"C'mon Shiranui, give me something else," Thorson murmured, standing tall and rigid as his fleet looked to him for guidance. The ghost ship delivered.
"No ships on radar or visual," she stated using the broadcast system. "Source of enemy fighters is unknown."
"Then here's what we're going to do," Thorson began, turning to look at Arizona who had not left his side. "Go with Yamashiro. There's a basement in the school building. Take everyone who can't fight down there and stay safe. And don't give me that look. You know you can't fight right now. None of our shore batteries even have AA guns."
"I feel so helpless," she whispered, the air raid sirens sending cold shivers through her body. They were banished as Thorson held her to him.
"I just got you back. I won't let them take you from us again. Penny and I are going to fight today. Tomorrow you'll join us. Now go!" He ordered urgently.
"Y-Yes sir!" Arizona cried, heading over to the Sakura table and speaking quickly with Yamashiro who nodded with each sentence as her ears swiveled around on high alert. Thorson called out over them.
"Fusou and Akashi, form up over here. You're with us today," Thorson ordered. The battleship and repair ship quickly bade their comrades farewell before moving over to Thorson's table as the younger sisters of his battleship pairs led the non-combat ready Sakura to the relative safety of the school basement.
"I am ready to serve you, tono-sama," Fusou declared. He nodded curtly before unscrewing and upending a salt shaker on the table. The fleet gathered around as he began to draw.
"The enemy is here," he declared, drawing a triangle pointing towards a long line. "And this is the base. If this is an aircraft raid I want Cleveland in the center of our formation. Tennessee and Pennsylvania will form the apex here." Thorson drew a trapezoid between the triangle and the line. "You two are our steel wall. You have the armor, the shields, and the guns. I know this is asking a lot, but I can't afford to screen you today."
"The Union didn't skimp on battleship AA," Tennessee begrudgingly admitted before slamming her gloved fist into her palm. "We will hold."
"Good. Laffey, Downes, and Akashi will make up the middle of the formation around the Cleveland. Be sure to maintain just enough distance that bombers can't get you both in one pass, but otherwise keep it tight. All we need to do is defend the base today. Indy, Portland?"
"Sir!" They both replied with rigging primed and ready.
"The two of you are the back corners, here and here," Thorson circled the bottom corners of the trapezoid.
"Commander, what about my shield?" Indy asked. He nodded.
"Today it's more important that Cleveland take center. You are going to help me fool the enemy instead. Indy, Fusou, today you two will be working together."
"What?!" Portland and a few others asked as Thorson smiled grimly at Fusou.
"Today your devotion to us is going to be tested, Fusou. You are bait."
"Whatever tono-sama commands," Fusou replied calmly after a moment's consideration. She and Indy looked at one another, sizing each other up. The tanned heavy cruiser was already floating on her bomb.
"Here's how this will work. Indy, you'll be on this corner, closest to the Fusou and the labs. Fusou, you will do your best to fight from your ship. Throw up enough flak to get their attention and look like you're trying to move to join the formation but can't. If or when the enemy targets you, Indy will use her shield to cover you while the left side of our formation hits the enemy aircraft that will hopefully waste their payloads aiming at a single, shielded target." Thorson felt a hint of satisfaction as he saw understanding light in the eyes of his ships. "And girls?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"All weapons free. I trust you. Fall out!" At Thorson's orders Downes tore out of the mess hall, followed quickly by the Portland class sisters and his battleships. Laffey moved at her own speed with Akashi while Fusou lingered just a moment, a reflective look on her pale and elegant face. "Fusou…"
"I will not go against my vows, tono-sama," she promised. "Just protect my sister, please."
"Right now we worry about defending this base. Fusou, listen to me. Your ship is expendable. You are not. Do I make myself clear?" Thorson pressed. "There are no death or glory missions in my fleet."
Fusou gave him a surprised but grateful smile. "Understood, tono-sama. I must go. I'm sure your flagship is waiting for you as well." No further words were changed as they both exited the mess, turning to their right where black dots covered the northern horizon. "May the spirits protect you, Shikikan."
