Chapter 3: Ready Up

Sitting behind the desk in her new office, Lauren frowned slightly as she read over the profile on the computer screen in front of her, matching the description to the young woman sat on the other side of the desk. "So you're the HMS Minotaur?" she asked, looking up at the green haired girl.

"Yes ma'am," Susan replied. "I was summoned ten days ago in Portsmouth and assigned here by Admiral Collingwood three days later," she said in the flat tone of someone that has been ordered to repeat something specific when they are asked but don't believe a word of it.

Lauren gave her a disbelieving look. "That must have been some first impression if it only took three days before the Admiral chose to send you – a completely new ship – here rather than assigning one of his more experienced ships," she commented.

Susan made a face and shook her head. "Less that… more he didn't want to break up any of his units and I was sort of surplus to his requirements." She closed her eyes briefly, hands clenched into fists. "I was originally supposed to be shipped either up to Scapa Flow or overseas, except it was apparently a 'waste of potential' to do so and with Commodore Shipperley starting a new base here… this is where I go assigned."

Lauren frowned, flicking through the report. "So he was intending on shipping you back to the Canadians?"

"That was Ontario," Susan replied, shaking her head. "We're… cousins, I guess. Her class was what mine were originally designated for, but things happened so they split the Minotaurs off. I've got seven or eight sisters… somewhere, plus about the same direct cousins with the Ontario-class."

Lauren frowned, trying to recall the last cruisers. The Tiger-class had been the absolute last and purpose built as missile ships, but the Minotaur- and Ontario-classes had been before them, split similarly to the Lion- and Vanguard-classes if she remembered right, with the Minotaurs being the Lions escorts while the Ontario-class were teamed with the Vanguards and supplied to the other main Commonwealth countries.

"I'll be straight with you, Minotaur," she said, "most of the work here right now is going to be setting up for a shipgirl division. We've no docks, armouries, dorms or any other shipgirl specialised facilities like the ones you may have seen in Portsmouth." She shook her head at the grimace on Susan's face.

"H-how many people do we actually have?" asked Susan worriedly.

"Right now my command is myself, HMNB Devonport – who will likely rarely leave the city given she's an installation rather than a ship, two Warrior-class destroyers, namely Zephyr and Zenith of the Zulus and you."

Susan grimaced, looking down at her hands in her lap. "It-it's at least still Britain, that's better than the alternative."

Frowning slightly, Lauren studied the girl. There must be some sort of story there, but what sort would get that reaction? "Minotaur… Susan," that caused the younger woman's head to jerk up. "If you want to talk about whatever it is, my door will be open."

"You know…"

"That shipgirls aren't summoned but born?" Lauren asked. "Considering that of the four I know, three were introduced with their human names and your file states your real name, yes." She nodded, shifting to turn her screen so that Susan could see it for a minute before turning it back.

Susan grimaced slightly at the report on the screen, which did include her real name and address along with her parents' names and address.

Lauren watched Susan for a moment before speaking up. "I'd like to believe that every shipgirl at this base will be alright with my knowing who they are and aware that if they have issues, they can talk to me about them. I've always tried to have an open door policy for my subordinates and my cadets," she explained.

"With that said, the memo I received mentioned you were being assigned as a secretary ship," Lauren continued, pushing the conversation back onto its original track. "You're aware that there are currently only three ships that might sortie counting you, correct?" She got a nod from Susan.

"I don't know at this point how long it will be before any others join us, or how quickly or large we will expand." Lauren paused and shrugged. "On the other hand, since we are just starting out and with so few personnel, you will likely be fielding a lot of calls about supplies, materials or setting up buildings we might need. Do you think you can handle that sort of work?"

Susan frowned for a few minutes, thinking things over, before nodding. "I believe I can."

Lauren nodded. "There's another thing you should know. I presume you are aware there are supernatural threats beyond the Abyssals. They will be our main threat, since we are a shipgirl base and you will be facing them, no matter what anyone wants they are a global threat at the moment and every country needs everyone they can to counter them, you're aware of this, right?"

Swallowing hard, Susan nodded slightly.

"Well, the other portion of what we will likely be doing is being Devonport's in house supernatural response team," Lauren continued. "So far there is only one person fully involved, but I would expect we will be involving marines, shipgirls and potentially local police departments at the least."

She looked Susan over for a moment. "In fact, we need to get in touch with the police again soon, my brother dealt with a number of supernatural-involved cases; his department and team mates will probably be a good place to start learning the lay of the land."

"Ma'am, if your brother is already involved in things then why do we need to talk to others in his group?" asked Susan.

"My brother… is currently unavailable," Lauren replied. "There are places only certain people can reach, and with the attack several of them are currently cut off, the last message we have is that he and his wife were retreating to one."

