Sunlight trickled into the Shiratsuyu-class bedroom through the window panes, the salty sea breeze that filled the room a result of the open window at the end of the room, complemented by the soft buzz of the HUD alarm as Shigure yawned and slowly pried open her heavy eyelids.
Sleeping through the night had helped her process the food from last night's dinner, and was uninterrupted by her sisters who likely didn't want to wake her up.
A mental command that was sent through her mind seemed to stop the alarm clock in her mind that read,
'29 March 2015
8.30 a.m.'
And was the final cue for Shigure's brain to kick in and slowly take stock of her situation.
She slowly clenched her hand and savored the soft and plump texture of the pillow she laid on instead of cold, hard bed-rock that she last remembered before slipping into an eternal slumber, the texture of the fabric alien to a ship girl who had previously only known the cold, heavy edge of steel in her hands.
An android.
That was what they called her as they welcomed her into existence. To her knowledge, they were human-like robots, who could think and feel like any regular Poi off the streets.
That had also meant that they could feel pain, and were also prone to emotional outbursts. In the quick tour around Kure, it was said that among the upsides to being an android was that if they were ever injured, they could take a steel patch, the human equivalent of Band-Aids, and plaster the affected area with the appropriate number of layers.
The injury would then heal in a time that was generously estimated to be proportional to the severity of the injury.
The docks, heated baths pumped with nano-machines specializing in restorative medical surgery, were an alternative along with the damage control Fairies that can be carried into battles, with the fastest option in the base being the quick-repair bucket, granting a fast recovery for a recovering ship girl.
Or a dying one.
Shigure squeezed the pillow in her slightly quivering left hand, tears threatening to escape her watering eyes, wondering how unlucky she was to have been summoned to fight again.
The last time she fought, she was the lone survivor who always managed to be the last man standing when the battle ended.
She wasn't kidding when she told Hibiki yesterday that she'd train to be stronger this time around. She wanted to become stronger to slowly find her way around this world and make peace with herself.
And when she was strong enough, seek out her friends and be reunited with them, and beg them for forgiveness.
But this was a new life, and with it came new opportunities to get stronger alongside new comrades and protect her friends and family, a goal that she was going to make sure she accomplished no matter what this time round.
Meeting up with Hiei after a filling breakfast was the first order in the morning. The thrill of having a new ship girl arriving had mostly worn off, especially since she was a new destroyer, but a few curious ship girls approached her in the morning to welcome her.
Since she woke up relatively early in the morning, she didn't look around the Shiratsuyu-class bedroom to see which of her sisters was in this base to rendezvous with the Kongou-Class battleship first thing in the morning. Hiei chaperoned her around the base as she listed a few Fleet compositions during and after breakfast.
"Our Base has eight fleets, one of the largest in the world.
Due to the leadership of the Admiral, who's been commanding the Yokosuka Naval Base for the entirety of its ten years as a ship girl base, we're often the vanguard when it comes to any sort of major naval battle.
I won't go into too much detail of any of the fleets, but we have a few fleets and line-ups to address different situations and needs.
The current Fast Response Fleet that can be sent out at a moment's notice is made up of Flag Ship Sendai, with Yuudachi, Furutaka, Hatsushimo, Shimakaze and Ryuujou.
And please sit down, Shigure. Yes, your sister is in this base, also a product of a recent construction effort.
Hey, are you choking on your food there? You don't look so good…"
"Whew, thank God for the Heimlich Maneuver, just because we're ship girls doesn't mean we can't be affected by everyday stuff, so watch out!
Hm, the 3rd Fleet is the Backup to our fleets in the base. Ashigara leads the team that consists of Haguro, Nagato, Yukikaze, Abukuma and Amagi. We had to really go all-out for that last girl!
Hey cheer up! At least no one sank, and she's insistent on pulling her own weight around here."
"The 4th Fleet is rather flexible, taking on all roles and comers! They are also sent out on expeditions, in case the supply lines are strained under enemy fire.
Not that we can't do expeditions, it's just that being at the forefront of the war has its perks, like getting a larger bulk of supplies sent in from the mainland and from our supply lines, as well as being able to send out many smaller fleets to gather resources! Myoukou, Nachi, Shiranui, Goya, Hiryuu and Kagerou of The 4th Fleet!"
"The 5th Fleet specializes in Scouting, led by Chikuma. Developers say her blueprint Kai Ni allows her to have one of the highest Line-of-Sight amongst all ship girls!
Mutsuki, Jintsuu, Shoukaku, Zuikaku, and Akatsuki are in the team. Imagine being able to see your enemies coming from over the horizon, and preparing for whatever formation they're in! That's what they do!"
"The 6th Fleet brings forth the thunder, as Akagi, Soryuu, Chitose and Kisaragi are led by Kaga.
The payload they deliver can drop entire Abyssal Fleets in their opening strike!
Ahh, but they are mostly relegated to bombardment duty, since their follow-up is rather weak…"
"The 7th Fleet is the true backbone of our firepower, as the greatest battleship to ever exist, Yamato, leads the 7th Fleet!
My Onee-sama, Kongou is in there too, with Atago, Shouhou, Hibiki, and the German Battleship Bismarck, sent here on an extended overseas exchange program!"
