DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.
NOTE: This chapter is written in tribute to the late John Amos (1939-2024), who portrayed Admiral Percy "Fitz" Fitzwallace in The West Wing. Fair winds and following seas, sailor!
Quarters Six at Fort Meyer in Arlington County, Virginia (four kilometres west-southwest of the White House), Tuesday 3 April, mid-evening (Anadyr' time: Wednesday 4 April, an hour after lunch; Tōkyō time: Wednesday, two hours after breakfast; Sunnydale/Sweet Valley time: Tuesday, suppertime; Vale time: Gaycan 53 Treichleam, two hours before midnight)…
"Hey, Naomi!" Percy Fitzwallace said with a grin as he waved the just-arrived Cosmic All-Seer into his personal quarters. As she normally did, the reborn first nuclear surface ship dressed in business civilians whenever she visited official installations. "Odd for you to come visit me before heading over to the White House to brief the President on anything. Coffee? Tea?"
"I'm alright, sir," Naomi Haight-Ashbury said with a pleasant wave of her hand before grinning as her host's wive Laura Fitzwallace came over to hug her. "Hey, Aunt Laura!" she then greeted with her normal valley girl-like tones before blinking as the older woman handed her a cup of tea. "I said I was all cool to your husband, Auntie!"
"Hush, you!" the veteran schoolteacher — she currently administered Joint Base Fort Meyer-Henderson Hall's child development centre, having retired from full-time teaching when her husband was promoted to his current rank and assigned to Washington as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff a half-decade before — playfully scolded before she gave the adopted Californian a knowing look.
Her husband had picked up on it as well. "What's wrong, Captain?" he gently inquired, keeping his tone moderate to NOT upset one of the most powerful beings on the planet…never mind what his wife would do to him; as soon as the reborn USS Long Beach had reported to Josiah Bartlet at the end of March, Laura Fitzwallace had practically adopted her as family.
Naomi sighed as she gathered her thoughts. Being what she was, she was officially seen by those not in the know about reborn ship spirits as part of the Naval Operations Support Centre Los Angeles — the local Naval Reserve unit for America's second-largest city — while on full-time callout to the White House Military Office as personal aide-de-camp to the President of the United States. "Well," she said as she took a seat close to the television, with her hosts seated across the coffee table from her. "You're aware of the concept of zanryū nipponhei, aren't you, sir?" she asked as she gave Fitzwallace a knowing look.
The veteran of Vietnam and the first Gulf War nodded. "Imperial Japanese soldiers and sailors who refused to obey the orders of the Heavenly Sovereign…" — it had taken him a bit, but Fitzwallace had taught himself to use the proper translation of "Tennō" when speaking of Japan's head of state in lieu of the more commonly accepted "Emperor" — "…when the Second World War came to an end in 1945. I knew a senior intelligence officer who debriefed Lieutenant Onoda Hiro'o sometime after he finally returned home; this was just after the big bad scene in the 'Nam ended." Here, he grinned, seeing Naomi's lips twist on hearing him speak in the way she normally did. "You found someone who'd fit that bill? That person still alive?"
"They are still alive, yes," the reborn missile cruiser stated. "It's way more than one person, Uncle Fitz."
"How many?! How are they?!" Laura then asked. "Given it's been so long since the war ended…"
"They were trapped in a mesonium miner's dream location, Aunt Laura," Naomi affirmed, making her hosts nod in understanding; in concentrated quantities, mesonium was known for its life-enhancement effects, including slowing a person's aging process down to a mere crawl. "Uncle Hiroshi, who's the oldest of them all, was born back in 1884 in Nagoya…"
Fitzwallace's eyes went wide. "'Hiroshi'?! You mean Fujita Hiroshi?!"
"Who is that, dear?" Laura asked.
The experienced surface warfare officer from Newark across the Hudson from the Big Apple grimaced. "He's the true father of Japanese naval aviation, Laura. Eta-jima, Class of 1904; Yamamoto Isoroku was his classmate. He was on Mikasa when Tsu-shima happened." Sitting back in his chair as he imagined what it would be like to meet such a man, Fitzwallace grimaced. "He practically disappeared some months prior to Pearl Harbour; no matter how hard our people looked post-war, there was no trace of the man or his family." He shook his head. "Always thought he was killed by the Kempeitai for some stupid thing or another. I assume he was made to 'disappear' for some special reason. No doubt related to the whole Pearl Harbour operation."
"He would have commanded that whole op from his ship, the Yonaga, hadn't they got caught in an earthquake and the ship got trapped in a nice ice cove at the far east end of Siberia, Uncle Fitz," Naomi explained. "The whole place is magically shielded, so the Russians wouldn't have known about it even if they looked," she added, seeing the wary look cross her host's face on hearing where the Nagoya-jin and his subordinates had been all this time. "We're talking over 2,600 people, Uncle Fitz."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then…
"Aircraft carrier, you mean?" Fitzwallace said, his eyes widened.
"Ordered in secret as Warship #797," Naomi finished. "You know which class that would be, Uncle Fitz."
His jaw dropped. "A Yamato-class?!"
"Originally intended to be an extended version of Yamato with four main battery gunhouses," the reborn missile cruiser said. "Converted right from the start to be an attack aircraft carrier, capable of taking a whole AIR DIVISION of Zekes, Vals and Kates on her with loads of spares." As Fitzwallace whistled in awe at the idea of seeing such a ship, Naomi smirked. "She was built in Maizuru, floated out of the dock to prevent what happened in Nagasaki when Musashi got launched. Built with magical help at the orders of Aunt Tsukiko to get her finished even before Yamato was commissioned. She was made to 'disappear' as part of Unit 731…" — here, she held up a hand as her host scowled on hearing of THAT particular Imperial Army unit — "…which, these days after all they've been through since the Old Man Up North trapped them there, doesn't really impress them at all."
Fitzwallace nodded. "Lord Napaaqtuqarunnanngittuq trapped them there in '41?"
"To protect the leadership group of the gamájun as a whole; they're based in the same cove Yonaga was hidden in."
The older man nodded. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was read into a whole host of esoteric knowledge, even from the people on the "other side of the Hudson" as the leadership of the United States Department of Magic was often referred to by those in the know. "Does this all have something to do with Isaac Thomas' current project on this Remnant planet he found out about last year? George Hammond told me about Isaac's warning to not use the Stargate to go to that planet."
