Drake stepped out onto the deck of the small civilian boat, letting the morning California sea breeze tousle his black hair. He looked out onto the ocean, and as the sun began to rise, he could make out the silhouettes of warships on the horizon. It was now sometime after seven in the morning, and as promised, naval personnel had been at the hotel at six in order to pick up the fleet. Afterwards, they had been driven out to some docks nearby the Santa Monica Beach and loaded onto a fishing boat in order to appear inconspicuous. Now, they were en route to the task force which awaited out on the Pacific. Thankfully, the fleet was able to get a few hours of rest overnight without any sort of incident, and since they left the hotel fairly early in the morning, they didn't run into any other people.
The rear admiral turned as he heard footsteps, and he saw Kaga walk up beside him.
"So those are the carriers," she stated as she looked out in the distance at the ships.
"Yeah. What do you think of them?"
She had a complicated look in her eye. "They are… Quite large."
"I guess so. They're nuclear-powered supercarriers," Drake said. "All three were recently built thanks to the Naval Rearmament Act that was passed through Congress a few years ago. I'm still amazed they managed to build them that quickly."
"They are very impressive," Kaga admitted as the boat drew closer. "And they must be armed with the most modern aircraft as well. Are they truly not sufficient to defeat the Abyssals?"
"USS Liberty's Lament was sunk within minutes at Tangier," Drake told her with a frown. "She barely managed to get a handful of planes aloft before she went down, and even then, they were all immediately outmaneuvered and destroyed by the smaller and more mobile Abyssal aircraft. The only ones who can stand up to Abyssal airpower are you ship girls."
"I see…" Kaga tightened her grip on the ship's handrail.
"If they're so useless, then why are they even here?"
Drake and Kaga turned around to see Zuikaku, who was also looking out at the warships.
The American shrugged lightly. "I doubt the Navy would feel comfortable just sending a rear admiral and a handful of girls to defeat an entire Abyssal fleet. Besides, I think they might be of some use as long as they aren't the primary focus of the Abyssals' attacks."
"Are you going to be aboard one of those during the battle, Admiral?" Shoukaku asked, joining her sister on the deck.
"Probably, so I'd appreciate it if you girls don't let any of the enemy planes slip by," he joked, though his stomach churned slightly at the thought of being on a ship during another Abyssal air attack.
"Hmph! You should expect nothing less from us," Zuikaku boasted. "Carrier Division One may have failed their last sortie, but don't underestimate the Shoukaku-class!"
Kaga glared at Zuikaku, and Drake tried to defuse the situation.
"That last sortie was my fault, if anyone's," he said, still a bit embarrassed at how he froze up during the attack. "But that doesn't matter now. We have a new enemy to face, and we can't be crying about past failures."
The rest of the fleet soon emerged on deck as well, curious to get a look at the American fleet. Well, most of them were, at least.
"I'm hungry…" Akagi complained as she staggered over to Kaga. "I haven't eaten anything since we left Japan… I think I'm going to die…"
"There's probably food on the ship," Drake told her. "You'll just have to wait until then. Sorry."
Akagi simply groaned in reply and leaned against Kaga, much to the latter's annoyance.
"Seriously though, those sailors could have at least let us get some of that free breakfast the hotel was offering," Zuikaku said.
"Yes, if only someone didn't make us late by refusing to get up from her dream about gourmet American dinners," Kaga agreed while glaring at her adopted sister.
"Admiral, they're bullying me…" the red carrier whined.
Just then, a handful of aircraft took off from the US carrier's flight deck, causing the ship girls to rush over to the railings to get a better look.
"Ah, what nice planes," Shoukaku remarked, looking up.
Drake shielded his eyes from the sun as he too glanced upwards. "Looks like they're flying CAP or something."
"Wow, they look so different from ours… Hey look, there's a couple more taking off!" Zuikaku cried as she dragged Shoukaku over to the edge of the ship.
Kaga seemed interested in the planes as well, and she and Akagi went over with the rest of the fleet, leaving Drake alone with his own thoughts once again. However, to his surprise, Amatsukaze broke off from the group and walked over to him.
