The night began with a long walk past the warmly lit Sakura dormitory, whose paper lanterns invited them inside. Ignoring the call for the time being, Thorson and Vampire carried on past the solemn command post and up the earthen path, finally arriving atop the peak of the island. The destroyer's slim form and shorter legs had necessitated a slower pace, but she had scaled the summit without complaint, holding the skull and tags closely throughout.
"Commander," she called as they were catching their breath. "There is a matter of some import I must address with you now that we find ourselves in private."
"Oh? What's going on?" Thorson asked, sucking in the cool night air and gazing at the bright moonlight reflecting off of the calm sea far below. She placed her free hand on her hips.
"I may have been a harlot and a debaucherous woman for my lover, Commander, but I shall resent being referred to as a lady of the night on principle," Vampire insisted, throwing him an accusing glance. Thorson felt his diaphragm catch as he realized what he'd actually insinuated in his comments to her.
"Ok yeah...that was bad. I was going for the whole vampire thing and...yeah. I'm very sorry, Vampire. I meant no offense," he insisted with appropriate deference. "Would Lady of Twilight suit you better?"
"How delightful. I gladly accept," she agreed with a glint in her eyes. "But now we have other business, oh Commander mine."
Thorson nodded silently and pointed to the small cairn at the edge of the clearing. "That's the grave of Nachi, a Sakura cruiser. We...I killed her."
"I did not know thou operated thine own vessel," Vampire said pointedly.
"I don't. But I gave the order to fire," Thorson replied harshly.
"Thou hast a peculiar definition of death, Commander, but this shalt do nicely for my dear Andrew."
"You can use your rigging to dig a hole anywhere you like," Thorson allowed, stepping back as Vampire considered where to point her torpedoes, her silver hair practically glowing under the almost full moon. In the end she settled on a spot close to the first grave, blowing a small hole into the dirt and kneeling before it.
"Oh Andrew...how am I to carry on without you?" She asked his silent skull, reluctant to take that final act of laying her love to rest. Thorson took a knee beside her. He could see tears falling from her eyes, leaving shining trails down her cheeks. "If only I had been possessing of greater power..."
"All we can do is keep living and get stronger," Thorson said quietly, placing his hands over her tiny ones and easing the skull into the grave. "Keep the tags. His family should have them when you return home."
Vampire nodded but didn't speak, sobbing as she rocked back and forth on her knees. Thorson wrapped his arm around her shoulder and spoke the same words he'd given for Nachi.
We hereby commit this life to the deep, to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection. When the sea shall give up her dead, and the life of the world to come, through our Lord.
"Amen," the seductive destroyer whispered, helping Thorson as they filled the grave and marked it with stones. The physical exertion seemed to have a calming effect on her and when they were done she addressed him with confidence in her voice. "Commander Thorson, the moon rises and a time for pacts is upon us. I will grieve for my love, but I doth wish to gain strength and power. Canst thou give this unto me?"
Thorson thought she was laying it on a bit thick, but the thrust of the request was clear enough. "Everyone in this fleet is constantly getting stronger, we have to. Hell, we barely qualify as a battle group. I will do my best to ensure you are part of that," he promised. Vampire held out her hand and brought her palm to the sharp point of her rigging's "wings". She winced as she pricked herself and motioned for him to do the same.
"Uh…what?" He asked, dumbfounded as deep red blood dripped from her palm to the soil below.
"Treason should be bound in blood," she whispered, sending an uneasy chill up his spine as he eventually offered his hand. She pricked him and watched as his blood welled slowly on his palm. Vampire placed her hand atop his, allowing their lifeblood to mix together. "Thou hast done more for me and my grief than any who fly the Royal banner. Should there come a day where Lady Warspite forces me to choose...mine choice is made, bound in blood," she promised, pulling back and taking his punctured hand in hers. She lowered her head and licked at his wound. It healed immediately as her eyes glowed red in the night.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," he whispered, watching as Vampire eyed him hungrily.
"By the stars and moon, Commander. Your taste…" Whatever Vampire meant by those words she chose not to reveal in that moment, instead closing her own wound and turning back to the fresh grave. "Tis a beautiful resting place, Commander. Please, return before me. I wish to spend a moment longer with him."
"As you wish, Vampire. Reverie is at 0600 hours, except weekends."
"I shalt be there, parasol and all. Good evening, my Commander." With that Thorson turned and left her, understanding fully the need to be alone.