Susan winced at the tiredness in Lauren's voice. "I'm sorry ma'am," she whispered. "Uh… ma'am, you mentioned earlier that I might have to go out with the other shipgirls. Who would be in charge in that case?"

"As long as it's a sortie from Plymouth alone, Zephyr would be the field commander," Lauren replied. "It's not a slight against you, but Zephyr has been involved in the Navy for the last nine years compared to your less than two weeks."

Susan grimaced at the frank assessment of just how little experience she had with the Navy.

Lauren frowned thoughtfully. "That said; it's likely that for the foreseeable future there will be a number of joint sorties with shipgirls out of Portsmouth of Scapa Flow, particularly given all four of you are technically recruits. As we gain a larger fleet of our own and they train up, we will have to adjust things to account for new arrivals."

Sitting back for a moment, she looked Susan over. "Do you have anything else you wish to ask, Susan?"

"No ma'am," Susan responded. "Admiral Collingwood's people explained as much as we know about the Abyssals while I was stationed at Portsmouth."

Nodding, Lauren called an aide in. "Please escort HMS Minotaur to the shipgirl barracks and make sure she is comfortable there, then see to it that she has something to eat and gets a timetable for the next few days," she ordered.

Both marine and shipgirl saluted with a 'ma'am', before leaving the office.

Making her way through a barren prefab boathouse, Sally scowled as she stomped into the set of what looked like biker boots, the type with 'armoured parts' on them.

Grabbing her rigging backpack, she frowned, noting that Robyn's wasn't there. Slinging her pack over her shoulders, she grunted as it thumped into her back. It had taken a forklift for the service crew to get it in here, yet for her it felt like a slightly overweight school pack.

Making her way to the door out onto the water, she paused for a moment to eye her weapons before continuing on. She wasn't planning on getting into a fight today, so carrying the guns just meant extra weight she didn't need right now.

Grabbing the hanging door control, she triggered it, shading her eyes as the evening sun poured in through the opening door. Stepping onto the shallow water in the boathouse was something of an experience all its own.

Sally frowned slightly as she tested the water. It was almost like standing on foam matting, the kind used for martial arts. Enough give that she could push down, but enough resistance that she stayed up.

Making sure she was balanced, she pushed away from the ramp. A cold trickle she could almost feel quickly increasing in pressure and becoming warmer as her drives kicked on, sucking water in from the ocean, she could feel the restrained power as it flooded her and flowed through her and out at nothing like the speed or pressure it could manage.

Outside, she blinked, swaying slightly at the feel of her sensors coming online, a flood of transponders, co-ordinates and velocities joined by static as her radio room tuned in to the local frequencies.

Skating to a stop near the edge of the main river channel, she looked around, searching for her fellow shipgirl. After a moment, she spotted Robyn on her radar… or was it one of the other systems that did the same thing? Did that even matter?

The methods were different between all four of her sensors beyond her eyes and those of her crew, but they did more or less the same thing.

Shaking off the mental questions, she pushed herself into motion again, frowning at her feet briefly. It felt… natural to act as if she were roller blading or skating on the water, even with the waves lapping over her boots, just with less lifting of her feet.

Given that Robyn was still a few minutes away at the low speed she was using, Sally decided to experiment a little. Leaning to the sides let her turn, she quickly found, along with altering her position forward and back for speed, just like using ice skates or roller blades.

How easy, she wondered, would it be to shift from one to the other if you had the experience and how many tricks could you pull? Something to put to Rika the next time they talked on Skype.

"Hey Zephyr," Robyn started as Sally reached her, "you okay?"

Sally nodded. "I'm fine, Zenith," she replied, "Just taking a bit of time to start getting used to things. I'd rather mess up with this while going at less than four knots than going even as 'slow' as twenty." She shrugged slightly. "Particularly since this is the first time either of us has actually been on the water and we've not been shipgirls for that long."

Robyn grimaced next to her. "Yeah… it's not as if we're 'light' and we've probably got enough armour to go through most of the ships around either without stopping or only stopping part way in," she muttered.

Nodding again, Sally watched her sensors idly. There was a surprising amount of traffic considering the time since the attack. Lumbering freighters and cross-channel ferries still plied the harbour down river from the two of them. Was it that there were shipgirls here, that there was another, more active, shipgirl base not too far down the coast or that the Channel was easier to defend against most abyssal fleets?

She blinked when Robyn tapped her arm to get her attention. "What's up, Zenith?"

"You mentioned wanting to figure out how to move around, right?" Robyn asked, getting a nod from Sally, "What about if we try moving around those posts?" She pointed to where there were a series of poles or logs sunk end on into the river bottom, ones standing tall enough to stand out of the water. "They look like they're dock supports or something and they're regular enough we can dodge them."

