Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm's Have an Extra Unexpected Family Encounter with their Mother?
Annoyed Catholic
Moody fellow
Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm Have an Extra Unexpected Family Encounter with their Mother?
Chapter 4: Frustration, Consternation, and Unexpected Reunions from Afar...
Author's Note: Do hope you'll like the latest here. Oh, and sorry in advance for no description of the Japanese Admiral. Thing is that beyond the descriptors of gender, rank, and nationality I figure it was needing to be this way for the sake of the 'ol mythology joke. See you never are given a description of the Admiral in that video game "Kancolle"? That is because the "admiral" is supposed to be the player so . . .
Well, you're not getting a description there in the game you'll not get one here either.
With Hypocenter. . .
"The Admiral will see you now," Houshou smiled slightly, before then having gestured to the officer's door behind her.
Having had nodded gratefully, Firestorm and Hypocenter maneuvered their afts past the "secretary" shipgirl who had inadvertently and needlessly aggravated with the. . . "reasonable demands" of theirs.
Deep! The shyer of the two sisters had thought. That had to have been the MOST embarrassing thing I've ever experienced.
"Okay here we go," Dr. Takahashi said, having had paused right before the entrance to the admiral's office. He then turned briefly to look back at both Hypocenter and Firestorm when they had come up short behind him. "Girls, I'll be as quick as humanly possible in giving my report on the test results. I'd forgo it to address your needs first but the arguments that man would give me just . . . it would be just easier to do it this way. Forgive me that, but it is just true. Just keep your eye on the prize, and I'll promise that what will come of it will also lead to something. . .Well, we'll get to that."
Both sisters had shaken their heads, knowing why. Those in power tended to want things done their way. That said, at least a human could be trusted to not sink you for having had disagreed with them or having had argued with them. That was not like what would have happened to you if you dared with any Abyssal Princess besides their Princess even at their least perturbed state. Indeed, an example of just how bad an Abyssal Princess could have been from the sisters' experience would have to have been a confrontation between their Princess and the Crane Princess! Their Mother had not attacked that damnable Crane Princess when she had disturbed their peace back on the Bikini Atoll so much earlier ago! The b*tch had dared to have darkened their peaceful island because their Mother had NOT agreed to join in yet another damn fool scheme that Crane Idiot had concocted!
That had been a tense standoff, but no blood had been spilled that day between fleets, thank the Deep. If the reverse should have happened?
Heh! Equals or not, the blood (or Abyssal equivalent) would have flowed for miles!
"Right," Firestorm whispered to herself, having then gathered her composure. "Eye on the prize."
She had never heard that expression before, but the meaning was clear enough. It was Similar enough to a few Abyssal phrases about reaching goals through patience (something that some Abyssal Princesses--cough cough those like the Crane Princess-- were in short supply of but that is by the by).
Having entered into the office, both shipgirls sat and watched as Dr. Takahashi gave his report in a manner that was. . .animated--as was in his habit of doing most things when having suffered yet ANOTHER manic episode--but swift as the man had promised. The news that some US Marshal --a term both former Abyssals had only heard of then, but apparently one of was of some significance-- had expressed concern. Yes, that turned out to not be as pressing as originally feared. That had been was nice enough, but it had revealed something almost as concerning if not more so!
Yes, US Marshal Jayson Smythe had asked if Abyssals retained personal skills upon being Resummoned. Had it had been a question about crew fairy skills? No, it had been a well-known thing both in the human world--early on in the Abyssal war!-- when somebody somewhere in the intel community had realized the fodder Abyssals were coming back from being sunk; albeit with a loss in combat effectiveness. The fairies had to be retrained from the ground up. Those who were Abyssals (or had been) already had known that, whether Princesses or fodder. Both Firestorm and Hypocenter had known the answer to that question about "personal skills", there was some retention, but a lot was lost between sinking and Resummoning. But Dr. Takahashi had said that more personal skills (like teaching ability) would be retained after each Resummoning, which eventually would have led to not only a quicker bringing the Abyssal back up to par (combat deadliness wise) but soon would have led to more and more deadly and skilled Abyssal enemies.
Eventually.
The Admiral just muttered a quiet prayer of thanks to the gods and goddess that no Abyssal Princesses knew the means of bringing back personal skills and memories for Resummoned fodder Abyssals. Dr. Takahashi's methods seemed to have been an unknown to the Enemy. That was good; else they'd already have been facing even more deadly foes from the Abyssals than what had been experienced to date.
The admiral then frowned, having wondered just HOW to broach the fact that Trinitite was the sister who'd been causing the "family trouble" for Saratoga which had her eventually flown back to the USA.
Best to have it done with tact and not to blurt it out. The officer wanted to do it in a kind and polite manner. To do it by having said that Trin was alive but was the target of a manhunt? Having said in a moment of stupidity that Trinitite might even be killed in said manhunt if things went disastrously wrong?
No, the man had felt best to take it slow in breaking the news.
It . . .would just have taken some thought in how to do it right? Yes! Yes, it would have taken SOME thought so he'd do it while that Navy "spook" in Washington state had gotten up to speed on this mess. The fact that this had come to head WAS due in part to his part of the task force. The taskforce which had freed Saratoga from the Abyss' clutches had alas overlooked Trinitite's continued survival. This failure wasn't being unacknowledged by him; it just wasn't going to be addressed by the man right now. Why? The Abyssals! They'd been worried about possible Abyssal forces swinging back that way and smashing the rescue effort! Of course, that had been the real danger so SOME haste had been the thing for it, d*mnit!
It was not like anyone had thought anything like THIS would have happened! Like fodder Abyssals had been thought to be capable of being anything other than monsters made of hate and spite? Not him, that was for darn sure!
But maybe now that he had known better? Now that both Hypocenter and Firestorm were here in the land of the living and in his care? He had felt he could use that! This might just have been the very thing to get Trinitite into custody, without bloodshed.
Without risking Saratoga's sanity!
And hopefully with that finally DONE he'd finally have been able to get USS Saratoga back and his still needy new aircraft carrier shipgirls up to snuff!
Gods, while he cared about Saratoga and her issues? This had been a trying thing all around and he wanted it DONE with! So did anyone and everyone else involved even remotely in the Operation to capture the wayward Wo!!
Maybe he should seriously have gone with the idea he'd jokingly shared with Murray earlier? He should have sent a Shinto Priestess to perform an exorcism? It sure seemed like now that this operation had been cursed from day one!!
Meanwhile, everyone else who was not an admiral looked at each other. Then they'd looked at the man in question as if to have asked why this question about Abyssal personal skills upon Resummonng. Who this Smythe was? Why had his question gotten into this meeting? How did this fit into things?!
Takahashi was most curious about this Smyth fellow. He'd never heard of the man before today and yet he had managed to touch on one of his more important elements for his theorems about Abyssals? Theorems that had been practically locked away from the light of day due to censor by "more reputable" scientists in the field? To his knowledge he'd never spoken or written to Smythe, so the doctor was MOST curious.
Takahashi speculated that It might be destined to be an interesting discussion once they finally meet. If the doctor had actually met Smythe and spoke about his theorems, the good doctor would apologize for having forgotten the meeting. Or if the marshal was just a talented and intelligent layman?
Well, whatever the case Takahashi owed this Smythe a very sincere thank you! The marshal had started the ball rolling and Takahashi finally gotten his chance to prove his theorems! Gotten his chance to do his part in the war effort. Gotten To save lives!
GOTTEN To show them ALL!!
...
Firestorm and Hypocenter didn't know much about Smythe but that could wait. This marshal sounded . . .interesting, even IF the admiral seemed rather cross with him for whatever reason.
