Kaga sighed to herself as she looked down at the packet listing all the ships that would be under the command of Rear Admiral Richard Drake in the upcoming operation. Unfortunately for her, her admiral had been called away by his superiors from his own navy, and Drake had told her to get the fleet together in his stead so that they would at least be familiar with each other when he got back. Kaga was used to the Admiral hoisting his work upon her from time to time, but she wasn't looking forward to having to corral together a bunch of ships from other fleets, especially given that some of them were foreign. Kaga knew that her disposition wasn't as warm as most other girls', so she was wondering if she would even be able to pull it off at all.

"Any reason why you're standing in the middle of the street with that sour look?"

Kaga glanced up to see Zuikaku and Shoukaku approaching.

"Zuikaku! Don't say things like that. That's just her normal face," Shoukaku chided her sister, but that comment didn't really make Kaga feel any better.

"Fifth Carrier Division," she greeted impassionately. "I am busy at the moment, so if you have nothing of value to say, please leave."

"Rude as always," Zuikaku scowled. "What's that you're looking at?"

Zuikaku craned her head over to take a look at the papers. "Oh, the fleet formation?"

"Yes." Kaga moved the papers so Zuikaku could no longer see it, causing the twintailed carrier to frown. "If that satisfied your curiosity, then please leave."

"Oh, stop being an ass. It's not like we're bothering you," Zuikaku countered.

Kaga stared at her. "Is that so?"

"Yeah! In fact, you're the one bothering me with your accusatory tone!"

"If I am bothering you, then I suggest you leave… As I have told you twice now."

"Let's all calm down, okay?" Shoukaku interjected with a nervous smile. "Zuikaku, please don't say anything if you have nothing nice to say. And Kaga, if you are busy with something, then perhaps we can help you?"

Kaga thought about it. On one hand, Zuikaku was sure to get on her nerves at least a couple more times. On the other hand, Shoukaku would be a great help in this sort of task, but she couldn't just tell one of them to stay and the other to leave.

"Fine," Kaga decided, handing the packet to Shoukaku. "That is the list of carriers who will be a part of our fleet in the next operation. We need to find them and make sure that they know that they are in our fleet, who their commanding officer will be, where the Admiral's office is so that they can assemble there later, and other things like that."

"I see." Shoukaku browsed through the list. "It seems five of these girls are foreigners? And the rest of them aside from Hiryuu and Souryuu are from the Sasebo Base…"

"Ugh, Americans," Zuikaku noted in distaste now that she had more time to view the list. "We're really supposed to go and get Saratoga and Intrepid to join our fleet now? They literally fought us in the past. That carrier, Intrepid, was also part of the air group that helped sink me. Like hell they're just going to listen to us. Why didn't the Admiral do this shit himself?"

"You will need to fight alongside them regardless of what happened in the past," Kaga told Zuikaku. "This is no time to be holding onto old grudges. I'm sure the Americans feel the same way."

"Let's hope you're right, then."

"By the way, where is Akagi?" Shoukaku asked.

Kaga gave a light shrug. "Probably eating again, so we can't wait for her. Let's just go and get this done with."

The three carriers then began walking through the streets of the base, but after about a minute, they all realized that they had no idea where they were going and did not have a set destination in mind.

"So our plan is just to wander around the base until we find them all?" Zuikaku said out loud as they stopped. "Somehow this doesn't seem efficient."

Shoukaku wore a thoughtful look. "True… Maybe we should check the archery range first?"

"Weird that we haven't seen any of them there already," Zuikaku mused. "I guess they wouldn't be there since they're not staying in our dorms, but I thought they'd at least come to practice their archery or something."

"Not all of them use bows," Kaga pointed out. "Remember Saratoga? She used what appeared to be a gun of sorts to launch her planes."

"Oh, right," Zuikaku recalled. "Then maybe we should check the shoreline? They could be out there training."

Kaga nodded. "Perhaps that would be best. Let's go."

The group made their way to the beach, but on the way there, they passed by Houshou's bar, and Zuikaku paused for a bit.

"Hey, I'm gonna stop to get a drink."

Kaga frowned at her. "Drinking alcohol so early in the day?"

"Not alcohol! Just like a glass of milk or something. I also want to say hi to Houshou. Maybe she's seen some of the carriers around too."

