A/N: I now have a : SabatonBabylon. Please consider supporting my writing efforts. Thank you.
"Mein Kommandant, please rise. We still have need of you," Zed encouraged, resting a hand on Thorson's shoulder as his fleet left the Badung Strait behind and made for the Solomon Sea. Behind them smoke rose from Surabaya in the wake of Sakura troop landings.
"What's the situation?" He demanded, taking Z23's small hand and standing under his own power. Pennsylvania saluted him and gave her report.
"Ark Royal continues to move but she's been radio silent since that bomb hit her deck, sir. The Yukikaze is holding formation just behind us and has not attempted to fire on any of our ships. Tennessee and Downes defeated two Sakura shipgirls in hand to hand combat, Jintsuu and Naka. Both are Sendai-class cruisers according to Fusou. Tennessee came back aboard once Kaga broke off her attack. She refuses to leave Jintsuu's bedside. Naka is awake but weak. Michishio requested to join Shiratsuyu in the kitchens and to be given rigging. Asashio and Arashiro are in the crew quarters along with the wounded. With Tennessee there they won't try anything, I'm sure of it."
"What about Jupiter and Houston?" Thorson demanded.
"Both are in rough shape, Commander, but whatever Ari did seems to have stabilized them. They're asleep in the crew quarters as well. It's basically a med bay at this point," Pennsylvania reported, running a hand through her mildly disheveled hair.
"Thanks Penny. You...hell, all of you deserve medals and citations as far as I'm concerned. Please tell the fleet that they performed splendidly and our defeat was not their fault. What about Downes?"
To his surprise, Penny smiled genuinely at him. "You should see that for yourself." The battleship took him by the hand and led him off the bridge. When they emerged onto deck the last rays of sunlight were leaving the world, casting the fleet into darkness. She pointed behind and to starboard. "Isn't she beautiful?"
"By all that's holy," Thorson whispered. The USS Downes had completely transformed. Whereas the Laffey had taken on elements of siren technology and motifs, the Downes looked 100% Union and as though someone had pulled it from far in the distant future. Gone were her boilers, replaced instead by sleek, triangular fins. The entire ship looked like some metallic shark or killer whale, a predator on the surface of the ocean. Her torpedo mounts were all quintuples, and her turrets had been replaced with technology that he was sure didn't exist anywhere in the world. Her 127mm guns were all belt fed, like massive machine guns just waiting to sink their teeth into his foes. Most of her hard edges glowed faintly black and yellow, streaks of light marking her as a bold and proud warrior, unafraid of the enemy. He didn't know why, but his mind conjured the image of a tiger as he stared at the radiant markings of the ship.
"She's been training with Tennessee every waking moment since you slept with Cleveland," Pennsylvania crowed. "Even when we were in Surabaya you could see them running in the hills outside of town, doing crunches on deck, sparring and boxing. I might have to start myself if that's what happens to you. Those guns are something else and I'm sure that even leaving sex appeal out of it she's very proud of her new ship."
"She's alright?" Thorson asked, still awestruck as he watched the Downes' sleek hull cut through the ocean like butter.
"She's never sounded better, Commander."
"I'll accept victories wherever I can get them. Take me to the Ark Royal, please," he requested. "I want to talk to Downes but…"
"She was outmatched and outgunned," Penny remembered dourly. "She did her country a great honor the way she fought against those zeroes."
"I need to re-establish contact so she can keep doing her country honor. Let's be off."
"Is this when I get to carry you?" She licked her lips devilishly, unwilling to let defeat overshadow every interaction with her commander. She laughed as he hung his head and nodded. "As you wish, sir. Next stop, HMS Ark Royal."
Ark Royal didn't know how long she'd lain there in the small crater on her flight deck. She was exhausted mentally and physically, alive but battered in body and mind. She had done less than nothing again the Sakura menace that was Kaga. A shadow moved against the star studded sky.
"Knight Commander," cough "Aah damn, that still stings a little. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You look like shit, Ark."
"So does your face, sir."