But that said, the earlier part about the Proposal that Dr. Takahashi made? The part about how Dr. Takahashi's idea on how to take some failed DARPA project to make a mobile Summoning Pool, to be used out at sea (which was pretty much the stomping ground of the Abyss)? Risky, but after it was realized about the bottleneck the Americans were having with Summoning new shipgirls due to being down to now just two Summoning Pools? What with the fall of Pearl Harbor with the Abyssal Central Princess about a year earlier (and had really made the Crossroad Fleet worry about the Firebringers being just a bit closer to unleashing the Fire in retaliation)? Yeah, they could see why that had interested the Admiral.
The part where the doctor planned on utilizing their Mother (a former Abyssal Princess) to replicate the accidental Summoning of both the sisters? The thought that maybe, just MAYBE more of their fleet sisters might have been able to rejoin with them? That made them . . .giddy in hope. And . . .they really wanted it, even the submarines. Especially the submarines, because despite themselves . . . the former Wo-class found their hearts missing all their fleet sisters as much as their lost Wo-class sister: Trinitite.
Before, back in their "first life" they had all cared for each other as family, but with only varying degrees of affectation. But something had changed? Yes, both sisters had felt it. Something had changed beyond the obvious. What exactly within, they weren't sure but . . .
Well, that was all hypothetical. If the doctor was only successful enough to summon another former Abyssal through the Summoning Pool here on base, all fine and well! Heck, the data from even a failed Summons would be enough to be able to fine-tune his version of DARPA's mobile Summoning Pool. The good doctor was sure of it.
Where they failed (especially one hack who the doctor practically reviled), the good Dr. Takahashi would succeed!
...
Of course, by this time the doctor coughed in embarrassment during that part of his presentation and visibly forced himself back to calmness.
He had glanced at the Admiral and had been delighted. His admittedly mad rantings? They hadn't turned the officer against him. Gladdened, he'd continued to the end and now awaited with a question or two of his own for the officer.
The admiral, meanwhile was not in the mood to answer idle questions about what all this was all about. He said that he'd explain here soon enough but he wanted to contact somebody and share this information. A man that was known as Lt. Commander Dan Murray needed to be brought up to speed on the latest here since it did change the complexion on things. That and if the admiral had his way, they could play their cards right and finally bring this accursed Operation to a close!
Later . . .
Dan Murray had found himself gobsmacked, wondering if this Japanese Abyssal Expert the Admiral from Japan had somewhere dug up had something of a sick sense of humor in addition to being seemingly insane at times.
Oh, at the start Dr. Takahashi had seemed to be the genius. Nashville had said the man had impressed her during their brief encounter before she'd contacted him. But....the presentation of facts had been . . .over the top in his exuberance (and all the more had been an annoyance due to the slight smile of satisfaction the Admiral had on his lips all the while). The Japanese officer hadn't taken it too well went Murray had been the one to break the news of Saratoga getting yanked back to America on short notice, thus having left the newer Japanese carrier shipgirls hanging.
Murray had understood the man's frustration and somewhat had resented his superiors leaving it to HIM to deliver the unwanted news!
This and the fact that even on secure channels, some chucklef*cks up the chain of command still had insisted that Trinitite's existence not be mentioned anymore in briefings except for those directly involved in Operation Absolute Railway! Which meant that despite the Admiral knowing WHO the "Essex-class" daughter that Saratoga causing the "family problems" back in the States, none still wasn't going to hear from his lips the name "Trinitite". At least until Murray had been given the green light, alas.
And . . .
God, was he tired! Not only from lack of sleep but from all the bullsh*t he'd had to put up with this clusterf*ck of an operation. He suggested getting the Feds involved in it from the start and gets shot down. Then he got roped into this operation as being in command of the operation to find and capture Trinitite with only Navy and Army assets. That but he had to keep it under wraps to not cause a panic with the civilians. Then when the Feds come into the picture after having caught wind of Trinitite? Oh God, what a mess! Not only were the Federal alphabet agencies always looking to get on over on the Military, but they were... In the Fed Camp, there were those who were part of the "other faction" concerning how former Abyssals should be handled! How some in the Federal Government didn't trust that those like Saratoga had actually been redeemed? Couldn't and shouldn't totally be trusted? They felt the answer was "no trust" and Murray feared that somehow if he should fail, the fallout would be used to ruin the faction "he" represented (the faction saying that Abyssal Princesses should be wrestled away from Abyssal control and "redeemed" as it were).
The next thing he saw coming from that corner was them breaking out the nukes and going bomb happy...and like that was a sane choice? Not at this point in time, since things hadn't gotten that grim!!
F*ck, he'd almost welcome being court marshaled and kicked out. To Murray it felt like flipping hamburgers at McDonald's for the rest of his days looked more appealing by the day, his college degree "be d*mned"!
. . .
Those like Janson Smythe had been instrumental in acting like moderating agents between hostile camps within Operation Absolute Railway, but Murray had felt like he'd be getting ulcers if this kept up for much longer.
Having taken another sip of that Starbucks coffee, the Navy officer shook his head and finally composed himself enough to respond properly.
While he'd managed to not be too disbelieving (or condescending) when the doctor had made his brief, it had been a struggle. It was not surprising that the Admiral was having a form of passive/aggressive revenge in inflicting Dr. Insano . . .Takashi's presence on the Navy officer. It had not made it any easier to take, whatever the case. It was not if he'd wanted to be the bearer of bad news, damnit!
Now, this? And the question was could the sisters be trusted if this wasn't a joke?!
But the look that Firestorm was giving Murray right at that moment? His poker face must have slipped due to the late hours!
And then the Commander felt like slapping himself. The fact that the admiral had already vetted the former Abyssals was left unsaid, but heavily evident. The very fact that only Kanmusu could pass through Kanmusu Summoning Pools was left unsaid, but self-apparent. Everyone this deep in this program concerning Shipgirls and Abyssals had known THAT much!!. It was very evident that both Firestorm and Hypocenter were very MUCH Kanmusu now, with all that it implied.
"Yes," Firestorm sighed, clearly having seen the unasked question in Murray's eyes. "You did hear right. I and Hypocenter are from the former Jellyfish Princess fleet. Yes, the Crossroads Fleet that you had a hand in crushing. But given what the Abyss had DONE to our Princess to make her Jellyfish? You didn't take into account that I and my fleet sisters, the 'fodder' Abyssals might be more than drones of anger and hatred, true. But that was because more because of bad information passed along by the ex-Crane Princess than anything else. That and you DID free our Mother despite having to kill the Fleet. With all that in mind, despite I'm still rather PISSED about what happened, I'll give you a pass!"
"But what I'd like to add to what my sister here is trying to get at is that we've been patient," Hypocenter added after having given the Admiral and doctor a slight look. "But we're a little anxious to speak with our Mother again which we came BACK from sinking and defied the Abyss herself to . . .be here."
"Yes, it would be appreciated to speak with her!" Firestorm agreed, a glare given a bit at Murray. His questions had been made this 'brief' briefing take longer than she'd cared for at all. The Deep knew only how much longer until that jet fighter landed! "But not at the expense of shocking our Princess back Abyssal! Please help us by at least if nothing else preparing her for seeing us?"
Murray blinked, then had the good grace to at least look somewhat embarrassed.
"I'll . . .see to it right now while the Admiral switches over to the main room TV monitor for his upcoming briefing," the Lt. Commander nods and sighs in relief when seeing the admiral smiling graciously.
While not in his chain of command (or even a US citizen), he was an admiral of a highly valued ally in the Abyssal war. It wouldn't due to piss off somebody like that. Murray was on thin enough ice as it was with Operation Absolute Railway taking as long as it had, even with the FBI getting in a hand in things.
"Please do," the Admiral requested (or more like given an order in the form of a request). "And I'll let the sisters know about the actual nature of that troublesome mystery 'Essex-class' sister of theirs who got Saratoga taken from my base despite everything!"
The last part was said with a small frown. Oh yeah, the admiral was still ticked off here over that, despite him acknowledging the need.