"It's got everything to do with it, Uncle Fitz. Turns out that the creepy-crawlies that the gamájun smoked in the First Big Bad Scene with the Rittmeister and Lord Rjazán' all those sagas ago didn't get wiped out. They got transplanted to Remnant by one of the Ori idiots everyone's been warning guys at the SGC about," Naomi advised. "They're the 'creatures of Grimm' as they're known on that planet." Here, the Cosmic All-Seer then shuddered. "Man, the songs on that planet are all so DOWN…"
"That bad?" Larua asked; as the wife of the CJCS, she got to learn a lot of things in turn even if she kept them secret from those who did NOT need to know about magicals or aliens.
"If those things got loose on Earth, Aunt Laura, it'd be 'End War: Take Two' here."
That made Fitzwallace wince; he knew about the Slayers as well. "Damn!"
A lanky smile then crossed Naomi's face. "At least Doc Renaissance has got a good handle on things on Remnant, Uncle Fitz. I doubt he'd need help, though with Doc Liz moving to bring the Big E back…"
The older man nodded. "We'll have to brief the President," he said as he reached for a nearby phone…
Within Sano Bay, minutes later…
"Aren't you pissed, Yoiko?!"
Hearing that question from the Belle of the Wilderness, the Ice Warrior of Eternity blinked. "About what, Faith-san?"
Faith Lehane sighed. The metahumans who had gathered over the Chukótskoe Sea two hours before to seek out the source of a massive ki/mana explosion of energy early the previous morning local time — atop the Dark Slayer of South Boston, there was Molly Hecht from Sweet Valley, plus three of the Azuma Gang from Itabashi in Tōkyō proper: Mihama Chiyo, Kasuga Ayumu and Takino Tomo — were now gathered in one of the minor meeting halls set up in one of the caves that lined the ice-covered and mesonium-shielded cove where THG Yonaga had been trapped for over seven decades. "I think Faith-san is concerned about the fact that Naomi-san just reported your existence and the ultimate survival of your whole crew to the senior officer of the United States armed forces," the Bright Genius of the Young Guns explained. "And that within the hour…!"
"Bartlet-daitōryō will then be briefed," the adopted native of Maizuru calmly finished.
"Yeah!" the Mistress of Pain and Pleasure exclaimed as she shared a shocked look with the Wild Warrior of Passion. "You're still under orders to make a hit on Pearl Harbour, Yoiko! Hell, as you are now, you could do it and practically no one would be able to slow you down! Hawai'i doesn't have much in the way of metahumans or parahumans living on it…!"
An amused chuckle cut off the elder child of a divorced couple from the "wrong side of the tracks" in the former fish canning town west of Sunnydale. "Calm yourself, Molly-san. Much that the current state of my crew does present potential honour issues but given what we all spent the last two hours doing, Teitoku and his staff are willing to let things go given our relations to our wise avian friends whose true home this cove truthfully is." Here, Yoiko waived to young Nebesyákh' Bélogo, who had remained at the side of the young hyper-genius polymath from Itabashi. "If you are concerned about honour issues, Faith-san — being one of the two Heiresses of Sineya…and I WOULD want to know how the Slayer line got split like that! — is seen as an honoured guest of the Dúma Gamájuna. You, Molly-san, being Faith-san's friend and sometimes fighting companion from what the Great Show networks have told me of the situation in Sunnydale and its environs, also have guest rights here. My crews' three countrywomen here are more than welcome to visit, though I MUST demand that you three keep the location of Sano-wan a secret for the preservation of those living here." As nods answered her from the three Japanese metahumans present, Yoiko contently smiled. "They are metahumans accepted by Tennō per His Rescript on the issue of such people after your collective friend Tariko Katabarbe-san — who is the grandnephew-turned-grandniece of my junior navigation officer, Moroboshi Kyōsuke-taii — began her 'casting drive' over a decade ago starting with Ayumu-san here. We are all warriors in our own ways and chosen paths. You have acted in the defence of those I am spiritually dedicated to defending. That makes you friends."
Faith and Molly exchanged looks, then the former sighed. "Look, I'm nowhere close to being book-smart like Chiyosuke here is, but I can guess how much you people must feel being stuck up here throughout that whole damned stupid war. You had radios when you were still a ship, right?" At Yoiko's nod, the Bay Stater added, "So you and your crew had to have HEARD what happened to all their friends, all your fleet mates, in that damned fight! Yeah, you guys fought like tigers and SURE AS HELL had every damned right to hate that 'white men are superior' bullshit that still drives policy in D.C. despite all that Professor Barlet's tried to do to put a stop to shit like that, but your crew lost friends! Hell, probably families, too!"
"Hai, Faith-san, you're right," Yoiko affirmed. "Thanks to communications my hosts have maintained with the Eight Imperial Commanderies of Japan, I'm more than sure that Teitoku's family was immolated by the attack of the Enola Gay upon Hiroshima on the sixth of August in 1945; Teitoku is two generations removed from magical stock, so encountering the gamájun within Sano-wan — to them, the Cove of Svjetjjílische — wasn't so much of a shock to my crew. Many of my pilots had families living in Tōkyō and its environs. Look at the Operation: Meetinghouse attacks earlier that year; I'm sure many of them were incinerated by the bombers under LeMay-taishō given how much the desire for revenge was infused into the hearts of all your countrymen because of what happened at Pearl Harbour in 1941." She shrugged. "My crew — and by extension, myself — have had SEVEN DECADES to reflect on all that's happened since that war ended. Aye, many of my crew find it hard, even now, to accept that the war ended in surrender like it did — which makes them consciously choose to continue to adhere to the orders given to Teitoku by Yamamoto-gensui concerning my part in that operation as it was planned — but they are willing, and some have already chosen to accept, that peace now exists between the Home Islands and America. Would Tariko-san have been able to see you two Gifted as you are if war still was in effect?" She indicated Faith, then Molly, in emphasis. "I strongly doubt it."
The five teenage women seated with her all blinked in confusion, then Ayumu hummed. "Wow! What did Naomi-chan do to you, Yoiko-chan?" As the others gazed on the Goddess Who Walks Among Men, the first person to be Gifted with the help of Tariko Katabarbe over a decade before added, "Yeah, I can see how much Túndra-kun's influencing you deep in your mind and your heart — or would that be your operations room and engine room, maybe? — but that's as laid-back as Naomi-chan is!"
As the other human-born metahumans blinked, Yoiko's jaw dropped before a roaring laugh escaped her. "Oh, I LIKE you, Kasuga-dono! Indeed, the Great Spirit of the Forge chose well when she selected YOU to be the reborn First of the Forge!" Tensing on sensing running feet from nearby, she turned as a wide-eyed group of sailors enter. "I'm fine, minna! I'm fine!"
