Disclaimer: I don't own either Halo or Kantai Collection, please don't sue me!
AN: Sorry for being (again) over a month late, but work and life didn't want to cooperate. Nonetheless, here it is!
The blaring that Ryan Settle, Admiral of the United States Navy and wrangler of time displaced ship spirits, heard upon his awakening was shrill and ear-splitting, made doubly so by the lack of sleep that he'd gotten the night before due to oh-god-I-don't-wanna-think-about-it-now! Pawing at the screaming device, he threw the thing to the floor where he hoped it would stop its incessant squawking, but unfortunately all it did was muffle it as it landed upside down. Grumbling some rather unwholesome phrases, he pawed again until he found the chord and yanked, only for the alarm to continue going on battery power. Now resigned to the fact that his brain was at a level that could reasonably be interpreted as 'functional', Settle pulled the blanket off of him and sat up, reaching down and turning off the alarm clock before plugging it back in. Stretching, the man could feel his spine realign in a series of clicks and pops that finished waking him up before looking around. His quarters here at Yokosuka had grown over the five years that he'd been here, going from a spartan one-room apartment style dwelling to the small house that he had become accustomed to. A bit more than he'd ever expected to be given while serving, but he wasn't about to complain… Especially with as many 'houseguests' as he wound up having over, for one reason or another.
Moving to the on-suite bathroom, Settle showered and shaved as his morning routine demanded, then proceeded to get on a set of work khakis before making the bed. Once again the man marveled at the difference between standard issue cots and IKEA-style bed frames, and the nearly luxurious king-sized beast now taking up the corner of his room. Admittedly, it was the fact that said bed was empty when he woke up that caught his notice after a moment, but the scent of bacon, miso, rice, and eggs with that savory stuff that the Japanese loved to put on their breakfasts was wafting up to him from further into the house, causing the surly beast within his gut to start making low promises of doom if it wasn't sated. Thus ready for the day, Settle grabbed his ebony cane and started down the hall.
Hobbling into the kitchen, the American admiral saw a certain red-headed battleship already sipping at a mug of coffee and looking at the morning newspaper, her honey-brown eyes flicking over to Ryan as she nodded and saluted him with the mug before returning to whatever article had caught her eye. Shoukaku was stirring the miso on the stove, a simple white apron on over comfortable shorts and a light t-shirt that were barely hidden by her silvery hair. The first time Settle had seen her in that ensemble, he'd almost been fooled into thinking that the carrier had implemented the infamous 'naked apron' in her attempts to seduce him, but thankfully while she HAD been somewhat quick on her feet back when they first started this… whatever they could technically call their relationship given the multiple angles and the whole no-this-is-not-a-harem-stop-calling-it-that thing that still floated around… and while she was pretty forward, Shoukaku had at least had enough sense of modesty to not try to move THAT fast….
That or Arizona simply glared the Japanese woman into submission with her Stare of Doom after catching her. Who knew? It wasn't like either of them were telling him...
Grabbing a clean mug from the dish rack, Settle moved to the still-warm coffee pot and poured himself a healthy helping of the black ambrosia before hobbling back to the table, looking at the back of the newspaper as he took his first sip. The headlines on the USFJ's paper showed a rather odd-angled view of a certain flying ship-girl as she rained fire down at an unseen target, with the words FLYING SHIPGIRL! THE FUTURE OF WARFARE? above it. Biting back a curse as he saw Aoba's handiwork, he started looking through the article directly, while noting that at least the censors hadn't let her put forth anything sensitive. On the other hand, the commentary on its own was bad enough…
"'Is this a sign that the Air Forces will be stepping up in a newer, more aggressive role? Could we be seeing a broadening of Air Force jurisdiction as well as capabilities?' What the ever-loving fuck?" he muttered, causing Arizona to lower the paper to give him a look of curiosity. "Either she's doing some serious salt-mining, or Aoba's been hitting the torpedo juice too much while writing again," he explained, pointing at the front page and getting an amused smile in return before Shoukaku came over with a platter.
"Did she get in trouble again? I thought she'd gotten better over the past two years?" the carrier asked as she set out bowls and plates for the three of them.
