The 1st Fleet was sitting with the 3rd Fleet and was eating breakfast with their Admiral in the canteen where Mamiya served her breakfast before their training session with the 3rd Fleet.
The Admiral wanted to spend time with the two fleets, having finished her paperwork and rushed down to grab her breakfast, having deliberately seated herself between her two lovers that were Ashigara and Nagato, something that was not lost on all the ship girls who were present in the canteen.
The 3rd Fleet was the unofficial 3rd Fast Response Fleet. However, since they were the backup to the first two Fleets, they could travel slower, and sortie at a later time to carry more firepower if the situation required it.
They were a six ship girl fleet, consisting of 2 heavy cruisers, a battleship, a destroyer, a light cruiser and carrier to balance out the team and work closely with the 2nd Fleet, and now the 1st Fleet.
Through sorties and training exercises, they had already developed their team dynamic and were sent onto the battlefield not just to fulfill their role of fighting Abyssals, but also to support their teammates in times of need.
Ashigara led the team, possessing a voluptuous figure packed with lean muscles that were developed over countless sorties and drill exercises. Her long, dark auburn hair was let down and was held down with a single-horned hairband.
She had on a uniform of a dark purple office shirt with a colorful ribbon tied around the collar, together with a dark skirt covering her white pantyhose as she wore a pair of black and white high heels.
White gloves were gripped in anticipation as the metal utensils in her hands threatened to bend and deform despite being tailored to resist the strength of ship girls, grinning with gleaming brown eyes as she seemed to look forward to the practice session later.
She sat up proudly to match Nagato's posture while sitting beside the Admiral. She had the air of someone in charge, and indicated a headstrong attitude as she sat with her own teammates, the First Fleet and her Admiral.
Haguro sat beside her sister, looking meek and seemingly afraid of her own shadow as she looked down at the breakfast platter and held her own utensils delicately, while a silver hairpiece was attached to her left temple and held up her hair as she ate like a gentle lady would with bite-sized chunks being cut.
She was wearing the same uniform as her sister Ashigara, a dark purple top with a black skirt and white pantyhose. Her short hair parted to show her bright and open eyes scanning for trouble, a slight expression of apprehension as she ate her breakfast.
Nagato was the slow battleship and was the unmovable support pillar of the fleet, a demanding presence due to her status as a famous battleship, and as a towering figure over her comrades. She seemed to be in her usual clothes, and had a destroyer seated on her laps.
Yukikaze the destroyer was sitting on Nagato's lap and was been spoon-fed by the esteemed battleship as she looked to her comrades and smiled at Shigure. She wore an extremely short, white sailor one-piece dress that could have doubled as a large shirt for a larger ship girl, a pair of binoculars hanging from a strap around her neck.
She had two blow horns attached to her temples, and some sort of contraption atop her head. Her brown hair was cut short, and her brown eyes reflected sadness and guilt that was well-hidden to all but the most perceptive of ship girls in the base, Shigure having detected it partially because she, like the Kagerou-Class destroyer, had been through a lot and thus knew what to look for within the eyes of the destroyer.
The blonde light cruiser Abukuma was talking to the carrier of the team, her double buns and hair rings to hold up her long hair, her light green sailor uniform with her black knee boots that made up her uniform, and her high-pitched voice was audible even across the table. She was lively, and seemed to contrast with her conversation partner, who was calmer and attentive to the light cruiser that was Abukuma.
Amagi the carrier was taking up the rear while listening to Abukuma, allowing her teammates to bask in the spotlight while she supported them from behind as her role as a carrier, to summon planes and to strike from afar.
She had the pin of a red maple tree leaf on her left temple with her auburn hair tied in a ponytail, with a camouflage-green kimono covering her body. She had the same air as Houshou, the patience of a motherly ship girl along with her stance that conveyed not just seniority, but also a hidden dragon deep beneath her genuinely kind exterior.
Shigure could see that the Admiral was rather explicit in her affection for her own ship girls, especially towards her girlfriends Nagato and Ashigara, although it was also made clear that she loved all the ship girls that were under her command, Shigure watching her try to give all her ship girls as much attention as possible with impressive results as she wolfed down her breakfast in the process.
And Shigure was rather interested in what the 3rd Fleet had to teach her, having heard that the 3rd Fleet wanted to help train up the 1st Fleet before they ever sortied in order to maximize their odds of success and survival.
Interesting, Shigure thinking about what they had to teach them, likely something like little tips to keep in mind in order to defeat the Abyssals, Shigure looking down at her own breakfast.
Shigure was looking down the tray of fresh vegetables mixed in with soft, pinkish-white fish meat and soy sauce on one plate, and the typical miso soup, a steel fuel can, and a rice bowl with a soft boiled egg sprawled atop the small heap of rice, and a pinch of pepper atop that to add a bit of flavor to her meal.
Looking back and seeing Admiral Mako look so happy while leaning from side to side to cuddle with her girlfriends, with Nagato trying to fight a blush and telling her that this wasn't the right place for personal displays of affection, while Ashigara was rather accepting of her Admiral's affection but was more focused on finishing her own meal.
It really made Shigure wonder how this life also held out the possibility for them to find a soul mate and feel genuine love for someone, regardless of gender.
Shigure could note the few subconscious motions of affection, like both the ship girls having slightly dilated pupils, the slight leaning motion to reciprocate the Admiral's motion and the simple fact that they didn't simply change seats, Shigure smiling at the fact that love could blossom on the battlefield.
Admiral Mako was talking to Ayanami about something or another, and Shigure tried to make sense of the prior conversation by listening to the destroyer ask innocently about their relationship.
"So, Nagato and Ashigara are just two of your many girlfriends, right, Admiral Mako?"
