The docks
The Commander and Task force Alpha all watched as the USS Dominatus pulled into the docks. The officer was holding a folder in one hand while Akagi was holding his other hand. The rest of the kansen were all frowning as they thought about the Commander's plan, they all knew it was risky, Commodore Nico was already angry at not getting his way, who knew what he was really planning. The Commander faced the kansen and gave them a small speech.
"I'll do everything I can to keep you girls safe while Nico's men are here, this will be a classic 'Hearts and Minds' campaign, many of those under Nico's command are on the fence about us, all we need to pull them to our side, make them feel comfortable, and help them understand us better, but at the same time we'll need to weed out those who are firmly under Nico's thumb, no excessive force, just make sure they don't get near anything too important. We can get through this everyone."
The Commander then glanced at Akagi, noting she no longer had a bandage. "You still feeling up to this my Red castle?" He asked her with some concern, Akagi felt around her midsection and then looked up at him with a determined smile.
"Of course my Commander~ Akagi is 100% once again!" She replied confidently. The Commander smiled back and pecked her on the lips. The fox girl squealed a little and her eyes sparkled in happiness.
Finally Nico's carrier finished docking and the catwalk extended from it once again. Nico himself emerged from the hatch with a irritated sneer across his face, along with four guards. The Commander couldn't help but smirk seeing Nico's bumped up security, it seems their last meeting had left more than a bloody nose upon Nico. The Commodore got to the bottom of the catwalk and marched up to the Commander, Akagi tensed up, ready for a fight, but the Commander squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"Tell me you've come to your senses already Commander; I'm done with this idiotic stand off crap." The Commodore spat out to the Azur lane officer. The Commander chuckled a little before giving a smug look.
"Hey you're the one who could have just sailed away, don't look at me." The Commander joked. Before Nico could retort the Commander tossed him the folder, surprising the other man. "Just sign this paperwork and we can get on with your 'security' measures." He then added, giving Nico a crap eating smile. Nico glared at the Commander for a moment before opening the folder, after a minute of reading his glare turned into a look of disbelief.
"How are my men supposed to work under these conditions? They'll have effectively no authority if I allow this!" Nico complained, slapping the documents crossly.
"Your men are only here to ensure protocols are followed and for no other reason, they don't need authority over any other matter, so in every other aspect that does not involve security, your men will report to and assist the kansen as well me and you." The Commander firmly pointed out. Nico then pointed to another area in the document.
"What the hell is this about 'No access zones'? How am I supposed to enforce ANYTHING if there places my men can't go?!" Nico exclaimed, clearly getting irritated with the document.
"Thats easy: bathhouses and dormitories are segregated like anywhere else, like I told Admiral Samson: the younger kansen need safe spaces, oh that reminds me: the Destroyer Academy is also off limits to your men for obvious reasons." The Commander replied. Nico looked down at the document again and gritted his teeth angrily, which just made the Commander grin wider. "Anything else?" he taunted.
"OK...one more thing: your faction leaders, you just want me to give them... liaison officers instead of incarcerating them?" Nico asked, more confused than angry at that condition.
"Be honest with me Nico, how would you keep them locked up even if I did agree to that?" The Commander asked "If your concerns about my kansen are valid..." He then looked offside before muttering: "...they are not..." and finally looked back at him and finished: "Why would you risk your men by keeping them detained?"
The Commander looked at Nico's guards as he said that, making the men look at each other uncomfortably. Nico looked over his shoulder at his men, who straightened up at seeing Nico's glare. Finally he looked back at the document and sighed.
"You have a point, I don't really have any real means to keep them secure. Fine I'll agree to these terms, but I have a couple conditions of my own." Nico then looked around at the women around the Commander, everyone now had a look of puzzlement at what he'll say next.
"One: You will have your secretary replaced with one of my own Commander." The Commodore announced.
"Ooookay..." The Commander agreed with some confusion.
"And two: turn over one of your kansen to my command, I'd like to see how they work for myself." Nico then told him with a smirk. The Commander gasped and the kansen went wide eyed too at that statement.