Sally frowned for a moment before nodding. "Let's do it," she said, starting her drives again and turning towards the logs, Robyn quickly following her. Soon the pair was in an intense competition as to who could manoeuvre the best.

Of course, just when things went well, they would inevitably end up taking a turn for the worse, as proved when Sally managed to catch a foot on a hidden stump, sending her tumbling across the water's surface.

Seeing the accident, Robyn coasted to a stop before turning and moving to help her sister up. "You alright, Zeph?" she asked.

"Yeah, mostly," Sally replied, grimacing as she tried putting weight on her foot, feeling her ankle burn. "Think I managed to ding a screw or something." She coughed into a hand, spitting out a mouthful of seawater. "And swallow some of the bay, yuck."

Keeping support of her sister's weight, Robyn frowned. "You want to continue or do you want to head in?"

"Head in, I think," Sally replied, looking up at the sun. "It's getting on anyway, and we probably ought to see if there's a way to get a cleared area for practice… if I'd ended up t-boning a ship…." She grimaced at the thought.

Tough she might have been, but destroyers, at least world war era ones, were called 'tin cans' for a reason. Testing her foot, she gave Robyn a slight nod before turning towards the dockyard, her sister following along.

Nobody paid any attention to what appeared to be a twelve to fourteen year old girl with neon blue hair appearing out of the air in Devonport Dockyards. Of course, that was because nobody could see her as she looked around, scanning the area with eyes the same colour as her hair.

"Ugh…" she groaned, seeing the still partially repaired state of the base, "bloody abyssals screwing things up, I swear, if I had been able to act myself instead of being stuck using Rhyfelwyr to keep the peace I'd see how those dead hulks like being treated like dishcloths and rung out," she growled, clenching a fist at her side.

Shaking her head with a sigh, ignoring the pony tail that whipped around to strike her cheeks, she huffed, letting her shoulders drop for a moment before straightening. "Done is done, at least we saw them driven off. Now, where'd Megan get to?" she asked herself.

Cocking her head as she frowned, she Reached out with her senses, a pair of cat-like ears rising up on the top of her head to flick around, picking up on sounds unheard. "Huh," she muttered after a few moments, "seems like she's in the training ground. That'll make things easier."

Turning in the direction of the base's indoor training room she paused, her eyes narrowing as she felt something. "That's… different, none of my other Rhyfelwr feel like her, not even her great-great-grandfather." Still frowning, her cat ears twitching, she cocked her head to the side. "It feels like she's actually still in her body… none of my others are… no others that I know of are either."

After a moment, she shrugged to herself. "I wonder if it's the fact she's only half human at best, this mess with the abyssals or that Megan's the second in her family to be one of mine that caused it… or something else." She shook her head at her thoughts.

"No matter, she needs training if she's to be effective, so training she will get. It won't be the first time that girl has taken on things humans shouldn't be able to and hurt them." Shrugging again, the girl pulled the scuffed old bomber jacket she was wearing up on her shoulders and started in the direction of the training building.

It only took her a few minutes to get to the training ground, ignoring the various navy personnel moving around, they wouldn't see her unless she wanted them to.

Passing through the door, she frowned, looking around at the group inside. There were almost always at least a few sailors or marines practicing or working out, so it took her a minute to locate the twins.

Eventually she spotted the pair at one of the practice rings; or rather Megan was near the ring while Sally was in it with a blonde about her age. It took her a moment to recognise the other girl as the one they had joined them after they had Awoken.

Glancing around again, she frowned as she spotted the twins' aunt near another ring calling out something lost in the buzz of sound from the room as two women swung wildly at one another inside the ring.

It might as well have been a cartoon slap fight for all the effect the two women had on one another, what with the wild blows that had far too much power and not enough control or the way they had planted themselves completely unsteadily and barely moving.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the twins, making her way towards them as she studied what was going on. Her brows scrunched into a thoughtful scowl as she noticed the heavy pads on Sally's hands, pads the blonde girl… Robyn? Her scowl got deeper. Was that the name? Racking her memory of the Battle, she tried to recall. Yes, yes it was Robyn.

Reaching the ring, she made her way next to Megan, watching the two in the ring silently for a minute. "She could certainly be better," she commented, wincing at a particularly wild swing that completely missed the pad on Sally's hand and nearly dumped Robyn on her side. "Though I think she's much better than the two your aunt is dealing with." She glanced at Megan before frowning at the pair in the ring. Robyn's sports top had ridden up a bit; revealing several scars, though she wasn't sure what caused them.

"To be fair," Megan started, "she's probably only had the very basics if that." She shrugged, frowning slightly at her sister and their friend. "It's not like every school or business makes self-defence courses mandatory."

