So I've made an executive decision to start possibly including shipgirls from games other than KanColle and Halo/my own fucked up mind. I guess send requests and I'll research or something.

Either way, I have reading to do.

Thanks for the follow/fav Fid99.

With no more egostrok- imean thanking, onward!

And for those wondering why I dont put disclaimers in front of my stuff... it should be obvious I don't have any legal ownership of either Halo or Kantai Collection. so don't ask about it.

Journal of Admiral Steele; January 5, 2558

Another day, another day, another coffee. Praise the caffeine gods. They bless us with their gift.

Dramatics aside, I put through requisition orders for stuff to build a small gathering place. Considering the most likely outcome would be loads of destroyers and a few other ship types, most of the population would be under the drinking age… in appearance at least. So I was vetoing a pure bar and instead having it be like a small restaurant…. with a bar.

Look, it was a good idea, alright?

I also ordered a half dozen holoconsoles. The best part of those was that they played any game you could think of, even ancient ones from the 1980s. It was great for someone like me, who was about to have what amounted to a really fucked up family on their hands.

Guh, why am I discussing that with myself?

So today's new arrivals are Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Hood, Dreadnought, Bismarck, Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna, Prince of Wales, Yamato, Musashi, and Houshou. Some recognizable names there. This is a battleship shipment… okay, let's try that again.

They're sending the big guns now. Probably has to do with them getting the data from yesterday's recon mission.

They've divided the sector into six subsectors: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot. Standard naming convention. Though the whole sector is still Sector A so…. yeah.

Logging off, I went off to the range to burn the half-hour until they arrived. I spent the time focusing on my reaction times. Wait, target, fire, wait. Almost like a real combat situation, but without moving and hearing shouting aliens.

Some of the girls were also on the range. Paladin and her sisters were trying to one-up each other for distance, Akagi was calmly practicing bombing runs, and Tenryuu was leading the destroyers in maneuvering training in the zero-g range. Good.

When the ship pulled up to the receiving bay, there I was, as usual. After brushing up on my ship history, I learned I was getting some of the most powerful ships on Earth. Back in the early 20th century, HMS Dreadnought had literally sparked a naval arms race, a naval arms race that lead to the constructions of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Bismarck, the Kongos, Prince of Wales, and Yamato, the last widely considered to be the most powerful battleship ever constructed… well, water ship. Any UNSC ship could blow it out of the water, but it never got to use it's supposed power because the IJN kept it hidden away because they knew the US could total it in three seconds. Which they did when the Japanese tossed it out as bait.

Christ, our ancestors were a bunch of fucking idiots.

"Texas, here, reporting for duty!" A blonde woman in a red flannel shirt, blue jeans, and leather boots said as she saluted. That is a Texas accent alright. And she dresses like the stereotypical 'woman farmer'. Dear god, I'm half expecting an argument to break out over steaks later with a British ship. They like theirs well done.

"Arkansas, ready!" Like one, like another, or something to that effect. She looked about the same, at any rate, only she had a navy blue vest on over her shirt. Louisiana, on the other hand, looked like she was preparing to go wading through a swamp in her camo wetland gear..

"Dreadnought, at your service, Admiral." She certainly had an air of dignity around her. I really hope she isn't too ornery, and if she meets UNSC Dreadnought, bad things don't happen.

The next two really surprised me.

"Hood, reporting for duty!"

"Bismarck, ready to go!"

The girls were standing next to each other and not trying to kill the other. Time really heals all wounds, don't it? Of course, this could be appearances.

"BURNING- LOOOOO-" The next shipgirl flew over my head as I hastily ducked a flying tackle. She was speaking… English accented Japanese?

Kongo. I read about that whole deal. Her sisters were more sedate at least.

"Prince of Wales, at your service." Another British ship. Very regal, proper 45 degree bow, hand about the sternum. Dressed in a flaring coat.

That just leaves the last… three.

"Greetings. I am Houshou, here to serve." The carrier bowed deeply. It was a very formal gesture. I recalled what… Kamoi, had said yesterday. She must be the proprietor to run the not-bar. Fair enough. She was the first aircraft carrier, and likely more fragile than later models. I only hope she doesn't eat as much as Akagi.

That just leaves Ya- well.

"I, Yamato, am here to serve, Admiral." Yamato was even more formal than Houshou, adjusting her parasol as she straightened from her bow. Her white and red kimono almost looked form-fitting, were it not for the drop her... fuel tanks caused for the middle.

