Yokosuka Naval District, June 29, 2018
Mornings at the Yokosuka Naval District usually started slowly. The girls assigned to the base weren't required to be up at any specific time, and daily tasks were usually assigned later in the day. In fact, the only girls awake at this early hour were those who wanted to get in a little extra training before the day began, but if there were any kanmusu walking out near where the American destroyer Halsey was tied up, they would see a completely different style of life.
The ship was abuzz with activity, even at this early hour. Sailors coming of night watch were passing those going on morning watch, and the entire ship's company were preparing for the daily ritual of… "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations." Instantly the destroyer broke out in frantic activity. All pretense of calm instantly vanished as sailors began to sprint for their battle stations, but no one seemed that anxious or worried about the whole ordeal.
The tradition of sounding general quarters at sunrise was an old one. During the early hours the rising sun cast clear definition over a ship's silhouette, and gave enemy ships and submarines a clear target to shoot at. With the advent of radar, sonar, and other advanced, non-visual means of detection, the practice had lapsed into antiquity, it had been decided that in this new war, it might be a good idea to be ready for a mourning attack. It wasn't really necessary for the Halsey to be sounding general quarters while tied up, but when lives are on the line, every second counts.
The hangar deck was particularly alive with activity. The aviation division drilled with the Seahawk in one half, and the embarked shipgirls staged their equipment in the other. The hangar was their official battle station now, from here they could prepare to instantly launch to engage the abyssals. South Dakota was preforming her new morning routine, holding a stopwatch in her hand as she timed how long it took all of her girls to have their equipment out of the lockers and on the deck in front of them. "Come on come on," she barked, "If this was a real attack we would have less than a minute, you've already taken three."
Dakota was about to say something else along these lines, when, "all clear," sounded throughout the ship.
"Looks like you were saved by the bell," she said, quickly pocketing the stopwatch. The shipgirls in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief. O'Bannon dropped her gear on the deck, then walked over to Dakota.
"So, when are we going to do this big meet up with the Japs?" she asked.
Dakota looked down at the destroyer then said, "Just as soon as everyone gets their crap off the deck and restowed, we're meeting them in their mess for breakfast." She paused for a few seconds before shouting, "That goes for everyone, get your crap back in the lockers, now."
There was a chorus of, "Aye ma'am's," as the girls broke into another flurry of activity. Soon the deck was clear, and the girls were standing in a line, waiting for orders.
"Alright," Dakota began, "We're going to march off this ship and head over to the Jap's mess hall. Make sure you all have your sea bags packed for several days, because as soon as we leave, the Halsey will be pulling up anchor and heading for the main base."
"Dakota?" asked Johnston, raising her hand.
"Yes," Dakota replied, giving the destroyer a quick nod.
"What is the uniform of the day?" Johnston asked, unconsciously tugging on her blouse.
Dakota instantly said, "For now, everyone is in NWUs, we want to look professional for our hosts. After that, then we can talk about going back to you unit uniforms." Dakota quickly looked around the room to see if anyone else had a question. Seeing that no one did, she cleared her throat then said, "Remember, when we're out there, you aren't just representing yourselves. You are acting as the direct representatives of the United States Navy, don't screw this up. Now let's go." Dakota watched as the line of American ship girls stepped off and began to snake their way through the Halsey towards the gangplank.
Even if there was no set wake up time for Yokosuka, one is guaranteed to find almost every single girl on the base in the same place at the same time every day. The only place on base to get food in the morning is the main mess hall, and they only serve the morning meal until 1000hrs, so if a girl wants to eat in the morning, she needs to be awake and in the mess by then. By 1000, the mess was packed with kanmusu getting their morning meals. The room was filled with the constant murmur of girls chatting and talking, but it died instantly when Captain Muriname walked into the room. The captain was a rare sight in this room, he only came in to relay news or information of vital importance. Today he walked to the far side of the room, and loudly cleared his throat, causing the room to instantly go quiet.