"The 8th Fleet is the Specialization Fleet, full of quirky ship girls who specialize in a particular field! Hayasui, Kiso, Hatsuzuki, Akitsu Maru, and Unryuu, are all led by Akashi the repair girl!"
"Among the girls on this base are ship girls who are bench-warmers, and they are often called on to replace injured, or preoccupied ship girls on missions! I won't name them all, but you have a general idea of how large we are as a Base! So, Shigure, did you get all that?"
A blank-faced Shigure instantly replied to the enthusiastic Hiei,
"Not really."
Causing Hiei to trip over herself and kiss the ground.
Looking up to Shigure with a bruised forehead atop a dumbstruck expression that contrasted with Shigure's innocent, and frankly quite amused expression, Hiei exclaimed.
"HHIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! You really didn't get any of that?!
Despite your ship girl functions likely helping you record this conversation?"
Shigure started to feel a giggle coming on as she watched her senior's expressive range of emotions, and tried to keep a straight face as she pacified Hiei.
"No Hiei, I know all of those ship girls. I participated in the war, remember?
It's just that, I prefer to meet them in person to get a feel of how they are now, since we were all ships in our previous lives. The ones I really paid attention to were the big-shots like Nagato, Yamato, Kongou, Kaga-san, and my sister, Yuudachi."
Then smiling, added. "And you too, of course.
You're the Emperor's Battleship, after all."
A blushing recovery hastily made to cover up her transparent happiness, Hiei was as happy as a lark as she pushed off the floor to pull herself back up to her full height.
Not a lot of people had looked up to her before!
Most had certainly looked up to either Kirishima or Kongou, leaving Hiei and Haruna content to simply stand back and admire the respective brains and brawn of their Four-girl band. But every so often, someone like Shigure would come up and say something along the lines of,
"Wow! You're the Emperor's Battleship! You must be strong! I wanna be like you someday!"
It made her chest swell to know that she had a few admirers out there.
Dusting herself off to make her way to their destination, Hiei stuttered.
"W-Well, lip service isn't going to make me treat you any differently compared to anyone else!
A lesson one learns around here is to put your money where your mouth is, so you'd better do your best not to slow me down, got it?"
Shigure, nonplussed, pointed out.
"But you're the one who stopped to face plant the floor."
Causing Hiei to miss a step and reunite her face with the floorboard of the barracks.
Stepping into the Light Carrier Barracks, Shigure reviewed the recorded memory of Hiei's exposition, finally concluding,
"So am I in a Fleet?
You didn't seem to say the composition and purpose of the last fleet, and Nagato told me that today was the Fleet exercise, which leads me to conclude that I might be a part of it."
Hiei, a slight air of resignation and nursing her bruised forehead, turned to her to confirm.
"Yep, you and I are to be in the 1st Fleet, along with Ayanami, Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Junyou to be the Second Fast Response team, also known as the 1st Fleet.
We're made up of Light Carriers, Destroyers, along with a Light Carrier and a Fast Battleship." pointing her thumb up at herself,
"We can go anywhere in a relatively short period of time while bringing significant fire and air power to the battlefield to protect our turf."
"So do we work together with the 2nd Fleet to cover more ground?"
"Yep. Our analysts estimated that having only one Fast Response team wasn't enough, especially if the Abyssals decide to mount an offensive on several fronts.
Not out of the question for them as we don't even know the upper limit to how many of them they can send out to attack us.
So when we finally created the last Fleet, we decided to shuffle the groups around to try to keep up with the Abyssal threat."
Shigure noted that they were outside the Hiyou-Class Light Carrier bedroom, marked out with a '飛鷹' tag above. Hiei stopped and warned Shigure to hold her breath if possible, a piece of advice she would regret not following as Hiei opened the creaking door.
The stench that hung around the air of an alcoholic hit her harder than the sight itself.
Her nose was assaulted by the bitter aroma that permeated through the clothes, bed and room of the ship girl in question, abandoned and finished sake and alcohol bottles littering the room, not unlike the sight of a mass grave.
Torn snack wrappers were peeking out from under the mattress, causing the mattress to look suspiciously thicker, and spare uniforms left unwashed and crumpled, hanging down hangers and the railing upon the frames of the beds.
The toilet seemed to radiate a stench of an uncleaned toilet, betraying the last few times its sole occupant had emptied her stomach into. The Light Carrier known as Junyou was sprawled over her bed, in the last few stages of undress, prone and completely and utterly wasted.
Shigure scrunched her nose as she tried to hold in a slight air of disbelief (but mostly to hold her breath, how much had Junyou been drinking?).
This was going to be her comrade from now on?
Hiei didn't seem too put off by the sight, lightly kicking away beer bottles and wrappers as she stood by the window, Junyou stirring in her sleep as she seemed to notice the arrival of intruders in her room. Hiei sighed as she pulled open to reveal the morning sun, a bane to the now-struggling Junyou, writhing like a vampire exposed to sunlight.
"Get up, drunkard. Your training starts today."
Announcing as she moved over to pull the blanket from the wasted Light Carrier, desperate to find anything to cocoon and protect herself against the blinding light.