The group stood there looking at that scene, then Ensign Doihara Shōji — he was the current junior officer of the watch; the native of the shrine town of Okayama near Hiroshima was one of Yonaga's airmen, assigned to the Dai-284 Kaigun Kōkū-tai as one of the two wingmen of the Sixth Air Group's senior fighter pilot, Commander Shimizu Masao — moved his hand away from his holstered Type 14 Nambu pistol; he knew that three of his transformed base ship's guests were invulnerable to bullets, never mind what the other two could possibly do if they were shamelessly attacked. "Apologies, ladies, Yoiko-chan." An amused smile then crossed his face. "We've never heard Yoiko-chan LAUGH like that since she was transformed with Naomi-chan's help yesterday morning. It startled us." With that, he and his companions bowed apologetically to the visitors.
"They're concerned that Naomi-chan might have brainwashed me, Shōji-san," Yoiko explained with a wry grin.
Shōji's wingman and current petty officer of the watch Naval Pilot 1st Class Kitao Kenji from the Nihonbashi neighbourhood of Chūō Ward in Tōkyō proper then wryly smiled. "Did she brainwash you, Yoiko-chan?"
All the would-be veterans of the Greater East Asia War then laughed, as did the young gamájun chick seated with his new friends and Yoiko herself. Chiyo then hummed. "We're sorry about that, minna-san, but you have to admit, in this day and age — and given what our past-selves had been through over all the years since the Dawn of Power; you know about that, right…?" She then relaxed as the group of sailors grimly nodded. "Well, none of us knew that American magicals had gone and tried to awaken a ship spirit in a first-generation battle doll body until Yoiko-san here mentioned Naomi-san." She then gave Ayumu an annoyed look. "You should have warned us about that once it happened, Ōsaka-san! It's not a rierite situation, you know!"
"Chiyo-chan, don't you read up on things on the Great Show networks?" the Infinite One wondered in turn, making the Bright Genius fluster in embarrassment at that admonishment. "I knew about Naomi-chan the instant she led those dorks out of Kitsap on that multi-state hop while they tried to slam Imperius curses on her!" As Yoiko's crew present all shouted in anger on hearing that about America's first shipgirl, the native of Wakayama gave them a "what can you do" shrug.
"Okay! Okay! We get it! It's all Zen, right?!" Faith said, holding up her hands in surrender.
Amused looks crossed the sailors' faces. "Few of us have progressed in those studies, Faith-san," Kenji confessed before he smiled in amusement at his transformed ship. "Yoiko-chan here rather lucked out on that regard."
Yoiko nodded. "As did, in her own way, Naomi-chan…"
A buzzing noise echoed from somewhere, making people perk before the Dark Slayer sighed. "Someone calls," she muttered as she pulled out her PAA, placing it on the table between her and her host. Tapping the control crystal, she then smirked. "Hey, I-man!" she called out as the image of the Wise Lone Sage appeared in a holographic screen, that making Yoiko's crew fall silent in awe at such a magical-like display. "Back aboard the Normandy, now. Everything all cool with Yáng?"
Isaac Thomas breathed out. "She finally fell asleep an hour ago. Neville and me finally got away from Tàiyáng's home and returned to Vale before I got aboard here to compile all the information concerning Remnant for Willow's attention. So, you can understand my shock and surprise on finding out what exactly caused that ki/mana explosion in Siberia yesterday."
"Yeah, we're with new friends now in the cove — we can't say where exactly, naturally — where the gamájun leaders all gather to jaw-jaw about all the dork poachers that want to kidnap their kids," the Bay Stater answered as Tomo snorted in amusement. "Thanks to Ōsaka, we managed to cull down another fifty of the bastards, then our new shipgirl friend had their heads delivered to the magical cop shop down Magadán way before we got invited in to meet everyone." She snorted herself. "Much that I hope Tánja Chapáeva don't get crap from old lady Múrometsa because of all the dead staleblood slimes her militiamen are going to have to ship back to relatives, this one kid from the cove came charging up to hop on Chiyosuke's new ride, bold as brass, telling us to not hurt her friend!" She then winked at Nebesyákh', whose head feathers bristled in embarrassment from the mighty Slayer's attention. "Then one of the poachers dropped an invisibility screen and Yoiko here chopped him up for the sharks." She then held up a finger. "Hopefully, the sharks won't get indigestion from such worthless flesh!"
Tomo and Molly roared with laughter as Chiyo snickered and Ayumu shook her head while Yoiko and her crew all smiled with amusement at that comment. "How many of Captain Itō's crew survived, Faith? Do they need healers? I'm sure Shirayuki-chan will be concerned about nutritional health once she's clued into all of this, never mind how much they need to catch up on."
As Shōji and his companions gaped on sensing how much this man was concerned about THEM, Yoiko drew out her own personal PAA — a different unit from the television screen-sized field PAA she was given by Naomi Haight-Ashbury for research purposes — to place on the table. Gazing at Chiyo, who nodded in encouragement, she tapped the control there, allowing her face to then appear in a split-screen before the native of Queens. "I am more than grateful for your concern, Isaac-san."
Isaac blinked before he whistled in awe. "Oh, my…!"
The grey eyes of the adopted native of Maizuru then narrowed. "What disturbs you, young man?"
He blinked before shaking his head. "I've seen a version of you in the very universe where your human name was devised by that dimension's counterpart to my friend Tariko Katabarbe-san; there, 'she' lived in her birth-form as Moroboshi Ataru-san." As Yoiko's eyebrow arched, Isaac chuckled. "Ironically, that version of you was also blessed by Lord Napaaqtuqarunnanngittuq. In that universe, your fleet mates and you — not to mention your peers worldwide — were forced to assume human form as magical bioroids to keep Japan and other nations alive from warped, dark beings called 'Abyssals' as a group. In that universe, the other you earned the nickname 'the Angry One' as much as Naomi Haight-Ashbury's other-self was called 'the Crazy One'."
She lightly smiled in amusement. "Much that I can understand why this other version of Tariko-san would seek to give warship kami such as I human names — and I am flattered to be effectively adopted spiritually into Itō Seiichi-taishō's family given that my sister was commanded by him on her final mission to Okinawa in 1945 — that is THAT universe, and this is OUR universe. I'd rather concentrate on matters here, especially given that I was forced to assume this form because of what your investigations about this Remnant planet unintentionally instigated once Newt Scamander-sensei was drawn into this matter."