"You're out of your mind if you thin-" The Commander was suddenly interrupted by Akagi stepping in front of him holding her hand up.
"I volunteer for your command Commodore, leave the others alone." The fox declared to him. Catching everyone off guard with the act. Before the Commander could argue with her, Akagi quickly wheeled around and put her hands on his shoulders. "Please let Akagi do this Commander, this is my chance to fulfil my promise to you." She told him quietly.
"No! Absolutely not! I won't let..." Before he could finish Akagi kissed him, surprising him with her new confidence in that area. They held it for a moment before Akagi pulled back, a sad smile on her face.
"Its OK Commander, Akagi will come back to you, always." her voice shaking a little and a tear rolled down her cheek. She then hugged the Commander tightly, including her tails in the hug. The young man hugged her back with a crestfallen look on his face, he savoured her warm and fluffy embrace as a few tears of his own flowed out his eyes.
"Yeah cut your romantic crap and get onboard foxy." Nico barked at the two of them. Akagi slowly separated herself from the Commander's arms and wiped her tears, she was about to walk away when Kaga suddenly glomped her out of nowhere, gaining a sigh of exasperation from Nico.
"Dear sister wait! Don't!" Kaga shouted as she held Akagi. The red fox girl gently pushed Kaga off her before replying.
"Don't worry Kaga, I won't be gone long, you and the Yamato sisters take care of the Commander while i'm away OK?" Akagi told her with a smile, she then held her sister's head with both hands and pecked Kaga on the forehead. The white fox woman bit her lip and tightly closed her eyes while trying to hold in her own emotions. The Commander then gently grabbed her hand and led her away from Akagi, Kaga just buried her face in the Commander's neck and shoulder as she tried to calm down.
Nico then made a gesture to the guards and one of them grabbed Akagi's shoulder before leading her up the catwalk. She looked back briefly at the Commander and Kaga's sad faces before disappearing inside the carrier. The Commodore then signed the Commander's document before handing it back to him.
"Finally, now I can get some work done." Nico stated plainly, completely ignoring the emotional scene that just played out, much to the annoyance of the Commander and the kansen. "First we'll build some faculties for my men and work out everyone's schedules from there, your office Commander?"
The Azur lane Commander huffed and made a gesture for Nico and Kaga to follow him, Kaga glaring daggers at the Commodore the whole time with tear stained eyes.
U.S.S. Dominatus
As Akagi was led through the corridors of the carrier, she had differing reactions from various crewmembers, some men she could tell were entranced by her looks, others were just terrified and often quickly made efforts to move out of her way. Sticking to the Commander's 'Hearts and Minds' plan, Akagi just smiled and waved whenever someone looked at her with something other than fear, gaining some awkward wave-backs and nervous smiles. She made mental notes of those she could tell were attracted to her, hoping she could manipulate them at a later time.
Akagi then arrived at the ship's bridge with the guard, Captain Jackson looked behind him in surprise seeing the fox woman and faced her. "The Commodore never mentioned an exchange program, what are you doing here?" He asked Akagi. Before the fox could answer, the guard interrupted.
"The Commander and the Commodore reached some agreement, this kansen joining our crew was one of Nico's conditions of the agreement." He explained. Jackson raised an eyebrow at this and then dismissed the guard. With a gesture to one of the bridge's wings he said: "A word please?" as he stepped outside. The fox woman followed curiously. Once both were outside, Jackson shut the door for some privacy.
"What's your name?" He asked her. The kitsune smiled before replying.
"Its Akagi, you must be Captain Jackson, I must say its a fine ship you have here~" She cooed in her smooth voice. The captain blushed a little, he pulled on his under shirt as Akagi's voice seemed to strike a cord in his chest.
"Well uh...thank you..." He nervously replied, he then cleared his throat before speaking again. "OK sorry for getting straight to it, but we don't have much time, Nico has eyes and ears all over this ship and now he has them on your island, we stay out here too long they're gonna suspect something." The captain explained.