"As am I, Musashi." Musashi seemed a little more laid back. And revealing. Her kimono was slipping off her shoulders, and she had bound her chest somewhat. She does that herself, right?

Ignoring the amount of skin, I directed them to their new living locations and training facilities, and left them to it.

I had a date with Jack.

Several bottles later I found my alcohol tolerance was still depressingly high. Of course, it was also sortie time, so I had to figure out what to do for that.

I settled for a smash and grab operation into Subsector Alpha. They were to head in, find any Abyssal things, and smash. They were also under orders to capture an Abyssal unit if possible, since Phoenix had asked if I could do that.

I replied with 'You're asking the ODST?' I left it up to them to figure out if I was saying I would or wouldn't.

I do so love being evil sometimes.

The flagship for this sortie is to be one of the battleships this time, Yamato I suppose. Heavy firepower means more smashy. I did, however, issue orders that they were to fall back if they got critically injured. I didn't want any of them going down out there because of pride or misguided sense of invincibility.

We had that before Harvest. We don't anymore.

The fleet saluted and left, leaving me to wonder if I had made the right choice. The chains of commanding.

The pit in my stomach had me gravitate to the mess hall, where I sat in silence with a mug of hot chocolate in my hands, and another across the table.

"Hey sis." I said quietly. I didn't want any of the girls to come over and ask about this. "How've you been? Wait, you've been dead." I let a wry laugh out.

"Did you hate me, when Reach fell? They pulled me out too early, I think. I would have gladly died defending Reach. Even more if I had known you would also die with me." I drank. "But I didn't. I survived Reach. I survived Earth. I survived the Ark. And now I'm here." I motioned helplessly outwards. "Commanding ship spirits that look like girls." I stared into my mug.

"I just wonder…. am I doing things right?"

I felt a warm feeling on my shoulder, like someone had put their hand on it in sympathy, but no one was there when I turned around. When I turned back, the other mug was clean as a whistle.

I'm either snapping, or my sister's ghost is following me. And I'm not sure which one is more terrifying.

I was staring at the ceiling when Ooyodo poked her head into my office and informed me the fleet had returned.

I ran to the staging area, hoping that my gut was just being paranoid.

Thankfully it was. The whole fleet was there, although some of them had suffered some damage. Akatsuki's face was burned- plasma. I grimaced- the Abyssals were reminding me too much of the Covenant for comfort.

Paladin was missing an arm. She would be out of action for a week.

Various minor injuries among the cruisers and battleships.

But the best part was the three resigned Abyssals sitting in a pile, all tied together with laser wire.

One of them sort of looked like a goo tadpole with eyes. Squishy too.

Another looked like a young girl with long hair and red eyes. Destroyer, probably.

The last one had a similar body type to Tenryuu and Tatsuta, which means it's probably a light cruiser.

I informed them that we'd probably be stashing them somewhere for the night, which they seemed to understand, but didn't reply to. I couldn't understand them anyways, since my translator program doesn't have Abyssal coded in it.

I'd complain but I think I'd get court-martialed then.

We let the Abyssals out of the rope, and they didn't immediately leg it (fly it?) or try to attack, which meant they were either passive outside the Sector, or knew they were rather massively outgunned. But the destroyer-type and the tadpole followed Tenryuu around like her usual bunch of ducklings, and the cruiser was… I think asking Akagi about her fashion sense?

I quit attempting to make sense of it, ascertained my sanity was finally going, and went to find a drink.

So Abyssals eat food.

Watching the tadpole osmosis a sandwich was rather fun with the bottle of bourbon I'd found, and the other two were human enough they had mouths. With disturbing amounts of teeth, granted, but Sangheili had split jaws, and Hunters were literally worm colonies or something. Teeth were near the bottom of my 'Freaky Shit' list. But they had plopped down with their own food trays and eaten with the rest of us.

I know these guys have a 'no-enter' zone in the sector, but apparently they were real passive outside it.

Sigh…. today was a real day.

The Rant

Let it be known that I'm not evil enough to off a shipgirl yet. I mean it really wouldn't matter much, and I might have to anyway so I can actually keep track of all the characters, but not yet.

As an aside, what the hell is a screwdriver that unscrews screws with dome-shapes? Dome-head screwdrivers?

Publish Note: It's midnight, New Year's Eve, people aren't paying attention to their inboxes.

Perfect time for an update! (Shoutouts to the Id of the Cross-Brain, The Patient One, for the quote (not exactly))