huh, for some reason i felt that there would be at least one or two remnants fleeing the battle but i guess its just trinitite
All Wo-rk and No Play: An Abyssal's Trials in the Job Market (KC)
- Thread starter PyrrhicSteel
- Start date
- Location
- America
You forgot the obligatory "DUN DUN DUUUNNN!"
Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
😭😭😭 she's so alone
Memory Gem
Denizen of the Internet
- Pronouns
- Tree
Poor Trin, and does she know that a non-princess class abyssal, when sunk, does not come back?
Annoyed Catholic
Moody fellow
Hey, about that...
Happy to say that unlike in another excellent story (Salvage, Submarines, and Sarcasm by Jessetheswift ) they actually can come back.
It just is . . . it might take a while before the Summoning back to the land of the living can happen.
During a briefing that Dan Murray had given about Trinitite early on in this story, he mentioned something to that effect. The Navy intel service has made it a point to keep track of the various fodder Abyssals. Meaning that those who had been sunk will pop up later in other Abyssal Princess' fleets.
Just an FYI.
Last edited:
Memory Gem
Denizen of the Internet
- Pronouns
- Tree
Hey, about that...
Happy to say that unlike in another excellent story (Salvage, Submarines, and Sarcasm by Jessetheswift ) they actually can come back.
It just is . . . it might take a while before the Summoning back to the land of the living can happen.
During a briefing that Dan Murray had given about Trinitite early on in this story, he mentioned something to that effect. The Navy intel service has made it a point to keep track of the various fodder Abyssals. Meaning that those who had been sunk will pop up later in other Abyssal Princess' fleets.
Just an FYI.
If that's true, then there is hope, that Trin shall be reunited with her sisters.
Given that abyssal mooks are formed from the souls of those lost at sea, there are vastly more candidates than participants. Any given abyssal mook candidate is far more likely to revive than to vivify, thus there must be an additional hurdle in the initial vivification process that makes returning abyssals possible at all. Abyssal fodder can and do comeback, but it is by no mean a guarantee, just much better odds than would be presented by random chance alone.
- Location
- Oregon
If I had to guess, it's as simple as the abyss having less work to do when it repairs and dredges an existing abyssal's ship-body because can more easily draw upon the existing and freshly angered spirit of the sunk ship as opposed to forming an entirely new ship-body and gathering enough restless souls to animate it.
NotInventedHere
MSV, Desert Class
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
PyrrhicSteel, is the FBI guy's name Ferguson or Furgeson? Because it starts out as Ferguson here
and mostly stays that way for a bit, except for one 'Furgeson' here
but then from here onwards it's always 'Furgeson'?
Annoyed Catholic - Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm's First Encounter with Human Bureaucracy
Annoyed Catholic
Moody fellow
Wo Wo, Nippon: Hypocenter and Firestorm's First Encounter with Human Bureaucracy
Chapter 3: Frustration, Consternation, and Unexpected PLANNING for Reunions from Afar...
Author's Note: Hey, had to cut it short due to getting just too unwieldy. More setting up than anything else, but it does go and tell more fully just why Firestorm and Hypocenter were so wound up before finally meeting Trin and Saratoga.
So, with that in mind? The spoken text that is in italics is Japanese unless otherwise stated.
Good? At least I hope so, so anyway here we go!
With Firestorm. . .
. . .
The fiery shipgirl just happened to not be in the best of moods right now. She felt it had been wonderful to have full access to all she'd learned and experienced before being sunk. But it would have been better if returned memories and "personal skills" for herself and her sister would have passed down to our ship crew fairies!
That had not happened, however. So of course that meant for her crew? Something along the lines of "drilling them into the ground". Meaning Firestorm and Hypocenter prior learned knowledge from their first . . .life?. .was going to be applied to the now rather nervous crew fairies. Oh no, there was going to be not much slack indeed when retraining them; the state they were in right now was deplorable and they better not complain about the "Port/Starboard" rotations being used to get them back up to snuff!
That was annoying enough, but what was "was"!
The sisters thanked the Deep (and wished the Abyss to get f*cked!) that at least some of Doctor Takahashi's remaining experiments at least had covered something to have gotten some of her crew fairies some training time in before meeting her mother. That was until the very last test, which had been rather upsetting. It could not have been helped. It was a fact that they knew at some level they would have to face sooner or later. But it had not made it very palpable to be faced with it so soon. That just fed into something of a heated conversation between the secretary shipgirl who'd been so helpful earlier.
