Had a bit of a surprise seeing how quick the views started stacking up, so I pushed myself to produce this one. Didn't feel forced though, and I enjoyed writing it, so I guess that's a good sign.
KanColle isn't mine. I wish it was though. Then I could claim all the girls belonged to me. But I can't. TT^TT
C.F.W.23: The uniform jacket, similar to the one worn by the Northampton-class cruisers from the KanColle Pacific fan works are going to be a common element across the USN girls, at least for Carter's girls. As for chain of command differences, the biggest one I can think of off the top of my head was the way USN destroyers and DesDivs had a direct line to the admiral if needed, whereas IJN destroyers communicated only with their DesDiv commander. Essentially that's also the reason why destroyers in KanColle use "Commander", rather than "Admiral".
"Shitty Admiral, sending us off to some American base because he doesn't want to deal with us anymore..."
Name-ship of her class and "mother of modern destroyers", Fubuki, could only make a small nervous laugh to herself as she listened to Akebono's angry tirade. To her, the transfer to the tiny base at Rotuma was a personal insult, or at least that's the way most people would think she was taking it. To Fubuki, the transfer was just a necessary part of the war effort. She was also capable of reading between the lines of Akebono's complaining. The famously sharp-tongued destroyer was more angry about being sent away from her division mates than anything else. For all her words tried to say otherwise, Akebono did care about other people, even her "shitty Admiral".
Both destroyers are escorting a convoy on the return leg of its journey from Japan, back to the United States. It only bears a small load of equipment important for keeping kanmusu operations running, which it will deliver to Rotuma before rendezvousing with an Australian escort group. Neither kanmusu knows what kind of reception will be waiting for them at the American base. Fubuki is especially worried Akebono's way with words might get the two of them into trouble. The last thing which needs to is Akebono calling a foreign flag officer, "shitty Admiral". Disciplinary actions over something like that would be a stain for the rest of their careers, and for Akebono, an additional complaint by an ally, on top of the several which have already been made, could mean an end to any meaningful service as a kanmusu.
Still, with the small island of Rotuma, only about twice of the size of Iwo Jima, now visible in the distance, it means their journey is almost at an end. Now the main concern is how well the Americans will receive former enemies. Fubuki had heard the shipgirls, as Americans called them, at Rotuma were strange, which initially didn't set off any alarm bells. There were plenty of strange kanmusu and shipgirls in every navy which has them in service after all. But upon second thought, for a group of shipgirls to be called strange, in a manner where even other kanmusu were taken into account, did set Fubuki slightly on edge.
A short distance from the naval port established on the shores of Rotuma, Fubuki catches sight of two shipgirls waiting for them in the water. One, taller than the other, stands waiting with her arms crossed, while the shorter one sails in a lazy circle around the first. As the two Japanese kanmusu make their way towards the American shipgirls, they get a better view of their counterparts. The taller is a heavy cruiser, bearing three 3-gun 8-inch gun mounts, while the second is a destroyer, not one of the ubiquitous Fletcher-class however, as the twin-mount 5-inch guns differentiate her from the mind-boggling number of Fletchers.
"Destroyers Fubuki and Akebono reporting, ma'am." Fubuki delivers her greeting with a sharp salute.
"At ease, and welcome to Rotuma. I'm Midlothian, heavy cruiser of the Pensacola-class, and my companion is Cole, a destroyer of the Gearing-class. You'll likely be working her Cole quite frequently during your stay here."
The destroyer, Cole, waves to Fubuki and Akebono as she makes another circuit in her loop around the trio in the middle. She wears a grey uniform jacket with a sailor collar, it's sleeves rolled up to just above her elbows, with a black pleated skirt which ends a bit before her mid thigh, just meeting the top of a pair of dark grey thigh high stockings which themselves extend down to meet a well worn pair of mid-calf boots. On her hands are a set of well-fitted work gloves, of the kind a mechanic might wear. Her dark brown hair is pulled back into a low folded ponytail, well out of the way of anything it may become tangled in.
