After leaving Downes and her sister to rest and recuperate, Thorson paid a quick return visit to Shiranui, finding her contently watching over three sleeping youngsters. "I gotta say, I'm impressed," he whispered.
"And if they wake I will leave them with you, idiot Shikikan," Shiranui promised under her breath, shepherding him out of the room quietly. "They will become accustomed to this life soon enough if they can manage to fall asleep."
"There haven't been any issues with their rigging?" Thorson asked, the sound of his boots against the new wooden flooring punctuating every step.
"Akashi will be angry if you walk in here with your shoes again. There is a place to keep them at the entrance, idiot Shikikan. But no, they have not been subjected to any further pain. I honestly am not sure those three could even form rigging without their ships. They are too young, weak, and untrained. I suspect their absence will not be lamented by Akagi and Kaga."
"What do you think they'll do?" Thorson demanded as he and Shiranui stepped into the daylight. The destroyer pointed to a neatly arranged row of shoes to the left of the main entrance. He saw it included some of his own ships' footwear. "Ok, I get it. Now, the Sakura. What do you think they'll do in response to this battle?"
"You mean other than Akagi executing whoever was leading that fleet?" Shiranui spat rhetorically as the two of them turned for the stairs down to the docks.
"Seriously?"
"Kaga will probably stop her, but her rage will be exceptional, I'm sure. As for the future, I cannot say. There are too many things we do not know about the Union and Sakura's troop movements, to say nothing of Enterprise and her fellow carriers, if what you say is true and they survived the attack unscathed. However I will say one thing with certainty," Shiranui paused, a worried look on her usually calm face.
"What did I do now?" Thorson muttered good naturedly.
"You bloodied their nose and soiled their honor. It doesn't matter if that fleet was full of ships they didn't mind being rid of. Nachi was not a useless ship, nor were those three destroyers you captured. The children are another matter, but the Sakura will want revenge. Whether they understand who you are is another matter entirely."
"We should prepare for an assault then?" Thorson asked, the two of them pausing as Pennsylvania and Tennessee approached them, coming from the civilian docks.
"Command office, later?" Pennsylvania asked, the two battleships looking flushed after what he assumed was a proper workout. Thorson nodded.
"How's the gym?"
"Adequate, sir. There's nothing fancy but we have a full set of weights as well as a handful of other useful equipment. The base itself doesn't lack for space either."
"Understood. I'm headed to check up on the rest of the fleet and our other prisoners. I'll see you in...let's say three hours, 14:00. You're both dismissed," Thorson ordered as he checked his watch.
"Yes sir," Pennsylvania replied as Tennessee silently saluted. The two of them carried on as Thorson returned to his conversation with Shiranui.
"Sorry for the interruption."
Shiranui grunted, continuing as if the Union ships had never existed. "Akagi would certainly do so, but Kaga would seek to find out more about you, about us. Unless something has happened since I was killed, I believe she will be able to put the pieces together once she learns the circumstances under which their fleet was attacked. She believes in the survival and triumph of the strong as an axiom of life itself. How she will react to the idea of a weak, pathetic human defeating Sakura shipgirls is quite the question."
"I'll just pretend that wasn't directed at me. If you know the enemy and know yourself…" Thorson began. "The Sakura have spies?"
"Kunoichi, yes."
"This island is very large," Thorson worried as they approached the mess hall.
"But you know everyone in your fleet, Shikikan. Continue to do so and stealth will only get them so far, to say nothing of distinctive rigging structure and markings."
"You have faith, eh? Do you still have yours?"
"Only as much faith as I feel is warranted. And in this moment only I will agree with Tennessee that it's none of your business whether I have a mark."
Their conversation came to an end as they entered the mess, a cacophony of activity from the main kitchen leaving Thorson silent. Not only were Akashi and Cleveland in the back along with the new prisoners, but Laffey and the Portland class sisters had joined them. The result was the metal barrier separating the main serving kitchen from the rest of the space had been lifted and the base's culinary efforts had spilled out of the smaller back kitchen and into the public.
