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

[Ingraham]
Destroyer. The 'mad scientist' of the Allen M Sumners, famed for tinkering with her own Wisdom Cube to… interesting effects. She was known as mainly a recluse otherwise, rarely interacting with anyone. The ship itself was one of the most modern destroyers the navy had, with better guns, tech, and maneuverability. Cassin will be thrilled.

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

My eyes move to the other piece of paper, coming along is one of the ships of my new task group, meant to join Leviathan and Cassin, along with some others yet to be decided, on our trip to the Strait of Gibraltar.

It's the… USS Ingraham.

I move my hand to my eyes, rubbing them slightly. An Allen M Sumner. All of them were rather famously eccentric, though as ships they were utterly fantastic. Spots on their crews, at least when it came to officer slots, were highly competitive and had been for several years. If a sailor was entering the destroyer service, they got them, if something needed to be tested, it was them. To that end they were, plainly, better than the Fletchers in just about every capacity, which also meant, by extension, the Mahan class that Cassin belonged to. "Well, Cassin's going to be upset," I mutter.

"Yeah?" Cassin asks. "What's going on?"

I lower the paper slightly, then turn my head to see Cassin standing just behind me, hopping up and down on her feet in an attempt to read the paper. I pass it to her, and the destroyer none-too-gracefully snatches it out of my hands and reads it. I could have lied, or obfuscated it, but Cassin has about as much stubbornness as an eighteen-year-old sailor off to have his first beer the moment he's in an international port.

Cassin clutches at her chest, stumbling back. Then she wails, throwing herself onto my bed and audibly crying. "You're going to replace me with some destroyer slut who has all the new toys!"

"Cassi-"

"I'll be left by the wayside, doing nothing but training missions and coastal patrols."

"Cassin."

"Won't even get maintenance anymore, I'll be left to rot."

"Cassin I don't care how much you wail, you aren't sleeping on that bed."

Cassin shoots up, fists digging into the mattress, grief forgotten. "Can't you see I'm emotionally distressed!?"

I stare at the destroyer, I stare at the destroyer for a good long while. Cassin stares back, then she scoots to the edge of the bed. "Ya feeling alright?" Cassin asks quietly.

"Tired," I admit. "And I likely won't be sleeping until we get more help… we're vulnerable, damn vulnerable."

Cassin tilts her head, looking towards the ceiling. "Well, we were surprised last night, that won't be happening again at least."

"Likely not, but it doesn't mean we can fight our attackers easily either." I say with a sigh. "Unlike you, this ship is quite vulnerable to submarines, and can't defend herself either. Leviathan was a twitchy, nervous wreck this morning."

"Miss perfect is showing cracks?"

"She was fighting an ideal version of the war in her mind, and I cannot begrudge such a fantasy." I turn my head towards one of the portholes, then, moving to it I close it, then another, then another, casting the room, in more and more darkness. "She was an ocean liner, she wasn't made for this, she's having to come to terms with the sudden harsh reality of it all."

"Days of boredom followed by minutes of absolute panic?" Cassin offers.

"That's the Navy."

"Well, she's just going to have to learn… what's your plan?"

I turn to face the destroyer, closing the last of the portholes. The only light that remained was the small reading lamp in the corner, and the faint glow of the shipgirl's eyes. It was just something else that made them… less than human. "I can't do night flight training, not truly, while we are under threat from submarines. But we'll be starting it the moment we have air cover, I doubt the Germans will be so bold as to attack us there."

"I just got word that L-44 is coming over from Cuba to help with that actually." Cassin replies. "It's actually why I came here."

"The blimp will help, hopefully it'll scare them off," I say. "But no, all I can do at the moment is be wary, the Leviathan can't defend herself."

"And she's not taking that well?"

"No," I reply bluntly. "And regardless, we were outplayed, I at least assumed the waters around Panama would be safe."

"They got here quick." Cassin mutters.

"They were likely already there before the war even started. We're the first major convoy to come through the Canal since Pearl. We were simply outplayed. Rather horrifically at that."

"What, don't think we have a chance?" Cassin asks, a slight edge to her voice.

"No, we're going to win this." I reply without any doubt. "I just want to minimize casualties."

Cassin lets out a low breath, it was always an odd thing… there was a metallic sort of vibration to it. It was true of all of them. It was fake, it was simply them showing emotion. They had no lungs, they had no heart, they didn't even truly have a 'brain'. But they lived regardless. But the breath was simply a show to make others comfortable around them, but… once they did it long enough, it became a habit. "Pearl?" Cassin asks.

"Yeah." I reply. "Pearl."

Silence fills the room for several minutes, the both of you lost in thought. Before Cassin falls back onto the bed, the metal frame creaks slightly. "So, Norfolk then?"

"Yep, it has been a while."

Cassin nods. "Haven't been there since I went through 'acclimation'."

