Captured and Running
"Captain, we are currently at anchor with the ship's head bearing 110" Mashiro Muetanni reported formally to Akeno Misaki as she took the Bridge for three hundredth day without going anywhere. Japan had been involved in a war that it had lost and, as part of the terms of surrender, nearly all of its combat capable ships were to be either scrapped or taken to an American port pending a decision on what to do with them. The only ones allowed left were a few outdated vessels that would be capable of handling any pirate activity in nearby waters. This demand also applied to the ships of the various Marine High Schools and, as the senior of the pupils remaining in the school, Akeno had been summoned to the Principal's office and given her orders.
"Miss Misaki, the Americans have demanded that we turn over the vessels that belong to our schools including ours. The orders we have been given are for you to take the school's ships in formation to the US port of Pearl Harbor to be detained there until they decide what to do with us. To that end, I am making you a Commodore in order that you might have authority over the other ships. Commodore, I believe that few, if any, of the ships will be returned to us but I want you to ensure that every member of crew on each of our ships obeys orders and show they have not been defeated in spirit"
"What was the war all about? We only heard bits of it on the radio"
"The Americans want our oil, coal and other minerals that they so desperately need. They decided that the best way to do so would be to eliminate our fleet, cripple our defences and launch an invasion. Whatever happens, Miss Misaki, make sure that the pupils of this school maintain their honour"
"Aye, aye"
"Captain?" Akeno was brought out of her memory by Kouko calling her name.
"Sorry… What is it?"
"Refuelling tanker is coming alongside in half an hour and Minami is requesting a resupply of medical supplies due to some going spoilt overnight when a fridge caught fire"
"Oh. Is it in the report from the night watch?" Akeno asked, looking out of the Harekaze's windows and seeing the rest of the fleet sitting at their anchors as they had done for a long time.
"Yes. We sent a message to the Americans, but they haven't replied at the moment"
"I wonder if they ever will" Mashiro said. "They took ages to send a boat out to get Sora to a hospital after she broke her leg… I think they want to wear us down and take the ships"
"If they want them, we have to give it to them – those are our orders" Akeno looked away. "Very well, I have the watch"
"You have the watch, Aye, Aye" Mashiro saluted and went below to her cabin. Kouko followed her to leave just Akeno, Tama and Mei holding the Bridge for the next five hours without a Helmsman on the wheel as one was not needed.
#
Apart from routine reports, the trio were quiet until half way through their watch when Mei spoke from where she had been slouching against the torpedo director.
"I'm bored – you think we'll get some mail this supply run?"
"I hope so, but that is up to our hosts" Akeno frowned, watching as a boat came out of the mist and motored towards them. "Engine Room, Bridge – standby to receive fuel"
"Aye, Aye" came the instant reply. Despite not having moved out to sea, Maron had prided herself on having the Harekaze ready in almost all respects and must have been ready to get the call.
"What do you want me to do?" Akeno turned to look at Mei. "I have tried everything to get us a single afternoon ashore, but the Americans refuse because they think we might escape"
"Why can't we?"
"Because if we escaped, we would be leaving the crews of the other ships behind to face the Americans and I can't allow that. Besides, we don't have enough fuel to make it to home"
"If we stop using parts of the ship, we could lower our fuel usage" Tama said. "We could also send some of the crew home like the Americans have asked us to"
"My orders from the Principal were to take the ships here and maintain the honour of the school" Akeno shook her head. "Besides, even if we reduced our rate of consumption, we'd still not have enough"
"I know we worked out how much it would cost, but we've plotted out a route that avoids the American base and is just under four thousand miles in total" Mei showed Akeno her working out on a copy of some magazine they had sailed out with. "It was Rin that made us think of something – when we sailed, we had to do so without any of the magazines filled which means the weight is down"
"We still don't have enough fuel to get back"
"But we could get the fuel right from the Americans. If we pump out our ballast tanks and put as much of the fuel there as possible, then the next amount of fuel they give us will just about be enough for full speed straight there with a slight detour to avoid Midway"
"The only problem is that not all the ships will make it" Tama said. "And we can't leave them behind"
"It is too dangerous" Akeno shook her head as she watched the refuelling take place.
"Can we at least come up with the plan?" and Akeno nodded – if nothing else, it would make for some good exercise in their planning abilities.
"Bridge, this is Momo"
"Go ahead" Akeno picked up the microphone.
"Captain, we've got a problem with the Americans – they can't understand our request for additional supplies of stuff"
"I'll be right down" Akeno sighed. "How I will explain this I do not know" she shook her head. "Tama, the Bridge is yours"
#
"Ah, Commodore Misaki" the jovial face of their American naval contact smiled warmly as Akeno walked towards him.
"Captain Smith" she nodded and added a quick salute. "What is the trouble here?"
"Your ship has received its allocated amount of supplies but I have here a request for more without knowing what it is for"
"Momo?"
"Its… Well, for you know…" she rocked from foot to foot.