And he was a bit annoyed at the "cloak and dagger" nonsense even now at this late date, the oblique references to Trinitite had not been totally unnoticed by Firestorm and Hypocenter. While unsure what exactly was going on here, the former Wo-class shipgirls knew that something was amiss here. More than they'd already felt when they'd learned that "family problems" would involve Saratoga getting whisked away in a jet fighter of all things.
Yep, something was rotten in Denmark. And when the sisters learned of the truth about Trinitite . . .!! The Admiral had a plan on how to break the news, but . . .this was going to be awkward all the same!
"And I'll . . .get to my experiment with the Summoning Pool with Zuikaku right now," Dr. Takahashi muttered, glancing meaningfully at his watch and mouthing an apology towards the former Abyssals.
He was having another manic episode and it was time for his pills, but he'd rather NOT do it in front of the others (what due to social Japanese stigma of this world and all that).
Having a smile and gave the doctor a hug each, the sisters then let the doctor through to wait at the door before letting the admiral waved him on, having made it okay to leave.
"I . . .thank you admiral," Murray sighed, giving the admiral a short but quick bow of respect (aka proper Japanese bow) before he then switched the camera view over to standby. Murray had people to talk to and prepare, as well as others having had things to do themselves.
The doctor was quickly let out, and with a quick intercom call from the Admiral ordered Houshou to contact Zuikaku (and a few battleships to provide overwatch on the Summoning just in case).
Having then given a slight sigh, the Japanese officer quickly resecured his office for another teleconference (this time the main briefing area for the Navy's effort for Operation Absolute Railway). having made sure the line out was on mute, he was treated to curious glances their way from those present and those being gathered for yet ANOTHER Japanese briefing from the clear blue. Some were shaking their heads in annoyance, but that was THEIR problem and the admiral frankly didn't care about them being inconvenienced.
The sisters were his concern, even IF they weren't under his command (or any military command) yet. They'd signed the Japanese version of NDF forms for security sakes so this should be done.
He should have been done a long time ago, but the admiral was only now being able to finally address it. The murmur of the various American officials (both military and Federal Agents) could be heard in the background, some bickering amongst themselves. That seemed Rather fitting for the tense feelings that the admiral had for some reason; like the next boot was going to fall, and hopefully not on his head!
This operation!
"Now, what I'm about to tell you is going to be a bit shocking so brace yourself?" the admiral began. Seeing the sisters had nodded, the admiral continued with few more adjustments to his end of the teleconference to prepare for the upcoming briefing with this mass of confused US officials. What a mess!
So! Having seen the sisters nod slightly and had taken that as them indeed having "braced", the admiral hodded appreciatively.
"Look. . .the truth about your supposed Essex-class sister causing enough family trouble to get Saratoga flown home?" the admiral shook his head. "Only slightly true. But the truth is that this trouble is a 'total mess', as the Americans would say. It is called Operation Absolute Railway and . . ."
Of course, somebody had to interrupt things, and the admiral had been having such high hopes here!
"EVERYONE INSIDE RIGHT NOW!!" US Marshal Smythe--a man who the admiral wouldn't forget any time soon after having caused so much chaos with ONE question-- bellowed from outside the conference room, which caused everyone else to stop whatever they are doing (in some cases the "doing" was something akin to "bickering") and instead stared at the door to outside. Of course, this causes the three in the Japanese office to have stared as well at the said door on the conference TV screen. Perfectly nature reflex, that.
"It is cursed!" muttered the senior officer from Japan (in Japanese naturally). Just why? Why couldn't these US bakas get their shit together for at least five minutes?! Why?!
While not as loud as the earlier shout, some more discussion could be heard from the other side of the door. But because of the door's thickness, it was unintelligible. And for what the admiral figured, probably wouldn't be of much help even if they could hear it.
Of course, the poor officer did not know what is actually going on out there...
"Was that the Cowboy?" one of the FBI woman agents asked herself before smiling slightly. "Boy! At a guess, I believe he's finally gotten tired of Super Karen the PI?"
"Almost like a stupid TV sitcom," the Japanese officer muttered to himself in English, noting the male FBI officer is less than impressed with his coworker's sense of humor before heading quickly to that door to check on things.
Nobody in the Japanese office knew who "Karen" was, or why she should be "super". The only deputy the Japanese admiral knew about was a woman named Katie Hanson, that private investigator. Hopefully, this new deputy woman would get sorted out here. That or whoever had caused her problems to where people were shouting? Hopefully, it would get sorted out; It all was wasting everyone's time! And some time wasted was some time having flowed towards more things going disastrously and dangerously wrong.
Nobody needed that.
The admiral almost smiled at seeing the shipgirl known as Saratoga coming through the door with a bunch of other people having shuffled in behind. At least SHE had gotten to America in one piece, but why was she looking shak . . .
. . .
Oh no! Just no.
"Janson," the male FBI agent whose actual name he couldn't rightly recall at the moment asked Smythe. The officer was praying to all the gods and goddesses out there that who was on the other end of Saratoga's cellphone was NOT who he thought it was! It was too soon! "While more than happy to see the shipgirl here, even IF she had brought a cellphone into here, what the hell was that?"
"Yes, what is in the 'hell' going on here?" Firestorm asked, gesturing at the screen while having borrowed a . . .humanism. Hypocenter just shook her head, having nothing but baseless speculations right then and there to put out beyond one 'obvious' choice: the wayward sister from America who'd caused Saratoga so much grief.
While her boilers were spiking in pressure over finally seeing her Princess, the fact that something decidedly OFF was going on here was very evident. Something had her Princess shaken, and by the Deep if it was that damn Essex-class sister causing her mother grief? There would be sinking soon, ally or not! This both sisters silently promised themselves.
Then all thoughts of vengeance? Well, they kind of flew out of their heads when a certain shipgirl spoke. Hint: it WAS not Saratoga!
"Whoever just asked that question," Trinitite said in that commanding tone she was in want of using when wishing to take charge of a situation. "That would probably be due to me, Trinitite. Aircraft carrier of the former Crossroads Fleet."
Both Firestorm and Hypocenter looked at each other, wide-eyed and boilers having tripped off emergency pressure releases. She was here?!
"Who happens to be using Deputy Katie Hanson's cellphone to make this call," the human male who'd lead the rear--supposedly Janson--sighed. Jan's words they heard, but only barely as they rushed over and almost KNOCK the admiral out of the way to key on the teleconference mike. They were good enough with radio technology to be able to recognize something akin to what they worked with, usually on the Abyssal side of things. "And by God, you're not going to . . ."
The admiral stood back up from where he'd dived out of the way of the rushing shipgirls. He was very familiar with how dangerous it could be for mere humans to stand in the way of the personification of various warships. He had a whole fleet of them under his command, and darn if he'd not learned a few things about their quirks....
He would have words with the two, later. Right now his mind was racing on how this could spiral out of control and what must he do to make sure it didn't end in fire. He HOPED there would be enough of a chance to make this right, but as optimistic as his hopes to do something from Japan? This mess was happening on a whole other continent! Didn't look too likely, that chance. Murray looked like he was ready to have the heart attack he--the Admiral-- felt like having right now, anyway. The Japanes officer found it Nice to know he wasn't alone here.
Right now? The best bet was hope that Murray had briefed Saratoga about Firestorm and Hypocenter, right? He'd been able to do that much before this mess, right?
....
Right?
The admiral didn't like the look of consternation that Murray was expressing with the shaking of his head. At least he wasn't tearing his hair out... That sounded fun right about now, really. Or at least the appropriate thing to do in this situation, the Admiral felt.
Trinitite had somehow cornered one of her hunters and stolen the agent's cellphone to use for this call? What next was this cheeky Abyssal to do? She'd Kidnap the emperor for ransom? What?!