In their defense, the two former Abyssals had been taking cues from Dr. Takahashi for expectations when Saratoga would have been available for speaking with her daughters. From what the man had told them about either the military jet plane being able to make the trip from Japan to America in three mere hours. That and even if it had taken longer, there was such a thing as RADIO. Surely, they could have just slapped the coms together from shore to some kind of satellite to ship to the jet plane? Turned on the built-in encryption key that the doctor had been sure the jet was equipped with, and the sisters could have chatter away with their mother whilst she was still in flight!! He'd done well by them and had done his part in passing along their occasional requests to contact their mother (if possible at the time). That and he had been and continued to have been a very GOOD guide to this weird world of humans they'd been thrown into here! Oh! And they had been patient, but as time went along their fraying patience had been showing. It felt like they were being stonewalled for some reason!
Oh, and there was their chance encounter that the sisters had with the battleship shipgirl who had blasted and sunk poor Hypocenter back at the Bikini Atoll. No, while startling enough for Nagato in meeting Hypocenter it hadn't lead to violence. Yamato had stepped into makes SURE of this. Being that she'd been "read in" after everything was said and done had helped. As surprised as Nagato, she'd come to TRUST the former Abyssals. They were friends. Besides, unless seriously altered into an Abyssal Summoning Pool--which would have been very obvious to inspection--then there was NO way in H*ll that an Abyssal could have come through their Kanmusu Summoning Pool!
....
Yeah, basically what the Abyss did with Firestorm and Hypocenter with them have been marked? Basically, the Kanmusu-ization they'd experienced had been made permanent, instead of merely temporary (doomed to fade with the next Summons from an Abyssal Pool). Got it? Fantastic.
....
What was upsetting to both sisters was that Nagato had--however horrified over having found out that the "drone" fodder Abyssals she'd proudly slain in order save Saratoga from the Abyss's clutches were NOT drones--revealed that none of the Crossroad Fleet had survived the battle. Not even the submarines!!
The sisters had hoped for at least that much. That some of their sisters in arms had survived, even IF they'd . . .
Well, it left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. At least the sisters had let Nagato know they had understood and had forgiven her. Instead, they damned the Abyss for this damn war and all the tragedy it had caused (and was still causing).
Bottom line, all that said and done had still left the sisters in something of a pissy mood. And the Doctor felt they were justified in having been pissy. Thus, he had been rather pissy in sending along with their requests through him!
In defense of the good of Dr. Takahashi? Well, he was an expert on a lot of things. Knew a lot of things, but was hardly an expert in military aircraft. In other words when he'd Googled trip times for the sisters about how long a jet fighter would have taken from here to America he'd not . . .done a good enough phrasing of the question and leave at that. Basically, he'd been in a hurry but since the carriers had been asking so nicely he'd at least done that! It had been . . .just not good enough. If he'd not been in one of his manic phases--he'd shamefully admitted to the girls after having to pause to take his medication for his condition when they'd asked innocently--perhaps this would not have happened.
No! Dr. Takahashi was not INSANE, but he did have a mental condition. One that was being regulated . . . with prescription meds. Something not to be ashamed of but was something of a social stigma in the Japan of this world, alas.
Such as life and it was not fair. But fair or not this whole affair had also been a bit rough on Houshou--being the gatekeeper she was the secretary for the Admiral--so she was kind of stressed at this situation as well. Namely, she was stressed at the *sshole (though she' was too polite to call Dr. Takahashi that) who kept calling her and having made demands. And none too polite demands recently!!
But soon enough, Firestorm had gotten impatient with a Houshou over yet another delay contacting their mother. So, she had held onto her temper with both hands and TRIED so HARD to not yell at the aircraft carrier shipgirl who'd helped them in so many ways and had been so kind.
When the misunderstanding over how long a jet fighter would have taken from Japan came up, both sisters and Dr. Takahashi had properly apologized but had not given ground either.
"But is there some reason we can't just contact my mother in flight by radio?!" Firestorm finally asked, while having tried hard not to just start stomping around like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.
Given consideration to her actual chronological age, that would have been . . . . kinda acceptable. Still...
"I am sure the Admiral had good reason not to arrange such a thing," the secretary shipgirl replied in a motherly tone, having held Firestorms hand to have calmed the former Abyssal. "Being not in the know as to why dear Saratoga is en route to America by a fighter jet, I would hazard still a guess that is due to technical issues. Or some kind of security concerns even IF such were possible. So, until the Admiral . . ."
