(Author's note: There is a discord server where you could discuss or suggest things to the author on future stories. Link is in my bio.)
Washington D.C, White House, 11th of February 2030, 1600 hours:
Snow covered the surface of the White House grounds, with the sky still covered with the grey clouds, blocking the sun from ever reaching the surface of the earth. People could be seen right outside the house's fence, walking past doing their own activity. Multiple men in black could be seen on the roof, armed with their rifles, while one was observing with his binoculars. Marines with their dress blues and overcoat guarding the entrance.
Inside one of the white house's wings is a room with a small round table with 4 chairs placed in a cardinal direction, where paintings could be seen hanging around on the wall. The window's curtain opened, letting whatever light managed to penetrate through the clouds go in. A blonde-haired woman dressed in her dress blues while hanging her coat on her right arm and a grey-haired old man could be seen inside, talking with each other while a man in suit was standing behind in an at ease position, guarding.
"Then, we lunged in our dive bombers towards the Hiryu and released the bombs, and the next thing that happened was one big explosion. Boom! A huge fireball appeared, and well, she's dead. Well, technically, she's still alive since her cube is still intact, and she's still around to this day, being one of us.. Oops, I think I got a bit too excited." Medellein cleared her throat.
"Heh, I always thought shipgirls were tough badasses out there with no feelings. Yet here I am, seeing you telling your story like a teen." David took the tea cup from the table before taking a sip. "Please, drink up."
"Oh, thank you.. Mr. President." Medellein proceeded to take a cup and took a sip from it before sighing.
"Well, Rear Admiral. How does it feel to live for more than 118 years? Are you not bored of living?" Asked David as he placed his cup back towards the table.
"Well uhh.. How do I say this.. Exhausted yes, but not bored."
"What about mentally? Last time I remember, it was Madame Alexandra that controlled Yorktown. Her cube got absolutely obliterated, yes?"
Medellein remained quiet after the question was asked; her mind went blank and she was unable to answer. But then she shook her head and answered back. "Well, uhh, therapy sure helped.. A bit. Gotta cope with the loss. Besides, she's just one of the people that died that day.. There were also the sailors onboard the escort ships that protected me that died."
"Really? I saw the combat footage the head of intelligence gave to me, and well, you sure had a breakdown, a bit when the Antietam was hit and injured Miss Rosey."
Medellein remained quiet; flashbacks of the last attack came back into her mind. That one moment when the ship was hit, she just felt something very different compared to the ones that died in her past wars. That one moment when they were back at port and extracting Rosey's body was gruesome, seeing what remained of her body at the time, her head entirely blown into pieces from the main body along with several limbs gone. The surface of her body just burned and was covered with dark blood, and the smell of decay and burned meat was still lingering inside her mind.
Her head went dizzy, and she felt her stomach was trying to force its content out, and she's unable to think of anything else. She immediately moved her hand to cover her mouth, coughing.
David saw and turned towards one of the bodyguards. "Get me a paper bag and some tissues, will ya? Get it quick."
"Yes, Mr. President." The bodyguard nodded and went out of the room as he rushed to take the items that were ordered to be brought.
"Take a deep breath, Rear Admiral." David stood up and went by her side.
Medellein's breathing was sporadic; her eyes were closed, both her hands covering her mouth as she felt the urge to throw up.
"Hey, take a deep breath." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Deep breaths."
Medellein felt a hand touching her shoulder. Shame entered her mind. Making a commotion in front of the president is really an embarrassing thing. She then took a deep inhale, holding her breath before exhaling.
"Breath in.. breath out."
Medellein took another deep breath before then inhaling once more. Her heartbeat went down as she got her breathing under control. She then looked down in shame.
"I-I'm sorry for making this messy.." Said Medellin in an apologetic tone.
"No, don't be sorry. This is normal after what you went through after all."
Then, the bodyguard from earlier came back with both a paper bag and tissues. "Right here, Mr. President."