His blue eyes turned to steel. "What happened?" the Wise Lone Sage coldly demanded…
Aboard the Free Planetary State of Yiziba Starship Normandy in reliquisynchronous orbit at the meridian of Vale City, an hour later (local time: Gaycan, an hour before midnight)…
"Are you alright, Isaac?"
Perking on hearing that question from the Undying Warrior Sage of Remnant, the Wise Lone Sage blinked before he smiled in thanks as Shannon Ozpin put down a plate of homemade cookies — from the batch Mihama Chiyo had prepared for people — on his work desk in his cabin. "Oh, just some disturbing news from Earth concerning that king taijitu that Miyuki helped capture which Professor Scamander took back to New York City to report same to the Russians." He then explained.
At the end, a sad look crossed the silver-haired headmaster's face. "No one was killed save for these poachers, correct?"
"Fortunately, yes," Isaac Thomas affirmed as he reached over for a cup of tea. "Soon as Naomi was able to sense what was hidden in the Cove of Svjetjjílische, she kept a mental 'eye' out for things there. Once the poachers used tracing spells that they put on the containment block to teleport themselves into the cove, the crew of the Yonaga reacted immediately. Naomi dived into the middle of it, sensed that Yonaga's very own spirit wanted to get directly involved into it, then used her own abilities — which I'm beginning to think practically rival that of Kasuga Ayumu's in many ways — to link that spirit to the Forge. Once the Conservator moved in…" — here, the New Yorker shrugged — "…the Seventh Carrier becomes a shipgirl. Itō Yoiko."
An understanding nod acknowledged that. "Lord Túndra's response to the revelation about the Grimm."
"Who, unlike the other shipgirls that Hinako was able to salvage over the last half-month or so since she ran into Fujiko near Guadalcanal, comes complete with her 'plank owner' crew of sailors, officers and airmen, all of whom once lived in a very militarized society that was determined to carve out an empire — a super-kingdom in your terms — for itself that could match that of any potential enemy power." Isaac then shrugged. "With that comes a very ugly issue. The idea of surrendering to an enemy was quite anathema to a warrior from Japan in that time. There were MANY cases were people refused to lay down arms when the call to formally surrender to the Allies came in 1945; some of those people stayed out in the field, living off the land, until well over THREE DECADES later in some places." He then tapped a control on his desk, projecting an image of THG Yonaga as had been relayed by Naomi Haight-Ashbury over the Great Show networks, which he himself hadn't taken notice of given how busy he was with issues here on Remnant. "If that was as powerful as she looked to Naomi of all people, I shudder to THINK of what might happen if something REALLY sets her off until the Heavenly Sovereign — who is the ONLY person alive today who could order Yoiko, Admiral Fujita and the crew to stand down and come home — puts some restraints on her."
Ozpin sighed. Of course, given how he had been born and reborn many times over the past two millennia and more, he had seen situations quite like this throughout Remnant. "Don't blame yourself for what happened in that cove, Isaac. You couldn't have anticipated Ms. Black sensing a connection between the Grimm and their ancestors on Earth; you had to find that out what the connection was and how the Two Brothers and their peers among the Ori played havoc with people's lives all over." He sipped his tea. "I looked at your analysis of the other-dimensional version of Ms. Itō from where her human name was made by the counterpart to your friend Ms. Katabarbe. I think there won't be issues in this case given that the crew of Yonaga is ALIVE and well here." As Isaac blinked, Ozpin grimaced. "In that universe, when they realized that their efforts in putting down the Abyssals in the polar regions of Earth wasn't having serious effect, they all chose SUICIDE to allow their blood to spiritually empower their ship — with the help of the living spirit of the Canadian battleship Chennalton — to make her a shipgirl, this 'Angry One' that the Abyssals came to dread above all others in that conflict. We don't have such a dire situation here."
The New Yorker considered that before he shook his head. "Save for the fact that our Yoiko has effectively TWO masters now. One is Admiral Fujita and ultimately the Heavenly Sovereign. The other is a three-million-year-old sentient being — one who could AND DID destroy entities powerful enough to even give the Two Brothers and other Ori pause! — who can't even come CLOSE to being described as 'human'. Ayumu sensed it out as soon as she met Yoiko." He breathed out before taking up a cookie, nodding his thanks at Ozpin's thoughtfulness. "Hopefully, she'll be reasonable once Túndra starts pressing her to come here to help clear out the Grimm. Destroyer shipgirls are one thing. An aircraft carrier hits from long range…!"
Running footfalls echoing from the deck outside made both men turn, then the door to Isaac's quarters swooshed open to reveal a worried Blake Belladonna. "Ms. Belladonna, what's wrong?" Ozpin demanded.
The Night Moulder took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's the shipgirls down in Vale, Professor, Isaac. They just found out about this other one of their kind that Lady Ayumu and her friends just encountered…!"
"Oh, hell!" Isaac groaned as he got up from his chair…
Vale City, Renaissance Industries Headquarters, minutes later…
The few on the night shift in this place who had come to the cafeteria to enjoy a snack before going back to work all warily stared at the six effective demi-goddesses in human teenage form now standing and sitting around staring nowhere in particular. Given the almost visible sense of disbelief, horror, delight and other emotions rampaging across the faces of the Fukushima sisters, those who worked for Renaissance Industries who had been able to develop both their semblances and aura abilities — Isaac Thomas did support the running of private tutorials on those subjects provided that students did not use them for things like supporting the militant side of the White Fang, of course — were almost sure that if any Grimm that had survived the culling unleashed on them over the last few days sensed what was going through these girls' heads at this time…!
"How could Túndra-sama DO that to Sempai…?"
That was Fukushima Shirayuki, who was trying not to let her cryokinesis freeze her tea. A snort then answered her from the most visibly different of the reborn Fubuki-class destroyers. "What did you expect, Shirayuki?" Fukushima Mayako demanded. "A major kami like Túndra just doesn't understand what NORMAL people go through, especially when the 'learned leaders' decide to start a damned WORLD WAR of all things!" Here, the Raging Storm of the Seas gulped down her tea in one go, then placed the cup down on the windowsill before looking out at the starry night and the shattered moon that hovered over the city. "Still, it's a good thing, isn't it? Sempai's whole crew are alive and well. Tennō could easily override Yamamoto-gensui's orders to Teitoku so they could go home." A wry smirk then crossed the silver-haired woman's face. "The culture shock, though…!"