"'Better' because Intelligence managed to finally cram it into her head that repercussions are nothing to sneeze at," he replied, breathing in deeply the smell of bacon and savory eggs, before grabbing a fork and… feeling the look that Arizona gave him before he set his hands together. "Thank you for the meal," he said, earning a bright smile from Shoukaku and a nod from Arizona. Breakfast continued somewhat more quietly after that, with the three of them simply enjoying the moment of quiet in one another's company, knowing that the day wouldn't hesitate to throw them a curveball soon enough…
And speak of the devil, a beeping from Settle's phone broke the mood, causing the Admiral to reach for the device and take a look at the text shot his way. Nagato's taking Julie for breakfast. Hate still there? It read, and Settle frowned as he replied.
Should be, if the dogs haven't hijacked him. Think he'll need backup?
He won't want it, but you know him best. You got a girl free?
Settle looked up from his phone to look between the two women with him, and sighed. "Goto's calling for someone to escort Hate as he hawk-watches our newest visitor. Either of you want to volunteer?"
A part of him was still hesitant to ask this of them. Despite (and because of) everything they'd been through, the American had come to care very much about these two, and the thought of putting them in the firing line still sent shivers down his spine. However, he'd seen their capabilities and resolve tested time and time again, and they'd never faltered… He trusted them more than he did himself, that was for certain.
That and, despite the sheer impossibility of Leviathan's claims and evidence, and the blatant signs of pure Abyssal bullshit going on with her… Part of him wanted to believe that she wasn't lying. Settle KNEW that there were plenty of Abyssals who were at one time souls of humanity's own fighting ships, not just weapons but homes to sailors and crew alike, and the prides of their nations. If even one of them was honestly trying to stay on mankind's side of that hellish boundary between them and the Abyss, then who was he to push them away?
Arizona and Shoukaku both let out a snort at the Admiral's wording before looking at one another, a moment's unspoken debate going between them before Arizona raised a hand. "Alright, a donut run it is. Just don't let Hate know you're babysitting him, okay?" Settle said, earning a silent chuckle from the redhead.
Sipping at a glass of orange juice, Tenryuu was busy thumbing through her phone's Youtube app and definitely NOT going back and forth between it and her texts looking for messages from the rugrats when another ship-girl with floating horns sat at the table with her. Looking up, Tenryuu noted Murakumo's face was set into a frown as she seemed to melt in place with a sigh.
"Is Akizuki still slapping you away when you go to take the bucket from her?" the light cruiser asked the destroyer as she took a bite of pancake.
"No, she finally let me take it, but she's still crying at every odd hour," Murakumo replied as the blunette sipped her chocolate milk. "I imagine it's going to take more than just us destroyers covering for her. The base's counselor is good for listening, but…"
"Yeah, some things are just too personal to wrap a head around fully, but grief is grief. Maybe we can ask for a trip to Takata-san's shrine and see if he can help her?" Tenryuu said as she poked at her breakfast. Since the news about Manicani had run the scuttlebutt route and Next of Kin were informed, several of the girls had been beside themselves. Yahagi had closed in on herself, trying to throw herself into her work to keep things at bay, but Yamato had taken the girl aside and had a heart to heart with her apparently while Hate had grumbled dark vengeance while helping the little samurai to focus her efforts productively instead of just burying herself mindlessly. Akizuki had become a literal flood of tears at the knowledge that her sisters were dead, and had wound up gorging herself on ice cream and food in general, an act which only made her feel more guilty at the act and start the tears anew. Tenryuu didn't know how Makigumo was taking things, as that particular destroyer was stationed over at Sasebo, but she assumed it was just as bad...
"Well, I hope something can at least be done for Akizuki. Kami knows those Abyssals deserve a good ass-kicking for what they did…" Murakumo muttered. Outwardly, Tenryuu agreed with her while inwardly marvelling at how the girl's tsundere tendencies seemed to drop around her. The girl could pretend to not care all she wanted, but it didn't change the fact that Murakumo tended to wear her heart on her sleeve when she thought no one was going to judge her for it or wasn't looking at least. That the blue-haired destroyer did so around herself and Tatsuta as well seemed odd, but then again, perhaps it was just her natural bad-ass-ness making the girl show her true colors?