"Fuck off, whoever-the-hell-you-are, I'm not drunkkkk…."
"Oh, still got a little fuel in your alcohol stream, yeah?
Then GET UP!"
"Come on, fight me, mate, urghh…."
Sighing, Hiei looked to the passive bystander that was Shigure, pleading.
"Think this is going to take a while, could you head down to the Light Carrier rooms to meet Tenryuu and Tatsuta? They should be up right now.
Tenryuu's got an eyepatch, purple hair, carrying a sword, and mechanical bunny ears. She'll ask whether you're scared, no doubt.
I saw Ayanami in the canteen earlier, she should be at the Training area getting some training done by the time you get there."
Turning to the door with half a mind to get out of the room, she looked back to the Fast Battleship, asking.
"What about the last Light Cruiser, Tatsuta? She'll be with Tenryuu since they're sister ships, but what's she like?"
Hiei, wrestling with Junyou on the bed for control, seemed to develop a concerned look as she pondered how to describe the enigmatic Light Cruiser.
"She's got a mechanic halo, purple hair like her sister, a glaive as a weapon and she's, um…
Detached."
Shigure shivered hearing that. Tatsuta sounding quite a fair bit scarier than Tenryuu, as Hiei seemed tense, compared to her indulgent tone with Tenryuu. Even the drunk Junyou was struggling harder, now that she learnt of working with the dreaded Tatsuta.
What did a Light Cruiser have to be like to make everyone uncomfortable mentioning her?
Meeting up with the Tenryuu-Class Cruisers wasn't that hard. A boisterous, senior ship girl swaggering about wearing her dark school uniform wasn't hard to miss.
But it was her quieter and darker sister Tatsuta, that she found herself shying away from as she met them both. Fitting the battleship's description to a tee, the eye patched ship girl was bragging to her,
"My name is Tenryuu. Fufufu, ya scared?"
As Tatsuta, purple hair and eyes with a one-piece school uniform, stood by while smiling like a Cheshire Cat with her light-up halo, content to let her sister introduce them both.
"Me and my sister, Tatsuta, we're one of the strongest Light Cruiser duos out there! So there's no need to feel bad if you decide to follow in our footsteps!"
Shigure, seeing that most ship girls in this base had already decided to humour her, decided to bring up a point which had been bothering her all this while.
Specifically, her eyepatch.
"Tenryuu-san, I'd like to ask about your fashion choice.
Isn't your eye-patch going to mess with your depth perception, requiring more computing power to compensate for it? And wouldn't your entire left side be a blind spot?"
The Light Cruiser started, obviously not prepared for such a rebuttal, while Tatsuta simply giggled, content to see her sister shift about as her mechanical ears twitched erratically, thinking of a reply.
"W-Well, it's…"
"It's to give the enemy an advantage, to make them feel worse when they lose."
Tatsuta replied bluntly, causing an awkward silence to fill the uncomfortable air as Shigure started to sweat under Tatsuta's smile.
Now she had some idea of why everyone feared this Light Cruiser.
Tenryuu, desperate to recover, stuttered.
"Y-Yes, o-of course! That's why! I'm so good, I handicap myself to give my opponents a chance to win!"
Moving her left feet to turn, Tenryuu seemed to regain her composure and gait as she raised her hand to point,
"Now then, to the traini- "
And ran right into the corner of a wall.
If the air was uncomfortable before, it was dead silent now.
Shigure raised her hand to ask 'Are you alright?' when Tenryuu, failing to contain a sniffle, stated.
"I was preoccupied with my thoughts. That's why. Let's move."
Watching Tenryuu's back shuffle down the corridor, Shigure sweat dropped as Tenryuu seemed to just want this day to be over with. Tatsuta, now trying to hold in her laughter at her sister's silliness, finally calmed herself down to address the bewildered destroyer in her melodic voice.
"Tenryuu-chan is rather clumsy when she's not fighting, so please protect her in times of need, alright, Destroyer-chan?"
Shigure vigorously nodded, not wanting to get on her bad side.
Tatsuta seemed to accept her answer, following in her sister's footsteps before turning back and motioning down the hallway. She took that as a sign to move, following the two Light Cruisers to the Training Grounds.
The training grounds was a part of the base that had been modified to cater to all ship classes, from underwater targets for submarine warfare, long range distance targets for carriers, and moving targets loaded with practice rounds for anyone aiming to test their combat skills.
Custom-made Abyssal princess targets, with their respective power levels programmed into them by the resident computing genius Kirishima, built by the late engineer Yuubari, and maintained by the repair girl Akashi, were stationed in the makeshift docks at the range, a challenge to be taken up by any Fleets willing to test the limits of their teamwork.
An extended area of ocean was reserved for PVP, or pitting fleet against fleet in a friendly round to bring a breath of life and unpredictability to training, in contrast to the pre-programmed Abyssal practice targets incapable of improvising and creating new tactics unless manually controlled by an overseer of the training.
The Abyssal bots compensate for their static patterns by simply increasing their speed, agility and firepower, matched only by the strongest and fastest ship girls.
Combined with a ship girl with competent micromanagement skills and an ability to formulate a basic strategy, and even a simple fleet training exercise can escalate into a heated firefight, not unlike in reality.
