Capitol Hill, Washington D.C, 10th of February 2030, 1000 hours:

"Order! Right, I'd like to welcome everybody who's here. Without objection the chair may declare recess at any time. And without objection we are honoured to have Representative Mike Williams of Alaska wave on this subcommittee, he's got a lot of military experience for the purpose of questioning the witnesses at today's subcommittee hearing." The old chairman in a grey suit spoke to everyone while he read the paper placed on his desk in a flat tone, taking everyone's attention inside the room. The room fell silent, eyes towards him.

The shipgirls except for Rosey, alongside both Rear Admirals could be seen sitting on a long row of desks wearing their service dress and their winter coats wrapped and hanging on their arms. Some with emotionless faces, some with confused expressions, except for Marie, her head was leaning down, her face darkened, full of sorrow. In Front of them was a semi-curve desk, where the senators were seated at. Military personnel in service dresses guarded each corner of the room. People in formal clothing sat at the vacant seats a few meters behind them, some wore press cards with cameras in their hands, taking pictures and videos of the on-going hearing. The chairman continued.

"Now for the opening statement." He flipped to another page. "Good morning and I want to welcome everyone to this hearing before the subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services on Seapower. Today's hearing is regarding the attack on Carrier Strike Group Eleven on January 29th, 2030. I want to express my gratitude to our witnesses for being here despite the attack that left CG-54, also known as USS Antietam, and affectionately known by the navy as 'Miss Rosey', heavily injured and is currently recovering in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. The questions we intend to address today will be regarding the details of the attack on January 29th and the investigation for any power that may be behind the attack, along with the assessment of the current US Navy in ensuring such loss would not happen in the future. The attack has been a topic of discussion among the world's navies, especially by the PRC's Navy. Now, without further ado, let the hearing begin. Mr. Williams, you may."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman." The man in a dark navy suit spoke, before looking towards his paper. "Right.. Uh. First of all, I would like to thank you to all the witnesses that have come here despite maybe having some PTSD from the attack. As the chairman has stated before, today's hearing is regarding the attack on one of one of our carrier strike groups, now I shall begin." He paused for a moment, clearing his throat before continuing. "On January 29th, 2030. At 2200 hours, local time. CSG 11 was on its way back towards Keflavik Naval Base for a port call. At 2205, Keflavik CIC declared the fleet gone without a trace whatsoever and declared LERTCON 3. Keflavik Air Base scrambled a P-8 Poseidon in 2215 hours to search for the fleet, but was forced to return due to worsening weather. At 0050, Keflavik CIC managed to track the CSG's signal, albeit weak due to bad weather. At 0239, Keflavik Air Base scrambled a pair of F-15's and a P-8 Poseidon, and managed to make visual contact with CSG 11, and reported severe damage on CG-54's superstructure. Now, uh. Rear Admiral Medellein, would you please state your name and position? For the record." He gestured his right hand towards Medellein.

"Yes, Mr. Senator." Medellein stood up from her seat, a few clicks and flashes from cameras could be heard as the reporters and journalists took pictures of her. "I'm Rear Admiral Lower Half Medellein, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11 and the Captain of USS Enterprise, CVN-80."

"Can you tell me what happened moments before the attack on January 29th?" The senator asked.

"Mr. Senator." Medellein cleared her throat. "We were sailing back to Keflavik Naval Base for a port call. There was a storm behind us, I don't know why but I could feel something.. Wrong and bad inside the clouds."

"Are you implying that there's some demons inside those clouds? Rear Admiral?" The room was full of giggles for a moment as the senator said those words, before being interrupted by the Chairman.

"Order!" The Chairman tapped on the mic, quickly silencing the spectators. "Senator, you may continue."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman." The senator continued, looking back towards Medellein. "Are there? I could not believe shipgirls would think of such things. Unless.. Well, Rear Admiral. Several medical records from 2022 have shown that you've been seeing things that didn't exist. Some hallucinations and acting out of control. It should be noted that you were deployed non-stop during the covid pandemic and that most of the time the CIC would not.. Well, talk. Due to several members being infected. Also during that one commissioning ceremony, you stuttered a lot and were unable to deliver your speech straight. Perhaps you need some psyche evaluation after this hearing?"

Medellein remained quiet, not saying a single word. Her body posture was straight up facing front.

"Anyways, I'm getting a bit off topic. Now, Rear Admiral. You may continue."

