It was difficult to find something to talk to Saratoga about, since she was a newly spawned, impressionable ship girl who hadn't been exposed to the wonders of the modern age long enough to have any preferences for any topics.
So Hiei and company had to spend the entire time walking to the viewing theater in an awkward silence, and since she didn't know Saratoga long enough to know which topics were sensitive and others were alright with her, Hiei opted for the silent treatment, but only because she didn't want to dredge up any bad memories and start their relationship off on the wrong foot.
And upon reaching the viewing theater, Nagato turned to Saratoga and explained how this viewing theater was used to bring new ship girls and sailors up to speed about the war.
"Alright, Saratoga-san.
This is a small theater to show you a video in order to bring you up to speed with the Abyssal War.
And after this, we'll try and get some lunch before I escort you around the base and introduce you to everyone."
But Saratoga had a different idea, requesting for an extended history lesson.
"Um, if it's not too much of me to ask, I'd like to learn more about what the technology and weapons of today are like.
Perhaps it's my nature as an American to be interested in weapons, but after seeing the 8th Fleet in action, it's certainly caught my interest…"
Haruna nodded as she agreed amiably, Hiei seeing that despite her sister ship feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of the American carrier, she genuinely wanted to be close with Saratoga in order to establish strong ties with their former adversaries and repair emotional wounds for the greater good.
"Certainly.
In some sense, war is a technological race, and it'd be understandable if you wish to keep up with the times in terms of technological advancements.
This way please."
Saratoga nodded as Haruna gestured towards the entrance of the theater, and Shigure gently pushed the carrier into the viewing theater in order to get the show on the road while Nagato placed a comforting shoulder on Saratoga before the three of them disappeared into the dimly-lit room, but Hiei was left with Haruna outside the theater as she asked her sister how she felt about this.
"Haruna…
How're you holding up so far?"
Haruna's smiled drooped a little as she lowered her gaze, exhaling as she responded silently, for fear that the carrier would overhear them talking behind her back.
"I...I do not know, Hiei nee-sama.
I suppose… I should feel happy that we're blessed enough to receive another carrier, which helps us bolster our forces, but…"
Hiei tried to finish the sentence for her.
"But you aren't sure whether you should dislike her for being American?"
Haruna's eyes widened as she held up both arms placatingly in order to refute Hiei's suggested question as she responded, almost panicked and trying not to dredge up bitter feelings.
"Oh, oh no, nee-sama!
She did not ask to be spawned here, of all places, and as an American, no less!
And we are now allies with the Americans, so there should not be any feelings of resentment between us in order to work with them.
It's just that Haruna immediately thought about American bomber planes when I saw her, and…"
Lowering her hands, Haruna seemingly deflated as she finished the sentence and remembered how she sank at the hands of several hundred bomber planes flying over her at Kure, raining Hell upon her and several other warships before sinking them all.
"It just reminds of Kure, and how I sank there…"
Hiei said nothing, but brought her in for a reassuring hug as she empathized with Haruna, sharing with her how she sank.
"You don't have to say anything, Haruna.
I understand how it feels like to sink while coming under fire from bombers.
Enterprise sank me with her planes in Guadalcanal along with the help of USS San Francisco, remember?
Although I do believe the credit mostly went to Enterprise..."
Haruna nodded solemnly as she inhaled deeply, allowing the mood to settle down as the both of them tried to calm themselves down and not allow this to devolve into a pity party, Hiei trying to lighten up the mood by stating.
"Well, if we really wanted a real headache on our hands, we would have received Enterprise instead of Saratoga.
No offense to The Grey Ghost, but her presence here would drive the carriers of the 1st and 5th Carrier division nuts trying to out-perform her along with giving the 1st and 2nd Carrier Division major PTSD attacks, and her presence alone would send about a quarter of us into panic attacks everywhere she went."
Haruna snickered, trying not to laugh at the sight of Kaga and Zuikaku, the hardcore carriers who were present in this base, pull at their hairs while trying to outperform the legendary American carrier, and responded with a fair bit of mirth.
"And would you be amongst those who would be afraid of her?"
Hiei thought about how she would react to her killer, before understanding that the warships of both sides were simply performing their duties to the best of their abilities in World War 2.
She answered simply.
"Yes.
For a while, at least."
And Haruna probed deeper in order to determine if her sister was capable of forgiving someone who sank her.
"And would you forgive her, nee-sama?"
Hiei blinked upon hearing this, and pushed herself away from her sister in order to contemplate the question while looking at a concerned Haruna, who was trying to get her to open up to her sister ship about her sinking and confront it, because the both of them knew that the world was becoming increasingly connected.
It was simple for Hiei and her fleet to be sent overseas, and it was entirely possible that the longer Hiei lived, the greater her chances of meeting either Enterprise or San Francisco and having to come to terms with her own sinking through the combined efforts of both carrier and cruiser.
She knew the textbook answer to this question should a civilian or reporter ask them this question, where the ship girl in question should give the model answer.
'Of course!
The past is in the past, and we should put aside our past grudges in order to work together to defeat the Abyssals!'
But in reality, things were a lot more complicated than that, since every ship girl differed in personality and could range from being entirely fine with forgiving the foreign ship girl who sank her at the drop of a hat, to harboring a grudge for years on end and never considering forgiveness as a possibility for them, making foreign operations extremely difficult for everyone.
The possibility of a ship girl turning out to be the latter was extremely rare, but with twenty years of producing an innumerable variety of ship girls, there were certainly a few of them around the world who were placed on the watch-list immediately after being brought into this world, although they were given several chances to overcome their hatred as part of their ship girl rights.
For Hiei, she wasn't sure if she was magnanimous enough to forgive Enterprise immediately after meeting her like the saintly Haguro and Chitose, but she wasn't the kind of ship girl to hold onto a grudge forever.
Was she?
Finally, Hiei looked Haruna in the eye as she gave her sister her honest answer.
"I'll do my best to forgive her, because there's no possibility of teamwork if we keep holding onto these grudges and feelings of animosity.
But I admit it won't be easy for me to do so for Enterprise and San Francisco, the latter having disabled my steering with her shells while the former bombarded me with her planes."
While looking away as she brooded, this being an entirely new thing for her as she saw herself as quite energetic and cheery, but was surprising even herself as she responded maturely.
"But those hypothetical scenarios can wait for the future.
Right now, I'm more worried about Yukikaze, who was my escort ship back then.