"Admiral, are you busy right now?" she asked somewhat nervously, which was a bit uncharacteristic for her.
"Not really. Why?"
"Oh, uh… I just wanted to ask you something."
"... Yes?"
"Er, um… What do you think of my performance so far? During the sorties and practice, I mean," she asked turning to face the sea.
"Uh, it's good, I guess," Drake replied, not really sure of what to say or why she was suddenly asking him that. "You've only been on one sortie, so I can't really make any significant comments, but from that mission and what I've seen during training, I don't have any complaints, at the very least."
"I see. So I'm mediocre, huh?" she surmised, her gaze falling.
"N-no, that's not what I meant," Drake quickly corrected. "You've done well so far, and your speed is especially impressive. I just meant that I don't have a lot of data to work with, you know?"
"Oh, okay," she said, perking up a bit. "Sorry, I know it was kind of a weird question, but… Never mind."
"Are you concerned about your skills or something?" the rear admiral asked, still curious as to why Amatsukaze wanted to know about her performance.
"Um, no, it's just that…" she stared out at the ocean for a couple seconds, then continued. "I assume you don't know this, but I was originally built as a prototype for the destroyer Shimakaze. I guess you could say that Shimakaze is supposed to be an improved version of me, or something. So that's why… I just don't like feeling inferior like that. It's not Shimakaze's fault, and I'm sure she doesn't see me that way, but…"
"Who is this 'Shimakaze'? Is she one of your sisters?"
"No, she's from a different class, but I'm closer with her than with some of my actual sisters, honestly," Amatsukaze answered. "Right now, she's at the Sasebo Base."
Drake was beginning to understand now. Sasebo was the 'primary' base for the IJN, so usually the most effective ship girls were sent there, though that didn't necessarily mean that every girl at Sasebo was automatically better than the ones at Tokyo Bay. Even so, the combination of their respective base placements and the fact that Amatsukaze was only a prototype probably left her feeling inferior to her sister, and that was why she was asking about her sortie performance.
"Well, if you really want to prove that you aren't inferior, then you're obviously going to have to stop assuming you're inferior from the very start," he told her. "This is isn't World War II anymore, and you have the chance to prove yourself again. But if you go into battle thinking that you're just a lesser version of somebody else, you're never going to reach your full potential."
Drake felt sort of cheesy after saying that, but he really didn't know how else to explain it.
"Yeah, you're probably right," she admitted. "I guess the only one who can really prove that I'm more than a prototype is myself, huh?"
"In the end, yes. But in case you need any help, I'll be here."
Amatsukaze nodded. "Thank you, Admiral."
The rest of the short trip passed in relative silence for Drake until the group arrived beside the carrier, USS Glorious Tears of Liberty. As one of the new Liberty-class vessels, it contained a storage and deploying area just like the super jet cruisers did, so that is where the civilian craft carrying the ship girls docked. The storage area opened up, allowing Drake and his fleet to enter the interior of the carrier.
When they disembarked, they found a man waiting for them. He was clad in attire similar to Drake's, though a notable difference was the large, white stars on his shoulders which dwarfed Drake's own in both size and splendor. He also wore an ascot colored in the design of the American flag, and a very short, cape-like fabric also with an American flag design hung over his right shoulder. He was young, probably only a handful of years older than Drake, and had black hair and a lazy smile on his face.
Drake saluted. "Sir."
"Rear Admiral Drake, glad you could make it," he started, returning the salute. "I see you brought a lot of beautiful girls with you too!"
"Uh, yes, sir."
The man smiled, clearly enjoying Drake's discomfort. "Anyway, I assume you already know this, but I am Fleet Admiral Wei. Sorry to call you here on such short notice, but as you also already know, an Abyssal force has been amassing its strength in this area over the past couple of days, and it looks like they're ready to attack at any moment. Therefore, it's best that we get straight to planning our strategy. Is that all right with you?"
"Yes, sir."
In truth, Drake was still tired at having been woken up so early, and he hadn't eaten anything in a while either, but he wasn't about to voice those complaints in front of a fleet admiral.