"I do?" blinked Akeno.
"Captain, we've run out of the one thing we need more than toilet paper" and Akeno's eyes widened.
"Ah" and she turned to look at Smith. "Um, we need some more girl items"
"Such as?" and Akeno sighed, leaned forward and whispered it into his ear. "Ah, yes… Right… I can certainly arrange that for today. There was one other thing that was additionally requested from your medical officer. I'm curious as to how that happened without male crewmembers"
"As my Deputy Captain has often reminded me, anything is possible"
"Indeed. Anything else I should know about?" Smith asked, checking his watch.
"Nothing much. My Chief Engineer wants to put a couple of divers over the side this afternoon to check the propellers and so on"
"I don't see the harm in that. I shall get you your extra items and put them on the packet ship by midday"
"Thank you" and, soon after that, the resupplying of food and fuel was completed and the Americans left. Akeno stayed on the deck to watch them leave before returning to the Bridge. As she made the short journey, she wondered if she would ever take the Harekaze and the ships and crew under her command home once again. She still could not comprehend how and why the Americans had decided to declare war on them, and she did not want her ship in particular to be taken.
"Captain, may I speak to you?" Minami spoke in her normal quiet tone.
"Of course" Akeno blinked, clearing her mind of her previous thought pattern.
"I have finished my examinations of the entire crew of this ship plus the results of the test carried out by the rest of the ships here. I have to tell you officially that, if there is nothing done in the next few weeks, we might not have the strength to repel any attempts at taking the ships"
"Are things really that bad?" Akeno asked.
"Yes. I estimate that we have at least three weeks before the majority of the fleet starts to suffer. Some of the younger members are already feeling the effects of poor diet and lack of mental stimulus"
"Poor diet?"
"The Americans have been providing us with just below minimum requirements to sustain ourselves. Whilst we have been able to supplement that with fish, we are still going to suffer in three weeks at the outside" Minami told Akeno and the Captain knew for certain that she was telling the truth.
"But Smith seems to be so nice to us – even Mashiro likes him"
"I do not believe he knows what is going on. I have spoken to him and he was against the war and his superiors made him deal with us as a supposed punishment" Minami hesitated for a moment. "We have to do something"
"But what? I have already had this discussion with Mei and Tama and told them that even if we somehow got fuel that we'd be leaving others behind" Akeno sighed.
"There is always a way to do the impossible" Minami told her calmly.
"Not sure to do it. Besides, just assume for a moment it is possible… Who would we leave behind?"
"Have I ever told you why I stayed with this class despite doing my required year of sea duty?" Minami flushed slightly and looked out to where the rest of the ships sat bobbing at their anchors.
"No, I don't think so" Akeno smiled.
"I became a Doctor because I was judged to be bright, because my parents thought it would look impressive to them and to bring great honour to our family. Whilst this is true, I was never given a chance to do something I believed in. I found that during our cruise with the first Harekaze and I have found the family and friends I lacked when young. I have faith… No, I have trust in you and your ability to do the right thing. No matter what, Captain Misaki, it has been an honour to serve with you" and Minami drew herself up to attention, saluted Akeno, executed a perfect turn on her heel and marched off – leaving a slack jawed girl behind.
#
Long after their talk, Akeno was in her cabin thinking as she ate her dinner – thoughts throughout the day had put her into a bad mood. Once her watch was over, she had turned it over to Rin and stayed in her cabin and ordered her meal to be brought to her instead of eating with the crew as she always did which led to some of them wondering if the stress of their situation had finally got to her. A soft chime disturbed her and Akeno looked at the clock which showed it was almost time for her to go stand on the bow and make a prayer on behalf of the ship's crew. Although she was not a religious person, Akeno felt strongly in tradition and led the prayers each evening for the safety and wellbeing of the ship and crew. As she finished the last few bits of her food, her eyes strayed to a book she had got just before setting sail with the training fleet – To Do What Is Right With Honour by Jimmy Smith. Thinking nothing of it, she was about to go to the deck to lead the evening ritual when there was a knock on her cabin door.
"Come in" and Tsugme stepped quickly inside. "Oh, hi – what is the matter?"
"Against orders, I have been monitoring American radio communications"
"I thought they had disabled that ability" Akeno blinked, "And taken the spare parts to do it again"
"Yes. However, I took a gamble they would not search teenaged girls too… um… Closely" Tsugme blushed a bright red.
"Oh" Akeno felt her cheeks start to heat up. "Well, what is the matter?"
"The Americans have received orders to take our ships at 0500 hours local"
"What?" Akeno had been expecting it at the back of her mind for months, but had always thought about there being some kind of warning well in advance first.
"I had Kaede double check my translation in case I made a mistake, she is fluent in it after all, but she told me that I was right in the first place" Tsugme's face grew sad. "I guess this is it" she whispered. Akeno was about to say something when, for reasons she could never explain later on in life, she was drawn back to the book and its title. Almost as if by its own choice, she reached forward for the handset on her wall and pressed the button to connect her to the entire ship…
"Now hear this, now hear this… Deputy Captain, Ship's Secretary, Doctor and all Department Heads to the Captain's Cabin at once"
#
With such a summons, Akeno's cabin was quickly filled with her senior crew which made it a bit of a tight squeeze.