Kaga sighed, but she followed Zuikaku and Shoukaku into the restaurant regardless. The place was surprisingly quiet this morning, and though that normally wouldn't be out of the ordinary, the restaurants on base were usually packed nowadays because of the influx of people. However, this time, there were only two customers inside, one of which turned and grinned at the group.

"Hmphh evrywn!" Akagi waved at them, her mouth stuffed with something.

"Swallow your food before you talk, Akagi," Kaga said flatly, then turned her gaze to the one sitting beside Akagi. "Graf Zeppelin, was it?"

The German carrier nodded, her pale blue eyes lighting up in recognition. "Ah, Kaga. We meet again."

"Who the hell is that?" Zuikaku demanded, pointing to Graf.

"Mind your manners, Zuikaku," Kaga reprimanded. "That is Graf Zeppelin, a carrier in the Kriegsmarine."

"Oh, she's on our list," Zuikaku noted. "Good thing we came in here, huh?"

"List?" Graf Zeppelin asked curiously.

Kaga gave her a nod. "For the upcoming operation, all standard carriers will be under the command of Rear Admiral Richard Drake of the US Navy. As his secretary ship, I have been given the task of gathering up all the carriers and letting them know about their posting."

"Richard Drake?" Graf repeated, the name sounding vaguely familiar to her. "Right, Bismarck's admiral. Yes, I believe I've met him before. But he's commanding only carriers?"

"Yes. It seems they have decided to split up the fleets by ship type for the operation," Kaga informed her, frowning as she realized she would probably have to go through this again for every ship girl they met.

Graf nodded. "I see… Perhaps a wise decision."

"So, how are you finding Akagi so far?" Kaga asked the German, only because Graf Zeppelin had forced Kaga to tell her about Akagi back when they were in London.

Graf smirked as she glanced at Akagi, who was busy stuffing a croissant into her mouth. "You weren't lying when you said she has a large appetite… She also seems more laid-back than I expected."

"Yes, she is rather easy-going," Kaga agreed. "She is still a capable carrier, however."

"They're talking like she's not even there," Zuikaku muttered.

"Who are those two?" Graf Zeppelin asked, gesturing towards Shoukaku and Zuikaku.

"Ah, forgive me. I am Shoukaku, and this is my sister, Zuikaku. We are also carriers with the IJN."

"I was the last Pearl Harbor carrier left standing in the War," Zuikaku proudly declared. "So just follow my lead in case you need help!"

"But you still lost the war, didn't you?" Graf said.

"Y-yeah, but -"

"Then I have no reason to learn anything from you, do I?"

Zuikaku scowled. "Oh yeah? Well you Germans -"

"That's enough," Kaga cut in. "We will all be fighting within the same fleet, so there will be no room for conflict among us. The moment that happens, we are lost. Leave the animosity for the Abyssals."

Zuikaku directed her glare at Kaga now and Graf Zeppelin merely chuckled, but neither tried to continue the argument, so Kaga considered that a win.

"So will you be going around getting the rest of the carriers together, Kaga?" Akagi asked now that she was finished eating.

"Yes. You should come too instead of just sitting around and eating."

Akagi pouted. "That wasn't all I did! I helped you find Graf, didn't I?"

"Not really," Kaga said. "Either way, let's go. We have plenty more ships to look for."

"Can Graf come too?"

"I suppose."

"All right, let's go then!" Akagi declared, dragging the German carrier with her.

The carriers resumed their trek to the beach, but on the way there, they ran into another pair of ship girls, this time literally as Kongou ran straight into Zuikaku, knocking them both onto the street.

"Ow… Watch where you're going, damn it!" Zuikaku yelled.

"Sorry, desu…" Kongou muttered as she picked herself up. Kongou's companion, a red-haired girl dressed in all white, suppressed an amused grin as she watched them.

"You're the British carrier," Kaga stated, looking at Ark Royal.

The red-haired girl blinked before remembering. "Oh, right. You are Kaga, correct? The Japanese carrier?"

Kaga nodded and explained why they were looking for her.

"Interesting," Ark Royal said after Kaga finished, then smirked at Graf. "So it's one big carrier fleet, eh?"

Graf Zeppelin wore a look of dissatisfaction. "Unfortunately it appears we have to be paired together again."

"Hm? You two don't seem to like each other," Akagi observed.

"Of course not!" Kongou declared, pointing accusingly at Graf. "Great Britain and Nazi Germany are eternal enemies!"

Ark Royal sighed. "You're Japanese, Kongou. You were allied with them."

"I, I knew that, desu!"

