*wakes up*

*looks at desk covered in bottles of liquor*

…..fuck.

Thanks to rafanwolf, thundercharger123, flealoveshatinghislife, spray and be dead, mickelcarey44, paladin3030, and gleniv2 for flowwing/favoriting this glacier.

The Review Box:

freddie. wong. 1 (fucking FF formatting): *silently loads pistol*

We do not speak that name here.

"Hmm… So you're the Admiral, ja?"

"I am not." Hood's eye twitched. "The Admiral is currently in her office doing who knows what and has not come out. For two days."

"I… see." Prinz Eugen, of the Iron Blood, white and red hair, gunmetal grey and blood red outfit, responded.

"Will the admiral come out soon?" Prinz Eugen, of the Kriegsmarine, blonde, also gunmetal grey and red outfit, asked.

"Either she will or I kick down that door myself so help me God." The battlecruiser ground out. In fact, she turned on her heel to do so, missing the third shipgirl disembarking the shuttle.

The self-appointed bodyguard strode up to the door to Aqua's office, mentally weighting if she should actually kick the door in.

Ultimately she decided against it, and just opened the door normally. Instantly she was hit by a wall of smell so strong she had to avert her face whilst gagging. When she turned back, she saw the source.

Scattered across the Admiral's desk was paperwork, cans of energy drink, and the Admiral herself. Upon closer inspection, the Admiral's coffee mug revealed that it had seen frequent use, and an empty case of energy drink (Hood turned her nose up once she read the nutritional facts- drinking the whole thing over the course of a day was practically a caffeine overdose) sat next to the desk, with a can of drink even upside down in the coffee mug. If that was coincidence or Aqua had tried to make her own monstrosity of caffeine, the battlecruiser couldn't tell.

As for Aqua, she was sawing logs, her head lying on the right side of her face. Her right arm was stretched out to the side, her pen having fallen from her grip to the floor. Her left arm was almost blocking her mouth from breathing, bent to where her hand was on another paper.

It looked like the Admiral had, quite literally, worked until she couldn't anymore.

"Okay… this needs to change." Hood decided. She thought for a moment, before glancing at the Admiral's computer to notice that it was still on.

When I woke up, I was lying in bed. This was… rather odd, since I last remembered leaving my office to get another coffee, then grabbing a case of Nitrous just in case. I wasn't in my office, obviously, and I had lost my admiral's uniform sometime between then and now.

"Ah, you're awake."

I glanced over to see Hood sitting on her bed, reading.

"So, do you know what day it is?" She asked, closing the book and setting it aside. I winced.

"Well… I'm assuming by your tone it's not January 17, is it?" I asked.

"No, it is not. It is January 20th." The British battlecruiser replied.

"So…"

"You fell asleep at your desk. And stayed asleep. For three days."

"I… right." I moved to get out of bed, but a gloved hand clamping down on my arm dissuaded me from that.

"In fact, I have taken matters into my own hands." Hood's left eye was twitching. "I took the liberty of contacting your superiors. You will be receiving a subordinate within a week. And you will also have rotating secretaries. Ooyodo has done an excellent job, but she has agreed to take a lesser role in the name of your health."

"...my health is of no concern." I muttered. I learned that was the wrong thing to say when her grip tightened, making my forearm creak.

"That is incorrect, Admiral. As your bodyguard, I would be remiss if I were to allow you to bring undue harm to yourself. And every shipgirl under your command would gladly die a thousand deaths before you suffer one. We can come back. You cannot."

"Fine." I sighed. I didn't need these girls fussing over me. I was a fucking United Nations Space Command Admiral, not a child!

—-

I learned from Hood that a number of lighter ships had come in while I was out. Several destroyers and light cruisers. Today, though, we were getting some carriers. That would be nice, I don't think Enterprise being alone in the American carrier dorm is a good thing.

The first carrier was a tiny girl, who looked more like a destroyer were it not for the carrier rigging on her back.

"I… am the…. Royal Navy's… Unicorn." She stuttered softly, hugging a plush unicorn to her tightly. The plush obscured her mouth to where it looked like the unicorn was speaking. "Admiral…. can I…. call you Big Sis?"

"...of course." I said. I was a little bewildered at the request, but it was hardly the worst or most demanding thing asked of me in the military. The little girl squeaked, slowly coming up to me and putting an arm around my legs, looking up at me in what I believe was slight fear in having done something wrong. I simply placed my head on her head, letting her nuzzle into it herself so she knew it was fine.

"Well, I see that Unicorn has made a friend." The sudden voice made me look up. And, wow, damn.

"Greetings, Commander! Aircraft carrier Illustrious reporting in! I pray that you will bring love and peace to this… galaxy, was it? I hope you will be a good friend to Uni as well." A… well-armored woman in a tight white sundress said, bowing slightly. Illustrious- she said her name was that, right- replaced her (white) hat, on her (white) hair. Her thing must be white.

"I see. Welcome. You see yourself as Unicorn's caretaker?" I asked.

"I do." The carrier nodded, which did… interesting things to her chest.

"I see. Then you have no problem taking her to the Royal carrier dorms?" I rubbed Unicorn's head a final time, before she let go of me.

"Indeed." She took Unicorn's hand and led her in the direction I indicated. "May we meet again, Admiral, Lady Hood."

"Bye, big sis, Lady Hood." Unicorn waved shyly as they walked away.