I've always wanted to talk to her to help her come to terms with any negative feelings she might still harbor after scuttling me all those years ago.
But despite being a fast battleship, she's always evaded me as though she knows when I'm approaching her to talk about her actions at Guadalcanal.
It's getting rather vexing, really…"
Haruna gave a small smile as she made a suggestion to help her beloved sister out.
"To Haruna's knowledge, Yukikaze-san still receives counselling sessions from Akashi-san, right?
You can ask Akashi-san to arrange a session where you talk to Yukikaze-san with her…"
Hiei's face lit up as she saw the ingenuity in that plan, slapping her palms on her sister's shoulders as she exclaimed, breaking out into a smile.
"That's genius, Haruna!
Thank you so much!"
Jumping and glomping her sister with a bear hug and with a wide smile on her face, Haruna was caught off-guard as she warned,
"Nee-sama!
I can't…"
As Hiei felt the world spin about her while Haruna was thrown off-balance by Hiei's hug, Hiei falling on her back and landing on the wooden long tiles that made up the floor as Hiei winced at the floorboards hitting her back, thankfully cushioned somewhat by the two hospital gowns shielding her back.
Haruna fell on her and tried to slap a palm on the floor to stop her face from meeting Hiei's, but her hand slipped as she fell forwards, almost parallel to Hiei as her lips met Hiei's for a split second.
They both gasped as Haruna hastily lifted her face while still sitting on Hiei, but they then both broke out into embarrassed smiles as their spirits were a raised a little after her own antics eased the mood, and she now felt rather invigorated after knowing that Shigure was alive, she had an idea of how to get through to Yukikaze, she had quite the productive discussion with Haruna about her past and Yokosuka now had a new carrier within their ranks, further bolstering their forces and increasing their air-power.
This was turning out to a good day indeed.
Walking into the theater while Nagato's last recorded lines played,
"... comrades to sail into battle with.
And as one ship girl to another, welcome back."
Hiei noted that Shigure was sitting to the left, with Nagato in the middle of the seated trio while Saratoga sat closest to the entrance, the Lexington-Class carrier waving them in as she invited.
"Welcome in.
This is quite the documentary, a simple yet effective method of enlightening newcomers and bringing them up to speed on the situation.
But, Nagato-san, if you please?"
Nagato nodded understandingly got up from her seat, motioning with her head for Hiei and Haruna to take her spot as she walked towards a black door with the sign,
'WARNING
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'
Behind them, notifying the Kongou-Class battleships about what they were going to view next.
"Saratoga-san requested for this, so I'll be playing the disc with the prerecorded footage about technological developments, both in the United States and around the world.
We should be in time for lunch after this, so don't worry."
Hiei and Haruna nodded, Hiei sitting beside Shigure while Haruna sat beside Saratoga, Hiei hearing her sister politely start a conversation with the Lexington-Class carrier about the documentary of the Abyssal War as Hiei looked down at Shigure and asked concernedly.
"Shigure.
Does it hurt anywhere?"
Shigure shook her head truthfully, but Hiei was worried that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was trying to put up a brave front regarding the amount of fatigue she had sustained thus far, blinking constantly to keep herself awake and subtly clutching at her stomach as she hadn't eaten breakfast yet.
Hiei mentally grimaced as she put on a worried smile, gently clutching at Shigure hand to tell her in a serious voice, since this concerned her friend's well-being.
"Shigure, if you can't handle the hunger, I'm carrying you out of this theater and feeding you myself."
And Shigure responded weakly,
"Well, I'm actually a little more worried about dozing off after staying up all night to fight an Abyssal Princess.
And if that happens, I'd prefer to get some sleep rather than eat a meal, since as ship girls, we can go for quite a long period of time without food.
But the lack of sleep will slowly induce fatigue, which is harder to recover from."
Hiei nodded as the theater went dark again, halting all conversations as the screen displayed the ship girl symbol with the Japanese characters '艦これ' in large golden fonts with a laurel wreath and a gold anchor beneath the wreath where the two branches met.
And finally, the screen changed to show a small auditorium and a ship girl taking the stage, Hiei recognizing USS Maryland on the screen as she bowed, her dark hair shifting gracefully as she introduced herself.
"Greetings.
I am USS Maryland, and we are gathered here today to learn about technological advancements made after the war in order to understand how we reached from simple rotary phones to hand-phones with various miscellaneous features.
Please note that what we are going over are extremely simplified summaries in the interest of time, so if you are still confused and are suffering from what we term 'future shock' and feel as if you are unable to adapt to the modern age by yourself, feel free to ask your Admiral or senior ship girls for help."
The screen behind her shifted to a picture of the Able and Baker Tests at Bikini Atoll, both Nagato and Saratoga freezing up upon witnessing the two mushroom clouds of doom, although Hiei could tell through her hearing that Nagato handled it better than Saratoga did, since living for so long gave her more time to come to terms with her past trauma.
Saratoga was a little worse off in that regard as her hand was shaking a little, but Haruna and Nagato were there for her as both of them held each hand in order to comfort her as Maryland began the lesson.
"We, the Americans, conducted Operation Crossroads at the island of Bikini Atoll in order to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships.
And during the Cold War, we pushed our technological prowess to the limit, to the point where we developed nuclear weapons that functioned primarily on nuclear fusion, the reaction which powers the sun."
The next picture was of a plane flying above the clouds, likely in the stratosphere as the mother of all mushroom clouds drew everyone's attention, the lens flare which was the sun slightly irradiating the picture but was still overshadowed by the gigantic mushroom cloud, easily punching through the layer of clouds and reaching for the heavens.
"This picture was taken 161 kilometers from the detonation of the Tsar Bomba, and this mushroom cloud was 56 kilometers tall when this picture was taken.
It was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, and all buildings within 55 kilometers were annihilated, shattering windowpanes as far away as 900 kilometers from the point of detonation.
Fortunately, despite the Cold War culminating in the climax that was the Cuban Missile Crisis, saner minds prevailed and we were fortunate enough not to have started another world war, which would no doubt have ended everything within a matter of minutes, if not hours.
Onto lighter matters."
The screen was now replaced with a black-and-white picture of a plane with a sharp, domed nose, a sleek fuselage and swept-back wings with two mean-looking engines to provide the thrust needed to fly the plane, with one engine beneath each wing.
The fact that the Nazi swastika symbol was imprinted on the rudder of the plane and on the rear fuselage didn't escape anyone's notice, but everyone in the theater knew to leave the topic alone as this was obviously a Luftwaffe plane.