"Speaking of Abyssals, you got a glimpse of that one that came into port, right? The one the higher ups are all trying to keep hush hush about at the moment?"
Tenryuu didn't QUITE cough up her orange juice at that, her eye going wide and her horns standing straight up. "Uh, yeah, I uh… I did, at that. Got a real close up view during her match against that Princess," she admitted a little shakily, before getting her wind back. "Heh, they each wanted to duel me, but couldn't decide on who would get dibs, so they decided to settle it between themselves first. Gotta say, that flying one's got a mean streak to her though. Shrugged off most of Aircraft's little pets without flinching before tearing the bitch's head clean off! I swear some of the girls nearly passed out from that little sight… Good thing she got distracted afterwards or else I'd have had to kick her ass for spooking them like that."
Amber-colored eyes narrowed at the claim. "Uh-huh… And she just happened to ignore you all after that while taking a nice little trip to Yokosuka afterwards?"
"W-well, she probably had something more important at the time then… After all, she DID ask to speak to the Admiralty. You know how rare it is to get a face-to-face with any of them without someone getting blown up! Maybe she's just waiting until everything calms down a little and she can ask me in private? Hehe...he…"
"...Right. Still, the rumors are true, then? She really can fly?"
"Well, there certainly weren't any wires holding her up that I could see, so… yeah. Girl had a fucking jetpack on her rigging and big ole boots with nozzles on the heels, like out of those Gundam shows. A little more wobbly-looking, or at least moveable… but yeah."
"Then why did she get brought in by boat?"
"Out of fuel? Hell if I know all the details, I was busy watching over the rugrats until we had to go, then ran escort for Blue Ridge back to make my own report while Musashi was babysitting her. All she really did was sit up on the deck tryin' to be all creepy like."
"Huh… Well, that's a bit disappointing…"
Tenryuu blinked at the younger-looking woman's frown. "What? Hoping to hear about some kind of tragic backstory or the like? This isn't an anime you know…"
Murakumo rolled her eyes before stabbing into her pancakes and sausages. "I know, but I would have preferred to know a bit of what to expect before she shows up today."
"...What do you mean, 'before she shows up today'?" Tenryuu said, ignoring the cold feeling in her gut.
"Well, since they haven't tried to get rid of her yet given the emergency briefing that we got, then it stands to reason that they're trying to do this diplomatically… Which means that eventually we'll either be introduced to her or run into her."
"Er… Okay, that's… Yeah that's pretty easy to figure out I guess. But why do you figure it's going to be today?"
In response, the destroyer simply pointed off to another table, where Captain J.P. Beauregard, aka 'Captain Hate', was sitting in the corner while watching the doorway like out of some old western, acting casual while his eyes seemed ready to burn a hole in someone. Tenryuu had known the man for four years now, but it still amazed her that the man could combine the feelings of relaxed boredom with barely-concealed violence. If Musashi hadn't laid claim already, she might have been tempted to ask the guy out… No, let HIM ask her out, that's right! That's how it's supposed to go, right? Especially after he and Settle pulled for her and Tatsuta after the first Strait battle… But that was the past, not the present. No, instead, if he was sitting there watching like he was, then it meant that he was expecting something… And the fact that Arizona was pulling up a seat next to him with a serious look on her face… Then it meant something was about to go down!
As if on cue, the door opened to allow both Nagato and another woman in grey and black dress formals walk into the mess. Tenryuu noted that the woman was definitely taller than average, as she cleared the door frame with only a few inches to spare. At first, the cruiser wondered if it was just a new officer, but that thought vanished quickly as the uniform was all wrong. Tenryuu was about to call out to them and ask who they were and what the hell they were dressing up as, but the words froze in her chest as she saw the woman's eyes...
