Admiral Yin, Shimakaze, Tenryuu, and Musashi all looked at Wo as she stood before them, as tall as they and clothed in a strange cross between a Wo-class's normal gear and that of a ship girl aircraft carrier. From the way she merely stood before them, staff in hand as she smiled at them, it was obvious she was trying to gauge how they would react to her now. The problem was that no one was sure how to react.

For many moments no one moved even an inch, until Tenryuu couldn't contain herself anymore.

"You can't be serious! You look nothing like Wo!" Tenryuu exclaimed suddenly, causing Wo to puff her cheeks in an angry pout.

"Mmmmm, that's mean, Tenryuu-onee-san! I may look a little different now but that's because I leveled up!"

"O-onee-san?" Tenryuu said in shock as she stepped back a bit, unsure how to react to being called such a thing.

"Th-this has to be a trick us into believing her!" Shimakaze yelled before Musashi grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from yelling anymore.

"Admiral, is what she says true?" Musashi asked carefully, causing everyone's attention to move to the admiral.

Yin quickly pulled out the base tablet and began swiping through its screens until he stopped and began staring at it for a few seconds, nodding quickly. "In the bases info it says Wo levelled up. Her designation has even changed from 'miniature carrier' to 'advanced hybrid support carrier'."

"Hybrid support carrier? What does that mean?" Musashi asked inquisitively.

"I have no idea honestly," Yin admitted with a shrug before looking to Wo. "Wo, do you remember everything that has happened to you?"

Wo nodded, causing her large headgear and the tentacles attached to it to bob and wave. "Yes, though it's kind of hazy, like a distant memory. I know I followed you to the base and that Tenryuu-onee-san was the one who watched me most. I also know I didn't like being left behind while everyone else was off in danger, but that's mostly it. Everything else is kind of a haze." Wo explained.

"I see. I"ll trust you then Wo, but why were you here In the factory?"

Wo slunk her head down a bit and avert her gaze from Yin. "I, uh, don't know. I woke up here only a few minutes ago. I barely had time to look myself over before you came." Wo admitted embarrassingly as her hands move restlessly along her staff's length.

"Interesting. I'll believe you so-.."

"We can't just believe her, Admiral. She's a spy, I know it!" Shimakaze interrupted frantically.

Yin turned to Shimakaze who was attempting to hide behind Musashi, more from Wo than himself. "And why do you say that Shimakaze? Wo never did a thing to even point to being spy, and she certainly does not look like one now that she has levelled up."

"I bet it's just the clothing! She probably summons abyssal fighters that will attack us as soon as their summoned!"

Yin looked to Wo who merely shook her head rapidly, her headgears tentacles flailing as she did. "I could never hurt anyone here, I wouldn't dream of it!" Wo explained, the entire concept seeming to terrify her.

Yin looked to both Shimakaze and Wo and sighed. It was obvious Shimakaze wasn't going to like her anytime soon, but he at least needed her to trust Wo, or sortieing would be a problem. "Alright, Wo, can you prove you are not a spy to Shimakaze?"

Wo nodded. "I can try summoning some planes, though I don't know how good they'll be." Wo said meekly.

"Ha, then let's see em!" Shimakaze demanded quickly. "If your planes are normal, I'll concede and admit you're not a spy for the abyssal ships!"

Wo nodded, accepting the challenge and stood strong. Swinging her staff in front of her the end began to glow a brilliant blue, and five Reppu and half a dozen Zero's appeared above her; flying around the room happily. Letting them fly around for a bit Wo then slammed her staff down to the ground, and in an instant all of the summoned Reppu's and zero's disappeared in bursts of white smoke.

"Whoa." Tenryuu said quietly as Yin nodded and looked over to Shimakaze.

"Does that convince you, Shimakaze?"

Shimakaze continued to stare at Wo for a moment before nodding, accepting her defeat, at least for the time.

Yin nodded approvingly. "Good, now that that is settled and Wo found we can get down to business. All of you will sortie, including Wo."

"Um, admiral." Musashi said as she raised her hand a bit. "This Musashi has been meaning to ask, and it's more important now that there are four of us. Who is to be the flagship?"

Yin looked at all the girls, knowing that all of them, except maybe Wo, would want to be the flagship. But his choice was already made up. "Musashi, you will be the flagship. You can take the most punishment, but I want you to watch out for everyone, alright? Everyone makes it back."

Musashi nodded. "This Musashi shall accept the challenge. When do we leave?"

Yin looked at his watch and scowled slightly. It was almost ten already. "Immediately."

Less than a minute later Yin stood on the edge of the dock and watched as all four girls sped off into the horizon. He knew it could be hard on Wo, having to fight abyssal ships, but he knew that he needed to know if it would be a problem now, and he knew she would need the experience.

With a hopeful sigh, Yin turned to go back to his office, and was promptly hit by a rogue gust of wind. It's power staggered him, causing him to take a step back to brace himself, only his foot went over the edge of the dock instead of onto its edge. Falling backwards off the dock Yin could feel himself flipping over as he fell and, by instinct, put his hands out to catch himself. The entire act was silly and he knew it, but he couldn't stop his body from doing it, so he quickly held his breath and prepared to get soaked.

Only he didn't.

The dock was high above the water but from the height Yin knew it should only take a second or two to hit the water, but as seconds turned into a minute he still could not feel water. No, that wasn't right. He could feel water, but he only felt it on the palms of his hands, not the rest of his body. Opening his eyes Yin open his eyes to find himself propped up on top of the water's surface, his feet and hands touching the water but not going through. It was strange to say the least, especially when he considered that only ship girls could walk on water. As he pondered the concept of how this was happening, the strength in his arms failed him, and dropped him headfirst into the water with a cold splash.