"Thank you for coming as quickly as possible. I have received information that leads me to believe that the Americans will take our ships in the early hours of the morning. When I accepted the task of leading our remaining training fleet into captivity, I was ordered to make no resistance to this but I find that I can not follow that order. We have thirteen hours in which to think of something and get out of here" Akeno looked around the room. "Any suggestions, no matter how silly, would be appreciated"
"We do not have enough fuel to get back home" Maron was the first to speak. "We would have to find a source of fuel and do so without communications"
"Actually, me and Tama worked that out" Mei replied. "We can take it from the other ships in the fleet"
"And what about them?" asked Macchi. "Do they not deserve to come home also?"
"We worked it out – there is only enough fuel for one ship to make it home if we get it all together"
"And how do we get it from them to us?" Mashiro asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oil is lighter than water" Tama said simply.
"What she means is that the other ships put as much fuel into the drums they came in and float them over here. We can store them in our empty torpedo store and main gun magazines"
"And what about the crews?"
"Well, with the amount of fuel we're talking about…" Mei shrugged, "They would have to put on their wetsuits when they did it and they are dark enough so the Americans would never see anything happen"
"We can't leave the ships behind" Mashiro said angrily. "To leave our ships behind in an enemy port is treason!"
"Blow them up" Tama spoke quietly.
"What?"
"Blow them up" Tama repeated. "The ships follow us into the channel and then turn to block it off, drop their anchors, open sea cocks, activate scuttling charges and then get to us – the Americans would be blocked in"
"There is still the base at Midway" Tsugme put in.
"If we operated by complete silence and used bad weather and poor visibility to hide ourselves like putting on a cloak…" Kaede smiled, "It might be fun"
"We have our orders" Mashiro protested.
"There are orders and then there is the right thing to do" snarled Maron. "Captain, Engineering department stands ready to assist you" and, one by one, the others all came round to Akeno's plan.
"Macchi, send by flag signals only for the other ships to be ready to get new orders regarding the storage of oil. That shouldn't arouse suspicion if any Americans happen to be watching. Maron, get both engines serviced as quickly as you can and then get your girls ready to pump out the ballast tanks and then fill them full of oil. Momo, Hime. I want you two to go round the ship and find as many blankets as possible and put them in the storage rooms, mess hall, workshops, torpedo stores and the shell magazines – let's make it a bit more comfortable for our guests. Kaede, make sure the sonar is calibrated because I don't want to hit anything on the way out" Akeno looked around. "I realise this is going against the orders we were given when told to sail here, but I fear that we must disobey them to preserve honour and duty. Deputy Captain, stay behind – the rest of you are dismissed" and the girls filed out to complete their tasks.
"I have upset you" Mashiro said.
"Yes. After all this time as a crew and family, you still have times when it is hard for you to understand occasions when the rules must be broken and orders ignored" Akeno shook her head. "Do you want to give the ships over to the Americans?"
"Of course not"
"If we followed your example then the Americans would not only take our ships but use them to support a massive operation against Japan. Do you want our people to have no possible warning or even a chance?"
"What do you mean?"
"Tsugme intercepted the message which I told you about. What I didn't mention to the others is that our ships are to be used to support an American fleet that will sail right into Tokyo Bay and destroy what remains of our forces without mercy. From what she has been able to determine, though, is that it is not the entire American navy that is supporting this – a number of their ships have gone silent after getting the message and will not respond to signals"
"That sounds like that virus we came up against"
"Yeah… I just wish we had something to fire to defend ourselves" and then Akeno caught a look on Mashiro's face. "Something to tell me?"
"Captain, there are nine shells aboard the Harekaze"
"What? How did I not know?"
"I was under orders from my mother not to tell you. Although she had to hand over the ships, she did not want her daughter to be unable to defend herself so she had some shells placed into the ballast tanks"
"You should have told me anyway, Deputy Captain" Akeno was angry. "What if the Americans had found them there during an inspection? Do you have any idea how this could have hurt us? When we get out of this, I am going to have to reconsider the command staff of this ship. For now, get them out of the ballast tanks and loaded into the auto loader. Dismissed" she snapped, very much unlike her, and Mashiro saluted and left the cabin as quickly as she could.
#
Akeno was on the Bridge overseeing the preparations when Macchi called from high above.
"Bridge, Crowsnest. There is a boat approaching us"
"Can you see how many people are onboard it?" Akeno asked.
"Not sure, but I would say less than a dozen. I see no other boats in the area"
"Keep watching them. Deck Crew, be ready to repel boarders. Engine Room, can we get going?"
"I need another ten minutes to test some pipework"
"Please cut some corners if you can – we may need to start soon"
"No promises" their Chief Engineer sounded eager to get to sea.