Admiral Mako nodded excitedly, commenting on the situation of being in a polygamous relationship and how she loved everyone involved equally.
"Yeah, I really love all my ship girls, but there are a few ship girls that I love more than others in a romantic way, which means that I really love love them, and it'd only be natural for me to want to be their girlfriend, right?
I don't force them into the relationship with my Admiralty, of course.
I do my best to court my ship girls when I'm off-duty, although there's nothing prohibiting little displays of affection..."
Looking at Nagato and raising an eyebrow whilst giving a coy smile, the slow battleship looking away and choosing not to comment as Admiral Mako looked back at them and continued.
"I also preach the understanding and acceptance of others and mutual love between all parties, and I respect and accept the fact that some of the ship girls in our bases have boyfriends who are sailors and normal civilians alike.
I mean, ship girls are all created to be bisexual, so that they can find a male or female suitor to fall in love with, am I right, Nagato?"
Shigure's interest was piqued upon hearing that, listening to the blushing battleship try to explain the situation upon being unknowingly put on the spot by her own Admiral, coughing into her gloved fist as she elaborated.
"Even though the world, especially the major countries like Japan, the USA and Germany, amongst others, have led the world in loosening up on their conservative views on LGBT relationships and permit sister ships to marry each other, two girls having a relationship would still be considered rather high-profile, no matter what the society or country.
And should the war ever end, I believe that our creators, the Fairies, designed us with the intent to allow us the choice to fall in love with a person of either gender.
So instead of designing us to only be attracted to females, as demonstrated by some of our sister-loving ship girls, and live a relatively high-profile life, we were created to also be able to sincerely love a human male and quietly fade into obscurity, which is what I believe most of us would want after the war."
Shigure nodded upon hearing that, somewhat understanding the reasoning behind that aspect of their creation, since if the ship girls were created to only be attracted to females, most of them would likely be unable to a peaceful, low-profile life in a country like Japan, where even if they had loosened up on their views and allowed ship girls to marry their own siblings, it would still attract a lot of attention in their daily lives, which is likely the last thing they wanted.
But Admiral Mako put a hand on the visor of her officer's cap and removed it, uncoupling her arm from both Ashigara's and Nagato's arms as she leaned back, patting Ashigara on the shoulder as she smiled cheerily and commented.
"Maa, the relationship between me and Ashigara might not be classified as an official 'relationship' yet, since our relationship started recently."
Nuzzling the base of Ashigara's neck where it connected with her right shoulder, whispering sensually.
"Although I hope that's gonna change soon enough..."
This caused the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser to flinch and blush a little as she hissed at her commanding officer,
"Oi...
Not here, everyone's watching...
Besides, you have so many girlfriends already, so the charm of being called that kinda wears off after a while..."
This caused Admiral Mako to pout at that, making a whine that a wounded puppy would make upon being wounded and giving the heavy cruiser the 'puppy dog eyes' while Ashigara did her best to keep a straight face and looked away while shoving a spoonful of white rice into her mouth.
And Admiral Mako finally replied to Ashigara's comment, although in a way that neither Shigure, nor any of the ship girls present could have ever predicted while her tone was genuinely confused.
"Then you want our relationship to be classified as 'fuck buddies' instead?"
Causing everyone at the table to do a spit take upon hearing that, and Ashigara to choke on the mouthful of rice that likely went down the wrong pipe as a slightly coughing Haguro helped her sister ship lean over as she slapped her on the back, in between the shoulder blades.
Admiral Mako blinked as she looked around at the coughing ship girls around her and even at the tables that were close enough for the occupants to overhear her, and Admiral Mako scratched her head, seeming genuinely confused as to what she was supposed to call her girlfriends other than the conventional 'girlfriend', confusedly muttering to herself as Shigure tried to calm her furious blush down.
"I mean, it does have a unique ring to it, and it's not as if we're a chaste couple by any stretch..."
And finally, Nagato recovered enough to speak into the Admiral's ear, warning her about the heavy cruiser's fiery temper.
"Admiral...
I think you'd better run."
Admiral Mako blinked again, before raising both her eyebrows in agreement as she picked up her Admiral's cap again, plopping it on the slow battleship's head as she stood up, the slight screech of the chair legs on the canteen floor barely registering in the minds of the ship girls as the Admiral gave Nagato a quick peck on the left cheek, remarking.
"I suppose you're right, since Ashigara's known for flaring up sometimes.
But her fiery temper's part of the reason why I love her, y'know.
In fact, I can pretty much feel her temper flaring up behind me right now, and I can almost picture Haguro valiantly trying to hold her back."
Shigure was surprised to see that Admiral Mako, jerking her thumb back, was absolutely correct in that the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser was looming behind her, her dirtied uniform a result of her coughing out the bits of rice, Haguro fretting as she tried to hold her sister back, wrapping her arms feebly around Ashigara's waist as she pleaded.
"Please run away while I can still hold her, Admiral-san!"
Admiral Mako uttered a barely decipherable,
"Gottagobye!"
Before bolting for the canteen door, Ashigara prying Haguro's arms off of her waist before chasing her commanding officer, and the last thing Shigure saw was the Admiral's blazer and Ashigara's long flowing hair being thrown up as they left the canteen at breakneck speed, leaving the entire canteen's occupants in a pregnant silence before resuming their lunch and conversations.
Shigure was slightly shocked at that, wondering to herself,
'No reaction?!'
But thinking about a naval base that had so many colorful personalities in one area, it wasn't unreasonable of them to simply shrug off anything as a daily occurrence within the naval base.
Nagato lifted up her free hand to feel the spot where the Admiral's lips had met her cheek for an instant, bringing it forward to observe her fingers, before muttering to herself in a droll tone that contained a fair bit of exasperation, remarking.
"How unprofessional..."