"And you. Now go!"
As Fusou ran as fast as her legs could carry her to her stricken ship, with bulins chirping and scampering about, she couldn't help but feel a sense of conviction in her decision and their odds. I see why they follow you now, tono-sama.
As Thorson clambered aboard the Cleveland he found the shipgirl waiting for him. They clapped their hands together in a firm shake, activating the link as memories were exchanged. Cleveland chuckled for a moment. "Those Sakura battleships sure are top heavy, eh Commander?"
"Stay focused, Cleveland," he commanded, catching glimpses of wishes and thoughts regarding a home for the Union girls. His morning moment with Yamashiro was quickly forgotten.
"Yes sir...so this is what Pearl Harbor was like? Such sad memories," Cleveland spoke sadly as she saw Thorson's remembrances. He was planning, recalling mistakes to be avoided.
"Today is different. Our enemies don't have surprise. They're coming right at us," Thorson said defiantly. Cleveland looked to the horizon as they moved into position, the formidable hulls of the Union battleships presented as a defiant statement to the enemy.
"With those kind of numbers they don't need stealth, sir," she declared nervously. "I'm getting everyone on the radio now."
"Good, make sure Shiranui, Akashi, and Fusou are in there too."
"You think we can do this, Commander?" Cleveland asked. He could feel her nerves through the link.
"Just remember your training, Cleveland. Even siren ships can be destroyed," Thorson promised, picking out alien silhouettes against the sky. "Time to send a message."
"Something tells me Penny and Tennessee are way ahead of you," Cleveland replied. At the front of the formation, his battleships had angled their hulls toward the center and moved their gun batteries to the highest elevation possible.
"Ready to go?" Pennsylvania asked Tennessee via the radio, standing proudly on her bridge with arms crossed under her chest.
"You heard the Commander. Let's fuck them up, get them back for what they did to your sister," Tennessee shot back. "I was enjoying lunch, you siren bastards. Now you're going to pay." With that promise, Tennessee unleashed a volley from her main batteries high into the sky, followed shortly by Pennsylvania's signature barrage. At such firing angles the accuracy of their shots wasn't perfect, but their target was wide. Tennessee's shells detonated in the pack of aircraft, creating large holes of blue sky as alien scrap fell to the ocean far below. Pennsylvania's barrage did not score as many kills but covered a larger area.
"When are you going to teach me how to do that?" Penny asked Tennessee as they reloaded.
"Stick to what you know, Pennsylvania. You don't want to be angry and bitter enough to fire shells like that," Tennessee insisted, listening to the cheers of their fellows on the radio as the other ships began using their main batteries in a manner they were definitely not designed for. The battleships had put steel in their spines. Just as that tactic failed the enemy craft came into Cleveland's AA range.
"Damn there's a lot," she cursed as her large caliber guns began firing, filling the air around the lead formation with flak.
"Just stay focused and keep firing," Thorson advised, glancing between the sea and sky constantly as he gauged the progression of the battle. Every time he looked skyward he could feel Cleveland pulling on his mind, taking in more information about the position of the enemy fighters. All around them the sound of Union AA guns filled the air as bullets and shells whizzed skyward, bringing down craft after craft.
"Brace yourselves," Pennsylvania advised as the mass of surviving aircraft began to dive at them. Tennessee cracked her knuckles as Akashi's panicked 'nyaa' could be heard over the radio.
"Oh yeah, this is going to hurt," she growled in anticipation. Far over the northern horizon, the enemy smiled.
"My turn, foolish girls."
"Well, well, what's happening?! C'mon Strategist, let us know!"
"I don't care about your rank, Observer Alpha. If you disturb my operation I will end you," the siren carrier promised.
"Aww man, she's no fun. Why is she no fun, Tester?" Observer complained to the other siren battleship floating above the water with her.