The girl arched an eyebrow at that. "You humans are all supposed to be trained? I thought it was optional or as part of things like the various cadet corps."

Megan frowned at the ring for a moment. "I didn't even know it was supposed to be before Commodore Shipperley pointed out we needed to train the others," she explained, "but apparently with the uptick in things since World War Two they're supposed to train everyone to at least a minimum standard and most don't." She shrugged. "Add the Abyssal War and…" she shrugged again.

"Huh… the more you know, the more you find you don't know," Lyrene muttered, frowning slightly at the mat.

Casting a glance at the blue-haired girl, Megan frowned. "What about you, Lyrene?" she asked. "We haven't seen or heard from you in a couple of weeks so how are you holding up after the brawl?"

Lyrene shrugged, still watching the training pair. "More annoyed than anything," she responded. "Those abyssals made one hell of a mess around Plymouth's supernatural side, but the damage wasn't enough to hurt me." She turned to Megan, meeting the other girl's eyes.

"I was hurt worse during the Blitz, and then the Nazis were doing their damnedest to flatten most British cities." She huffed out a sigh and shook her head. "That said; there's not as many medically inclined beings on the other side and there were quite a few casualties."

Shaking herself off like a wet cat, Lyrene turned back to Megan. "Getting back to what I'm here for," she said, looking the girl up and down. "We need to get you trained up as a Rhyfelwr," she continued.

Arching an eyebrow at Lyrene, Megan cocked her head. "What sorts of things do I need to learn? She asked. "I mean, I presume the fighting side is mostly practice and picking up new moves that use things humans can't, but what else is there?"

"There's transformations, being able to access the rest of your arsenal, using your weapons without physically touching them, identifying supernatural and how to handle them…" Lyrene trailed off, frowning and chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully. "You'll also need to know what additional realms there are besides this one and how to access them, including mine." She paused, counting things on her fingers. "There's more, but that's more than enough for you to start with."

Cocking her head slightly as she looked at the younger seeming girl, Megan frowned. "So what would we be starting with?"

Lyrene frowned, chewing her lip. "Weapons and switching, though probably where there's more space until you can pull training weapons."

Nodding, Megan frowned slightly as she took a look around the training room before spotting a free ring a bit behind the ones her sister and aunt had commandeered. "How about in that ring?" she asked, pointing it out to Lyrene. "We'll be away from the others, but still within sight if things go sideways."

Looking the ring over, Lyrene nodded. "That'll work," she said. Leading Megan to the ring, she slipped through the ropes, letting the other girl follow her. "Okay," she said, turning to face Megan, "this will probably be easier if you're in your armour, at least to start with."

"So how do we do that?" Megan asked. "I mean I transformed in the battle, but I've not done anything since."

"You should have an amulet with you," Lyrene started, nodding when Megan pulled a necklace from under her top that ended with an almost tear shaped depiction of a dragon, wings folded around something. "Now," Lyrene said, her voice gaining an echoing, metallic quality, "Rhyfelwr codi!"

Megan glanced at it as the eye in the centre opened, glowing gold. Somehow, she knew what to do.

Taking a breath, she thrust the amulet forwards, causing a runic circle to appear with a thump of displaced air, golden feathers starting to drift out of it.

Walking forwards, Megan closed her eyes as she passed through the circle, armour creeping up over her arm, then her torso and down her other extremities. Stepping out the other side, she took a moment to examine herself, frowning behind the helmet she was now wearing at the raven themed, blue plate armour covering her body.

In her hands a sword lay in its scabbard, the hilt covered by a golden metal basket around the black leather wrappings. "This doesn't look like Granddad's," she commented, frowning as she turned it over in her hands.

"No, no it doesn't. I've had a few Rhyfelwr, and no two have had the exact same weapons, plus Kenny is still using his at the moment and will be until you're ready," Lyrene replied, shifting slightly. "You should be able to lock your sword's sheath either at your waist or on your back, whichever feels more natural to you."

Nodding, Megan shifted her sword to her left hand and locked onto her belt at her left hip.

Lyrene took a breath and let it out slowly. "Alright, I don't know if I told you this before or not, but every Rhyfelwr I've known has an armoury unique to them. Swords are common weapons; many of the older ones used the sword and shield, though there were those that had other weapons, spears, axes, maces, bows or crossbows. These days it seems guns are becoming more popular for those who become a Rhyfelwr, more so in America."

Megan snorted in amusement. "It's the US, the law of the gun has been there since Europeans started invading and calling it colonisation." She gave Lyrene an amused look, though the other girl didn't see it through her helmet. "We're humans, more than most; we tend to force things so we can get resources or other things." She shrugged.

