Fleetgirls at Floodtide (Azur Lane/1900s Alternate History)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSo4Zf9jnqU

[Arizona] - Total Loss

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

"I always thought Arizona was pretty neat." Cassin says, kicking her feet up and onto the dash as she does so.

"That old battlewagon? She was already sailing before I even joined the navy," I reply, turning slowly to get on the main road towards Honolulu. We were in flag country, and it paid to be careful lest one accidentally run over someone with more stars than brains.

"Yeah? And she has fourteen-inchers, that's awesome!"

"So does a large chunk of the fleet, so I ask, why Arizona? Is it due to the rumors I've heard of her spoiling destroyers and escorts?"

Cassin pointedly looks out the window, suddenly very interested in the enlisted barracks as we drive by it.

"Fine," I reply with a smile after a few moments. "I know Admiral Kidd, the man currently using her as a flagship.."

"How'd you manage that?"

"He was teaching at the naval academy when I was there, he went off to captain the New Mexico, I went off to destroyer work. But still, I knew him, and have worked with him again more than once, though never in any of our anti-Siren missions. Tell you what, breakfast, then you can carry me over to his ship, we'll skip the ferry."

"You'll let me carry you? Even with all these people around?"

I smile a touch wider. "Cassin, I command the most effective destroyer in this nation's navy. Of course I would wish everyone to see the two of us together."

Her smile could have powered her boilers.

—

I stood now at the edge of the docks at Ford Island, the airbase, refueling hub, and general… everything that powered Pearl. Battleship row was just south of it, and I found myself looking up appreciatively at all the ships as Cassin skipped around me. She was incapable of a sugar rush, she had neither a circulatory system or organs. This was simply raw excitement, and I couldn't help but enjoy the exuberance.

Crates were piled around me as I stood on the precipice where concrete meets saltwater, and the Arizona was at her mooring just a few dozen feet off the shore. "Cassin, would you mind?"

Cassin leaps past you and into the water, her rigging appearing around her in midair as she falls. A torpedo battery appears behind her on the starboard side, with pipes running through her clothes to where they connected to her spine, on her porta cut in half simulacrum of her bow formed, with her two forward five-inch guns. Both are far, far smaller than the real things. Then, without a word, I stepped off the dock after her. A second later I was in her arms, the destroyer carrying me with ease as she stood atop the gently moving water. With one arm beneath my legs, the other supporting my neck, you were for all appearances the new bride, not helped by the fact you were wearing white. But it didn't matter much either.

She then turns and is gliding across the water. It was always an interesting sight, the shipgirls didn't 'walk' so much as they 'sailed'. From there, it's a very short trip to the Arizona, and, as normal, Cassin ignores the gangway that had been lowered for ferries and whaleboats. With a rush of air, I found myself now on top of the Arizona's bow, and a moment later I was deposited onto her tan deck.

"Must you always ignore the quarterdeck? There's likely a poor Lieutenant running here now."

Cassin grins up at me. "Well you've got to keep them on their toes or they'll get complacent."

I roll my eyes, then make my way to the quarterdeck so that I could be announced aboard properly, one didn't sneak aboard a warship. Especially since Arizona already likely knew I was here. The Navy's usual ceremony passed quickly, and myself and Cassin quickly made our way to the port quarters to find… Admiral Kidd. Waiting on the opposite side of the door.

His face was wizened, but not in the manner of an old man. More that of someone who lived a life at sea. I had just recently turned forty-one myself, and I was beginning to grow gray early. The Admiral had the classic look, callused hands, a rough face, but the warm brown eyes gave him a youth despite. He shoved a hand forward, and I took it, shaking it vigorously as the two of us grinned at one another. "Back from your Antarctic hunt then Stevens? How many is that now?"

I think on that question a moment, my eyes flitting past him to the room. An Admiral's in-port quarters, especially that on a battleship, were far beyond anything a destroyer could manage. Actual furniture for starters, and the bastard even had a rug. "My fourth, and the most productive one yet, three submarines and a destroyer in one action."

"Very nice, what brings about Captain Valkenburgh's ship?"

I arch a brow. "It's your flag Admiral, technically she belongs to you at the moment."

"And if I was to suggest that around Arizona she would likely tie me to the superstructure, now answer the question."

I step to the side and gesture to the destroyer standing just beside me. "This little lady wanted a tour, not many battleships on our expeditions."

A twinkle forms in Kidd's eyes, "Oho? Is that the case?" He looks down at my charge, a wide grin on his face. "Well, welcome aboard the ol '39 little miss. I take it you want to meet the gal?"

Cassin's head nods so fast that, were she human, she would have likely broken her neck.

Isaac looks back into the room. "Arizona, report."

The woman appears a split second later in the middle of the room. She, like most capital ships, wasn't in the uniform that Cassin and others like her had to wear. I wasn't sure who made the rule exactly, and who enforced it. But battleships, carriers, some cruisers… They tended to wear whatever they wanted. And that could get rather… egregious. Arizona, at least, was reasonable. A blue long-sleeved shirt, cuffed at the elbows, with white garters and a little hat on her head. "Admiral? You summoned me?"