Fubuki returns the gesture, silently relieved Akebono hasn't made her attitude known beyond a slightly sour expression. However, something about what Midlothian told her is bothering Fubuki. As far as she can remember, the Pensacola-class has two twin and two triple turrets, and the cruiser in front of Fubuki certainly does not match that description. Being the way she is though, she opts to leave the matter alone for the time being.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Midlothian-san, Cole-san. We look forward to working with you."
"Speak for yourself," Akebono mutters under her breath, her expression souring further. "I don't look forward to working with any shitty Americans."
Fubuki desperately hopes Midlothian didn't overhear Akebono's comment, but she can see the way the cruiser's eyebrow raised slightly and her eyes shifted to glance at the recalcitrant destroyer. Fortunately, the American cruiser seems to let the comment slide for the time being, instead motioning for the Japanese kanmusu to follow her.
"You'll be assigned rooms in the main barracks as soon as possible, but you can stop by the mess hall before doing so if you need to resupply," Midlothian says as the groups begins the short trip to the base's docks.
"Thank you for your concern, Midlothian-san, but I believe we'll be fine for the time being regarding supplies. It would be rude to impose on the staff at such unusual hours like this."
"Your decision," Midlothian says with a small shrug. "Once we reach the docks, I'll be introducing the two of you to Endeavor. She's responsible for matters such as food, housing, and baths, so I'm sure she'll help the two of you get settled in quite quickly."
"We'll do our best to avoid imposing on anyone, right, Akebono?"
And just about then was where everything went wrong, as they took their first steps onto the dry ground of Rotuma.
The sound of his office door opening and closing tells Admiral Carter that Midlothian has returned to deliver her report regarding the new arrivals. The further sound of chair legs scraping a bit on the floor tells Carter that Midi has taken a seat, something which only means trouble if past experience is anything to go by.
"What's the problem this time?" Carter asks, without looking up from his current sheet of paperwork.
"Cole and Akebono." The response is toneless and delivered with the voice of someone who is mentally exhausted.
"Figures. I heard Akebono had a bit of an attitude from a friend in Yokosuka. What happened?" Carter continues to handle his paperwork.
Midi sighs before speaking. "First sign of trouble was Akebono showing up with a face whcih looked like someone had spit in her porridge. I'd heard about her attitude also, but I didn't expect it to become a problem before we even made it off the wharf." She pauses to take a deep, calming breath. For all her professional demeanor, Midi has only ever had to handle the spell contingent of shipgirls at Rotuma. The sudden arrival of new personnel is sure to end up taking a bit of a toll on her in the future.
"I don't need to hear any more, Midi, just tell me where they are," Carter says, cutting off any continuation of the story. "Conflicts between shipgirls, especially in cases like this, should be handled by commanders."
Midi stands suddenly, her expression slightly panicked. "But, Admiral, sir, I can-"
"Midi. Relax. Take a deep breath. Just calm down, and handle that paperwork for a bit, okay? It still needs the signature from the secretary ship." Carter states in a manner which is both forceful and gentle, handing Midi several sheets of partially filled out papers. "Besides, now is a perfect time to stretch my legs a bit."
"I'll show you shitty, you bitch! Just wait till I'm pumping you full of five-inch shells!"
Horizon, large cruiser of the Alaska-class, lets out a forlorn sigh. Her hopes for a nice calm day had been ruined, less by the arrival of the Japanese kanmusu, and more by the fight which had kicked off on the wharf.
"Goddamit, Horizon! Get off of me! I need to beat that bitch senseless!"