"Good morning everyone," he began, "I have a few announcements for today. Many of you were curious as to why an American ship has docked at our base." A quiet murmur of agreement ran through the girls. "And many of you have surmised that it would only be a matter of time before the American Navy began to summon kanmusu of their own."
Now a tone of shock and disbelief ran through the girls. "The Americans? Here?"
"That time has finally come," Muriname continued, ignoring the hushed comments, "The Americans have sent us a detachment of their best kanmusu with the express purpose of learning more about our common foe." The room exploded with voices. Everyone was excitedly discussing the revelation that their former enemies were on the base with them. Admiral Muriname let out a loud whistle instantly quieting the room. "Now let me introduce our guests," he turned to someone standing in the rear door and said in English, "Lieutenant, come in." The entire room turned to watch as a procession of girls wearing the blue and gray digital camo that the USN preferred walked into the room. The marched with a disciplined step, coming to a halt behind where Muriname was standing.
The commander of the detachment, the girl standing at the head of the line, gave a soft command, and all of the girls snappily turned to face towards the kanmusu assembled in the mess. There was a few seconds of silence, before the mess exploded with noise.
Naval Station Midway Island
They were finally done. The inspection team had scoured over every inch of the base with a fine comb and had complied their final report. Smith knew that he should be feeling relieved that the inspection was over, or elation that the report had proclaimed that his command was "excellent" in all areas of military endeavor, but right now all he couldn't feel much of anything. 'Damn, I didn't realize just how out of shape I was,' he groaned inwardly as he walked into his quarters. Smith had finally given into the insistence of Chief Boggs and several other members of his senior staff, and had moved his flag to one of the small houses that lined the northern end of the island.
He stumbled into his quarters, peeled off his boots, and then made his way back to the shower. The inspection had taken a lot out of the island's personnel, but everyone had performed admirably under the IG team's close scrutiny. It hadn't been a surprise to Smith at all when Captain Ryan had handed him the clipboard with the words, "Excellent overall," written across the top. Right now Smith didn't want to think about inspections, bureaucracy, or the paper pushers back at HQ. No, all he wanted right now was to get in a good shower and hit his rack.
After scraping the barnacles off for about ten minutes, he headed back to the bedroom at the back of the house. The lights were off per normal, but he had lived in these quarters for long enough to know how to navigate in the dark. He eased himself into the bed and had just closed his good eye, when he heard a voice beside him say, "It certainly took you long enough." Smith shouted in surprise and managed to roll himself off the bed. He slowly sat up from the floor listening to the soft laughter of his wife as she sat over him on the bed.
"Oh yes, real funny," he said, "You know what would happen if someone caught us together in here, alone?"
"Relax James, not only are we a married couple, as long as I'm on the SecNav's payroll, I'm outside your chain of command," Sarah said, reaching down to help James back to his feet, "Besides, who's going to care, the girls?"
"If you heard some of the stories that Commander Miyata told me, you might want to rethink that statement," James mused as he sat back on the bed.
"On that subject," Sarah began, making Smith cringe inwardly, "I had a discussion with Enterprise earlier this week, and do you know what she told me?"
"No, dear," James replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Sarah slapped him on the shoulder and said, "She said that you never told her you were married. Is there a reason for that?"
"You know me," James began, "I keep my personal life out of my naval service. It just never came up, and I never volunteered it."
"So you had a base full of attractive, young women, and you never once let slip the fact that you were married? How many of them do you think are in love with you right now?" Sarah asked, voice deadly serious.
"We train them to well for that," James deflected, "Discipline in following orders, and all that."
"James," Sarah said, "You really think naval regulations stop people from falling in love?"
James sighed, loudly, then replied, "No, I don't, and if what Miyata tells me is true, a few of the girls will be infatuated with me right now, but too afraid to at on their emotions. This whole mess is a minefield waiting for someone with size thirteen boots to waltz on through."
"So, you decided to solve the problem by ignoring it?" Sarah asked, a little disappointedly.
"No, I decided to wait and not make the problem worse than it is," James replied, then tried to change the subject, "Is there a reason for you scaring me half to death tonight, or did you just do it for kicks?"