"I assume you don't mean in the 'they're passionately kissing each other' sense right?" Akagi joked, trying to lighten the mood. The captain frowned, unimpressed at such unprofessionalism from the fox woman.
"Look I don't know how the Commander runs things, but on my ship we don't joke around like that." Jackson scolded her firmly. Akagi just shrugged before responding.
"Fair enough, how many trustworthy people are on this ship?" Akagi asked him more seriously. Jackson sighed, clearly his reply was not going to be good.
"Only some of my direct command staff completely agree with me over the Commodore, everyone else on board is in one of three schools of thought about the kansen: the first group is those who came on board with Nico, they obviously don't like you, so try to steer clear of them whenever you can, they'll be the ones in darker uniforms from the rest of the crew."
The captain then looked across the flight deck over the barrier. "The other two groups are my own crewmembers, the second group buy into the Commodore's fear mongering over Azur lane and are terrified of kansen, the last group are just following the Commodore's orders simply because he outranks me." He continued.
Akagi quietly chuckled to herself. "It seems those last two could be convinced to put their faith back in you again." She told Jackson optimistically. The kitsune looked at Jackson with a smirk. "Inviting a ship girl on board was his biggest mistake, now I can directly show your crew just how wrong Nico is, I can already see that some of them...well...want to put their torpedo in me hehe~" She added with an eyebrow waggle.
"F-for gods sake woman!" Jackson exclaimed getting flustered and earning a giggle from Akagi. "I don't want to know, but whatever you plan to do be careful about it, not everyone on board is going to be receptive to you." He warned her. "One more thing: Nico and Admiral Samson have had an increased number of communications over the last few days, if I can find a way to distract the crew, you can get into those communication logs, there's got to be something about Project: Water pounder or a smoking gun we can give the rest of the Admiralty." Jackson added.
Akagi frowned and shook her head at the plan. "Its too risky for you to get involved this soon." The kitsune pointed out. "If you're exposed then Nico will use your betrayal to permanently convince your crew and the fleet to follow him. No you need to stay low and wait until you have enough supporters." Akagi told him.
The captain sighed. "I suppose you're right, I'm just tired of not being able to do SOMETHING about this whole affair, I hope your Commander is having more luck." Jackson stated. He then opened the door back to the bridge. "Anyway we'll talk some more later on, someone will show you your cabin."
As they walked back onto the bridge, the guard from before returned to lead Akagi to her new quarters. The guard led her to some unoccupied officer's quarters and gestured inside.
"Remain here for now, Commodore Nico will want a word with you." He told the fox woman. Akagi looked into the tiny room and sighed. While she was used to the cramped spaces on her own hull, this seemed to be even smaller. A small couch built into the wall on one side, a bed on the other and a desk facing a porthole was all that furnished it.
"I suppose its better than hot-bunking." Akagi commented with another sigh as she stepped inside. The guard then shut the door, leaving Akagi alone.
The Commander's office.
The Azur lane officer was sitting at his desk, leaning on his elbow, with a mixture of irritation and boredom on his face, while he watched Commodore Nico look around his office with his hands behind his back. Also in the room with them was two of Nico's guards by the door and Kaga sitting beside the Commander's desk, with an even angrier expression than her usual resting bitch face.
"Cushy." Nico commented, taking a book from one of the shelves. "I can see where the funding goes, this base is more luxurious than HQ, it'll be great change of pace for my people once things calm down." he remarked as placed the book back.
"Things will 'calm down' once you realise you're not needed." The Commander told him in a blasé tone of voice, not moving from his stance. Nico chuckled like the other officer just told him a bad joke. "Commander...we've gotten off on the wrong foot here; I'm not a bad guy, and I'm sure you think your..." Nico looked over at Kaga before he continued. "...ship girls are not bad guys either, I'm just here to do a job."
The Commander just raised a skeptical eyebrow at that, while internally he was doing the Jonah Jameson laugh at Nico insisting he wasn't a bad guy.
