That Laffey was too excited to sleep was an understatement. She had, for the first time in a long time, a friend from the Sakura. And she had rigging! By the time she'd pulled into dock, having bounced around the bridge for the duration of the short journey, Thorson was shaking his head with wonder and bewilderment.
"You wanted results, Hawkins? How's 'hyper Laffey' for results?" He muttered. Shiranui stared at him, her will o the wisps orbiting her slowly.
"The idiot Shikikan is talking to invisible people now?"
"Is that better or worse than talking to ghosts?" He jabbed back lightheartedly, looking down to review his notes. They were the results of the quick experiment that had resulted in hyper Laffey. Before weighing anchor, Thorson had asked her to test her new gun against the island. Laffey had delivered in spades, first proving that her rigging could be fired completely independently of the ship's main guns. The resulting explosion on the beach Thorson estimated from a distance to be something approximating a hand grenade, perhaps larger. He barely had time to consider what Pennsylvania would be able to do with rigging when Laffey then fired her main battery, producing a sizeable, blackened dent in the foliage on the island. Thorson finally requested she fire both at once, to test the synchronization potential that Shiranui had described. The resulting shell impact left him slack jawed and Laffey oohing and aahing at her own handiwork, the resulting blast more powerful than both of the two shots she'd fired before. Unwilling to tamp down on her reasonable excitement, Thorson just did what he could to catalog everything he was seeing. He was still on orders, after all.
After securing the USS Laffey in port, Thorson allowed Shiranui to accompany him to the crew quarters to gather his and Laffey's sparse belongings. Laffey and Akashi were nowhere to be found, having run off the boat the moment the gangway had hit the dock, Thorson's warning of not activating any 'mad science stuff' following them as they scurried off to try to find the generator for the civilian section of the base.
"You are too easy on her," Shiranui insisted as Thorson packed away a half empty bottle and slung both bags over his shoulders. "She will never destroy your enemies this way." Thorson gave the ghost destroyer a searching look.
"Is that what it is with the Sakura? Power above all else?" He asked, leaving judgment behind and wondering if he could get the cagey ghost destroyer to open up about her former affiliation. Shiranui humored him, though her face remained indifferent and disappointed.
"Is it any different where you come from? I think not."
"Maybe, maybe not," Thorson admitted, leading the way back up to the deck and off the ramp, his way eased by Shiranui's glowing flames. "However, what I can say is that Laffey is stronger than she was when I met her. I've seen others do tremendous things under times of stress. Power is what you seek from a weapon. Laffey is more than that. I can't point her and shoot. She needs to be willing to pull the trigger herself."
"Disgusting. So you have slept with her," Shiranui chastised him. Thorson shrugged.
"Not sure why you're so interested but yes, we've shared a bed. Clothes remained on."
"Idiot shikikan," the ghost ship muttered as a sequence of lights illuminated themselves row by row along the eastern side of the dock, indicating Laffey and Akashi's success. A few moments later the two missing shipgirls returned to Thorson, their faces flushed with exertion but pleased with the result of their efforts.
"Laffey is actually a bit excited to be back. Laffey can do whatever she wants!" Laffey exclaimed, her rigging moving every which way as she continued to adjust to her new 'limbs'.
"You cannot do whatever you want," Thorson corrected her, causing Laffey and Akashi's ears to droop. "Girls, we are at war whether you like it or not. Akashi, I know you're from the Sakura and I won't ask you to fight them directly for now but the end goal is still the same, taking down the Sirens. After what happened in Hawaii I think it's safe to assume they're behind the recent shakeup within the Sakura as well as the acts of war against the Union. That means none of us can do whatever we want. That being said," he offered, hoping to raise their spirits a bit. "I will do what I can to ensure that you can live as you like within the confines of a military operation. I want you all to want to defend this place. Understood?"
"Yes, Commander!" Laffey saluted. Akashi quickly mimicked her, the gesture causing one of her sleeves to fall in front of her face. Thorson laughed.
"For instance, I won't mandate you change into standard uniforms. Laffey, you feeling sleepy?"