Wei nodded, then led Drake and his fleet up into the carrier's interior. They continued through the ship until they reached the bridge, which housed a large conference room. The set of windows at the end of the room looked out onto the ship's deck and gave them a view of the blue Pacific beyond it.
It's nice in here, I guess, Drake tried to convince himself, looking around the relatively luxurious and spacious interior of the bridge. After he saw the bridge blow up on the Freedom's Sacrifice back at Tangier, Drake preferred to command from the situation rooms rather than the bridge, which was a prime target for Abyssal bombers. He probably couldn't get away with that this time, considering the fact that all the officers seemed to be gathered on the bridge. At least the bridge had more amenities and comforts than the situation rooms, since the latter were typically only used for briefings or command centers for lower-ranked officers.
"Oh, yeah," Fleet Admiral Wei suddenly remembered, pointing towards a table in the back, "there's food and drinks over there in case you're hungry. You girls can help yourselves if you want."
Before the fleet admiral was even finished speaking, Akagi had already rushed off towards the food, causing Wei to grin.
"Wow. Lively, aren't they?"
Drake simply shook his head, sighing at the carrier's lack of discipline.
"There's a lot of them. Do the Japanese really have this many ship girls?" a new voice spoke, causing Drake to turn around. He quickly saluted once he saw who it was.
A woman, probably only slightly older than Wei, smirked and returned his salute. She had black hair and bright blue eyes, but her otherwise pleasant face was marred by a long, jagged scar that ran from her left eyebrow to her chin.
"Rear Admiral Drake. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Admiral Belle had been his instructor after he graduated from NROTC and entered into the two month-long officer training program that followed afterwards. She had been transferred there as an instructor because she had been recovering from that facial wound at the time, so Drake mostly remembered her with a large bandage across her face. Still, even with it removed and the scar on full display, Admiral Belle and her contrasting dark hair and sea blue eyes were unmistakable.
"Oh? You two know each other?" Wei asked.
"I am a former instructor of his," Belle answered in her usual cool tone.
"Ah, I see. How unlucky for you, Drake," Wei joked as he smiled at the rear admiral, though he quickly wiped that look off his face after receiving a glare from Admiral Belle.
"Either way, I am glad to see one of my students doing so well," Belle continued. "Though I heard your first major engagement was at Tangier, wasn't it? Quite a start to your career."
"Uh, yes, ma'am," Drake replied, not sure of how to respond to that.
Belle smiled darkly at him. "Well, I look forward to working with you as a colleague now. Do not disappoint me."
With that, Admiral Belle left the bridge, presumably to finish checking on preparations elsewhere. Fleet Admiral Wei sighed in relief as she exited.
"She scares me…"
"She does have that effect," Drake agreed.
"Anyway, it looks like the Abyssals actually haven't changed their positions since last night, so we can put off the mission details for a bit longer," Wei then said. "Please take a few moments to rest, Drake. We'll reconvene in about half an hour."
Drake saluted, then went over to where his fleet was. Most of them were busy stuffing themselves since they hadn't eaten in a while either, and the handful of USLN sailors present on the bridge were staring at them with a mixture of curiosity and wonder. Mentally and physically fatigued by the sequence of events since he left Japan and the upcoming battle, Drake elected to sit in an isolated corner of the bridge after grabbing a sandwich and water bottle from the tables. He hoped to finish his meal in relative peace, but that notion was quickly shattered when two more people entered the bridge.
"Wow! It's like a party in here!" Iowa shouted as she spotted the various other ship girls now present on the carrier. Another tall girl with chestnut brown hair and kind eyes stood next to Iowa, and though Drake had never seen her before, he assumed she was Saratoga, the only other ship girl currently part of the USLN.
"Hm? Who're you?" Amatsukaze asked.
Oh, right, I guess I forgot to tell them about Iowa and Saratoga, Drake realized. Whatever.
"Iowa, nameship of the Iowa-class battleships! Nice to meet you!" Iowa proudly introduced. "You guys must be the Japs! Welcome to America!"