"Captain, I think it is Smith and a few of his staff" Mashiro stepped back in from the port Bridge wing.
"At least it isn't a boarding party" Akeno was relieved. "Shiro, try to do your best to stop them from going inside the ship if possible and bring Smith to the Bridge"
"Aye, Captain" and she left.
"Kouko, take this message to Macchi personally" Akeno said. "It says 'With regards to the last set of orders, standby to follow the last part'. Tell her to add an instruction to relay that through the fleet and then, once you have told her, tell Tsugme to standby on the radio to broadcast"
"Okay"
"Captain, Smith is here" Mashiro spoke as Kouko left on her tasks.
"Commodore Misaki, I will cut to the chase – I know what you are planning. I have been sure for some time that you had the ability to read our messages, both coded and not, but I kept this from my superiors because there was no real harm in it. I spotted, however, your large amount of flag signals tonight and figured that you were going to try a breakout of one or more of your ships" Smith came to the point right away. "I have a list of frequencies the navy will use to communicate between itself and, more importantly, a map of the minefield as it now is"
"Why are you helping us like this?"
"Because to do what they plan is wrong" Smith shrugged. "They do not just plan to use their guns on civilian targets as well as what remains of your fleet, but there is a new kind of weapon that could wipe out your capital before anything can be done to stop it. The only drawback is that it must be within fifty miles of the target to be launched"
"Thank you" Akeno said in gratitude, "But that still doesn't explain why you are here"
"The ship carrying the new weapon has suffered an engine failure – meaning the rest of the fleet has had to heave to for a few hours. This will give you a chance of meeting up with some heavy firepower and maybe make a fight of it"
"Heavy firepower? What do you mean?" asked Akeno in confusion.
"It would take too long to explain fully, but there is a resistance movement in my country which I am a part of. We've made contact with other nations who have agreed to send Battleships as quickly as possible to aid you and what ships you were allowed to keep. At the same time as we hope that you attack the fleet, those in the resistance are going to take over key military points before marching on the White House and removing the President from power"
"Who is coming to help us?" Rin asked.
"Britain and Germany mainly and also a ship from the Italians" Smith glanced at a clock mounted to the bulkhead. "You don't have that much time to get the stores loaded"
"Stores?" Mashiro blinked.
"I have managed to find four torpedoes for you as well as a bit of ammunition for your secondary guns. My boat crew should be hauling them up to you"
"Thank you… How can we repay you?"
"By telling your people that not every American wishes to wage war" Smith hesitated for a moment before coming to attention and saluting. "Good luck, Commodore"
"Attention on deck!" the girls that were around came to attention as Akeno returned the salute. Smith walked off with Tama as an escort and Akeno watched him leave before glancing at Mashiro.
"Well, this is a surprise" the Deputy Captain said. "How many does that sheet say is going to help us?"
"Um…" Akeno unfolded a piece of paper that Smith had pressed into her hand before leaving. "Oh wow…!" she exclaimed, "The list says we'll meet up with the Hood, King George V, Warspite, Vanguard, Bismarck, Admiral Graf Spee, Prince Eugene and Roma"
"A powerful fleet… I wonder how the Americans have missed all those ships assembling and meeting up"
"We can ask when we meet up with them" Akeno said. "Get the crews of the other ships to help unload and get the stores distributed. Engine Room, Bridge"
"Engine Room" Maron replied.
"Bring yourself to immediate notice"
"AYE, AYE" came the overjoyed reply and Akeno had to ring her ears out.
"She seems happy"
"I hadn't noticed" Rin smirked. "Captain, ready for orders"
"Very well" and Akeno looked around the Bridge. "Let's go home"
"Aye, Aye, Captain" Mashiro walked over to a phone and picked it up. "Attention all hands, this is the Bridge. All stations make status report"
"Engine Room ready for sea"
"Sonar ready"
"Radar here – all good"
"Radio Room standing by"
"Sickbay ready"
"Gunnery, Aye"
"Torpedoes Ready"
"Damage Control – we're ready for anything"
"Galley reporting – we've made soup and curry"
"Curry!" Tama cried out and had to be restrained from running to get some by Mei and the freshly returned Kouko.
"Captain, the ship reports ready for sea in all respects" Mashiro said.
"Smith has gone" reported a lookout.
"Macchi, make the following message by flags. 'Paragraph Eleven of today's date. Acknowledge. Chief of the Interned Squadron'. Report when you see replies. Shiro, ring on the engines and prepare for movement"
"And now for the main event" the Deputy Captain muttered.
"And its an outsize in bowler hats if this goes wrong" Kouko quoted.
"I take a small" Maron called up from the Engine Room.
"Replies are being hoisted"
"Signal 'Execute'. Rin, both engines ahead slow. Follow the course laid out for us by Captain Smith and keep right on the line until we get to half way part of the channel" Akeno felt the Harekaze's engines surge with power for the first time in almost a year as the ship groaned with relief – the propeller blades increasing their speed as they pushed the ship onwards.