"No, Commander. Laffey wants to play with Akashi! Akashi is funny."
"Akashi would like to play with Laffey too, nyaa. Shikikan stuck his gun in Akashi's face and now Akashi is wide awake!"
"What will you do now, idiot Shikikan? Just going to let them play?" Shiranui taunted. Thorson threw a smirk her way.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Laffey, Akashi, the two of you have permission to leave port. You will return in…" He paused to check his watch. "Two hours, no later than 0600. Before you depart you will deactivate the lights on the docks. We don't need ships spotting you two during the daytime and we don't need passing naval groups wondering what this island is doing lit up like a Christmas tree. Is that clear?"
"Hai!" Akashi and Laffey shouted, saluting him again in their particular ways. Before they ran off Thorson placed a hand on Laffey's head and spoke to her.
"Laffey, keep an eye on Akashi. If she tries to run or if she radios to the Sakura I order you to sink her. Understood?"
Laffey made a sad noise and looked down at the spotlight in her hands. "Laffey understands."
"I know it's not easy to accept but we don't…we can't afford to be betrayed. We're too weak," Thorson tried to explain.
"Shikikan still doesn't trust Akashi? Akashi will give you this then, nyaa." The green-furred girl reached into one of her deep pockets and withdrew a small, rough-hewn red gemstone and handed it to Thorson.
"Akashi loves shiny things but she was only ever able to afford this one before she had to leave. Business in the empire is slow thanks to the war with Dragon Empry, goods are hard to acquire even for a shipgirl, nyaa. Akashi gives this to Shikikan for now so that Akashi has to come back," she explained with a pleading look in her eyes. Thorson gazed at the stone before placing it gently in his breast pocket.
"I'm sorry, Akashi. This gesture isn't meaningless. Thank you. Go and play with Laffey now. Show her how to sail with rigging, alright?" The cat-girl's eyes brightened at the order.
"Akashi will do that, nyaa!"
"Lights first!" Thorson reminded them as they bolted for their ships, chuckling as the two girls changed course and tore off for the civilian area of the dock, shut the lights down, and raced back to the side of the docks with the main lab a few minutes later. Thorson nodded with approval as he noted he could still hear the faint hum of the generators, his eyes adjusting to the moon and stars. "Have fun you two!" He waved, watching with awe as the Akashi and Laffey pulled out of dock with barely a sound and without a crew. Soon after they'd vanished into the dark.
"I don't understand you," Shiranui offered, following Thorson all the same as the Commander headed for the lab.
"You don't have to. Just know that everything I do is an experiment," he explained, opening the door for Shiranui and closing it behind them before flicking on the interior lights. He immediately pulled his notebook from his duffel, ensuring Arizona's cubes remained hidden, and began making notes on how Akashi and Laffey had responded to his orders and how the two of them together had somehow turned base maintenance and sailing drills into a 'game'. Content, he then flipped to the back of the notebook and scribbled 'Inventory' onto the top of the page.
"What now?" The ghost ship demanded.
"I intend to take a rough inventory of everything here. There's plenty of shells and torpedoes," Thorson admitted, eyeing the racks of munitions that sometimes extended to the ceiling. "But that means nothing if there's no food or too little fuel to run the generators. The first thing I need to do is make this facility self-sustaining, establish supply lines. Without that I can't do research on what shipgirls are or what they can do, and I definitely can't fight a war. If you would excuse me, Shiranui." Thorson dismissed her and turned to the nearest stack of oil barrels, standard 55 gallon drums by the look of things. He was starting to count the dimensions of the pile when the ghost destroyer's disinterested voice came from over his shoulder.
"The generators are diesel. Each seems to require a full barrel for a twenty four hour run cycle. There's enough fuel here to power the base for several years if no ships sail from it."
Thorson held a hand up and finished his mental math, looking at the nearest stack which was five barrels wide and deep, stacked three high. That same pattern continued on down the length of the building, putting the number of barrels easily in the several hundreds. He turned to Shiranui.
"You're right."
"You don't trust me."
"Not even as far as I can throw you."
"You can't throw me."