"Mphhello!" Suzuya cheerily returned between mouthfuls, but the rest of the IJN ship girls seemed a bit reluctant, which was understandable.
"Busy stuffing yourselves, I see!" Iowa grinned. "Is your admiral around?"
"Oh, he's over there," Sendai pointed.
Thanks a lot, Sendai, Drake thought sarcastically as he waved to Iowa and Saratoga.
"Hey, Captain Drake! Long time no see!" Iowa greeted.
"Hello, Iowa," he replied, unsure of why she was still calling him 'captain' despite being present the moment he was promoted. He then turned to her companion. "You must be Saratoga, right?"
"Yes, sir," Saratoga saluted. "Lexington-class aircraft carrier, Saratoga, reporting for duty. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Rear Admiral Richard Drake. Nice to meet you," he said with a nod. He glanced back at Iowa. "I see you've got a, uh, new uniform, Iowa."
"Huh? Oh, this?" she asked, pulling at her revealing and boisterous red-white-and-blue uniform. The last time Drake had seen her, she simply wore a white officer's suit. "I'm usually not allowed to wear this because it goes against 'USLN standards' or something dumb like that. It's the only thing I'm comfortable fighting in, though, so I'm allowed to wear it right now."
Well, I could definitely see how that uniform could be distracting… "So, this is probably going to be the first major battle for you two, right?"
"Yeah! You guys in Japan have been hogging all the action, but it's America's turn now!" Iowa declared loudly, drawing some looks.
"... With some help from Japan." Drake pointed out, looking at his fleet.
"Er, yeah, I guess."
"You two don't feel weird fighting with them?" Drake asked curiously. "You all used to be enemies, right?"
"Well, that was in the past," Iowa said dismissively. "We have a new enemy now, so we should all come together to defeat them."
"Hmm? That's surprisingly mature of you, Iowa," Saratoga noted.
"Wait, you say that like I'm not normally mature! Besides, if Captain Drake can fight alongside them, then we should too, right?"
Drake nodded. "I wasn't even born when World War II took place, but your sentiment is correct, I guess. I doubt we could defeat an Abyssal fleet this size with only American forces."
"By the way, Admiral Drake," Saratoga spoke up, "who is that blonde girl with you? She doesn't look Japanese…"
The rear admiral glanced back over at his fleet, then realized she was talking about Bismarck.
"Oh, you mean Bismarck? She's a battleship from Germany, so I doubt you two know her."
"We're even fighting alongside the Nazis, huh?" Iowa said, eyeing the other battleship cautiously. "I wonder what the soldiers back in the War would say if they saw us now…"
Bismarck noticed the trio of Americans staring at her, and she blinked in surprise before shooting them a glare.
Can't we all just get along? Drake lamented as he mentally sighed at the German's attitude.
"All right, everybody!" Fleet Admiral Wei called out. "I think it's about time we started preparations for the battle… Well, I really only need Admiral Drake, but anybody who wants to offer suggestions or just observe the planning progress is welcome."
Drake finished off the last of his sandwich before heading over to the front section of the bridge where a large map was spread out onto a table. His fleet, including Iowa and Saratoga, followed him, presumably curious about the operation. Fleet Admiral Wei was busy fiddling with the screens beside the table, pausing once they flickered to life and revealed the faces of two other people.
One of them was a cheery young woman with blonde, shoulder-length hair and bright green eyes, and the other was a gruff-looking man with bristly black hair and an angry expression. By the stars on their shoulders, Drake guessed the girl was Rear Admiral Sterrett while the man was Vice Admiral Jockey.
"Shit, is this thing on? Can you guys hear me?" Wei asked, tapping at the screens.
"Loud and clear, sir!" Sterrett quickly replied, and Jockey grunted in assent.
"Ah, good. Now we're just waiting for -"
Before he could finish his sentence, Admiral Belle returned to the bridge.
