Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction, and I chose High School Fleet as it is an anime where the universe is still incomplete. Since this is my first fanfic I don't want to say it'll be as good as some others in this fandom though I will try my best to write the best I can. That being said your reviews are highly appreciated since they'll help me improve my future writing.

This story takes place several months after the movie. I cannot guarantee the time in-between chapters as this requires a lot of research. I'm not that know ledged on naval warfare and i hope you'll correct me if I've done something wrong. Anyway I hope you enjoy the story.

(Principal's office – Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School – 16:30)

Mayuki Munetani occupied her seat in the principal's office, still tired after the sleepless night she had gone through. The task force assembled to recapture the fortress captured by the pirates had set off the previous evening. The night full of fighting had not allowed her any rest, knowing fully well the stakes of this mission that included her students. However, the task force had succeeded in disabling the forts power systems and a successful boarding by the Blue Mermaids had ended the pirate control of the fort. While all this was good news for her, and she was in high spirits despite the mental exhaustion of the night, a few things still bothered her.

A knock on the door disturbed her solitude. Principal Munetani went to the door, and opening it met an expected visitor, who greeted her with a smile. Her daughter, Mashimo, who had returned a little while ago with the rest of the fleet. The two extended some warm remarks after which both sat down to converse.

"I'm glad to see you're alright. Did everything go well?"

"Yes mother," The Blue Mermaid agreed. "Once the fortress was disabled, boarding and taking control was easy."

Mayuki nodded with a smile. "Good, you've lifted a great weight off my head. Though, did you manage to find out anything about what I told you?"

Hearing this Mashimo's face changed to a more serious look, her smile vanishing. She knew what her mother was talking about. Something that had confused the Blue Mermaids at the first few minutes of their battle against the fortress.

"We contacted the Americans. They assured us that they gave the instructions to inform us about the defenses being active. The message we received wasn't authorized."

"Then who sent it?"

"Apparently the incorrect information was sent by one of their own workers, who had been arrested by now. They suspect he was working for the pirates, though he hasn't confessed anything yet."

"So, the pirates have gained a lot of power in the past few years." Mayuki spoke with distaste. "If they dared to disrupt the Americans' communications."

"I think capturing the fort and the power plant was just a small part of their plans. We're still in the dark about their full intentions."

"And all this when the largest marine exercise we've ever held is only a month away."

"Mother, do you think it's wise to hold it in these conditions." Mashimo uttered the thoughts which were gathering in Mayuki's head.

"I don't think it's a wise decision. But a majority of the marine academies have agreed to hold it. Even the Americans. Since the RATt decease has ended, which was the most dangerous naval disaster we've had, they don't think the threat from pirates is that important. But we'll have to look out for anything."

"Yes mother. The Blue Mermaids will continue to search for the pirates. We can't let anything go wrong."

(Three months later)

(Colombo Naval Academy – Sri Lanka – 08.00)

The British Empire that ruled a large part of the world for more than two centuries had collapsed in the mid-1900s, as the result of protests and revolts that sprang up over its colonies. This, along with the anti-colonial attitudes of the British people and the destruction to the colonies caused by the rise of sea levels due to Japanese mining had dissolved the British empire, granting independence to its crown colonies. All this was done alongside several deals struck between the British government and the new independent governments that agreed to cooperate with the British on several of their activities. One of which was the formation of school fleets.

As most of the countries that gained independence lacked the fleet capacity to maintain student fleets for blue mermaid and white dolphin training, the Royal Navy agreed to provide the necessary equipment for these student fleets to function, not independently, but under the control of the British, who took them as part of their own extended fleet. In short, the UK came to control the largest student fleet in history, with British ships crewed by students from all over their former colonies while operating from the ports of their former colonies.

One of those was the training fleet of the Colombo Naval Academy, part of the Eastern Fleet made of cadets from South and South East Asia. The Sri Lankans only controlled a small fleet consisting of two cruisers and two destroyers with the rest of the fleet stationed in Mumbai, Singapore and the Maldives.

