The Review Box:

Z.L.C. genesmith: Uh, thanks…? This is probably one of those 'you are your own worst critic' moments I'm having reading this.

LegionCenturionMaster: Think less 'taking a break' and more 'so far down the back burner the fact I actually finished something to do with it is astonishing'. But I'm not killing it yet, if only because I'm too stubborn to at the moment.

MarauderPrime12: I could but if I'm being honest, I don't want to go through the effort…. Again….

"So you're saying that once we've finished one of these 'priority' ships, we can possibly summon more of them?"

"More like them, nya." Akashi replied. She had arranged six of the 'priority' blueprint plans out on a desk, Neptune, Monarch, Ibuki, Izumo, Roon, and Saint Louis. We had decided that we would focus on these six first, since they had some of the more reasonable requirements for completion (seriously, what the actual hell was going to get us twenty million experience (whatever the fuck that meant) with Soviet ships?).

"Okay, so, say for example, we construct Ibuki." I said, pointing to the blueprint plan. "Could we then, theoretically, summon another ship just like her?"

"Not just like her, nya." Akashi shook her head. "If we could summon duplicates, we'd be overrun by destroyers. It's more like we could summon another shipgirl like her if the plans for one existed. However, I don't believe another Ibuki class was planned, and the designers of the Empire went straight to designing what we have here as Zao, nya."

"Alright, I see." That did clear things up a little. "Do some research and compile a list of ships that could count for this."

"Of course, nyaaa~."

"Ah, Commander!" Atago ran up to me (from the front this time, thankfully), giving me a tight hug. I was able to take this one better (primarily because she didn't leave the floor before giving it to me), and she consulted a tablet as she let go. "We've had some new summons today, so we should go introduce ourselves!"

"I hardly think a servant of mine requires that."

Well then.

A short blonde girl stood in front of me, arms folded over a flat… no wait, I can see a bit of curve there, chest. She probably came up to about the middle of my chest, and even though she was looking up at me, she was glaring like I should be groveling and scraping and kissing her feet.

"And you are?" I asked, half-lidding my eyes while raising an eyebrow. It's my patented "What did you just say, you fucking idiot?" look.

"Auck, the nerve!" She scoffed, drawing herself up (about an inch… if I was feeling generous), and thumping a fist against her chest. "I am Queen Elizabeth, the leader of the glorious Royal Navy! I would ask of you, but you are my servant, and I do not care to know those that are not my trusted Royal Maids!"

"Well, excuuuuuse me, princess…" I replied, keeping my tone fairly even. "But you aren't the leader of anything. I'm Aqua Steele, your Admiral, so I would advise you get on my good side if you don't want to be stuck on commission duty forever."

"Hmmph! You can't do anything to me! I am of the Royal family, and I shall not be ordered around by a common peasant! Now bow!" She huffed like a child having a tantrum, stomping her foot and pointing to the floor.

"How about… No." I replied, full on glaring down at her now. "I don't care how "royal" you think you are, but I'm not going to be ordered around by a little girl, even if she does have fifteen inch guns. I'd sooner bow to a porta potty than to you, pipsqueak."

"This insolence!" She screamed. "As soon as my court is fully assembled, I will bring the full wrath of the Royal Navy upon you!" After stomping for a good two minutes, she turned on her heel. "Warspite! Let us leave this boorish peasant and prepare our chambers!"

"Of course, my lady." Another blonde said, bowing slightly as Queen Elizabeth walked past. I hadn't noticed her (my attention mostly on the screaming toddler right in front of me), but she looked somewhat similar. Her hair was done in such a way that it kind of resembled corgi ears (which was a somewhat amusing thought), and as she turned to leave, she gave me a wary look that I merely returned with one of indifference.

"Well, that was… um…"

"Annoying?" I said. "Yes, very. Now let's get the paperwork done."

Thankfully, the paperwork was less annoying than Twinkle Toes had been, and I'd even gotten reports of the first batches of crude oil to be drawn up from planets. It only took them about two weeks, but hopefully, soon, I could finally begin sortieing ships again.

"Mou… Admiral." I glanced up at Atago, who was looking at her hand in thought. "What do you think of my sister?"

"Takao?" I said, already looking up to start thinking.

Takao. Most of my interaction with her had been in the training room. She was insistent on sparring with me after she'd heard of my skill in swordplay, but only with wooden kendo swords she'd gotten from… somewhere. Currently, her score was 1-27, with the one win coming from me getting distracted by Atago attempting to "cheer me on". Which led to both of us banning her from watching us spar.

Beyond that, however, I had no real finger on her pulse, so to speak. I knew she was more serious than her younger sister (even if Atago had technically completed first), and she bowed to me as a sign of respect, or at least, formality, but otherwise I didn't know much else about her.

"She's very diligent, but I don't know that much about her." I said.

"I see. Do you know much about any other ships?"

"Well… not really." I replied. "It sort of feels like my memories are a bit jumbled since the signing of the treaty with the Covenant and me being assigned out here."

"Well, don't be turned away by my sister just because she puts on a hard exterior." Atago said. "Underneath all her swords and calmness she's just as sweet as I am! We are sisters, after all."

"And I'm guessing sisters just know this stuff?" I snarked.

"Of course!"

If nothing else, it was enough reason for me to consider getting to know the ships under my command better. They certainly looked human enough, who's to say they didn't

Damn, I feel kind of nostalgic right now. I wrote a chapter in about twenty or so minutes because the idea bunny I picked up actually stuck with me and didn't run away after two sentences. That's neat.

For those wondering, by the way, I'm not abandoning this, or RE:Project RWBY either. It's just that that story is a lot more involved than this one, and the many Ideas I have for it need to be put in coherent order first before I can start threading them together.

Will I update that before the heat death of the universe? I dunno. But I somehow managed to pull this out, so I guess I can give it the old college try. Which, by the way, I start college tomorrow as of this upload (about midnight or so of January 18, 2022)... again. Here's hoping I don't fuck around too much with it again and completely torpedo my chance at higher education.