"As a matter of fact, there is a reason for why I'm here," Sarah replied, sitting up in the bed. "I completed my first brief for the SecNav, and I want your opinion on it."
"Isn't that supposed to be between the secretary and you?" Smith asked.
"He told me that seeking your opinions and clarifications was perfectly alright, but I have to write the reports myself," she explained. Sarah leaned across James's chest and picked up something off of the side table. Smith could barely see in the dark room, but he knew that it was a bundle of paper. Sarah thrust the paper into Smith's hands, and he was forced to lean up and turn on the table lamp in order to get enough light to read it.
It began: Eyes Only Secretary of the Navy. "Are you sure I can read this?" James asked after reading that bit.
"Yes, he told me that I could let you read over it before I sent it," Sarah repeated.
"Fine," James said, then went back to the paper.
Classification: Top Secret
Priority: Urgent
Dear Mr. Secretary,
As per your earlier instructions, I will be phrasing this message in the form of a personal letter, let me know if the way I do it is acceptable. Moving forward, I'm certain that you know much more about the nature of the ship girls than I do, but to know these girls, to really know them, you have to meet them. These girls have so many stories to tell, so many memories to endure, it's amazing that they can function as well as they do. For clarification, these girls are, think, and act completely human. They can instantly switch to having discussions just like any young girl, to reverently remembering past experiences. These girls are an asset, not just in our war against the Abyssals, but afterwards as well.
As per your earlier question, I do think that it would be a good idea to move a force of girls back to the States, prevent all of our eggs from being in the same basket, so to say. And while we're answering questions, on the creation of a unit to operate in the Atlantic. There are several girls here who saw extensive service in the Atlantic theater back during WWII, and it might be beneficial to reassign them there.
I am happy to announce that your fears of behind the sabotage were unfounded, this time. The IG team was completely professional and didn't let any bias sneak into their report. But who's to say that the next team will be as indifferent?
Moving onto the subject of the upcoming press conference, Captain Smith has suggested, and I agree, that holding off the event until both forward deployed teams return would be beneficial. The teams comprise the most experienced girls, and it would be advantageous to have them speak on their own behalf. Captain Smith estimates that it will take no longer than a week to ten days for both teams to return to Midway.
That's all for now Mr. Secretary, if I have anything else to report, I'll pass it on soon.
V/R,
CMDR Sarah Smith
James lowered the message form when he was done reading, and Sarah asked, "Well?"
"What is this about new units and reassignments?" James asked.
"That was the Secretary and the CNO's idea," Sarah explained, "CNO wants to form a new ship girl command on the West Coast, either in Diego or Everett, as soon as you can cut the transfer orders. Creating a division on the East Coast is a bit more long term. There are a lot more friendlies in the Atlantic, but they'll need reinforcement soon."
James slowly nodded his head, "Just how soon are we talking about?"
"A month or more," Sarah replied, "We want to make sure that the transferees are experienced and well trained."
"Fine, I'll start thinking abut that," James said, "Well unless you want to drop a new bombshell on me, I think now is the perfect time to turn in."
"Nope, I saved those for Thursday night," Sarah said, "Thought I'd give you peace for getting though the IG." James chuckled dryly, then reached up and switched of the lamp. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Yokosuka Naval District
The idea had originally be Captain Muriname's, let the girls et to know each other and meet by class, that way they could at least find a little common ground to work with. That's why Dakota was in the battleship dorm, Hornet was with the carriers, the cruisers were with their peers, and the destroyers were getting to know their counterparts. Dakota was extremely apprehensive about her first meeting with the Japanese battleships. If what she had been told was true, they were some of the most traditional girls on the base. Plus it didn't help that Kirishima would be among their number. That was not a reunion Dakota was looking forward to.