The walk back to the base gave Thorson plenty of time to consider what had occurred with Vampire. The idea of a ship manifesting as a figment of human mythology, much less a woman, had fully scrambled his brain. But he couldn't forget what he'd seen. Vampire had fangs, she'd exchanged blood with him, she had the ability to close wounds with a swipe of her tongue, and to top it all off there was the unsettling glow in her eyes when she'd drank his blood. The only thing that's missing is the ability to turn into a bat, Thorson considered with a shake of his head.
He still had no answers as his boots left the soft earth of the island and transitioned to the cement of the base's dormitory area, but Vampire was forced to the back burner as another of the royals captured his attention. He stopped a few paces from where she was seated on the top stair leading down to the docks, her uniform, weaponry, and striking haircut looking otherworldly in the night. She was hunched over, elbows on her knees, a frown on her face.
"Commander...how's she doing?"
"Fine, Ark. Grief is something she needs to handle in her own way, but she'll be fine."
"Well that makes one of us…"
Thorson looked down at his fleet, wondering when their shields would next see enemy fire. "Ok then, I guess there's two ways we can do this, Ark Royal. I can sit down next to you and we can have a chat, or I can carry on to the dorms and pretend I didn't see anything. I'm not technically part of your command structure, so it's your call."
She finally turned to face him, her sapphire eyes steady and cold. "What was it like, when you watched Arizona die?"
Thorson blinked twice, silently. With a deep breath he walked over and took a seat beside her, knowing all his other ships were likely asleep. "I served on a submarine. Can't tell you which, classified. Maybe she'll stop by here one day. Every day it seems like there's new tech out there for submarines, and new tech means accidents. I had thought...I had thought those moments would be the worst of this war."
"They weren't though, were they?" Ark deduced.
"No. Have you ever listened to a young woman begging for rescue knowing that none is coming? Have you ever seen a woman die in your arms?"
"But you brought her back," she protested.
"I did...but the days after her death were some of the worst I've ever experienced. Only Laffey and the others, my duty to them, kept me sane."
"Alright...thanks Commander," Ark finished quietly. He cocked a brow at her.
"That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it Commander. I'm not...I still think about what happened to Hood."
"So that's not it," he concluded, hoping she would share more, if only so he could understand more of what had happened in that battle.
"Damn Yank, stop making me talk."
"I'm not making you do anything," he insisted. She shook her head.
"But here you are lending an ear. And I guess I resent you so you need to know why," she eventually admitted without any shame.
"Uh yeah...that would definitely be something I'd like to know." Thorson rested his hands on his knees, giving Ark a searching look.
"I was scared that day, scared, cold, and alone. If I didn't stop that woman...that monster; but all I had are these," she lamented, holding out her hand as a tiny Swordfish took flight from her palm. "I got lucky, nothing more. But even if all I have is luck, even if all I can do is die for my country, I want to fight those Ironblood trollops and their siren puppet masters."
"But instead you're here," Thorson said quietly as it clicked in his mind. Ark eventually nodded.
"No Union Commander halfway around the world could be more important than defending the channel and our home," she insisted, though her voice wasn't accusatory by any stretch.
"I hope I prove that sentiment wrong, for both of our sakes," he concluded, standing to depart. Ark turned her head to look at him.
"That's it? No daring speech or Yank blowharding?" She demanded.
"Would you really be convinced by empty words that here is where you should be, where you should fight?" He questioned, crossing his arms over his chest and gazing at the ocean.
"No…" she eventually admitted, standing beside him. "But I guess I wouldn't mind an escort back to the dormitory."
Thorson offered his arm to her silently, and they spoke not a word until he bid her goodnight.
"Hmm hmm hmmm! You ready girls, it's almost time!" Cleveland called into the early morning air. Around her were arrayed all of the Union ships in Thorson's fleet minus Brooklyn and Cassin. "Almost...almost…"
"New plan," Tennessee declared, activating her rigging and pointing her guns at the decrepit husk that was the old Union dormitories. Downes was with her immediately.
"Oh yeah, I like the way you think, Belle!"
"Belle?!" The tanned woman spluttered at Arizona and Pennsylvania both activated their guns through a fit of laughter.
"Yeah you know, like a southern Belle! You're tall, you're tan, you're blonde, Tennessee is in the south, and like any proper lady you'll be the last one to sleep with the Commander once the rest of us girls with loose morals get to him!" Downes barely got out the final words as she was dying with laughter, along with most of the fleet. An engaged Tennessee grabbed her by the ankle and hoisted her skyward, only to have her baggy Union Navy shirt pool at her shoulders and reveal a tantalizing pair of red panties and no bra. It wasn't much of a position from which she could scold her.