Horizon's seat squirms and wiggles to escape from under the weight of the 30 thousand ton large cruiser sitting atop her, but to no avail. Her desperate struggles are as much in vain as Akebono's, who has found herself firmly wedged underneath a 17 thousand ton heavy cruiser. Autumn, who was simply doing as Horizon had asked, wears a puzzled look on her face. Clearly, she was doing what Horizon had wanted her to do, and Cole did seem to approve of her seat's predicament, but her seat itself certainly wasn't pleased if the amount of foul language was anything to go by. Still, two out of three is good enough for Autumn, so she remains seated until told otherwise. Well, two out of four, but the second Japanese destroyer seems to be too mortified to deliver her opinion of the current situation.
"I wish Endeavor was here right now," Horizon says wistfully. "She'd end this right away."
"Wasn't Midi down here when it started?" asks Autumn, her eyes wandering to an Albatross passing overhead.
"She was, but this was all a bit overwhelming for her," interjects a new voice, amid the shouting and cursing from the seats/destroyers.
Both Horizon and Autumn rocket to their feet, jumping to attention and saluting Admiral Carter who has only just made his presence known. Cole has the sense to cease her tirade and join the cruisers, while the presence of the commanding officer of the base brings Fubuki back to her senses and she delivers a salute of her own. Only Akebono, who rises to her feet at her own pace, still muttering curses about the, "shitty Americans", and their, "shitty base", doesn't react in the proper manner, instead adding the classic, "shitty Admiral", to her dark muttering as well.
"As you were. No, I don't mean go back to sitting on them." Carter's expression betrays a hint of amusement as he has to preempt the cruisers from reclaiming their "seats". "Now then, what's the problem here?" The question is pointedly delivered with Carter's gave boring in the side of Akebono's head, who continues to sulk while refusing to face the Admiral. That minor problem is solved by Fubuki, who manhandles Akebono into proper position despite the Ayanami-class's protests.
For several moments, the surrounding shipgirls observe a silent standoff between their admiral, and the destroyer with a bad attitude.
Akebono cracks first.
"I didn't want to be separated from my division mates and sent to some shitty base in the middle of nowhere..." she mumbles out, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"I see. And what did you say to get Cole so worked up?"
"I said she was a shitty destroyer who can't do her job." The response is more energetic this time, with some of the energy being used to still make it a jab at Cole, who is restrained by Horizon's hand on her shoulder.
"I see. Did you know Cole was the only destroyer present on this base before the two of you arrived? She's been pulling her weight quite spectacularly, as I'm sure you would have been doing if you were in the same position. I'm sure you can understand why she might get so worked over a few words with so much responsibility in her hands, right?"
"Yes..." is the quiet response.
"Good, then let's just put this little incident to rest for now. The two of you can resolve it on the practice field tomorrow if you'd like. With the amount of work the two of you put in I'm sure it would be good to find out just how you stack up against someone similar."
Cole breaks out into a smile at Carter's suggestion. "Oh, I'd love to go head to head with her. I'll show her who the shitty destroyer is!"
"I'd like to see you try, you shitty destroyer!"
"That's not even original!"
A quiet rustle of cloth next to Carter is the first sign of the battleship's presence.
"I was quite ready to step in and handle this myself, Admiral," Endeavor says with a small smile.
"I know, but it just isn't right if I don't do my own job at least every once in a while. Besides, I'm sure Midi would do well to have a little talk with you later. She's a bit stressed out right now."
"I'll go handle that now then. Do try to keep those two from destroying everything on the practice grounds, Ajax just finished getting it into top notch shape, Admiral."
"No promises."
There we go, part 2 of Rear D Fleet.
My take on Akebono is heavily influenced by the series "Akebono and the Shitty Admiral", where Akebono is presented as someone who is a hard worker, and always ends up using harsh words instead of saying what she really means. I wouldn't call her a tsundere in this case, more tsunshun I believe.
Just a heads up that putting out chapters at this rate will NOT be normal. I usually write everything out by hand, and then end up basically rewriting everything. So. Yeah. A bit time consuming.
Anyway, leave feedback or ask questions if you've got any.