The battleships were housed in a large, brick building on the outskirts of the base. When she had asked Muriname why they were so far from the center of the base, he had replied that it was to lessen the damage of the explosions. Dakota had no idea what that was about but got the distinct feeling that Muriname was being completely serious. Dakota paused briefly outside of the dorm and took a deep breath. She was a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Meeting a few old enemies would be easy compared to some of the other things she had done. With a sigh, she pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
She was immediately met inside by a very energetic Kongou. "Oh Dakota, you made it," she said, "Let me introduce you to everyone." Kongou grabbed Dakota by the hand and began to drag her around the room. "This is Nagato, but I'm sure you've already met her, and this is her sister Mutsu," Kongou announced, stopping in front of a pair of girls. Dakota started to say something in greeting, when Kongou continued to drag her across the room. "And here is the pride and joy of the fleet, the battleship Yamato," Kongou paused in front of a startlingly tall girl who managed to give Dakota a shy smile before Kongou dragged her off again. "And here are my sisters, Hiei, Kirishima, and Haruna," Hiei looked at Dakota with a wide smile, Haruna looked like all she wanted to do was run away, and Kirishima fixed her with an intense glare.
Dakota figured that the introductions were complete, due to the fact that there were no other girls in the room, so she quickly turned to Kongou, "I thought you had more battleships than this?"
"Oh, we do," Kongou replied, "But they're spread out around several bases, and a few are on missions right now." Dakota nodded slowly, then walked to the center of the room.
She cleared her throat then said in a loud voice, "I'm sure you are all aware, I'm the battleship USS South Dakota, hull number BB-57."
Nagato stood up first, she spoke in a calm measured tone, making sure not to misspeak, "How long have the Americans been working on a shipgirl program and what other ships have you summoned?" The question caught Dakota a little off guard, she had been expecting questions about herself personally.
"About two months," she replied after a minute of thought, "And I can't tell you everyone who's come back, there were about fifty ship girls on the base when we left for here."
"Speaking of which," Nagato continued, "Where is the base that you have been using?" Dakota weighed her response for several seconds, eventually concluding that revealing the location of the American ship girl base wouldn't be an egregious breach of security.
"Midway," she replied. Dakota winced inwardly after she had said that. The memory of that battle was apparently still quite fresh in the minds of these girls, and a good number of them fixed her with hard stares. Dakota found a place to sit down and let the other battleships adjust to her presence and the revelations that she had brought with her. She was surprised when Kirishima stood up and walked to the center of the room where she had been standing.
"I have a question for you South Dakota," she asked, "Where was my sister? I know it had something to do with you, and I want you to tell me."
Dakota began to answer, but Kongou jumped up and beat her to it, "I was with the yanks on their base. Admiral Muriname approached me about serving as a temporary liaison a while ago." Everyone in the room turned to look a Kongou in disbelief. "What," she replied, "That's where Admiral Miyata went."
"Admiral Miyata went to an American base?" Nagato said, surprised, "When?"
Dakota stood up again and explained, "Commander Miyata came to our base as a special liaison and training officer a few weeks ago. He was still there when we left."
Nagato nodded at this statement, then said, "I understand that you are here to ask us questions, where would you like to begin?"
"What can you tell me about the Abyssals? We've only fought them a few times so far and I would like to know more," Dakota replied, almost instantly. Nagato nodded solemnly at the request and began to explain everything she knew about the Abyssals.
Things in the destroyer dorms were going a bit, differently than they were in the battleships dorm. "Why are you wearing such funny clothes?" asked Fubuki, who was serving as a translator for the girls in the room who spoke little English.
"You mean the NWUs?" replied Nicholas, who was sitting in a chair in the center of the room. As the highest ranking person in the room, she was fielding the most questions. Johnston was sitting next to her acting like this was a perfectly normal day for her, Radford was casting furtive glances around the room trying to come to conclusions about the rest of the destroyers, and O'Bannon was standing in the back corner trying to keep her mouth shut. "It's what regular sailors of the US Navy wear on a day to day basis, and we're considered to be regular sailors for all intents and purposes," Nicholas continued.
"And," O'Bannon added from the back of the room, "We could never get away with the sorts of costumes that you people wear." Nicholas cringed slightly at that, and Johnston leaned back in her chair to slap O'Bannon on the shoulder. "What," she said, "It's true."