"Perfect timing!" Wei nodded. "Anyway, now that everyone is assembled, we'll start to fill out the more concrete details of our battle plan. Uh, so firstly, as you all know, there's a large Abyssal fleet gathering out just a little farther from here. As of now, we estimate that they probably have around ten battleships, five aircraft carriers, ten heavy cruisers, and a lot of escorting destroyers and light cruisers… I think."
Damn, Drake thought. His fleet had never fought anything that big before.
"As for our own sides capabilities, we have our carriers, Glorious Tears of Liberty and Liberty's Last Light, and then some destroyers. However, we also have our secret weapon, which is Rear Admiral Drake's Kancolle Fleet!"
Drake paused uncertainly as everybody's eyes shifted towards him.
"Ooooh! Those are all ship girls!?" Sterrett asked excitedly as she took note of Drake's fleet.
"Yep! Just like Iowa and Saratoga," Wei confirmed happily, as if he didn't care about the enormous gap in numbers that they were facing even with the addition of the ship girls.
Admiral Belle did seem to realize this, however. "Sir. We are still quite obviously outnumbered."
"Right, right," Wei sighed. "Okay… So based on radar and UAV information, this is what their formation looks like…"
Fleet Admiral Wei picked up a marker from the table and drew a series of X's on the map. The Abyssal fleet appeared to be in a fanned-out formation, sort of looking like a wifi signal symbol. The outer ray was composed of the destroyer and light cruisers, the middle contained the heavy cruisers and battleships, and the enemy carriers sailed towards the back.
"So, that's it," Wei said once he finished drawing the formation. "Basically, what we need to do is deal enough damage to the enemy fleet in order to force a retreat. We don't need to sink every single one of them or anything, but we definitely don't want to be steamrolled either. Worst case scenario, they kill all of us and burn Los Angeles to the ground… But I'm sure that won't happen!"
Admiral Belle looked unconvinced. "Then I assume you have some sort of plan, sir? Because God knows you haven't shared one with me."
Wei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… I wanted to make sure Admiral Drake was here first, and then I was going to start working on a tactical plan…"
"... So you're going to be coming up with one on the spot, right here and now."
"Basically, yes!" Wei beamed. "Glad you understand."
Admiral Belle looked ready to strangle the fleet admiral, causing Drake to flinch. He knew that look all too well, and even though he had never been directly on the receiving end of one of Admiral Belle's punishments, he had seen what she could do when she was angry.
"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that," Wei pleaded, smiling nervously. "I'll come up with something… But I'll also take suggestions if anybody has any right now."
The other four admirals were silent for a bit before Vice Admiral Jockey spoke up.
"We are supposed to use those ship girls as the main force, correct? I have no idea what the true extent of their capabilities is. Rear Admiral Drake presumably has a strategy, then…?"
"Uh… No, sir. I didn't even know the true size or formation of the enemy fleet until now," Drake answered.
"Really?" Admiral Belle spat with a glare, turning to Wei. "You couldn't have sent him the enemy formation before calling him here?"
"Whoops, must have slipped my mind, haha," Wei said with another shaky smile.
Admiral Belle sighed angrily. "The fate of one of America's most populous cities is on the line, and something like that just 'slipped your mind'?"
"Well, uh," Wei stammered, clearly uncomfortable. "Say, Admiral Drake, why don't you take a stab at a strategy now? Anything is fine, there's no wrong answers. We're just brainstorming right now."
"Uh… Let me think."
Drake stared the the enemy formation, trying to figure out how best to deploy his forces in order to take advantage of it. One of the most glaring flaws that he saw with the Abyssal formation was the fact that it was sort of separated. Since the formation had gaps in between each ray, that could be exploited by sending in forces in between those gaps, disrupting the flow and communication between the carrier, heavy, and light Abyssal groups.