"Indeed," Lyrene responded with a nod. "I've seen as much over the course of the last ten millennia especially, though I could probably recall as much as half a million years if I truly wanted or cared to," she said dryly. "Returning to the lesson, you have your own choice of armaments separate to any other Rhyfelwr, particularly as many seem to rebirth a Ysbryd Dinas for their particular area of a town or city that they keep watch over.

"Obviously there's the sword, which, as I mentioned is a common choice, though from what I've heard, Europe tends to have more variety. Japan seems focused on the katana even when they have other blades." Lyrene frowned slightly, stepping back to let Megan draw her blade. "I don't recognise that particular one, I must admit, though I haven't kept up as much as some of my counterparts."

"It's an 1827 pattern officer's sword for the Royal Navy. I think we still use it around, though I don't recall seeing one out, or at least not where junior cadets can find them so it might be more often used in ceremonies these days." Megan explained.

Lyrene arched an eyebrow at Megan, waving at her to go one.

Megan shifted, frowning. "I don't think many cadets around here beyond me and Sally actually know how to use them. Probably most cadets would try waving it around and cut something or lose something important so they keep the real ones locked up. I know I was told we would only just really be starting with live weapons now, though we do have practice ones, like airsoft and paintball guns or wooden practice swords."

She sighed and shook her head. "Of course that's with orders, since most cadets start later and have had less training." Megan shrugged. "Sally and I are just much further ahead due to our trouble attraction abilities, so we learned a bit, learned from Aunt Lauren and our parents as well. Saved our lives the other day having the dagger from Mom," she continued, smiling slightly under her helmet.

Lyrene nodded. "Right, well, I don't know specifically how many weapons you have, as I said, most Rhyfelwr stick to one or two. Your grandfather has three, his sword, a pistol and a rifle and I know you've at least two."

Nodding, Megan frowned slightly. "Yeah, this and the SA80 assault rifle," she said, recalling the battle a few days ago. "I'd like to get the SMLE, the C8, L1A1 or something like the light 50, though that'd only be for static shots. I doubt even a Rhyfelwr can really brace one of those on the move."

"I don't know… I've seen what your aunt calls an 'assault cannon,' which looks like she ripped one of those airplane Gatling guns out and rigged it like the Games Workshop terminator models," Lyrene pointed out. "Hell, I think she used it during the Battle of Foula at the start of the war."

Frowning as she tried to recall the details, Megan cocked her head slightly. "Foula… yeah, that's when she started getting called the Abyssal Spooker…. The army tried recapturing the island from a battleship princess or demon or something and got their cans kicked hard."

"Understatement of the decade considering they had near total losses," Lyrene snorted.

Megan nodded. "Aunt Lauren's ship went in alone and she took two squads of marines and Scotty in. I think her count by the end was three princesses including the one they were after, six demons and nearly a score of abyssal ships, either to that gun – which was based on one of the GAU series, I think, certainly had the ammo diameter for them – her magic or melee weapons. I know she cut the head off the bitch with a sword and brought it back as proof the job was done."

Nodding, Lyrene shifted her stance. "She probably should have kept it, and yes, but she also had a magical demon of her own wipe out every remaining trace of the abyssals on the island, which really sealed the deal."

"Pretty sure that was from some artefact that one or another of our family found somewhere and dumped in one of the vaults," Megan responded.

Lyrene took a breath and let it out slowly. "In any case, we need to train you rather than talk about your aunt's accomplishments, or even your own, which are high enough you already have a reputation. For now though, focus on your weapon, on what it is and what you want it to be." She gave Megan an amused look. "Let's start with the SA80 that you used to fight the abyssals not long back."

Taking a breath, Megan let it out, frowning as she concentrated on making her sword shift to the assault rifle she had used a few days back. Slowly, ever so slowly, the sword started glowing, expanding up from the hilt as the metal blade twisting and shifting into a much thicker form.

Unlike in the battle, this time it took a couple of minutes before Megan was holding a rifle in her hand, which she immediately checked the safety and pointed it away from anyone she could see in the room before attempting to unload it.

"I don't know if you'll be able to unload it," Lyrene said, drawing Megan's attention as the smaller girl frowned. "I don't recall Kenny ever needing to reload his rifle or his pistol, so they may just draw on your energy for ammunition, like the guns on the vehicle forms Rhyfelwr have."

Megan nodded, giving the rifle a once over while still ensuring it wasn't pointed at anyone. Pointing a loaded weapon at someone you didn't intend on hurting was a good way of causing accidents of the traumatic or lethal kind, which she wasn't interested in seeing. "So how many times do I need to do this?" she asked once she was sure everything was as good as she could without firing.