Good, more in-fleet rivalries are just what we need, Kaga thought sarcastically.

"I am curious, though. What is our strategy for the sortie?" Ark Royal asked Kaga.

"Well… We haven't come up with anything definite yet. But we are working on it."

Ark Royal blinked her blue eyes in confusion. "Oh… I heard that the enemy possesses aircraft carriers that have the capability of matching an entire task force by themselves, so I hoped we would have some sort of battle plan in place…"

"We are still trying to organize the fleet itself, so strategy will have to wait," Kaga said.

"Wait, what is this about the enemy carriers?" Graf Zeppelin asked, a serious frown on her face.

"It's as Ark Royal said," Kaga confirmed. "The enemy has more than one aircraft carrier type Abyssal in their fleet who has a flight squadron that is larger than that of four of ours. We at this base have even fought one of them before, and though we did manage to nearly sink her, this was after a fierce air battle and after she had already used up some of her planes to bomb our base."

The German carrier seemed disturbed by this. "Then… We have fifteen carriers ourselves, no? Will that be enough to stop their air groups?"

"There are fifteen of us standard carriers, but we can also count on the light carriers," Kaga pointed out. "Though those girls do have fewer planes than standard carriers… Either way, it is not a matter of pure numbers. We must deploy our planes in a manner that will allow us to strategically outmaneuver the enemy planes. Our anti-air fire will also be put to the test."

"That sounds tough, haha," Kongou chuckled. "Glad I'm not a carrier!"

"I'm sure your battleship opponents will be just as dangerous, Kongou," Ark Royal told her.

Kongou's normally cheerful disposition darkened. "... Yeah. I of all people would know that best, I guess…"

"Ah, um," Akagi cut in, "if we're done talking about these uplifting things, shouldn't we go looking for the others now?"

"Yes, that is probably best," Kaga nodded before turning to Ark Royal and Graf Zeppelin. "It seems there is still another European carrier we have yet to locate… Aquila is her name. Since you two have sailed with her before, do you have any idea where she could be?"

Ark Royal shrugged. "Graf? You know her better than I do."

"I don't know where she is either," Graf Zeppelin replied, but then thought about it some more. "But she did say that she wanted to try Japanese food… Perhaps in one of the restaurants?"

Kaga turned to Akagi. "Did you see her anywhere?"

Akagi looked offended. "I have not been to every restaurant on base this early! Don't ask me."

"Then I suppose we will just have to find her ourselves," Kaga surmised.

"I'll help too," Ark Royal said.

"Same here, desu!"

Ark Royal raised an eyebrow at Kongou. "Wasn't your admiral looking for you this morning? Are you sure you should even be here?"

"It's fine, it's fine!" Kongou grinned.

"But he seemed fairly angry…"

Kaga just began walking towards Mamiya's anyway, not really caring if Kongou came along or not. She chose that restaurant since it seemed to be the most popular one on the base even among the foreigners, so if Aquila really was at a restaurant, it would probably be that one. However, as she was walking, she suddenly remembered something.

"Akagi, is Houshou going to be participating in the operation as well? I saw her name on the list," Kaga asked her fellow First Division carrier.

"Huh? Oh, I guess," Akagi said. "What's the problem? She can shoot just as well as any of us, right?"

"Yeah…"

Though Akagi did have a point, Kaga was more used to Houshou being a warm, motherly figure rather than a comrade-in-arms. Houshou's armament was also a bit more dated than the other carriers', so there was that as well. Still, Kaga felt it would be insulting to Houshou if all the carriers except for her went out and fought, and it wasn't as if she could convince the admiralty to not let Houshou sortie anyway. They would need every bit of strength that the ship girls had to offer.

Kaga was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Akagi nudge her. As Kaga turned her attention back to her surroundings, she saw that walking the opposite way on the street were two of very people they were looking for: Saratoga and Intrepid. Kaga herself didn't actually recognize Intrepid on sight, but she did look like a ship girl and was walking with Saratoga, so she thought she could rightly assume that she must be Intrepid.

"Oh, hello," Saratoga greeted, albeit a bit cautiously.

Kaga gave her a nod. "Saratoga. And the one with you is Intrepid, I presume."

Intrepid smiled at her. "Yep! You're one of the carriers who was sunk at Midway? Nice to meet ya!"

Kaga frowned a bit at that reminder, but she decided not to comment on it. She couldn't expect cooperation from everyone else in her fleet if she herself didn't try to get along with the other ship girls.