And today was the opening ceremony for the new cadets who were lucky enough to find themselves a place in the crews of the Sri Lankan fleet's four ships.

A dark-skinned boy walked down the stairs leading from the training academy hall, where he had just received the name of the ship where he was to serve from today onwards, which was still in an unopened enveloped which he clutched in his right hand. While he was short for his age and did not have an impressive look, as far as looks go, his white uniform of a captain indicated high marks received in the entrance exam.

He walked down the steps and walked to the jetty where the four ships were anchored. Each painted in dark grey with a number written on its hull. Which one was his? He was about to find out.

"Hey Kalum," a voice called out from nearby. The boy, Kalum, turned to meet one of his long-time friends, Gehan. They had started their friendship during their childhood days in school, which had continued when they joined the naval academy.

"Hey bro," Kalum addressed Gehan who, just like him, was dressed in a captain's uniform. "No way you're a captain. What'd you do, cheat in the test."

"Stop joking," Gehan laughed. "I'm your senior now, so you better respect me."

"How come, you're a captain, I'm a captain, so we're equals."

"I'm going to command the Prince of Wales. So, I guess I'm a lot ahead of you."

"No way you didn't cheat then." The HMS Prince of Wales was one of the strongest ships in the fleet. It was also docked in Singapore and it was extremely rare for anyone outside Singapore to get a place in its crew.

"Anyway, congratulations. So, you're now second in command of the entire eastern fleet?"

"I guess so." Said Gehan as the full weight of the responsibilities he would now have to face came crashing down on him. "The Warspite is the flag ship, with the best crew. So, the Prince of Wales is in second place."

"So, I guess you're off to Singapore now?"

"Yes, I have to be there by noon tomorrow, so I'll set off soon. By the way, what did you get?"

"That's what I was going to check." Kalum said as he tore open the envelop. He unfolded the piece of paper within and read the first part which included the information he needed.

"Kalum Perera, Captain, Light Cruiser HMS Ceylon." He sighed internally. While the Ceylon was just a light cruiser, it was one of the newest ships possessed by the Eastern Fleet, which was full of outdated equipment. "Could've been worse. I think I'm not destined to greatness like you are."

"Not bad." Gehan agreed. "The Ceylon is a good ship, it's powerful enough for a light cruiser. Besides, it has a cool name."

Kalum laughed. The HMS Ceylon was a Crown Colony Class light cruiser, named after the former British colony of Ceylon, his motherland.

"Anyway, congrats to you too. I should be off now. We'll meet each other again soon in the naval exercises."

"What exercises?"

"You should really pay attention to the news." Gehan said, avoiding Kalum's question. "Anyway, bye."

He left before Kalum could get the answer he needed.

Being left in the dark by his friend, and with a long time left to spare till he was to receive his instructions, Kalum decided to do the only logical thing that remained for him – getting to know his ship and his crew. Finding the Ceylon was easy, as the port only held four ships. Knowing its interior was the hard part, as it was not covered much in the training.

He got on to the deck. The Ceylon had 12 6-inch guns, mounted on triple turrets. The six-inch armament was nothing compared to the armament on battleships. But for a light cruiser, it would be adequate.

Now that he was on the deck, he wondered what to do. He was the captain, so the bridge was the place from where he commanded the ship. But there was the question of his quarters, where he would rest for the night and while the bridge was easy to find, he had no idea about the latter.

The ship looked empty despite having a class size of nearly fifty which, while too less for a cruiser in history, was enough for the school fleets which had ships modified to have most of their systems automated. Fifty was about the maximum. Am I the only one on board? Kalum wondered as he climbed up to the bridge. Maybe everyone else were still in the academy.

However, his doubts were cleared as he heard several voices coming from the bridge, one of them much livelier than the rest. Hearing this, Kalum quickened his pace and went towards the bridge. The voices stopped as he entered. The group in the bridge was small, numbering to only five, all of whom stood in attention as they spotted his insignia.