"This is where most of the officers and ship-girls grab whatever strikes their fancy from the daily menu. It's normally standard fare, especially with wartime rationing, but occasionally Mamiya whips up something special for everyone to cheer them on," Nagato said as she led their guest through the doors of the officer's mess, waving a hand at the buffet-style lines at the front and down the middle of the floor, with tables at the sides and back of the room.
"They serve everyone here? Or just distribute it from here?" Levi said, looking about the room. There were quite a few people sitting around, and a good multitude of their eyes had already latched onto her. A moment of nerves passed through her, but she held it down while focusing instead on Nagato's words.
"A little of both. Most will come here, but there's always someone who's too busy to come and get it, and so delivery can be gotten pretty easily."
"Ah, good to know…"
Nagato smiled at that before motioning to the stacks of trays set beside the heated wells. "I imagine that you're hungry, so feel free to grab whatever you like. We can talk more once we're seated."
As the two started towards the main line, Leviathan looked at the various foodstuffs that were laid out, her mouth salivating at the scents that played across her senses, though she did her best not to look too eager. There were some things familiar to her, but other things that weren't. Rice and similar grains were pretty easy to make and store, so it was pretty easy to identify that along with several of the simpler dishes, (500+ years of military rations didn't mean that simple wasn't still one of the superior options), but there was a lot more at the buffet-style display that she had only heard of, and thus couldn't readily identify. However, she could at least tell that there was a good bit of pork, due to having tasted it at the bar in Manila, so she looked at several trays of meats steaming in one section.
"Which do you prefer your bacon as? Pork, turkey, or seaweed?" Nagato asked.
Blinking at her question, Levi shrugged a bit. "Can't say I've had any of them before, so… try them all maybe?" she said, before reaching for the tongs and picking up several of the greasy strands of meat. 'Seaweed bacon? I wonder if that's something preferred by ship-girls or if it's some sort of test? Might be for all I know,' she thought to herself, before she started piling up some pancakes. Grabbing a bowl of what looked like rice with some pieces of vegetables and meat bits in it as well as a cup of coffee, Levi started moving towards one of the tables with Nagato when something shot around the corner from the restrooms.
The figure turned and struck Levi in the midsection with a low WHUMP! The pale-skinned woman barely lifting her tray in time to not have it spill on her while moving her coffee sideways to prevent it from drenching herself, while whoever it was bounced off of her and fell back on their rear.
"Ooowwwwwwuuu…. Why does this keep happening to me?" the culprit said, holding their nose.
"You alright there sailor?" Leviathan asked, putting her now half-empty coffee cup on her tray and holding out a hand to the young… boy? Girl? Their features were certainly androgynous enough… The ship-person took hold of her hand and gladly pulled herself up off the floor.
"Yeah, no biggie on my end. I hope I didn't cause you… any… trou..ble?" the girl said, finally noticing who she was holding the hand of, their expression going pale.
Levi gave a small smile that she hoped was disarming. "It's no trouble. Nothing that can't be fixed anyways. Nice to meet you…" she said, trailing off a bit before Nagato stepped in.
"Mogami, this is our newest guest, Leviathan. She's going to be with us for the next little while. Please make her feel as comfortable as you can, okay?" the dark-haired battleship said with a look to her counterpart, before turning back to her charge. "Leviathan-san, this is Mogami, one of our own cruisers. Please excuse her though, she does tend to get a bit excited at times."
"No worries there. Pleased to meet you, Mogami-san," she said, shaking the girl's still-held hand.
"Ah, ahahahaha, yes. Pleased to meet you too," Mogami replied awkwardly, returning the shake before releasing Levi's hand. "Here, why don't you two sit down and I'll, uh… bring you a replacement for that coffee?"
"No need to trouble yourself on my part, though I thank you for the offer…"
"Ah, no, I insist… To make up for, uh, bumping into you like that!"
Levi blinked for a moment, but relented. "Well, I suppose if it will make you feel better, then I should accept it gratefully."
"Ah, hehe, thank you! Or, er… I'll be right back!" she said, before quickly scampering off towards the coffee machine again.