"We developed several new airplanes in order to fly at faster speeds after studying the swept-back wing designs and turbojet engines of the Messerschmitt Me 262, eventually developing fighter planes which could break the sound barrier.
Weapons guidance technology has also come a long way, and these planes possess the capability of locking onto enemy signatures and firing homing missiles.
As part of the human effort to help us fight the Abyssal War, these fast-response fighter jets have played an integral role in providing us backup with their improved performance and payloads over the two decades."
The next video was of a fighter jet, the video being too grainy to make out the specific model despite being in color, but the fighter jet was sleek and had swept-back wings not unlike the Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 262, and as it flew across the bright blue air with a few wisps of clouds in the background, it was clear from the speed of the plane that it was far faster than any World War 2 combat plane ever created.
And when it approached the speed of sound, the fighter plane had some sort of foggy cone being blasted backwards as the fighter jet flew past the cameraman, the crack of the sonic boom occurring shortly afterwards before the plane disappeared into the blue sky.
The next two pictures were of the Apollo 13 Space Shuttle, a strangely-styled black-and-white plane with symbol of the American flag and 'USA' emblazoned on its left wing, its fuselage coupled to the conspicuously-colored orange external tank with two ICBM-looking solid rocket boosters in action, leaving a pillar of incandescent flames behind as they provided the thrust needed to fly the spaceship, Hiei hearing Saratoga gasp in surprise at the size of the spaceship as it left thick, puffy clouds in its wake.
The other picture was of a human in a white spacesuit with a golden visor, and he was standing on a barren land with the pitch-black darkness of space in the background, with the Apollo 11 Lunar Module behind him and the erected American flag beside the astronaut, commenting on the Moon landing.
"In 1969, as part of the Cold War between the Soviets and Americans, the two countries participated in the Space Race, whose ultimate aim was to send humans into space instead of satellites, and ultimately to the moon.
And in response to the Soviets first sending Laika, a Russian dog, and then Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, into space, we sent two Americans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon and back, as you can see in the following video."
The screen behind Maryland cut to a grainy black and white video of said astronaut descending a ladder belonging to the Lunar Module as Hiei gave the American an aside glance, watching Saratoga now become entranced by her country's accomplishment which would be forever remembered as Neil Armstrong said his famous quote.
"'That's one small step for a man… one… giant leap for mankind.'"
Shigure leaned in to quietly ask,
"Did he say, 'one small step for man' or 'for a man'?
If it's the former, then that quote doesn't make much sense."
Hiei leaned in while keeping her eyes on the screen as she explained.
"Neil Armstrong was from Central Ohio.
His thick accent blanketed the 'a', but it's there."
Now shifting to another two pictures, Maryland gestured to a smaller missile, a white tubular fuselage with a rounded tip and orange wings as it blasted across the screen, the other being a gigantic white rocket placed horizontally on a movable platform with 'US AIR FORCE' etched on its side vertically down its fuselage, the battleship explaining the sight behind her.
"Moving on, what we once knew as the V-1 Flying Bomb developed by the Nazis has been improved into this, the American Tomahawk missile and the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM for short.
The smaller Tomahawk is a subsonic cruise missile which has a maximum range of 2500 kilometers while the larger Minuteman missile has a range of 13000 kilometers."
Hiei nodded mutely, now also interested in the history lesson as the screen shifted to a picture of an IBM 5051 with an arrow leading from it to point at an IBM Thinkpad 850, an early laptop model, and another arrow pointing to the chess-playing computer known as Deep Blue.
"Our technology has also improved in order to perform tasks faster, so that computers drastically shrink in size but possess greater performance specs, and it improved to the point where a computer beat a human chess-master, Garry Kasparov, in a chess match.
The development of the computer also brought about the advent of the internet, which allowed much of the world to connect with each other and share information quickly, making current events much easier to follow since a lot of people around the world possess laptops and hand-phones.
So if you're thinking of communicating with a fellow ship girl across the globe, worry not."
The screen changed yet again to show helicopters and submarines, two war vehicles which received a lot of attention in the post-World-War-2-era, Maryland patiently explaining.
"Compared to the technology of our day, which only allowed for the creation of auto-gyros and smaller submarines, they exist today mostly as helicopters and nuclear submarines.
What you see here is a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter with its missiles and machine gun armaments on display, and the Ohio-Class submarine with its missile silos open in order to launch its Trident missiles."
Looking back at the audience, Maryland, being a battleship whom Hiei knew was a hardworking ship girl and was a front-line combatant no matter which base she hailed from, was likely speaking from personal experience.
"These submarines and helicopters, despite being a bit more limited than fighter jets mainly in terms of speed, have also been extremely helpful in other ways by helping us detect and track underwater Abyssal activity with their sonar, and providing extra firepower after taking off from modern helicopter destroyers respectively."
Hiei suddenly felt a small arm curl around her elbow, and she looked down to find Shigure's downcast expression betraying her fear of submarines after she was sunk by USS Blackfin in the war.
The Kongou-Class battleship used her right hand to gently pry her hand off of her elbow, although she still tenderly held it as she used her relatively long left arm to reach across in order to clutch Shigure's left shoulder, bringing her in to embrace her.
Shigure briefly looked up in surprise to find a confident Hiei smiling down at her, and she finally saw the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer believe in her strength and her smile as she leaned on her for support.
Making sure that her little friend felt safe in her embrace before turning back to the screen, Hiei could see the Colorado-Class continuing on like a training cruiser who was tasked with training and enlightening ship girls under her tutelage, smiling warmly as she described the next piece of technology.
"... And thus, with the help of 24 satellites in space, we can help pinpoint your location via the Global-Positioning System almost anywhere on Earth.
And this…"
A laser-guidance system was shown on screen as it explained how it worked, Maryland adding her commentary.
"Is a laser guidance system.
The laser reflects off of the enemy which we point the laser at and is scattered everywhere, and as a weapon, be it a missile, bomb or some other projectile, flies towards the general direction of the target, a laser seeker detects where the laser is reflected from.
It then adjusts its trajectory to hit the target accurately should we keep the laser trained on the enemy, and like what I said about fighter jets and helicopters helping us out by firing their missiles, we occasionally utilize these laser pointers in major battles to direct their payloads towards the Abyssals while danger close."
