/* Please lemme know about any typos or grammatical screw ups if you can */
/* And once again, according to the statistics tab, more unique visitors read chapters 7 and 8 than 5 and 6, so you may want to catch up, not to miss on the fight */
With a face of enraged feminist Halsey barged into temporary office assigned to Hara, who's just finished chatting with Akagi, after listening to her report and was expecting such a visit, albeit, not so soon. She slammed a bunch of documents on the desk.
"And what would that be, Vice Admiral?", the Japanese asked oblivious, closing his laptop.
"Your agreement for Shoukaku-class aircraft carrier, Zuikaku, to be court-martialed by the United States Navy, on a charge of treason."
"Sure, but first let me prepare the same document for Enterprise. Could you come back in an hour?", Hara was so unfazed, some could take it as a mockery.
"WHAT?! Have you lost your mind?! Your shipgirl attacked the flagship of the United States Navy, and only her bad management of ordnance prevented this from becoming an act of war!", Halsey slammed the desk, leaning in just few centimeters from Hara's face.
"The same flagship who failed to carry out her mission, endangering the entire operation, and then proceeded to suggest that she's done it on purpose.", Japanese C-i-C sounded as calm as ever. "If you want to play court martial, then we'll do it properly, but the only victor will be the Abyssal. I thought this much was obvious.", he paused for a moment. "I can assure you that Zuikaku will be properly dealt with, in Japan.", stressing that last part clearly. "In the meantime, however, you'd do well to teach Enterprise some tact.", Hara sneered.
"Listen boy!", Halsey shouted as she grabbed her counterpart's collar. "I don't give a shit about your assurance. I know how you treat your shipgirls. If you aren't going to sign this right now, there will be no more joint operations and any Japanese operations in American areas of influence will have to go through me, so good luck with that. I will also appeal to the Navy headquarters to cancel that technological exchange program of yours.", Halsey stared daggers at Hara who slowly took the documents while looking the American in the eyes, shoved them in a shredder.
"Sorry, I don't do well under pressure.", Hara's face beamed with the rudest smile he could pull off.
"You have 24 hours to leave!", the American shouted, storming out, slamming the door with enough force to tilt photos hanging on the walls.
"Eeeh… I didn't expect her to get this irrational… Hopefully my flagship's still awake.", Hara sighed and opened his laptop to update Akagi on the situation.
A few hours later, on the Wake Island, Akagi and South Dakota had just sat down to discuss the events of the previous evening. With all rooms occupied or turned into cells, they had to commandeer office of Iowa, who was the local commander. Enough to say she wasn't very thrilled, and for a good reason – she was a huge fan of Japanese battleships, and her entire office was adorned with photographs and models of Kongou, Yamato, Fusou and other battleship classes. Considering yesterday's events, Akagi found it quite amusing yet somewhat disappointing that no Amagi-class battlecruiser was to be seen.
The first thing South Dakota did was rummage through drawers in search of coffee. Unfortunately, Iowa turned out to be a tea lover and no coffee was to be found. With a sigh of disappointment, Soda took the most expensive looking green tea and made two cups, before sitting down and opening up.
"We really have a lot on our hands… I wasn't there with Enterprise, so I don't know what exactly happened but according to other fleet members, they were engaged by a large Abyssal task force consisting of multiple Princesses. Seeing an opportunity, E ordered to give chase. Considering how brutal this front has been, I can't say I don't understand her decision. She was well aware of her screw up, though. I guess that's why she's lost it when Zuikaku jumped her. You know their history…", South Dakota said between sips. Bags under her eyes revealed a sleepless night, probably interviewing all American shipgirls.
"I can't really defend Zuikaku's actions in any way, other than letting herself be provoked. As you said, they go way back and I should have reacted back then. It's my duty as the flagship, so please, let me apologize!", Akagi put down the sandwich she smuggled from the mess, got on her knees and put her face in the carpet.
"Oh… There's no need for that, you can't babysit your entire fleet.", crestfallen Soda pulled Akagi up by her arms. "This entire thing moved too fast, we have a larger problem on our hands though. As you may know, our admiral decided to take away your unlimited access to the American areas of influence and demanded that you leave within 24 hours. Considering we still have our hands full at the Solomons, it will hurt your ability to operate there, meaning that the USN will have to do more from now on. I can use my influence as deputy flagship to allow you some leeway but the only person with any real influence on Halsey is Enterprise. I'm sure you can imagine her mood right now. She also wants to persuade the brass to cancel the exchange project.", Soda's face turned sour with the last sentence, trying to remain calm she absentmindedly started playing with her American Indian ornaments. Being of Native American descent as a human, the ship which she turned into was surprisingly fitting.