"As many as we can fit into the time you've got or until you're proficient enough to swap weapons on the fly without taking time to do so," Lyrene replied, getting a nod from Megan as the Rhyfelwr refocused, shifting the rifle back to a sword.

Skating over the waves, Sally looked up at the sky as she and Robyn departed Plymouth's harbour area and left the usual shipping routes into the city. With the setting sun in clear skies, it was likely that the two of them would be facing it most of the way out to their first destination and have it at their backs – presuming it hadn't already set by then – on their return.

"Remind me again," she said, "what we're supposed to be doing out here."

"You're out there because we need to confirm your top speed girls," Lauren's voice issued from their internal radios. "I know the official is about thirty-five knots depending on load, but I also know that is crap, so you're going to do a run out to the Isles of Scilly, lap around them and come back running full speed."

Robyn frowned at the ocean ahead of them as the pair floated on the rolling swells. "Is that why you had us both eat as much as we could?" she asked.

"More a case that I don't recall your full stats, if there's anywhere with the right stats," Lauren responded. "They built Warrior-class destroyers for the best part of quarter of a century and quite a few of you saw the end of the war and its aftermath. Unfortunately despite that the Admiralty isn't shaking loose the information we need and all the experienced destroyer-girls are occupied as fleet or convoy escorts."

Sally grimaced at that news before shaking her head. "And our museums don't have the full specs either," she muttered.

"Precisely," Lauren said. "It doesn't help that apart from the museum or the navy itself, everywhere lists what's supposedly the original design spec for Amazon, which is a lot less capable and a lot smaller. Heck, the navy has some of your specs locked behind a rank wall of some kind. I'm honestly not entirely sure how you girls stack up compared to Dragon or the other Type-45s."

There was a snort from the radio. "I seem to remember seeing a couple of sites and hearing some interviews on TV saying Britain didn't make destroyers for World War Two, they made cruisers that played at being destroyers," came Megan's voice sounding amused. "Plus I know you have hydro jets rather than propellers, whether ducted or screw. Power for power they're like half or less mass or something."

Sally nodded, frowning at the waves. "So out to Scilly, circle the islands and back, max speed?" she asked. Getting an affirmative from her aunt, she grinned. "Well, Zenith, I don't know about you, but I feel the need…"

"…the need for speed," Robyn said with her, finishing one of the more famous Top Gun quotes. Grinning at her new sister, Robyn knocked the turret on her right arm gently against the one on Sally's left.

The pair frowned slightly as they checked their maps and got themselves pointed in the right direction. Feeling the heat in her chest increase, Sally took a deep breath. Pushing off the water with one foot, she felt it simultaneously flood through the hydro jet tubes to flood out the back at much higher pressure. Sharing a look with Robyn, Sally shifted foot, pushing forwards with the other.

Switching forward foot again, she tasted salt spray on her lips as she felt her keel bite into the low swell of the sea, moving forwards faster every second. Soon the pair was almost flying across the waves, skating rapidly through the swells.

Checking her sensors, Sally frowned slightly as radar, lidar, esa and sonar pulsed out mapping the area around them. Information streamed through her senses from the rapidly receding port's multiple short trip ferries and in port tugs and cargo ships moving about to the feel of a couple of flocks of seagulls flying high above and fish and dolphins swimming about below.

"Hey, Zephyr?" started Robyn. "How come we've got things like lidar and… uh… electronically scanned arrays?" she asked.

Sally's frown deepened. "I think… probably the same way we've got the hydro jets. The tech was there before the thirties, I mean radar and ASDIC were around for World War One, granted it didn't come into its own properly until the second one, but Britain got an advantage or two."

"Or dozen," Megan put in. "I think we'll probably have at least some of it covered at school. I'm not sure how much though, it might depend on the school." There was a sound like someone rasping their nails over something. "I will say I was surprised that schools are supposed to teach people martial arts, I thought it was just ours that had so many incidents that they included it."

Sally nodded, cutting in before Robyn could start brooding about her lack of martial arts skills. "From what I remember from the documentaries and such, the Unicorn-, Umbral- and Antaeus-classes were supposed to be much better than anything Britain had when they found them, though there're also the conspiracy theories about their 'release'." She shrugged, frowning at her map for a moment.

"There's also the fact I'm fairly sure that the designs on the net, like Wikipedia and similar sites are some original design or something," Lauren added. "I know that a lot of our modern ships are fusion powered, but I'll admit I'm not sure how far back it goes." She snorted softly. "I do know there're a few legends about a ship that your class is supposed to be named after back in the Great War."

"Along with the rumours our grandparents and great-grandparents on dad's side mentioned," Sally continued.

Robyn frowned, scanning the area around them with her sensors. "What rumours?" she asked.