Capable of hosting up to 4 fleets, the name ship of the Ayanami-class was on the training grounds, practicing her strafing manoeuvres to avoid the shells of the Abyssal Destroyer bots, currently set to a low firing speed to accommodate the destroyer.
A brown-haired ponytail with a barely formed widow's peak, with emerald eyes on a youthful Japanese face and a brown-white school uniform making up the destroyer performing an evasive dance atop the sapphire sea.
The overseer, a Heavy Cruiser with black twin-tails held up by white ribbons. Her orange, green and white one-piece dress, with a knee-length sock up her right leg, and a thigh-high stocking up the other, partially covered by her ship girl equipment.
Supervising and playing against the fledgling ship girl on the range by controlling the Abyssal bots in an installed module in her mind, she was training Ayanami in dodging and map awareness skills, the red dots on her map orbiting about the solitary blue dot as Ayanami twirled and weaved past the ballad of bullets, intent on bringing her down regardless of their lack of lethality in their weapons.
Tone the Heavy Cruiser finally called off the assault, remarking on her earpiece,
"Good job, Ayanami.
Those were the first few levels though, so don't be afraid to crank it up a notch on the range if you think you can handle it."
As Ayanami simply nodded in thanks to the Heavy Cruiser, noting the Abyssal bots sinking back into the ocean, likely guided by autopilot into their maintenance pods, content to stand by until they were summoned again for another round of practice.
Sailing back to the edge of the base, she was greeted by her overseer for the session, with a fuel can in one hand and a small magazine of ammunition in the other. Likely bought from the vending machines littered around the base before the training, Ayanami accepted them both graciously from Tone, who smiled down at her.
Popping open and drinking the refreshing can of fuel to hydrate her body and to refill her fuel gauge from 'Medium' to 'Full' on her HUD, crumpling the empty can when she was finished to slowly bite at the edible can made of steel.
Noticing several ship girls coming by the range to join Tone, she loaded the magazine into her cannons, swallowing the remnants of the edible steel can, and moved to meet with her new team mates.
Tenryuu was nursing her bruised nose, along with a wounded ego. Why couldn't she make a good first impression for once?
When she was first constructed, she introduced herself to Shiranui, who simply stared her down until she cried. Then, she introduced herself to the newly constructed Shimakaze before being left in her wake in a race.
She wasn't going to give up though!
She'd show everyone what she was capable of, and hopefully get an upgrade to her stats and skills! But right now, she had a team to work with, and working together meant that she had to try to contribute to the team, and not just look out for her and her sister Tatsuta.
Speaking of her sister…
Tenryuu looked towards her purple-haired sister, smiling nonchalantly with her halo atop her head, in contrast to her darker personality more befitting that of a demon.
To be honest, Tenryuu never really had a problem with her sister's more sadistic persona, seeing it more as a charm that her sister held.
After all, she channeled that blood-thirst towards the enemy, and also looked out for her previous team, the 6th Destroyer Division that was Hibiki, Akatsuki, Inazuma and Ikazuchi.
In her own 'dark-knight-slash-silent-protector' way, of course.
Besides, Tatsuta was her sister!
She wasn't going to treat her any differently just because she was a little detached from everyone else. Tenryuu was more of an active guardian and role model, being the expedition leader and Team Mom during the days when she led the 6th Destroyer Division.
Over some time, she had watched them develop their skills, eventually learning to be independent and split into different teams and roles.
It was a little sad seeing them split up like this, but they had reassured her that they would always remain as the 6thDesDiv, and more importantly, as sisters.
With Tenryuu as their mom in all but Class, and Tatsuta as their Batman. (for lack of a better comparison)
She shook her head to get her head back into the game, as Tone stood in the centre of the team. At some point in time when she was visiting memory lane, Hiei had appeared, bringing the last member of their team to the Training Grounds.
Junyou reeked of alcohol, and her clothes seemed to have been put on by an external party, likely Hiei, as her mismatched buttons and unkempt clothes revealed.
She was in a daze, fighting the hangover, dry throat and general headache that was the usual package that came with alcoholism.
Carried bridal-style by the grumbling and, at this point in time, really pissed off Hiei, Tenryuu could make out whispers of her plotting to dump Junyou in the ocean if the spiky purple-haired light cruiser vomited on her, as she slowly let Junyou down onto the ocean surface.
Tone coughed into her fist, catching their attention as she introduced herself to everyone in a mature, enthusiastic female voice that contrasted her 'young teenage ship girl' motif.
"Good morning, team!
I'm Tone, and I'll be your guide to the Ship Girl's Weapons and Tactics of the 21st Century!
To be precise, it's the Spring of 2015, and the weather is perfect for training!"
"More like 'perfect for sleeping in'…"
Junyou mumbled, earning a low growl from Hiei, prompting her to shut up and nurse her headache quietly.
"Well, this session is more for our newcomer, but since she's been on a few sorties already, let's just run through the weapon introductions and get to the formation training."
Swinging around to show Shigure a 14cm Single Gun Mount, Tone remarked,
"These are the usual cannon we used in the war. They operate through a simple logic, 'The bigger the better', with built in safeties, but we all can only use cannons that are made to suit our classes, ok?"