Shigure was rather afraid for her Admiral now, and asked the slow battleship as to what was going to happen between them.
But Nagato simply waved her concerns aside, commenting as though she knew the outcome to be a forgone conclusion as she continued eating her lunch nonchalantly.
"Oh, there's no need to worry about them.
Ashigara is likely to perform the Boston Crab submission hold on her for awhile as harmless punishment, and we'd make better use of our time finishing up our breakfast and joining them at the harbor."
Shigure sweat dropped at how fast everyone seemed to have recovered from the entire incident, resuming eating their breakfast as though nothing had happened as some of them even began chatting with each other, Shigure hearing Yukikaze comment innocently.
"But, Nagato-san, didn't the Admiral say that she likes being held by her girlfriends?"
To which Nagato blushed a little, but managed to keep a straight face as she shushed the Kagerou-Class destroyer and simply commented.
"Shush.
You'll learn about it all when you're an adult."
"But I'll never be an adult, Nagat-"
To which Nagato softly pushed a spoonful of fish meat into the destroyer's mouth to end the conversation.
Shigure looked down as she tried to hide her tomato-red face, although she was not alone as she peeked up to see that a few of her teammates and the ship girls of the 3rd Fleet still had colored cheeks.
And after another two minutes later, it was when Shigure was almost done with her breakfast when she saw that the members 3rd Fleet raised their eyes and looked behind her as she could feel another presence standing behind her, something that chilled her to the bone as she was unable to explain why.
It just felt as though the Grim Reaper was standing behind her as she whirled around, seeing a pink-haired ship girl who had a blue and white sailor schoolgirl uniform with plated pieces of armor on her left shoulder and covering the outside of her leg, her pink hair styled in freshly-cut strands held up by red ribbons that exposed her green eyes.
She had thigh-highs on her legs held together by beige ropes while she wore platform shoes, a white headband peeking out from behind her bangs and was hugging her forehead, the ends of the pure-white headband trailing from behind her head while she kept her hands in her skirt pockets.
Shigure couldn't help but avert the stare of the ship girl, only requiring a glimpse into her hollow pupils to already feel scared of her, Nagato creasing her brows and asking the newcomer ship girl as to why she was here.
"Good morning, Akashi.
I assume you have business with Shigure of the 1st Fleet?"
Akashi.
Shigure remembered her to be the repair ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was likely the chief medic of the naval base who was also a part of the hospital that she saw off in the distance when she first came here.
Akashi responded, although Shigure noted that her tone was chillingly indifferent as everyone's eyes were already on her, some of them even sweating as the repair ship responded.
"Yeah, I need to check up on Shigure, since I need to ensure her psychological well-being.
She needs to come with me."
Nagato's eye narrowed at that, trying to point out their training session later in the day, retorting as Shigure found herself stuck in between two titans of the naval base, and even her own teammates were slowly inching away from her.
"I don't believe you've heard, but Shigure's fleet, the 1st Fleet, has a training session with the 3rd Fleet, so she'll be unavailable for today."
Shigure, although keeping quiet in the midst of this civilized argument, was rather elated that someone as respected as Nagato was speaking up in her defense.
She didn't have anything against the repair ship, but she did not want to go along with someone who had the Josef Mengele or the Shirou Ishii vibe, both participants of World War 2 having disgusted her with their work as she read through history books to catch up with the times.
And a blood-red aura was what leaked out of the repair ship as she leaned in, casting shadows over herself despite the canteen being well-lit as Shigure felt another chill run down at her spine, a sentiment that was likely shared by everyone at the table as the bloodthirsty aura emanated from her every pore and caused everyone to react reflexively, grabbing their utensils a little tighter and chairs scrapping on the floor in a knee-jerk reaction.
But Akashi was unfazed by the fact that she was facing off against 11 other ship girls if one didn't include the rest of the ship girl population in the canteen, responding defiantly.
"I think I made it clear that I wasn't asking a question.
Or would you like to tell the Admiral why you compromised a ship girl's mental welfare for the sake of training, should she be psychologically compromised on the battlefield?"
Shigure blanched at that, her head swiveling back and forth between the repair ship and the slow battleship, wondering how this stare-down was going to end, Akashi and Nagato both unwilling to back down and yield.
But Nagato eventually looked away as she conceded the point,
"...I understand.
The well-being of a ship girl's mental state takes higher priority than one training session, and I do believe that she might require some help getting over her previous experiences."
Shigure couldn't believe her ears, and she looked back at the Nagato-Class battleship to get her to reconsider her face as she tried to look as sympathetic as possible, her teammates coming to her defense and trying to defend her, something that made Shigure rather proud of them for sticking by her.
But Akashi silenced them all with this one question, Shigure herself holding her own breath upon hearing a valid point being made.
"All I hear from you all are assurances that Shigure won't break in battle.
But you do know that all her trauma stems from night battles, right?
So does that assurance extend into the nighttime?"
Akashi shifted her eyes to look down at the crowd of ship girls gathered at the table, never mentioning any names but made it very apparent who exactly it was that she was talking about.
"Certain ship girls are naturally marked for observation due to potential underlying feelings of guilt and depression, having survived traumatic experiences or the war in general.
And having counselled some of you, it'd be natural that I would want to at least talk to Shigure."
Akashi took out her right hand from her skirt pocket, lifting her hand up and waving it around as her aura dissipated and she took on a more benign expression to elaborate her point.
"Maa, it's not as if I'm going to operate on her or something.
And I'm still a repair ship at heart, so I genuinely have your best interests in mind when I say that I want to help you out with your issues."
Shigure looked around, noting the finer motions that went unnoticed by most, but was most evident in Tatsuta, Junyou and Yukikaze.