"We could start by sending in a frontal attack composed of all our USLN destroyers and then our battleship and heavy cruiser ship girls," Drake began. "We would also send over an air attack using the actual ship carriers. However, this will only be a distracting force. While that's happening, we should send the light cruiser and destroyer ship girls towards the back of the enemy formation and eliminate the enemy carriers with their torpedoes and guns. The Abyssal carriers will presumably be preoccupied in fighting off the airstrike and the heavy frontal attack, so they won't have the planes to attack the destroyers and light cruisers with. That takes care of the first and third Abyssal rays, which only leaves the middle group, which is composed of heavy Abyssal ships. To deal with them, I'll send out a carrier airstrike from the ship girl fleet. Their planes will take a longer flanking route and attack only the middle division from both sides. It may take a bit of time for the planes to get there, but by then it won't matter because the Abyssals should be too disoriented to mount a coordinated anti-air attack."
The other admirals and the ship girls took a moment to process the plan before Fleet Admiral Wei nodded.
"As expected of you, Rear Admiral Drake. A great strategy. We are clearly outnumbered, so your use of distractions and a multiple-front attack is an effective approach, rather than a head-on collision with enemy forces. However…"
The fleet admiral smiled again, though this time, his expression seemed much more serious.
"You are forgetting quite a few things. Firstly, Abyssal airpower has been proven to be superior to modern planes time and time again. Your initial airstrike will be easily destroyed, and unlike the planes of your ship girls, our carrier planes actually have people in them. Your strategy will kill off almost all of them."
Before Drake could even start thinking of a rebuttal, Wei continued on.
"And after they defeat our planes, they'll come for the USLN carriers themselves and kill us admirals. That would be an automatic loss. Your next flaw is that your strategy relies too much on delay. Your destroyers and light cruisers will need time to get to the back of the fleet, and what if by the time they get there, the Abyssal fleet has already rallied and eliminated your heavy attackers? And your ship girl carrier airstrike will also take a significant amount of time to go into effect, and until it does, you're allowing the enemy carriers and battleships free reign of the field because your initial airstrike won't be able to stand up to Abyssal airpower."
Fleet Admiral Wei paused briefly, then frowned. "Your strategy is impressive, especially since you just came up with it. But there is no way I'd ever put that kind of plan into action."
The bridge was silent, and Drake felt burning embarrassment despite the fact that the fleet admiral did praise his thinking.
The fuck was I supposed to say? It's not like you had a better strategy.
"So!" Wei suddenly shouted, crossing his arms and grinning confidently. "Here's what we'll do instead. Since the only airstrike that can go toe-to-toe with the Abyssals is a ship girl's, we'll send out those carriers first, along with the frontal force Admiral Drake suggested. That way, we can actually buy some time. Next, we'll charge in with our two ship carriers, alongside the left and right flanks of the enemy."
That statement brought incredulous looks from everyone in the room, but Wei quickly explained.
"Of course, we'll bring the rest of the ship girls with us. We'll keep our distance from the front ray filled with destroyers and light cruisers since there are too many of them, but once we get to the middle ray, we'll close in and send the ship girls into the fray on both flanks. While they're doing that, our USLN carriers will launch their airstrikes. Since the Abyssals will be preoccupied, our human pilots will have less of a chance of being shot down, and they can deliver their payloads. The airstrikes will also land on the opposite carrier that they launched from, allowing us to save time because they won't have to circle back around and land on their home carrier. As soon as that's done, we'll get out of there. Hopefully by then, the front and middle rays will have been weakened. The ship girls will then move towards the back and finish the enemy carriers, whose planes should be depleted after their initial skirmish with the ship girl airstrike. Our USLN destroyers will also enter the field at this moment in order to pick off the remaining Abyssal forces, since sending them against a numerous or healthy Abyssal fleet is suicide."
I see, Drake realized. My plan relied on the ship airpower to be able to launch the initial strike and for the ship girl carriers to strike the decisive blow, but Fleet Admiral Wei's strategy essentially reverses that. That makes sense because any bomber can sink an Abyssal, but only ship girl aircraft can skirmish with Abyssal aircraft in an air battle.
"That's basically what I was thinking for now," Wei then finished. "Any questions or concerns? I'll take any suggestions."
Drake eyed Wei cautiously. He was able to come up with a battle plan far better than mine so quickly… Is this the difference between me and a fleet admiral?
The rear admiral clenched his fists. He had always prided himself on his tactical ability and intelligence, but it was clear that he was far outclassed here.