"Look at the bright side, Belle, he'll probably marry you too!" Downes called from beneath the fabric of her shirt as Indy floated over to them.
"Hmm...perhaps this color would suit me better," she mused.
"Indy, you'll look great in any color!" Portland affirmed from behind her.
"Yes, of course, sister."
"Oy oy oy! Are we gonna ogle Downes' nether lips all day or are we going to destroy a building?" Cleveland called.
"Aren't they a bit large?" Laffey asked, finally proving that she wasn't just standing while asleep.
"It's cause I'm a grown woman!" Downes huffed.
"I'm going to destroy all of you!" Tennessee roared, finally releasing Downes and opening fire with a fury normally reserved for the Sakura as the base's clock struck 0600. Indy caught the destroyer with her rigging as she fell, preventing her from hitting her head on the ground.
"Hey thanks for the cover, Indy!" Downes called happily.
"It's what I do," Indy replied with a genuine smile.
"Why are you so cute, Indy!?" Portland squealed, the three of them joining in on the fun as plans for a controlled detonation went out the window and the building turned to rubble in a hail of cannon fire.
"What in the name of the Queen are you bloody Yanks doing?!" The voice of Warspite called from the direction of the new dormitory as the dust finally began to settle. To say they'd roused the whole facility was an understatement.
"Redecorating, what's it look like limey?" Cleveland asked with a wink.
"Wanton destruction," Warspite scoffed. "It's too early for this. Is there tea?"
"Mess hall, Shiratsuyu, Hatsuharu, or Yuugure will know," Thorson assured her, pointing over his shoulder as he stepped forward to survey the destruction. "You girls going to clean up your mess after breakfast?" To his surprise almost all of them replied favorably to his fatherly tone.
"You bet, Commander. This was so fun but the best is yet to come!" Portland agreed. "Oh hey, did you know that Downes has a- mmmpf!" Thorson never got to hear what Downes was in possession of, as the destroyer in question and Indy leapt upon Portland to muzzle her in a tag team effort before the trio stumbled off to breakfast.
"Do I want to know?" Thorson asked Penny, Arizona, and Cleveland. The three were lightly flushed with effort and looked far too good for women who'd just destroyed a multi-story building.
"I think it's best to leave this one," Pennsylvania advised. "Should we save you a seat, Commander?"
"Yeah, thanks for that. I'll take your word for it, Penny. You go on too, Laffey," Thorson encouraged. He was about to ask Tennessee why she looked like vengeance incarnate when she strutted up to him and jammed her index finger against his sternum.
"If you ever call me Belle, I will end you," she promised before stomping off as well. Thorson was left scratching his head.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he murmured, pleased that his ships were friendly enough with one another that conversations and jokes were being made without his knowledge. It meant life was taking hold. Akashi joined him after a moment, having diverted from the group of Sakura ships heading to the mess.
"Union girls must have been very excited to have their own place, nyaa. Akashi will be sure to look for stars and stripes furnishings when Brooklyn-san returns. Or maybe she will make them, nyaa!"
"I think they'd appreciate the help, Thorson affirmed as Akashi held out her hands to him. He cocked his head at her but eventually realized what she wanted. "You're a bit heavy, Akashi," he grunted as he hoisted her onto a shoulder.
"Not what you say to a lady, nyaa!" She pouted. "But Akashi will forgive Shikikan since he indulges her. It's fun to be tall, nyaa! Bulins and Akashi will return after breakfast to help; do not fear, Shikikan."
Thorson nodded and began walking for the stairs to the docks, passing by the Sakura dormitory which was a physical testament to all that the little shipgirl had done to make life on his base livable. "You've really helped us out, Akashi. Don't go running off anywhere, alright?" He demanded kindly. He received her sleeves in front of his eyes as Akashi hugged him around the head.
"Akashi will stay with Shikikan, nyaa!"
"Good! Now let me see so we don't fall all the way down the stairs to the docks!"
When breakfast ended and the various ships headed out to their daily duties, primarily around the construction of further living space, Thorson was approached by Leander and Javelin.
"Good morning, you two. Was that food to your liking?" He asked politely, holding the door for them as they all walked out into the sunshine of another pleasant day.
"The ingredients are different, but Shiratsuyu was very kind to us. And we made our own tea. Overall it was quite satisfactory, Commander," Leander assured him.