"Captain, all the ships appear to be moving in formation" Kouko went from one side of the Bridge to the other to check as the Sonar and Radar systems were being kept turned off.
"Have the deck crew lower ropes and nets on both sides of the ship to take on the skeleton crews" Akeno ordered. "Rin, as soon as everybody is on, go to full speed towards the east until we're out of range of the American radar systems and then make a sweeping loop round and set a course for home"
"Aye"
"At least we only have to worry about what is in front of us" Mashiro said, getting a report from down below regarding their guests.
"True, but Smith did not tell us about submarines near Pearl Harbor. Do I switch the Sonar on and give away our position in order to have a look around?" Akeno worried and dearly wished that their old friend Mina was onboard for advice as she knew a hell of a lot about submarines… Not that Akeno had not learnt anything over their years of friendship, but that always assumed they could use their sonar. "To hell with it" she cursed. "Kaede, when we are clear of the area, I want you to do a sweep of the local sea and tell me what you see and then shut down again"
"I shall" came the calm reply. Kaede had somehow always managed to keep her uniforms pressed and creased as they should be, kept up with training using simulations and some remote controlled boats they had been allowed to play with under supervision. As Akeno thought about it, the idea of remote controlled boats seemed a rather interesting idea.
"Shiro, can the Skippers be set to preprogramed courses?" she asked.
"I-I-I think so"
"Good" Akeno smiled for the first time that night. "Get a message to the evacuating crews from the other ships that they are to set their Skippers to go off on a random course based off our current heading. Once they get a certain distance, they can transmit the fleet's ID beacons and pretend to be us"
"They will not be fooled for long" Rin noted, her hands gripping the Harekaze's wheel.
"But they will spend time tracking each pair down and destroying them. This way, though, we can escape to the open sea and head for the meet up with the friendlies" Mashiro explained to her.
"Search completed… No contacts" Kaede reported.
"Very good" Akeno guessed their position and checked it on the map.
"Shall I have the signal sent out for the ships to start their turns and rig for scuttle?" asked Mashiro.
"No… I will do it" Akeno walked to the rear of the Bridge and picked up a handset. "Tsugme, put me on with the fleet"
"You are on" but Akeno found herself unable to give the order to scuttle the ships. Mashiro hesitated for a moment before the Deputy Captain walked over and gently prised the handset from Akeno.
"Ships of the fleet, this is the Harekaze. Commence your planned moves and abandon ship. Hoist your battle ensigns and the school's flags. Captains, report to the Commodore in person with your log books and reports of crew members evacuated. Flagship, out"
"Thank you" Akeno whispered – the quickness of what she had been told and what had to be done was starting to take hold on her. The teenager could only imagine what each of the skeleton crews were thinking as they left their ships for the final time – wondering what would have happened if Moeka had been alive and in charge… Would she have given the same orders as her?
#
Over the course of the next few minutes, the majority of the fleet turned to port and starboard, came to a halt, dropped their anchors and opened valves and sea cocks to ensure they sank before setting the scuttling charges and motoring towards the Harekaze where each Captain reported to Akeno and then went below to find the rest of their crews. As the ship made its escape, the various discarded Skippers sped off in different directions in pairs before slowing down and broadcasting their transponder code. The scuttling of the majority of the fleet made it seem to the Americans as if they had all killed themselves in order to buy the Harekaze time to escape and intercepted reports suggested that it would take weeks for them to get enough equipment together to move the wrecks. All vessels were asked to be on the lookout for the Harekaze, but it appeared as if the Skippers were doing their job well and throwing off the scent as they were reported in multiple areas. This was the cause of some merriment and mirth aboard the Harekaze and her guests as they steamed hard for the meeting point. They had had to take a detour around the American base at Midway, but now they were steaming fast to join up with the promised task force and Akeno was hoping that she could offload the vast majority of the other ships' crews to them as space was proving hard to find both to move and rest. The only two rooms that did not have visitors were Akeno's cabin and the Sickbay on the basis that nobody knew when their Doctor would be needed and the Captain needed somewhere private to think. Whilst this might have caused problems at the start of their desperate cruise, the extra people had allowed a frequent change of people at stations meaning that fresh eyes and minds manned all departments. Kaede had already detected vague radio signals that she had thought might be American vessels talking to each other on encrypted channels, but they soon faded as the girl on the Helm changed the Harekaze's course to move away from them and towards the RV point. By the time they were sighted, the American attack fleet had completed repairs to their special ship and were getting ready to move off again.
"Multiple warships ahead" Macchi was taking a few moments from her normal position to visit the bathroom and took the call from the Radar Room. "Too close to make a firm count, but they appear to be on an intercept course"
"Get up there and take a look" Mashiro ordered and bent to the voice pipe. "Captain to the Bridge… Captain to the Bridge on the double"
"She will not wake" Minami said as she entered the Bridge, "For she is a deeply asleep. To wake her would be exceptionally dangerous to both physical and mental health. Has something happened?" she asked.
