Apocrypha groaned as she was woken by being dragged to her feet, thumps sounding as some of the books she'd fallen asleep on top of were dislodged and sent tumbling onto the floor. "Mm? Where's the fire?" she mumbled, reaching up to rub at her eyes and bring Mobile into focus.

"Did you forget something this morning?" Mobile asked in exasperation, letting go of Apocrypha to search her room and throw fresh clothes in her direction.

"Uh… Did I?"

"They're here. And you're late. You already missed breakfast," Mobile explained, back still turned to allow Apocrypha to change her clothes in some semblance of privacy.

Through the haze of sleep that still hadn't left, Apocrypha failed to recall just who Mobile would be referring to. "D'you mind clarifying who you mean…?"

Mobile huffed in exasperation, throwing an annoyed glare over her shoulder while Apocrypha couldn't see. "Oh, you know, just the two carriers you hand-picked for the fleet here. I'm sure it's no big deal that you slept through the breakfast you scheduled so you could meet them before the training exercises start today."

Mobile's sarcasm wasn't lost in the least on Apocrypha, causing her to scramble to finish dressing to go. "Oh shit! I'll be right there! I'm so sorry!" The panicked apologies tumbled from her mouth in an uncontrollable flood of words, though at least she managed to stem the tears that wanted to spring forth. "I spent all night trying to read up on the ship types and who all of you are. Not that that's an excuse, I just -"

"It's fine. They're used to people forgetting."

Apocrypha winced at the implication, remembering how Augusta had criticized her choice of Franklin and Bismarck Sea as the fleet carriers, citing Franklin's poor luck and Bismarck Sea's averageness. She'd meant to try counteracting the usual tendency to ignore them for more popular names, and yet here she was, having forgotten herself. What a great first impression that was.

Once dressed, she rushed out to the docks with Mobile following behind, panting as she tried to catch her breath upon arriving. "I'm… so… sorry…!" she gasped out, waving weakly to the pair of carriers staring at her awkwardly in confusion. After regathering herself, she straightened up, giving them a shaky smile. "I'm Apocrypha. You must be Franklin and Bismarck Sea. It's nice to have you two here to join the fleet."

Silently, she was glad that Franklin's name was printed on the blue minidress she wore, or she never could have tried guessing which was which, even if they looked nothing alike - one dark-haired clad in blue and white, the other a pale blonde clad in red and black. And with the brief introduction done, she looked to Augusta in expectancy. "So, what is the plan for today?"

The heavy cruiser folded her arms over each other. "We'll split into two teams - Warspite, Belfast, and myself against Mobile, Franklin, and Bismarck Sea. For the purpose of evening things out, I'll act as an additional capital ship on my side. You'll command Mobile and the carriers. Objective is to 'sink' the enemy flagship. Flagships will be Warspite and Franklin."

"That's a little skewed in our favor, isn't it?" the blonde carrier asked, gesturing between herself and Franklin. "We'll have full control of airspace."

Augusta shrugged, seeming unconcerned about that point of interest. "I think it's a fair trade-off that you'll have the Commander handicapping you. I think Belfast and myself can handle anti-air operations just fine."

Bismarck Sea exchanged a glance with Franklin, who nodded in agreement with Augusta's assessment. "Alright, then. Don't cry to us when you get wet, then, princess."


"Shit!"

Mobile swung around as Belfast slipped past her, but before she could give chase or even try to fire on the Royal light cruiser, she felt the splash of water from dangerously close 8-inch shells, forcing her to turn back to prevent Augusta from making a move. She'd already been hit by a couple of them during the course of the exercise and even for being blanks, they still hurt. And now Augusta had her aim dialed in on Mobile. If she didn't do something fast, she was as good as done for.

She managed to evade the next round of shells and return fire, even landing a few hits, but it was too little too late. As expected, Augusta was able to shrug off the hits like they were nothing, and it wasn't long after that she heard the call of Franklin sustaining numerous hits. Another salvo from Warspite in the distance, and the words Mobile had always dreaded hearing, even if this was only an exercise.

"Franklin has sustained fatal damage. She's been sunk."

Apocrypha wasn't sure what to expect when Mobile turned quickly to face her, not even getting the opportunity to say anything before Mobile did.

"What the fuck were you doing?!" the cruiser demanded, the panic and anger in her voice cutting right through to Apocrypha. "How incompetent do you have to be to fail with complete control of the skies against two cruisers - one that's not even in full working order - and an outdated battleship?!"