The video was nearing its end as Maryland was now discussing about tanks, a picture of a M1A1 Abrams tank and a T90 tank, explaining the sight before the audience.
"Nowadays, tanks are also a lot more advanced where they have monitors inside them to display the environment, allied and enemy units, the distance to target and the tank's position on the map via GPS.
This is integral in helping the tank commander improve his or her situational awareness, as well as improving the coordination between units as radio communications have also come a long way since then.
What is also made possible nowadays is the tank's Anti-Missile weapon attachments which help to destroy inbound Anti-Tank missiles that the tank sensors are capable of detecting, and their specially-created composite armor is capable of doing its job by protecting the tank and keeping its occupants alive."
Maryland was now entering the theoretical stage of her lecture, as humans now had the Fairies on their side, who were extremely knowledgeable engineers who could help them speed up their development of futuristic weapons and green vehicles to help improve the energy crisis.
"And with the Fairies helping us with their advanced knowledge of weapons, physics, engineering and various other related fields of science, we are experiencing another burst of technological advancement, and are planning to develop several weapons that are beyond our time.
Amongst them is the railgun."
Now displaying an extremely long, reinforced barrel with the logo,
"GENERAL ATOMICS"
In a white font on the dark railgun barrel that had to be supported at several intervals to prevent it from hitting the floor, with advanced machinery forming a ring at its end as it fed energy into the barrel, its large muzzle covered up for obvious safety reasons.
"This weapon utilizes the Lorentz Force to propel a projectile at supersonic speeds, the projectile theoretically capable of reaching a speed of Mach 7 and annihilating anything on the receiving end with pure kinetic energy.
Efforts are being made to improve both the railgun's accuracy and durability, and results are looking promising."
Now moving on to a lighter topic, the next three pictures were of a Nissan Leaf, a Tesla Roadster and a Toyota Mirai, three Eco-friendly cars that were introduced ahead of their planned schedules due to the little engineers.
Hiei knew that because the Japanese government, in trying to keep the war going while sustaining the livelihood of the Japanese people, publicly cut a deal with the Fairies early on in the war in order to help advance their Eco-friendly technology, making sure that if they were going to win this war and save the world, what was left wouldn't be a smoggy, pollution-filled planet.
The Fairies accepted, not that they needed much of an incentive to do so as they wanted the humans to win as much as the humans themselves did, and these three car models were amongst the now-common Eco-friendly cars that were available on the market, massively cutting down on the amount of fuel used, which was then used to power the Japanese war machine.
"The Fairies have also helped us spearhead the Eco-friendly technology initiative, helping us design and mass-produce vehicles and optimizing existing technology and systems to ensure that carbon emissions are cut down by an estimated 27% every year, and that percentage is increasing annually.
Advances in weather prediction technology helped America mitigate the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and Sandy in 2005 and 2012 respectively, and helped Japan quickly recover from the Fukushima earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident with minimal damage.
These little engineers are truly a godsend to both mankind and ship-girl-kind in more ways than one."
Hiei exhaled as she felt a shiver run down her spine, the air-conditioned cold air getting to her as she realized that in some sense, the Fairies were indeed a godsend, not only to the ship girls who were created by them, but also to humanity, who would've been devastated should they not exist in the first place and these these natural disasters be allowed to run their course.
And the video was about to end, the screen behind Maryland displaying the credits as the Colorado-Class battleship summed up her lecture.
"Since World War 2, technology has come a long way since then, both to improve the human quality of life and to improve the effectiveness of weapons on the battlefield, and eventually also helping to protect the environment in the process.
To learn about our technological advances is to be able to understand how it influences our human lives, our society as a whole and even our battles, as humans try to use their weapons to help back us up on the oceans.
Technology is only going to become even more advanced in the future, and we'd best start getting used to the leaps and bounds in technology that we've made thus far, and will make from here on out."
Before the screen faded to white with the international, golden ship girl symbol '艦これ' appearing again on a white screen before fading to black.
Hiei looked beside her to see a silent Saratoga looking downwards, overwhelmed by the history lesson she just sat through and was trying to comprehend just how far mankind had come even without the Fairies and ship girls.
And looking back to her left after noting that Shigure hadn't asked anything in awhile, found that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was fast asleep while leaning on her, lightly snoring as she seemed to be at peace after fighting so many tough battles within the span of a week.
Looking at the vulnerable form of the sleeping destroyer, Hiei swore that she'd step up her game and strove to do better after she was discharged, since she couldn't let Shigure feel as if she had to carry the team on her own, and made her feel like a burden to the little destroyer.
She was a proud Kongou-Class battleship, and she had to live up to her potential as a battleship for the sake of her teammates.
And strangely enough, the goal of impressing her Onee-sama wasn't on her mind, now also feeling a little tired since she was still supposed to be resting in the docks, the lights slowly coming on as Nagato stood up to start ushering them out of the theater.
Hiei gently turned and got up from her seat in order to lift Shigure up in a bridal carry, Haruna helping Saratoga up as the American battleship meekly asked.
"We've come a long way, haven't we?"
Haruna nodded as they got up, heading for the exit as Saratoga asked the three of them (since Shigure was fast asleep) about the worst-case scenario where other ship girls would ostracize her simply for being an American.
"But...
Even though I'm glad to be brought back into this world, I'm not sure if the ship girls of this base will accept me because of our past and my nationality..."
But Hiei was the one to speak up about how she believed that the ship girls of Yokosuka was going to accept her as a comrade-in-arms, despite needing some time to get used to the idea of an American carrier as a member of their base.
"No.
I think everyone here would need some time to get used to an American newcomer, but they'll accept you soon enough.
I won't say that there won't be some tension between you and several ship girls, namely Ryuujou whom you sank and Takao and Atago whom you bombed at Rabaul, all three of them present in this base."
Saratoga inhaled sharply as the four of them saw the light of day, but Hiei was quick to add as she knew the three ship girls in question quite well.
"Look, they aren't bad girls.
I believe that they'll probably be a little skittish around you for a while, but they'll forgive you soon enough and will revert to being their usual selves around you.
We know that you Americans genuinely want to help, and I trust our ship girls well enough to put aside our differences and past to work together."
Nodding downwards towards a sleeping Shigure in her arms, who looked like a innocent sleeping child as she took a well-deserved break after participating in two major naval battles and no longer had the look of maturity on her face, the look which a few high-performing destroyers often possessed after being forced to grow up too quickly and were thus wise beyond their years.