Tenryuu saw Shigure nod, all of them understanding the simple logic behind it. Battleships couldn't use the smallest cannons fitted on Light Cruisers and Destroyers, and vice versa for the larger cannons.
Seeming satisfied with the nods from the team, Tone motioned down towards the torpedo launchers on her thighs, a mechanical joint allowing for more flexibility holding the strap on her leg and the launcher together.
"Storing any torpedo in the launcher when the launcher safety is 'on' will render them inactive, but you can still pull out and use inactive torpedoes. But turning the launcher safety off will activate all the torpedoes in the launcher. "
"Torpedoes by themselves work a little differently from the past.
They work with a 'fire-and-forget' principle when shot out of our active launchers, but pull out inactive torpedoes and they can be used to melee kill any Abyssals.
They don't have a muzzle flash, a smoking barrel, and hardly any recoil, so they're good for stealth, but are exposed targets with their warheads exposed compared to cannon ammunition, and most torpedoes leave trails as they move through the water, which can lead the enemy back to you!"
Tenryuu nodded along with the group, thinking that the torpedoes were useful for smaller ship classes to try to stay relevant in a battle against stronger opponents, and they weren't too hard to understand.
Active, they were relatively simple fire-and-forget underwater rockets. Inactive, they could be used as melee weapons for ship girls when they were forced into close-quarters combat, although it was a technique in close quarters fighting that few ship girls actively used due to the inherent risks of carrying an exposed torpedo in their bare hands.
Pulling out a Type 0 Reconnaissance Plane from her combat backpack, the Heavy Cruiser continued her monologue as she showed the seaplane to Shigure. The Fairy mounting the plane, a little girl barely the size of Tenryuu's clenched fist had purple hair held together by a visor cap with two bunny ears sticking of them.
Long sleeves covered her minuscule hands, and a float was around her tiny waist. Her head, large and impossibly balanced on her body, was chirping animatedly in a foreign language that didn't resemble any particular human language, but Tenryuu could somehow make out the Fairy's words introducing herself as Meiko.
She heard that they could only communicate with humans through written messages in the past, which led to a delayed construction of the ship girls.
Maybe it was a ship girl thing, to be able to understand these mysterious creatures who aided in their creation and maintenance since it would make sense if the Fairies programmed them to understand Fairy speech.
Tone explained the equipment in front of her.
"These are planes, that can help scout and bomb the enemies.
They are piloted by the Fairies, who help us in combat to fly our planes, man our turrets and engines, and to act as damage control specialists to help us recover in combat.
Recon planes like the one Meiko is piloting now are different from planes carried by Carriers and Light Carriers like Junyou, which are classified as Dive Bombers, Torpedo Bombers, and Fighter Bombers."
Keeping the recon plane, and indicating to the final equipment on her shoulders, Tone said.
"Finally, these are Anti-Air Machine Guns, which help shoot down the enemy planes, and the largest AA guns can double as pseudo-cannons. "
The AA guns twitched upon being called, ready to shoot down whatever Abyssal signatures that were in the air.
"Now then, that's the end of the basic weapon guide for today! Let's gather up in formation! There are fleet formations which can help in certain situations, against certain enemies. So, let's move!"
"Fucking drill bitch, I almost puked again, errgghhh…"
Junyou moaned as she stepped out of the harbor, while panting slightly after the grueling drill session Tone had conducted throughout the day, thankfully with breaks in between.
The six sets of mechanical arms and machinery in the harbor were capable of suiting up a ship girl in 20 seconds flat, and helped them in terms of responding quickly to emergencies.
The machines on the harbour floor helped them take off their 'boat slippers', what they called the foot wear that they wore to help them float on the water when they sortied, and the mechanical arms from above helped them unload their combat backpacks and store their battle gear.
Junyou was finally recovering from the hangover that plagued her the entire morning and afternoon.
Bloody hell, she'd downed 5 plastic bottles of water, and she still felt thirsty after the disarming! Tone was running them through the respective formations until the fleet could move into the formation she ordered in less than 15 seconds.
What a drill sergeant!
Hiei was on the field looking over her shoulder, willing her into action through sheer willpower (and her expression that promised an indefinite cold-turkey treatment didn't help either), while Tatsuta simply smiled at her.
That alone was the most terrifying part of the day. She sighed as she wobbled slightly whilst making her way to the vending machines, her intention to buy a sake metal can to help make herself feel better.
As a dizzy spell hit, she started to feel the world tilt, and she closed her eyes and braced herself for the oncoming impact of the cold concrete floor.
However, she was surprised when she felt herself falling on a small, petite figure struggling to hold her up. She opened her eyes to look down, expecting Ayanami there.
She instead saw the willful eyes of the Shiratsuyu-class destroyer looking up at her.
She wasn't expecting this little brat to come rescue this alcoholic Light Carrier, filtering through her memory to try to remember her name before she introduced herself. She didn't want the little brat to look down on her as some sort of incompetent Light Carrier with a drinking problem.
Even she had some semblance of pride to maintain.
Her savior finally responded, stating her question.
"Do you need help getting that can of booze?"
Damn, since when did destroyers nowadays learn the art of mind-reading?