"I would greatly appreciate your help with the sea routes situation, so you have my gratitude. As for the joint operations, both Vice Admiral Hara and myself agree that their cancellation might be a good idea. There are far too many flash points between our navies.", Akagi seemed as happy to find an adamant ally in South Dakota, as she was surprised with her leader qualities. They've met in the past but the battleship was a woman of little words and her real role remained a mystery to Akagi. "Hope you won't mind me asking but how can Vice Admiral Halsey decide such things on her own? Such a decision would have to go through at least ten people in the JMSDF."
"Oh, it's just that these old bastards couldn't come to terms with the fact that traditional warships are useless against the Abyssal. Early slip ups and inability to effectively command shipgirls only reinforced the opinion that we are in fact, useless. Then your Vice Admiral came up with his outrageous doctrine. Halsey's been trying to push a similar approach since the beginning, so she was a natural choice for a C-i-C. Reluctantly they've given her all the power she needed to command the entire Pacific theatre, just so they don't have to get involved. In normal circumstances she'd have already been promoted to a Fleet Admiral but the pro-warship faction still has a lot of sway. This also explains why she dislikes Vice Admiral Hara so much, he kinda took her spotlight… but back to the topic at hand. Think we can do anything about the exchange program?", Dakota quickly returned to the original topic, to avoid the discussion on Halsey's personal conflict with Hara and accidentally slipping more information about her commander.
"I believe we can. If your headquarters decides to make a move, it'll most probably end with shipgirls on both sides being interviewed about their views and opinions. In addition the fleet combat performance will be evaluated. The latter is rather obvious, so we have to get the majority to back up the project. I don't believe there are many shipgirls in the JMSDF who're unhappy about it and those who are, sit tightly within my grasp.", Akagi giggled, thinking of ever-proud Kaga's endless obedience to her.
"Hmm... Sounds about right. The program is of mutual benefit, so we need to make sure that everyone understands it. Honestly, seeing Kumano's assimilation makes me wish the project was extended. She's kind of become a mascot for the fleet.", the battleship explained, although seeing her face just a moment ago, Akagi knew it's more personal than she's willing to admit. "As well intended as they were, Atlanta's actions yesterday made a lot of USN shipgirls question where her loyalties truly lie. They think she's become too close to you. One even went as far as saying that you're trying to steal her. They are however still a minority but it does make things harder… I'll make sure they stay a minority.", she paused before continuing. "What's the mood like around Kumano? Hopefully she didn't get into any trouble…", South Dakota was clearly worried about one of her best friends, despite trying her best to remain professional.
"I don't believe anybody took it as an act of hostility. Some disagreed with her actions but most of them understood her intent. Of the two people who didn't, one is currently under guard and the other won't do anything that would earn her my contempt. So there shouldn't be any problems on our side.", Akagi seemed amused with Soda's look of disbelief.
"Honestly, how did you manage to pull it off? You didn't school them for the entire night, did you? Is it this the legendary Japanese hive mind thing?", South Dakota muttered without thinking.
"Hive mind?", Akagi asked in confusion, clearly unaware of the running joke. "I think it's just Vice Admiral Hara's touch." Akagi took a short pause, stuffing her mouth with the last piece of her sandwich while signaling the battleship to wait. "He's very adamant about inculcating independent thinking and empathy, so we can analyze things with calm minds and solve any internal conflicts between the interested parties. A lot of top brass oppose that but it's been working wonderfully, so they can't do anything about it. Some girls say it's like a big family, others compare it to a business company. Unfortunately for him, this kind of approach blocks his promotion but he doesn't seem to care much.", Akagi straightened her back, proud of her commander's disregard for glory.
"That would make you the mother, huh? Surprisingly fitting… ", she eluded to Japanese word for carriers. "Maybe I should volunteer for the next exchange.", the American summed up, half-jokingly.
"Oh, that would be great! I'm pretty sure Kirishima-san will be thrilled for a rematch!", Akagi's eyes lit up at the thought of a new comrade.
"Oh… That girl… Well, let's not get too far ahead as we still need to make sure the program survives Halsey's onslaught", South Dakota's enthusiasm for visiting Japan suddenly dropped, remembering the beating presented to her by the Japanese battleship. Who would have thought an old hag could pack such a punch?
"You need to be more optimistic South Dakota-san! If it does come to pass, I'll make sure that Kirishima-san is back from the Solomons!", Akagi was already lost in the thought of the welcome party each new shipgirl receives or more precisely, the thought of all the special food.
"We'll think about it when it happens, ok? For now, I believe we have some work to do.", the American ended the conversation, fully aware of the situation.
Thus, with some kind of plan laid down, both flagships made their ways back to their respective fleets to oversee the preparations for returning home.