"Just stop already!" nearly shouted Dr. Takahashi, finally have been done with the whole thing, which had shocked the matronly shipgirl in his rudeness in the process by not quiet have had yelled. He wanted to yell, but still was the matter of 'good security'; which didn't happen to have happened by the act of having broadcasted all far and wide with shouts! That and not having been aware of certain unfortunate facts in the matter here. "Just because our 'redeemed' Common Abyssals here do not have the star power of the former Abyssal Crane Princess or their mother who had been the Jellyfish Princess doesn't mean they should be ignored, my dear! Gods! I'd think that if nothing else it would be a VERY good idea to at least pass along words to Saratoga to brace her! Not saying I fear she'll go back Abyssal at the mere sight of . . ."
"Wait, you two were actually Abyssals who came through our Summoning Pool?" Houshou sputtered. Hypocenter had requested that those two battleships had escorted them everywhere until the Admiral had met and soon authorized them general access to all base facilities unescorted.
There had been that base-wide security sweep... which had not been part of the regularly upcoming scheduled security drills after all!
She then blinked upon having noticed the cautious air and stressed silence in the room. Oh and the fact that she unconsciously had to have summoned her rigging was not helping at all in the tenseness here!
In utter mortification--so unseemly!--the mother of all aircraft carrier de-summoned her rigging but Hypocenter stepped up and had put a hand on her and the doctor's shoulders.
"Let's just step back everyone and calm down please," the calmer of the two sisters present sighed. "I see that Certain things got mislaid ."
A suggestion was made and gladly accepted.
Firestorm and Hypocenter bowed and apologized as how they had seen in. . .somewhat similar (albeit more violence-prone) cases which concerned Abyssals of Japanese origin. Still, it was clear Both sisters were willing to be folded into the ranks this was not going to last much longer at this rate. But they were sorry for having stressed Houshou with increasingly angry demands, passed along by a human doctor (eccentric or not) who was also getting angered. Angered at the apparent snubbing going on by the powers that be!
Dr. Takahashi bowed and apologized for his part in things. Yet in his defense, he had always been the odd one out and knew what it was like to be marginalized. To be the nail that stood up was the one that gets hammered down, and the former Abyssals had wanted to speak with their mother ahead of whatever scheduled time these . . .heathens had set up? Well, it stank of old times when he'd gotten "hammered down". Enough said? Yeah, man's got a LARGE chip on his shoulder. He had been wrong, he'd really been but . . .then what in the name of the gods and goddesses he didn't really believe in here was the right-hand man (or rather shipgirl) of the Admiral had not been in the loop in this matter?! She was in a position that demanded "need to know" for the situation and . . .somebody dropped the ball or something.
But as turns out . . .the Admiral had overlooked the fact he'd not informed Houshou of Firestorm and Hypocenter. He'd informed her of Dr. Takahashi being a "specialist" who'd been called in to take care of the two new shipgirls, but not the doctor's specialty. And . . .that was that.
And Houshou was so VERY looking forward to having a discussion with the Admiral over that. Nothing vulgar. Nothing loud and heated, but the motherly and kind shipgirl was going to let the admiral know of her feelings of frustration being left out of the loop in her own manner. When the time was right for it, Trust me.
Ah, and as for poor Houshou she apologized and bowed (as what custom called for here). Honestly, given everything Dr. Takahashi had been incredibly rude (but for good reason in retrospect). The poor dear secretary had been patient with the others here, but firm in the idea that the Admiral had NOT needed his elbow constantly jostled by the new shipgirls. Surely what the Admiral was taking care of with Saratoga's was of higher priority, considering the level of concern the Admiral had been displaying. Considering the level of security that the teleconference (which she had witnessed on the video display before leaving), that business with the family getting Saratoga flown back so quickly to the US was a much higher priority! And being that it had all started with a phonecall by said trouble-causing "family member" (aka Trinitite), Houshou was rather annoyed with our wayward Wo.
And so were the former Abyssals, not that they had known Trinitite was still in the picture (and a cause of all this ruckus).
....
What? Did you expect that Houshou should have known that Trinitite was the Abyssal daughter of Saratoga (from her time as the Jellyfish Princess)? Saratoga never told her about the naming convention of her Abyssal fleet. Of her now having known Firestorm and Hypocenter were former (and safely allied with humanity) Abyssal, they never mentioned ANY names of their now-defunct fleet mates. This and the fact that the name Trinitite--named after the fused sands created by atomic explosions--had not rung any kind of association with atomic bombs or anything atomic related, like what the names like Firestorm and Hypocenter for the secretary shipgirl!