Thorson could see Shiratsuyu at one of the large burners, distinguished from the other prisoners by the brown color of her ear fur. Indy was using her rigging to gain a bit of height, floating above the others to observe the goings on while Laffey swayed back and forth in what seemed to be a contented pattern. The Commander remained silent for a moment, trying to judge the body language of the newest additions to the base. They still looked a bit rigid with Cleveland standing guard, guns at the ready. But Thorson took heart in the fact that the rest of his fleet seemed to not care much. I guess victory makes things easier, he mused, finally making his presence known as he walked up to the cafeteria side of the wide window.
"So what's all this about?" He asked kindly. The Sakura ships jumped, Shiratsuyu almost losing whatever she was cooking, but Akashi turned to him in excitement.
"Akashi is very happy you took them prisoner, nyaa! She needs a cook for her experiment!"
"Now I'm a bit worried," Thorson admitted, seeing all sorts of food containers, cooking oil, and condiments spread about. Distressingly, there was also an open barrel of crude oil next to a machine he'd never seen in a kitchen before. "What is that, exactly?"
"It is Akashi's experiment, nyaa! Commander is always making new friends and taking new prisoners. It is too much for Akashi and Shiranui, not to mention Union girls cannot cook, nyaa."
"Hey!" Portland interjected, a customary pout on her face as Thorson internally processed his description as some swashbuckling ship wrangler.
"You burnt an egg, Miss Portland! Even Akashi can make eggs, nyaa!" The minty kitty replied definitively with a hand on her hips. Thorson couldn't help a chuckle at the pint sized attitude. "But Akashi is still a much better tinkerer than a cook, nyaa. When Akashi needs help, the cubes give her the bulins. They cannot cook either, nyaa. So Akashi comes up with this!" She declared, waving her hands and presenting the machine. "The cube on the inside takes food and makes more food."
"And the crude oil?" Thorson asked nervously.
"Is turned into food!"
"Don't look at me," Shiranui insisted to Thorson. "How would I have known it would be Akashi poisoning the food?" Shiranui's jest had Akashi wagging her tail in irritation.
"You want to be in the kitchens all day to feed the fleet?"
"No," Shiranui admitted. "Even making that sandwich the other day was exhausting."
"Then try!" Akashi demanded, opening a compartment and withdrawing a decadent looking plate of rice and vegetables. It seemed very similar to what Shiratsuyu was working on at the stove.
"Perhaps one of the living ships?" Shiranui countered, waving it away. In that time Laffey had silently shifted herself next to Akashi, the bunny girl sniffing eagerly at the food.
"Laffey wants food. Laffey is hungry after the battle." Without further ado she grabbed a fork and began shoveling the fried rice into her mouth. She didn't stop until the entire plate was cleaned. "That was good. Laffey will nap now. Want to come, Commander? Laffey needs heat...mmm?" She asked, leaning against the countertop and beginning to snore. Yuugure and Hatsuharu looked as though they couldn't believe their eyes as Cleveland rested a hand on Laffey's head.
"Well, she's not dead at least. Seems ok, Commander!"
"Here!" Akashi offered, spooning a ladle of crude oil into the machine and receiving another plate of rice in return.
"This makes absolutely no sense," Thorson muttered, though the smell had his stomach growling. He took a tentative bite as all the ships looked on. The taste was delightful at first, though Thorson quickly began to feel as though he'd taken in a mouthful of acetone. Unwilling to tolerate it any longer, his body revolted, forcing him to spit and retch. A splatter of black crude hit the floor as his stomach emptied itself for good measure, unwilling to digest a mouthful of minimally refined petroleum.
"Hmm, that's odd," Akashi pondered with great interest as Shiratsuyu finally broke her silence in panic, looking for exits like a trapped rabbit.
"Oh gods, I killed him! I killed the Shikikan! I didn't mean to!" She bolted for the door and promptly tripped over herself, landing flat on her face as Indy calmly floated down on top of her.
"Please stay where you are," she insisted. "There's nowhere for you to go anyway."