Clearing her throat for a moment, Nagato took the opportunity to motion back to the table that had been their original destination, to which Levi nodded in response…
Mogami's attempts to stop her boilers from redlining as she tried to pick up a mug from the stacks without dropping it were mildly successful, but only barely. The almost smirking smile on Leviathan's face had caused her to nearly have a heart attack when she realized just who and what she'd run into, with images of being rent apart or left a smoking heap in a blasted out crater dancing through her mind. Only the fact that Nagato had spoken up had snapped her out of the nightmare visions before she had realized that she was still alive, and that the mess hall WASN'T blasted to bits yet. While she hoped that such a state would continue, Mogami was still grateful to make tracks as quickly as possible, even if just for a moment. As the cruiser started pouring hot coffee into the chosen mug, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself before setting the carafe back down on the hotplate and turning around.
Another moment of panic washed over her, but not because of Levi sitting there talking with Nagato. Instead, it was the look that Tenryuu and Murakumo as well as several others were giving her that made her cringe inwardly. Mogami could FEEL the questions in their minds being hurled at her like a full fleet-wide barrage, and she had to fight the urge to wilt under it. However, she wouldn't cave in that easily, and so the tomboyish light cruiser sucked in another breath and marched her way back to the tables…
"Again, I do apologize for that. Many of the younger-looking ship-girls tend to act the age that they look. We still don't know why they turn out that way, just that they do. I hope you weren't offended by her," Nagato said as she sat down across from Leviathan.
"Not at all, mistakes can happen," she said in reply, as she took in Nagato's own meal of eggs, rice, and a bowl of some kind of soup or broth. "It would be somewhat odd for it to not happen at some point, though I suppose having it happen that early was a bit unexpected."
"Oh? I suppose so," the battleship said thoughtfully. "To change the subject a little, however, you said that you had spent some time with the 'Welcome Back' books. Did you have any questions about them in specific?"
Leviathan's lips curled into a thoughtful frown for a moment as she took up a fork and debated both which question in her mind to ask first, as well as what item of food to taste first. "I suppose that while they did have quite a bit of info, I'm still a bit in the dark as to how much the impact of this war has been, in terms of the more nitty gritty details. For example, what are the major power blocs currently participating in this war, if that's not too classified? For that matter, what such entities existed before the war?"
"You don't know?" Nagato asked, only for Levi to shake her head.
"Complete outsider as far as it goes for that. I've heard some things coming back, but not a lot of hard facts outside of a little network searching, and that only lasted about two hours. Otherwise, I've been mostly moving around too much, or dealing with… well…"
"Manila, I take it?"
"Yes. I'm not asking for the 'official' version, just your own take on the matter."
Nagato hummed to herself in thought for a moment. "Well, in terms of the pre-war nations, they've tried to keep themselves afloat, though some things are strained, as can be expected. International trade and commerce has been majorly affected, though we've been doing our best to keep things going as well. I'll admit that my own knowledge is perhaps not as good as some…"
Levi chuckled. "I can imagine. Time displacement, only to be thrown into a war, can't be a good recipe for deep history lessons..."
Nagato smiled. "No, sadly. Hmmm, perhaps I should ask a question then for some clarification, and so that I don't end up boring you with some things. I'll admit, it also would help with some of my own curiosity… if that's alright?"
"I don't see the harm in it," Levi said, before seeing Mogami return with a steaming mug. "Ah, thank you Mogami-san."
"No problem, heh… Enjoy your breakfast!" the tomboy said with a bow, before scooting over to a table in the back, where a pair of purple and blue-haired girls seemed to absorb her into a whispered conversation immediately. Turning back to Nagato, she stabbed into a piece of bacon before speaking. "What was your question?"
"What is the state of nations in your UNSC then? They must be quite a bit different than now, no?"
"Hmmm," Levi said, nodding as she twirled the fried pork around to look at it. "That is a hard one to answer. In terms of the colonies, most planets were still 'whole' in terms of government, though each did divide itself into various regions for political or economic reasons. The more developed inner colonies had different 'nations' as it were, usually based on ethnicity of original colonist groups, but not always. Cole Protocol meant that most of that information in regards to Earth was deleted from my network, so I only really remember anything from the few times that I've actually been there…"
Nagato blinked. "You mean you weren't stationed here? Or… There, as it were?"