"At ease." Kalum ordered, and hoping to get a few things over with he broke the few seconds of silence.

"As you've correctly guessed, I'm your captain, and I'm looking forward to working with you."

A boy nearly a head taller than Kalum answered with a smile, who seemed to be the owner of the voice he had heard from outside. "Nice to meet you captain. I'm your first mate, Jerad De Mel."

Kalum returned the smile he had received. "Captain Kalum Perera. And may I know the names and ranks of the rest of you?"

A short haired girl who stood next to a side window addressed him. "I'm Aanya, the torpedo officer." She gestured towards a boy who was even shorter than Kalum, "This is Anudha, the artillery officer. And that's Ravindu, the technical officer." She said pointing to another boy who sat working on a tablet.

The remaining member of the group, a Muslim girl who seemed to be much calmer than the rest replied. "I'm Amina, the helmsman"

"Good," Kalum replied once the introductions were over. He looked at the crew members again, all of whom he felt he could work with. "Where're the others?"

"I met the engineers." Jerad answered. "Apart from that, I think the rest are still on land."

"So, I can meet them in the evening." He turned to Jerad. "Do you think you can show me about the ship? I didn't have a chance to study the ship's layout."

"Of course, follow me captain."

(HMS Ceylon – At port – 16.00)

Kalum met with the rest of the crew in the assembly room. Numbering a little more than forty, most of them had only started to board the ship in the evening after lunch. Kalum had completed his tour of the ship with Jerad, where he had got to see all the compartments of the ship including his quarters, where he had taken a hour long rest which he had needed since he had woken up early in the morning to get to the ceremony. Now, after receiving a document with his instructions he would get to officially meet his crew, and give them the necessary orders.

The document containing his instructions, which he had read, answered his questions about the naval exercises that he would join in. Now he took it with him as went to the podium to address his crew.

"Sit down." He told the class that had stood up as he went to the podium. "I am your captain, as most of you already know, and I will let you know the instructions I received from the combined fleet." He started to read the instructions in the paper.

"The HMS Ceylon, along with the rest of the ships from the British Eastern Fleet should sail to participate in the international maritime exercises held in the Pacific Ocean near the Japanese islands. This is the largest fleet exercise in history and will be held with the participation of nearly a hundred ships from all major student fleets."

Kalum stopped reading to study the expressions of the faces of his crew, most of which had signs of amazement on them. Kalum had felt the same as he read the instructions for the first time. He continued.

"The Ceylon would wait in port till tomorrow when she, along with the other three ships from Sri Lanka would join the HMS Warspite flag ship and her accompanying fleet in Colombo and would sail to Singapore to join with the remaining ships of the fleet. Once the fleet is complete, you shall sail to Iwojima, Japan to meet the foreign school fleets." He quickly completed reading the rest of it.

"Captain, I guess our other three ships know this too." Jerad spoke.

"All the captains received the instructions. We should set sail by 8.00 a.m. tomorrow. So, prepare the ship for sailing."

(The next day)

(HMS Ceylon – preparing to set sail – 07.55)

"Is everything ready for us to get going?" Kalum asked his X.O as they in the bridge after breakfast. They only had a few minutes left before having to join the Eastern fleet.

"Yes captain," Jerad answered. "We can raise anchor as soon as we receive conformation from the Warspite."

"What about the other three ships?"

"the Cornwall signaled us a few minutes ago. They were having a couple of issues with the engines that they've nearly completed by then. Now I believe they've got over with it. as for out destroyers, the Vampire and the Fortune are fully prepared."

"Good," Kalum walked over to the ship's telephone, which he switched on to call the radio room. "Radio, give me an update on the position of the HMS Warspite."

{Yes, captain. Give me a moment} The female radio operator replied.

Kalum waited patiently for about two minutes until the radio operator spoke again.

{Captain, the Warspite says it'll be here in 3 hours.}

"Three hours! That'll put us behind schedule."

