I am a HORRIBLE person for posting this and I am most certainly going to hell... WORTH IT!
13801: Science!girls, I don't know how you did it but you've gone too far!
13801a: Yes this has something to do with a mass "summoning" of drones that appear as creepy hovering spiders. For the love of Neptune, keep them away from the new girl!
13801b: Yes this has something to do with the cruiser barracks needing to be rebuilt! (Again)
13802: As a side note, Briggs is on extended leave again due to said new girl subsequently fleeing across the Atlantic and seeking refuge In. His. Office!
As a general rule, Admiral Briggs preferred to know what his shipgirls were up to at all times. It meant a higher drainage of his sanity but in the long run he felt it was worth knowing the chaos ahead of time so he could perform better damage control. But preferring to know things and actually knowing things before they happened were two very different things as he was about to find out.
Opening the door to his office he found a shipgirl curled up under his desk, whimpers escaping her. "Spiders out to get me. Spiders out to get me." She was saying in a heavily accented Russian voice.
Briggs blinked, then blinked again. Then he promptly turned around and walked back out the door. In the hallway he ran into Wright. The secretary ship had a cup of coffee in her hand. "Good morning Admiral, where are you off to in such a hurry?" She asked.
"I am not dealing with this first thing in the morning. Nope! You deal with her." He jerked his thumb in the direction of his office and continued on down the hall.
"But where are you going sir?" Wright asked.
"To the airport! I need a vacation." Briggs shouted back. Wright sighed and quickly phoned Iowa, telling the battleship to corner the admiral before he could leave the base, then she turned her attentions to what had set Briggs off again and entered his office.
The girl was clearly Russian and she still there alright, still huddled tightly against the legs of Briggs' desk. She wore a red skirt. White socks with little red stars on them. Her shoes were more like heavy black boots. Her blouse was long sleeve and mostly gray with the exception of the white numbers 121 on the left arm. Her hair was copper and pulled back in a tight ponytail although many strands framed her face. Her blue eyes were wide and terrified as she stared at the American shipgirl in front of her.
Like her admiral before her, Wright stopped short. However unlike him, she could actually see past the clearly terrified girl and identify the warship beneath. "What the devil are you doing here?!" She asked, a slight hint of hostility in her voice.
At this, the girl looked up from her mutterings and promptly scooted back. "Please, I don't mean- I formally request asylum from those- spiders. Horrible spiders out to get me." She dissolved into mutterings again.
Just like that the world spun completely upside down. Because since when did a Russian cruiser seek asylum in the United States. No wait, since when did the United States suddenly become the safest place on the planet for the former flagship of the Black Sea fleet?! Wright was half tempted to join Admiral Briggs.
Instead she sighed and walked over to Briggs' liquor cabinet. The cup of coffee still in her hand she poured a double shot of vodka into it and walked back to the cruiser. She knelt beside the shaking form, draping an arm over her shoulders. "Moskva, can you tell me what happened?" She asked, handing the cup to her.
Moskva took it gratefully, holding it in both her hands. She looked at Wright and nodded. "A couple of the science girls had gotten together in Hamburg and held some kind of convention. They had several experiments and one was aimed at modifying the summoning ritual. I heard their call and despite my shortcomings I could not refuse it. They were very surprised when they saw me. One of them, Teste I believe her name was, was very nice and found me a berth with the base's cruisers. They were going to introduce me to the Admiral when another of the science girls brought her little, invention to the dorms." Now Moskva's voice despite how much it shook, carried a hint of anger to it. "She summoned fucking drones! And you know what drones look like when they're summoned?"
"Spiders?" Wright guessed and Moskva nodded, clinging to her with a whimper. She let her, running a soothing hand down her back. "Hey it's alright now."
"I panicked and ran for it. I just- didn't know what else to do. I thought..."
"Oh it's okay dear, happens to the best of us. Still does from time to time." Wright replied, thinking of Phoenix and her understandable fear of British submarines. Come to think of it, wasn't that cruiser part of the science convention? Oh she was getting her comeuppance when she returned to US waters, Wright would make sure.
Right now though she had a by now, not so terrified but still spooked Russian cruiser to deal with. "Now let's see if we can't find you some accommodations and food while Iowa brings Admiral Briggs back here." She said, standing up and holding out a hand to Moskva.
Moskva took it, rising shakily to her feet. Still clutching the mug of spiked coffee she drained it in one gulp and left the cup on the desk, permitting Wright to lead her outside.
People in the lobby gave her strange looks and the shipgirls present, a few glares but Wright's presence helped prevent any blowups. Moskva hesitated at the doors though. "No spiders?" She asked quietly.
Wright smiled and shook her head. "No spiders." She assured her and led her outside.
The base was, as one of the largest on the east coast, bustling with activity and Wright noted how Moskva's head swiveled in an effort to keep track of it all. "If your radar gets saturated let me know and I can take some of the activity for you." She said. She knew that getting the girl to relax was going to be damn near impossible without proper time to acclimate.
Moskva grimaced but nodded. "I am fine for the moment comrade Wright." She said but she continued to scan warily around herself nonetheless.
"Hi Wright!" Even Wright jumped at seeing Albacore, the submarine sneaking up on her as usual. But her reaction had nothing on Moskva. The cruiser put five feet between her boots and the ground while simultaneously conducting a missile launch. Gekos streaked off into the air and in such a confined area with many buildings it was inevitable they would hit something. That something just happened to be the cruiser barracks.
Albacore winced and Moskva looked like she just wanted to crawl back under Briggs' desk again. "Sorry." The cruiser said, suitably sheepish.
Wright's smile was a little strained but still there nonetheless as she replied "As I said, happens to the best of us. You can go on ahead to the mess hall. It's the big building on the far right." Moskva grimaced and did as she was told.
Now Wright turned on the cause of all this mess. "Now as for you..." She turned on the submarine. Seeing the look on Wright's face, Albacore quickly found herself contemplating a crash dive.
