Rule by the great Falkeno
Rule 10564. A reminder to all personnel, you must keep in mind that just because it may be a public holiday, it isn't the only thing on the calendar.
It was a cold evening in Scapa Flow as nine of the 10 Towns made their way across the base, which was currently well into celebrating 's day, judging by the number of drunks staggering around. But the Town's weren't there for that; their journey was of a more personal reason, one that everyone else had seemed to forget.
"I can't believe people forgot!" Liverpool seethed as she led the other members of her class down a side street, dodging drunk men and women as she went. "I mean come on, she's the only one of us left for fuck's sake! At least they could remember her launch day!" she continued angrily. It was no secret amongst the Towns that Liverpool looked up to Belfast, being that the two were the sole survivors of their sub-classes respectively.
"Calm down Liv, there's no point crying over spilled milk!" Sheffield cautioned as she followed Liverpool into one of the base's residential buildings, with the rest of their sisters following behind them. Every one of them was feeling awkward: none of them had bought gifts for their sister, but in their defence, none of them knew what to buy for her. Booze would have been an easy option, but they didn't like the amount that she drank normally and had elected to try and curtail her drinking, even if she couldn't get drunk. Finally, though they reached the door they needed, and after taking a moment to compose themselves, Liverpool knocked on the door.
"It's open," Belfast stated from inside, prompting Liverpool and the others to enter. They found Belfast lying on her bed reading a book, with Frankenstein and Henry, Scapa Flow's Kitten and Puppy mascots, curled up next to each other at her feet.
"Happy Birthday, Bel!" they chorused, prompting a few excited barks from Henry, a yawn from Frankenstein, and a confused look from Belfast, which immediately caught Liverpool's, Sheffield's, and the other 'level-headed Town's attention. The only ones who didn't notice were Edinburgh and Southampton, who were too busy trying to hold back tears to notice.
"Our little sister is older than all of us, they grow up so fast!" Southampton commented as tears began leaking down her face, as she stood next to an equally teary Edinburgh.
"I know, we've missed so much!" Edinburgh agreed as she tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes, as Belfast let out a deep sigh.
"Wait, aren't you excited Bel? It's your Launch day, you're 81 years old for christ sake!" Newcastle asked as she tried to fend off exited licks from Henry, whilst glancing at Birmingham who was dealing with a surprisingly cuddly kitten.
"No, not really, I've had enough of them for my taste," Belfast replied as she closed the book before getting up. "I don't know why you're making such a fuss, I don't care about my birthday," she continued, earning surprised looks from her sisters. No one they had met had ever not cared about their birthday. Even Victory enjoyed hers, and she was nearly 260 years old! However, before anyone could push the issue, Belfast's phone buzzed, indicating she had a text. Belfast quickly opened it, only to let out an even deeper sigh. "Urgh, Collingwood wants a word with me and wants to meet me in the canteen, probably to talk about the food we've been getting recently," Belfast explained as she grabbed her jacket and turned to leave. Chats like these were nothing new, and despite not being the Royal Navy's poster girl, Belfast was one of the few people the politicians would listen too. However, her sisters, insulted that Collingwood was ordering Belfast around on her birthday, decided to follow, with the intent of giving the Admiral a mouthful, with Newcastle and Birmingham bringing Henry and Frankenstein along with them, having given up on fighting the attention seeking animals. But as they entered the canteen, they found that the lights were switched off, but before Belfast could ask what the hell was going on, the lights sprang to life, followed by a chorus of voices.
"SURPRISE!" the crowd shouted as Belfast was dogpiled by the multiple forms of Scapa's destroyers, leaving her sisters standing in shock as they tried to work out what was happening.
"What, did you think we'd forgotten?" Collingwood explained as he and several others noticed the confusion on the other Towns faces.
"Come on, we'd never forget Bel's birthday!" Vanguard added before she turned her attention back to Belfast, who had just managed to escape the mass of bodies that had been pinning her to the floor, only to see that every shipgirl and most of the human personnel in Scapa were present; even some of the German shipgirls were there.
"I hate my birthday," Belfast mentally sighed, before putting on a brave face as countless shipgirls advanced to wish her a happy birthday.