"We were actually looking for you two," Kaga continued. "Admiral Drake is commanding all the carriers in the next operation, and he wants us to form up the fleet, or at least let everyone know that they are part of his fleet and where his office is."

"A carrier fleet…?" Saratoga repeated. "Hm… I see."

"Oh, Admiral Drake's the guy we met on the docks, right?" Intrepid asked Saratoga. "Wow, didn't know he was such a big deal around here… Oh, Zuikaku, is that you?"

Zuikaku looked startled at being called out. "Y-yeah! What about me?"

Intrepid laughed. "Hey, don't look so scared! I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

"I'm not scared!" Zuikaku vehemently denied, stepping forward.

"Woah, okay, I believe you," Intrepid said, clearly holding back laughter.

Unfortunately, that only served to make Zuikaku angrier.

"Oh, so you think you're so great just because you and your buddies sunk me back in the war, huh? You had an unfair advantage and you know it! You wouldn't stand a chance against me in this day and age!"

Kaga resisted the urge to facepalm. Zuikaku… Why?

"A challenge? All right," Intrepid crossed her arms confidently. "Looks like you need to be reminded just how much it hurts to go up against an American carrier."

"Um, let's not, please," Saratoga meekly tried to stop them.

"Yeah! A good old-fashioned brawl, desu!" Kongou yelled, completely drowning out Saratoga.

"You're making this worse," Ark Royal groaned.

"Fine with me," Zuikaku growled. "Maybe a taste of this asphalt will teach you a lesson."

Intrepid scowled. "That threat would actually scare me if it came from someone who actually put up a decent fight before sinking."

Zuikaku's only response was a vicious snarl as she rushed at Intrepid, and before Kaga could stop her, the twintailed carrier launched a punch at Intrepid. Intrepid, however, seemed to be expecting this, and she was able to grab Zuikaku's wrist and freeze the Japanese carrier in her tracks. Zuikaku was forced to stop as Intrepid's strength locked her in place, but she quickly turned the tables by sweeping out Intrepid's legs from beneath her, causing the American to let go of her wrist. Intrepid fell to the ground with a short gasp, and before she could get up, Zuikaku was already on top of her, holding Intrepid's neck in the crook of her elbow in a headlock.

"Idiot! I'm trained in CQC!" Zuikaku boasted with a savage grin as Intrepid struggled to break free from a position where she couldn't use her full strength.

Kaga took that moment to step in and pull Zuikaku away, throwing her fellow carrier to the ground and away from Intrepid. Saratoga likewise knelt down to help Intrepid up.

"What the hell?!" Zuikaku spat at Kaga.

Kaga shot her an icy glare. "You imbecile. This is the exact sort of thing I told you to avoid."

"Fuck you! Can't you see that she's the one who started it?"

"Even if she did, you are the one who escalated the situation," Kaga admonished. "What were you thinking? Did you really expect that you could just have an open fistfight in the street like this?"

Zuikaku opened her mouth to reply, but she quickly shut it as her eyes filled with surprise. Kaga followed Zuikaku's gaze and turned around, only to come face to face with her admiral.

"Admiral…! I…"

"It's all right, I saw the whole thing from a distance," Drake said, an amused smirk on his face. "This isn't really what I meant when I told you to gather the fleet…"

Kaga spared another quick glare at Zuikaku before bowing in apology. "I'm sorry. It's my fault for not stopping them sooner."

"It's all right," Drake assured her. "I guess expecting things to go peacefully when bringing together old war adversaries in the same fleet was asking too much."

"A-Admiral, I swear it wasn't my fault!" Zuikaku tried to argue, getting to her feet. "She -"

"I already told you I saw everything," Drake cut her off. "Whose fault it was doesn't matter. What matters is that my superiors are going to kick my fucking ass if they find out that the fleet I'm supposed to be commanding against the Abyssals is instead busy fighting among themselves."

"I'm sorry, sir," Saratoga said. "We were too confrontational. It won't happen again."

"Yeah… Sorry," Intrepid apologized as well, though much less enthusiastically.

"Whatever," Drake sighed. "Just don't let this happen again. If you do this on the actual battlefield, the Abyssals will kill you. Remember that."

Drake turned his gaze to the rest of the ship girls who were assembled, then looked at Kaga. "So this is all you've managed to assemble so far?"

"I'm sorry," Kaga apologized again, looking at the ground.