Fubuki gave O'Bannon a hurt look and said, "But these are the clothes we came back with, why would we wear anything else?"
"If you want to know the real reason," Johnston replied, leaning forward, "It's because these uniforms are designed solely with combat in mind. Thick material, fairly waterproof, and lots of big pockets to hold gear. Navy tells me to wear something that will help me fight, I'll do it."
One of the other destroyers, Inazuma if Nicholas remembered correctly, raised her hand, then asked, "What are the things pinned to your uniforms?" Nichols cocked her head in a questioning look, then Inazuma pointed to Nicholas' collar.
"Oh, you mean the collar point devices," Nicholas said, "We all hold different ranks in the navy. For example, the gold bars I'm wearing mean that I'm an ensign, and the chevrons that Johnston here is wearing mean that she's a petty officer."
"You hold an officer's rank?" Fubuki asked, shocked.
"Yes," Nicholas replied, "But only because I'm the commander of squadron. Only a few of our girls hold officer billets, most are petty officers."
Inazuma spoke up next, "So what do you do for fun on your base?"
"Shoot things," O'Bannon replied gruffly, earning her another smack.
"We do have a pretty nice club," Radford replied, "With plenty of games and places to hang out."
"But because the cruisers managed to get everyone addicted to an online game, pretty much everyone's been playing that exclusively," Johnston added, "We're all trying to unlock our own ships. Damn four stackers have it easy."
Inazuma spoke up again, "Speaking of classes, I heard that you are all of the Fletcher class, and there were lots and lots of ships in that class. Do you consider each one to be a sister?"
"Sort of," replied Nicholas, "I mean I do feel a connection to every other Fletcher girl I meet, but I don't feel like we're related. The Fletchers were built in at least a dozen different yards over several years. There are some girls I feel closer to than others, I guess it has to do with where we were built."
"It's similar for us," Fubuki said, "I know that there are a lot of girls who should be my sisters, but I only really feel like a few really are."
"Just another one of those things we'll probably never understand," Nicholas mused, "Anyway, you girls have any other quick questions, because if not I'd like to have my girls stow their luggage." Most of the Japanese destroyers in the room shook their heads no, then began to file out. Nicholas shrugged, and then stood up. "Come one you lot," she said, "Time to find our racks."
Things in the cruiser dorms had to going the strangest of all. They had all splintered into many groups, discussing topics with like-minded peers. There were half a dozen conversations going on in that room at the same time. They were only interrupted slightly by the pair dueling in the corner. When the American cruisers had first entered the building, the light cruiser Teryuu had noticed something about one of them. She had challenged her to a practice bout with their swords, and now Tenryuu's curved blade was clanging against Salt Lake City's own sword, a pattern 1941 Navy cutlass that she wore whenever she wet anywhere.
Their sisters, Tatsuta and Pensacola respectively, were standing a few paces back from the match, making sure that neither girl hurt themselves, and discussing various random topics in the process. Atlanta was engaged in conversation in the back corner of the room with the light cruiser Naka. They were discussing, surprisingly, music. Naka was going over, in depth, her dreams to one day become an idol recognized by all the Japanese people, and Atlanta was talking about her thoughts on a possible
music career. Atlanta was idly strumming on a guitar that she had been given by a chief aboard the Halsey, and even Naka had to admit, even without formal training, she was pretty good at it.
Northampton was standing in the back of the room, talking with several other cruisers about what life was like for the American girls. They all found it rather horrifying that the Americans would willingly wake up each day at 0600, and put themselves under the authority of regular Navy types. But they did admit jealousy to actually being recognized by their navy as equal to the regular members.
Finally the swordfight drew to a close as both combatants agreed that now would be a good time to stop. Tenryuu drew a hand up and mopped at the sweat on her brow, before saying, "Your pretty good, for a yankee. Why do you carry a sword, I thought guns were more your country's style?"
Salt Lake carefully re-sheathed her cutlass and replied, "They are, and I do carry a sidearm into battle, but there are just sometimes when guns don't work. Plus, we had dozens of these old cutlasses lying around in our armory, so I requisitioned one."