"We've encountered a group of ships that we think might be the ones we're looking for" Mashiro told her.
"Friends or foe?"
"Hopefully friends" Mashiro gave up looking at the sea beyond the bow and looked back at the Doctor. "How is the Captain?" she asked, but Minami shook her head.
"I can not tell you – my oath prevents me from discussing details. However… What I will say is that if this were any other person, they would be given counselling and some medication"
"Is she that bad?" Mashiro had never stopped to think that all this must have been a incredible strain on her Captain – more so than any of the other crew members aboard the Harekaze.
"Again, Deputy Captain, I can not tell you the details. I may already have said too much about it, but my oath does allow me to tell you this because of the safety of the ship – she needs as much support as possible from you, the crew and everyone else" Minami fell silent and blushed slightly as if afraid of what she had implied.
"I… I see" Mashiro thought her next words carefully. "If someone were to have a breakdown, Doctor, what sort of signs should we see before it happens?"
"Anger, mood swings, lack of sleep, taking on more and more work…" Minami seemed to be debating something before muttering and pulling Mashiro out onto the unoccupied starboard wing. "I could face trouble for this, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't mention it"
"Mention what?"
"Captain Misaki is not just suffering from stress but also from cancer" and the Deputy Captain gasped in surprise.
"How…? Why…?"
"I do not know" Minami said quietly, "But what I know is that if she doesn't get the correct treatment soon, there is a good chance we could lose her. I have been treating her with whatever medical supplies the Americans gave us, but I was only extending the time before serious treatment was needed"
"Is it terminal?"
"No… Its something relatively simple enough for any hospital to treat and cure in a matter of weeks, but with us denied even the most basic of things…" Minami shook her head. "When you start firing, make the first salvo for me"
"I thought Doctors were supposed to save lives"
"They are not human… They are animals"
"I'm picking up some search radar coming from the vessels ahead"
"Have they locked on?" Mashiro bent to the voice pipe.
"Not at this time… Wait… It has vanished"
"Picking up a radio message – encoded IFF"
"Don't they know that we can't reply back? That the Americans took almost all of our transmitting equipment?" Minami said.
"Not all of it" Mashiro smirked slightly. "Even the Americans would not strip teenaged girls for a search"
"You would be surprised" Minami said, her tone almost bitter and angry.
"Hmm… Make a reply on that exact same frequency. Send the message 'Jade Palace' and report anything else. Rin, slow us down a touch more"
"Half ahead, aye"
"I'm already getting a reply from one of the ships – Whiskey Two Zero Seven"
"That's the Spee!" Mashiro cried out in relief. "Send them another message and tell them that we have need of supplies urgently and request permission to offload some of our passengers. Engine Room from Bridge… Is Maron there?"
"Yes" came the almost instant reply.
"Make a list of what repairs you can do in an hour when we heave-to to offload people"
"That won't be much. Still, I could service the engines and check out the firing controls" Maron was careful to voice her thoughts. Both girls knew that the year of sat doing nothing had taken its toll on the fleet before they had been scuttled and what equipment had been saved to repair the Harekaze had not been enough. Mashiro was well aware of the fact that Maron had, with the help of the crews from the rest of their school's fleet, been patching as many holes as possible in the lower hull and welding spare decking as makeshift additional armour. Neither of them had any illusion that it would help them to survive the battle, but at least they might last long enough to cause some damage to the American fleet that approached their home.
"I can't wait to stop for even a short time" Rin said quietly.
"Why?" asked Mashiro with a frown.
"Because then I can sit down and take the weight off my feet" and something whirled in the Deputy Captain's mind.
"Rin, how long have you been at the wheel for?" she asked.
"Ever since we left Pearl Harbor" Rin replied.
"How… How have you been standing watch for this long?" Mashiro was in awe at the small girl's stamina.
"Simple" Rin shrugged. "My duty is to Helm the Harekaze until I am either unable to do so or I am relieved. As long as I can stand and breath, I shall remain at my post"
"No" Mashiro shook her head, "That will not be nessesary. We are on a simple intercept course which anyone can maintain. You are relieved of watch with my thanks and that of the ship and Captain"
"If it is all the same, I would rather stand the voyage" the Chief Navigator and Helmsman replied fiercely. Mashiro found a new level of deep respect and simply smiled and nodded.
"As you wish… Steady as she goes"
"Aye… Steady as she goes"
#
"You should have woken me the moment you sighted ships" Akeno grumbled as she rubbed her tired eyes and massaged the sides of her pounding head.
"I wanted to, but the Doctor overruled me on medical grounds" Mashiro heard some sort of muttered curse before the Captain washed her face and then got dressed in a clean uniform.
"Give me a report" she said at last.