{The low speed of the Royal Sovereign and the Resolution is holding them back.}

Kalum mentally cursed the person who equipped the Eastern fleet with old super dreadnoughts. "Ok, thank you! Bridge out." He switched off the telephone and walked back to the front of the bridge.

"Waiting for the Warspite would waste our time. I say we move out slowly and join them in the next rendezvous point."

"Wouldn't that be against the Warspite's orders?"

Kalum smiled, "That is technically true, but we've received orders to move out at eight. Besides I can't wait to see what this ship can do."

"Aye, captain. I'll call the bridge crew."

In five minutes, the bridge crew had all reported, all of whom Kalum had got to know the previous day.

"Captain, I heard we're breaking a few rules." The lively torpedo officer, Aanya, said with a smirk.

"Not necessarily, we're just following the instructions we received stating clearly that we should set sail at eight."

"So, we're going to start now?" the technical officer, Ravindu asked?

"Yes, I believe you tested all the systems?"

"Aye captain. All systems functioning, all the automated weaponry is functioning properly and the chief engineer reported that everything's fine with the engines."

"Ok," he went to the ship's telephone once again and called the radio room, "Inform the HMS Warspite that we're setting off."

{Aye captain. And if they inquire about our reasons?}

"Tell them we're not going to be late in our first day."

{Understood captain.}

"And once that's completed radio our fleet to raise anchor and follow our lead. And that's all for now." He put down the telephone and nodded to Jerad who, understanding what he meant, goes to the intercom."

"Raise anchor, throw all mooring lines, prepare for embarkation."

The crew members on deck sprang into action, carrying out the orders. A crew member stood next to the anchor with a red flag, which he puts down and raises a green flag to signal that the anchor was raised.

"Anchor's up captain." said Jerad as he looked out of the front window of the deck.

Kalum turned towards Amina, the ship's navigator. "Start her up slowly. Set course for the second rendezvous point.

"Aye, starting slowly." Amina said as she moved the E.O.T to the designated position. The cruiser began to accelerate a few seconds later.

"Captain, the rest of the fleet is following us." Said Jerad as he looked out of the back window. Sure enough, the cruiser HMS Cornwall and the destroyers HMAS Vampire and HMS Fortune were following the Ceylon, in a more or less acceptable formation.

"Well that's good, though I probably pissed off the Warspite." Said Kalum as the four ships exited the harbor and set off into the Indian Ocean. "Helmsman, keep up with the calculated course till we reach the next rendezvous point. There we can drop anchor and wait for the fleet."

(Singapore – 15.15)

No matter how many times he visited the country, Singapore has never failed to amaze him. It was the same today when Gehan stepped onto the floating city, which was seen around the world as the best engineered floating city on earth.

He had been dropped at the docks by a navy craft. After a long tiring journey, he had only one thought in his mind. Find his ship, find the mess hall and find his cabin.

The first of these was already accomplished as he stood on the jetty, his eyes locked on the sight of the HMS Prince of Wales, the ship he always wanted to be in.

Gehan became aware of a person coming towards him. He turned towards the arrival, who was a girl, a little shorter than he was, with shoulder length brown hair.

"You must be the captain of the Prince of Wales." The girl said with a smile.

"Yes," Gehan agreed, returning the smile he received.

The girl saluted. She was dressed in the dress uniform of the British fleet, and observing her rank insignia proved to him that she was an executive officer, which she confirmed a moment later.

"I'm Jun Kai, the PoW's executive officer. You can call me June. It's nice to meet you."

"Well, I'm sorry for being a day late."

"No problem. We still have several days before setting off to Japan. I'll show you about the ship."

Gehan followed her up the gangplank leading to the deck of the HMS Prince of Wales. They went past the six fourteen-inch guns in the front and entered the ship's superstructure.

"Would you like to see the bridge first, captain, after your cabin?"

"No, I'd rather go to the mess hall after I drop my things in the cabin." Gehan replied. His back was aching from the heavy bag he carried. He had kept it on the ground when he was in the port, but now carrying it about the ship was exhausting. "Do you still serve lunch?"