"Because she's usually dealing with those cranky Ironbloods. Experimenting on beaten, hopeless ships isn't nearly as fun as toying with those ridiculous kitsunes," Tester declared. Observer shrugged.
"I'll get what I want one way or another. It's no fair Strategist is the only one to see how this human fights." Observer extended one of her inky tentacles towards her sister who batted it away with her rigging.
"Don't you dare!" She shrieked before composing herself again. "Fine, anything but that. They began most unexpectedly by firing their main batteries at my formations. Between that and the anti-air I lost twenty percent of this wave. I've begun this idiotic attack now. Remind me why I'm mimicking Sakura torpedo and dive bomber tactics?"
"Because it's a test," Tester declared as though the answers were as obvious as the color of the sky.
"Well your test is stupid, Tester. This Commander knows how to space his ships. I'm dealing damage but losing aircraft. Although...hey, idiot Tester. Didn't you say a couple of those Sakura fled the other day?"
"Yep! Those pesky little shrine maidens who were unwilling to accept the Creator. You found them?"
"I found one," Strategist replied coldly. "I assume you want her destroyed?"
"You assume correctly," Tester agreed viciously.
"Understood. Finally I get to kill."
Observer Alpha watched silently as Strategist moved her fins and adjusted her attack.
"Laffey does not like this! Laffey does not like this at all!" The destroyer declared over radio, twisting her head every which way as dive bombers dropped payloads all around them and the occasional torpedo bomber got through.
"Stay focused and keep firing!" Thorson ordered anew. "As long as they focus on us they can't target the base!" A pained gasp came over the radio as Pennsylvania was stuck amidships by a torpedo, its detonation including some sort of visible electromagnetic emission. She and Tennessee had turned their hulls towards the enemy, forming a literal wall that ensured no torpedoes would hit the weaker ships behind them. Their selfless act was taking its toll.
"Damn that hurts!" She yelled, turning and firing her deck mounted machine guns and bringing the aircraft down. "Those things are getting through my shields!"
"I'm sorry," Indianapolis chimed in. "You're too far from me!"
"You don't need to save everyone, my cute, dear little Indy! Watch your big sister!" Portland called out, tired of standing by while everyone put all their problems on her sister's small shoulders. She had to help. She called to her cube, and it answered. All the secondary guns on the Portland's port side turned away from the skies and towards her allies. When they fired, the shells traveled a short distance before detonating above the fleet. A shimmering blue mist covered them all, raining down on their hulls.
"What the hell was that?" Thorson demanded quietly, momentarily shifting his attentions from the enemy aircraft.
"Commander, get down!" Cleveland yelled, tackling them both to the ground and throwing a hand up as a dive bomber got through the hail of fire. The payload pierced her barrier but exploded almost harmlessly on the deck. Cleveland let out a grunt that was more surprise than pain. "I...that should have hurt way more."
"Did you see that, Indy?" Portland shouted gleefully. "I'm going to call it Defense Order. Just call for me anytime, Commander!"
"I think I can hear her winking at me," Thorson chuckled as he stood to his feet and brought Cleveland with him. The deterrent seemed to be effective, with bombs and rockets glancing off his fleet impotently.
"Miss Portland is so wonderful, but Akashi cannot be outdone, nyaa!" The repair ship declared. As the enemy aircraft regrouped for another pass, she scampered around her deck and loaded her largest caliber AA guns by hand. She had claimed a fair number of kills, but by and large had been eclipsed by the warships around her. With a great flourish of her sleeve she let the shells fly. "Time for tea, everyone!"
"Boy, with all this sparkly stuff you'd think it was...raaaaining. Oh wow, Commander, you gotta feel this!" Cleveland declared, throwing an arm around him as his ships kept firing. Thorson felt nothing himself beyond pleasant contact with his flagship, but she was going through a series of delightful sensations. Where Portland's ability had hardened their armor, Akashi was repairing it. "This feels like a full body massage for my hull," she said huskily. "Commander, maybe after this we could-"
"Do not use Akashi's amazing repair abilities to horn in on Shikikan, nyaa!" The minty kitty interjected. Thorson did his best to remain focused as his girls fought the enemy and 'fought' each other. The next attack was coming and the target was clear. Thorson called out.