"I didn't really mean it that way… Anyway, it looks like we're still missing five."

"Five…?" Kaga thought there was more than that, but she then noticed Hiryuu and Souryuu, who had apparently arrived here with her admiral.

"Admiral Drake told us about the fleet already," Souryuu explained when she noticed Kaga looking.

Kaga nodded, then glanced back at the packet. "So then… Aquila, Taihou, Unryuu, Amagi, and Katsuragi have still yet to be informed."

"Yeah," Drake nodded. "Aquila is Italian, I think, and since the others are Japanese, I'm guessing they're from Sasebo… Wait, why is Kongou here?"

"Hello!" Kongou greeted with a cheery grin. "Did you miss me, Admiral Drake?"

"Genji was looking for you, you know," Drake told her. "He seemed pretty pissed off, actually."

Kongou cringed. "Er… Really?"

"He's in charge of the light cruisers, so I'm guessing he needs someone to help him organize that," Drake said. "And that someone is probably you…"

"But I'm hanging out with my British friends!" she protested, putting a hand on Ark Royal's shoulder.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Drake then said, "There was some unfortunate news I was told this morning. Fleet Admiral Lockhaert of the Royal Navy passed away last night from a heart attack. Don't know if they told the British fleet that yet."

Ark Royal's blue eyes widened in surprise, so it was evident she hadn't been told. "The Fleet Admiral is dead?"

"Seems like it."

"I see," Ark Royal replied with a frown. "So, this operation…?"

"It's remained unchanged," Drake assured her. "Admiral Lockhaert was the head of INFCOM, but he wasn't directly involved in this, so technically it doesn't affect our plans."

Ark Royal crossed her arms and sighed. "... Still, it doesn't seem like a good omen for this operation…"

Drake shrugged. "If you believe in that stuff. Personally, I don't. Anyway, we should stop standing around here and find the last of the carriers so we can get to actually planning strategy."

"Right, sir," Kaga straightened up. "We came here to look for Aquila in Mamiya's. We don't know her exact location, but we guessed she might be in there."

"Eh, good enough. Let's go check it out, then."

Drake moved off towards Mamiya's, but when he began walking, he noticed the entire pack following him. He turned back to them with a confused look.

"Uh…"

"Perhaps it is good that they come along, sir," Kaga said, lowering her voice. "It is unlikely that they will fight each other in your presence, and it is best that they get used to each other as soon as possible."

Drake thought about it, then agreed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go, then."

With the carriers and Kongou following, Drake opened the door to Mamiya's restaurant, but just as he pulled the door out, someone walked out and slammed right into his chest. The red-haired girl fell to the ground, rubbing her nose.

"Uh, you all right?" Drake asked.

"Aquila, there you are," Graf Zeppelin said when she saw the girl. "Why are you on the ground?"

"So you're Aquila?" Drake held out his hand to help her up.

"Ehehe… Grazie," the Italian carrier said as she accepted Drake's hand and got to her feet.

"I'm Rear Admiral Richard Drake of the USLN. I'll be commanding the carriers for the upcoming operation," Drake introduced.

"Ah… I am Aquila, carrier of Italy," she said with a small smile. "I will be under your care then, sir."

"All right, now the last four," Kaga started, but before she could say anything else, she noticed that the ship girls they needed to find were actually already approaching them.

"Um… Would you be Rear Admiral Drake?" the short one with brown hair asked Drake unsurely. Kaga recognized her as Taihou, and the three girls with her were the Unryuu-class carriers.

"Yeah," Drake answered. "Who're you?"

"Oh, um, I'm Taihou," Taihou quickly added, then gestured towards the other carriers. "This is Unryuu, Amagi, and Katsuragi. We're from the Sasebo Base. Fleet Admiral Umi told us that you were going to be our admiral for the next operation, so…"

Drake nodded. "Yep. Good thing you came to us since now we don't have to go looking for you. How'd you find me?"

"Well… The large group of carriers you're walking around with was hard to miss, sir," Taihou said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess. We should get out of here, by the way. I think we're blocking the entrance."

The group then headed back towards the Administrative Building, with Kongou finally splitting off from the carriers in order to avoid her admiral. On the way back, Drake told Kaga a bit more about the operation, specifically what the other fleets were like and who was commanding them. One thing they both found strange was that Fleet Admiral Miiro was actually put in charge of the light carriers, which meant that he was below Drake in terms of command. The listed hierarchy for the carriers placed Admiral Helmholtz of Germany as the man in charge of all carrier operations, though there were specific sub-commanders who would actually be commanding individual fleets. Admiral Helmholtz would be in charge of 'overall strategy,' but in reality, he would likely just command his own carriers while the US admiral commanded her own and Drake led the ship girl carrier fleet, with Miiro technically below him in terms of who had the final say in strategic decisions.