"Which is basically just to make mine harder from what you've done so far." The Commander replied without looking at the Commodore, skim reading and fiddling with a document he'd already read earlier that day. With a little irritation underlaying his voice, Nico spoke again.
"Look, the Admiralty is just concerned about another 'Red Axis' incident or worse occurring, with my men here to keep a better eye on things and keep the kansen focused on the Sirens; an incident is less likely to- will you put that down?!" He then suddenly exclaimed.
The Commander barely reacted, simply glancing up from the document. After a short glaring contest, the sitting officer then lightly threw the document like a frisbee, catching Nico on the leg and earning a small smirk from Kaga.
"Oops." He then uttered in an exaggerated sarcastic tone, making Nico give him a shocked look before his expression twisted into one of annoyance. He then pointed accusingly at the bored Commander.
"Quit screwing around! This is a serious matter and you will treat it as such!" The Commodore ordered. The Commander rolled his eyes and then pretended to struggle with a drawer on his side of the desk.
"Hang on, let me see if I can find any fucks to give...oh no it seems I don't have any, what a shame!" The Commander announced, still sarcastic in tone. He then lifted his hand back up with his middle finger sticking up, aggravating Nico further while making Kaga and even Nico's guards chuckle a little.
"Shut up you two!" Nico shouted and the guards immediately stood to attention. The Commodore then turned back to the Commander and slammed his fist on his desk. "Listen here ship fucker! whether you like it or not, me and my men are here to stay! So you better get used to that fact or its gonna be a hard time for you and your ship sluts!"
The Commander slowly stood up from his chair, his bored look changing to one of slight annoyance. Yet Kaga's instincts could sense there was real, hot fury building behind that mild facade. He stepped out from behind the desk and advanced upon Nico, who was stepping backwards and slowly losing his own angry look in the face of the Commander's rage.
"You and your men are NOT here to stay, so NO, I DON'T have to get used to that fact." The Commander stated calmly, but with barely contained anger dripping from his words. He had Nico full on retreating away from him as he spoke, the guards internally debating if they should intervene.
"I'm tired... of weak men like you... trying to undermine the kansen over things they COULD do, why in the ever loving FUCK, are you trying to fight something that you owe your continued existence to you complete and utter MORON!" The Commander yelled in Nico's face. Soon he had Nico cornered against the wall as he continued to rant at him.
"You come out here, mess up my base, disrupt my operations and try to walk all over me? That just annoys me. But don't you ever... EVER...insult my friends...or I'll show you what a hard time really means Nico." The Commander then grabbed Nico by the chin and forced him to look at Kaga, who was a little shocked by the Commander's tirade.
"You see her? There's several hundred women just like her on this island, you and your men will have the privilege of kissing the ground they walk on, to grovel at their feet and beg them to save you from the Sirens, because after all, that's what the rest of humanity is doing, why are you so special?"
The Commander then threw a traumatized Nico to his guards, who realised he was in a borderline comatose state after being grilled by the Commander. Before they assisted Nico in leaving, the Commander stepped in front of them, making Nico look up, whimpering a little.
"One more thing: if you harm Akagi in any shape or form, Kaga there, will be more than willing to show you what pain truly is." The Commander stated with a smirk. Nico glanced back at Kaga, who was now bathed in blue flames and showing a jagged, evil smile. Confronted with such a terrifying sight Nico ran screaming out of the office, followed by his men.
Once Nico was gone, Kaga returned to normal and walked over to the Commander, who was still shaking and panting in fury. "Commander? He's gone...you can stop now." Kaga told him, trying to be soothing. She then gently pulled his arm to lead him along the corridor. "I think you need another trip to the bathhouse, I'll tell the Yamato sisters to meet you there."
At the mention of the sisters the Commander snapped out of it and tried to resist. "Whoa wait Kaga, I-I'm fine, really!" The Commander tried to say, but Kaga didn't listen and threw a paper plane out the window to find the Yamato sisters.