Slightly looking away from the repair ship, tightening their grip on their utensils, shifting their feet to position them in a way that expressed a desire to leave the conversation and the table, and Shigure almost wanted to ask anyone about what exactly these issues were.
But she held her tongue out of a newly developed sense of tact, feeling Akashi leaning in to whisper in Shigure's ear to make sure that they could meet up to chat privately.
"I'll be waiting at Room 23 of the Administration Office."
Shigure was now standing before Room 23, having climbed up the stairs to reach the second level as she wondered about what the repair ship had said about her, and how much of it was true.
Having received reassurances from the ship girls surrounding her that no physical harm was going to befall her, which meant quite a big deal to her as she was rather apprehensive about a repair ship who knew the ship girl anatomy inside and out, and had more than enough experience in dissecting and patching up her fellow ship girls.
But her fleet had instead warned her about the psychological aspect of the treatment, everyone from Nagato giving her a concerned look to Tatsuta, the one ship girl that Shigure least expected to say anything to her informing her.
"Shigure, Akashi-san is sincere in wanting to help you, but you need to be honest with yourself to this to truly work.
And we know that we can't help you in the way that she can, but I want you to know that we'll be here for you every step of the way."
Shigure looked down at the floorboards, reflecting on their words and how true they were, that despite their enthusiasm and dedication, there really wasn't much they couldn't do to help her get over something that had happened more than half a century ago other than be there for her whenever they could.
Honestly, when Shigure thought about it, there also wasn't much that she could do to actually help her teammates should something from their past crop up, the past being set in stone.
But that wasn't a reason for her to give up on even trying, knowing that ship girls were not chained down by their pasts and that there was no reason why they couldn't rise above the events that they had been through in their past life.
But reflecting upon her own past, Shigure wondered if she possessed the strength to practice what she preached, thinking back on all her comrades that had died while she had lived, feeling rather bitter about her own lucky streak during the war and wondered if any other ship girls felt this way.
But there was no point in putting off the inevitable, Shigure exhaling as she knocked on the door to signal her presence, and entered after she heard the repair ship respond with a dry:
"Come in."
The room was simple, with a couch for the ship girl to lie down on, and a chair for the occupants to sit on, Shigure noting that Akashi had already made herself comfortable on the chair she was sitting on, the room comfortably sized so as not to make a ship girl feel claustrophobic, but also retaining a tight size so as not to overwhelm a ship girl upon entering, with a small shelf with story books stacked on them, and a fake potted plant to the corner of the room to occupy the room without overcrowding it.
Shigure looked at the couch before the repair ship, Akashi looking at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer and motioning for her to lie down on the couch to make herself comfortable, Shigure bowing politely to greet her senior as she pressed her own skirt in to lie down.
Akashi clapped her hands together to start the session, explaining herself to Shigure,
"Right, I'm Akashi, the repair ship and base psychologist, and this here's the first session of therapy for you."
Shigure did a double take at that, blurting out as she wondered out loud about how this was just the first of many sessions as her eyes widened.
"'The first'?!
I need to train, Akashi-san!"
But Akashi raised a hand to get Shigure to be silent, and revealed a bit about the data that was gathered over the course of 20 years concerning the various psychological states of ship girls and the possible mental and psychological pitfalls that many ship girls had unfortunately fallen victim to over the decades.
"I believe you understand me when I say that there's a lot of bad memories about the war that can affect us adversely in various ways.
But what you fail to comprehend is simply the fact that despite the best efforts of some our brightest minds working on diagnosing and helping scarred ship girls recover via therapeutic psychological treatment, there are simply too many ways that the ship girl psyche can fail, and too many ship girls for us to keep track of at all times."
Shigure narrowed her eyes as she looked away, unable to retort as she knew that Akashi was right; that there was simply no way for her to predict how any ship girl, much less someone like her who has been through so much in her past life would react upon being thrust into the heat of battle under adverse conditions.
But perhaps there was some sort of morbid curiosity that welled up within her, shooting the repair ship a glance as she asked inquisitively.
"So when you say 'psychological treatment', I assume there's a hospital of sorts to house them, right?"
Akashi tilted her head to the side as she lifted an eyebrow, clarifying.
"Well, medical and psychological care has progressed since the 40's, and we prioritize the welfare of the patients to help them recover, but we also try our best to help healthy ship girls through whatever issues may arise..."
Akashi looked back at Shigure, causing her to flinch a little at how serious the repair ship was about helping her, ensuring that the entire 'prevention is better than cure' motif stayed true as she continued.
"... since it's easier to help you out before any issues arise or to guide you through them, instead of helping you after you've been hurt by whatever comes up and screws you over."
Shigure nodded at that, having heard of Akashi's argument that she likely wasn't fit to participate in night battles, something that she wasn't keen on herself and only having been in training sessions and practice bouts in the daytime.
Shigure nodded, and Akashi comforted her by saying,
"Well, don't worry about today, since I just want us to get to know each other better.
I do believe that that step's essential in helping us be a little more comfortable in exchanging information with one another as well as making sure that we both get to ask our fair share of questions.
And just to be a good sport, I'll go first and answer a few questions of yours."
Shigure narrowed her eyes upon noting that this might be a ploy on her part to try to allow herself to look nice as she answered Shigure's questions to make Shigure feel as if she was compelled to answer Akashi later on in the session, but her curiosity won out in the end as she asked simply.
"So, about those hospitals, or rather, mental asylums..."
"Institutes."
Akashi raised her left index finger at that, Shigure again flinching at how seriously Akashi took her job as she added.
"Remember that these are institutes where psychologically tormented ship girls are sent, a large part of them having been through traumatic situations, suffered damaging breakdowns, and they never asked to become who they are today.
And if you're going to address the place where I once worked at, please use the appropriate term."
Shigure paused for a while to consider the repair ship's words, before nodding apologetically as she corrected herself.