"I'm not...dead!" Thorson spluttered, heaving his way back to a standing position as Shiranui floated off to find a mop, muttering about minty kitties and their experiments. "But damn if I don't want to try that again. Might work for ships but I think I still need the real thing."
"Uh, would this be better?" Yuugure asked tentatively, removing a fresh batch of fried rice from the flame of the stove since Shiratsuyu was indisposed and no longer cooking much of anything.
"That stuff is the real deal Commander, I was watching them make the first batch that went into the machine," Cleveland assured him. With a nod, Thorson steeled himself and tried again, his eyes widening as tender rice and perfectly sauteed vegetables graced his tongue. He was able to swallow it without and ill effects on his body either.
"Indy, you can get off of her now. This stuff is pretty good." Thorson took another bite so that Shiratsuyu and the others could see. "Can I ask you three something since we find ourselves sharing a meal of sorts? What was it like living under Akagi and Kaga?"
Everyone fell silent, looking at the three newest members of the base. Laffey snored loudly. Thorson laughed. "I...I don't think we can," Shiratsuyu stammered. He saw fear in her eyes, though he was unsure if he was the object. The other two seemed amazed that they'd been beaten by a somnolent destroyer. Thorson explained the situation to them as casually as he could.
"Well, we can do this two ways, honestly. The three of you can stay in a dormitory under guard until the end of this war...or you can give up fighting for now and cook for the base. I don't mind telling you that's the best food I've had since I joined the army. No offense, Akashi.
"None taken, nyaa! Akashi sometimes forgets the coffee filters."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Thorson chuckled before fixing the prisoners with a serious look. "As for the three of you, since I can see the uncertainty in your eyes, think about your options. You were defeated in combat and surrendered. If this base falls to the Sakura you might be freed. Or Akagi might find she has no use for weak ships," Thorson gambled, watching carefully as their faces shifted uncertainly. "Help out here and you'll be given food, shelter, and my word that if the Union wins this war that I'll go to bat for you with high command if it comes to that. And no, I won't order you to fight your sisters, just to feed them. So far I've managed to find a use for everyone who hasn't straight up tried to sabotage us."
"You're trying to trick us!" Yuugure shouted in a moment of bravery. Thorson shrugged as Shiranui rolled her eyes.
"I just want to eat better food. Hey Cleveland, just in case Laffey is some sort of freakish shipgirl omnivore, how's the rice?"
"Don't know what the heck Akashi did with that contraption, but it tastes great," Cleveland confirmed, taking a bite of the synthetic meal and closing her eyes with satisfaction. "Oh wow, that fills a girl up right! I still can't believe the bulins just drink that stuff raw."
Thorson opened his hands in supplication, looking to Yuugure and the others. "It's not a trick. We need help on this base. We could also point guns at you until the final shot is fired. Your choice," he explained, patting his sidearm.
"Can we have some time to think about this?" Shiratsuyu asked nervously.
"Sure," Thorson replied easily. "Portland, Indy, Cleveland, let's clean up here and debrief our mission. Akashi, I'm going to tentatively say great job with that machine but just...please double check who gets what in the future. I don't fancy another mouthful of oil and I don't want any shipgirls running on empty. For now though, would you please go with Shiranui and take these three to the dormitory and put them somewhere near the other three from the Sakura? Probably best if the Union girls stick together for now too." Shiranui looked at Thorson with a measure of approval in her eyes.
"Perhaps not so idiotic after all. But please try to vomit in a bucket next time. Come then, sisters of mine," she beckoned haughtily to the other destroyers. "At Shikikan Thorson's command I'll be showing you how we treat prisoners and cast offs at this base. In time you may come to wonder why the Sanctuary is so named. Welcome to the actual sanctuary in the Pacific."
Thorson watched as the three catgirl destroyers washed up and left the kitchen, Yuugure and Hatsuharu holding hands and keeping close while Shiratsuyu seemed torn between looking curiously everywhere and not tripping over herself. Akashi continued to confidently attempt to strike up conversation, talking about the futons she'd made in the dorm as the doors to the mess closed behind her.