Tenryuu nodded at the explanation, and then stuck out her hand, "Well, I would be glad to face off with an opponent of your skill any day." Salt Lake took the hand, and nodded her appreciation. "Now let's go get us some grub, I'm sure that little workout worked up just as much of an appetite for you."
"Quite," Salt Lake replied.
Of all the American girls, Hornet currently had it the worst. She was in a room filled with girls who she had, back when they were all ships, fought and sunk. The veterans of Midway were especially wary of the American who had helped to end their country's dominance in the Pacific. 'I wonder what they'll think when they meet Enterprise,' Hornet thought idly as she scanned the room again. To make everything worse, not all of the Japanese carriers spoke passable English, so everything that Hornet said, and all questions asked of her, had to be directed through a translator.
After the initial revelation that she was one of the three American carriers from Midway, the girl who had been the Kaga, had stood up and stomped out of the room in a huff, uttering a few derisive phrases in Japanese. When Hornet had asked what her deal was, one of the other carriers, Zuikaku, had simply said, "Pay no mind to the 1st division, she's always like that." Kaga's exit had lowered the number of carriers in the room to just three, Hornet, Zuikaku, and Zuikaku's sister, Shoukaku.
Hornet began by asking, "Where are your other carriers? I thought you had more than this."
Shoukaku replied, "We have more than one kanmusu base in the home islands. Currently our numbers are split between four bases, and there are several carriers out with the current patrols."
"I have a question for you, yankee," Zuikaku asked, "Where's your bow?"
"Excuse me?" hornet replied, not understanding.
"All standard carriers use a bow to launch their aircraft," Zuikaku explained, "Where's yours?"
"I don't use a bow to launch airplanes," Hornet replied.
"So what do you use?" Zuikaku asked.
"Here, I'll show you," Hornet said, then threw her sea bag on the deck. She had received permission from Dakota to carry her carbine onto the base, with the stipulation that it remain unloaded an in its case unless there was a dire emergency. Hornet figured that displaying the rifle wouldn't be that dangerous. She pulled out the plastic case, and laid it on the deck. With the quick flip of the wrist, the latches were undone and the top flipped open.
"You use a rifle?" asked Shoukaku, a note of surprise in her voice.
Zuikaku only started chuckling, "Of course she would use a rifle, she's an American after all. They're all super gun nuts, aren't they?"
"No, not really, but this carbine is light and handy," Hornet replied, hefting the rifle in her hands, "And it has a lot less kick than Enterprise's Springfield." Zuikaku's gaze snapped up to Hornet immediately when she heard that statement.
"Enterprise, you mean Enterprise has come back?" she asked.
"Why yes," Hornet replied, sounding as if she thought that this should be obvious, "So has Yorktown and a few others. All of my sisters are back under command of the USN."
"I would like to meet her someday," Shoukaku mused, "We faced off so many times. It would be nice to meet her in person. What is she like?"
Hornet chewed her lip in thought for a few seconds before she replied, "She's one of the best tactical commanders in our ranks. She's also has the rank of lieutenant and is the exec of our base."
"If what I've read, and remember, about her is true, that doesn't surprise me at all," Zuikaku replied.
"I better put this away before someone sees me with it out," Hornet announced, changing the subject. She didn't wait for permission, but rather re-sealed the rifle in its case and replaced it in her sea bag.
"I want to see how that thing works in action," Zuikaku commented, "Perhaps we can visit the practice range later."
"Oh I'm not that good with it," Hornet replied, "If you really want to see marksmanship, then watch Enterprise or Langley shoot, they really know how."
"Langley, as in your first carrier Langley?" Shoukaku asked.
"Yep," Hornet replied, "Closest thing all us carriers have to a mother. She really isn't on the active list right now, too slow and outdated for the current fight, but she is in charge of carrier training right now."
"We also have our first carrier, Houshou. She is in a very similar situation to Langley," Shoukaku commented, "Perhaps they could be convinced to meet one day?"