"Never mind if they lost relatives thanks to the B-sans," Fukushima Urako added. As people stared at her, the Speedy Tsunami grimaced. She was the last of their specific class of ship to be sunk in the Greater East Asia War thanks to an air attack off Panay Island in the Philippines around the time of Leyte Gulf in the autumn of 1944. By then, the United States Army Air Forces were basing massive groups of Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers in the Mariana Islands off to the east, all who now could be able to launch mass attacks on the Home Islands with near impunity. Having read over the history of what befell their homeland once the Imperial Navy had been rendered effectively impudent post-Leyte, the adopted native of Sasebo had been sickened to read about the sheer level of DEVASTATION that had been visited upon Japan in the last year of that conflict. Forget what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki thanks to the Enola Gay and Bockscar; the Operation: Meetinghouse raids on Tōkyō and its environs earlier that year burned civilians alive in numbers that would make even a hardened killer weep. "If Teitoku and his subordinates have really infused themselves with the tenets of that bastardized Bushidō so many believed in…"
"They'd want vengeance for their dead relatives," Fukushima Itsuko breathed out. "Never mind how much MacArthur-gensui drove to wipe out Kokka-Shintō once the Americans moved to occupy the country. So many believed in it…"
"Were MADE to believe in it," her older sister Hatsue cut in from her place lying down on a couch playing her games.
Eyes locked on the Silent Blizzard. "You think Chiyo-chan and her friends got through to Sempai, Hatsue?" Mayako asked.
"By the looks of what was recorded down, they didn't have to do a thing. The gamájun handled it all," the adopted native of Maizuru — she now knew that Yonaga had been secretly built in a special drydock in Ōbashimo Ward on the east side of Maizuru Bay, that northeast of where the main base was in Amarubeshimo Ward — calmly replied. "You saw how Sempai reacted when Faith-san and Molly-san pressed her about the whole Operation Z thing. She knows there's peace now. By the sounds of it, some of her crew know it as well. All they need is time to catch up on how much technology has changed things, not to mention the whole kawaii revolution and how that affects people these days. Right, Miyuki?" she asked, looking over.
A laugh answered her from Fukushima Miyuki, who was also looking out into the night beyond their current base of operations here on Remnant. "Yeah! I doubt Sempai's crew would understand something like that!" She then sighed before stretching herself, cracking her knuckles. "You know what we ought to do?! Let's go out and find some Grimm to bash down!"
As the locals all perked at the Cosmic Blizzard's suggestion, the Raging Storm hummed. "Might be a good idea. At least we can blow off some steam in case those alconóst rejects try to lock in on our emotions to make crap happen while people are cleaning up here." She perked before looking over her shoulder just as footfalls heralded the arrival of the man who was their operational manager, not to mention the living arahitogami who had been fighting to put down the Grimm for two millennia and more. "Any nice places we can go to and blow off some steam, Kōchō-sensei?" Mayako wondered with an amused smile.
Both Shannon Ozpin and Isaac Thomas blinked before exchanging knowing looks…
Patch Island, the Rose/Xiǎo Lóng farm, Gayangkie 54 Treichleam, sometime after midnight…
"Couldn't sleep?"
Hearing her father call out from behind her, the blonde heavy-hitter — or was she such anymore? — of Team RWBY blinked before she held up the beautiful prosthetic arm that had been given to her some hours before by Isaac Thomas. "Hard to sleep."
"Yeah," Tàiyáng Xiǎo Lóng said as he sat on the large rock at one corner of the property where his daughter Yáng had placed herself, no doubt to try to come to grips with the many conflicting feelings she had now that she had lost a limb. He had seen it many times before with huntsmen and huntswomen who were forced through amputations in the past. Thanks to psychological dependence people on Remnant developed concerning semblances and how such factored into forging one's Aura, the loss of limbs often set them back YEARS in effective training time, forcing them to retrain themselves to reacquire their former edge…or succumb to inevitable depression that hit people which made them quit the trade and seek a more peaceful life.
The veteran of Team SRTQ didn't want that for his older daughter, not at her age.
Fortunately, though…
"Professor Oobleck and Professor Port will be here later this afternoon to teach you how to refocus your semblance through the prosthetic," he reported while gently moving to take up the device, then shifting the stump of Yáng's arm into the socket. As the valves located where the base of her stump would fall then quickly opened to allow the air out and give her a perfect fit, she shuddered as electronic links inside that hardened shell came on-line, probing into her nervous system to let her mind command the device's motor functions. Fortunately for the kinetic manipulator, the Atlesian medics who tended to her as soon as she had been found were VERY good at battlefield medicine. No doubt, they expected her parents or others would prepare her to take up a replacement arm; they readily fitted cybernetic links into the stump which would help her make use of any sort of prosthetic right away. And while the idea of having an intact and functional arm was a damned good thing in Yáng's eyes…!
"What's wrong?" Tàiyáng gently probed.
Yáng blinked. "This is TOO perfect, Dad."
As the older man tensed, she stood up from the rock, walking a couple paces away as she put her hands to her hips. "See?" she said, turning to wave to her new arm. "I know what happens when huntsmen lose limbs, Dad. This shouldn't be happening to me right away, yet a total STRANGER came out of NOWHERE to prepare something for me in the blink of the eye. Sure, I'm way more than grateful to the man, but things aren't adding up!" As he visibly winced, she blinked again. "What?"
A tired sigh escaped him. "I don't know HOW to explain Isaac, Yáng. It's SO incredible, you'd think I'm a liar or insane."
She crossed her arms. "He's no Vacuan as he claims, Dad. His accent's way off from what Sūn Wùkōng sounds like. And…" Here, she threw up her hands before exclaiming as she realized that her new prosthetic was responding perfectly to her well-ingrained physical motive habits. "What?!" she demanded. "Are you saying he's from the world of the One Above the Gods?!" At his shocked look, Yáng stopped before shaking her head. "No! No way! Blake told me about those legends! There's no way in HELL that someone like THAT could have lived for ALL THIS TIME after drop-kicking the Two Brothers off Remnant…!"
Tàiyáng held up his hands. "Yáng, calm down! In a way, you're right about that! Isaac's not the One Above the Gods, but he's like that person in many ways!" As her jaw understandably dropped in disbelief at that, the older hunter added, "I was just as shocked when Qrow filled me in on all this while you and Ruby were still recovering from what happened on Gaysaw! But there's no other way to explain not just Isaac but Neville and the others who've come from that planet…!"