"A-As you wish, Mr. Senator. So uhm. Our fleet got into some kind of hurricane.. Waves were as high as a three story building. Earlier before the storm I sent up a pair of F-35's to get a better look at three unknown contacts which were spotted by the E-2D a while ago, confirmed to be three Type 055's of the PLAN-"

"Three Chinese destroyers? Rear Admiral?" The senator asked for more clarification.

"Yes, Mr. Senator. Three destroyers. They're the 4th squadron we spotted that month, in our mission of locating and keeping track of the increasing Chinese activity in the Arctic Area. W-Which is one of the reasons why the 2nd Fleet's headquarters and CSG 11's homeport is moved to Iceland, that is to accomplish this mission. As well as making sure the shipping lanes remain secured-"

"Right, Rear Admiral. I don't need to hear about your mission, mind if we continue back to the main point of the topic?" The senator halted her.

"... Certainly Mr. Senator." Medellein took a deep breath before she continued. "As I was saying before, I was able to retrieve the F-35's right before the storm came above us. Something.. Just doesn't feel right, it's as if the storm was following us despite the CIC sending me multiple reports of the hurricane not moving towards our path. And then.." She paused.

"And then, Rear Admiral?"

"Well, all of the sudden I lost contact with the E-2D flying above. Poof! It's just gone, off the sensors. Even in that kind of storm I should be able to keep track of the E-2D. Right as we entered into what seemed to be the eye of a storm. Things were so strange inside.. Like, no connection to GPS, HQ, nothing. No connection to the satellites. I made a decision to send up another E-2D as a precaution. That's when the attack began."

"Right, thank you for your cooperation, Rear Admiral. You may be seated." The senator gestured his hand towards her seat, which was followed by her sitting back.

"Now, Rear Admiral Johnson. Mind if you state your name and position? For the record." The senator gestured his hand towards Johnson.

An old man with dark brown hair with a mix of a few strands of grey hair stood up from his seat. Flashes erupt as cameras capture the moment, as he stood up and spoke. "I'm Rear Admiral Upper Half Dwight. S. Johnson. The overall commander of the 2nd Fleet, and the units under my command including CSG 11."

"Right, Rear Admiral. First of all, why did you pull back the fleet to port five months earlier than the scheduled six months?" Asked the senator as he stared directly towards him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Senator." Dwight coughed, before he continued. "I ceased all operations in the Arctic due to reports from the weather station that there'll be multiple Category 3 to 4 hurricanes that would cross the area of operations the ships I command would be in. It is my duty and responsibility to reduce.. As much damage and loss. Especially something as valuable as ships and shipgirls which would take time to be replaced and that would cost a lot of taxpayer money. Also that we're in the middle of a cold war with China, that could turn hot any minute, so I have to make sure our ships remains in good condition."

"Were you able to contact CSG 11 during the attack?" The senator asked once more.

"No, I can't, Mr. Senator. My communications specialists have tried their best to connect to CSG 11 in every way. But they weren't able to. So I ordered the airbase to scramble a P-8 Poseidon to look after the fleet, they found nothing and the weather was getting aggressive, so they were forced to return." Dwight stated.

"Right.." The senator looked back towards his pile of papers on the desk, before looking back towards the Rear Admiral. "Rear Admiral, how did you respond as soon as you found out that CSG 11 was attacked?"

"When the F-15's I sortied up found damages and Rear Admiral Medellein reported that her fleet was under attack, I declared LERTCON 1 and ordered all combat air squadrons to be scrambled up in the air. I also requested aid from the nearby allies in the area and an alert towards other nearby installations including Norfolk, along with other measures according to the books."

"Were there any other incidents, Rear Admiral?" The senator emphasised on the statement with a higher tone.

"Fortunately there were none, Mr. Senator." Dwight reassured.

"Right, thank you for Rear Admiral, you may be seated." The senator gestured his hand once more, allowing him to sit down, followed by Dwight sitting back. "Right, Director Jeff. State your name and position, for the record."

A man in a grey suit with grey hair stood up from his seat. Cameras went off as many took pictures, as he began introducing himself. "I'm Director Thomas Jeff. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency."

"Now, Director. From what you've seen so far, who is behind the January 29th attack?" Asked the senator towards the director, while staring at him.

"We collected samples from the impact area on CG-54 and have attempted to find any clues that may lead to said side that committed the attack on our ladies. After analysing the remains of the ordinance that hit her, we concluded that said ordinance cannot be recognised as its origin, as it is nothing compared to what we have in the database."