"Uh, well, if nobody has any questions, then I guess we can start putting things into place," Wei continued on. "Jockey and Sterrett, you two can form up your ships and prepare for the signal from this flagship when the time comes. Drake, please get the ship girls ready. If the Abyssals don't attack soon, I think we should strike the first blow."
With that, the strategy meeting concluded, and everyone went back to their posts. Fleet Admiral Wei now busied himself with setting up preparations for the attack, and though he kept his standard aloof and lazy demeanor, it was obvious that he knew what he was doing. Becoming a fleet admiral at the age of thirty was no easy feat, and Wei proved that he deserved his title.
Though Drake was still a bit annoyed at himself and at how he had missed such obvious flaws in his own strategy, he resolved to learn from this. Fleet Admiral Wei was much better than he was right now, but one day, he hoped to reach that level as well.
And it starts with this sortie. Even though Fleet Admiral Wei did most of the planning, that doesn't mean that I can slack off during the actual battle… Tangier, the Airfield Princess… I've been defeated before… But not this time.
This time, I'm going to win.
"We should be reaching the destination soon, right?" Asashio asked, glancing outside the window of the holding area inside the recently-repaired Guadalcanal.
"Um, I think so," Shigure replied. "Right, Yuudachi?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, poi! Get ready for action!" the blonde destroyer cheered, causing the fifteen other ship girls in the holding area to stare at her.
"Such enthusiasm! I like it, desu!" Kongou said, shooting Yuudachi a thumbs up.
"Yeah! Let's get hyped!" Hiei echoed, pumping her fist.
Shigure smiled nervously, then turned to her other sister, Kawakaze. "Your fleet sure is lively…"
The red-haired destroyer grinned. "Yep, it's always like this. They may be loud, but at least things are always exciting!"
"They don't seem to be taking this sortie too seriously…" Asashio worried.
"Don't worry. They act like a bunch of idiots, but they can handle themselves in a fight," the battleship Ise said as she approached.
Junyou slung an arm around Ise's shoulder. "Yeah, don't worry 'bout a thing. Yer safe with us!"
"Um, okay," Shigure said, though she found it hard to trust the clearly-drunk light carrier's words.
"Jeez, at least sober up if you're going to say something like that," Ise chided. "You're a bad influence on these destroyers."
"Hey!" a loud voice then called out, causing everyone to turn and look at the center of the room where a girl with greyish-blue hair and an eyepatch stood. "I'm issuing a challenge! Whoever gets the most kills has to buy the other lunch for a week when we get back! Anyone here man enough to take me on!?"
"Hell yeah, desu! Challenge accepted!" Kongou immediately responded.
Hiei beamed at her older sister. "As expected of you, Kongou! No one can beat you!"
"Heh, don't speak too soon," Kiso playfully taunted. "I'm gonna take you down, Brit!"
Asashio sighed as she watched the scene unfold. "And of course, Kiso isn't making things better. Why did we choose her to join our fleet again?"
"I chose her at random," Shiranui said from nearby, overhearing their conversation. "The Commander wasn't being very helpful, so I just picked her and Yura. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him."
"Everyone! Should I sing a pre-battle ballad for you all?" Naka shouted as she twirled among the energetic fleet.
"God, why is it always so loud in here?" a male voice asked gruffly as Rear Admiral Genji opened the door to the holding area. "If you all are done fooling around, we're going to be arriving at the drop point in five minutes. As I told you earlier, we're just here to scout the area, so don't do anything dumb. Get prepared to sortie."
"What?! But I want to fight!" Kongou complained.
Genji glared at his flagship. "I don't give a shit about what you want. And don't act surprised, you knew this was what the mission was from the outset."
Kongou merely pouted in annoyance.
Genji frowned. "But having said that… Do be prepared to fight in case of any resistance. It's unlikely, considering the fact that the Abyssals are already engaged in what appears to be a major operation off the coast of California, but don't let your guard down. As discussed, the Third and Fourth Fleets will take point while Admiral Drake's reserves hang back… That is all."