"But you know what's not? This base's submarine defense," Javelin reported happily, which Thorson didn't quite understand. The words made sense though.
"We are a bit lacking in that regard," he admitted. "All the ships I have here came to me by chance. I don't think I have the authority to request reinforcements from the Union as a researcher."
"That may be so, but now you've got us!" Javelin said. "Laffey and I were discussing this yesterday. She didn't seem very concerned but back in the Atlantic the wolfpacks are a fact of life. We would like to offer our services!"
"Well I gladly accept," Thorson agreed, smiling at the young women. "How did you envision this working?"
"Well, we've got this little thing. You tell him, Leander!"
"Oh, alright then. Commander Thorson, we're able to run our sonar and radar systems away from our ships. Keeping track of more than one system is very difficult, but since you have radar here on the base, we should be able to monitor sonar from the Javelin and Leander throughout the day."
"That would be great, but wouldn't you get annoyed after a while?" Thorson asked, imagining sonar pinging in his brain all day.
"We're shipgirls, Commander! Anti-submarine warfare has been a fact of life for us royals for a very long while. Don't you worry!" Javelin assured him.
"Well then you have my approval and thanks. Does Warspite know about this?"
"We don't need her permission or the Queen's permission to defend our new home," Javelin insisted emphatically. "She won't mind. Promise!"
Thorson exhaled heavily, but figured he needn't worry given that they'd taken the initiative. It wasn't like he'd requisitioned them. He glanced over as Leander stood a bit straighter. "Oh, that tickles a bit. Maybe there are some dolphins out there? Let me adjust the sensitivity."
"Why? What did you hear?" Thorson inquired as they continued their stroll. Leander placed a puzzled finger on her lips.
"Well, it was something that resembled a small pack of Ironblood type 7 U-boats but…"
"It's hard to make out but, yeah, there's something there. Pretty far out though," Javelin agreed. "Wonder what's going on."
"Leander, can we use your ship? That description is far too specific for my liking," Thorson requested. She nodded and they changed course, arriving at her bridge shortly. There they confirmed the distant sonar contact and activated her radar.
"One surface vessel, how strange indeed. Maybe it's a whale?" Leander suggested, unwilling to believe the Ironblood might be out there in the Pacific. Their voyage had been so peaceful. Thorson reached for the radio.
"Hey Shiranui, are you there?" He called.
"I was just beginning my morning meditations, idiot Shikikan."
"Great, glad you're available," he carried on with a wink at the two royals, listening to the exaggerated sigh from the ghost destroyer. "Listen we're down on the water here with Leander and Javelin, seeing some things on radar and sonar. Do you have anything?"
"Hmm, yes there's a solitary radar contact. Definitely odd given the state of the world. Oh, look. An international distress call," Shiranui said peacefully. Thorson's heart was anything but peaceful as it slammed into his ribcage.
"A what?!" He yelled, tuning Leader's radio to the correct frequency.
"Distress...bzzt. Please help…need. Bzzt -blood destroyer Z23...sanctuary...pursued. Kommandant Thorson please-"
"Commander! Did that voice say Z23?" Javelin gasped as the message repeated. He could see the sonar contacts following the contact on radar.
"Let's assume this isn't a siren trap for a moment-" he began before Javelin cut him off with a yelp.
"Do any of the sirens know your name?! What if it's her? She's going to be sunk!"
Thorson acknowledged the point as he chased the correct decision in his mind. If he lost ships to a trap… "Why would Z23 be pursued by her own nation's submarines?"
"I don't know but I'm going to find out!" Javelin declared, tearing off for her own ship as Thorson radioed Shiranui.
"Do it, Shiranui. Scramble the fleet," Thorson ordered, swapping to the Union channel. "All ships receiving this broadcast, get your rigging active and get to the docks. We may have another rescue mission on our hands. Prepare for anti-submarine combat."
"You should go to your office, Commander," Leander suggested politely. "I will await Lady Warspite's orders."
"Understood," he agreed, sprinting for the stairs and taking them two at a time. He found Warspite there at the top, surveying the battlefield. Every ship he'd passed by had her rigging out and ready. His boats were already moving.
"Is there a reason one of my destroyers is heading out to sea?" She demanded.
"It was out of my hands the moment the name Z23 came across the radio," Thorson stated gravely, looking through his binoculars. "I can't make out that silhouette yet."
"Attention all ships of the Royal Navy," Warspite called as her rigging activated and she adjusted her radio receivers. "Prepare to sortie. Ascertain if contacts are Ironblood. If so, terminate them!"