"If we could somehow channel her energy we'd never need food again," Thorson said, finally looking closely at Akashi's contraption and finding a live wisdom cube at its heart. "Well, I suppose if it uses oil as fuel it might not consume itself. Interesting. Now then, how about we-" Thorson paused as Laffey snored again and slumped over onto the floor, only saved from smashing her head by Thorson's quick response. He shook his head as she rolled heavily into his hold.
"Allow me, Commander," Indy insisted, picking Laffey up with her rigging and carrying her out of the kitchen before placing her one of the many tables in the mess hall. She returned to find Cleveland scrubbing a pan while Thorson and her sister packed up various containers, already conversing about the battle.
"You understand why I need to reprimand you, right?" Thorson demanded softly as Portland played with her hair and focused on a crate of vegetables bound for the industrial sized refrigerator.
"Yes sir. I'm sorry sir," Portland replied shamefully. Thorson took the crate from her.
"Hey, eyes up Portland."
"Sir?"
"You got chewed out by your sister over radio and got slung into the Pacific in December. I'm not going to punish you further. But the enemy knows about Indy and her power now. She will be at the fore of our future battles, along with you. If the two of you fight alone, fight selfishly, even you will eventually be sunk. I'm asking you to trust me and trust your sister."
"I…" Portland fell silent and chose to nod instead as Cleveland and Indianapolis looked on approvingly.
"Good. Now then, help me finish up here and the rest of the day is free for all of you. You've earned it. Maybe go choose rooms in the new dormitory? From what I've seen it's leagues better than where we're currently set up. I need to speak with Pennsylvania regarding the operation while we were gone."
"Yes sir!" They cheered, milling about with purpose and ensuring the kitchen was ready for dinner. Thorson dismissed them afterward, with Indy carrying Laffey above her head like some sort of odd funeral procession. He couldn't help a chuckle as the Union ships left him in good humor.
"Now then, time to see what our battleships have been up to."
"Commander?" Thorson raised his head to find Pennsylvania standing at attention in the doorway of the radio building, having responded to his summons. He was at Brooklyn's usual post, giving the cruiser some much needed R&R. He wasn't sure he fully hid his surprise as he stood up and saluted.
"At ease, Pennsylvania. May I ask about the sudden focus on decorum?" He questioned, seeing her uniform looked a bit straighter, more striking. He still had an unobstructed view of her sternum and lightly defined upper abdomen, but as far as shipgirls were concerned, she looked every bit of an officer. She allowed her shoulders to drop a bit, easing into his presence as she closed the door behind her.
"Those three were defeated in a single volley. I have nothing more to report other than Tennessee continues to be aloof and angry. I suspect your battle was more intriguing."
"Perhaps. And you?" Thorson pressed, sitting back down and lacing his fingers together. To his surprise she sat down across the desk from him, indicating a desire for more drawn out conversation.
"Akashi has taken to calling me Pennsylvania-san. It's some indication of authority or seniority...I still don't really know what to make of all that."
Thorson nodded seriously, understanding that Pennsylvania was opening up with some expectation of confidentiality. "I see. Does she call Tennessee by the same honorific?"
The radio and radar lent them a low background of sound as Pennsylvania leaned back in consideration. "Now that you mention it, she hasn't. At least not in my presence."
"Then I think that tells you all you need to know, Pennsylvania. The presence you give off isn't just because you're a battleship. I don't really have any authority to bestow a rank on you, but on this base you know well that things play out in curious ways. Rank means little in the face of succeeding in this war of living weapons. If the burdens of actual responsibility ever seem overwhelming, my door is open."
"So you can bestow to me all your secrets?" She asked teasingly.
"Hardly!" Thorson barked in good humor. "More like so we can commiserate over how we're supposed to run a daycare and a military base all at once."
"Those little ones...I still don't know what to make of all that. Also, when did it become we?" She narrowed her verdant eyes at him.
"I guess I never really told you how I was promoted," Thorson reasoned. "Care to take a walk?"
"The radio?"
"It's a calculated risk, but where I'm going we'll have a decent view at least."
Pennsylvania shrugged but stood and followed him out of the building.