Or was she so easily stereotyped as the team drinker?
She studied the little destroyer's face, detecting concern, kindness, maybe a little bit of pity.
And if she looked closely enough, a whole lot of repressed sadness within her.
She finally looked away and got off of the destroyer, stating.
"Ahhh, if a little brat like you is looking, I probably shouldn't be drinking in your company.
Don't want Hiei busting my balls just because I drank in front of a minor."
Ah, Shigure, that was her name.
Struggling to recover from the tiring exertion of strength, on top of Tone's drill-instructor style training, Shigure seemed out of breath and more than likely a little fatigued, Junyou noticing the sweat that lined her forehead and permeating her schoolgirl uniform.
Ahhh, fuck.
Now Junyou felt bad for trying to skip out on training, when its newest member was doing everything she could to improve herself. She finally decided to offer what help she could by sticking out her hand and asking.
"Maaa, since you've expended all your energy during training and I didn't, the least I can do to make it up to you is to take you back to your room.
You probably won't make it back halfway before your legs give out."
A look of relief washed across Shigure's face, thankful that not only was Junyou helping her, but that she didn't slink off to get that can of sake.
The destroyer accepted the offered hand, as Junyou heaved and lifted Shigure up on her back. Being a Light Cruiser, she wasn't too perturbed by the weight, only that Shigure might be put off by the light stench of alcohol that still hung on her clothes.
But then again, Shigure's uniform was also drenched in sweat, so it all worked out in the end with Shigure's sweat mixing with Junyou's alcoholic stench.
Junyou shifted her weight to accommodate the tired destroyer on her back, and slowly made her way back to the barracks. She wasn't sure of what to talk about to Shigure, as they were of different ship classes and had different interests.
Heck, she wasn't even sure the little brat had any interests, being constructed not even a month before!
Then, Shigure finally broke the silence between them, as she spoke of the one subject that made everyone uncomfortable.
"Junyou-san, did you survive the war?"
A slight pause stopped her in her tracks, as Junyou wished she hadn't asked about that.
What was up with everyone and trying to grill her today?
She sighed, trying to repress the feelings of guilt that was often hidden and lost in the sea of alcohol that she consumed. She resumed her hike back towards the barracks, trying to come up with an appropriate response to such a hard-hitting question.
She finally settled with a quiet,
"Yes."
And wondered what sort of thought processes were going through the destroyer's mind as she rode piggy-back on her.
Probably the same guilt trip that Junyou used to plague herself with, being one of the few survivors of the war before she found the ultimate distraction that was alcohol.
Seemingly able to numb her mind to the horrors of war and help her cope with the losses in the base, the beer bottle became her closest friend.
Slowly but surely, the Yokosuka Fleet Girls learnt to typecast her as the drunkard and leave her be to her own devices. Not that Junyou was complaining, mind you.
Anything to get out of sorties by being hungover as heck and escaping the stress of possibly dying every time they sortied.
Now that she thought about it, Shigure was probably carrying some burden of her own. Destroyers, like any other ship girl, were often under heavy stress, especially during the later stages of the war.
She remembered Yukikaze, who was constructed in this base as a ship girl as a happy and innocent, but also somewhat haunted ship girl who had one of the highest luck stats recorded due to the sheer number of near-death encounters and lone-survivor situations she lived through in her previous life.
She was watched over by Ashigara the senior Heavy Cruiser, and Nagato, one of the Big Seven.
"Look, if you're thinking of your friends in the war, don't drive yourself crazy with guilt. You won't accomplish anything that way."
This caused Shigure to perk up, focusing on the light carrier's advice as she continued,
"You have potential, so you should strive to become stronger so that you'll be able to protect them, especially now that we all have a second chance at life.
The guilt that you harbor only weights you down, and drags you down into the darkness that is depression.
Trust me, I know that feeling as a survivor. Why do you think I do my best to get hammered all the time?"
Shigure silently thought of the answer to that, unaware of the rhetorical nature of Junyou's question.
"Are you afraid of going back out there? To watch any of us sink again?"
Junyou stiffened and her breath stopped as her face morphed into one of dread, afraid that Shigure had somehow divined the true nature of her insecurities and fears, awkwardly disguised over a layer of aloofness.
By God, she was really starting to fear the destroyer that she carried on her back.
"I-I'm sorry, Junyou-san,"
Shigure tried to get Junyou's attention, suddenly afraid that she might have pissed off another ship girl, especially since Junyou was her teammate, making it even worse.
"I didn't mean to reveal something so close to you."
Junyou paused and took a deep breath before recovering.
She wasn't so weak as to let a seemingly all-knowing destroyer, who just read her like a book, cow her into submission. After all, she was supposed to be the older and more mature ship girl here!
Albeit with a drinking problem, but that wasn't the point.
She tried her best to smile back to Shigure, the destroyer looking remorseful and fearful that she might have alienated her teammate.
"Maa, it's alright! You're just a sharp little destroyer who's good at reading others, so don't worry!
You're right, though, I simply hate the fact that every time I sortie, someone could potentially die due to negligence or bad luck.
I'm not as strong as a little destroyer like you, so I've been burying my guilt and insecurities through drinks and snacks!