Sally shrugged causing the shoulder-plates of her rigging to shift and the light to catch on the barrels of the tiny 40mm auto cannons. "There was apparently someone… maybe multiple people that pushed Britain to actually care about their military in spite of just coming out of a war and pushed for better designs for our military." She shrugged again. "I think that might be why Britain has had corvettes, frigates, destroyers and cruisers for a while."

There was a snort from the radio. "Considering German's actions less than two decades after the peace treaties from the First World War had their ink dried, it was probably a good thing we had them show up, even if nobody seems to know just who it was," Megan commented making both shipgirls jump a bit, not having been aware their conversation was being transmitted to Devonport.

Seeing Robyn look at her, Sally shrugged and tapped her ear before shrugging again.

"But as Sal— Zephyr said, pretty much everything we used in World War Two, we at least had theories about beforehand, might not have known how to do things as well, but someone had the ideas or the tech behind everything," Megan continued thoughtfully. "Unicorn, Antaeus, Umbra and their sisters gave us a few jumps on refining working versions."

"Speaking of, either of you having any issues with stability at the moment?" asked Lauren, "Because from what I'm seeing here, you're clocking around forty-five knots with those hydro jets of yours."

Sally frowned, looking down at her feet for a moment. "I've not noticed anything, Commander," she replied. "I'm not sure if I could push much further though," she continued, "it feels like I'm about hitting the limit if the feel from running translates properly."

"Alright then, we'll mark a possible forty-five knots for your top speed," Lauren said thoughtfully. "Continue your circle and report back if you have any issues, over and out."

Sally frowned slightly, ignoring the spray kicked up by her passage as she and Robyn continued racing over the waves.

«Bonjour, bonjour c'est le sous-marin français Dauphin. Coordonnées 50 degrés 05'13.9" nord par 6 degrés 52'00.1" ouest. Je suis attaqué par des destroyers abyssaux. N'importe quel navire dans la région, aidez-moi,» the frantic voice over the radio drew Sally from her thoughts with the subtlety of a bomb going off.

"At your current speed, that's little over an hour away from you girls," Lauren took over the radio. "I want both of you to divert from your current objective and render assistance to Dauphin maximum speed, push beyond the redline if you have to, but get her safe and destroy those abyssals before they can hit a ferry or cargo ship."

The two shipgirls shared a look, even as their crews plotted the course, their sensor operators focusing in on the area the call had come from. "Affirmative, Commander," Sally responded. "I've already got eyes on, reading one French submarine being chased by at least eight destroyers and a pair of cruisers." Her turbines revved up higher, whining in their frames as hydro jets caused the ocean to foam, the pair taking off.

To say the brunette submarine girl was having a bad day was probably something of an understatement.

She had gone out to patrol around the naval base at Brest several days ago and had been returning due to being low on fuel and munitions only to be caught by a group of abyssals that had been chasing her north and slightly west for the past seven or more hours.

Even diving as deep as she could, it seemed they were waiting for her, not attacking too much, but enough that she had to keep moving no matter how exhausted she was.

Having sent her message, she dived again, hoping the abyssals would finally get the message and kindly fuck off. Grumbling in her native tongue, she swam down towards the best depth she knew she could handle before a sonar pulse ran through her, swiftly followed by another.

Eyes widening, she looked up towards the surface only to realise moments later that those pulses hadn't come from near directly above her, but from several miles away.

"Dauphin, Dauphin, this is HMS Zephyr, I am inbound on your position, over," the voice sounded out from her radio, nearly making her jump in the water.

Letting out an explosive burst of bubbles, Dauphin sighed. For the first time in hours, she had some hope. "HMS Zephyr, this is Dauphin," she responded, in English. "You have no idea how grateful I am to hear friendly voices right now. I've had these abyssals lodged on my stern for hours, over."

"Dauphin, Zephyr, roger that," the other shipgirl responded. "Zephyr and Zenith are moving to assist, how copy?"

"Zephyr, Dauphin, reading you five by five… only two? Over," she replied, wincing at the sound of a depth charge detonating somewhere behind her.

Dauphin, Zephyr, We're the only ones in the area." Zephyr's voice replied, making Dauphin grimace. "We're already picking targets. Don't get yourself killed, we'll be there soon, over and out."

Dauphin grimaced as the connection cut off. Two British ships against ten abyssals that she knew of – even if Britain was known for tough ships – was asking a lot. "Merdi… I hope they won't get into trouble," she muttered.

Hearing a splash through her passive sonar, she gulped, pushing her drives up again to evade what was likely another depth charge.

Why these abyssals were so intent on driving her around instead of simply killing her she didn't know, but it was probably worse than if they had been dropping depth charges by the dozen.