"Thank you, but I don't think she needs it anymore." David then looked towards his wristwatch, looking at the clock. "Oh well, guess our time's up. I have other things to do. Now, Rear Admiral. Take a long break, as much as you can. Get therapy. You need it."
"R-Right.. Mr. President." Medellein then stood up. "Sorry for ruining our chitchat."
"Well, we had a wonderful talk. Let's meet again when we have time."
"Right.. Well uh.. Nice to meet you." Medellein reached out her hand towards David for a handshake.
David reached out his hand, shaking her hand.
"Have a nice day. Billy, mind if you bring her out?" David looked back towards the bodyguard.
"Will do, sir."
Virginia, Norfolk, Somewhere near Portsmouth Naval Hospital, 2030 hours:
Snow continued falling from the night sky to the city below, covering the roofs, roads, benches, trash bins, and mail boxes that were sitting idly on the sideroad. Multiple snowplower trucks could be seen sweeping the road from the snow, with cars and trucks following from behind. Lights from the light poles shone the roads, main road, and sidewalks alike.
The taxi that was carrying Medellein could be seen driving just a few cars away from one of the snowplowers; the snow was surely dense that day; she could see the snow piling up to as high as the taxi's door itself. Good thing she brought her coat, or else her legs would've been very stiff and probably would've become a popsicle.
She looked out the window at the streets; not much activity was out there since it was late night. Though she could still see some cars driving around. Quite the empty night it was. Some thoughts entered inside her mind, like what Rosey's condition was at the moment, but she already saw her being all well when waking up and eating the potatoes Maria bought. Marie buying Rosey food.. When was the last time she saw her doing that?
The taxi eventually arrived right in front of the lobby of a hotel; the driver then called her out. "We're here, Miss."
Medellein looked over to the driver, who was a man in his 30's wearing long trousers and shirt with long sleeves with gloves on his right hand. He was also wearing a red cap. "How much?"
The driver looked over to the taxi meter, looking at numbers before telling her, "30 dollars."
Medellein pulled out her wallet, taking out three $10 bills before handing it over to the driver through the small window that separated the driver's section with the passenger seats. "Right here."
The driver took the cash from her. "Thanks for riding with us, and have a good night."
"Heh, us, there's only two of us here." Said Medellein.
"Well Missy, it's what the guys above told me. My mama always told me to 'trust and obey'. So I did." The taxi driver replied.
"Well, if your mindset's like that, you should consider signing up." Said Medellein in a sarcastic tone.
"Well, I did." The driver wrapped his right sleeve, revealing his prosthetic arm. "2024, Syria. Got a bit unlucky over there. Didn't get into the shelter in time."
"O- Oh.." Medellein gasped after the revelation and looked down in shame. "I-I'm sorry!"
"Nah, it's alright." The driver looked over at Medellein's clothes. "Say, you're that rear admiral, aren't you?"
"Huh?" Medellein looked back up.
"That one rear admiral that got fucked up by God knows who attacked. That one, right?"
Medellein nodded, "Y-Yes, what about that?"
"Well damn, you're too soft for a top brass. The ones I saw usually are either autistic or retarded ones. You're one of the friendliest top brass I've ever seen. I always thought all of em' were people who sent us to a warzone like we're kettles or something. Hey, mind if I ask you something?"
"Y-Yes, go on." Medellein hesitated for a moment, but she doesn't know what to speak of anymore after that one embarrassing moment of probably forcing someone to show off their disabilities.
"What's really happening out there?"
Medellein thought of the question—wait, why should she even think of answering? She's an active service member for goodness sake! She then shook her head and answered in a low tone.
"Well uh, I wish I could say that without getting us both on the watch list."
"Heh, knew it. Oh well, shouldn't be asking these sorts of questions anyway." The taxi driver then looked over at his wristwatch on his left arm. "Ten minutes spent on talking, you should get going. Have a pleasant night."