Eventually, the Admiral decided to pull me out due to my drinking problem, and I've been a bench-warmer ever since then!
But now that I'm in a team, I should probably cut down on my drinks, and start being like Tenryuu, more like a respectable senior and a role model to you and Ayanami, eh!"
Christ, how cringe-y could her fake attitude be?
Eventually Shigure seemed to accept her answer, nodding. Junyou took that as a sign to continue towards the dorms, Shigure quietly asking.
"Junyou-san, do you have a Kai Ni remodel?
And... do I have one?"
Junyou slowed down her pace as she thought about that, searching through her memory archives to search for the answer that the destroyer desired before confidently answering.
"Yeah.
Both of us, we have second remodels if we work hard enough to earn them.
Why, already looking for a goal for you to work towards?"
She detected the previously hopeful tone now become a thankful one, the light carrier surmising that Shigure wanted to work for the Kai Ni remodel that she no doubt had already seen some ship girls achieve, her voice now barely audible despite speaking into Junyou's ear.
"Yes..."
Junyou nodded while raising an eyebrow, understanding if Shigure wanted to become stronger to protect her comrades and friends, a primary motivation of some of the strongest ship girls in the Yokosuka Naval Base as Junyou had spoken with them before, their answers unanimous in their reasoning.
That anything less was tantamount to betrayal of those closest to them, should their shortcomings be the cause of someone's sinking.
Shigure continued, Junyou able to pick up on the fact that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer didn't want to offend her any more than she already did as she asked politely.
"Um, Junyou-san, I was wondering... if you're going to aim for achieving Kai Ni since you're now in a fleet?"
'Hmm, interesting.'
Junyou pondered on Shigure's question while considering her past, present and her future goals.
She had been lucky enough to survive the war, and had seen her fair share of sinking comrades.
That likely translated into the apprehension whenever she sortied with teammates, and the inevitable thoughts that likened the sorties with those of the past, and she could never shake the feeling that she might survive where others wouldn't.
And unlike the rest of the ship girl population which would take this as an opportunity to improve themselves, she instead took this as a sign that she didn't want to sortie, since there was always the possibility of someone sinking because she failed them at a crucial moment.
But contrast that to now, where she was now in a fleet and was going to fight alongside her comrades.
There was no other path except forward, so why not?
But still...
"I don't know..." Junyou shrugged nonchalantly as she continued walking forward as she gave Shigure her answer.
"I admit that there's a part of me that wants to achieve Kai Ni and fight alongside you all, but I want my reason to have a little more depth than 'Oh, I want to achieve Kai Ni because it's there.'
Can you give me some time to come up with a legit reason to improve myself?"
Shigure nodded acceptingly, Junyou sighing in relief before remembering.
"Hey Shigure, want to stop by the canteen?
I could grab some dinner for both of us.
You don't want to go to sleep hungry after that drill sergeant of a ship girl's routine, now do you?"
A low growl escaped Shigure's stomach in agreement with Junyou's suggestion, causing the destroyer to blush and hide her face in Junyou's shoulder.
Junyou laughed heartily, diverting from her current course and heading towards the canteen.
Along the way, she slowly shared her discovery of her love for alcohol, the recent discovery of modern Japanese animation on TV called 'anime', and recalled various interesting and hilarious events on her previous sorties.
She noted to herself that this could be a new start for her, and decided to take that suggestion on cutting down on her alcohol intake more seriously.
After all, she couldn't let the little destroyer carry the team on her tiny back alone now, could she?
The Intelligence Room, filled with the Coordinators of the Base, was a fortress made up of stacks of papers and reports, occupied by machines clicking away and beeping softly to record and transmit messages of ship girls on sorties and to intercept and decode messages either from Headquarters or from any of the tens of thousands of Fleet bases around the world.
This room was, essentially, the 'brain' of the base, coordinating local and international sorties and directing the orders of the Admiral through the proper channels to the ship girls, each one of them ship girls who were promoted by the Fleet Admiral, Mako Nakahara.
The base also contained a collective database on all ship girls ever constructed or found, as well as a formidable collection of intelligence on the enemy, on their ecology, classification, habits and known tactics among others, sharing this information with all who requested for the knowledge to help combat the threat on the seas.
The Coordinators in the room were currently busy with a meeting to try to answer the Americans on the projected schedule of the two-pronged assault on the Pacific Theater.
"What is your best estimate as to when we can consolidate our forces to push out into the West?"
Nagato, sitting at one end of the cluttered coffee table that was planted in the center of the room, taking up the Gendo Pose as she observed the members in the room.
Ooyodo, the central secretary ship responsible for coordination of the ship girl fleets, pushed up her glasses, partially obscured by her long hair and held back by her hair band.
She contemplated the question, her eyes seemingly distant as she calculated the Fleet's projected return paths, the estimated time of arrival and their refueling speed when they return to base, along with the logistics of resource and weapons allocation to the respective fleets for their sorties before replying.
"It will take at most 5 days for all the fleets to return.
Then, my best estimates would be about a week for them to relieve whatever fatigue they may have accumulated over their sorties and prepare for the upcoming assault."