"No, I was mostly stationed at Reach or on expeditionary missions. The UNSC is more than just a military after all. We're the exploration arm of the UEG as well."
"UEG? I take it that would mean something like the United Earth's Governments?"
"Got it in one," Levi said, popping the bacon into her mouth and chewing at it thoughtfully.
"So, how does that work exactly? Do you know what nations still exist on your Earth then?"
Leviathan chose to graciously ignore the use of the term 'your' in that question as she swallowed before answering. "Well, I know that Japan is still operating as a technological center for the world, much like here seems to be," she said, picking at the pancake on her plate. "However, I only remember a 'United Republic of North America', not a United States of it…"
That caused Nagato's eyes to go wide. "Pardon? Are you saying they subsumed the rest of North America into themselves then?"
"I couldn't tell you the details on that. I only remember it from traffic control satellites directing me away from orbital stations belonging to it while transiting," Levi replied, cutting into the pancake itself and popping it into her mouth, before remembering that there was usually some form of sweet syrup that was supposed to go on it. Swallowing it down with a mouthful of coffee, the space-born woman continued. "I also remember that Sydney was the capital of Earth, and the biggest political hub of all, though New Mombassa and the other sites of orbital elevators were the major trade hubs."
"Orbital elevators? I'm not familiar with the term…"
"Ground to orbit tethers that allowed for ships to dock in orbit and then have goods shipped to and from the surface. It meant that there was no need for a ship to try and bull their way through the atmosphere down to the ground where it might crash or shed debris through reentry. Nearly as thick around as my own hull…"
"And… h-how tall an elevator are we talking about?"
"Well, I'm more familiar with the ones around Reach, which were nearly eighty thousand kilometers long from base to station…"
Nagato stared at the Abyssal woman across from her, floored at the thought of such a massive construct to the point where she'd forgotten the food in front of her while her mind tried to envision such a thing. Eventually though she simply shook her head clear of it and spoke again. "Well… I can't say that we have any of those on hand…"
"So I noticed," Levi said with a smirk. "But go on…"
"... As it is though, the Americans and the Chinese were major economic powers, alongside Europe and Russia beforehand. India had also had good trade with other nations, while the rest were, for the most part, more self-contained. Or at least, I didn't hear too much in regards to them except in terms of how to defend them or what forces they would be adding to other military actions during the war. Japan did however, as you say, become something of a technological mecca, with it being one of our primary exports."
"And what of the UN? I've heard about it from different sources, and the troops at Manila spoke about it as well when I helped out a few of them. How have they been with this?"
Nagato grimaced. "Well, to put it bluntly, they got swamped over at first. Their forces were apparently smaller than any one nation's military, so when Black Day hit, they couldn't respond to nearly enough. Most of the militaries buckled down to handle their own matters close to home, while the landlocked countries were stuck trying to figure out what to do or whether they should contribute."
Levi frowned at that, though she could see why such a response COULD happen. "And what about now?
"Well, now they're essentially working as coordination for the efforts against the Abyssals. Few can afford to lend their own ships or armies to them when there are those needing it right next door to them, so to speak, but the UN does have embassies all over, which helps to keep a sense of unity for the world, even if not in political terms."
"Hmmm…"
Nagato took a moment to let Levi absorb that while she ate some of her rice. "If I may… From what you've said, the UNSC has a lot more active capability and influence where you're from. How did that happen?"
"Hmmm, that's a long story, so to speak. But it goes back to the original Interplanetary Wars."
Nagato gulped. "Is… that anything like the World Wars?"
"In a way yes, but also no. From what I recall, the first colonization occurred with different planets and moons being colonized by individual nations, rather than the body politic. This was over a hundred years before slipspace, so we couldn't just hop around at will back then. However, there were two groups who wanted to secede from the United Nations. Those ones I remember a lot more clearly. The Koslovics and the Friedens. They essentially made an unholy mess of things, and when they didn't get their way started to resort to bombings and outright invasions. That was the UNSC's real birth, as while it was rocky at first, the UN was able to put together a fighting force to work on the scale of the entire solar system. It took years to do, and plenty of rough fighting…" Levi frowned. "Times like these I really hate Protocol. I wish I could just bring up all the books and files that were written about it, but…"
"Best intentions don't always work in times of peace, hmm?"
