6653. To our WW1-era shipgirls, while we can upgrade many of you to WW2 standards thanks to MSSB, there is a considerable wait line. And no, you can't barge into the repair ship's office and demand to be put at the front of the line.

Yokosuka

"What's the status of Tosa's and the Amagi's refits?" asked Goto.

"All proceeding on schedule. Barring any major issues, all four should be out in a month." said Akashi. "Which brings us to our next question."

"Who to refit next?" said Ooyodo.

"Exactly."

"Well, what's the latest figures you have?" asked Goto.

"Fully half of our current destroyer fleet has been upgraded with Allied standard AA and ASW, and those refits are minor enough that I can just save them for when they come in for maintenance. Cruisers are pretty much in the same boat. About half have the better AA and radars, and the others can get them when they cycle through the standard maintenance. It's really the battleships and carriers that's causing the problem because they need a dock all to themselves."

"Which means that we have to be selective about who we choose and at what time." added Ooyodo.

"Suggestions?"

Akashi tapped her clipboard. "Let's see. Souryu and Hiryu just left on the last convoy, so I can ask Medusa and Jason if they can take care of them in San Diego. That leaves us with the Unryu's, Shinano, and Hakuryu for fleet carriers, and Ryuho and Chuyo for light carriers. In terms of battleships, we have a slightly different problem."

"Which is?"

"With the Amagi's and Tosa now refitting, we're down to five battleships, not counting our pre-dreadnoughts."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes and no. The ones I haven't gotten to yet are the Kawachi's, Myogi, Ishizuchi, and Izumo." said Akashi. "Now, I can refit them all, but with the exception of Izumo, it's gonna take a while. So, the question is, do you want me to refit Izumo first, and get her out quickly? Or do you want to keep her on the frontline, where she still has utility, and upgrade one of our second line units first?"

Goto pondered for a moment. "If we were to get attacked tomorrow, I'd rather send Izumo out than risk Ishizuchi or any of the others. Once the current refits are finished, I want you to start upgrading Ishizuchi and Myogi. Two more fast battleships should help out with our surface raider problem."

"And after that?"

"I'm not sure. By that time, Tosa and the Amagi's should be back to full duty, so we wouldn't have as large a firepower shortage, but who knows?"

"Alright, I'll tell Ishizuchi and Myogi."

A month later...

"Akashi!" a voice rang out, shattering the relative quiet of the docks.

"What?" asked the repair ship irritably.

"I demand a stop to this heresy!" said Kawachi.

"Oh come on. Didn't you get the memo that Tokiwa was imagining my pacts with the devil?"

"This is no fantasy!" scoffed the dreadnought. "Me and my sister are true battleships, yet you are wasting time and effort on those glorified cruisers. It is an outrage!"

Akashi merely sighed as Kawachi continued her tirade, idly wondering how the smallest battleship Japan had summoned, not counting pre-dreadnoughts, had more arrogance than all the others put together.

Suddenly, Kawachi stopped talking, realizing that the repair ship wasn't paying attention. "Hey, I'm talking!"

"And I'm done listening." retorted Akashi. "I can only refit so many capital ships at once and still have docks left over for emergency repairs, which means that the first priority goes to ships that Japan needs the most, and Japan right now needs ships that can catch the raiders that are hitting her convoys, and unless you've found a way for me to refit you to do thirty knots, you're not it." she said, glowering. "So, I suggest you get the hell out of my dockyard and wait your turn like every other Kanmusu on this base."

Kawachi opened her mouth to speak, but then thought better of it, electing to storm out in a huff instead, leaving Akashi alone aside from a (thankfully)unconscious Myogi and Ishizuchi.

"One of these days I'm gonna have the Yubaris' make me a Kanmusu-proof lock." she muttered to herself as she checked her patient's vitals. "I've just about had it with all the people barging in here and shooting their mouths off."

Seeing that both battlecruisers were fine, she went back to her office. She had another thing for Ooyodo to put on the List.