"Interesting." A blonde in an overcoat… and not much else came up behind me. "Good with kids, are ya? I tried to cheer the little uni up on the way over, but she didn't really take to it."

"You could say that. USS…. Hornet, Yorktown class, if I recall?" I replied.

"Damn! How'd you know?" Hornet looked totally blindsided.

"You and Enterprise have the same coat." I remarked. "And she told me you were the 'fun' sister."

"Got that in one, she did. Enty was always the best judge of character. See ya later!" She ran off…

"Other way." I deadpanned. She turned on her heel and ran past me.

"Oh, that one." I glanced back. A white haired woman wearing a coat much like Enterprise and Hornet's, only correctly fastened, was walking towards me, a bald eagle that looked rather similar to Enterprise's perched atop her shoulder.

"Yorktown, I presume?" I said. She nodded.

"Indeed. I am the lead ship of Yorktown class aircraft carriers, Yorktown. My name comes from the Siege of Yorktown... You know? In the Revolutionary War. Neutrality...? That's just a pre-war courtesy."

"I see. As for neutrality, we haven't quite had that luxury." I replied.

"Right… Admiral, are you sure you won't leave me?" She asked.

"Only way I'm leaving is if I die, and that's not on my itinerary." I gave Yorktown a wan smile, which she took as affirmation and left.

"So. you're my Admiral? Very well. I am Graf Zeppelin. As all of the conditions appear to have been met, let the final movement begin." Another voice behind me, caused me to turn and see who it was.

A white haired woman (what is it with carriers and white hair?) in Iron Blood regalia watched me back, probably searching for signs of weakness. Carrier, carrier, Germany never had a carrier… but almost finished one.

"Ah, Graf Zeppelin. Excellent of you to join us." I replied firmly. "I'm afraid we did not prepare for your presence here. As such you will have to stay with the battleships of your nation rather than in the carrier dorms."

"Hmmm. As expected. But what use is it to fight and complain when I may save the effort?" The carrier stalked off, nihilism pouring off of her in waves.

I liked her already.

I was a bit… distracted by a presence behind me, two orbs of softness squishing into my back, a pair of arms around my waist, and nine fox tails attempting to encircle me.

"We finally meet, my Admiral." A voice stated from behind me. "However… there appear to be too many eyesores here. Please allow Akagi to 'clean up' a bit before we deepen our relationship. Hehehehe~!" Akagi's arm, which it had to be, since she referred to herself in the third person, raised from my waist to point at Hood, a wisp of fire forming on her finger. With reflexes gained from years on the field, my arms snapped up and I lugged her over me, the carrier landing with a loud CRASH on her back.

"IJN Akagi." I intoned, any and all emotion devoid from my voice. "As your superior officer, and ranking officer aboard this station, I will not allow you to deal any harm to any shipgirls under my command. Should I find that you have, then the punishment will be beyond your worst nightmares. This order is ironclad, and I will not allow any loopholes. Understood?"

"But- but ad-"

"UNDERSTOOD." I snarled, letting genuine malice into my inflection to tell the carrier I wasn't fucking around. She quieted, nodding instead. "Excellent. The Sakura carrier dorms are that way." So saying, she stood up, shot Hood a dirty look, and strode off.

"That was troubling." The battlecruiser remarked.

"If I know that type, then I know she won't disobey me." I replied. "At least, not actively." I turned around, rightly anticipating another ship. A white kitsune- that's what fox girls are called in Japanese folklore, right?- stood before me.

"Hmmmm. Will I be able to find a worthy foe here? Very well. This Kaga is yours. Perhaps this too, is destiny." Kaga said, sounding very bored.

"Quite disappointed we aren't up to your standards." I deadpanned, rolling my eyes. Without any further direction, the kitsune followed her red and black colored sister (I presumed they were sisters anyways).

"Excellent. Now, let us get started on paperwork, shall we?" Hood asked. I merely nodded, staring after Kaga in contemplation.

I found out that Hood had moved a new desk into my office. This was apparently to be the secretary's desk. As for the desk outside the door, that was still Ooyodo's desk, ostensibly making her a screen for any visitors. Of course, working in the same room as my secretary was still quite a bit off-putting compared to working alone.

"Pass me that commission report."

Though not entirely without merit. Hood herself was acting as my first secretary, and quite efficient when it came to paperwork.

"I take it you have some experience when it comes to this kind of job." I commented as I denied a request from Akashi (the cat one) for making the sole acceptable currency in the shop she was setting up diamonds (which only she knew how to obtain).

Hood heaved a sigh. "Indeed, much of running the Royal Navy fell to either me, or my King George V sisters. The queen, while an excellent leader on the battlefield, is still somewhat… immature, when it comes to the matters of leadership outside combat."

I grunted. That type was better suited to frontline command, not a desk job. Ironically, it felt the same as me getting a desk job now, after all the Covenant mess. Guess leadership being dumb is universal.

So, uh, hi. I'm still alive.

No, I haven't had to deal with the beer virus. Arguably the most annoying things this has caused for me is people doing dumb shit on the server. That, plus I've been running preventative interference on someone who lives in the same city as me who isn't in the best place mentally. It's a living.

On the topic of this chapter, it's been sitting… probably 95% complete for a month now. My main problem is that it's just not as easy to write this thing as it used to be. That plus I get other plot bunnies that I find easier to work on than this. Plus my usual habits of video games and screwing around on Discord get in the way.

So, no promises on speedy updates, but promise on not giving up on this fucker yet.