Ark could just make out the white of Thorson's teeth as the man smiled in the night, carelessly hopping into the crater and moving swiftly over broken steel and deck to reach her side. She winced as he brought an arm under her shoulders. "Ark…"
"Don't say anything to try to make me feel better, Knight Commander," she ordered, slowly sitting up and brushing her singed and disheveled hair from her eyes. "My shields held, as you can tell." She raised her right arm to draw attention to get cracked and soot covered shoulder armor. "But I was useless, a liability. What good are Swordfish and Fulmars against something like her?"
"Not much, I guess," Thorson agreed, sitting down next to her in the rubble. He'd been on the cusp of treating her like Zed or Ooshio, with warmth and comfort. She clearly didn't want that. "But don't give me that shit about dying for your country. I'll get you new aircraft."
"What are you talking about, Knight Commander? Huh, I guess it's nice to be alive to look at the stars once more at least. They're different out here."
"How did you learn to project your planes?" Thorson wondered, tilting his head up to join her at stargazing.
"Was born with it. And if not for your stubborn head I'd try to die well with them," Ark chuckled sadly.
"You remember Akashi?"
"Course, that little green cat is impossible to miss. Meow this and Ark-sama that. Gotta say I miss her a bit. Girl loves her tea."
"She was telling me about how the Sakura have achieved such dominant air power, even without siren intervention. Houshou, the first carrier built for the purpose, learned her aircraft inside and out. Engines, wings, armaments, everything she took apart and committed to memory. It's what they all do. If you think you can do it too I'll try to get us a couple Union fighters or bombers, cutting edge. Wildcats, Avengers, Dauntless' that sort of thing. You can learn them…hey there," Thorson said kindly as Ark rested her head against his shoulder.
"You're a devil, Knight Commander. Presenting yourself to me as a warm shoulder after my darkest defeat and offering me a bit of light. My cubes seem to enjoy you."
"This is my worst defeat as well," Thorson told her in a surly tone.
"And like I said, it's all over your face and you look like shite. But if you really think I can do something like that then you're damn right I'll give it a shot. I can't let the other Royal carriers eclipse me while I'm still kicking, can I?"
"No, I would think not. I'll do whatever it takes to help you, Ark."
"Knight Commander, kind words won't get you into my pants or jacket," she laughed. "You're embarrassing me, especially when you have such powerful destroyers on your side."
"And where am I now? Defeated, because I...we didn't have the airpower. I agree with you. I probably have some of the strongest battleships and destroyers on the planet. Kaga drove us away all the same. If it makes you feel better you can chalk it all up to me being selfish and power hungry. I need you to become more powerful. I'm going to use you."
"Ok stop…please," Ark panted, a suddenly distressed and confused look on her face. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Thorson swallowed heavily, realizing that Ark's cubes had very likely just betrayed her. "I uh…look Ark, I think after what's happened we should all eat together, meet the new girls and pick up the pieces, yeah? Nice as the view is from this crater, I'd like you to be there."
"Yeah I will just…" Ark sat straight, leaving his shoulder and hugging her knees to her chest. "Just get away from me right now. Please."
Thorson silently stood and began climbing back out of the hole Ark had found herself in. She didn't need him holding her hand. He sighed and shook his head as he finally got back onto the undamaged flight deck, where he found Penny waiting for him. Left to her own devices, Ark finally activated her radio after hours of silence and hailed one of her fellows.
"Ark Royal, my dear friend. Art thou well? Thine injuries are not too severe I hope?"
"Vamp...something happened to me. Something I don't understand."
"Oh? While mine heart doth flutter at the idea of secrets and salacious events, I am not a carrier. I'm not sure what use I could be to someone like-"
"What made you decide to lay with a human?"
Silence pervaded the radio channel for a long while, though slowly but surely Vampire's tittering, knowing laughter grew louder. "Hold thine position, o' comrade mine. I shall attend to thee post-haste." On the deck of the Vampire the slim, gothic shipgirl set her parasol aside, closed her eyes, and allowed her clothing to shift and cover her entire body. Unseen by man or ship, a large bat swiftly made its way from the HMS Vampire to the deck of the HMS Ark Royal.
The next stop on Thorson's post-battle tour was the galley of the Pennsylvania. He heard them before he could see them, a beautiful song echoing through the metal hallways of the ship. Penny squeezed his hand to get his attention, clearly having no compunctions about her relationship with him being public.