"The mental institute where you worked in...
How did it work?"
Akashi lifted her eyebrow again at that, folding her arms as she leaned back in her chair and elaborated.
"Well, for starters, you need to understand that we need to ensure the safety of our doctors and orderlies, so we use non-chafing rubber restraints for light cruisers and below, and straitjackets for heavy cruisers and above in the most dire of circumstances."
Shigure blanched again at that, cringing a little at that treatment as she commented.
"That seems a little...excessive."
Akashi shrugged as she retorted,
"Hey.
When you consider the fact the hospitalized ship girls aren't exactly in their right minds to follow orders and restrain their strength, they do possess an ever present threat to the human personnel, and especially to themselves as some of them have resorted to self-harm to cope.
And you tell me how you're going to hold back a Hiei or a Nagato without the use of powerful restraints that are admittedly tailored to ensure some degree of comfort, without compromising their ability to restrain the fearsome strength of the adult ship girls."
Shigure shivered at that, wondering how she was to even stand a chance against even a heavy cruiser, remembering the physically imposing Maya that looked as though she could kill Shigure with one punch, conceding the point as she asked the next question.
"So how bad can things get?
I'd like to know some of the cases that you worked on when you worked there."
Akashi smirked, now resting her right cheek on her right fist while her right elbow was placed on the arm rest.
"Ah, ah.
Patient confidentiality."
"But you're not naming specifics, and besides, didn't you say that you'd 'answer a few questions of mine'?"
Shigure retorted, causing Akashi's smile to droop a little as she considered the Shiratsuyu-Class's question, before answering with brutal honesty.
"If you insist.
Arashi is commonly known for causing the sinking of the 1st and 2nd Carrier Division back in the day when the Americans followed her wake as she regrouped with the carriers.
One Arashi was escorting the same carriers as they died around her in the present day, causing a mental relapse on the spot and she almost succeeded in self-termination.
Quite curious, that the trembling of your hand on the gun can cause you to miss your brains and only shoot out your optics, making all the difference between life and death."
Akashi formed a gun with her free hand's index and middle finger and her thumb, giving Shigure a shit-eating grin and letting her tongue out as she put the 'gun' to her temple and mimed pulling the trigger, resuming her resting position before continuing.
"There was also a Kongou who suffered from a broken heart as her Admiral broke up with her, and her emotional breakdown was, well, let's just say nothing short of legendary.
And let's just say that, speaking in a purely utilitarian manner about the responsibilities of being an Admiral, you don't need the use of your limbs to lead a base, just a mind to think up of a plan and a mouth to communicate your thoughts."
Shigure raised her eyebrows to agree with that point, slightly squirming in her seat upon hearing her own comrades acting in such ways upon being thrust in traumatic or unfavorable situation.
But Akashi formed a fist with her free hand and extended her index finger, leaning in close to Shigure and pointing to a point on her forehead as their eyes met, and Akashi's tone was dead-serious about the last case as she explained.
"Right here, through the forehead, is where a cannon round punched through the head of a Kai Ni Shigure, and a little like the curious case of Phineas Gage, her personality was warped so much from a well-adjusted leader of the base into someone with barely any personality, and no remorse about shooting her own teammate for hindering her fleet's progress."
Shigure's eyes widened at that, covering her forehead with both hands in a defensive gesture as Akashi leaned back, intertwining the fingers of both her hands as she explained herself.
"You may have heard a few things about me from your teammates, and I couldn't really bring myself to care about what they say about me behind my back, be it good or bad.
But know that I do want to prevent any harm, be it physical, emotional or psychological from befalling you in the first place, instead of sticking around to pick up the pieces after the damage has been done, which, sadly, happens far too often despite our best efforts."
Shigure drew back a little our of surprise as Akashi leaned in, the repair ship relaxing as she asked, giving the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer a warm smile and doing her best to look approachable as she leaned back.
"So I know that you might have been expecting this, but I'd still like to ask you this generic, but well-meaning question.
How are you doing today, Shigure?"
Tenryuu was rather worried about her comrade who was now in the company of the naval base's infamous repair ship, who was known not for her treatment techniques, which worked extremely well due to her desire to help everyone in the base with their issues and her experience in wielding a surgical knife.
No, what she was known for was her classified past that she was reluctant to share with anyone but her bosom buddies that were the members of the 8th Fleet (they were all rather well-stacked, which meant that phrase could also be taken literally).
But shaking her head to get her mind back into the practice session, she glanced around and noted the fact that most of the two fleets had broken up into 1 on 1 individualized training sessions, before looking back at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser Ashigara standing before her on the training grounds, giving her a small lecture on the ship girl body to get her to be more well-acquainted with their limits.
"The ship girl body is an engineering marvel, and can accomplish many feats.
But we're bound by this physical realm and its rules, and no matter what anyone says, ultimately being part machine, everyone has a limit.
Don't let anyone tell you different."
Tenryuu's shoulders deflated a little at that reality check, but Ashigara patted her shoulder in order to cheer her up, letting her in on one thing that she discovered in her years of service.
"But don't feel too defeated just yet, alright?
I'll tell you one thing, and that these bodies, they were designed to be flat-rated, or at least, that's what I heard people call it.
When we were designed, they didn't want us pushing ourselves so far that our bodies would break down, so they lowered the acceptable limits and told us not to go past them for our own sake.
So when they say that we have limits, those are the limits that we can safely achieve without destroying our bodies.
But in reality, we can go beyond those limits when we're pushed far enough."
Ashigara's face darkened, as Tenryuu's face hardened in response and listened even closer to Ashigara's warning that came after the revelation.
"But remember, that what I'm telling you right now, is something that you should attempt only in a dire situation.