Raising herself to periscope depth, Dauphin took a look at the pursuing abyssals, still sniffing around far too close.

Every so often one of them lazily lobbed a depth charge out that sent a pillar of water up into the sky.

Fortunately they were far enough away that she could ride out the battering from the concussion wave, but even then, she probably had cracks and leaks all throughout her hull.

"WHEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!"

Dauphin blinked at the sound of metal guitars strumming loud over the rumbling swell.

"A cry for help in time of need, await relief from holy league
Sixty days of siege, outnumbered and weak
Sent a message to the sky, wounded soldiers left to die
Will they hold the wall or will the city fall."

Spinning around, she blinked again at the sight of a pair of what could have been light, light cruisers or very heavy destroyers rushing towards the abyssals faster than anything military built.

The music blasted from their radios, roaring far, far louder than their engines.

"Dedication
Dedication
They're outnumbered fifteen to one,
And the battle's begun."

Even as she watched, the pair raised their arms, unlimbering their turrets.

The pair skidded in the water, turning side on, riding momentum, three more turrets rotating towards the abyssals.

"Then the winged hussars arrived!"

Dauphin yelped as the pair disappeared in a cloud of smoke and fire.

Gaping, she watched their shells arch overhead, eight abyssals shrieking as two shells smashed into each of their thin armour belts, tearing through to machinery spaces before detonating.

One of the abyssals swelled and popped in a shower of smoke and oil as something exploded within, another screeched, spinning in circles with half its command structure gone.

The other abyssals weren't in much better state, several of the destroyer types were sinking. Another tried to fire only to blow its own turret, tearing it apart.

Another rippling volley of cracks sounded as the girls unleashed another broadside.

Dauphin gasped, the ships were more than eight miles from her according to her sonar, with the abyssals a further mile in the opposite direction.

Twenty rounds went up; twenty rounds came down, breaking armour and shattering hulls across the remaining seven abyssal destroyers.

An abyssal ballooned and popped in a shower of burning oil and munitions. Its turret flew upwards, spinning end over end before it fired.

The round smashing into a second abyssal's deck house, blowing itself higher. Moments later it came crashing down on top of the stricken destroyer causing that one to disappear in a cloud of flame that cratered the ocean.

Three others, including the one motoring in circles vanished.

Twin explosions snapped Dauphin's head up, leaving her staring at the place where the two cruisers had been.

One was raining down in chunks; the other looked like it was sinking, several more explosions telling of internal damage.

Just as it slipped under the waves, it exploded again, kicking up a metres high plume of water before finally going down.

The last abyssal got off a single shot that fell well short of the destroyer girls before it was riddled with 4.5 inch rounds and exploded into a flaming shower of shrapnel that scattered across the ocean.

Dauphin blinked several times while her fairies whistled in appreciation of a battle that took less than five minutes, most of which was travel time for shells.

"Hey, you Dauphin?" The voice came from behind her, making her turn again to see the two destroyers much closer, both wearing Royal Navy uniforms, one with blonde hair, the other, closer to her, had hair that seemed blue in the light, particularly closer to the girl's shoulders.

"Oui, oui," Dauphin responded. "Je… I'm Dauphin," she said, switching to English part way through. "How… how did you manage to sink them so fast?"

The girl in front of her shrugged, smiling slightly. "Insanely good fire control and sensors," she replied. "I'm Zephyr, by the way, and this is Zenith," she introduced the two of them.

The blonde – Zenith – sent an unsure look towards Zephyr. "We kinda had the time to lock them down, particularly given they seemed content mostly drifting," she said. "Do you need to get looked over or would you rather go back to your own base? Devonport is about two hours away at our top speed." She looked Dauphin over.

Dauphin shifted slightly in the water, ignoring the bobbing as a wave swept past them. "I probably should get checked out," she admitted. "I'm pretty low on fuel, out of torpedoes and my guns aren't exactly great for surface actions. I don't know about your base though… I can only get fifteen knots at best."

The two girls shared a look between themselves. "That's… honestly slower than our cruise," Zephyr said after a moment before frowning. "Hey… can you use human weight?"

Dauphin nodded. "Of course, I'm a shipgirl, why though?"

Zephyr grinned, "We can carry you at human weight, maybe at ship weight, I don't know your class, or how to check it at the moment." She grimaced a little, "Still kind of working a lot of things out."

She gave a little snort surfacing properly. "Yes, I know the feeling," Dauphin said. "You'll get it, but it might take a while."

Zephyr nodded, dismissing her turrets and picking Dauphin up bridal style. Once the pair had gotten settled, Dauphin blushing a little from the contact, Zephyr and Zenith turned back for Devonport, pushing for speed once more.