"'PLANET'?!" she exclaimed. "They're actually ALIENS?!"
"Yes and no!"
"Dad! You can't have an answer like that…!"
He held up his hand again to make her listen. "Yáng, please…!"
KK-KKOOM!
Both exclaimed on hearing that explosion from off to the northeast, then spun around…
…then they gaped in shock on seeing an ominous glow now rising from the mountainous reddish terrain north of Vale City's urban area, a part of the local scenery which normally was pitch-dark at this time of evening given how much the Grimm came out of wherever they hid themselves to hunt for potential targets within the Forever Fall Forest. "Oh, Oum…!" Yáng breathed out, wondering what the HELL had the sheer power to unleash something like THAT over such a wide area of territory.
Grimacing, Tàiyáng sprinted back into their home, coming back out with two sets of field binoculars. As Yáng nodded her thanks — there was no way in HELL she wasn't going to just stand by and wait for her dad to report what was going on — the older hunter put his own set to his eyes to scan the sky over the Forever Fall…just as a blaze of pure lightning seemed to stab down from one point to rip through one of the secluded valleys within that particular ancient location north of the modern city. With skills that hadn't totally rusted away, he was quick to manipulate the magnification controls to focus on the potential point wherever that brilliant explosion of electricity — which, undoubtedly, just fried Grimm in airship lots — came from.
So did Yáng.
"Um…Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"I know there are some people who have semblances which let them hover in the air."
"I've met a few in my time."
"That girl's not wearing ANYTHING that could push her through the air THAT fast!"
"Yeah…"
Yáng lowered her binoculars. "Is she…?"
"From Yiziba?" Tàiyáng wondered, making her stare wide-eyed at him. "That's the home planet of the One Above the Gods."
She blinked. "Uncle Qrow was told about that?"
"Yep. So were all the staff at Beacon, not to mention a whole slew of…DAMN!"
Her head snapped back towards the Forever Fall Forest…
…just as a titanic beam of pure STARLIGHT seemed to inundate a whole MOUNTAIN!
Putting her binoculars back over her eyes, she looked…
…then watched as a very pretty girl her age, with long lavender hair tied off in a flowing ponytail over the right ear, went and visibly demonstrated the adage If looks could KILL…! "Oh, ye gods above and below!" she breathed out in awe.
"That's not one of the Fukushima sisters."
She looked at her father again. "You've met them?!"
"No, Qrow showed me their pictures. Ever hear sailors speak about ships having a spirit within them?"
"Yeah! The fishermen talk about that all the time!"
Tàiyáng chuckled. "Well, on Yiziba, they found a way of making those ship spirits live as human beings. That girl with the energy eyes is one of them. The silver-haired one with the lightning is Fukushima Mayako; the last name's the given name." Turning back to look through his binoculars, he smirked in delight. "Well, Isaac promised help in dealing with the Grimm finally. By the looks of it, he's letting friends from Yiziba jump in to help put those monsters down."
Yáng's jaw dropped in disbelief as his words sank in before she turned back to morbidly watch…
Over the Forever Fall Forest, that moment…
"WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!"
As the Raging Storm of the Seas stared wide-eyed at the sight of a MOUNTAIN nearly as large as Mount Fuji itself BURN, her older sister Miyuki dropped down from higher altitude to hover beside her. "Wasn't me, Mayako…!"
"Gee," a stranger's voice called out from behind the two reborn destroyers with a clear Kansai-ben accent. "Isn't that what this mission's about?! Burn this forest to cinders to kill off all the shitty akuma that're running around on this rock?!"
Miyuki and Mayako blinked before turning around to look…
"Akebono…?!" the Cosmic Blizzard gasped.
"Akemi…?!" her next-youngest sister breathed out in disbelief.
A chuckle escaped the young woman their physical age now floating behind her. Like the Fukushima sisters, the adopted native of the Taishō Ward in Ōsaka (where she was built at the Fujinagata Shipyards) was dressed in a modern fighting jumpsuit in white with blue belt and boots. Her chest symbol showed a sun rising from the waves, the kanji of her ship's name 曙 well displayed over that scene. She had beautiful, rich lavender hair pulled into a ponytail that went to her knees, such tied off with a bell-like hair ornament bedecked with a miyakowasure flower; seeing that made Mayako mentally groan at the idea of THAT bloom being worn by a reborn destroyer often seen as a "ship of misfortune". Peeking out of a very beautiful face framed by collar-length bangs of her hair were eyes shaded the same type of lavender, though these orbs glowed with the undoubtedly strong photokinetic powers predicted of the woman now called the Orchid Nova, Atihusu ("Akebono").
"Not just Akechi!" a new voice chimed out.
As the two older destroyers gaped, three girls who were standing perfectly right behind Ashigara Akemi leaned out to either side of her and past above her head. "All of the Dai-Nana Kuchiku-tai are on the battlefield!" the last of the Ayanami-class destroyers built, Ashigara Shiori — now the Twister of the Oceans, Or'beu ("Ushio") — chirruped as she wrapped her arms around her sister Akemi's neck, resting her chin on the latter's forehead. "With extra, of course!" she added, nodding to starboard.
Ashikaga Otsune — now the Childish Sunrise, Uhusu ("Oboro") — scowled as she gave Shiori a pout. "Shiori-chan's a meanie! Otsune's ALWAYS been part of the Dai-Nana-tai! Bleh!" she then trilled as she stuck out her tongue.
"Oh, stop that, Otsuchi!" Ashikaga Namiko — now the Tsunami Wind, Ralamane ("Sazanami") — scolded from Akemi's left. "We're here to help and we've got LOADS of akuma and yūrei and yōkai to beat up for Goshujin-sama!"
KK-KLONK!
"Namiko-chan! Stop calling Hina 'Goshujin-sama'! Hina hates that!"
The Cosmic Blizzard and the Raging Storm allowed themselves to glide over to the latter's starboard to see the Living Spirit of Innocence floating on a glowing energy circle; the native of Niigata had used a closed Kasa-tama to bop the head of the adopted native of Maizuru. "I thought you were just going to get Namiko salvaged, Hinako-chan!" Mayako stated.
Saeru Hinako sighed. "Oh, Elizabeth-san found out Hina was going to start a new shipgirl hunt, then sent lots and lots and lots of repair droids from Yiziba out to find all of the hull parts that went into Shiori-chan here…"
"Not to mention help salvage both Otsune and me," Akemi cut in with a wink.