Cameras flashed as the director made the statement, people began talking with each other about what the director just said.

"Pardon, Director? Unable to be recognised?" The senator raised his eyebrows.

"We've checked footage from the attack, from multiple perspectives. After a careful analysis, the shape of the missile that hit the Antietam was nothing that is being used by any known force." The director stated further.

"What are you implying, Director?" The senator asked once more.

"Perhaps it is a new Chinese prototype missile being tested, but of course knowing such action would cause war, I doubt they would do such things, Mr. Senator."

"Are you implying that our ladies were attacked by extraterrestrials?"

There was a moment of silence in the room, as everyone except the witnesses held their breath for what the director would say. Then, the director dropped the bomb.

"Well, such possibilities are not far-fetched, Mr. Senator." Said the director. Causing the room to erupt with conversations and camera flashes. "With increasing UAP activities since 2023, and endangering our service members. And remembering the origin of the first shipgirls are from outer space.. Well, I'd say probably."

The chairman could be seen talking with other members in the half curve desk, whispering to each other until he eventually spoke up. He first tapped on the mic.

"Order! Alright, I'm calling a recess for 60 minutes or more. The hearing will continue in the next session."

The door to the hearing room was opened, the shipgirls and the rear admirals, along with the director, were swarmed from the inside and outside by journalists and reporters. Cameras or phones recording their every move, as they continued asking.

"Director, is it true that extraterrestrials attacked American ships?"

"Rear Admiral Johnson, are there any possibilities of war with China?"

"Is it true that you're from outer space? Rear Admiral Medellein?"

Medellein remained quiet as questions were asked. She looked down at the three other short shipgirls that followed along. Them being Nana, Alisia, and Lily. She held both Alisia and Lily by the wrist, while keeping an eye on Nana and Marie. "Stay together ladies."

"Where are we going?" Asked Nana in a higher tone, while holding onto Marie's sleeve.

"Just a short break."

They eventually managed to get out from the Capitol Hill, greeted by cold wind outside. A gray overcast towered over the Washington monument ahead of them. Then, they were greeted by a black coloured SUV waiting just in front of the entrance, just near the sidewalk. Medellein first entered the SUV on the front seat, followed by Marie going in and sitting on the far right corner, followed by Nana, Alisia, and Lily.

"Take them to a diner, I got some other business to do." Said Dwight as he leaned towards the driver's door, speaking to the driver.

"Will do, sir." The driver nodded in acknowledgement, before looking back towards the rear seat. "Everybody in?"

"Yeah, we're all in." Said Nana, as she sat on the middle seat. With Alisia and Lily sitting close to each other.

"Alright then, off we go." The driver turned down the brakes, before switching gears and stepped on the gas, moving the car forward.


Activity went as usual somewhere in 10th Street. Cars passed by, not many people walking on the sidewalk, it was quiet. There was also a black SUV parked on a sideroad parking lot, just right in front of a diner. That being Lincoln's Waffle House, where the shipgirls could be seen inside, sitting on a table section in the corner, some wrapping their coats on their arms, some placing it on their lap or the table. Customers entered in and out, minding their own business.

Marie was looking down, her hands palmed, her face expression was that of worry. Deep down inside her mind, she was worried for her longtime mate, Rosey, after being hit by a missile to the face.

"She's going to be alright, Marie.." Medellein sighed, noticing Marie's body expression.

Marie looked up towards Medellein. "I-Is she going to be alright..?"

"Oh, come on, you know how soul cubes work. It's only when her cube is damaged that we all should be worried." Medellein leaned towards her and touched her hand to reassure her. "She's going to be alright."

Marie released a heavy sigh, she looked down to the table. "I don't know Ma'am.. It just feels weird when she's not here.. I-I just can't imagine if she's gone.." Tears began dripping down on her cheeks, as she began feeling more emotional.

"Woah, no need to go that far. I know you two, you two just have been together since you two met each other and have been under me since. She's going to be fine."

Then, a young woman came in wearing casuals with an apron. Her hands holding a notepad and a pen, before asking. "Welcome to Lincolns; may I take your order?" The day went on uneventful, the shipgirls told the waiter of their orders, except for Marie who was still in grief. Snow began to fall outside, falling from the dark grey clouds that were still covering the skies. They stayed in a diner for a while. Eating, talking, or watching the view outside. Until it was time for them to return, Medellein paid the bills to the cashier, before embarking back towards their ride before, going back towards the yet-finished hearing that was about to start.