Because if you exceed your limits too much, your body is prone to breaking down and sustaining wear and tear that needs special repairs or replacement of entire body parts.
And if worst comes to worst, you need to be benched and hospitalized for a few months, far longer than any battleship or carrier.
So in case I didn't make myself clear, this is a LAST RESORT."
Tenryuu nodded, understanding Ashigara's concerns, and asked her coach,
"So then, what can I do to improve myself?"
Ashigara's face softened, and she regained her smirk as she stood on the ocean. Today's weather was rather lax, seeing that the spring sun was starting to beat down on them a little harsher now, but the drifting cloud masses came to their rescue by blocking most of it, making the ambient temperature bearable.
"What we can do, is to learn our limits, and work within them.
As an example, if you know that you can go all-out at 100% for 5 minutes, after which you can only access 80% of your full strength for the next 5 minutes, that's good.
And if you know the time limit for your limit-break, for example, you know that you can access 120% for exactly 5 seconds without compromising your current physical condition, that's excellent."
Looking down at her sword, Tenryuu was surprised as Ashigara pointed down at her sword and politely demanded.
"And not to sound as if I'm changing the topic too quickly, but what's your sword's name?"
Ashigara paused as her head tilted, trying not to sound impolite as she asked Tenryuu.
"I can't keep calling it 'the sword' or 'your sword' in case you have a name for it…"
"Oh,"
Tenryuu finally understood the question, and held up her sheathed sword, proudly proclaiming,
"My sword's got a strong-sounding name that I found on the internet!
Her name is Ezekiel!
But why would you want to know that?"
Ashigara nodded as she went into detail about the weapons that were created along with certain ship girls to complement their fighting styles.
"You see, when you were created, Ezekiel was created with the steel used to create you, and the material was infused with a pinch of carbon and bauxite to strengthen it to the point where it would be called an Anti-Abyssal Weapon."
Raising her gloved palm to ask Tenryuu to stick with her as she elaborated on the nature of these unconventional weapons.
"Technically, all our weapons can be considered Anti-Abyssal Weapons, but the clearest definition to distinguish these unique weapons that were created upon your inception are,
'Weapons that cannot be cataloged within the naval arsenal that was used in World War 2'."
Ashigara looked Tenryuu in the eye, asking sternly.
"Do you get me, Tenryuu?
Ezekiel is an Anti-Abyssal Weapon that transcends the normal weapons that we equip on ourselves, since this weapon answers to you and you alone, much like Tatsuta's glaive and Murakumo's antenna-shaped staff, amongst others.
It's made of the same steel that makes up you, and reinforced to make it quite literally, cutting-edge technology that few ship girls possess."
Tenryuu's ear flaps were now waggling excitedly by that point in time, thinking up of various ways that she could destroy Abyssals while remembering the times she spent with Kiso playing make-believe and coming up with the names to cool moves.
But Ashigara lightly flicked Tenryuu's forehead, bringing her back to reality as she pointed out the hard work required to achieve anything close what Tenryuu was conjuring up in her mind.
"Hey.
Don't just imagine that you can do whatever you please, now that you learnt that your sword can potentially cut through almost any Abyssal's skin.
Training yourself up in terms of physical strength is a given, since it's useless if the swing of your sword has no strength behind it."
Tenryuu's mechanical ears drooped a little at that, but she knew that this was a given, seeing that a ship girl needed to be strong to wield an 'unconventional' weapon like a sword properly, as all that is required of a ship girl to fire a handheld cannon is to pull the trigger.
But Tenryuu also asked a question of her own as she thought about the enemies that she could only get a glimpse of before the senior fleets took over the battle.
"Ashigara-san, I too, would like to change the topic to ask how powerful are the stronger enemies that are out there?
A-And when I saw one, it had a sort of aura around it, like it was on another level that I knew I didn't stand a chance against..."
Ashigara nodded, explaining the enemies that possessed greater stats than the rank-and-file Abyssals.
"Aye, those Abyssals are Elites, or what you would know as the Kai versions of the enemies that you normally face on the battlefield.
And that aura is something that stems from the soul of a ship girl bleeding out of her own corporeal body upon being remodeled."
Tenryuu was admittedly rather confused about what was spewing from Ashigara's mouth, in which Ashigara scratched her head, trying to explain things in a way that Tenryuu could understand as she continued.
"Imagine a being that inspires awe and fear in you because of the power it exudes, and to some extent, this applies to ship girls when we are remodeled and become stronger because of it, as the power that our soul exudes is used to make up a significant portion of the power required to drive our superhuman bodies.
This is something that humans do not possess as they do not pose a threat to us in terms of raw power, but rather in terms of intelligence.
What I'm trying to say, is that no matter how hard we try, we will always have that air around us, where the size we previously possessed and the power that we naturally wield as ships will be felt by everyone around us, because ultimately, in here…"
Ashigara pointed to her own heart, as she sadly smiled.
"...we are ultimately warships given human-like forms."
Tenryuu nodded in understanding, mentally referring to powerful and legendary battleships like Yamato and Nagato.
The warships themselves, in their previous lives, had not just their immense size, but also an air of strength and superiority that complemented their large, powerful cannons and impenetrable armor.
So it wasn't surprising that in this life, the same powerful air around them would be compressed along with the size of their vessels that were their bodies, so much so that you could almost feel the strength radiating from their very presence, something that could easily help them distinguish a ship girl from a human.
Tenryuu asked,
"Well, being a senior ship girl and a Kai Ni ship girl, are you capable of such a feat, Ashigara-san?"
The Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser didn't respond to that for a while as the adult ship girl closed her eyes, her face a picturesque example of peace as Tenryuu waited, wondering what her senior was up to.