"Good night to you too."
Medellein opened the door on her side and went out of the taxi, putting on her coat. She then closed the door and began walking in towards the inner lobby of the hotel, with the taxi dusting off as soon as she closed the door. The glass door slid open automatically the moment she walked within a few meters.
As soon as she entered inside, she felt warm air going through her skin from the AC and the heaters installed on the walls. She then walked over to the receptionists, of whom there was one female employee on standby, greeting her.
"Good night, Miss Medellein, back from the visit?" Asked the receptionist.
"Yes, I am," said Medellein.
"Right.. Welcome back; here is your key." The receptionist handed her a keycard. "Enjoy your stay."
"Thanks." Medellein took the key and began walking towards the elevator, without much of a talk. The conversation with the taxi driver had gone through her; she didn't really remember much from it.
Eventually, after reaching the top floor after taking the elevator, as she was walking in the hallway towards her room, she could see a door opening, with Maria coming out from inside, wearing overcoats with boots, gloves, and a winter hat.
"Going out somewhere, Maria?" Medellein called her out.
Maria turned her head towards Medellein after hearing her name being called. She immediately stood in place, her body tight and straight. "M-Ma'am..!"
"Gosh, you don't need to be like this around me when off-duty. Anyways, you're going out somewhere?" Asked Medellein once more.
"W-Well.. Yeah, I was just gonna check out on Rosey. I.. hate being alone without her." Maria turned her head down. ".. It feels empty and cold."
"Heh, well, you two are always together, no matter the mood. Either angry or sad or happy. Go on, just make sure to not get exposed outside for too long, or else you'll get sick."
"R-Right! Good night ma'am." Maria closed the door of her room before walking past her, walking towards the elevator.
Medellein looked at Maria and walked past her and towards the elevator. Well, both Maria and Rosey are always together since they were resurrected when they were just kids, revived by the soul cube. Sharing the same room, same unit, rarely or if ever separated. Guess their bond exceeds way beyond just fellow comrades in arms, like siblings perhaps.
Medellein continued walking towards the edge of the hallway, where there could be seen a window, giving a view to the large river below. Eventually arriving at a door, she leaned the card to the scanner that was placed right below the door handle. A high-tone buzzing noise could be heard, followed by the light on the scanner turning green.
She swung the door handle down, opening it to first reveal a bed near the edge of the window with multiple night tables and some other furniture like cabinets on the other side, a cupboard near the entrance, and a small TV above the cabinet, facing against the bed. Her baggage could be seen on top of the cabinet. There was also a desk where there could be seen a laptop laying in the center. Medellein first took off her coat and opened the cupboard before hanging it using a hanger inside. She then opened the door near the entrance door, leading towards the bathroom, before closing it. A rustling sound could be heard from inside as she took off her clothes, followed by the sound of water falling down from a shower.
After a while, the door of the bathroom opened. Medellein could be seen wearing only a large towel; one of her hands was holding a cellphone. Her blonde hair was dry and ruffled. Her uniform she wore earlier could be seen stacked inside a basket along with her undies. She stepped onto the rug at the entrance of the bathroom and leaned down towards the cabinet, grabbing a pair of the hotel's sandals and putting them on before heading towards her luggage that was placed on top of the cabinet.
She placed the cellphone down the cabinet beside the luggage. She then unzipped the luggage and lifted the upper half, revealing her spare clothes and other essentials inside. She took out a shirt and short pants, along with fresh underwear and socks, placing them on top of the cabinet. She then unwrapped the towell that was covering her and let it fall down to the floor and began wearing the garments.
Medellein finished wearing her garments and sat on the desk, opening her laptop and turning it on to check on some new updates or news. Immediately after the laptop booted up, opening up a browser engine and her email, she received a new entry in her inbox. A message with a link leading to a Zoom call.