Speaking of the US carrier commander, it looked as if Admiral Belle, Drake's old instructor, would be in charge of the two American carriers taking part in the battle. Strangely enough, Drake hadn't seen her when Fleet Admiral Cassius and his staff disembarked, so he assumed she would be arriving sometime soon.

As if to prove his point, as the group walked past the beach, Drake saw two more familiar ships sailing into port, accompanied by a handful of guided missile destroyers. Now these were ships that Drake could definitely recognize from their silhouettes, given that he served aboard one of them: the Freedom-class battleships. Built as part of the new Naval Rearmament Act, these warships were made for the sole purpose of combating Abyssals, and as such, they were faster than any battleship that had come before them. Instead of regular 16-inch guns like the Iowa or planned Montana-class battleships, the Freedom class possessed two massive railguns each, capable of firing precise, long-range, rapid shots with admittedly reduced firepower. Given the nature of their Abyssal opponents, these railguns were the optimal choice because they could fire faster and rotate much more quickly than standard guns could.

However, when put into practical use during actual battles (like Tangier), it was found that the evasiveness and speed of Abyssals had been vastly underestimated, and though the railguns could kill an Abyssal with one shot, they would overheat if they attempted to keep pace with the enemy. Nevertheless, the battleships were here, and they would be put to use. Perhaps if an Abyssal were distracted in the din of battle those guns could actually do some damage.

"They must have been expensive," Akagi noted as she also looked out onto the sea.

Drake nodded. "Yeah… Even with America's military budget reaching new heights, the government still had to divert money away from other branches of the armed forces to pay for things like these. And yet those things can still be sunk in seconds, sending billions of dollars down the drain. Compared to them, even you don't cost as much to sortie."

Akagi pouted. "Not you too, sir! I wish everyone would stop making those overused food jokes about me!"

"Then stop eating so much," Kaga countered. "As the secretary ship, I get to see how much each sortie costs on an individual basis, so your reputation isn't undeserved."

"Okay, then," Akagi decided, "I'll show you all on this next mission that my sortie costs are worth it! I'll sink more Abyssals than the rest of you combined!"

"Oh? That's a bold statement," Souryuu chimed in with a smirk. "I've got to make up for last time too, so I'm not gonna lose to you, First Carrier Division!"

"How come you don't get mad at them for fighting…" Zuikaku mumbled as she walked beside Drake and Akagi and Souryuu continued their declarations.

"Uh, that's not 'fighting,' it's just a friendly rivalry," Drake shot back. "You take everything to the extremes, don't you, Zuikaku?"

She looked away. "You just don't understand, sir…"

Sighing a bit at Zuikaku's melancholy look, Drake glanced up at the sky. "So you really got offended by what Intrepid said to you?"

Zuikaku's sad frown turned into an angry one. "Tch. So what if I did? As I said, sir, you just don't understand… Look, I respect that you're the admiral, but when it comes to actual combat experience, you're like a baby in comparison to me. I've fought in desperate situations before, and I've watched many of my comrades and sailors die over and over again. Even when I was sunk and knew I had no chance of winning, I still had my pride… And that's why I just don't like it when other people make comments or jokes about that."

Drake didn't reply, partly because he was unsure how to. Zuikaku's words forced him to remember that though he was technically their commanding officer, all the ship girls were veterans who had fought and died for their country. The way they acted like normal young women made him forget that fact, but it was understandable that Zuikaku still harbored ill will towards the foes that sunk her.

Zuikaku glanced at Drake and then quickly looked away. "I… I didn't mean to sound rude. Sorry."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Drake dismissed. "You may be right that I won't ever fully understand you, but I can try my best, and I do think I know what you're feeling to some extent. For that reason, I'm not going to punish either one of you for fighting, but I won't be as forgiving if it happens again. At this point, what happened in your past doesn't mean shit. The Abyssals are the threat now, and it's our job to work with our allies in order to defeat them, regardless of our own personal feelings. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Zuikaku responded, though she didn't really sound as if she had fully gotten past the issue.

Regardless, Drake would just have to leave it at that for now.