"If a destroyer can learn to overcome both nationality and history to be one of your first few friends in this life, everyone should be able to do so.
To fail to do so is to disappoint our Admiral, who preaches understanding and acceptance, and would only serve to alienate a powerful teammate.
You're a great comrade and friend to have, and I'll be looking forward to working with you."
Saratoga's cheeks colored a little as she nodded, turning to tell Nagato about what she wanted to do right now after being spawned in the dead of night and having her world rocked by so many changes in such a short span of time.
"I'm sorry, everyone.
I need some time to accept all of this, do you think we can go someplace quiet to eat lunch and dinner together?
And I'd like some time alone to think about and accept all these advancements.
I apologize, but I'm no longer in the mood to meet any more ship girls for the rest of today."
Everyone noted the mental and emotional fatigue in the carrier's expression and demeanor, and Haruna was extremely understanding as she consoled.
"Of course.
We can go to Houshou's establishment to get some food and rest up for the rest of today.
She's a motherly, retired light carrier who runs a bar in lieu of sortieing to fight in battles.
She will understand your plight and allow you to stay there temporarily until you've sorted your thoughts out."
Saratoga nodded as Nagato, ever the silent guardian with her commanding and reassuring presence, led the way as she gave Hiei a quiet nod, an action which Hiei reciprocated as Haruna, Saratoga and Nagato headed towards the Shinsengumi, and Hiei, still carrying Shigure, headed towards the Shiratsuyu-Class bedroom to place Shigure in bed.
She still needed to return to the hospital in order to complete her recovery before continuing her training and sorties, but she was already raring to go all-out.
Saratoga was on an ocean.
She wasn't sure how she arrived here despite knowing that she hadn't sortied yet after being reincarnated, this location obviously looking to be in the middle of nowhere with a small atoll off in the distance, and as Saratoga wondered where she was, she took the time to look around her in order to determine her exact location.
Her engines were turned off, much to her disappointment, but she tried not to make any silly moves as she turned around on the spot to try and observe her surroundings, and picked up a few American buddies of her own.
Sporting a few ghosts on the ocean with her, her radar identified them as American ships, but could only see them as grey, translucent female figures standing on the ocean off in the distance, all silently awaiting something or another.
This was all lost on Saratoga, who tried to hail them by raising her right hand and energetically waving to them in order to get their attention, spotting Arkansas the Wyoming-Class battleship, the amphibious assault ship LSM-60, Hughes the Sims-Class destroyer and Nagato the battleship further behind them…
Wait, what?
Saratoga squinted in order to see further across the ocean, and there she was, the damaged Nagato-Class battleship standing proudly on the ocean, and unlike the rest of the ship girls, Nagato was shown in all her glory with her horned gear, skimpy uniform and her hardened expression as Saratoga's eyes widened in shock.
Her expression morphed into one of dread as she took in the sullen body language of a standing Arkansas, the seated, crying form of Hughes with her face in her palms, and the fatigued expression of Nagato.
No.
Not here.
Anywhere but here.
But she had no more time to think as she felt the rumbling of the ocean beneath them, barely a millisecond before she was blown away by a searing shock wave of devastating proportions, almost like Hell itself roared and made the ocean quake in fear as it unleashed a geyser of burning seawater and seabed sand into the air.
Caught in the intense shock-wave, the hot air roasted her steel lungs from the inside and took her by surprise as her skin was singed and emitted wisps of smoke, the raging ocean rolling and shifting as it threatened to bring her to her knees.
The carrier failed to scream in the resulting low-pressure mist known as the Wilson Cloud as it blanketed the entire area, writhing around on the ocean in pain while attempting to shield herself for all the good it did, before the Wilson Cloud evaporated and vanished as soon as it appeared.
But the column of radioactive seawater began its downwards descent as Saratoga collapsed onto the ocean like everyone else around her, watching the base surge of boiling water rush towards her like it was out to get her, further shaking the ocean as it approached her.
Or was that her fearful body shaking?
LSM-60 was long gone after being in the epicenter of the nuclear blast.
Arkansas was partly sunk, her lower torso and legs the only two parts of her that were still above water.
Nagato was doubling over and was coughing up blood into the ocean, and she couldn't crane her head around to see how Hughes was doing.
The resulting 'cauliflower cloud' cast a shadow upon her dying body as she floated on the ocean surface, blanketing the sky and enshrouding the survivors in a looming shadow with its ominous, towering presence that, in Saratoga's dying imagination, almost formed Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
If Yggdrasil were a radioactive mushroom cloud, and its seed was a nuclear bomb.
Somehow, despite experiencing this nightmare for the first time, it felt as if she already knew the outcome to this dream sequence.
And there was nothing she could do to change it.
She closed her eyes as the rumbling of the base surge engulfed her, soaking her from head to toe in ionizing radiation and silencing her screams with boiling, radioactive seawater, the fact that this was all a flashback doing nothing to stop the pain from flooding her systems.
Jolting up to the surprise of Houshou, Saratoga awoke from her nightmare as she almost fell from the couch of the cafe booth in the Shinsengumi, her skin glossy with sweat as the Houshou-Class light carrier came to her rescue with a towel and a bottle of mineral water.
And after a second of apprehension before remembering the situation at hand, where she was now supposed to be friends with the Japanese ship girls, she gave the carrier a weak smile and accepted the two gifts, wiping the sweat from her face as Houshou politely asked.
"Saratoga-san, did you have a nightmare?
It seemed as you were extremely perturbed by whatever you were dreaming about."
Saratoga nodded weakly as she felt as if this was one ship girl whom she could trust to listen to her, mostly because of her motherly appearance and her kind eyes which belied the fact that she, much like Saratoga, had survived the war and had endured the losses of her fellow carriers who sank around her.
"I...
I was dreaming about Operation Crossroads, and I was there with Nagato-san.
...And others."
Houshou's eyes widened before narrowing in understanding, sitting beside her in the cafe booth as she asked with the worry of a mother whose child woke up in the dead of night and was frightened about going back to sleep.
"And would you feel comfortable with sharing with me how this dream sequence went?
While I believe that it's best to be comfortable with sharing these traumatic experiences, please note that I also believe we she should share them when we're emotionally prepared to do so.
I respect your privacy as much as I wish to help you."
Nodding, Saratoga remembered that Haruna, Nagato and Houshou kept her company in the Shinsengumi, since she just wanted to be alone, albeit with someone to accompany her, and Nagato used her authority as a capital ship to keep several curious ship girls at bay for Saratoga's sake.