"Sounds about right."
"I hate you, idiot Shikikan."
"Then why are you helping me?" Thorson demanded. Shiranui sighed and looked around the building.
"Because you have a plan. You saw that clingy bunny girl get rigging and the next thing you did was send her away so you could do something boring and necessary, like taking inventory. You see the big picture…at least some of it. The entirety of Akashi's plan was to flee here. She has nothing now, except for you," Shiranui declared, glaring at him defiantly. Thorson nodded before surrendering to a yawn.
"I won't lie, I could definitely use some help with all this. Thank you."
"Fine. I will inventory the torpedoes and shells." Shiranui floated off without another word. Thorson shrugged and returned to the fuel stores before moving on to examine the structures and resources around the laboratory-styled back corner that contained the conductive matrix. He estimated that the crate of wisdom cubes contained about thirty of the alien devices, while the large holding tanks proved to be full of normal sea water. He drained them and set the system to cycle once, recoiling as brackish water ran through the pods before flushing out into the ocean, eventually replaced by relatively clear salt water. After a time he reconvened with Shiranui outside the warehouse. The two of them could barely see the faintest hints of sunrise on the eastern horizon. Thorson ran a hand through his hair and walked to the stairs that led up the slope of the island and away from the docks.
"What do you make of all this? Who leaves a base this well stocked for over half a decade?" He asked absently.
"Two factions who would seek to use it against one another," Shiranui replied swiftly, ascending the stairs effortlessly behind him. As they passed the first of two major shore defense batteries, pillboxes with massive fixed guns that branched off from the cement stairs, Thorson could only nod his head in agreement.
"The Union navy doesn't know about this place, only a select few in R&D. Was it common knowledge among the Sakura?" He asked, wondering how much enemy intel he could glean from Shiranui. She shrugged.
"As you said, this base is the birthplace of many ships. They may remember it. I do not know the extent to which this location has been hidden from rank and file Sakura soldiers."
"So we aren't safe," Thorson spat bitterly as they finally reached the top. A simple structure with a massive radio tower atop it greeted them, as well as a covered walkway that branched left and right, leading to four dormitories, two to a side, that all looked the same at first glance. Behind the smaller central building Thorson could make out the highest point of the island, at the end of what looked like a gentle ascent followed by a steep summit. It was hard to tell with so little light, but he estimated it might take an hour or so to reach it. Turning his attention to more immediate concerns, Thorson tried the door. "Seriously?" He asked with shock as the rusted handle eventually turned and allowed him entry. "Oh…I see."
The light from Shiranui's fire illuminated the dingy interior of the structure with pale purple light, revealing why no one had bothered to lock it up. While the base may have had significant stores of munitions and fuel, it was clear that any research had been stripped and evacuated, leaving bare, crumbling walls and a dirty, metal desk and chair behind. Thorson noted that it was likely for whoever was manning the radio, with the necessary components fitted into the wall to his left, right next to the desk. To the right of the desk was another door that led into a small back office. The situation in this room was much the same, with pathetic furniture and a tattered map of the nearby Pacific the only things left. Both rooms featured windows, so Thorson assumed that at one point they had served as offices for research or other functions, not interrogation rooms.
"Disgusting." Shiranui rendered her judgment from behind him. Thorson couldn't help but agree.
"I think fixer upper just about covers it. I'm guessing the dormitories are in the same state. We can probably use some of the mattresses and blankets from the Laffey to get a corner of one of those dormitories fit for habitation but…I really don't know what else I can do. Even if I cleaned every inch of this place it's not like I can build furniture."
"Idiot Shikikan," Shiranui muttered as they left the office and turned towards the dormitories to the left.
"What did I do now?" He asked disinterestedly.
"You just get done talking about how you intend to establish supply lines and then go on about how you can't build furniture. Anything can be purchased for the right price," the destroyer insisted as they confirmed that the dormitories were, indeed, in the same condition as the radio office. Deciding to just sleep aboard the Laffey until he could get it all sorted out, Thorson left the building and headed back for the stairs to the dock. He paused at the top, watching the sky changing from the dark steel of pre-dawn to the first lights of day. Sure enough, as ordered, he could see the faint silhouettes of two ships returning to port, a quick peek through his binoculars confirming they were Laffey and Akashi. Deciding he could finally take just a moment for himself, Thorson sat at the apex and watched them come in. To his surprise Shiranui joined him.