"Fusou, Indianapolis!"
"My turn?" Indy asked in her perpetually calm voice. "I understand. Diverting power from anti-air defenses to the Pandora reactor."
"All ships, pour it on!" Thorson declared, shifting the rest of his formation into an attacking mindset as bombs, torpedoes, and machine gun fire descended upon the already stricken Fusou. The shield shimmered and held. "Indianapolis, status!" He called. They'd scored a significant number of kills as metallic scrap rained down into the bay.
"One more wave at most," she panted. "I will hold as long as I can."
"Indy should hang in there. Laffey's guns feel good, nice and smooth like the whiskey in Laffey's dreams." Though Thorson could only cradle his forehead in his hands at Laffey's simile, it was undeniable that since Akashi had cloaked the fleet in her healing blanket their reload speed had increased. The gun barrels on the deck of the Cleveland were red hot as munitions tore into the sky at a record pace. Before his eyes the ships under his command were meshing into a true fleet thanks to the fires of combat.
"Hold formation and support Indianapolis and Fusou," Thorson ordered. "You're doing well, their attack is waning. Hang in there!"
"Yes sir!" Pennsylvania shouted, her spirit rallying the tiring boats to fight on. By the time Indy's shield failed on the next attack, they had culled close to seventy percent of the invading force. The Fusou took a devastating volley from the enemy, but Thorson had been willing to sacrifice it from the beginning.
"Tono-sama!" Fusou called through smoke and a coughing fit. "I can do no more!"
"Understood. Abandon ship and get to safety in the labs. That's the closest cover to your position. All remaining ships, let's finish them off!"
"Are you happy now? I've lost almost all my aircraft playing along with your stupid game," Strategist fumed as Tester and Observer Alpha floated quietly behind her.
"Sounds to me like you're just upset that human tricked you. But congratulations on killing an already disabled ship!" Observer teased mercilessly. Electricity began to arc along Strategist's rigging.
"Your games are over. This attack will be finished my way," she swore. "Now begone."
"Oh well, I guess this was fun while it lasted. I'll head back to my little zoo and see how those Sakura are torturing themselves to earn the Creator's favor. Observer?"
"The Princess demanded a report on this operation. I will tell her the human fought well but not well enough to defeat Strategist's actual might. They aren't killing her ship's fast enough."
"I could kill them all with one craft," Strategist insisted. "Something I intend to prove...now."
"Commander, what the hell is going on?" Downes asked, gazing skyward to where the remaining thirty aircraft or so had assembled high above their effective AA range.
"Wow, Laffey has never seen anything move that fast," the other destroyer added.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Portland said. "Orders, Commander?"
Aboard the Cleveland, Thorson was grimacing, his brow creased with anger. "I have seen this before, when the hangar containing all of our shipgirl research was attacked at Pearl Harbor. All ships, bolster your defenses and prepare to use your small caliber guns. This appears to have all been a ruse up to this point. We're going to fight sirens for real now."
Silence reigned on the radio as his ships nervously prepared for combat. The attack came without warning. The swarm suddenly dove and surrounded them, firing glowing balls of plasma from every angle as the aircraft revealed their ability to maneuver omni-directionally. The radio was chaos.
"I can't get a lock!"
"They're all over me!"
"Indy!"
"You'll have to hit harder than that to sink me, you bastards!"
"Cease, nyaa!"
"Commander!" Aboard the bridge of the Cleveland, Thorson's flagship had sunk to her knees, her hands over her head.