"Mother? TRINITITE?!" Firestorm--ever the impulsive one--asked over the microphone. "Trin! How are you here? You got summoned back as well by the Navy too?!"
That had to be why Trinitite was here, right? Somehow here and have stepped forward to help with finding this wayward sister who'd been causing all this grief?
She always had been rather brave, really. Ready to step up to lend aid when needed back in the fleet. Was the reason why Hypocenter had been able to get back home after getting damaged earlier, that one time! Deep, that had been a horrifying time. Shock her up almost as much as it had Hypocenter, and she'd been the one who'd been in the danger of sinking!
Whatever the case, what passed for Firestorm's heart was soring right now. Her sister was back AND her Mother was here, within striking distance (or speaking distance)! And by the Deep, was there a LOT to discuss!!
"Sister?!" Hyocenter added, echoing Firestorms statement about her being here. "You're back as well?"
If only they could have been seeing her instead of merely having heard her! But then again, it wasn't as if they'd expected to HEAR her again!
....
And if they had met again out at sea? Would it have been with her as an enemy? Trinitite, doomed to be stuck In some cruel Abyssal Princess fleet with her barely remembering her old life and family? They thanked the Deep that wasn't going to happen now!
"Hypocenter," Saratoga whispered softly, while tears had formed in her eyes. She swayed a little, and in doing so have sent a bolt of fear through both Kanmusu-ized sisters. "Firestorm."
Having shouted in surprise, the man the former Abyssals had known only as Janson leaned in and help support their Mother over to a chair and shouted something about activating encryption on the device that Trin was using to avoid some kind of clandestine fecal mess with some kind of rodent called a squirrel. What that had to do with "jail" and avoiding time in such a place (whatever that place was), the sisters didn't really care about.
They were too busy trying to give words of love and comfort to their obviously shaken mother! That and they were immensely glad that their rigging which they'd accidentally had summoned in their shock, was no longer of that of a Wo-class Abyssal. That would have been a disaster!
...
Murray HAD managed to at least brace Saratoga for their return to the land of the living at least before this? Sure as Deep did not look it by how she reacted to just seeing them!!
The only way this could have shaken her more was for both Firestorm and Hypocenter to have shown up in Abyssal colors and rigging! That would have done wonders for her sanity! The Abyss would have loved that! Mother suddenly having gone Jellyfish In the middle of a Navy base in America to boot? Oh yeah!! Jellyfish would have just enjoyed showing up there...and probably nobody else.
Trin sounded like she'd tried to choke out a few words of love and encouragement herself, but sounded a bit shaky there herself. That was probably due to her sisters showing up again? The Kanmusu-ized sisters could have related, being shocked still at having heard their dear sister's voice again. Something they'd thought not something to be possible, really. Not like this.
Soon, somewhat more settled their mother managed something that was supposed to scramble their coms to outsiders. It didn't make total sense to the former Abyssals, but then again they'd only begun to explore the world of humans, much less some of their more advanced techie toys. At least the part where Saratoga had "plugged in" her device into another was . . .relatively understandable to them.
"Yes," Saratoga had nodded to herself distractedly while having touched a built-in spot on her communication . . .device. " Just let me just punch that icon in the shape of a squirrel wearing the fedora and trench coat and . . ."
That done with Saratoga's end of things, tuned in the next part was with Trinitite. With a little bit of hassle, Trinitite managed to activate the encrypted teleconference feature on Private Investigator Katie Harmon's smartphone (with a bit of aid from Katie by way of her fingerprint after Trinitite "requested" she do as much). Having plugged her smartphone into a port in the teleconference machine on the desk before her, all were treated to a somewhat goggle-eyed Trinitite and Katie Harmon staring at an audience on the left half of the large TV screen, both seated in the back seats of a car of all things.
Firestorm and Hypocenter looked at each other briefly, finding themselves having choked up. It really was their sister! And somehow despite everything she still had her lovely white hair like she'd had when still an Abyssal? That was almost not fair, but . . .their lavender locks worked well enough.
Turned back after dismissing such trivial things, they concentrated on the miracle before them!
"Hypocenter!" Saratoga whispered after doing that plugging in and looked up at the screen. Her eyes were shining. "Firestorm! My brave, lovely daughters."
Firestorm and Hypocenter reached out and touched the image of their Mother on the screen lovingly, and then did the same for the image on the other half of the conference TV. They were back. Really back together, and the Abyss was to be damned for trying to have attempted stopping this!
The admiral found himself smiling slightly, even though this mess was far from over. Oh how MUCH the sisters had been needing this! The man would have to be blind not to see it, here and now with his own eyes right in front of him.
He just hoped that . . .as vulgar as it sounded . . . to have been able to use this moment of feelings to be able to sway Trinitite to their side. Though the chances were looking REALLY good right now by the look of it.
Best be doing it quietly and strike when the time was good, eh? the Admiral nodded, waiting for the time to strike.
Murray was thinking similar thoughts...
While planning their own various schemes, both the admiral and Murray watched on as the family drama unfolded; at least the other Federal agents and government officials had the good taste to NOT disturb this moment.
And then this next thing happened from Saratoga!
"Trinitite," she smiled, crying softly while looking at Trin through the video image. "My brave little Wo-class!"
That . . .kind of broke the moment there.
"But . . .Mother!" Hypocenter blinked, not having been fully read into this part of the 'program' and the Admiral suddenly cursed himself for not having been able to do such a thing for her and Firestorm. "Isn't she also a shipgirl like us now?"
The Admrial! How could he'd been so stupid!! The admiral was asking himself in anger. It wasn't as if he'd been lacking opportunities before this. It was just he wanted to do it gently and tactfully and now? This isn't what he'd wanted at all.
"I mean it isn't like . . . what in the f*cking Deep?" Firestorm had begun, always the somewhat brash and bold one, only to stumble to a stop when Trinitite's eyes had lighted up in all their Abyssal Orange and Blue glory. "B-but I saw you take that hit with the missile and burn! You'd died! I saw it."
The idea that Trinitite should have survived? When everyone else of the Fleet had sunk? She was seeing it but was having trouble believing it. Oh, the questions Firestorme asked herself! How had Trin gotten to the US from Bikini? Why did have Tan skin if she was still Abyssal? What the HELL was going on here?!
As for others in the room with the former Abyssals?
The admiral had read the after-action report and pretty much realized what Firestorm spoke of here. At the time of reading, he'd been happy how swiftly and effectively the combined forces of Japan and the United States had been in crushing the Crossroad Fleet. How they'd managed what had been thought a killing blow to Trinitite, a lucky missile strike causing her to go down. He had overlooked the all too human reaction in the report of Firestorm totally losing it, having put it down as a mere echo of true emotion. A mocking to fool those who'd show them mercy, and then tear them apart for that gesture. That had been his belief until now.
How the distraught . . .
No. The Admiral was no longer proud of how the Battle of the Bikini Atoll had played out. Not seeing what the "fodder" Abyssals actually were: child soldiers killing humans because their mother had told them to do it. Having done it because they loved their Mother. Their Princess.
And having been so willing to go so far . . .
No. The Admiral . . .was not happy for the grief that he'd played a part in creating here.
And for Trinitite in particular? What a hell she had endured.
As her sisters floundered, trying to figure out what to say. What to think? Trinitite was also at a loss, not at all sure what to do with not only the fact that her sisters were alive, but had come back as Kanmusu? What did this mean for their family? Where they doomed to have to fight each other next time they met on the ocean? Would they try to sink their own Mother if she was brought back to her sense as the Jellyfish Princess?!
Saratoga? Well, while not in danger of going Abyssal, her thoughts and emotions were chasing themselves again still. But at least not as bad as a moment ago. She then blinks, knowing what to do, but only to pause when a well-meaning Janson Smythe tries to break the awkward, heavy silence.
"It was her crew's skills in damage control," Smythe said, deciding to at least make the first attempt to break the silence. He did remember his briefings about how Trinitite had survived. "Sara taught her well, you know. You all know that."