"Is that one of the new girls? Strange how now that she's singing I can't understand the language."
"I think so," Thorson affirmed. "Must be Michishio"
"So you intend to arm her as well?" Penny asked explicitly.
"Just with rigging. You know Shiratsuyu is on our side. She could have fled back to the Sakura formation the moment we let her go. If she's comfortable with Michishio in her kitchen, I am." Thorson glanced up, recalling how Shiratsuyu had once reprimanded him with a wooden spoon.
"Yeah yeah, I guess one more little shrine cat with a torpedo or two can't do too much to us. How the hell are we going to get them ships though?" Pennsylvania touched on a serious deficiency in Thorson's supply lines.
"When we get back to port I intend to have Brooklyn send a request for every remaining wisdom cube in Union possession. I don't even know if there are any, but it couldn't hurt. If they don't exist...we ambush and defeat enemy fleets that don't have carriers for back up," Thorson proposed as they reached the door of the galley, warm light spilling out into the dimly lit hallway.
"Glad you're still thinking about the future, Commander. Hey girls, how you doing? That was a wonderful song by the way," Penny declared, seeming to command the room just by being present within it. Shiratsuyu acknowledged them quickly but Michichio turned from her cutting board and blushed furiously. The large, brass bell that hung from a ribbon around her neck jangled cutely as she bowed to them.
"Greetings Pennsylvania, Shikikan. How can I help you?"
"Shiratsuyu, can I borrow her for a moment?" Thorson requested.
"Sure, but once I start the reduction and braising the meat I'll need her uninterrupted," the head chef declared, leaving Thorson and his battleship with smiles on their faces as Michishio washed her hands and walked up to them. Thorson already has the shards ready.
"You wish to join Ooshio?" He asked, ensuring she was committed. Michishio nodded eagerly, her bell jingling loudly.
"I saw how easy it is to lose people in war, being with you," she replied softly, looking at the ground with a mournful expression. "I'm a simple shrine maiden. My gods are those of song and dance, the arts and finer, subtle pleasures."
"And there's nothing subtle about war," Pennsylvania agreed, showing off her main batteries. Michishio nodded.
"If cooking is something that can help my friends and keep them healthy while they fight, I want to do it. What Kaga did today...she has lost her way," Michishio declared, bringing a finger to her eye to wipe away a tear as she choked back a small sob. Thorson nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry about everything…but you'll be in good company. You'll see. Hold onto something, alright, this might hurt a bit at the beginning," he warned. Michishio took the obvious solution and hugged him around the waist as radiant warmth and power touched her neck and travelled through her entire body. There was no pain as the kanji for 'full' glowed strongly at the base of her cervical spine.
"Is it normal to feel suddenly very itchy in your fleet, Shikikan?" Michishio asked as Thorson took a step back. Penny smiled as she recalled her own rigging 'ceremony'.
"Only the first time. Prepare for battle, Michishio. Then you're free to return to your duties with Shiratsuyu," Thorson ordered, pleased to see rigging very similar to Ooshio's take form around the red and white clothed maiden. Michishio seemed taken aback by the development, gazing at her torpedoes and the couple of depth charges hanging from her left thigh with wide, eager eyes.
"It's so good to have them back! Thank you, Shikikan. But now please, I must ask you to leave. There will be no tasting of dinner until it's ready!"
Thorson and Penny glanced at one another, Michishio's innocence raising their spirits. The battleship attempted something she'd seen the Commander do often of late, reaching out and rubbing Michishio between the ears. The flaxen-haired maiden cooed and tilted her head towards Penny's palm. "Commander, you ever try this?" She asked with a hint of excitement.
"Uh...all the time?" He supplied, confused as to her meaning.
"No I mean...ah you wouldn't understand it. No cube and whatnot."
"Pennsylvania-san please! I must get back to work!" Michishio protested weakly, raising her hands to take hold of Penny's as it tended to her ears.
"Ok, but give me a hug first, kitty." Penny shot a smile at a now very lost Commander Thorson. "Oh please, don't give me that look, Andrew. You get to do this all the time and just look at her! She's so soft!"
"He he heee...I mean Pennsylvania-san!" Michishio gasped as the formidable battleship hugged her like a dear pet.