"Perhaps," Hornet said, gears already turning in her head.
"But for now," Zuikaku cut in, "Let's get you gear to your room, before 1st Division comes back and starts making things difficult again." Hornet nodded, then hefted the heavy bag over her shoulders, then followed as Zuikaku led her farther into the carrier dorm.
NS Midway Island
Fletcher was extremely relieved after the inspection was concluded. After her cast had come of, she had found herself in an interesting position. As the ranking destroyer, she had automaticaly been given command of all destroyers on the island. What that meant was that she had to take two dozen destroyers and convince them to at least act like regular sailors for a few weeks. It was hard duty, but Fletcher was a good sailor. When good sailors are given an order, they say, "Aye, aye, sir" and go about following said order.
The responsibility for ensuring that two dozen odd destroyer girls passed muster with the IG had weighed heavily on her shoulders. Most of these girls couldn't care less about proper military bearing and appearance. They followed orders alright, and were extremely disciplined in their actions, but seemed to get caught up on the more esoteric customs of the Naval Service, such as wearing dress uniforms or standing in formation. It had been a round the clock job in order to get the rest of the destroyers to the point where they could pass muster with the IG.
Fletcher was understandably relieved when the inspection was concluded, and she could stop reminding the destroyers that they were still members of the US Navy. She was currently lying face down in her rack, dog tired after running a major training evolution with the entire destroyer force. She winced when she heard the sound of someone pounding on her door, and then the captain ask, "Permission to come in?"
"Granted," Fletcher groaned, barely remembering to append, "Sir." She didn't look up as the captain walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to Fletcher.
"You feel up for a vid call?" he asked.
"Maybe, sir. From who?" she replied, rolling over to look up at Smith.
He tried to suppress a wry smile as he replied, "Just DesRon 21." Fletcher shot up all semblance of fatigue leaving her body.
"Sir?" she said, questioningly.
"They reached Japan a few days ago, and have been meeting with our Japanese counterparts since then," Smith explained, "I got a call from them waiting in the War Room."
Fletcher swung her legs off the bed, then said, "Lead on, sir." Smith nodded, then began to walk out of the room. Fletcher walked into the War Room to see that a live video feed was being displayed on the big screen.
It currently displayed Nicholas sitting in the center with Radford, O'Bannon, and Johnston standing around her.
O'Bannon spoke first, "How've ya been sis?"
"Good," Fletcher replied, "They finally broke out the busted wing a few days ago, and promptly put me in charge of leading the destroyers through the inspection."
"I do not envy you right now," Radford commented.
"It's good to see you all again, what's it like meeting with the Japs?" Fletcher asked.
"It's… different," replied Nicholas, "None of them are actually a part of the JMSDF, so they are considered to be civilians, and are treated as such. Nobody over here wears anything even resembling a uniform, and were quite surprised to see that we do."
"Sounds interesting," Fletcher said.
"Good news though, none of the destroyers seem to care that our respective nations were once at war," Nicholas continued, "In fact, only Hornet really had a problem with that. One of their carriers doesn't want to forget Midway."
"That's good," Fletcher said, nodding, "So what have you learned about the Abyssals?"
"Not a whole lot," Johnston replied before Nicholas could, "The destroyers don't seem to be the most knowledgeable on the subject, but Dakota has been pumping the battleship for all they could give her."
"So Fletcher, will you be able to rejoin the Ron when we get back?" Nicholas asked, cutting to the chase.
"Doc cleared me for full duty," Fletcher replied, "I will be rejoining your ranks as soon as you return, and I cannot wait."
Johnston spoke up, "Captain Smith?" she asked.
Smith, who had been watching from the back of the room replied, "Yes?"
"Will I be leaving DesRon 21 when Fletcher rejoins?" she asked.
"We still don't have any of the other girls from your Ron, Johnston. I think that you are just fine where you are," Smith replied.
"Yes sir, thank you sir," Johnston replied.