Chapter 4: Frustration, Consternation, and Unexpected Reunions from Afar...
Author's Note: Do hope you'll like the latest here. Oh, and sorry in advance for no description of the Japanese Admiral. Thing is that beyond the descriptors of gender, rank, and nationality I figure it was needing to be this way for the sake of the 'ol mythology joke. See you never are given a description of the Admiral in that video game "Kancolle"? That is because the "admiral" is supposed to be the player so . . .
Well, you're not getting a description there in the game you'll not get one here either.
With Hypocenter. . .
"The Admiral will see you now," Houshou smiled slightly, before then having gestured to the officer's door behind her.
Having had nodded gratefully, Firestorm and Hypocenter maneuvered their afts past the "secretary" shipgirl who had inadvertently and needlessly aggravated with the. . . "reasonable demands" of theirs.
Deep! The shyer of the two sisters had thought. That had to have been the MOST embarrassing thing I've ever experienced.
"Okay here we go," Dr. Takahashi said, having had paused right before the entrance to the admiral's office. He then turned briefly to look back at both Hypocenter and Firestorm when they had come up short behind him. "Girls, I'll be as quick as humanly possible in giving my report on the test results. I'd forgo it to address your needs first but the arguments that man would give me just . . . it would be just easier to do it this way. Forgive me that, but it is just true. Just keep your eye on the prize, and I'll promise that what will come of it will also lead to something. . .Well, we'll get to that."
Both sisters had shaken their heads, knowing why. Those in power tended to want things done their way. That said, at least a human could be trusted to not sink you for having had disagreed with them or having had argued with them. That was not like what would have happened to you if you dared with any Abyssal Princess besides their Princess even at their least perturbed state. Indeed, an example of just how bad an Abyssal Princess could have been from the sisters' experience would have to have been a confrontation between their Princess and the Crane Princess! Their Mother had not attacked that damnable Crane Princess when she had disturbed their peace back on the Bikini Atoll so much earlier ago! The b*tch had dared to have darkened their peaceful island because their Mother had NOT agreed to join in yet another damn fool scheme that Crane Idiot had concocted!
That had been a tense standoff, but no blood had been spilled that day between fleets, thank the Deep. If the reverse should have happened?
Heh! Equals or not, the blood (or Abyssal equivalent) would have flowed for miles!
"Right," Firestorm whispered to herself, having then gathered her composure. "Eye on the prize."
She had never heard that expression before, but the meaning was clear enough. It was Similar enough to a few Abyssal phrases about reaching goals through patience (something that some Abyssal Princesses--cough cough those like the Crane Princess-- were in short supply of but that is by the by).
Having entered into the office, both shipgirls sat and watched as Dr. Takahashi gave his report in a manner that was. . .animated--as was in his habit of doing most things when having suffered yet ANOTHER manic episode--but swift as the man had promised. The news that some US Marshal --a term both former Abyssals had only heard of then, but apparently one of was of some significance-- had expressed concern. Yes, that turned out to not be as pressing as originally feared. That had been was nice enough, but it had revealed something almost as concerning if not more so!
Yes, US Marshal Jayson Smythe had asked if Abyssals retained personal skills upon being Resummoned. Had it had been a question about crew fairy skills? No, it had been a well-known thing both in the human world--early on in the Abyssal war!-- when somebody somewhere in the intel community had realized the fodder Abyssals were coming back from being sunk; albeit with a loss in combat effectiveness. The fairies had to be retrained from the ground up. Those who were Abyssals (or had been) already had known that, whether Princesses or fodder. Both Firestorm and Hypocenter had known the answer to that question about "personal skills", there was some retention, but a lot was lost between sinking and Resummoning. But Dr. Takahashi had said that more personal skills (like teaching ability) would be retained after each Resummoning, which eventually would have led to not only a quicker bringing the Abyssal back up to par (combat deadliness wise) but soon would have led to more and more deadly and skilled Abyssal enemies.
Eventually.
The Admiral just muttered a quiet prayer of thanks to the gods and goddess that no Abyssal Princesses knew the means of bringing back personal skills and memories for Resummoned fodder Abyssals. Dr. Takahashi's methods seemed to have been an unknown to the Enemy. That was good; else they'd already have been facing even more deadly foes from the Abyssals than what had been experienced to date.
The admiral then frowned, having wondered just HOW to broach the fact that Trinitite was the sister who'd been causing the "family trouble" for Saratoga which had her eventually flown back to the USA.
Best to have it done with tact and not to blurt it out. The officer wanted to do it in a kind and polite manner. To do it by having said that Trin was alive but was the target of a manhunt? Having said in a moment of stupidity that Trinitite might even be killed in said manhunt if things went disastrously wrong?
No, the man had felt best to take it slow in breaking the news.
It . . .would just have taken some thought in how to do it right? Yes! Yes, it would have taken SOME thought so he'd do it while that Navy "spook" in Washington state had gotten up to speed on this mess. The fact that this had come to head WAS due in part to his part of the task force. The taskforce which had freed Saratoga from the Abyss' clutches had alas overlooked Trinitite's continued survival. This failure wasn't being unacknowledged by him; it just wasn't going to be addressed by the man right now. Why? The Abyssals! They'd been worried about possible Abyssal forces swinging back that way and smashing the rescue effort! Of course, that had been the real danger so SOME haste had been the thing for it, d*mnit!
It was not like anyone had thought anything like THIS would have happened! Like fodder Abyssals had been thought to be capable of being anything other than monsters made of hate and spite? Not him, that was for darn sure!
But maybe now that he had known better? Now that both Hypocenter and Firestorm were here in the land of the living and in his care? He had felt he could use that! This might just have been the very thing to get Trinitite into custody, without bloodshed.
Without risking Saratoga's sanity!
And hopefully with that finally DONE he'd finally have been able to get USS Saratoga back and his still needy new aircraft carrier shipgirls up to snuff!
Gods, while he cared about Saratoga and her issues? This had been a trying thing all around and he wanted it DONE with! So did anyone and everyone else involved even remotely in the Operation to capture the wayward Wo!!
Maybe he should seriously have gone with the idea he'd jokingly shared with Murray earlier? He should have sent a Shinto Priestess to perform an exorcism? It sure seemed like now that this operation had been cursed from day one!!
Meanwhile, everyone else who was not an admiral looked at each other. Then they'd looked at the man in question as if to have asked why this question about Abyssal personal skills upon Resummonng. Who this Smythe was? Why had his question gotten into this meeting? How did this fit into things?!
Takahashi was most curious about this Smyth fellow. He'd never heard of the man before today and yet he had managed to touch on one of his more important elements for his theorems about Abyssals? Theorems that had been practically locked away from the light of day due to censor by "more reputable" scientists in the field? To his knowledge he'd never spoken or written to Smythe, so the doctor was MOST curious.
Takahashi speculated that It might be destined to be an interesting discussion once they finally meet. If the doctor had actually met Smythe and spoke about his theorems, the good doctor would apologize for having forgotten the meeting. Or if the marshal was just a talented and intelligent layman?
Well, whatever the case Takahashi owed this Smythe a very sincere thank you! The marshal had started the ball rolling and Takahashi finally gotten his chance to prove his theorems! Gotten his chance to do his part in the war effort. Gotten To save lives!
GOTTEN To show them ALL!!
...
Firestorm and Hypocenter didn't know much about Smythe but that could wait. This marshal sounded . . .interesting, even IF the admiral seemed rather cross with him for whatever reason.