"Hey, it's not my fault you're all half animal. Just embrace it, would you? And I see your tail wagging over there Shiratsuyu. I'm really more of a dog person anyway, just making an exception for this little cat with the silver voice."
"High command is never, ever going to believe any of this," Thorson muttered, tapping Penny on the shoulder to encourage her to release Michishio back to Shiratsuyu. The battleship did so and rounded on him.
"So long as we're on the subject, high command is not your friend, Andrew," she insisted, suddenly serious as the grave. "The less they know about us...the better."
"Penny, how are we supposed to-"
"We will find a way!" She stood firm, her voice rising to the point that Shiratsuyu and Michishio's tails abruptly stopped wagging. "Think about it Andrew, please."
"Penny, you can't just-"
"I can!" She asserted passionately, steering him out of the kitchen before trapping him against the bulkhead, her hands on either side of his shoulders. "I've had you...oh God, this is embarrassing. You know! You've been inside me and I've felt you come undone within me. Andrew, think about it. Look at what happened to the Sakura and the Ironblood. The Royals decided they were better off alone. The ships of the Union...you know things aren't great. High command will order every one of those cute little ships rounded up and shot or melted down for cubes and I will not allow it! Do you hear me, Andrew?!"
"I hear you, Penny," he whispered, knowing that she had far more experience than he did in such matters. "But the reality of the situation is-" His protests were cut off by her lips on his, tender and desperate.
"You and I...Ari, Cleveland, Fusou, Tennessee, and all the others. We will all find a way to survive this war and win without relying on the people who cast us aside and never gave us the chance you did. None of us want to die, Andrew. Just please…"
Thorson closed his eyes and breathed deeply, processing the unexpected curveball that friendly Sakura forces had introduced to his command structure. He wondered how long it would be before each member of DESDIV8 was adopted by one of his other ships as a dear friend or companion. "Alright, Penny. Last resort only. I promise."
"That's all I can ask. I should return to the bridge with Zed. She's been alone for about half an hour now. You should head to the medbay," his lover insisted, unintentionally sounding very much like a mother managing a household full of cast-offs and stowaways. He lost himself in her verdant eyes for a moment.
"When did you start leading this fleet?" He asked with a humble smile. Penny took his cheeks in her hands and kissed him again.
"I don't...you just let me in," she clarified, turning and walking away from him before they both broke down in the wake of defeat and sought comfort that would have to wait for another time.
Tennessee looked up from the uncomfortable chair she was seated in. Compared to the Sakura commander before her, bedridden, bruised and bloodied, she didn't mind at all. The Commander had just appeared in the doorway, prompting the excitable royal destroyer in the room to leap to her feet and approach him. They conversed for a brief moment before she took him by the hand and led him to the bedside of a young girl with long, pale blue hair, a childish face, warm blue eyes, and small crown atop her head. Tennessee didn't understand why a little girl like that would go to war looking like she served tea for a royal household, all dressed in white with black trim and bows on her stockings, but she'd stopped trying to understand the Royals a while back. They did things proper. She didn't. Besides, Jupiter was only a passing curiosity. She had spent a moment with Houston to confirm that the cruiser was still among the living, but even she wasn't her top priority at the moment. So she watched, and waited.
"Hey sis, how you doing?" Javelin asked softly, resting a hand on Jupiter's forehead as Thorson stood politely behind her. "This is Knight Commander Thorson; he's in charge of this fleet you know? He's the one I was telling you about, the one Warspite knighted."
"Knight Commander?" Jupiter whispered, her voice every bit that of a child's. "Is there a telly on this ship?"
Thorson and Javelin looked at one another. He wasn't really sure how to answer such a question, but Javelin seemed flush with relief and happiness. "She'll be ok," she whispered before turning to her sister. "Sorry Jupiter, we don't have any TV's in the fleet. Maybe when we get back to base? Not sure what sort of programming you'd get in the middle of the Pacific though."
"Oh, alright. Knight Commander, did we win? All I remember was an explosion and pain."
