10211: To the group who turned off their GPS and ran off to Bermuda for an unauthorized vacation – Everyone has camera phones now, we've seen the beach pictures online, and you did not disappear in the Bermuda triangle. Get back to base!

Note from TheBudgiAdmiralThis one is a rule written by KaiYves a while ago. She said it would fit well for a snippet. So I tried my Hand, and then completely forgot I had this lying around on my harddrive waiting to be published. It's not my best as I was sort of suffering from writers block when I wrote it, but I think it also is too good to just be forgotten.

...

Yahagi was shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other as the US Navy battleship Massachusetts towered over her. What was she doing here. How important could that AA refit either way! She was miles away from any place she should be!

Really, she should just have stayed at home, in Yokosuka, where she knew everyone and where most of her friends were. But no, Providence's stellar performance and tales of AA excellence had enticed Admiral Goto to send his shipgirls to the US mainland for refit with allied AA emplacements. Conveniently, the day of the departure of Yahagi and Akagi coincided with a convoy leaving for the US mainland, and so the two were assigned as escorts. And after seventeen days of convoy escort, hunger and boredom, they had arrived at the mouth of the Panama Canal, where Massachusetts welcomed them with a stern gaze, crossed arms and dubious, judging silence.

A silence that was only broken by a loud rumble from Akagi's belly. Silently, Yahagi thanked the carrier for her immense appetite, or else this awkward silence could have gone on forever.

"I take it you two are hungry." The Battleship's voice was stern and dead-serious. Yahagi doubted that this woman had laughed once in her life.

"Yes, very!" Akagi immediately answered, clutching her growling belly. "It's been seventeen days since we had the last proper meal!"

The US battleship huffed at that, then turned on her heel and gestured for them to get in the car.

"There's a steakhouse in the town, I'll get you there."

...

After a veritable feast on good American comfort food, the two Japanese ships were led back to the water, where a group of other shipgirls were waiting. Plenty of destroyers of different types and the distinct shapes of two US cruisers were already on the water.

"Where are we going?" Akagi asked, confused.

"We'll make the trip on the water, that will give us an opportunity to do some basic drills while we're underway." Massachusetts responded.

"Aww man, I was hoping we could relax after the long voyage!" Akagi said, slightly unnerved at the prospect of spending more days at sea.

Massachusetts huffed again at the words. "One would assume a member of Japan's elite carriers would not mind such a voyage."

"She didn't say that!" Yahagi protested. "It's just that no one told us the plans!"

"Eh, just wait, maybe it won't be as bad as you think?" one of the cruisers interrupted. Looking at her hull number, Yahagi identified her as USS Fargo, CL-106.

"Fargo is right." Massachusetts said. "Besides, it's not like you could choose. You're under US Navy command now, and I am your commanding officer for this voyage. I assume you know what that means for you."

...

Certainly they did. And so, many hours later, the group was underway to Norfolk, doing some rudimentary drills underway. Beale had coordinated the drill, acting as a sort of judge and providing a sort of Dungeons-and-Dragons-style commentary to the whole thing, calling out fictive surface and sub-surface contacts.

As the fictive fighting calmed for a while, Massachusetts barked orders at the other shipgirls in the fleet. Fargo was scolded for her poor AA management, Akagi was derided for her poor anti-submarine work, and just when Yahagi thought the American battleship could not get more condescending, she turned to face the Japanese cruiser.

"Not bad, for a glorified destroyer at least."

Yahagi's fists clenched at her sides. This was just not fair! She was NOT a glorified destroyer! She may be undergunned in comparison to a Cleveland or a Mogami, but she was still a fighting ship! She had stood against overwhelming odds and she had lived to tell the tale! Neverthess, even tough she really would have liked to defend herself against this verbal abuse, she knew better than to start a fight with a superior on the first day of the assignment. That never ended well. And it really was just for a few days, after all.

Massachusetts fell back into place at the top of the formation, and the voyage resumed at fast pace. "Alright everyone, next exercise. Land bombardment. Disable your GPS and follow my lead."

Akagi perked up. "Disable the GPS? Why that?"

When Massachusetts didn't respond, Fargo moved closer to the carrier and gave her a cheeky smile. "It's a secret! You'll see soon enough."

...

"See? Told you you'd see!" Fargo said a few hours later. In front of the fleet, a decidedly picturesque island rose over the horizon. Even at this distance Yahagi could clearly see the lush forests that covered every spot on the mountain. As the group moved closer, secluded beaches came into view, sand as white as Hibiki's hair.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Yahagi turned to ask Massachusetts, only to see the mighty US battlewagon take off her vest and her shirt, tying it neatly around her waist. Yahagi couldn't help but admit that the woman was stunningly beautiful in her bikini, pronounced muscles working underneath a smooth, tanned skin.

"Land bombardment's delayed, we're going swimming." She declared stoically, causing a cheer to erupt from the fleetgirls around them as they stormed of towards the closest beach.

Soon, everyone had reached the sand, and quickly indulged in various beach-related activities. Fargo was playing with some of the destroyers in the water, Akagi was building a sand castle with two small flush-deckers, Massachusetts was sunbathing on her towel, and Yahagi was standing by the treeline, still amazed by the scene. She was also slightly annoyed that she hadn't brought her own swimsuit. She would have loved to take a swim in the crystal-clear water of the bay.

"Smile, Yahagi!" Akagi suddenly explained, threw an arm around her neck and smiled widely into the camera of her smartphone. Before Yahagi could protest, the camera clicked and flashed an image to the two shipgirls: One very happy Akagi and one distinctly confused Yahagi.

"What's that for?" Asked Yahagi.

"Oh, I'm just sharing a few pictures with Kaga. She's gonna be so jealous!"

"Wait, you're posting this?" Yahagi yelled in shock.

A confused Akagi looked up from her smartphone. "Why not?"

"Because we're not exactly supposed to do this, you idiot!" Massachusetts shouted, making for the two Japanese kanmusu. "Why did you think we deactivated our transponders?"

Akagi looked sheepishly at the US battleship storming towards her. Yahagi thought to herself that a careful observer could see the dots connecting inside Akagi's head. Then, the carrier's face turned white.

"Oh, Massachusetts-sama, I made a blunder, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Minus that weird 'sama'-part."

Akagi sighed deeply. "I am terribly sorry…"

"You should be." Massachusetts said as her satellite phone began to ring. Answering it, she moved to a more secluded part of the beach to take the brunt of the verbal tirade face-on.

"Ara ara, Yahagi-san, I fear I made a grievous error…" Akagi said quietly with her best imitation of a sad dog's face. It was truly heart-breaking.

"Yes, well, how bad can it be?"

Both turned their gazes onto Massachusetts tall back. She was frantically muttering "yessir"s into the phone and was seemingly interrupted repeatedly by whoever was on the other end of the line. The battleship seemed to physically shrink as the voice on the other end grew in volume until even Akagi and Yahagi could make it out at a distance of easily ten meters.

"We made an enemy today, didn't we?" Akagi asked her comrade as Fargo herded the Destroyers out of the water and back into gar and formation.

"Mhm." Yahagi nodded and bit back a curse.

"How regrettable, is what Kaga would say now…"

"What would you say?"

"Bollucks."

TBC?