"I… I'm sorry…" Apocrypha stammered, her hands grabbing her head in anguish as she curled into a fetal position.

"No! No, sorry doesn't cut it!" Mobile continued, roughly shrugging off Augusta when she grabbed her arm. "Do you actually understand the stakes here?! If this was a real fight, Franklin would be dead!"

"Mobile, enough!" Augusta whispered sharply.

Apocrypha shook her head, trying not to let the creeping numbness consume her. Mobile was right that she'd screwed up and she needed to hear it, and she knew Mobile had a tendency to be dramatic about everything. But she'd yet to ever yell at her like this. "I didn't realize…"

"You did fine. I'll handle Mobile." At a glance from Apocrypha, the dark-haired carrier gave her an apologetic smile. "She's only panicking because it was me. Try not to take her little freakouts personally. I've met actual commanding officers who would have done worse here."

Franklin disappeared off the bow of the ship a moment later, skating across the water to Mobile and letting the cruiser collapse against her when she pulled her into a hug. From up on the ship, Apocrypha couldn't tell what they were saying, but at least understood by the way Mobile's hands grasped at Franklin that it did have to do with Franklin's lack of any real injuries. After a long while, the two broke apart, Mobile seeming much calmer, and for the first time since the exercise had started, the smaller carrier alongside Franklin's spoke up.

"Franklin did mean it about Mobile only reacting like that because it was her," Bismarck Sea said. "Franklin's had a few close calls with death. One was on Mobile's watch. I don't really think she's ever gotten over it."

Apocrypha seemed surprised at the news. "Oh… So that's what Midway meant when she and Mobile were talking… She mentioned something about a special assignment and how things go when Mobile gets one…"

Bismarck Sea nodded. "Yeah, that's what she would've meant. I'm a little surprised actually that Augusta didn't warn you about the history between Mobile and Franklin. You'll figure it out, though. And Franklin's right that there's actual officers who would have done a worse job during the exercise. At least you tried. I don't think any of us expected you to have it perfect on the first try."

Apocrypha bit the inside of her cheek, trying to prevent herself from arguing that she should have made sure to get it right on the first try. Eventually, she admitted defeat if she was going to say anything of real substance, instead settling for a mumbled "Thanks" and leaving it at that. Once Franklin returned to her ship, the small training fleet turned back to the harbor, and Apocrypha sent out a silent promise to make sure the next time was perfect.

But each time, those same words would repeat, exercise after exercise ending in failure.

Franklin has sunk.


Augusta faced the rest of the training fleet as they stood out on the docks early in the morning, a hand on her hip. "Alright, this is the last training exercise we'll be having here in Charleston. Tomorrow we make for New York. This one's going to be a bit different, though."

Apocrypha swallowed hard. "How?"

Augusta flashed her a cocky smile. "I'll be leading a full fleet of mass-produced ships against the rest of you. It'll more closely imitate what you'll actually be facing. I'll be acting as flagship among the mass-produced ships. Rules are the same as usual - whichever side sinks the other's flagship is considered the victor."

Apocrypha nodded, though she still wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to manage it. While the others said she'd been making improvements over the last couple of weeks being put through class after class and exercise after exercise, it didn't feel like that to her. It seemed like every time she thought she had some breakthrough, Augusta and the pair from the Royal Navy had some sort of counter to her and managed to win in the exercise. Although the last few had come surprisingly close and nearly been victories for her own side.

"Alright. Let's do this."


"This is Bismarck Sea reporting in. All carriers of the Red Fleet have been disabled!"

Apocrypha sighed in relief at the news. "Good work. What's the situation with Augusta?"

"Warspite's managed to bracket her and the planes are facing a lot less anti-air fire now. Not to jinx it, but I'd say we've just about got this in the bag."

"Keep using the planes to hammer her. If she's worried about anti-air, she won't be worrying about firing back on us. Eventually we'll get a hit or she'll run out of ammo. Don't give her any breathing room."

"Don't need to tell us twice. It's about damn time she gets that crown of hers knocked off."

Yeah, I still don't get why you all talk about her having a crown, but I'll take the enthusiasm, Apocrypha thought, instinctively ducking as another wave of planes took off from Franklin and Bismarck Sea, rippling the water as they passed over.