"No Jupiter, I'm sorry," Thorson replied, hanging his head. "We were driven off by one of the Sakura's carriers. I have no idea how she got to this theater without anyone knowing, but Admiral Doorman, Exeter, and most of the ABDA forces were destroyed. We only managed to save you and Houston."
"Oh...that's rather sad," Jupiter whispered, closing her eyes as Javelin looked ready to break down in tears all over again. "Thank you for saving me."
"Thank your sister. It was her and Indianapolis," Thorson insisted, wrapping up the conversation so he could go check on Houston. "We can speak later but I should check on your partner over here. It was a pleasure to meet you, Jupiter."
And so Tennessee continued to watch as Thorson made his rounds, looking over the young cruiser who was still asleep in her bed. Her eyes flicked to Asashio and Arashiro often, ensuring they remained put at Naka's bedside. Those three were the biggest threat to her Commander and her fleet at the moment, and her rigging remained active as a result. It required much more space in the enclosed area, but that suited Tennessee just fine. She didn't want them around her, just within gun's reach. Thorson had just approached Naka's bedside, the two enemy combatants sizing one another up when a most disruptive force appeared in the doorway. Tennessee couldn't help but develop a thin, proud smile. Her protégé had clearly gotten bored.
"Alright, I don't even understand half of the tech I found on my new ship but it's cool as hell and I can't wait to blow shit up with it! Naka, how you holding...COMMANDER!"
Thorson barely had time to acknowledge her presence and brace himself when Downes, fully retrofitted and only a few inches shorter than he, barreled into him and hugged him tightly around the chest. Naka's ears stood straight with surprise while the two shrine kittens looked away in annoyance. The newly matured destroyer took hold of his collar, the leather of her fingerless gloves brushing against his jawline, and kissed him for dear life. Jupiter could be heard sleepily asking her sister what kind of crazy fleet she was a part of.
"Downes," Thorson whispered, looking her over with a critical and appreciative eye. "What...what in the world happened to you?"
"I grew up!" She replied in an equally quiet but far more excited voice. "We were in the scrum, throwing punches and shells and torpedoes and everything. I saw that poor girl's cube float by." Downes threw a thumb over her shoulder, pointing to Houston. "In the moment I need that power. Tennessee and the blue fox were basically stalemated and I wanted to help her. I guess I was found worthy, you know? So what do you think? How do I look in black?"
The Commander silently ran two fingers along the collar of Downes' jacket, noting her wardrobe's similarities to Tennessee's in terms of form and function. The leather straps were new though, and he found himself touching those next. Downes lifted her chin and bared her neck to him, completely unashamed at her invitation. She breathed out with satisfaction as Thorson examined her collar and the lightest of pressures rested against her neck. "It suits you, Downes," he replied simply. "I saw your ship. It's incredible."
"Spent the last few hours on the inside. Don't know how to make heads or tails of it. You won't let them take me, will you?" She asked nervously. "Union eggheads. You won't let them do shit to me like the Ironblood did to Zed, right?"
"Shut up, don't say shit like that," Thorson commanded, taking her into a hug that she willingly reciprocated, gripping his shoulders strongly. "I told you when we got to Surabaya, didn't I? Any soldiers give you trouble, you bash their heads in."
"Yeah yeah, alright! Let me give you a tour of her someday?" Downes requested, leaving a kiss on the shell of his ear before withdrawing. "You have no idea how cool it is to be tall enough to do that. And I'm a destroyer!" She exclaimed with glee, hopping up and down to either intentionally or inadvertently show off her slightly larger bust. Thorson didn't want to ask in the moment. As Downes was wont to do, however, she didn't let the awkward situation linger, walking past him to sit on Naka's bedside. "How you doing, foxy? Your arms alright? Love your ribbons by the way; can't say they're my style though. And what is this stuff? How do you get fabric that clear? Well I guess when you have a nice little rack like yours you find a way, dontcha?"
"I...who are you?" Naka asked, her head still spinning from a combination of the battle, her defeat, the fact that she was still alive, and the whirlwind Union destroyer in front of her. The girl with ashen hair and muscular frame sat bolt upright as though she'd left her tea water on.
"Oh damn, you're right! I didn't come up with any great lines like 'you now face the almighty Downes'! Oh no no no, wait. How about…'in the name of Commander Thorson I, the terrifying tiger of the Union, Downes, shall be your opponent!' Huh? Wouldn't that be awesome?"