She spent the entire day in silence with two meals being served by the kind light carrier Houshou, the three of them keeping their meals relatively small for capital ships, since they didn't want to eat a hole into Houshou's food reserves.
Not that Saratoga needed to eat that much in order to think.
Haruna and Nagato essentially took a day off as they kept her company until she asked the two of them to leave her be for tonight at Houshou's bar, the two battleships reluctantly agreeing to her request as they retired for the night.
Focusing on the present, Saratoga opted to compromise as she answered the light carrier,
"Well, forgive me if I wish to keep this experience close to the chest, even if for a while before I feel comfortable with sharing it with you in the future.
But I appreciate your concern and your presence, and I wish you'll stay here with me while I recover, please."
Houshou displayed her warmest smile, which made Saratoga feel a little warm inside as she saw the Houshou-Class light carrier making herself comfortable on the couch while agreeing to her request.
"Of course, Saratoga-san.
You're now a part of this base, and you're one of us now, so don't hesitate to ask anything of us."
Nodding, Saratoga relaxed in the presence of the light carrier who showered her with maternal concern, something she never thought she needed while alone in a foreign land, asking innocently.
"W-Well, this is the first I've asked of anybody, but I'd prefer it if you called me Sara.
Maybe it just feels a little awkward for you to call me by my full name while you're the motherly figure of this base, but I think if I were to allow anyone to call me by that nickname, I'd prefer it if you were the first."
Houshou nodded understandingly as she accepted another request.
"Of course, Sara."
And they spent about fifteen minutes sitting there in the silent, deserted pub, with Houshou sitting beside her and keeping Saratoga calm with her presence alone, while Saratoga occasionally took sips of water to pass the time.
And the IJN carrier must've been contemplating something or another, as she seemed to recall something and notified Saratoga.
"Perhaps this is not my place to reveal such things to others, but seeing that the both of you participated in the same event, I do believe you should at least be notified of this, Sara-san.
I believe Nagato-san had the same nightmare about Operation Crossroads, shortly after she was created.
And seeing you appear in this base might cause her to experience the same nightmare again, much like how seeing Nagato caused you to experience this nightmare."
Saratoga's interest was piqued, asking how the light carrier sounded so certain about this prediction of hers.
It sounded plausible when one considered how both parties reacted upon seeing each other, and it'd make sense if both ship girls experienced the same nightmare that was Operation Crossroads, albeit from different perspectives.
But Houshou simply answered with an enigmatic, yet caring,
"Call it a mother's intuition, after caring for so many ship girls for so long."
Saratoga exhaled tiredly as she nodded, thanking her for this tidbit of information to inform her that she was not alone.
"Thank you, I suppose."
And Houshou offered a suggestion of her own to help Saratoga get over her nightmare.
"You know, I find that one way to get over a nightmare is to walk it off, especially when breathing in the cool, salty harbor air at night would help to ease your nerves.
After all, you are a ship girl, and being close to an environment which you are familiar with would help you, right?"
Saratoga considered the suggestion, before accepting it with a nod of her head as she got up slowly while finishing the bottle of water, thanking.
"Thank you, Houshou-san.
For everything."
Houshou gave her a warm smile as she responded warmly.
"Oh, don't worry about it.
We're all comrades-in-arms now, and in some sense, I also consider us friends and even family to some extent, being fellow carriers in the same base.
Is it presumptuous of me to see our relationship in such a way?"
But Saratoga shook her head, strangely accepting the light carrier's affection and the care that she showed her, an American carrier, despite being on different sides in World War 2.
And yet here Houshou was, worried about her well-being after experiencing a nightmare and admitted that she saw her as a friend and even a family member.
It meant a lot to her, since she was half a world away from her fellow American ship girls and craved this feeling of familial concern more than anything else.
She returned Houshou's smile as she responded warmly.
"No.
I prefer it, actually."
Houshou's suggestion paid off big time, Saratoga now feeling rather relaxed as she walked along the harbor while taking in a breath of the fresh ocean air, feeling at ease as her heels clacked on the hard concrete.
She stopped in her tracks as she looked up at the moon, now appreciating how her new body allowed her to observe the moon in vivid detail, since in her previous life as a warship, the moon was something which didn't even register in her simple warship mind.
But now, she was entranced by the celestial satellite which her countrymen had reached before anyone else, a seemingly impossible task which they had accomplished, making her feel even prouder of her own country.
But upon realizing that she was probably never going to return to America anytime soon...
"Did you have the same nightmare?"
Saratoga whipped her head around to spot Nagato approaching her, in a loose-fitting pair of white shirt and pants that reached down to her knees, likely her pajamas which covered up far more than what her usual uniform did.
Saratoga blinked in surprise upon seeing that Houshou's intuition was correct, and was slightly surprised upon seeing the Nagato-Class battleship locating her so easily, but realized that she would likely have visited Houshou's bar to find her, before asking where she went and Houshou would answer her honestly.
She looked away and gave her the silent treatment, not out of spite, but because she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about such things, even if it was to another ship girl who participated in Operation Crossroads.
But Nagato audibly sighed as she sat herself down besides Saratoga on the harbor and looked up at the moon, which was almost entirely illuminated by the sun, Saratoga pausing for a moment before sitting down with her.
They sat there for approximately three minutes and twenty-two seconds without saying anything.
Nagato started the conversation first, simply asking.
"Able or Baker?"
Saratoga held her breath, looking away sullenly as she tried to gather up the will to answer the battleship's question, a period of time passing by again before she silently responded,
"Baker."
Nagato nodded as she was being understanding and patient with her, similar to, but also strangely different from her normal, public persona as she remarked in a non-confrontational voice as though she were stating the facts.
"It'll almost always hurt every time you experience it.
But most of the time, we…"
Taking the time to clarify herself.
"Those of us who were in Crossroads…
The pain becomes easier for us to endure, and this nightmare will occur less and less as time goes by."
Saratoga quietly asked, confirming the reason why Nagato was also up at this time of night.
"Am I right to assume that you had the same nightmare about Operation Crossroads?"
She heard an affirmative grunt beside her, and Nagato, being the older ship girl who was undoubtedly more well-versed in knowledge about these things, stated.
"Most theoreticians accept the fact that for us ship girls who experienced Crossroads, it is a traumatic experience that is embedded in our very souls when we sank all those years ago, and will be present in every modern incarnation."