"We've linked up with some heavy warships as promised. They are the German ships Bismarck, Admiral Graf Spee and Prinz Eugen, the British ships King George V, Hood, Vanguard, Warspite and Belfast, the Italian ships Roma and Aquila and finally the French vessel Dunkerque"
"Wow…" Akeno paused for a moment as she put on her skirt, "That is some serious firepower. Old ships compared to the newer American vessels, but with thicker armour and longer ranged weapons"
"That is the thinking. Captain, I had the vast majority of our guests transferred to other ships in the fleet except for those in the Engineering and Damage Control groups"
"Good thinking"
"We are also currently laid up alongside the Admiral Graf Spee to receive some fuel and urgent supplies from her. Thea says that she and the other Captains want to talk to you as quickly as possible" Mashiro passed the message on.
"Understood. How is Mina?"
"She is currently with Miss Nosa" Mashiro hesitated. "I shudder to think exactly they are doing"
"You are an adult, Shiro… Work it out" Akeno smirked and drained the last of the tea Mashiro had brought with her. "Lets get this meeting done and then we can sail for home and our meeting with destiny"
"You believe in it?" the Deputy Captain blinked.
"Not in a spiritual sense, but more of a destiny in what our lives have been before and what they lead to beyond" Akeno was about to open the cabin door when she stopped and turned around. "Mashiro, in case we don't have time later, I want you to know this comes from the heart… Serving with you has been an honour"
"No…" Mashiro shook her head with a sad smile, "The honour was mine, Captain" and she drew herself to attention and saluted with as much love, devotion and pride as she could put into the gesture. Akeno hesitated, then the girl returned the act before shaking her hand.
"Let's do this…"
"Aye, Ma'am"
#
"Captain, everybody that is getting off has left, we've resupplied and the ship is ready to sail"
"Then set a course to intercept the fleet – ahead flank speed for as long as possible" Akeno said. "Begin active radar and sonar searches"
"They'll know we're coming and expect it" Mashiro said.
"No they won't…" Akeno said quietly, "Not this" and she looked at the darkness that was beginning to fill the sky. "We've got to stop them or force them to turn back – we're the only hope of defeating the fleet"
"Even if we have to sink them and kill some of them?" Mashiro knew about Akeno's desire to save life as much as possible.
"Even if… If they get close enough to launch this weapon then millions could die – I think a few hundred is better than a few million"
"True" Mashiro replied quietly. "If you'll excuse me, I think I could do with a cup of tea before a short rest – I think my next one will be rather long" she added grimly.
"As will everybody's, Deputy Captain… As will everybody's" and Mashiro blinked and walked off the Bridge.
"Captain, the fleet is in formation and keeping speed with us" one of the lookouts reported.
"Very good. Rin, maintain this course and speed for as long as possible"
"Steady as she goes" the girl replied. Unlike her normal frightened outlook in life, this desperate mission to save her country had brought about a change and after her various watches, she had been found helping with repairing and refitting various bits of equipment wherever she could help out. Given the circumstances, she did not want to be the one to let the ship down and had decided deep in her mind that she would happily sacrifice her life if it was needed.
"Mei, Tama – weapon status?"
"We're getting things fixed as quickly as we can, but we might go into battle without some of it tested" Mei said.
"Guns work" Tama added simply.
"I'll take that as being a good thing" Akeno allowed herself a small smile. "Rin, estimated time to intercept?"
"Fifteen hours at this speed"
"I hope that will be okay" Akeno whispered. "Maron, how are the engines?" she called down on the voice pipe.
"Engineering is ready… Engineering staff not so much"
"Same as always" the Captain smiled. "Please keep doing your best"
"I always do"
"Captain, Radio Room" Tsugme called up from her little room.
"Go ahead"
"I'm picking up some faint radio traffic being relayed to all ships in the area regarding a major storm in the area with the possibility of it becoming worse"
"That's all we need" Mashiro groaned.
"Indeed it is" Akeno grinned. "If this weapon is as dangerous as Smith told us, they might want to protect it as long as possible so either they slow down, stop or else turn to a new course away. Either way, Shiro, we can catch them up" this last was to Mashiro who had been handed a piece of paper from one of the lookouts.
"If we can keep up the speed – the crew on Roma are highly skilled but their ship was not fully worked up after a refit. Their Captain reports his Chief Engineer thinks the engines could suffer a failure"
"I see"
"And the rest of them?"
"Keeping with it for now. Spee says their power plant is a little troublesome, but they can keep going for as long as possible" Mashiro looked at a piece of paper in her hand. "There was one other thing I wanted to mention but forgot earlier – the crew have asked that you lead a service for them tonight"
"Me?" Akeno frowned as she looked at a report.
"Some of the crew hold religious beliefs as you know and I think they want to settle their affairs before we go into action" the Deputy Captain spoke quietly as if such a thing bothered her.
"You make it sound as if they think we won't get through this" Akeno chuckled as she signed the report and passed it to Tama.
"We're going into action against ships that could kill us with just a few hits – do you think anybody could survive?"