"Just answer her bloody question, girl," Tennessee finally spoke from the corner of the room.
"Don't make me come over there and show you that my body is no longer that of a girl, Belle," Downes threatened cheekily. "Anyway, sorry Naka. My name is Downes, Union destroyer assigned to Commander Andrew Thorson at your service! That would be this guy, by the way," she informed the Sakura, pointing to where Thorson stood at her side. The man nodded to her.
"I'm glad you survived. May I see the back of your neck? It's painful, isn't it?"
"How in the world did you-" Naka gasped as Downes and Thorson sprang into action, the former taking Naka's hand in hers and comforting the Sakura while Thorson reached behind her neck and gripped something that shouldn't have been there tightly with his fingers. She yelped in pain as he pulled, opening her eyes to find a pale red shard between his digits. "What in the world is that?!"
"I don't know for certain. But my hypothesis is that anyone who spends long enough inside the Sanctuary has their shards corrupted in such a manner," Thorson replied. "Do you know if your sister still-"
"I took care of it, Commander," Tennessee grunted, annoyance and anger lacing her voice. Thorson looked between Downes and Naka.
"I'm gonna…"
"Yeah yeah, for sure Commander. Go on ahead. I'll be here! Was getting damn lonely on my ship anyway with no one shooting at anything. So Arashio, Asashio, you two decide to cave in and join the good guys yet?!"
Thorson couldn't help a reserved smile and a chuckle at Downes' unrepentantly upbeat attitude and the reactions of the other two shrine maidens to it. They did not dignify her with an answer, choosing instead to stare very intently at the wall behind Naka's pillow. That left Thorson to walk the few feet to where Tennessee watched over Jintsuu. He could feel goosebumps on his arms as he got closer. "Is something wrong with your cubes? Your wounds-"
"If she wakes up I'll allow them to close," Tennessee replied quietly, gesturing to Jintsuu's broken body. The blue-furred fox's chest rose and fell slightly with each breath but there were no other signs of life. Her neck was heavily bandaged and her once elegant ensemble of furs, silks, and sashes was torn, battered, and scorched from her brutal one on one brawl with Tennessee. "If she dies...her scars deserve to live on at least."
Thorson took a long look at Tennessee, knowing that she was willingly showing him a part of her he'd not known existed. She was supposed to be wrath itself, a death wish on all the Sakura. It seemed that list did not extend to the warrior that had dared stand up to her. "Her shard?"
"I blew her neck open with my main guns and tore it out," Tennessee stated, somehow combining disgust and pride in equal measure. Thorson grimaced, reaching into his pocket. He only had a handful of shards left and more than anyone, Jintsuu was the one most likely to resist him and his fleet.
"Were it not for you I would leave her here," Thorson told Tennessee seriously as the tanned battleship stood to equal him. "But you and I have known each other for months now, Tennessee. This isn't like you."
"No, sir." Her admission was without hesitation. Thorson held his hand out.
"This is all I have left."
She glanced down at the shards and back to him. "I don't pray, Commander. I can't do what they do," Tennessee insisted, referring to Fusou and the others. Thorson shook his head.
"Your will forged Downes into what she is now. It will bring Jintsuu back too...if that's really what you want," Thorson replied, inwardly eager to see if the cubes would respond differently to secular will than the will of faith that some of the Sakura possessed in spades. Tennessee plucked a single shard from his palm, leaving seven behind. Turning her back to Thorson, she walked to the head of Jintsuu's bed, lifted the fan from where it rested on her chest, placed the shard between the Sakura's breasts and replaced the fox's only weapon. Tennessee stared down at her, brow furrowed.
"I won't ever apologize for what I did to you...but if you want to live, Thorson's giving you that chance. Make me regret this and I'll make your death as painful as I can," she muttered, unable to bring herself to say something nice or fluffy to a Sakura with her Commander at her side. Such flowery language proved unnecessary, however, as a faint glow lit Jintsuu's white and blue paper fan from beneath before fading away. Thorson rested his hand on her shoulder.
"You keep surprising me, Tennessee."
"I didn't do this for you."
"I know."