"Huh." Medellein moved the cursor towards the link, double tapping it, which caused a new tab to be opened. Her screen then received a notification, asking her for permission to use the camera and microphone, which she accepted. Afterwards, a new window opened, revealing multiple cameras showing off faces she's familiar with. She then looked over at the number of people that were in the call; there were a few dozen, including herself of course.
"Oh, hey Medellein, how is it going over there?" A tanned silver-haired woman around her age could be seen wearing the USN's NWU, sitting inside what seemed to be the captain's personal cabin.
"Oh hey, Evelyn! Still on deployment in the Middle East, huh? How is it over there?" Asked Medellein.
"Well, good stuff here onboard Georgy, but the sun sucks and Ali keeps on firing shit on me and my girls. Man, I could really need a port call.. Anyways, how's Rosey? Is she fine?" Asked Evelyn.
"Yeah, tell us, did her head grow back?" Asked one woman with dark straight hair also wearing a USN NWU in a soft tone.
"Gosh, Hana, no need to be that direct. Well, she's fine. She just woke up today and can already eat properly." Medellein answered.
"Ah, good to hear that."
"Oi, Maddy, you've been shooting yellows without me!? Unfair!" Said one woman with silver hair wearing a white gown, sitting inside a white room.
"Bertolt? What happened to you? Why are you wearing a hospital gown?" Asked Medellein in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, they're reprimanding me because I almost sunk some scaredy ass Chinese shipgirl who's been stalking my group for two straight week like some creepy ass black dude in Detroit." Bertolt scoffed.
"Bertolt, that girl is just twelve, and she was just doing her job shadowing you for goodness sake. They're not going to shoot at you any second, you know that." A faint woman's voice with a posh English accent could be heard in the background. A woman with braided blonde hair, tied to the nape, appeared from behind Bertolt dressed in white uniform with a white cap with the Royal Navy emblem attached to it.
"Woah, Eli, you're in Okinawa?" Medellein gave a surprised look on her face, looking at the blonde woman that was standing right behind Bertolt.
"Yes, I'm here deary. I'm currently deployed in the SCS; pretty risky being here. Was on patrol with the ladies until I found this one silly sister of ours beefing with old Xi's ship; had to teach her a lesson!" Elizabeth proceeded to press her hand onto Bertolt's head while showing a playful smile. Bertolt, on the other hand, flinched from the sudden press on top of her head.
"O-Ow! Hey! Stop it, you English bastard!-" Right as Bertolt said the B word, Elizabeth proceeded to pinch both of Bertolt's cheeks, lifting them up.
"My, this one lass sure is pretty sassy.. You're going to be in the hospital for a long time, sweetheart~" Elizabeth released her fingers off Bertolt's cheeks, placing her hand on top of her hair, and began stroking it. "Don't worry, your other sissy and I will replace you until you become.. sane again. Who is that one sissy again? Ah yes, Nakayama is it?"
"Stop treating me like this; you're not my mom! Now can I just get out and start harassing those damn yellows already? I'm fucking bored here and I want to fuck those girls up already!" Bertolt complained.
"Oh, no, no, no you're not!" Elizabeth leaned down to Bertolt's level, who was still sitting, and used her hand to turn Bertolt's head to face her, which was just mere inches from her face, and spoke to her in a deep, low tone.
"You are going to stay here, in your very room, and have the nurses treat your mental illness and probably also your racism, and maybe addiction to those… addictive internet drugs, or else.."
Elizabeth leaned closer to Bertolt's face, whispering her words, which were still audible to everyone in the call:
"I'll add another extra illness, a physical one, and that you'd probably already know what it is, right?~" Elizabeth gave her wide grin, her eyes staring directly into Bertolt's.
Bertolt's eyes widened; her body frozen in place, unable to move. She was paralysed. She then gulped and nodded.
"Good girl! You mustn't disobey orders from your elder, right?~"
Bertolt looked away and muttered. "We're literally the same age.."