Levi snorted before spearing another bacon slice, the seaweed variety this time. "Indeed. Anyways, that was the real start for the UNSC as a whole. After the Interplanetary wars, there was famine and rebuilding everywhere, which forced everyone to try and just lick their wounds and recover. Some call this time the Resource Wars, but there was actually very little violence in it, simply a lot of political debate and border skirmishes. Piracy did occur on a bit more of a basis, but with an actual force in space to keep them from preventing shipping between planets, things managed to settle down. Until finally Shaw and Fujikawa put their heads together to discover Slipspace and how to traverse it..."
"...and no matter how much you feel that it might be the next best invention for mankind, if she says no, do NOT push it, okay? We can NOT afford for this to blow up in our faces, you got that?"
"Hai! Understood loud and clear teitoku!" Yuubari said with a salute, unable to wipe the smile off of her face or dim the light in her eyes, something that Goto was very much aware of given the wary look on his face.
"I mean it. You are to observe and aid, not go digging into the first open hatch you find!"
"Loud and clear, sir!" she replied just as cheerily. Because sweet kami on a roller coaster, this was it! She was FINALLY getting back on the bleeding edge of technology, instead of playing catch up after her 70 year nap! No more trying to dig through old almanacs and trolling the internet, she was finally getting her hands on some REAL hardware! If that meant putting on kid gloves for the chance of a lifetime, then the green-haired cruiser was NOT going to screw this up!
On Admiral Goto's part, he could already feel a headache forming, and the need to reach for the sake and skotch was mounting, but the day was only just starting. "Alright then. Head down to the docks and report to Akashi. She and Wainwright will fill you in on what they've got so far and you'll be able to work out what steps to take next," he said. Dismissing his now hyped-up subordinate from his office, the man rubbed at his face to try and drain the stress.
"Teitokuuuu~~" came a whispered voice as a pair of soft, yet firm hands wrapped around his shoulders from behind. "You're going to hurt your back if you keep yourself all tense like this…"
"Kongou.."
"Ah ah ah ah! Let Kongou do her work, teitoku, so you can do yours, hmm?" the brunette battleship said as she started massaging the man's shoulders. Knowing better than to argue, and really not in the mood to anyways, Goto let his girlfriend do so without complaint, feeling the muscles slowly come undone under her fingers. Closing his eyes for a second, he opened them to find Kongou leaning over him and planting a kiss on his forehead. "Fufufu… you should know not to let your guard down teitoku… Who knows what might happen if you do…"
"Yes, I might find myself accosted by surprise…"
"And we wouldn't want that now, would we, Go-to-sa-ma?" she said, pacing the syllables as she teased her lips down to his.
Fighting the urge to ditch the rest of the morning, Goto allowed himself to revel in the woman's kiss for just a moment before pulling away and sighing. "As much as I'd love to, Kongou, I do have a lot of work to do still, this morning."
"Hnnnnnnn, I still think you put too much on yourself."
"Heh, well, you may be right, but someone has to do it," Goto said, smirking at his girlfriend's cute pout as she stepped around to the side of his desk, her shrine-maiden-like outfit flapping a bit as she did so.
"Well, we'll just have to work harder to make things easier on you then, dess? After all, nothing's too much for my teitoku!" Kongou replied, turning her smile back on up to full blast, to Goto's delight.
"Thank you Kongou-chan… Now, do you think you can find Mutsu? I want to know what she's…"
The door to his office swung open again, as the girl in question walked in, her antennae-like headgear bobbing as she caught her breath a moment.
"Ah, just the woman I was hoping to talk to. Any word from Thomas yet on their patrol?"
"No, teitoku, but… *Ha*.. We have a problem," she said, golden eyes looking into his worriedly. "We just got word from Swayback. Her convoy is under attack…"