The time was past three in the evening, so he dreaded the answer. Fortunately, June replied positively. "Lunch time isn't over yet. Since we're still in port we don't have a strict schedule. I'll take you to the mess after we get to your cabin.

They walked for a few more minutes, June briefing Gehan about various stations they passed before they reached the one Gehan needed.

"Captain, these are your quarters." June said as the two of them walked in. "Would you like to rest for a while or go to the mess immediately?"

"Immediately," Gehan said as he put down his bag next to his bag.

"Yes, captain." They walked on till they reached the mess, Gehan enjoying the walk more as he had literally lost a burden off his shoulders. Despite the time the mess hall was half full, with many crew members still having their meals.

"Captain on deck." Several voices shouted on seeing him enter. Soon everyone was standing in attention.

Gehan spent a moment examining his crew, which numbered to about fifty; the usual amount that student ships of the British fleet had. Hardly enough to crew a battleship if most of its components weren't automated.

"At ease everyone. I am your captain, Gehan Fernando, and I look forward to working with you from now on. I have received our orders for the next few weeks, which I will let you know soon."

He turned to June. "Can you call the whole crew here?"

"Yes captain," the girl hurried off quickly.

"Everyone, you can continue whatever you were doing till now. I need to have my lunch."

The crew cheered and went back to the loud chatter that had been disturbed when he entered the room. While Gehan hurried to the serving counter where the meals were being served, eager to have a good meal after the long journey by sea.

"Captain, how may I help you?" a boy at the serving counter addressed him.

"Lunch please,"

"Yes captain," the boy replied as he served his food. "If you want a change of cuisine, considering your country, you can let us know."

"Thank you!" Gehan said as he received the tray containing his lunch. "And no need to worry. This isn't my first time in Singapore. I like your food."

He took the tray and walked to the table reserved for the bridge, which was empty except for him, with the bridge crew probably in their places in the bridge. This didn't worry him much as he had enough time to get to know them, according to his orders.

"Captain," a voice next to him made him look up from his meal. A tall boy of Indian origin stood at the table, holding a tray with food. "I'm Suresh Patel, in charge of the 14 inches."

Gehan greeted him with a smile. "I thought students outside Singapore rarely get a place here."

"This is my second year in the Eastern fleet, last year I served in the Royal Sovereign in India." He said as he sat down.

"So, you're seventeen."

"Yes captain, and I promise you I won't disappoint you during gunnery."

"I don't doubt it."

Most of the crew were already in the mess hall and Gehan knew, before the confirmation from June, that the whole crew had arrived. "Captain, everyone's here and awaiting your instructions."

Gehan quickly finished his meal and walked to the front of the mess. He had read his instructions before boarding the ship, and knew them by memory.

"Ok, I believe everyone here knows who I am. For those who arrived now, I'm Gehan De Mel, your captain, and I'm here to let you know the instructions we've received for the next few weeks. The Prince of Wales will stay at port with the Repulse for another four days, at the end of which it'll be joined by the Eastern Fleet led by the HMS Warspite. The Prince of Wales should join the fleet and head to Japan, where it will participate in the International Maritime Training Exercises held for the first time this year. These are our instructions for now, and since we have four days till the fleet reaches us, you are free to spend time in any way preferred, either on the ship or inland."

He left the front of the room and went to join June at the bridge table again. The whole crew was now chattering in excitement, about what to do for the next four days, and about the training exercises which were the largest ever planned.

"Captain, since you've finished your meal, I will show you the bridge." June said as he came to her.

"Yes, show me the bridge."

A/N: The historical HMS Ceylon only had 3 triple turrets with six-inch guns which was an upgrade from the Fiji class which had 4 turrets. The removal of one turret in the Ceylon class allowed the Royal Navy to add more anti air guns to the cruiser. But since the High School Fleet universe does not have aircrafts there's no need for the Ceylon to have additional AA guns and so I decided to include 4 turrets in the Ceylon in this fan fiction, making it similar to the HMS Fiji.