Chapter 8: Announcement
Pennsylvania and the Admiral sat in her office. Houston was still out enjoying personal time. Ellen continued asking questions. "How often were you engaging Abyssal fleets with guns, rather than with carrier forces?"
"Well, the situation might be different now. During the Counteroffensive for Hawaii, fleet carriers played a more minor role. We hadn't even constructed Enterprise for the first time, and had only very recently constructed Yorktown. The Abyssals, also, had few fleet carriers, and those that they had were fairly small and limited. Back then it wasn't really uncommon to have battleship and cruiser engagements. Usually, decisive battles took place at night, since our detection ranges were shorter and we ended up fighting more often in close range battles. We were both hesitant to close beyond long to medium-long range engagements, and due to a lack of advanced carriers, it was rare for us to inflict or receive serious damage. Of course, there were exceptions. During the Battle of Honolulu, we wanted to get in close and force decisive battles."
"I already know the strategies used in those offensive. What I specifically want to learn more about is any personal insights you have about Abyssal behavior."
Penn paused for a while to think. Minutes seemed to pass before she spoke up again. "The Abyssals in some sense seem … robotic. Abyssal movements are practically simultaneous, and their quick responses suggest a consistent lack of hesitation when receiving new orders. They seem to have a rigid and uncreative thought process. When our forces employ new or unconventional tactics we are able to inflict decisive damaged upon them. Radical tactical and strategic innovation, as was the case in Admiral Murray's operations in the Caribbean, and Admiral Johnson's liberation of Hawaii were able to throw the Abyssals into a temporary disarray. Eventually there were able to adapt to it, and we returned to a stalemate, but I believe that utilizing human experimentality and unpredictability is the best way to fight the more rigid mindset of the Abyssals at the command level."
Ellen was impressed. Perhaps this sort of insight was the reason that the previous admiral made Penn his secretary ship.
"Unfortunately," the battleship continued, "I don't have many ideas on what to do here. We're heavily outnumbered, and don't have a lot of conventional forces to back us up."
Ellen's conversation with Pennsylvania continued a while longer, but it was the battleship's insight into the value of unpredictability that latched into Ellen's mind. An idea began to form.
XXX
The Canadian military worked extensively with the US. The two militaries were already heavily intertwined before the Abyssals arrived, so it was natural that they remained so during this war for survival. Still, shipgirls were a nation's prized assets. Huron arrived at the Unalaska naval base with a pair of Canadian officers and a small staff of Canadian support personnel. This was the first time Huron had been the only Canadian shipgirl at a base, so she feared that the people coming with her would only isolate her from the American shipgirls. She looked down at the base's harbor. It seemed somewhat bare, but it had a natural beauty. She could see two Canadians join some American marines to carry the Canadian flag to the flagpoles.
It turned out that she needn't have worried so much. Being a Tribal class destroyer carried a weight of prestige. The American destroyers, especially the smaller ones, were very excited to meet her!
"You're the Canadian destroyer, right?" A somewhat smaller destroyer shook her hand. "I'm Kane. Clemson class."
"It's nice to meet you, Kane." Huron felt a little awkward, due to one of her assigned Canadian officers standing right next to her. Kane didn't seem to mind much.
"You were on the Atlantic front, right?"
"Yeah. I was based in Halifax for a while, then transferred to Norfolk, before it was hit. After a brief time in New York I ended up back in Halifax until being sent here."
The destroyer's eyes lit up when she referenced Halifax.
"Halifax! Wow! Was it as cool as I've heard?"
"Huh?"
"It's like a big fortress-complex, right? Full of bunkers ready to blow the shit out of anything straying close to land!"
"You're not too far off. Although I prefer what it looked like before the war, back when it was full of elegant glass skyscrapers. I would love to have visited it back then."
The remark seemed to put the brakes on Kane. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your excitement."
"No, it's alright. I didn't mean to be rude."
"Kane!" Gilmer's voice interrupted her. "We don't want to be late for the Admiral's announcement!"
XXX
Ellen watched Huron take a seat in the back. The Clemson sisters seemed to have struck up pleasant conversation with her. The girls seemed excited. She could just hear some of the ships hopeful for new food, better furnishings for their dorms, or civilians coming to open up commercial stores. Ellen heart was heavy, knowing that those hopes were soon to be dashed. Delivering bad news was the worst.
"Quiet please, ladies." Ellen decided to start with introducing Huron, to delay the inevitable. "Please welcome the newest destroyer to arrive at the Unalaska naval base." The ships began to clap for her, and Ellen stepped back so that the Canadian lieutenant could follow up.
"Canada and America have long been deeply close nations. This tragic war against the Abyssals has only strengthened our bond." He looked over to the flag poles, where the marines began to hoist the maple leaf. The lieutenant saluted his country's flag, then returned his view to the ships in front of him. "America's army protected Canada in the Hudson Bay Campaign, and our navy continues to protect the American coasts. We are two sisters back to back against the Abyssal hordes, and we shall always protect each other!"
The ships gave a brief applause, and Ellen returned to face them. She took a deep breath. She hoped that they were ready. "The construction of shipgirls changed the course of the war." The girls would probably be a bit confused by this beginning, but Ellen had to be sure they were conscientious of the state of the war. "We went from desperately repelling the Abyssals from our coasts to a full counteroffensive. The construction of shipgirls was instrumental in our repulsion of the Abyssals and has saved countless lives." The girls were trying to understand where Ellen was going. "I am afraid that, as some of you may know, the tide is beginning to change again. Abyssal forces have begun new offensives against Hawaii and the Caribbean. Bermuda has fallen, and the army is mobilizing coastal defenses against the Atlantic. Newfoundland and Labrador are being evacuated again, and both Nova Scotia and Quebec are fortifying against an Abyssal siege."
"I am afraid that Alaska will soon face an Abyssal offensive as well."