"Indeed," Isaac replies. "Would you mind asking Valkenburgh if he would mind getting this vessel out of the row to stretch your legs a bit?" Isaac's grin aged him back a good twenty years as he looked at the battleship. "I've got a little miss here who wants to meet you and it'd be good to test out the work Vestal has been doing on you."

Arizona's head turns from Kidd, to Cassin, then back to the admiral. "But what about Nevada sir? She is moored behind and blocking us."

"Commanded by Captain Scanland, who'll move if I ask." Then the admiral steps to the side as Cassin rushes past him, hopping on her feet as she moves around the battleship. "Stretch your legs a little Arizona, Admiral's orders."

"You're awesome!" Cassin says, loud enough the light fixtures ring.

The battleship takes a halting step back, and I begin to order Cassin off before there is a tap on my shoulder. Looking back… there stood Captain Valkenburgh. "Still drink scotch, Stevens?"

I smile.

—

Valkenburgh was using a spare room with Kidd having claimed his previous quarters. It didn't much matter, it was still palatial when compared to my own. But… I wasn't much one for opulence to begin with. Not that Valkenburgh flaunted his command, but there was so much space I couldn't begin to figure out what I'd do with it. A long table rests on the blue carpeting in the center of the room. While his desk, clean and showing little sign of actual busywork besides some neatly stacked papers sits against the far wall. Isaac had taken a spot on the couch, while Valkenburgh was leaning against the table. Kidd began speaking almost the moment I closed the door.

"So how was it down there, really?" the Admiral asks, his voice lacking any of the previous joviality.

"Bad." I reply plainly. "There's more every sortie, and we can't keep up with more than half of it. None of their observers or controllers, least, not that I've seen. Just their automated ships, easy enough to handle… barely more than automatons that can fire shells at you or launch torpedoes. But there's more of them, constantly more."

"Is your strategy still working on their submarines?"

I smile, slightly. Siren submarines are damn near impossible to detect underwater, something about them makes it so they aren't exactly impossible to hear, but they have a strange echo that makes any form of triangulation result in a rather sizable area to search. My solution to this, after much trial and error, was to basically tie a whole grouping of depth charges together, having Cassin launch them from the ship, then hauling out of there before it detonated. It usually worked, though it was a little unorthodox.

"Well enough to sink them," I reply. "Commander Roper on the Downes has started doing the same thing. But they've become more aggressive, the last one we sunk surfaced to fire her guns at us without torpedoes."

"Stupidity," Kidd says.

"Or confidence," Valkenburgh replies. "Maybe with how successful they've been working with the Germans they might be thinking they can run us over just as easily."

Kidd grunts. "With the Kraut's pushing into Russia with their help, and the Italians controlling the mediterranean with their help… well, I don't know. Not like they speak on diplomatic channels. I just hope we get into this before it becomes too late."

"The Nazis are knocking on Dover as we speak," I reply. "Are we sure it isn't already?"

Neither man speaks at that. Then Kidd sighs, now looking his age as he rubs his face with his hand. "Well, Japan at least hasn't shown any signs of pushing this way, the least we could deal with is a three-front war at the moment."

"Regardless," Valkenburgh replies. "We don't know where the sirens are going, unless you've found a way to track them from the ice packs Stevens."

I shake my head, "not a clue, if we don't catch them they just go right on by without a care in the world. We haven't found anything interesting either, they detonate the moment they take too much damage."

Kidd shoots a look to Valkenburgh, then looks at me while leaning forward. "We were actually looking into that. The USS Marquis De Lafayette, are you familiar with her?"

I think for a moment, then shake my head. "No, not particularly."

"French ship, Le Fantasque class. We bought one from their government in the 30's before the war. Fast little destroyers, we've taken to outfitting them with an oversized marine complement for boarding actions."

I blink, slowly. "You're pulling my leg."

"The marines were all for it," Kidd continues.. "And we need all the intelligence about how those ships work we can get. We haven't tried it yet, she's currently docked on the north side of the island. But I was thinking of putting her under your command."

"You want me in control of a French pirate?"

"No, I'm giving you a French pirate." Kidd replies. The admiral sighs then, leaning back in his chair. "We need to get into this damn war."

"Thinking of running for president?" Valkenburgh asks.

Kidd snorts. "No I'd rather work for a living. Come on… let's get to that scotch."

Valkenburgh dutifully obeys, moving over to a nearby cabinet. The Admiral watches him for a moment, then looks my way once more. "Going somewhere after this Stevens?"

"Was debating visiting one of the carriers actually, haven't had a chance to work with them and I trained on the-"

"Back at Annapolis yes." Kidd replies with a smile. "Well, we've got a few in from plane transfers, Cassin been on one yet?"

I smile back. "Not yet, though I can change that. Who's in?"

"Ranger, Yorktown, Enterprise," Valkenburgh replies, returning with a clear bottle of brown liquid. "Any of those catch your fancy? Leviathan is also in port, but she's in drydock at the moment."

—

The ship you choose here will survive Pearl Harbor. The other two… won't. The winner will be involved with the plot moving forward, much like the Battleship is.


View: https://i.imgur.com/FvYVcfr.png
[] [Ranger]


View: https://i.imgur.com/8UDyJgs.png
[] [Enterprise]


View: https://i.imgur.com/053KAgU.png
[] [Yorktown]