But an explosion of feral might from the heavy cruiser's very being was what took the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser by surprise, the purple-haired ship girl gripping the scabbard of her sword out of a natural reflex to be ready to quick-draw her sword at the drop of a hat as Ashigara's eyelids lifted open, her savage aura emanating out of her.
And the sheer ferocity behind her shrunken pupils was what got to Tenryuu as she felt her own feet shift backwards out of fear, and the sweat that started to line her forehead as she grabbed the handle of her sword, unable to do anything in the face of such bestial strength that seeped from Ashigara's pores.
But the heavy cruiser's voice was snapped her out of her fearful trance, Ashigara leaning forward and stretching her arm outward to point it in Tenryuu's general direction as she reassured Tenryuu.
"It's alright.
That fear you feel, the sweat on your skin and the slight trembling of your hands and feet.
It's a natural response when facing off against someone far more powerful than you."
Tenryuu was about to proclaim that she wasn't scared of anything, but the heavy cruiser's stare only intensified, shutting Tenryuu up as the Myoukou-Class had predicted her response and wordlessly communicated through her eyes,
'Don't even say it.
You know you're just lying to yourself.'
Ashigara moved her outstretched hand back towards herself, pressing her gloved hand on her bosom as she continued in a lecturing tone.
"I didn't want to show you this, but I'd rather you feel this killing intent now than freeze up in front of an Abyssal in the middle of combat.
And I must say that the goal you set for yourself is quite a lofty one.
Let me guess, 'To fight and win against Abyssals and ship girls stronger than me on paper, and to hit above my own class', or something along those lines, right?"
Tenryuu started, clenching her teeth in indignation before she shouted,
"I get it, alright?!
It must sound stupid to someone who's Kai Ni, that someo-"
"It's not stupid."
Tenryuu was stunned at that, drawing back with only a stunned,
"What?"
As Ashigara's aura relaxed in intensity as she corrected the light cruiser's thinking.
"It's not stupid, as there are a lot of ship girls known for fighting Abyssals that are stronger and winning. Most of the time.
What matters is how creative you get, and how dedicated you are to improving yourself and defying the limits that your stats set for you."
Tenryuu blinked, never having thought about things that, watching Ashigara hold out a finger to point in Tenryuu's direction as she pointed out a few things about the light cruiser herself.
"I know that you might have a few issues with not having Kai Ni..."
Tenryuu winced at that, clutching her sword a little tighter upon hearing that, but Ashigara pointed out something about her that she never stopped to think of.
"But since when did you think that our stats were the end-all-be-all of our abilities?"
Tenryuu started, and Ashigara clued her in as to how mindbogglingly large this world was as she explained.
"I might seem fearsome now, but know that I'm not the only one who's achieved this level of strength, and out there are ship girls from destroyers to battleships who are just as strong as I am.
And the Abyssal Princesses?
They're far stronger than me, and like you, I can't help but feel fear in their presence.
And sometimes, retreat is the best course of action despite wanting to pick a fight."
Tenryuu was rather taken aback at that, knowing that her senior had likely been through quite a number of large-scale battles herself.
But to think that someone as respected and powerful like Ashigara could feel fear, and even had to retreat a few times in the presence of an Abyssal Princess?
But Ashigara again pointed to her as she continued.
"So that fear you feel, and cause you to keep a distance of three paces from your opponent?
That's the difference that's going to keep you alive in battle as you don't just fight harder, but also fight smarter to hit above your ship class.
And besides, that distance can be easily covered by your little friend, as well as your comrades, right?"
Tenryuu jerked her head down to see her own sword Ezekiel, by her side and ready to be drawn and used in battle, Tenryuu mentally smacking herself in the head and remembering that she wasn't exactly alone on the battlefield.
Ashigara tilted her head forward to cast a shadow over her own face despite the morning air shining down on them, lowering her arms to form clenched fists beside her body as she finished her lecture with a question, the aura intensifying to make her look and feel as fearsome as any Abyssal despite lacking the intent to kill.
"The lack of Kai Ni doesn't diminish the fact that your fighting spirit is going to drive you on with the drive of ten ship girls.
But that does not overcome the fact that you're created to be considerably weaker than everyone else, and if you're going to fight, you're going to have to also fight smarter as well as harder.
So I suppose the final question is, Tenryuu, that even in the face of a stronger opponent like myself, and knowing that despite me going easy on you, that you're likely not going to win.
So are you going to fight anyway?"
Tenryuu snarled, drawing her sword as she gave Ashigara a shit-eating grin as she answered defiantly.
"No fucking way!
I know the difference between wisely retreating and putting your foot down and not be pushed about by others who are stronger than you!
If I can't stand up to someone who's nowhere near the strongest, then how am I going to progress from here on out?!"
"Stubborn, just like me!
But I don't dislike that kind of tenacity!
En garde!"
And the two ship girls rushed towards each other, their weapons blazing and the light cruiser's sword, Ezekiel, reflecting rays of sunlight as they clashed on the ocean surface.
Admiral Mako was slinking down her own chair as she sat in her own office, waiting for the Infiltration Fleet to show up as she nursed her back.
Geez, she was didn't want to sound like an old person as she was only 32 years old, but she was still human, and the fact that so many ship girls either glomped or tackled her affectionately took a strain on her back and body, and even a little destroyer weighed a fair bit heavier than the average human adult with her ship girl mode off.
She was wondering if she could at least request for a brace to be installed on her back before another heavy cruiser, or God forbid, Kongou accidentally sprain her back the next time she interacted with them again, relaxing as stretching like a cat would as she basked in the sunlight that was streaming in from the windows.
But that was neither here nor there as she heard a knock on the door, Admiral Mako straightening up in her chair as she curtly announced,
"Enter."