Saratoga's interest was piqued as she asked, cautiously curious about this new subject.
"So when you say 'souls', are you referring to a mystical source of power or driving force?"
She turned to find Nagato facing her and shaking her head as she corrected.
"Oh, no.
Do not fall under the impression that we are created with anything other than advanced technology that is light-years ahead of anything humans can replicate so far.
The Fairies will be quite annoyed and will hastily correct you when you even attempt to hand-wave their super-technology away as 'magic', 'sorcery' or anything along those lines.
For a race who prides themselves on their engineering, that is one of their few berserk buttons that you do not want to touch with a ten-foot pole."
Saratoga nodded and looked away awkwardly, unsure of what to talk about after this, spending a majority of the time listening to the waves gently lapping on the concrete and sand, the trees rustling around them as the night winds were subdued at night, Saratoga breathing in the salty sea air and allowing it to calm her down while Nagato provided silent company so as not to leave her alone on the harbor with her thoughts.
And finally, Saratoga heard Nagato speak up, although it was now in a far more subdued, personal tone compared to the authoritative and commanding voice that she normally heard, immediately shifting her attention to Nagato sharing something so close to her heart with her.
"I think you might remember Sakawa as one of the ship girls who was in Operation Crossroads…"
Saratoga nodded, distinctly remembering the second Japanese warship who was present at Bikini Atoll, an Agano-Class light cruiser amongst the foreign trio with Prinz Eugen as the Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser.
"... Yes."
Nagato nodded as she shared the reason why the light cruiser was previously in this base, but Saratoga wasn't going to meet her anytime soon.
"We got Sakawa as a rare drop, much like how we got you, and I was so elated to be reunited with her.
I suppose I saw her as a little sister whom I had to protect, since she was there with me at Operation Crossroads.
And despite my best attempts, I suppose there was a fair bit of favoritism going on since if I was off-duty and wasn't with Admiral Mako in a… romantic sense, I'd spend all my time with Sakawa, since her sisters weren't present then."
Saratoga furrowed her brows as she searched her memory archives, before remembering that the female Admiral of this base had many girlfriends.
"Oh, right.
You're with a relationship with Admiral Mako along with, if I remember correctly, eight other ship girls…?"
Scrunching up her face, Saratoga politely asked the Nagato-Class battleship about how their relationship worked.
"Pray tell, how exactly do you make it work with so many people?"
Nagato gave a satisfied smirk as she exhaled through her nose, responding patiently.
"With everyone's consent, mutual love, and a lot of understanding minds.
We're very blessed in that regard, and I'm not ashamed to admit our relationship to everyone and defend it.
But then again, no one would dare question a relationship with two Yamato-Class and a Nagato-Class battleship, amongst others in the list of lovers, right?"
Saratoga lifted an eyebrow to concede the point, Nagato's smile drooped into a frown as she continued with sharing her past.
"And after a few easy sorties in order to get her acquainted with how we fought battles in this day and age, I was confident enough to allow her into the backup fleet as we prepared to fight with an Abyssal known as the Armored Carrier Princess.
The Admiral made all the preparations to ensure that none of us would sink, like making sure we got enough training and had access to good equipment.
However, no amount of preparations can stop a shell to the heart, as I soon found out the hard way.
In the midst of the boss battle, despite my best attempts to remain focused, I tried to body-block every shell that was aimed at Sakawa, perhaps as a subconscious way of protecting her since I saw her much like one would a delicate flower that needed to be protected.
That was perhaps the greatest mistake of my life."
Saratoga listened silently as she was now rather invested in the story and wanted to learn how Nagato, despite being a proud member of the Big Seven and was at one time the face of the Imperial Japanese Navy and was by far the strongest ship girl Saratoga had the honor of meeting, failed to protect Sakawa.
Nagato's shoulders drooped as she continued on, looking more and more depressed as she revealed.
"The Armored Carrier Princess must've picked up on my subconscious tic, because she directed all her bomber planes in my direction, distracting me while she pointed both her 16 Inch cannons in my direction.
My survival instinct overrode my protective instincts, and I physically strafed in order to evade the incoming shells while shouting for Sakawa to duck.
But here's the first thing to note about fighting someone who has a cannon or firearm pointed at your team.
It's best not to block your teammates' view of the shooter."
Saratoga's breath stopped as she now understood why Nagato would feel extremely guilty about causing Sakawa to sink, because most of the responsibility and blame rested on her.
"It was mostly because of my inexperience in combat situations at that point of time, since I spent more time commanding from the sidelines than fight on the ocean back then because we didn't have as many fleets and as much of a surplus in resources as we do now.
And as a result, I overestimated my ability to protect her.
And…"
Nagato audibly gulped, Saratoga reading the mood as she braced herself for what the Nagato-Class battleship was about to reveal, because if it someone as stoic as Nagato was uncomfortable with sharing this next bit of the story, it had to be bad.
It also surprised her, and made her a little elated that a Japanese ship was trusting her to such an extent despite being on different sides of a World War in the past.
Nagato now sounded unlike the commanding ship girl whom she normally was, and more like a woman, as fallible as anyone else, confessing her sins to Saratoga.
"When I defeated the Armored Carrier Princess, I…
I dragged the dying Abyssal off of her dead Beast, put her in a headlock, and…
I snapped her neck with a vengeance, and emptied a large-caliber shell in her temple out of anger."
Saratoga froze up from the brutality of the move as that happy feeling immediately abandoned her, mentally grateful that she was no longer at war with the Japanese and wouldn't be facing Nagato's wrath anytime soon, almost feeling the regret in Nagato's voice as she elaborated.
"I know that it was entirely unprofessional of me to do so, and I've learnt to control my temper so as not to allow my emotions to dictate my actions like it did that day.
Because, and I've only told Admiral Mako and Mutsu about this, but…
Holding the Armored Carrier Princess's life in my hands, and killing her for the sake of revenge…
I actually liked it."
Nagato turned to face a horrified Saratoga as her expression was crestfallen, expressing shame, regret and even fear at what she felt.
"I-I've never felt anything like it, and I'm thoroughly ashamed about feeling so good about myself after executing someone like that for the sake of a fallen comrade.
And despite living for so long, I've never been able to forget about how dangerously addictive it felt to kill someone like that, and it haunts me even to today…
I've tried to come to terms with Sakawa's death after I avenged her, but…
Even after the paid leave, Yahagi-san forgiving me several times over for my blunder and crying into Admiral Mako's arms as she comforted me in more ways than one…"
Nagato exhaled tiredly, Saratoga's cheeks coloring a little as she asked.