"…so, when Hina went and woke Namiko-chan up, the hulls of Akemi-chan, Otsune-chan and Shiori-chan were teleported over to where Namiko-chan was sunk and they all got Gifted together!" Here, Hinako sighed. "Hina was sure surprised at that!"
"Damn!" Miyuki breathed out. "If you do things like that more often, Hinako-chan, you'll have the whole Kaigun back before long!" At that, the Cosmic Blizzard then cracked her knuckles. "If those aliens in Tomobiki start being stupid…!"
"They're caged in there with ebony mesonium shielding, Miyuki! We'll be fine until we're READY to send them home!" Mayako cut in before she churlishly smiled. "Especially now with Sempai back and as a shipgirl thanks to Naomi-san!"
The just-arrived shipgirls all beamed. "Yeah! Nice to know that Fujita-teitoku's still alive and well," Akemi said…
…before her eyebrow twitched as a roaring scream from off to port make her look over.
As the others looked, the eyes of the adopted native of Ōsaka lit up like twin suns, then blazing beams of energy burst forth to literally cleave a griffon in half, both parts — not to mention the partially digested body of someone — then tumbling below…
Nearby…
Seeing what just happened and immediately realizing whose corpse had just been effectively freed by the Orchid Nova's eye beams, the Wise Lone Sage pulled out a device from his belt and aimed it in that direction; the New Yorker was currently on a hovercraft which was somewhat crowded with people as they watched the girls of DESDIV Seven exercise their new abilities for the effective first time. Standing beside Isaac Thomas was a grim Shannon Ozpin. "Mr. Torchwick?" the latter asked.
"For Neo," the former grimly declared.
Hearing that from the man who had come to effectively help save their planet from the Grimm and the Queen of Darkness, four just-Gifted huntresses stared wide-eyed at the blond hyper-genius polymath before exchanging looks…
On Patch, that moment…
"Penny…?! Pyrrha…?!"
A disbelieving Yáng Xiǎo Lóng lowered the binoculars away from now-tearing eyes, her whole body starting to shake as the sheer unreality of this moment — she had SEEN Penny Polendina be ripped apart by Pyrrha Nikos' magnetic powers days before in the Amity Colosseum…atop her seeing the mutilated corpse of the famous young huntress from Mistral being taken out of the wreckage of the Beacon Academy by Atlesian troops while her wounds were being tended to — drove her to her knees…
Over the Forever Fall Forest…
A certain cosmic empath blinked as her senses picked up a wild storm of emotions bursting forth from somewhere off to the west. That made Saeru Hinako look over as she focused her abilities on who it might be before her eyes went wide. "Yáng-san…!"
In a flash of PAA teleportation energy, the Niigata-jin was off to Patch Island, that making the gathered destroyer shipgirls all scream in shock. "Shit! What's got into that kid now?!" Ashikaga Akemi demanded.
"She called out Yáng Xiǎo Lóng's name!" Fukushima Miyuki warned, she pointing to the west. "That island there!"
Akemi looked before she raced off in that direction. "Ah! Akechi!" her sister Namiko screamed after her…
Patch Island…
As Tàiyáng Xiǎo Lóng knelt to pull his sobbing daughter into his arms and let her weep, a flash of energy made him gasp before looking over…then he blinked as an aura of pure calm and peace overcame him, he immediately recognizing the VERY young girl who undoubtedly sensed what was now happening with his elder daughter, then came to offer her own help. Having heard from his former brother-in-law Qrow Branwen what this girl had done to a king taijitu of all things with her empathy, he nodded greetings to the Spirit of Innocence as she came over to kneel beside the shaking Yáng Xiǎo Lóng. "It's okay, Yáng-san!" Saeru Hinako gently called out as she reached for the quaking huntress' shoulder to squeeze it in reassurance. "Hai, Penny-san and Pyrrha-san are alive and well! Isaac-san saved them and saved Kōchō-sensei, too! It's gonna be okay…!"
As Yáng shakily looked at the newcomer, the whistle of wind going past a human body at VERY high speed then made her and her father look up before she gaped as the Orchid Nova came to a perfect three-point landing nearby, then straightened herself. "Everything okay here, Hinako-chan?" she asked in a voice that hinted at potential violence were the young girl harmed.
Hinako smiled at the newcomer as she waved her down. "It's okay, Akemi-chan! Yáng-san here was shocked that Penny-san and Pyrrha-san are still alive and okay when she saw them with Isaac-san, Blake-san, Monica-sensei and Kōchō-sensei!"
"Wh-wh-what does th-that mean…?"
That was Yáng, who was slowly pulling herself away from her father to look at the VERY cute kid who had immediately come to her side for some reason to offer soothing words…and holy DAMN, she had one hell of a semblance/Aura combo if the raging emotions in her own body were subsiding enough to let her think things through. "It's okay to be confused, Yáng-san," the younger girl said. As Yáng heard "Miss Yáng" even if the newcomer spoke in a clearly different language — was this part of the newcomer's semblance or was it something technological? — the younger girl winked. "Hina's speaking in her native language, but Hina's combat suit allows people who don't speak that language to understand what Hina's saying." Here, she reached up to pull at the collar of her suit. Noting the older woman nodding in understanding, she then pointed to the east. "Hina called Monica-sensei 'sensei' because back where Hina lives, healers are called 'sensei'. And Kōchō-sensei…"
Yáng nodded in understanding. "Professor Ozpin. He's the headmaster of Beacon. Or what's left of Beacon…"
"Daijōbu! Daijōbu, Yáng-san! Isaac-san and all Isaac-san's friends will clear away those silly Grimm and make the school good as new soon enough!" the younger girl assured her. "There's no way those silly Grimm will hurt people in Vale ever again!"
That statement made the blonde heavy-hitter of Team RWBY blink as she felt the sheer HONESTY of those words before she sniffed as fresh tears welled in her eyes. "S-so you're from where the One Above the Gods comes from, right?!"
An uneasy look answered. "No, not exactly, Yáng-san! Hina's from Earth! Up THAT way!" Here, she turned and pointed up and off to the southeast towards a large cluster of stars. "Hina got her Gift — it's like Yáng-san's semblance and Aura as one thing — from the planet where Ayone-ojichan lived on over there!" Her hand shifted to the south and down a bit. "That's where Yiziba is! It's where people like Hina and Akemi-chan and all Akemi-chan's sisters and friends become metahumans…"
Yáng gaped. "Wait! You're SUPERHEROES?!"