"They will be given a chance to surrender," Thorson said harshly. Warspite hefted her sword.
"I did not stutter, Commander Thorson. Whatever experiences you may have had, you do not know the Ironblood. My orders are final," she insisted before heading for the docks, her cannons easily larger than her own body. Thorson spun on a heel and entered the command office as fire raged in his belly.
"Oh my, I do so enjoy that face on you, Shikikan. Who are we killing today? I hope it's those siren bootlickers," Shiranui replied in monotone. Thorson grabbed the radio receiver in a tight fist.
"All ships under my command, this is Thorson. Your orders are to make contact with the approaching force that is hailing is using an international distress channel. Regardless of faction you will offer them the chance to deactivate their weapons and surrender. Any ships that fire on a surrendered vessel are to be targeted and sunk! Pennsylvania, you have command!" He yelled before throwing down the receiver.
"Wow, such an angry Shikikan," Shiranui whispered with soft excitement.
"Don't push me, not now," he ground out, thinking back to the barbaric research he'd reviewed during his flight from Pearl Harbor.
"You misunderstand, Shikikan. I hope one of them tests you."
"Seriously?" He growled. "You want the Union and the Royal Navy firing on each other?"
"What? The fireworks would be fun to watch. Besides, Tennessee alone could take out the five of them at close range," Shiranui suggested. Her flames glowed brighter.
"Just...monitor the radio," he ordered, heading back outside to survey the operation.
"Hai, Shikikan."
Aboard her bridge, Warspite was pacing furiously. Javelin was not responding to orders and the Union Commander had just given conditional orders to his own fleet to fire on her and her sisters. After watching them all at breakfast that morning, looking almost like a family instead of a war fighting machine, she considered very seriously that they might.
"Warspite, you need to do something. We can't just send Vampire after her," Ark ordered. "My planes are already in the air but you know how slow they are."
"What would you have me do, Ark?" She shot back. "The Ironblood are our sworn enemies! They murdered Hood!"
"You think I don't know that?" Ark snapped. "Have you seen his fleet? He has five operational battleships, four of which are custom built by their own operators. He has three highly specialized cruisers and two destroyers with significant ship to ship offensive capability," the carrier recounted, having surveyed the fleet in dock that morning with a small aircraft as she enjoyed toast and tea. "Oh, and they all have orders to shoot us on sight if we attack his prisoners! Did you really have to contradict him to his face like that?! What are you going to do next, demand to interrogate any Ironbloods he captures?"
"Enough!" Warspite cried, worrying more and more for the speedy destroy that was tearing off ahead of them all alone. She thought of all the ships she'd killed, all the friendly boats that had been destroyed before her eyes ever since the Great War. What the hell did some green Union Commander know who had been but a babe when that first conflagration had started? "Javelin comes first," she whispered before taking up her radio. "This is Warspite. All ships under the command of Commander Thorson, please assist Javelin. She is not responding to radio hails and she may be up against four hostiles."
"Penny, what's the call?" Tennessee demanded, looking at Laffey and Downes from her bridge. They were their best hope against submarines.
"Laffey, do you know Z23?" Pennsylvania asked, practically feeling the girl straining to break formation.
"She is Laffey's good friend," the destroyer replied simply.
"We can assist with reconnaissance too, Pennsylvania," Fusou added.
"Yes yes, Yamashiro has a plane now!" The shrine maiden cried happily, turning her catapult out to sea as her 'little one', as she called it, materialized in the ready position. The knowledge had come from a horrible place, but she and her sister were happy to bear that burden to help Thorson.
Pennsylvania closed her eyes, trying to think through the situation and what her Commander would do. The broadcast was getting clearer and more desperate. A large spray of water exploded near the destroyer far on the horizon. Time was up.
"Laffey and Downes, full speed ahead. Coordinate with each other. We don't have many depth charges! Catch up with Javelin and provide support! Fusou, Yamashiro, get your planes in the air and get me a visual of the destroyer and any pursuers. Cleveland, escort Leander as quickly as the two of you can move. She has the weapons and concealment we need. We'll back you up as soon as we can. Warspite, please inform me if you intend to issue maneuvering orders to your fleet. I'm sending escorts."
"Aye aye!" Multiple ships radioed back as planes were launched and ships shifted in formation. Thorson and Shiranui watched from the island along with Akashi.
"Shikikan looks very scary today, nyaa," Akashi murmured.
"How bad...how bad could it have possibly gotten for her, if it is her, to flee to the other side of the world?"