But that said, the earlier part about the Proposal that Dr. Takahashi made? The part about how Dr. Takahashi's idea on how to take some failed DARPA project to make a mobile Summoning Pool, to be used out at sea (which was pretty much the stomping ground of the Abyss)? Risky, but after it was realized about the bottleneck the Americans were having with Summoning new shipgirls due to being down to now just two Summoning Pools? What with the fall of Pearl Harbor with the Abyssal Central Princess about a year earlier (and had really made the Crossroad Fleet worry about the Firebringers being just a bit closer to unleashing the Fire in retaliation)? Yeah, they could see why that had interested the Admiral.
The part where the doctor planned on utilizing their Mother (a former Abyssal Princess) to replicate the accidental Summoning of both the sisters? The thought that maybe, just MAYBE more of their fleet sisters might have been able to rejoin with them? That made them . . .giddy in hope. And . . .they really wanted it, even the submarines. Especially the submarines, because despite themselves . . . the former Wo-class found their hearts missing all their fleet sisters as much as their lost Wo-class sister: Trinitite.
Before, back in their "first life" they had all cared for each other as family, but with only varying degrees of affectation. But something had changed? Yes, both sisters had felt it. Something had changed beyond the obvious. What exactly within, they weren't sure but . . .
Well, that was all hypothetical. If the doctor was only successful enough to summon another former Abyssal through the Summoning Pool here on base, all fine and well! Heck, the data from even a failed Summons would be enough to be able to fine-tune his version of DARPA's mobile Summoning Pool. The good doctor was sure of it.
Where they failed (especially one hack who the doctor practically reviled), the good Dr. Takahashi would succeed!
...
Of course, by this time the doctor coughed in embarrassment during that part of his presentation and visibly forced himself back to calmness.
He had glanced at the Admiral and had been delighted. His admittedly mad rantings? They hadn't turned the officer against him. Gladdened, he'd continued to the end and now awaited with a question or two of his own for the officer.
The admiral, meanwhile was not in the mood to answer idle questions about what all this was all about. He said that he'd explain here soon enough but he wanted to contact somebody and share this information. A man that was known as Lt. Commander Dan Murray needed to be brought up to speed on the latest here since it did change the complexion on things. That and if the admiral had his way, they could play their cards right and finally bring this accursed Operation to a close!
Later . . .
Dan Murray had found himself gobsmacked, wondering if this Japanese Abyssal Expert the Admiral from Japan had somewhere dug up had something of a sick sense of humor in addition to being seemingly insane at times.
Oh, at the start Dr. Takahashi had seemed to be the genius. Nashville had said the man had impressed her during their brief encounter before she'd contacted him. But....the presentation of facts had been . . .over the top in his exuberance (and all the more had been an annoyance due to the slight smile of satisfaction the Admiral had on his lips all the while). The Japanese officer hadn't taken it too well went Murray had been the one to break the news of Saratoga getting yanked back to America on short notice, thus having left the newer Japanese carrier shipgirls hanging.
Murray had understood the man's frustration and somewhat had resented his superiors leaving it to HIM to deliver the unwanted news!
This and the fact that even on secure channels, some chucklef*cks up the chain of command still had insisted that Trinitite's existence not be mentioned anymore in briefings except for those directly involved in Operation Absolute Railway! Which meant that despite the Admiral knowing WHO the "Essex-class" daughter that Saratoga causing the "family problems" back in the States, none still wasn't going to hear from his lips the name "Trinitite". At least until Murray had been given the green light, alas.
And . . .
God, was he tired! Not only from lack of sleep but from all the bullsh*t he'd had to put up with this clusterf*ck of an operation. He suggested getting the Feds involved in it from the start and gets shot down. Then he got roped into this operation as being in command of the operation to find and capture Trinitite with only Navy and Army assets. That but he had to keep it under wraps to not cause a panic with the civilians. Then when the Feds come into the picture after having caught wind of Trinitite? Oh God, what a mess! Not only were the Federal alphabet agencies always looking to get on over on the Military, but they were... In the Fed Camp, there were those who were part of the "other faction" concerning how former Abyssals should be handled! How some in the Federal Government didn't trust that those like Saratoga had actually been redeemed? Couldn't and shouldn't totally be trusted? They felt the answer was "no trust" and Murray feared that somehow if he should fail, the fallout would be used to ruin the faction "he" represented (the faction saying that Abyssal Princesses should be wrestled away from Abyssal control and "redeemed" as it were).
The next thing he saw coming from that corner was them breaking out the nukes and going bomb happy...and like that was a sane choice? Not at this point in time, since things hadn't gotten that grim!!
F*ck, he'd almost welcome being court marshaled and kicked out. To Murray it felt like flipping hamburgers at McDonald's for the rest of his days looked more appealing by the day, his college degree "be d*mned"!
. . .
Those like Janson Smythe had been instrumental in acting like moderating agents between hostile camps within Operation Absolute Railway, but Murray had felt like he'd be getting ulcers if this kept up for much longer.
Having taken another sip of that Starbucks coffee, the Navy officer shook his head and finally composed himself enough to respond properly.
While he'd managed to not be too disbelieving (or condescending) when the doctor had made his brief, it had been a struggle. It was not surprising that the Admiral was having a form of passive/aggressive revenge in inflicting Dr. Insano . . .Takashi's presence on the Navy officer. It had not made it any easier to take, whatever the case. It was not if he'd wanted to be the bearer of bad news, damnit!
Now, this? And the question was could the sisters be trusted if this wasn't a joke?!
But the look that Firestorm was giving Murray right at that moment? His poker face must have slipped due to the late hours!
And then the Commander felt like slapping himself. The fact that the admiral had already vetted the former Abyssals was left unsaid, but heavily evident. The very fact that only Kanmusu could pass through Kanmusu Summoning Pools was left unsaid, but self-apparent. Everyone this deep in this program concerning Shipgirls and Abyssals had known THAT much!!. It was very evident that both Firestorm and Hypocenter were very MUCH Kanmusu now, with all that it implied.
"Yes," Firestorm sighed, clearly having seen the unasked question in Murray's eyes. "You did hear right. I and Hypocenter are from the former Jellyfish Princess fleet. Yes, the Crossroads Fleet that you had a hand in crushing. But given what the Abyss had DONE to our Princess to make her Jellyfish? You didn't take into account that I and my fleet sisters, the 'fodder' Abyssals might be more than drones of anger and hatred, true. But that was because more because of bad information passed along by the ex-Crane Princess than anything else. That and you DID free our Mother despite having to kill the Fleet. With all that in mind, despite I'm still rather PISSED about what happened, I'll give you a pass!"
"But what I'd like to add to what my sister here is trying to get at is that we've been patient," Hypocenter added after having given the Admiral and doctor a slight look. "But we're a little anxious to speak with our Mother again which we came BACK from sinking and defied the Abyss herself to . . .be here."
"Yes, it would be appreciated to speak with her!" Firestorm agreed, a glare given a bit at Murray. His questions had been made this 'brief' briefing take longer than she'd cared for at all. The Deep knew only how much longer until that jet fighter landed! "But not at the expense of shocking our Princess back Abyssal! Please help us by at least if nothing else preparing her for seeing us?"
Murray blinked, then had the good grace to at least look somewhat embarrassed.
"I'll . . .see to it right now while the Admiral switches over to the main room TV monitor for his upcoming briefing," the Lt. Commander nods and sighs in relief when seeing the admiral smiling graciously.
While not in his chain of command (or even a US citizen), he was an admiral of a highly valued ally in the Abyssal war. It wouldn't due to piss off somebody like that. Murray was on thin enough ice as it was with Operation Absolute Railway taking as long as it had, even with the FBI getting in a hand in things.
"Please do," the Admiral requested (or more like given an order in the form of a request). "And I'll let the sisters know about the actual nature of that troublesome mystery 'Essex-class' sister of theirs who got Saratoga taken from my base despite everything!"
The last part was said with a small frown. Oh yeah, the admiral was still ticked off here over that, despite him acknowledging the need.