Musashi, a large and powerful presence in the room by her sheer size and height as a Yamato-class Battleship that overshadowed even Nagato, with her tanned skin, wildly-styled pale blonde hair, and large breasts held up by struggling bandages wrapped around her chest.
Wearing a red mini-skirt, black thigh-highs, a capelet and a metal collar with the Imperial Chrysanthemum Symbol upon it similar to the collars on Nagato and Mutsu, she raised a gloved hand from her crossed arms to push up her glasses, asking in a young and formal voice that rang with authority and power,
"If someone would be so kind as so inform me, am I included in this assault? I would certainly like to sortie to fight the Abyssal threat out there.
We seem to have a stockpile of resources that we've amassed through countless sorties, and I'd like to prove my worth to the Admiral, since she was the one who planned for the construction of me and my sister, Yamato."
Yahagi, the Light Cruiser in the room, looked up from her laptop that contained the minutes, or notes, of the meeting, commenting.
"Of course, Musashi. We require quite a lot of firepower if we're to make any headway breaching the Abyssal defences.
We'll certainly require your expertise, as well as your firepower to annihilate the enemy.
After all, that's what the resource stockpile is for. For the Battleships and Carriers to resupply quickly and re-sortie.
You'll get your time to shine."
The Light Cruiser smiled at Musashi, her black pony-tail falling to one side as she regarded the Yamato-class Battleship. Her gloved hands flew over the laptop, continuing to type in the minutes of the meeting, noting Musashi's eagerness to begin fighting.
Mutsu stood to the corner of the Intelligence room, smiling at Musashi's blush and nod in response to the Light Cruiser's reassurance. She thought it was cute how polite the battleship could be, especially when she was one of the capital ships in the base who automatically garnered everyone's respect.
It was obvious that despite her extreme resource consumption rate and her efficiency at paperwork hampering her chances of sortieing, she wanted nothing more than to drop everything and sail the seas to protect her fellow ship girls from harm.
Kirishima, in a miko uniform similar to her sister ship Hiei, with a curtain of short black hair held down by a golden-colored winged headdress shared by the Kongou-class Fast Battleships, pushed up her glasses and stated.
"Such worries are unfounded. The Pacific has dozens of Princesses, most of which require a level of firepower that only battleships like us can achieve to defeat.
Our Admiral has already foreseen an advance like this happening in the past, and has already finished preparations for us to be able to sortie."
Before adding.
"After all, you're not the only one who wishes to protect everyone."
Earning a small laugh from Mutsu, who commented.
"Well, even the diligent and hardworking pen-pusher Kirishima has her own ambitions too, hmm?"
Kirishima only huffed in response, ending that conversation.
Nagato lightly coughed to regain the group's attention, and continued.
"Moving on, I need to know why the Abyssals within the Pacific have significantly reduced in terms of manpower.
It's noted that the amount of Abyssals have taken a dip, something that worries Central and Admiral Mako, since the Abyssals have never had a problem with numbers, and anything abnormal when it comes to Abyssals is something to be noted immediately.
This even applies to the various Princesses littering the seas in their usual hideouts.
This is confirmed across all the bases, as the Princesses have always had seemingly pre-programed routes to patrol and islands to protect.
Are they really running out of Abyssals to spawn, or are they planning something so large in scale that requires that many Abyssals to pull off? I need to know what is happening, and why.
Dismissed."
The room echoed the dragging feet of chairs, as the various members returned to their posts to try to make sense of the enigma that was the Abyssals.
Nagato sighed, addressing Mutsu, who had left the relative comfort of the wall and strode over to the edge of the table to stand beside her.
"The last point is about Admiral Mako's concerns regarding the Abyssals' lack of innovation in the last five years, Mutsu.
Some say that the Abyssals have plateaued in terms of technological advances, but I, like Admiral Mako, think otherwise since I heard that those are the exact words coming from those who never saw the Abyssal Princesses coming.
What do you think, Mutsu?"
Mutsu lost her smile as she seriously pondered the question, before answering coyly while looking down at a seated Nagato.
"I think... we need evidence, more than anything else."
Nagato perked up at that, shifting in her seat to look up at her sister ship as Mutsu elaborated whilst holding up a finger.
"Just think about it.
Even if we are absolutely convinced that the Abyssals are up to something, and if they indeed are but we are lacking in terms of evidence, what do we have to convince Central and everyone else of their plans?"
Nagato looked back down at the table, at the pieces of paper that she ignored as she used her right hand to support her chin in a thinking pose while resting her right elbow on the table, speaking more to herself than anyone else.
"Yes, I see. Without evidence, we'll likely be dismissed as fear-mongers or conspiracy theorists without evidence to hold our case."
"And remember, the human psyche is unpredictable, and it's not unheard of for them to vehemently deny any possibility of things getting worse than they already are, despite mounting evidence pointing to the contrary.
So expect resistance even when you find evidence of an Abyssal covert operation underway, since no one wants to believe that it can get any worse than this."
Nagato nodded solemnly, mulling over things for a considerable period of time before leaning in, motioning for Mutsu to do the same as she asked.
"What do you think about this?
We'll send our Infiltration Fleet outside of the Safety Zone under the cover of night, and we try to find out something about their plans in one of their abandoned production factories."