"I can't, the targeting systems can't track them all. Too many voices, too many guns, too many ships! They're scrambling my radar, they're in my head!" Out on the deck Thorson could see the Cleveland's AA mounts rotating back and forth impotently, their shots finding nothing but air as the shields and superstructures of his ships were slowly worn down to nothing. Thorson was beginning to panic, feeling Cleveland's own insecurities overwhelm his commander's demeanor. "I'm the oldest, have to protect, have to excel. Can't die, don't want to die! Commander!"
Thorson knelt as the ship shook under the attack, cradling Cleveland's slim, cloaked figure to his body. "Remember what I promised you," he whispered into her hair.
"That we wouldn't die alone," she sniffed.
"Yeah. You don't have to bear your burdens alone either. Let me in, Cleveland. We'll fight them together," Thorson demanded, having felt guns and shells brushing against his mind for the entire battle, like being on the inside of a glass cage just waiting to fight with his girls.
"I'll try," she promised, hugging him desperately and doing her best to open her mind. Thorson recoiled to the point that the mental shock had him falling to the floor of the bridge along with Cleveland. He could sense her cube staining, could hear the efforts of his other ships over the radio thrumming inside his head. He could feel guns, far more guns than the Cleveland possessed. He recognized an Oerlikon from Laffey, a quad Bofors from Pennsylvania.
"You were helping them all," he whispered. She nodded into his chest.
"Don't listen to San Diego. I'm the best sharpshooter in the Pacific," she insisted. He tried to comfort her, to reach out with his mind. Something strange happened. He saw himself in her eyes. They breathed in. They breathed out. She stared at him as the radio continued to sound with the distressed calls of the fleet. "The link…this is what it's supposed to be?"
"Give me the guns, help them," Thorson ordered, struggling back to his feet with Cleveland. To his surprise she laughed.
"Don't think that way Commander. I don't move the guns. I move myself, my ship. That cannon to the right of the bridge is my favorite. Use it well. Hey girls, I'm back! Here's our target. Let's try this!"
Thorson felt an incredible weight settle in his bones as the Cleveland became his. Outside the bridge he saw his fleet's guns suddenly link and coordinate, with Cleveland closing her eyes and moving her arms and fingers subtly. She was using him and the other ships to survey the battlefield. Thorson looked around. "Move myself, huh?" He reached for his hip and drew his Colt, unloading the weapon before pointing it out the window at one siren craft that was trying to dodge the combined fire of his fleet. It was being funneled into a kill box. He pulled the trigger. It exploded.
"Yeah! Take that you siren piece of shit!" Tennessee roared, her ribs aching with the pain of several hits to her hull. She growled like an animal. "We're coming for you. That one next!"
"On it!" Downes responded, cutting off the drone's retreat with a well-placed shot. Aboard the Cleveland, Thorson's partner had begun humming. A siren ship exploded with each crescendo of her song as Thorson tracked and fired.
"Is that...is that the 1812 Overture?" He asked incredulously.
"What? You have a better idea?" Cleveland asked, keeping her eyes closed and a small frown on her face.
"I had envisioned something more American from a girl wearing the stars and stripes," he quipped, feeling the tide turn in his bones.
"Well fine, how about this?" She said defiantly before falling back into rhythm and song. "Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light…"
Thorson laughed warmly and downed another siren craft. His other ships could be heard joining in with surprise and levity in their voices, overcoming the alien abilities of their enemy with coordinated and combined fire. In the rear of the formation Akashi continued to scamper about her deck, doing her best to keep them all afloat.
"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air!" His battleships yelled more than sang, firing their main batteries at the horizon to help them all keep time. The enemy force was twenty, then ten, then five. Those final few abruptly halted the attack before turning to flee.
"Finish strong anyway!" Cleveland yelled as Thorson holstered his weapon and breathed easy at long last. He sang too; victory was too sweet to abstain.
"Oh say does that star spangled banner yet waaaave, o'er the land of the freeeeee, and the home of the brave!"
"Fire!" Tennessee yelled. She and Pennsylvania had been aiming at the retreating ships with their main guns, waiting to see where they would head. The drones were retreating at a clip that made zeroes and spitfires alike look like heavy bombers, but they gave it an attempt. Thorson's largest ships launched a final volley at the crescendo, a defiant signal to their would-be destroyer. Just over the horizon, Strategist held out her hand.