The door creaked open, and the Infiltration Fleet filed in with Sendai in the lead, being one of the best combatants in the night, and her obsession with night battles had also lent itself well in helping her learn about stealth, a coveted skill in the Infiltration Fleet.
Kagerou was talking animatedly to Shiranui, and she had an ahoge sticking out her forehead, colored a chestnut-auburn like the rest of her hair that was tied back in two ponytails with the help of yellow ribbons, and her collared white uniform was covered by a grey waistcoat, her similarly grey skirt covering her black compression shorts.
She had a green string tied around her collar, and her pristine-white gloves were holding the hand of her beloved sister ship.
Her cheery demeanor was a stark contrast to the pink haired destroyer beside her, the destroyer that was known as Shiranui of the Kagerou-Class destroyers, who spotted the same uniform save for a red thread tied around her collar in the style of a bow tie, and her blue eyes were steady and composed as she entered, much like the last destroyer beside her.
Arare was of the Asashio-Class destroyers, and her uniform consisted of a grey waist high skirt held up by overalls straps that reached up to her shoulders, wearing the same collared white shirt and school socks that stretched the length of her calves like the rest of the destroyers present.
She also had on dark grey cycling arm warmers, colored like her short hair that was held down by a chimney-like hat was strapped onto her head, the strap visible underneath her chin.
Together, the three destroyers and the sole light cruiser were the 'muscle' of the fleet, going into situations and didn't carry too much with them during stealth missions to ensure a fast travelling speed, and a faster retreat if necessary.
Chitose the light carrier was wearing a white blouse that was straining to hold itself together at the chest, with a red dress over her black vest and a headband crowning her swept silver hair.
She was the scout and the Team Mom, and her planes could give the team a heads up when enemies were coming, and rain fire down on the enemies.
The final member, a submarine, was known less by her designated I-58 and more as Goya. A white and blue schoolgirl uniform top over a school swimsuit, and a strange ornament atop bright pink hair, a fitting match to her exuberant personality and expression.
The secondary scout to sneak below and stalk the enemies due to her capability to submerge underwater, she could scout out Abyssal fleets undetected and to strike where they least expect it.
They all saluted the Admiral, to which Admiral Mako waved at them to acknowledge their greeting as she got to the point.
"Alright, I gathered you here today because I've got a top-secret sortie for you girls to go on."
The ship girls were now a little more serious, even someone like Goya hardening her expression and listening to their commanding officer with rapt attention.
"This is considered a classified mission, and I know that you girls are professional enough to not divulge this to anyone, right?"
They all nodded resolutely, and Admiral Mako resisted cracking a smile at seeing how mature some of these ship girls were, and how they could take on such heavy responsibilities without question, continuing.
"Well, the recent Abyssal movements and strange phenomena occurring around the world are enough for me to suspect that they're trying to pull off something large, and you know what that means.
I need you to go to this area..."
Spinning her laptop around to display the coordinates of the island that they were going to infiltrate, and the general layout of the islands that could be gleamed from both satellites in space and previous illustrations of the island itself, continuing,
"This island's sitting slightly beyond the Safety Zone, and it's currently uninhabited since we pushed out into their territory.
We were certain that the Abyssals were occupying it, although we never uncovered the full details of what they had on the island other than a production factory as the Abyssals pushed back before we could do a thorough sweep of the perimeter."
The girls shifted, remembering the push into the Pacific last autumn as the Abyssals defended these little islands with a vigor that was rarely seen, before abandoning them entirely and taking the ship girls by surprise, before they shortly came back with more of their buddies and drove the ship girls back.
The island was last reported to still be uninhabited by even the Abyssals, but there was no telling when the Abyssals were going to put an end to that.
"I need you to sail there, which we estimate to be take up to a day, since we included the time you need to wait for sundown while skirting the Safety Zone before entering Abyssal waters under the cover of night.
Search the entire island for whatever they may have hidden on the island to clue us in on their activities, and since we have the rough timetable concerning the Abyssals' movements, we need you to capture a Wo-Class when an Abyssal patrol comes by around this time and approaches the island."
There was activity at the door again just as the ship girls were about to ask how they were going to do just that, Kirishima opening the door and nodding to both the Admiral and the Infiltration Fleet, both parties reciprocating the motion.
Kirishima walked in whilst carrying a small handheld case, the Kongou-Class battleship turning around addressing the confused ship girls as her every footstep made the floorboards creak.
The innocuous steel case was held out for the Infiltration Fleet to observe, the Kongou-Class fast battleship unlocking it to display a medical syringe with a needle to load, explaining herself.
"Seeing that the Admiral's displayed the time that the Abyssal patrol is estimated to arrive at the abandoned island and their usual patrol route, I suppose this's my part to introduce our new toys."
Pushing the case out for the interested ship girls to observe, Kirishima elaborated on what the item was used for.
"This here's a fluid that contains nano-machines to counteract the 'mental suicide' ability all Abyssals share to prevent capture and interrogation.
You need to inject this in the Abyssal at the nape of the Wo-Class's neck to stop her, since their minds use the port located there to send signals to the various weapons connected to them to self destruct, and we can use that to hack the mind directly and stop the order before it's carried out."
Kirishima flipped the box in a manner that caused the lid of the case to close on itself, clicking closed as Kirishima now held the case closer to her protectively as she continued.
"And if you'll follow me, I'd like to show one other equipment that we'd rather not bring out here, since it's classified and in the field-testing stage."
Kagerou raised her hand as she pointed out bluntly to make sure that they were on the same page.
"And we're the field testers, right?
So how are you so sure that the equipment's gonna work?!"
But Kirishima only pushed up her glasses, catching the sunlight and her lenses turning white as she simply commented.
"I was the one who designed this experimental tool and built it.
Barring a few limitations that we're still working on, I stake my pride as the base's engineer on the personal guarantee that it'll work."