii to come alongside to take off the crews. Hiromi, take some of your girls and shut down all the systems to the ship and then rig a cable up for the Kii. This vessel is coming home, that is certain, but she will be towed home backwards in disgrace"
"You can't do that!" Moeka said – her face getting redder by the minute.
"Be confined to your cabin pending transfer to your Brig or I will strip you of that uniform and clap you in irons" Mashiro drew herself up to her full height and stared down at the smaller girl. "Try me at your own convenience"
"You wouldn't dare"
"Macchi, Mono, Hime… Detain Captain China and confine her to her cabin. If she resists, you have my permission to handcuff and gag her" Mashiro growled.
"Can you do that?" asked Tama as they watched the Musashi's Captain being dragged away as she tried to break free.
"Probably not" Mashiro shrugged. "Kaede, please go to the Bridge and enter into the logbook that Captain China has been relieved of duty and that I have assumed command – enter the time and position in the log. Add that I am transferring all of the crew from both this ship and the Harekaze to the Kii and this ship will return home under tow, her pennents and flags taken down and in disgrace. When you have done that, note in the log that it will be the final entry for this cruise and then secure it"
"What about you?" asked Kaede as she watched what remained of the Harekaze burn on the surface before slipping to the depths.
"See to my classmates and then write out a letter of resignation from the school" and, with that, Mashiro turned and walked away.
#
As it was towed up the channel and towards the school, a small party of the Harekaze crew reboarded the Musashi to stand ready to tie up once the dock workers were ready. Medical staff waited to take off the injured from the Kii as tugs pushed the still listing Musashi alongside a pier before engineering teams raced up to start the process of inspecting the damage and estimating repair times and costs. Mashiro's mother came up closely behind with her sisters to see the youngest member of their family for themselves.
"Are you alright?" her mother asked, searching for any sign of injuries on her daughter.
"I am unharmed" Mashiro replied.
"Where is Captain Misaki? I presume she is injured or else she would be here to meet me"
"You didn't get my message?"
"What message?" Principal Munetani frowned, searching her memory for anything that would give her a clue.
"Captain Misaki, Chief Engineer Yanagiwara and Ship's Secretary Nosa are still aboard" Mashiro pulled out a letter she had written and gave it to her mother along with her gold braid and started to walk down the plank surrounded by her friends and classmates.
"Wait! Mashiro, where are you going?"
"As far away from this ship and this school of lies and cowards" Mashiro spat.
"Cowards? Lies? What are you talking about?"
"Did you know that the Captain of Musashi panicked when her ship was taken over by the infected? Did you know that she still had one or two ways of slowing the ship down or sinking it? Did you know that she did nothing to stop the attacks on civilian and training ships?" Mashiro spun to point a finger at her own mother. "Captain Misaki was twice the person she will ever be and I do not want to serve in the same school as her – I'll transfer somewhere else if I have to" the teen hesitated and then pulled off the gold chain on her shoulder and threw it at the Principal's feet. "Keep it… I quit"
A/N:
Yes, just for those that get it, the little exchange between Akeno and the Principal was based on Space: Above And Beyond