"I see your point" Akeno spoke softly. Her mind raced with thoughts over what Moeka must have thought as she died – had her God come to welcome her into his arms at the moment she died? "Very well… Announce to the crew that I will hold a service for all that want to attend but that it will be a non-denominational service. Anybody that either wishes to worship in private or holds no beliefs can take over positions for that period"
"Aye, Ma'am" and Mashiro left to tell the crew in person. The Bridge was otherwise silent apart from the hum of the air conditioning and their equipment and displays, the sound of the water being pushed aside by the Harekaze's hull sounded like a roar despite them being so high up.
"Rin, can you estimate how far behind we are from the Americans?"
"Two or three hundred miles… I can't say for sure, but that's what I would think" Rin did the calculations in her mind.
"And the Americans can pick up our search and fire control radars from a hundred miles" Kouko showed Akeno the information that Captain Smith had provided them.
"We better not take any risks… Order all ships to send messages by lamp and signal flags only. Reduce our search radar to commercial bands and range – the others can at least look for us and the only ships we need to look out for are already around us" Akeno hesitated and then allowed herself an evil grin as she picked up the nearest handset and dialed the all compartments line. "This does not apply to those on duty. For Exercise, For Exercise, For Exercise… Abandon Ship, Abandon Ship – all hands, Abandon Ship… This is a drill… Abandon Ship" and the crew, apart from those on watch, either dropped what they were doing or turned out from their cabins to muster on the deck wearing their full life preserving equipment. Over the rest of the night, Akeno would run another Abandon Ship drill, fire and damage control drills and even have Maron cut wires for the lighting to simulate a power failure which the crew had to repair. It ran them ragged, but at least they were getting back into practice with skills that had gone rusty with their enforced stay at Pearl Harbor which was agreed to be a good thing given they were now deemed renegades and could be sunk without problems.
#
The small group of ships encountered the storm and just kept on sailing through – though it was so dark from the very low clouds that they had been forced to use their navigation lights in order to avoid collisions. Once on the other side of it, they closed every safety valve and pushed their engines to the limit – Maron having taken this chance to use her extensive library of curses in many languages. A day after leaving the storm, Rin had the watch along with Kouko and Tama when an excited shout came from the Radio Room.
"I can hear the Americans ahead of us on the low frequency system – maybe fifty miles away"
"Ar-Are you sure?" squeaked Rin.
"Its faint, but its coming directly ahead of us"
"What are they saying?" the normally timid girl asked.
"Talking about setting up a defense screen around their main ship carrying the weapon when they stop"
"We've caught them… Thank God, we've caught them up" Kouko closed her eyes for a moment and gave a quick prayer.
"All Hands, this is the Bridge – Action Stations, Action Stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship… This is no drill. Action Stations, Action Stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship" Rin had summoned the courage that she knew was deep inside her and issued the order herself. Akeno came running up a few minutes along with the rest of the Bridge crew and demanded a report. Once satisfied with the reply, she waited for all areas of the ship to be fully ready for battle and then risked picking up the low powered TBS system.
"Attention all ships, this is Captain Akeno. My radio operator has picked up confirmed signals dead ahead of us that are the American fleet. By travelling through the storm we have managed to catch up to them before they can get into range of their new weapon. The moment you get within maximum range of your weapons, you are to open fire and keep firing"
"This is Roma speaking… What do you hope to do with us firing at maximum range?" the Italian Captain wasn't being rude but merely surprised.
"I am hoping that whatever escort this weapon has, the fleet will scatter allowing the Harekaze to slip in and start a torpedo attack from close range"
"I thought the normal practice was for a destroyer to act as escort to a battleship – not the other way around" an English voice mused.
"I know, but we're the only destroyer here and we need the bigger ships to punch a hole through for us. Harekaze to Admiral Graf Spee – you will follow us through the gap and be our close escort"
"Acknowledged"
"Standby to receive a transfer" and Akeno turned off the TBS system. "Shiro, prepare to launch a Skipper"
"Captain?"
"We might not make it out of this, so I asked the crew to make a farewell message both written and video. Figured the Spee would make it through, so we're going to send them over along with all the logs and documents we have" Akeno looked at the radar plot that had been rigged up to show them a basic outline of what was in the area. It currently showed just the ships around them and nothing else, but both girls knew that it would other vessels soon enough. A few hours later, a call came from their Radar Room which made them all tense with energy.
"I have a series of contacts on the edge of range – maybe twenty eight miles away"
"This is it" Mei said quietly.
"Yes" Akeno looked around the Bridge at the girls who had become her friends and then turned to look at Mashiro. "Go active on all systems. Radio Room, send a message to all ships… Engage the enemy"
A/N:
As some may guess, this is based on the idea that the US had a war with Japan and - like in WW1 with the Germans at Scapa Flow with the Royal Navy - forced their enemy's ships to their own harbour pending decisions.
This will also be, apart from chapter 18 and chapter 19, the last AUs and will settle back down into what it was originally - "unseen" moments from the TV series
Regards
Pixel And Stephanie Forever