"Welcome aboard, Johnston," Fletcher said, "I'm sure you'll do just fine with the best DesRon in the world." Nicolas looked away from the camera for a second, obviously listening to someone off camera.
"Well," she said turning back, "We're out of time. They need the satellite for something else. So, hang in there Fletcher, and we'll see you when we get back."
"Goodbye sister, I hope to see you soon," added Radford, quickly.
"I hope so too," Fletcher mused. Then the screen went black.
After a moment of silence, Smith asked, "So?"
"So, what, sir?" Fletcher replied.
"So what did you think of your sisters?" he added.
"I think that I want nothing more than to be with them right now," she sighed, "But I'll have to wait until they get back, and it'll be one of the longest waits of my life."
"Well if you need any help, you know where to find me," Smith replied. Then he stood up, leaving Fletcher alone in the room. She sat there for several more minutes, thinking hard about what had just happened.
Headquarters United Kingdom Pacific Shipgirl Corps, Sydney, Australia
Prince of Wales was trying very hard not to put her fist through her office wall. If the report she was holding was to be trusted, two of the American submarines had skipped the base last night to go bar crawling. After a long series of public disturbances—rowdy behavior, public drunkenness, and minor vandalism—they had been confronted by a shore patrol from the naval base. That had resulted in a brief confrontation, wherein two of the SP's had been knocked out, and one of the Americans, Harder, had to be taken down with a taser to stop her from injuring a third. Both of the offending Americans, Harder and Sealion, had been locked up in the local stockade for the time being while it was decided whether or not to press court martial charges.
"Good lord," Wales groaned, "I hope the rest of the Yanks aren't like these submarines. Who needs to fight Abyssals if this is how our allies act?" Prince of Wales had many responsibilities as the commander of the Pacific Fleet of the British Shipgirl Corps. One of these to step in if one of the shipgirls got into trouble with the authorities.
The British ran their shipgirl forces in a much different way from the Americans. The Americans had adopted a style of cooperation and teamwork between their shipgirls and regular sailors, where they all held equivalent ranks and took and gave orders to each other without question. The British had decided to allow their girls to operate with almost complete autonomy. They received and obeyed orders from a select few senior officers, but were allowed to operate however they saw fit for the rest of the time. Wales had been assigned as the commander of the Pacific Fleet by the current head of the program, King George V, due to her past knowledge of the area. She was also one of the only battleships who could be spared from the home fleet to help defend the more distant members of the commonwealth.
Wale's comments hadn't gone unheard, and her assistant stuck her head into Wale's office. "Is there something wrong?" asked the heavy cruiser, Exeter.
"Just the ridiculousness of situations that those yank submarines keep putting me through," Wales replied, sliding the piece of paper across the desk so that Exeter could read it. Exeter let out a low whistle upon skimming its contents.
"What are you going to do now?" Exeter asked after a minute.
"Right now? Right now I'm going to call in the American's commander, so that I can pass this mess onto her," Wales replied, "Then I will wash my hands of this mess, and leave the Americans to sort it out."
"You think they'll be able to get their submarines out of the stockade?" Exeter asked.
"I think that the yanks are resourceful enough to try," Wales said, "And of they run into trouble, I'm sure we could work something out with the base commander. Go ahead and call Miss Wahoo in to see me, then go see about locating the rest of the visiting submarines, I want to make sure that they can't do something like this again."
"I'll get right on that," Exeter replied, then spun and walked out of the office.
"Shot with a taser," Wales remarked idly, with a shake of her head, "I truly hope the yanks are that crazy about fighting the Abyssals."
A/N: Not doing review answers this time because this chapter was delayed enough as it was. For explanation as to my absence, I was attending my university's NROTC indoc course last week, and was not able to access the internet during that time.
I am back now but my schedule is a lot stricter now as I have returned to attending school full time now and am also in the NROTC program as well. Expect updates to be more scattered, and spread out.
I know I didn't go into the character interactions that much this chapter, it was meant as a pure meet 'n greet, expect more interaction between the Japanese and American girls next chapter.
If you have any questions, ask over on Spacebattles, and I'll try to answer them.