"What is it you just say?!~" Elizabeth leveled up, turning Bertolt's face once more to face her.
"N-Nothing.." Bertolt gulped once more.
"Hm.. Good girl!" Elizabeth gave Bertolt a kiss on the forehead before leaning away from her.
"Disciplining Bertolt as always, eh? Elizabeth?" One feminine voice appeared with an eastern european accent, sourced from a silver-haired woman dressed in a white service uniform with a cap with a PLAN emblem attached to it. The woman then took off her cap.
"Oh, look who is getting shamed on now! Sile ni ma la!" A young woman with Asian facial features and straight black hair appeared from behind her, dressed in the same outfit as the woman, pointing at the camera with a cheeky look on her face, speaking in an insulting tone.
"Mei, ni de limao ne?" The woman scolded the younger woman. Without looking at her at all, she proceeded to grab her by the head, fisting her hand on the young woman's head, causing the young woman to flinch a lot and moan in pain.
"Oh hey, Svetlana! How is it over there in Qingdao?" Medellein gave her a smile.
"Well, they're not planning on replacing the Varyag anytime soon. I'll just be mostly in here to train girls that would be manning the new carriers. Like this one brat right here.." Svetlana proceeded to sit the younger woman she punished earlier on a chair right beside her.
"L-Laoshi-" The younger woman's eyes furrowed, huffing and rolling her eyes.
"Speak English now. They may be our future enemies, but we're not savages or barbarians. We have rules and honour." Svetlana scolded before asking her. "Also, why are you here? Weren't you supposed to be eating lunch?"
"Well uhh.. I already finished eating.." The young woman answered.
"My, is that Mei?" Asked Hana.
Svetlana stared at the screen. "Well, well, well, western intelligence doing their work well, as usual, surprised how they haven't collapsed this country yet like my former one. This is Mei Hua. She's the eldest of all the recently 'made' cubes, and is one of the three most skilled. But she has a short temper and bad manners, which I am still working on."
"Stupid western capitalists, you all can laugh at us while we infiltrate your stupid, weak government with our own people and fill your stupid nation with more degeneracy while we grow strong! We have influence over your stupid, corrupt senators! We have secret bases housing agents that can sabotage bases inside your own yard, like in Norfolk-"
"Oi, your stupid ching chongs goofy ass reds have this one stupid ass dam that we can just blow and kill like a couple million people and fuck your economy harder than the bat that gives you COVID instead of turning you into Batman, you fucking sub-humans-"
All of a sudden, the cameras and mics from both Svetlana and Bertolt were cut. The voice call was filled with conversation as they wondered what was happening; it was until Bertolt's account camera went on, revealing a woman with blue hair.
"Hah? It's still on? Oh, konnichiwa mina!"
"Oh hey, Nakayama.. Uh, where's Elizabeth and Bertolt?" Asked Medellein.
"Oh, well.. Elizabeth-san te.. Ehhh.. I saw her dragging her back to her room. I also saw her grabbing some pills and syringes; dunno for what."
"Oh God, Eli's gonna overdose Bertolt again." Said Evelyn, her mouth went agape, gasping.
"Eh?" Nakayama just gave an oblivious, confused smile, not knowing what was going on; it was until her eyes widened in realization. "Ehh?! C-Cotto matte Elizabeth-san!" Nakayama could be seen running off the camera, her voice echoing out from the room as she left the device on. Just after that, Svetlana's device went back on.
"Right, I'm back. Just brought Mei back to her classmates." Said Svetlana as she could be seen sitting back on the chair where she sat before. "Anyways.. Medellein, about that one attack a month ago. Were you really attacked by.. extraterrestrials?"
"Huh, oh.. Well, I don't know. Who knows if its one of yours?"