The IJN rear admiral then left the holding area, causing the ship girls to resume their chatter almost immediately.
"Whaa…? So we don' get ta fight after all?" Junyou whined.
"Like you even could in that state, you fucking drunkard," Ise said, lightly shoving the pink-haired girl off of her.
"Nuh-uh! I've fought drunk plenny a times!"
"Yeah, don't let the Admiral hear you say that."
Kawakaze giggled at their banter, then turned to Shigure. "Even if we don't get to fight, I still think it's great that we finally get to go on a sortie together."
Shigure nodded while glancing over to where Yuudachi and Murasame were conversing about something or another. "Yeah… It's nice to feel useful again."
"Either way, we should do our best to make sure that the Commander is proud of us," Asashio said, sharing Shigure's sentiments. "I hated sitting by while everyone else got to sortie… I don't want that to happen again!"
Shiranui regarded them coolly. "Just how do you plan on setting yourself apart if we're just going to be in reserves?"
Asashio deflated. "I…"
"Well, it doesn't matter, I suppose," the Kagerou-class destroyer said as she stood up and stretched. "We'll just have to do as we're told, like always. At least we're not stuck back at base this time."
Murasame and Yuudachi then approached the group of destroyers.
"Hey, we never decided on the flagship position for our fleet, did we?" Murasame asked.
"Shouldn't the Admiral make that decision?" Shigure inputted.
"Well, he's obviously not here, so we'll have to do it ourselves," the brown-haired destroyer replied.
Shiranui raised an eyebrow. "Why do we even need a flagship? We're just going to be in the back of the combined fleet, and it's unlikely we'll even see any action."
"Someone has to make decisions out there on the water, right?" Murasame countered. "What if something doesn't go as planned? We can't be arguing among ourselves in a situation like that."
Shiranui sighed. "Fine, I don't care. Who were you going to suggest, then? I hope you're not vain enough to say yourself."
Murasame blushed. "N-no!"
"Maybe one of the light cruisers?" Asashio offered.
Murasame looked around. "Where even are they…?"
Kiso was currently engaged in an armwrestling match with Hiei, and the light cruiser appeared to be holding her own despite the battleship's superior strength. The tide slowly but surely turned, however, causing Kiso to curse colorfully when she eventually lost.
"Okay, definitely not her," Murasame decided. "And Yura is…"
The light cruiser Yura was currently in the company of Iku and Atago, the former of whom was draping herself in Yura's long ponytail and laughing merrily while the latter playfully fondled the light cruiser's breasts, causing Yura to blush and try and squirm her way out of their grasp.
"Seems like she's busy… I guess it'll have to be one of us after all."
"I'll do it, poi!" Yuudachi readily volunteered.
"You're not even part of our fleet," Shiranui deadpanned. "What about Asashio? She has been the flagship before during training."
"T-that was just training!" Asashio nervously replied. "Why don't you do it, Shiranui? The Commander chose you first, after all."
Murasame didn't seem to like that suggestion. "No way! Shiranui said we didn't even need a flagship for this sortie, so why should she get to be the flagship?"
Yuudachi patted Shigure on the head. "Hey, what about Shigure, poi?"
"M-me?"
"Oh, yeah!" Murasame agreed. "You're pretty mature, Shigure. I think you'd make a good flagship!"
"But I don't…"
Shiranui sighed. "Fine, Shigure it is. Better it be her than have the rest of us constantly arguing over the position."
Asashio gave Shigure a nod. "Do your best."
"Um, okay, I guess," Shigure shakily responded, having had her decision already made for her.
"Yeah! You'll do great, poi!" Yuudachi reassured Shigure, seeing her sister's apprehensiveness. "You guys are just in reserve anyway, and you'll have our two fleets to help if anything goes wrong. So no pressure, all right?"
Shigure nodded and smiled. But this is my first real sortie since the War ended… I hope it doesn't turn out like before…
A chill went up Shigure's spine, but she forced herself to ignore it. Memories of World War II still haunted her, but she wouldn't let that interfere with her life anymore. Or at least, that's what she told herself.