Cannonfire and planes overhead once again filled the air in place of any idle chatter between the shipgirls, before Bismarck Sea once again came over the radio. "We have direct hits on Augusta! Repeat, multiple direct hits scored on Augusta! She's been sunk!"

Apocrypha grinned, not even minding the confused look Franklin gave her when suddenly gripped in a tight hug. "We finally did it. I'm sorry it took so long to get it right."

Franklin laughed a bit, patting Apocrypha's head. "You did well."

Apocrypha couldn't help but blush a bit at the headpat from the carrier, embarrassed at being treated like a little kid, but not disliking it enough to move away. "Thank you for being so patient with me. Especially since you kept getting sunk because of me making stupid mistakes."

"It's just an exercise. Let's collect Augusta and get back to port. We'll all need some rest before setting off tomorrow."

Apocrypha nodded, letting go of the carrier. "Right."


"Now then."

Augusta raised an eyebrow at the sight of Belfast pouring herself a cup of tea and taking a seat with herself and Warspite. It wasn't entirely unheard of for the maid to join now and again, and Augusta had never minded, but curiosity always got the better of her at those times given how rare it was. "Yes?"

Belfast smiled, motioning to the other empty seats as if in answer. "Seeing as Mobile took the Commander, Franklin, and Bismarck Sea out to lunch to celebrate, we have some time to ourselves here. If you'll pardon my curiosity, I'd like to know what you think of the new Commander," she explained. "In particular, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts, Augusta. You've kept your cards held close to your chest this entire time."

Augusta shrugged, lifting her cup to her lips and taking a long sip of the tea. "I don't think we have enough to make a judgment yet. I see points where she has promise, and I see others that may be cause for concern going forward."

Warspite nodded in agreement. "So far, she's at least willing to work with us on a personal level. That's an improvement from the last one. And she learns quickly."

"Because she's willing to," Augusta muttered.

"That aside, her reaction to any small failure is… concerning to put it mildly. What happens when something goes wrong in an actual battle and she freezes up?" Warspite posed.

"It may not be something she does forever," Belfast countered. "I'm just trying to gauge what to tell Her Majesty when I speak with her this evening. We can leave any specifics to Augusta since I presume she'll have further details in mind."

Augusta hummed, setting her cup down and shaking her head. "She'll have to wait a bit longer for my report, so you'll have to give Elizabeth my apologies. For the moment, I still have a few things I want to see before I give her an answer."

Belfast nodded in understanding. "I'll inform Her Majesty when I report to her, then. I'm sure she will appreciate your caution in passing judgment as always. With that out of the way, I'll have to ask that you ladies excuse me while I attend to making preparations for tomorrow and my report to Her Majesty."

"Of course. Thank you as always, Belfast."


Belfast smoothed her skirt after sitting down, turning on her communications device to call Queen Elizabeth. Upon seeing the Queen's visage appear, she bowed her head in respect. "My apologies for the late call, Your Majesty. I'll try to keep the report brief."

"We've been through this plenty with Augusta. I understand the time difference makes scheduling difficult between the Royal Isles and the East Coast of the Eagle Union. I believe today was the final training exercise?"

Belfast nodded. "Yes. She seemed to handle it much better today, though it seemed Augusta's condition's finally caught up to her, if you don't mind my speculating. I doubt that she would have opted to go easy on the Commander on the final exercise, particularly when also faced with myself and Warspite," she informed the battleship, sighing. "I had hoped she'd have maintenance done while here, but I'll ensure it's seen to when we arrive at the New York base."

"Good. I've sent Wales with a few escorts, so leave it to her to handle Augusta. On that topic, what is Augusta's opinion on this new Commander?"

Belfast smiled tightly. It was a question everyone expected, but she always did hate to tell the Queen that Augusta was holding back on sharing her thoughts even if it was perfectly normal. "She seems to think this one has some promise," she answered. "That was about all I could get from her. It seems she wants to see how the other delegates take to her before making her own report. Considering what happened last time…"

"That may be a wise decision," the Queen finished, sighing. "Very well, then. I'll await her report, then. Is that all, Belfast?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Give our best to everyone at home."

"And extend mine to Warspite and Augusta."

Belfast sighed when the transmission cut off, sitting back in her seat and closing her eyes. Just a small rest for her eyes surely wouldn't hurt, and then she could prepare dinner. That seemed like a fine idea to her.

If she hadn't been allowed to sleep there until the next morning.