"Can I ask you something?" He requested. She rolled her eyes and looked out to the ocean.
"I suppose."
"How did Akagi manage to convince the Sakura to join with the Sirens? When did it happen?"
"Right to the heart of the matter then?"
"Yes."
"Very well. I suppose I could attempt to extract some value from my own demise," Shiranui reasoned. "Akagi did not convince anyone to serve the Sirens."
"What? How is that…I saw Siren attack craft at Pearl Harbor!" Thorson exclaimed. Shiranui's demeanor remained unchanged.
"What you saw is none of my concern, idiot Shikikan. Akagi did not convince anyone to join the Sirens. She claimed that she was in contact with The Creator, that she could save us from the mighty Eagle Union and Royal Navy."
"The Creator?" Thorson asked, withdrawing his writing implements again. "What is The Creator?"
"It is simple. Akagi claimed she had spoken to God," Shiranui spat, making it clear what she thought of those claims. "The world seems to fall apart more and more each day. The idea of divine intervention, divine salvation…it proved too powerful to resist, even if it meant throwing away the gods of our country. My death came shortly after the decision was made to abandon the Sakura Empire's command structure and move to the Sanctuary, the place in which we would all supposedly commune with this Creator. I do not know where it is or what happens there. After Nagato-sama left us, along with her sister Mutsu-sama and her guardian Kawakaze-san, it became clear to those of us not blinded by fear that something was amiss. We were swiftly crushed and scattered."
Thorson could feel his heart beat faster as the implications of a rogue shipgirl navy became clear. "Akagi dragged an entire nation into war," he whispered. "The higher ups in the Ironblood Empire must be furious, to say nothing of what will happen when they eventually learn the Sakura Emperor didn't order the attack against the Union. And now they'll probably fight and die before admitting to the world that their weapons have gone rogue. Thank you, Shiranui. I'm sorry to have you revisit this but this is very helpful to me, to understand what I'm up against. Do you know why they call it The Creator instead of God?"
"Because…no god would ever create something like the Sirens," Shiranui whispered, suddenly looking sad and forlorn even as the light of dawn lit her pale face. Thorson felt his guts clench.
"Akagi…contacted the entity that created the Sirens?" He asked in awe and fear.
"So she claims."
"And instead of running to the ends of the Earth you join some idiot like me?" Thorson asked with a resigned laugh as Laffey and Akashi came into port below them.
"You have a plan. It's not necessarily a good plan, but it's a plan," Shiranui repeated.
"But if what you want isn't a part of my plan it doesn't matter. Following me is no better than following Akashi."
"Are you asking what I want from you, Shikikan?" Shiranui turned to him with an oddly piercing gaze. Thorson nodded. "Peace…and vengeance."
"If Akagi is as powerful as you say I have every intention of attempting to tame her and use her against the Sirens. I won't kill her unless it's necessary."
"The fact you think you could even touch her tells me you're not just an idiot Shikikan. You're a crazy Shikikan. I don't need her to die, just to suffer. Perhaps only the crazy ones will ever be able to do what's necessary to achieve peace, to let us appreciate mornings like this. "
"It is rather beautiful, isn't it?" Thorson agreed, watching the first rays of morning catch off the water. "I'd rather live, but if I am to die in this war this will be a good enough place to spend the last of my days."
Shiranui nodded slightly. "Yes. If I had to choose one, I would choose peace."
"You're rather wise then, I think."
"Do not flatter me, Shikikan."
"As you wish. Welcome to Azur Lane, Shiranui." Thorson extended his hand to her, if only to treat her as he'd treated Akashi. To his shock and amazement she reached out and took his hand. He could feel cold, solid flesh against his palm. A small, self-satisfied smile played across her face.
"I may come to surprise you, Shikikan."