"Heh, oh please, from where would we attack? Sure, there is our presence in Greenland, but like it would never exceed more than a few squadrons, or even reaching 250 aircrafts as your report suggests, would there be? All shipgirls that held control of the aircraft carriers were still in Qingdao, still being trained under me to this very day. I would never allow them to even go beyond the Bering strait, or the SCS, older especially first comer shipgirls have authority and privilege over the new and younger shipgirls in basically all the nations that utilises soul cubes in their navy, and the elder would never ever send their untrained younglings into combat, you know that, right?"
Medellein nodded. "Right.. Fair point. Oh, and also, how's Valentina? Is she doing alright?"
"Valentina.." Svetlana went silent, hesitant in answering for a few moments, "Well.. uhh.. She's.. Still in Murmansk. Doing not too well. The doctors and the engineers informed me that her cube.. Well, after that one accident a decade ago, the crack is at the state where she could not sail the ship at all, or even walk or do things normally. She's been in bed for years now, since her immunity has been reduced by a significant amount. The ship, Kutznetzov, that was trapping her cube inside the engine, well.."
She looked down, sighing,
"There's multiple cracks in the hull and it is estimated that it would break down within a couple months.. And that means her cube would be trapped inside the bay, in the cold waters, making it harder to do maintenance work or even trying to salvage it without crushing it.. And her cube.. Well.." Tears began dripping down, "She might not be with us before the end of the year.
Silence filled the call, as no one talked and everyone was silent after hearing the news. After a minute of silence, Hana spoke up.
"So.. eternal death." Hana remarked.
"Dying cube and a dying woman.. God, is there no other way to recover it?" Asked Evelyn.
"Well, it's easy to recover cubes from sunken ships. Because we had the resources and the manpower to do so. But then.. Uhh, y'know. Sanctions and isolation since.. That one guy is basically just another friend of Vladimir."
Medellein looked towards Svetlana, with pity inside her. The woman that was once energetic, working very closely with her colleague, only to see her dying and withering away slowly. She thought of the possibilities of saving Valentina's soul cube from sinking. They could gather funds from money of their own to hire some private companies who could try salvaging it, but then would it even be allowed?
Medellein released a heavy sigh, "Well, Svetlana. Sorry to hear that.. But uh, is it possible if we can.. salvage it ourselves?"
"Are you stupid?! Debil, that bastard won't let anyone try to recover her, not even their own and would rather have her dead." More tears dripped down from Svetlana, her head looking down, avoiding the camera, her hands covering her face. It was until a voice could be heard in the background, calling out her name. Svetlana looked towards the source at the rear, where another young woman could be seen at the door, calling her. "Wo laile!" She looked back towards the screen, wiping the tears that was pooling inside her eye pockets. "I-I have to go. I have to teach again."
Svetlana's camera went off, followed with her leaving the call. There was still silence; no one dared to speak up, including Medellein. The revelation of what Valentina's fate was going to be.
".. Well, we should go to her funeral if we can." Hana suggested.
"Depends though, if our higher ups allows us in the first place, which I doubt they will." Said Evelyn.
The call went back active as people began talking once more, discussing mainly attending Valentina's funeral, if it were to happen. The talk went on into the night. Medellein was growing tired, and her eyes began fluttering up and down, blinking, slapping herself, unable to keep up.
Medellein's eyes then fluttered down; her hand fell down towards the floor. The activity of the day she just went through from travelling for hours and sitting in two flights made her unable to think much. Her head turned down before releasing off snores.
Medellein was asleep while still sitting on the chair, with the camera and mic still on. No one really noticed that she was already asleep. Just outside the room's window, a figure dressed in a dark cape that covered their entire body, with only parts of their face seen, could be seen floating outside, observing as Medellein was in a deep slumber.
The figure stared at the sleeping woman; its lips turned into a wide grin, chuckling.
"Soon."
( Glossary:
- Georgy: USS George Washington (CVN-73)
- Port call: A term that refers to ships stopping at a port for either transit, refueling, resupplying, etc.
- NWU: Navy Working Uniform)