That made Hinako scowl as she considered that. "Well, we don't use 'superhero' and 'supervillain' on Yiziba. We say 'face' and 'heel' instead! Hina's really, really, really a face 'cause Hina's power makes her be a face!" She then smiled before perking as the distant sound of some sort of turbine engine from the east made her and Akemi look over.
As outbursts of lightning and other energy effects echoed from the Forever Fall Forest, a beautiful skiff-like hovercraft came down, such escorted by three girls dressed like the lady with the energy eyes that burned down a mountain; THEY flew as if they were birds. "Akechi! Mayachi wants to know if you'll be keeping watch on Sensei here!" the cute girl with the beautiful pink-blonde hair in twintails with a sort of rolling wave insignia on her chest — Yáng had utterly NO idea what that black glyph-like symbol embossed over the rolling waves was — then said as she moved to land close to what was obviously her sister.
"Yeah, the kid here looks ready to drop dead from exhaustion, Namiko!" the lavender-haired girl said. "How many more of those akuma…" — here, Yáng heard "evil demon" when the woman said that word — "…over in that forest still need to be culled?"
"Far, far too many of them, Commander Ashikaga," Shannon Ozpin said as he stepped off the skiff before walking over to kneel beside the wide-eyed Yáng, kindly smiling. "Fortunately, Miss Xiǎo Lóng, the reports of my demise on Gaysaw evening were grossly exaggerated…for reasons you need now to understand. Though I agree with the commander here that you desperately need to sleep this evening off before you get those revelations." As Yáng tried to protest, the headmaster of Beacon held up a hand. "Believe me, the explanation is FAR too detailed and MUCH too complex to try to force it on you currently. Yes, you were going to be told these things; be assured of that!" Noting she then sensing the Spirit of Innocence give her a reassuring look, he looked over his shoulder. "I trust, Miss Belladonna, Miss Khan, you can help Miss Xiǎo Lóng through this?"
Smiles answered him from the Night Moulder and the Healing Tigress as they moved to disembark. "Be assured of this, Master Shannon," Monica Khan solemnly declared as she gave the Undying Warrior Sage a reassuring smile before gazing on a now wide-eyed Yáng. "Both Blake and I are MORE than willing to help Yáng recover from what Adam did to her."
As the blonde huntress sensed a gulp rise in her throat from the sultry look BOTH the niece of the current leader of the White Fang and the daughter of that group's founder were sending their way, Hinako scowled. "Sensei!"
Monica yelped as she felt the cosmic empath's attention focus on her. "Y-y-yes…?!"
"No pillow scenes!"
And with that, the native of Niigata vanished in a flash of PAA teleportation. Silence fell over the scene for a moment before a confused Yáng stared at Akemi. "Um…what the heck does 'pillow scene' mean?" she asked.
Both Ozpin and Tàiyáng burst out in a torrent of coughs as Blake and Monica blushed…
Some minutes later…
"Finally in bed, Akemi-chan?"
"Yeah! Even Yáng's old man put himself into his rack for the night," the Orchid Nova reported as she came to stand beside the skiff that would soon transport the Wise Lone Sage back to Vale City. "Can I ask you something, Isaac?"
"What is it?" Isaac Thomas wondered as he gave Ashikaga Akemi a curious look.
"Any of these idiots we're dealing with here gonna be a bunch of shitty admirals like I had to deal with in the war?"
The New Yorker considered that before he winked. "If they show up, Commander, I'm sure you'll straighten them around." He then took a deep breath. "Anyhow, I'm sure you'll be relieved by the others once they exhaust themselves burning the Forever Fall down to the bedrock." Here, both turned to gaze to the east, where an aura of destructive energy cloaked that mountainous area north of the capital of the local kingdom as ten other shipgirls — they having been joined by the Blizzard of Death, naturally — unleashed all their abilities on anything black, stinking and scaly that had the ill-luck to appear before them.
The adopted Ōsaka-jin looked before nodding, then she gave him a look. "What about that corpse you got from that griffin?"
He grimaced. "Something for a friend to help her recover from what our ultimate foe unleashed on someone she loved."
Akemi blinked before nodding in understanding…
To Be Continued…
WRITER'S NOTES
Translation list and source language (all Japanese unless noted): Zanryū nipponhei — Remaining Japanese soldiers; Kempeitai — Military Police Corps, the Imperial Japanese Army's infamous security, secret police and intelligence division; Napaaqtuqarunnanngittuq — Tundra (Inuktitut); Taii — Navy lieutenant/Army captain/Air Force flight lieutenant; B-san — Nickname for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress; Kokka-Shintō — State Shintō, a radical version of the standard faith that emphasized the Heavenly Sovereign as divine to effect social control; Arahitogami — Human-form divine spirit; Akuma — Devil; Miyakowasure — A variation of the wild spring chrysanthemum (Aster savatieri), which means "sadness of parting" in local flower language; Dai-Nana Kuchiku-tai — Seventh Destroyer Division; Yūrei — Ghost; Yōkai — Literally "strange apparition", a catch-all phrase for various supernatural entities and spirits; Goshujin-sama — Master.
Onoda Hiro'o (1922-2014) was one of many Japanese soldiers who refused to heed the call of surrender when the Greater East Asia War ended in 1945. A native of modern-day Kainan in Wakayama Prefecture, he joined the Imperial Army in 1942 and was assigned as an intelligence officer to carry out guerrilla operations on the island of Lubang in the western Philippines. He would continue to do so, living off the land with a small troupe of fellow holdouts. Over the years, Onoda's subordinates either died or surrendered to local authorities, leaving him isolated by 1972. Around that time, explorer and adventurer Suzuki Norio (1949-86) from Chiba encountered Onoda and began to cultivate a friendship with him, learning that the older man wouldn't stand down unless ordered by a superior officer. This came two years later, with Onoda surrendering to Philippine authorities after being ordered to stand down finally from his immediate superior officer, who also survived the war. After being pardoned for his crimes on Lubang, Onoda returned to Japan briefly before migrating to Brazil in 1975, lamenting on the loss of traditional Japanese values. At the time of this story, he would spend three months on his farm in Terenos (in Mato Grosso do Sul state), while living the rest of the year in Tōkyō running a young people's educational camp.
Of course, the knowledge Isaac Thomas (Doctor Renaissance) has concerning Itō Yoiko (THG Yonaga) and Naomi Haight-Ashbury (USS Long Beach) comes from their appearance in Fred's story The Seventh Shipgirl (Fanfiction ID 12549222).