"Now then, my loves, why don't you tell me what in the name of the Creator just happened," she murmured, preparing to analyze the feeds from her few remaining aircraft. A distant whistling had her looking back at the sky. "Hmph, foolish little girls." She shifted slightly to the side, allowing Pennsylvania's shells to splash down harmlessly in the sea below. The self-satisfied laughter hadn't even left her throat when Tennessee's munitions rained and exploded before splashdown, destroying her last ships and denying her solid combat intelligence. Bits of shrapnel flared harmlessly against her shields as her face fell into a contemplative frown. "Well well, at long last a worthy foe appears in this timeline. Maybe he's the one she cries for when she thinks no one's listening."
"You alright?" Thorson asked as he and Cleveland finally returned to the solid ground of the docks. The bulin crew, now sporting ten little ones, had gathered with the threat gone and were already assessing the damage dealt to the ships that had docked.
"Once my bruises heal I really might ask you for a massage, Commander. The battle high masks a lot of the pain, to say nothing of the link." The light cruiser winced as she turned and looked back at her ship. "Damn, she's seen better days."
"A knight with shining, perfect armor is no knight at all. He's just a noble on a horse. You were a true knight of the sea today."
Cleveland smiled and nodded, slowly standing on her own power. "I'll be alright Commander. You should help the others too."
"Alright," Thorson agreed. "And Cleveland?"
"Yes, Commander?"
"Thank you for trusting me."
His flagship blushed and turned away from him. "We can talk about that another time, Commander. But we do make a damn good team."
Their conversation concluded, Thorson allowed Cleveland to speak with one of the bulins while his other ships pulled into dock. Portland and Indianapolis had taken minimal damage and occupied the docks near the mess hall. The two of them had gone to inform the girls inside the school that the danger had passed. Akashi was similarly undamaged, though she had still not left her ship. Thorson headed over to check on her. "Hey Akashi, you doing alright? That was some clutch repair job out there. How did you-" Thorson was silenced by the sound of quiet sobbing on the bridge. He kicked the door in. "Akashi?!"
"The Union girls love their country so much, Akashi is so moved, nyaa!" The minty kitty cried. She had her back to the door but Thorson couldn't see any injuries. She was hunched over a flag of the Sakura Empire, busy with a needle and thread she'd acquired from what Thorson was beginning to suspect was some sort of pocket dimension in her dress. She turned to him and held up the sunburst banner, having sewed a large, white Sakura flower into the middle of the red sun. "Akashi wants to be proud too."
Thorson didn't have the will to tell Akashi that the relationship between his Union girls and the rest of the armed forces was tenuous at best. But he supposed that had nothing to do with the Union itself. Instead he knelt down and hugged her. She snuggled up to him immediately. "I'm proud of you, Akashi. Have you ever been in a battle before?"
"No, and it was terrifying, nyaa!" She spoke into his shoulder. Thorson rested a hand on her head and petted her tenderly, earning some very cat-like sounds in reply.
"I need to go tend to the others, but you did well. Are you hurt?"
"No. Akashi swatted them, nyaa!"
"Yes you did. Fly that flag proudly now, alright? Remind the Sakura what their nation truly stands for."
"Hai, Shikikan!"
"See you soon." With that Thorson rubbed her head between the ears and departed, leaving Akashi to giggle and hold the flag dearly to her chest as Thorson's praise lifted her spirits. When he was gone she headed for her ship's rigging to secure her new banner.
"Maybe battle is not so scary after all, nyaa!"
By the time Thorson returned to dock his destroyers had arrived. He was closest to the Laffey so he headed there first, finding a tipsy bunny girl leaning over the bow. "Laffey is going to jump now, please catch her, Commander." Thorson was not given much choice as bunny and booze fell into his arms. She giggled. "It hurts less when Commander is close."