"I hope I'm not destroying the mood, but why tell me this?
It's understandable that you would talk to me about Crossroads, but why share your past with Sakawa and your personal turmoil with me?
I really mean no offense by asking this, but I'm an outsider, so why me?"
Nagato's tone shifted into more of a conspiratorial one as she added, lowering her head and looking down at the shifting ocean as she did so.
"I feel bad for being the one to betray Admiral Mako's request for confidentiality, but I think that what comes next involves you in some way, because of Crossroads."
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Saratoga's worst fears were confirmed as the battleship revealed.
"Sakawa is alive.
As a high-ranking Abyssal."
Saratoga grimaced as she warily asked.
"And you want me to watch out for her?"
Nagato nodded as Saratoga opened her eyes to look at the imperfect reflection of the moon in the ocean, hearing Nagato explain.
"The smarter, higher-ranking Abyssals sometimes play mind games with us, since they're said to harbor our resentments and regrets in our past lives.
No doubt Sakawa will have me in her sights and will use Operation Crossroads and the circumstances of her death to manipulate me emotionally, but now that you're here, I can't guarantee that she won't drag you into this."
Nagato sighed as she looked as if she were considering how to phrase her words without revealing too much, but Saratoga made some assumptions of her own as she asked.
"And is Sakawa's possible appearance linked to the worsening situation which Admiral Jackson talked about, and was why I had to stay here in order to bolster Yokosuka's air-power?"
A nod from the silent Nagato was all that was needed for Saratoga to sigh as well, hugging her knees and causing her bosom to compress, making it rather difficult for her to lean forward very far, lowering her face into her knees as she commented.
"That's all I need to know.
I appreciate you sharing your past with me and revealing such confidential information in order to give me a heads-up.
It must have been hard for you."
Strangely enough, Nagato revealed,
"Actually, I suppose after experiencing Operation Crossroads together, much like how I felt a bond with Sakawa, I felt as if I had to talk to you about this.
I understand that you feel lonely here, and I would never in good conscience allow you to go through this nightmare phrase alone."
"Because you did?"
Nagato flinching was all Saratoga needed to know that she had committed a faux pas, hastily adding.
"I'm sorry."
But Nagato shook her head slowly, allowing the tension to flow from her body as she remarked.
"You're right in that regard, so I can't fault you for that."
The 'You still shouldn't have said that, though.' went unsaid.
Saratoga meekly nodded before the atmosphere became heavy again, lapsing into silence as Saratoga allowed the chirping of crickets to fill the silence, before Saratoga felt that the tension between them was too much for her to bear.
Ah, why couldn't she be out on the ocean right now, sinking some Abyssals?
"I-I have something to confess, since we're having this heart-to-heart session."
Nagato looked interested in what she had to say, her expression now shifting into one of gentleness and patience as she waited for the Lexington-Class carrier to continue at her own pace.
"You know, on the day of the Able and Baker Tests, I couldn't help but feel differing emotions from everyone, despite being made of steel.
Some accepted their fate and faced death with dignity, others were crying, or at least feeling extremely sad since as warships, we didn't have the necessary organs to shed tears.
Others were angry, like they'd been betrayed, and…"
Saratoga's throat now felt sore, like there was some sort of strange lump there, and her eyes were watering despite her attempts to remain emotionally neutral about her past.
" … And that we were being thrown away like used tissue paper, now deemed useless after serving our intended purpose, and…
*Hic*
And…"
Saratoga felt that she was losing control of her shaking body as she tried to bring her breathing under control and attempted to blink away her tears in vain, bitterly finishing her sentence.
"... And…
And despite everything we did for them, it didn't stop us from dying like dogs at the hands of our own people…
*Hic*
That hurt more than anything else!"
Nagato was silent as Saratoga leaned over and rested her head on the battleship's left shoulder, softly crying and wetting Nagato's shirt as she sobbed, feeling her heart ache painfully.
She softly asked, phrase by phrase in between sobs.
"I'm…
I'm afraid.
I'm afraid that the humans will discard us again when this war's over, like they did before...
And I know that it's wrong for me not to trust my own countrymen, but when I remember how I died…"
Shuddering in genuine fear, she asked Nagato.
"Nagato-san, is there a future for us after the war?"
Nagato contemplated the question while Saratoga did her best to bring her left hand up and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
And Nagato finally answered to the best of her ability, trying to give her own, honest opinion on things as she raised her left hand to reach behind Saratoga, bringing her in closer for a hug.
"Although I do wish for us to live in peace with humanity, I admit that there is always the off chance that we could be seen as a threat to their way of life, or even their survival despite having protected them against the Abyssal threat for two decades.
And although I also understand that a majority of both populations, human and ship girl alike, would rather live in peace than fight another war, there will always exist extremists on both sides who will always have the loudest voice and garner the most attention by playing on everyone's fears and saying that the other side is responsible for their people's woes, attempt to draw first blood and allow mass hysteria to do the rest.
After all, that's pretty much how wars start, no?"
Nodding sadly, Saratoga's spirit was now in the dumps as she lowered her head, understanding that Nagato had something else to add so as not to cause this conversation on an even more depressing note than when they first started.
"But there is hope.
The Soviets and Americans understood that dropping nukes on everyone is, and if I'll use a rather uncharacteristic but accurate word to describe it, absolutely stupid since it's a no-win situation where the only thing everyone stands to gain is radiation sickness from the fallout and a slow death.
The Cold War never escalated into the next World War, so I think our sacrifices might have meant something in the grand scheme of things in showing the destructiveness of those dreaded weapons."
Nagato then looked down at Saratoga, and she could see that the Japanese battleship had been through quite a lot in her time on Earth in the 21st century, and knew that despite humanity's capability of making great mistakes, they could also accomplish wonders.
"As to whether we can live peacefully after the war, the best words that describe my own feelings for our safety till the end of days is 'cautious faith'.
No doubt mankind is capable of extreme xenophobia, but that is because they only see the differences between them and us, not the similarities.
If we were to actively pursue peace while keeping the horrors of war in mind, I do believe we can live in peace with them."
Saratoga nodded, understanding Nagato's beliefs a little better now and deciding to put her faith in Nagato's words, that there was a happy ending for them all at the end of this war.
A girl could dream.