The SCAHR or, 'Shipgirl Center for Acclimation, Humanization, and Readiness because the US Military never grows tired of acronyms. Was a university built purposely for preparing Shipgirls to interact with humans. Every shipgirl was different, every shipgirl acted more, or less, human seemingly at random. Some were fully active, able to adapt quickly to their new bodies and forms. Others… others were little more than golems from myth. Cassin had spent three months learning to be 'Human' before she was assigned to you. Leviathan you had no idea.

"She's old for a ship, young for a shipgirl." I reply. "She's barely four years old, and last night was her first taste of combat."

"She's gonna have to get over that popped cherry quick, I don't think we're out of this yet." Cassin replies.

"Likely not," I agree, then make my way over to the bed. Shrugging off my jacket, I hang it up beside the bed, then slide onto the mattress. Within moments Cassin has an arm pressed against my chest, pinning me, quite convincingly, against the bed.

I glance down at the destroyer, golden glowing eyes meeting me in the darkness. "Cassin?"

Cassin smiles, then places her head on my chest. I sigh, then move my hand to run it gently through her hair.

I was fast asleep a short while later.

—

"Torpedoes in the water, 2… 220 sir!"

I glare at the radioman for the stutter, but my mind is already moving on. "Leviathan, adjust to dodge, watch for the Hodges."

"Aye, Admiral." Leviathan replies.

It was night once more, and the Germans had given you until midnight before the assault began again. Ships danced in the dark, firing flares, firing rockets, firing depth charges and turret salvos. The sea churned with flaming oil and shouting men. The Stephenson had already been hit and was listing a short distance behind the convoy, while the Leviathan herself had already suffered two near misses.

A horn sounded overhead like a bellowed warcry, and I cast my gaze skyward where the K-44, the Savannah, was floating above the fleet. Dozens of searchlights below her variably scanning the waves for submarines, to a pair of them following one just east of the fleet, a trio of destroyers, including Cassin chasing after it. The blimps had been a godsend in the Arctics, easily able to spot movement for miles and miles… now.

Now the Germans were seeing what happens when a Navy had been fighting a war since 1918.

"Cassin's reporting a sunk U-Boat sir!" the radioman shouts.

"No shouting on my bridge unless it's a torpedo Lieutenant." I say, though I'm smiling. "Keep the course Leviathan, we'll make it through this."

Leviathan looks at me, her face as white as a sheet, then she looks back over the water, not saying anything.

She doesn't see my wrung hands behind my back.

—

Morning dawned, and with it, your air cover. A plane roars off the deck of the Leviathan, an avenger burdened with a pair of depth charges underneath each wing. It rises to join those already in the air, the moment the sun rises, so do my planes, and now… I watch as a pair of Catalina's sail over the fleet in a wide circle.

I watch them pass, a small smile on my face, then I turn my gaze to the Leviathan. She was standing on the bridge wing, hands ramrod at her sides, her body still. But only her body, her eyes were active, snapping to every wave, every crease in the water. "Leviathan, would you like some coffee?" I offer.

Leviathan jerks at the sound of my voice. She looks to me, her eyes wide, then she's gone, disappeared into the morning air. I stare at the spot she vacated, then let out a sigh. I grab the cup that I left on the windowsill, then take a long drag of it, looking out over the fleet. Men were sliding off Hodges as she tilted over in the water, whaleboats surrounding her, yanking men out of the water. The Northampton was smoking ahead of us, but was keeping speed at the very least, and the Quincy was currently sailing in a wide circle. A chunk of the convoy was having to make a wide arc to avoid while they attempted repairs.

One hour until you were to meet up with the reinforcements, but now you had land based air cover from Jamaica… and thank god for that. I turn my head back towards the bridge, to the 'young' man standing by the window clutching a clipboard like it was an anchor. "Good work last night Sebastian, get some rest."

The Captain looks at me. "Aye… sir…"

He doesn't move. I'm not entirely sure he's capable of it.

I look out towards the flight deck, then take another sip of coffee. One hour until reinforcement, but the threat was now over. That just left… I look towards the spot Leviathan vacated and sigh. People reacted to combat differently, people especially reacted to being helpless in combat differently. Two different nighttime attacks, and you had two sunk destroyers, several damaged cruisers, one severely damaged destroyer, and superficial damage around the rest of the fleet. Frankly, it could be worse, much worse.

But I could hardly blame people for reacting poorly to their first taste of combat, least of all an ocean liner. Least of all an ocean liner that had until recently been a troop ship. What a confusing life she must lead. I could only wonder what thoughts were racing through that Prussian head of hers. At the very least now she would be able to get some rest… though… I suppose now would be a good time to check up on her as well.

Though she may start throwing things as well.

Handling shipgirls is… never easy, and the Academy would never truly prepare a young officer for such things. I set the cup down, then stretch my arms above my head, watching as another Avenger tears down the deck towards the morning sunrise, then make my way out of the bridge.

—

[] [Go to Leviathan's quarters]

[] [Leave her be - Check in on the crew]