"How bad is it?" Thorson asked, his face softening as he looked at the plasma burns and wreckage on the Laffey's decks.
"Laffey has had worse, Laffey will bear it for the Commander," she promised, tilting her head towards his chest and sighing contentedly.
"I know what you're doing, Laffey," he chuckled.
"Laffey is not doing anything at all. Laffey is definitely not trying to win the Commander's affections by being cute and injured, no no. Laffey is just a sleepy bunny," she said through a yawn.
Thorson closed his eyes and shook his head. "Yeah yeah, you're the perfect picture of innocence," he replied sarcastically, planting a kiss on her head before putting her down. "Go ahead back to the dorms and grab a nap. We can debrief with everyone later."
"Commander should join Laffey if he is sleepy," Laffey added, looking over her shoulder as she obeyed his order, heading back to the dorm for a well-deserved rest. Off to Thorson's left, Downes had anchored next to the Portland class cruisers and was walking calmly towards him. The girl had visible bruising on her body, her uniform was singed, and she had soot all over her but she was smiling wide.
"I wish I was taller," she declared as she stopped just short of him and saluted. Thorson returned it and cocked a brow at her.
"And why is that?"
"Because you're too tall for me to kiss like this, dummy!" She replied, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck. "Damn, it hurts so good! I never thought I'd ever fight like that! It was all pow and bam!" She recalled, punching the air. "My rigging wanted to fire everywhere at once! And then Cleveland was there helping with the guns and we were all shooting together and...damn, I really wish torpedoes could take down airplanes."
"Have fun out there?" Thorson asked jovially, pleased to see her in such high spirits. Downes nodded vigorously before throwing herself at him and embracing him.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough," she said, gripping his uniform between her fingers. "When I lost my arm and leg and eye...I thought I was done for."
"You're more than a weapon, Downes," Thorson insisted. She laughed, rubbing her lithe body against his.
"And to the end of your days I think you'll regret making me aware of that," she insisted, grabbing his collar and pulling him down so she could kiss him. It was quick, fiery, and passionate, like the battle had been.
"I don't intend to insult you by agreeing with that statement," Thorson replied, rubbing his neck and looking away from her.
"And a gentleman to boot. Glad to be in the fleet, Commander. I do hope Cassin is doing alright. When's the debrief?" Downes asked.
"Get yourself whatever you need, food, rest, what have you. We'll meet over dinner I think. A warm meal always seems to raise spirits here," Thorson told her. She nodded.
"Sounds good. I'll leave those two to you. They took a lot of heat." Downes gestured to the Pennsylvania and Tennessee, which were limping into dock right next to the labs. Fusou had already reunited with her sister and was leading the young ones back to the dorms with Yamashiro. Arizona diverted to join him as her sister's ship came to rest.
"You're well, Commander?" She asked politely, her hands clasped in front of her. He turned towards her and felt himself relax in her presence.
"Yeah. Was a close thing but the fleet worked together. We beat them back."
"Was it the sirens?" She asked with a hint of fear in her voice.
"You don't need to be afraid, Arizona, we got them all," Thorson assured her. She shook her head.
"That's not it, Commander," she insisted shyly. "I couldn't help but think down there; over and over, what if he doesn't come back? What if it happens again and I can't protect the things I...uh...the things I hold dear?" She finished with a fierce blush, leaving Thorson silent as he was forced to reevaluate his opinion of Arizona.
"I…" Thorson tried but failed. She held him dear? His head was spinning.
"I'm sorry, Commander, but I should go to Penny!" Arizona said suddenly, dashing for the location on the docks where the Pennsylvania's gangway had deployed. The elder sister had seen better days. Thorson hustled after her. "Penny!" Arizona shouted, rushing to support her sister. The Valkyrie looked as though she'd been engaged in hand to hand combat, with her uniform torn and tattered and her hair disheveled. Somehow her cap still rested proudly on her head. She gave Thorson a tired grin that looked more like a snarl.