And he was a bit annoyed at the "cloak and dagger" nonsense even now at this late date, the oblique references to Trinitite had not been totally unnoticed by Firestorm and Hypocenter. While unsure what exactly was going on here, the former Wo-class shipgirls knew that something was amiss here. More than they'd already felt when they'd learned that "family problems" would involve Saratoga getting whisked away in a jet fighter of all things.
Yep, something was rotten in Denmark. And when the sisters learned of the truth about Trinitite . . .!! The Admiral had a plan on how to break the news, but . . .this was going to be awkward all the same!
"And I'll . . .get to my experiment with the Summoning Pool with Zuikaku right now," Dr. Takahashi muttered, glancing meaningfully at his watch and mouthing an apology towards the former Abyssals.
He was having another manic episode and it was time for his pills, but he'd rather NOT do it in front of the others (what due to social Japanese stigma of this world and all that).
Having a smile and gave the doctor a hug each, the sisters then let the doctor through to wait at the door before letting the admiral waved him on, having made it okay to leave.
"I . . .thank you admiral," Murray sighed, giving the admiral a short but quick bow of respect (aka proper Japanese bow) before he then switched the camera view over to standby. Murray had people to talk to and prepare, as well as others having had things to do themselves.
The doctor was quickly let out, and with a quick intercom call from the Admiral ordered Houshou to contact Zuikaku (and a few battleships to provide overwatch on the Summoning just in case).
Having then given a slight sigh, the Japanese officer quickly resecured his office for another teleconference (this time the main briefing area for the Navy's effort for Operation Absolute Railway). having made sure the line out was on mute, he was treated to curious glances their way from those present and those being gathered for yet ANOTHER Japanese briefing from the clear blue. Some were shaking their heads in annoyance, but that was THEIR problem and the admiral frankly didn't care about them being inconvenienced.
The sisters were his concern, even IF they weren't under his command (or any military command) yet. They'd signed the Japanese version of NDF forms for security sakes so this should be done.
He should have been done a long time ago, but the admiral was only now being able to finally address it. The murmur of the various American officials (both military and Federal Agents) could be heard in the background, some bickering amongst themselves. That seemed Rather fitting for the tense feelings that the admiral had for some reason; like the next boot was going to fall, and hopefully not on his head!
This operation!
"Now, what I'm about to tell you is going to be a bit shocking so brace yourself?" the admiral began. Seeing the sisters had nodded, the admiral continued with few more adjustments to his end of the teleconference to prepare for the upcoming briefing with this mass of confused US officials. What a mess!
So! Having seen the sisters nod slightly and had taken that as them indeed having "braced", the admiral hodded appreciatively.
"Look. . .the truth about your supposed Essex-class sister causing enough family trouble to get Saratoga flown home?" the admiral shook his head. "Only slightly true. But the truth is that this trouble is a 'total mess', as the Americans would say. It is called Operation Absolute Railway and . . ."
Of course, somebody had to interrupt things, and the admiral had been having such high hopes here!
"EVERYONE INSIDE RIGHT NOW!!" US Marshal Smythe--a man who the admiral wouldn't forget any time soon after having caused so much chaos with ONE question-- bellowed from outside the conference room, which caused everyone else to stop whatever they are doing (in some cases the "doing" was something akin to "bickering") and instead stared at the door to outside. Of course, this causes the three in the Japanese office to have stared as well at the said door on the conference TV screen. Perfectly nature reflex, that.
"It is cursed!" muttered the senior officer from Japan (in Japanese naturally). Just why? Why couldn't these US bakas get their shit together for at least five minutes?! Why?!
While not as loud as the earlier shout, some more discussion could be heard from the other side of the door. But because of the door's thickness, it was unintelligible. And for what the admiral figured, probably wouldn't be of much help even if they could hear it.
Of course, the poor officer did not know what is actually going on out there...
"Was that the Cowboy?" one of the FBI woman agents asked herself before smiling slightly. "Boy! At a guess, I believe he's finally gotten tired of Super Karen the PI?"
"Almost like a stupid TV sitcom," the Japanese officer muttered to himself in English, noting the male FBI officer is less than impressed with his coworker's sense of humor before heading quickly to that door to check on things.
Nobody in the Japanese office knew who "Karen" was, or why she should be "super". The only deputy the Japanese admiral knew about was a woman named Katie Hanson, that private investigator. Hopefully, this new deputy woman would get sorted out here. That or whoever had caused her problems to where people were shouting? Hopefully, it would get sorted out; It all was wasting everyone's time! And some time wasted was some time having flowed towards more things going disastrously and dangerously wrong.
Nobody needed that.
The admiral almost smiled at seeing the shipgirl known as Saratoga coming through the door with a bunch of other people having shuffled in behind. At least SHE had gotten to America in one piece, but why was she looking shak . . .
. . .
Oh no! Just no.
"Janson," the male FBI agent whose actual name he couldn't rightly recall at the moment asked Smythe. The officer was praying to all the gods and goddesses out there that who was on the other end of Saratoga's cellphone was NOT who he thought it was! It was too soon! "While more than happy to see the shipgirl here, even IF she had brought a cellphone into here, what the hell was that?"
"Yes, what is in the 'hell' going on here?" Firestorm asked, gesturing at the screen while having borrowed a . . .humanism. Hypocenter just shook her head, having nothing but baseless speculations right then and there to put out beyond one 'obvious' choice: the wayward sister from America who'd caused Saratoga so much grief.
While her boilers were spiking in pressure over finally seeing her Princess, the fact that something decidedly OFF was going on here was very evident. Something had her Princess shaken, and by the Deep if it was that damn Essex-class sister causing her mother grief? There would be sinking soon, ally or not! This both sisters silently promised themselves.
Then all thoughts of vengeance? Well, they kind of flew out of their heads when a certain shipgirl spoke. Hint: it WAS not Saratoga!
"Whoever just asked that question," Trinitite said in that commanding tone she was in want of using when wishing to take charge of a situation. "That would probably be due to me, Trinitite. Aircraft carrier of the former Crossroads Fleet."
Both Firestorm and Hypocenter looked at each other, wide-eyed and boilers having tripped off emergency pressure releases. She was here?!
"Who happens to be using Deputy Katie Hanson's cellphone to make this call," the human male who'd lead the rear--supposedly Janson--sighed. Jan's words they heard, but only barely as they rushed over and almost KNOCK the admiral out of the way to key on the teleconference mike. They were good enough with radio technology to be able to recognize something akin to what they worked with, usually on the Abyssal side of things. "And by God, you're not going to . . ."
The admiral stood back up from where he'd dived out of the way of the rushing shipgirls. He was very familiar with how dangerous it could be for mere humans to stand in the way of the personification of various warships. He had a whole fleet of them under his command, and darn if he'd not learned a few things about their quirks....
He would have words with the two, later. Right now his mind was racing on how this could spiral out of control and what must he do to make sure it didn't end in fire. He HOPED there would be enough of a chance to make this right, but as optimistic as his hopes to do something from Japan? This mess was happening on a whole other continent! Didn't look too likely, that chance. Murray looked like he was ready to have the heart attack he--the Admiral-- felt like having right now, anyway. The Japanes officer found it Nice to know he wasn't alone here.
Right now? The best bet was hope that Murray had briefed Saratoga about Firestorm and Hypocenter, right? He'd been able to do that much before this mess, right?
....
Right?
The admiral didn't like the look of consternation that Murray was expressing with the shaking of his head. At least he wasn't tearing his hair out... That sounded fun right about now, really. Or at least the appropriate thing to do in this situation, the Admiral felt.
Trinitite had somehow cornered one of her hunters and stolen the agent's cellphone to use for this call? What next was this cheeky Abyssal to do? She'd Kidnap the emperor for ransom? What?!
"Mother? TRINITITE?!" Firestorm--ever the impulsive one--asked over the microphone. "Trin! How are you here? You got summoned back as well by the Navy too?!"