"And so that was just about it. I was told to get off my submarine and report to Pearl Harbor for orders. I only received the Commander's promotion for optics. Looks better if everyone working with the fancy weapons has a high rank, I suppose. Never imagined actually leading a fleet, to say nothing of Akashi and all the other mayhem on this base," Thorson concluded as he and Pennsylvania finally reached the top of the peak just behind the base. The slope had been tough but not unmanageable, and they were both flushed with exertion.
"Yeah but...this sure beats Hawaii for views," Pennsylvania admitted, taking in the sea, sun, and clouds. "I appreciate the tale, but why are we really here, Commander?" She looked on as Thorson sighed, reaching into his pocket and drawing a cube from it.
"I guess I should have known I'd not get anything past you. Don't even need the link. What made your sister special, Pennsylvania? I honestly don't know," Thorson lamented as Pennsylvania grabbed a lock of her hair and gazed at him in confusion. She had no idea what a link was, nor why he was bringing up Arizona.
"Commander…"
"She didn't want to die. She begged and screamed for her sisters before her ship sunk. This is all that's left. I could probably turn her into a hull down in the labs," he continued, shaking his head and sitting down on the soft, volcanic earth of the island. Pennsylvania paused a moment before seating herself next to him, pulling her knees to her chest without a care that Thorson might gaze at her legs.
"I understand now, I think. You feel like you killed her?"
"I...yeah, I suppose so."
"And you did, Commander," Pennsylvania affirmed sharply. "But you saved plenty of ships too from the looks of it. Save your hatred for the people that put that ship in your line of fire," the battleship advised wisely. Thorson turned to look at her and removed his cap, allowing the cool air to pass over his short hair. "Don't give me that sort of look, Commander. I'm not some wise battle maiden or whatever you're imagining. I've just seen what anger does to a person. Have I thanked you for sparing Tennessee's life yet?"
"Yeah, you have."
"Well then you know what I mean. It must have been difficult, listening to that."
"Not as difficult as what you've gone through, but yes. It was."
"We, huh?" Pennsylvania murmured, looking out over the ocean and wondering how and why this human so easily sought to form a bond with her. He was different than the ants back in Hawaii.
"I guess so. Do you think this would be a good resting place?" Thorson asked quietly.
"If the day comes when Arizona has to be buried, I think I'd like it to be here," Pennsylvania agreed. "You didn't bring a shovel. Stand back, Commander."
Thorson did as bade while the battleship activated her rigging, pointed it downward, and fired. The Commander turned away as dirt pelted him, but Pennsylvania had done the job well enough. After bushing himself off, Thorson knelt and placed Nachi's cube in the hole at the side of the trail. Pennsylvania joined him and the two of them silently covered the grave, their hands brushing against one another every so often as they piled dirt, and then rocks above the cube. Their task done, both stood. They placed their caps over their hearts as Thorson spoke.
"We hereby commit this body to the deep, to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection, when the sea shall give up her dead and the life of the world to come, through our Lord. Amen."
Pennsylvania did not echo his prayer, but she honored the ship she'd never met in her own way, turning her guns to the sky and firing off her nine barrels in sequence. The two of them turned to face one another.
"What now, Commander?"
"We've shown our hand to the enemy and a broader war is unfolding out there. It's only a matter of time."
"Akagi-sama, Kaga-sama, I bring news!" Ashigara panted, having sailed and sprinted all the way from the barrier to the peak of the central shrine of the sanctuary. The two kitsune carriers regarded her with calculating eyes.
"Then speak quickly," Kaga demanded. "We are at war."
"Myoukou-senpai's fleet has returned!"
"And you felt the need to interrupt your training to inform us of this why, exactly? Did they find that annoying little cat?" Akagi purred dangerously, the tips of her tails glowing with spirit fire. Ashigara swallowed heavily, feeling her palms growing slick with sweat.
"Only f-four made it back to the sanctuary, your highness. T-they were massacred."
The temple fell silent as Akagi's anger swelled and Kaga's gaze turned to ice.
"Bring Myoukou before us immediately."