"Any chance you can bump the old girl up in the maintenance line?" She asked irreverently. "I don't think that Sakura boat is going to float again."
"I'll be sure to see it done. You were magnificent out there, Pennsylvania. Can you move alright?" Thorson demanded.
"You flatterer. I don't need those emotions right now," she countered, despite appearing happy to be experiencing said emotions. "Damn those torpedoes hurt. Sakura are nothing compared to those hits, Commander."
"There's that level of difference?" Thorson asked with concern.
"Yeah but we're still standing and they aren't. I call that a win."
"Agreed, now get some rest. You and Arizona have a place in the dorms?"
"Yeah, that little kitty got us a double next to the room Tennessee and I were sharing. We'll be there if you need us, Commander." With great effort Penny stood straight and rendered a salute. Thorson returned it.
"Dismissed, Pennsylvania. Take care of her, Arizona. She saved the rest of the fleet a lot of damage today."
"I will, sir. Please excuse us!" With that the sisters in their blue uniforms headed out, leaving Thorson alone to speak with his final ship.
"Well...this should be interesting," he muttered, rounding the dock to head for the next berth. There he saw Tennessee limping from her ship, clinging to the railing of the gangway for support. Her uniform was torn apart. Her coat hung askew from her shoulders, and her body was in bad shape. His other ships had been bruised and battered, but Tennessee had truly suffered on the front line. He walked to the bottom of the ramp and waited, knowing she would hate him if he offered help. With every step she panted and grimaced, clutching her side and breathing heavily. Finally they stood face to face and she straightened herself with great effort. She had blood in her left eye from a wound to her head.
"Now would be the time to tell me what a useless weapon I am," she spat. "Go on, Hawkins!"
Thorson's eyes went wide but he spoke in a measured tone. "Tennessee, Hawkins has been dead for a month." That seemed to give the blonde bombshell pause.
"Then who the hell are you?"
"Commander Thorson."
A long silence pervaded as a sea breeze came in off the water to soothe them. Tennessee's eyes changed slowly. "Oh...that's right. Well then Commander, have at me."
"For what, Tennessee?" He demanded sternly.
"For having the temerity to live," she growled. Thorson remained silent before her, processing the tiny hints he was being given as to how Tennessee had been treated before joining his fleet. He could only imagine how such a forceful personality would have clashed with Union high command. He did not have the will or luxury of caring. She had formed his fleet's bulwark that day and had paid the price, for him.
"Tennessee."
"Yes...sir?" She managed.
"You look like shit." For a long moment the two of them looked at one another, sizing each other up. The corner of her mouth twitched. He responded with a thin smile. She smiled back. He began to laugh and she joined him.
"Oh gods that hurts!" Tennessee exclaimed through their mirth, holding her ribs. The effort set her off balance and forced Thorson forward to steady her.
"You know you're useless to me if you get yourself killed out there," he told her; forcing his way under her arm so he could walk her to the main docks. There was a lot of tanned, tender skin brushing against his right side.
"Fuck you, Commander," she gasped. Her tone was playful. He turned his head her way.
"I know you don't give a bilge rat's ass about me, but those girls survived today because of you. You fought damn well, Tennessee. So long as you keep coming back alive I don't care how you choose to go about it," Thorson said seriously. "And I thought we discussed fucking."
"If I didn't hurt all over I'd sock you," she replied.
"And then I'd have to kill you, or something."
"If the sirens couldn't do it, you can't," she promised happily.
"You're very proud of that, aren't you," he asked, suddenly adopting a no nonsense tone. She nodded.
"I am." Their eyes met, blue orbs measuring one another. The Commander found himself possessed by a sudden and irrational desire to kiss her, to ease her pain. Most distressingly, her facial expression seemed to indicate to him that she was considering the same. They were 'saved' as the base's alarm system crackled to life again.
"Please report to the command office, idiot Shikikan. We have a small fleet on radar, approaching from the east."