That had to be why Trinitite was here, right? Somehow here and have stepped forward to help with finding this wayward sister who'd been causing all this grief?
She always had been rather brave, really. Ready to step up to lend aid when needed back in the fleet. Was the reason why Hypocenter had been able to get back home after getting damaged earlier, that one time! Deep, that had been a horrifying time. Shock her up almost as much as it had Hypocenter, and she'd been the one who'd been in the danger of sinking!
Whatever the case, what passed for Firestorm's heart was soring right now. Her sister was back AND her Mother was here, within striking distance (or speaking distance)! And by the Deep, was there a LOT to discuss!!
"Sister?!" Hyocenter added, echoing Firestorms statement about her being here. "You're back as well?"
If only they could have been seeing her instead of merely having heard her! But then again, it wasn't as if they'd expected to HEAR her again!
....
And if they had met again out at sea? Would it have been with her as an enemy? Trinitite, doomed to be stuck In some cruel Abyssal Princess fleet with her barely remembering her old life and family? They thanked the Deep that wasn't going to happen now!
"Hypocenter," Saratoga whispered softly, while tears had formed in her eyes. She swayed a little, and in doing so have sent a bolt of fear through both Kanmusu-ized sisters. "Firestorm."
Having shouted in surprise, the man the former Abyssals had known only as Janson leaned in and help support their Mother over to a chair and shouted something about activating encryption on the device that Trin was using to avoid some kind of clandestine fecal mess with some kind of rodent called a squirrel. What that had to do with "jail" and avoiding time in such a place (whatever that place was), the sisters didn't really care about.
They were too busy trying to give words of love and comfort to their obviously shaken mother! That and they were immensely glad that their rigging which they'd accidentally had summoned in their shock, was no longer of that of a Wo-class Abyssal. That would have been a disaster!
...
Murray HAD managed to at least brace Saratoga for their return to the land of the living at least before this? Sure as Deep did not look it by how she reacted to just seeing them!!
The only way this could have shaken her more was for both Firestorm and Hypocenter to have shown up in Abyssal colors and rigging! That would have done wonders for her sanity! The Abyss would have loved that! Mother suddenly having gone Jellyfish In the middle of a Navy base in America to boot? Oh yeah!! Jellyfish would have just enjoyed showing up there...and probably nobody else.
Trin sounded like she'd tried to choke out a few words of love and encouragement herself, but sounded a bit shaky there herself. That was probably due to her sisters showing up again? The Kanmusu-ized sisters could have related, being shocked still at having heard their dear sister's voice again. Something they'd thought not something to be possible, really. Not like this.
Soon, somewhat more settled their mother managed something that was supposed to scramble their coms to outsiders. It didn't make total sense to the former Abyssals, but then again they'd only begun to explore the world of humans, much less some of their more advanced techie toys. At least the part where Saratoga had "plugged in" her device into another was . . .relatively understandable to them.
"Yes," Saratoga had nodded to herself distractedly while having touched a built-in spot on her communication . . .device. " Just let me just punch that icon in the shape of a squirrel wearing the fedora and trench coat and . . ."
That done with Saratoga's end of things, tuned in the next part was with Trinitite. With a little bit of hassle, Trinitite managed to activate the encrypted teleconference feature on Private Investigator Katie Harmon's smartphone (with a bit of aid from Katie by way of her fingerprint after Trinitite "requested" she do as much). Having plugged her smartphone into a port in the teleconference machine on the desk before her, all were treated to a somewhat goggle-eyed Trinitite and Katie Harmon staring at an audience on the left half of the large TV screen, both seated in the back seats of a car of all things.
Firestorm and Hypocenter looked at each other briefly, finding themselves having choked up. It really was their sister! And somehow despite everything she still had her lovely white hair like she'd had when still an Abyssal? That was almost not fair, but . . .their lavender locks worked well enough.
Turned back after dismissing such trivial things, they concentrated on the miracle before them!
"Hypocenter!" Saratoga whispered after doing that plugging in and looked up at the screen. Her eyes were shining. "Firestorm! My brave, lovely daughters."
Firestorm and Hypocenter reached out and touched the image of their Mother on the screen lovingly, and then did the same for the image on the other half of the conference TV. They were back. Really back together, and the Abyss was to be damned for trying to have attempted stopping this!
The admiral found himself smiling slightly, even though this mess was far from over. Oh how MUCH the sisters had been needing this! The man would have to be blind not to see it, here and now with his own eyes right in front of him.
He just hoped that . . .as vulgar as it sounded . . . to have been able to use this moment of feelings to be able to sway Trinitite to their side. Though the chances were looking REALLY good right now by the look of it.
Best be doing it quietly and strike when the time was good, eh? the Admiral nodded, waiting for the time to strike.
Murray was thinking similar thoughts...
While planning their own various schemes, both the admiral and Murray watched on as the family drama unfolded; at least the other Federal agents and government officials had the good taste to NOT disturb this moment.
And then this next thing happened from Saratoga!
"Trinitite," she smiled, crying softly while looking at Trin through the video image. "My brave little Wo-class!"
That . . .kind of broke the moment there.
"But . . .Mother!" Hypocenter blinked, not having been fully read into this part of the 'program' and the Admiral suddenly cursed himself for not having been able to do such a thing for her and Firestorm. "Isn't she also a shipgirl like us now?"
The Admrial! How could he'd been so stupid!! The admiral was asking himself in anger. It wasn't as if he'd been lacking opportunities before this. It was just he wanted to do it gently and tactfully and now? This isn't what he'd wanted at all.
"I mean it isn't like . . . what in the f*cking Deep?" Firestorm had begun, always the somewhat brash and bold one, only to stumble to a stop when Trinitite's eyes had lighted up in all their Abyssal Orange and Blue glory. "B-but I saw you take that hit with the missile and burn! You'd died! I saw it."
The idea that Trinitite should have survived? When everyone else of the Fleet had sunk? She was seeing it but was having trouble believing it. Oh, the questions Firestorme asked herself! How had Trin gotten to the US from Bikini? Why did have Tan skin if she was still Abyssal? What the HELL was going on here?!
As for others in the room with the former Abyssals?
The admiral had read the after-action report and pretty much realized what Firestorm spoke of here. At the time of reading, he'd been happy how swiftly and effectively the combined forces of Japan and the United States had been in crushing the Crossroad Fleet. How they'd managed what had been thought a killing blow to Trinitite, a lucky missile strike causing her to go down. He had overlooked the all too human reaction in the report of Firestorm totally losing it, having put it down as a mere echo of true emotion. A mocking to fool those who'd show them mercy, and then tear them apart for that gesture. That had been his belief until now.
How the distraught . . .
No. The Admiral was no longer proud of how the Battle of the Bikini Atoll had played out. Not seeing what the "fodder" Abyssals actually were: child soldiers killing humans because their mother had told them to do it. Having done it because they loved their Mother. Their Princess.
And having been so willing to go so far . . .
No. The Admiral . . .was not happy for the grief that he'd played a part in creating here.
And for Trinitite in particular? What a hell she had endured.
As her sisters floundered, trying to figure out what to say. What to think? Trinitite was also at a loss, not at all sure what to do with not only the fact that her sisters were alive, but had come back as Kanmusu? What did this mean for their family? Where they doomed to have to fight each other next time they met on the ocean? Would they try to sink their own Mother if she was brought back to her sense as the Jellyfish Princess?!
Saratoga? Well, while not in danger of going Abyssal, her thoughts and emotions were chasing themselves again still. But at least not as bad as a moment ago. She then blinks, knowing what to do, but only to pause when a well-meaning Janson Smythe tries to break the awkward, heavy silence.
"It was her crew's skills in damage control," Smythe said, deciding to at least make the first attempt to break the silence. He did remember his briefings about how Trinitite had survived. "Sara taught her well, you know. You all know that."
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