Pfft, and before you ask Houshou was NOT a rumor monger and respected Saratoga's privacy and feelings. Sharing Trinitite's name and details about that call would fall into violating those things of Saratoga, and our poor fast destroyer shipgirl had done enough of that earlier today, thank you!
And oh boy, if only she'd done that Houshou could have avoided a coming shock for Saratoga and the others here! It's like a train wreck, you know.
But one thing that Houshou could do? Reassure worried newcomers about the good character of soon-to-be combat allies.
"No! No, poor Zuikaku is nothing like her old Abyssal self!" Houshou reassures the worried former Wo-class shipgirls. "She might be brash and hot-tempered at times, but I count her as a fine friend and ally! So . . . don't worry about her tossing any depth charges at those who annoy her."
"Abyssal Princesses actually DO that?" Dr. Takahashi blinks, rather shocked at how bloody badly some of the Princesses out there would treat their own fleet despite himself. He'd thought that such rumors going through the Abyssal research community being just garbage and nonsense. Monsters towards humanity were one thing, but to do it to what he realized was the Abyssals Princesses' own children?
Maybe . . .no, definitely he would be well advised to listen to the others in the field he'd dismissed as short sighted idiots. While he'd been dismissed by them, maybe it had been more than a bit foolish to dismiss their theories and expertise? Could be lethal if his next phase of tests should be approved.
Yes, caution!
"Yes . . .and seeing how callously other Princesses treat their own children made us love our Princess all the more," Hypocenter said softly, smiling fondly remembering especially when mother had treated them to ice cream after things like flubbed deck landings and such.
Good times.
"True," Firestorm--not a fan of the Crane Princess and had been glad up until now with the thought of her being permanently sunk--still managed to smile before frowning and turning to Houshou. "And all that aside I will not . . .distrust Zuikaku for now. But if she should raise one depth charge my way I will not be held responsible for how I react. Fair warning!"
Dire warnings aside it was a small relief to finally know why various random things had been causing them to repeatedly find themselves going to Battle stations. They weren't losing their minds, there really was a (former) Princess somewhere around here. That was why she and Hypocenter kept on getting the oddest feeling of recognition (and wariness) in seeing Musashi earlier today (and Zuihou with her wearing her hakama).
Ah, as things turned out the Admiral finally chose to interrupt things here by intercom. So how Houshou would have responded is lost to history. Anyway, he asked for Houshou to contact both Dr. Takahashi and the former Abyssal shipgirls. The officer wished both for the doctor to bring the admiral up to date on what his findings were on the shipgirls and for further clarifications on "something possibly radical which would IMMENSELY help the Americans with their Summoning Shipgirl." That needed clarification to put it MILDLY. Oh, and he wished to speak with Firestorm and Hypocenter over contacting Saratoga when she landed in America.
"We want to do the last in such a way that will not cause a needless . . .stress to Saratoga to where she 'relapses'. Her 'family' problem back in the US has put her on the spot enough as it is, and let us not add to it accidentally!" the Admiral ended, a sigh having been evident over the intercom.
"Well, it is a fine thing that we are here to do just that!!" Dr. Takahashi clapped his hands as if delighted at the turn of events rather than the admiral only NOW only have gotten around to this business. Takahashi had been ready for quite a while now and the shipgirls had very MUCH wanted to at least do such things like speaking with Saratoga...
"Oh Deep," grumbled Firestorm meanwhile, having remembered that Saratoga had fallen into the Abyss' hands when in despair and grief. If that damn 'family member' who was causing troubles. . . "I'll be damned if I let the Abyss get its slimy hands on my mother as Jellyfish again!"
"As it stands with that I don't know if I want to either hug this other sister for making it possible to be back at Mother's side," Hypocenter added, her head having been shaken in consternation all the while. Takahashi had said going theory why their Summoning had happened. "That or strangle her for having caused Mother so much grief and caused her to be taken from us in a jet fighter plane!"
" . . .I see that they already are here," the Admiral observed flatly.
"The Admiral will see you now," Houshou smiled slightly, before then having gestured to the officer's door behind her.
Chapter 3: Frustration, Consternation, and Unexpected PLANNING for Reunions from Afar...
Author's Note: Hey, had to cut it short due to getting just too unwieldy. More setting up than anything else, but it does go and tell more fully just why Firestorm and Hypocenter were so wound up before finally meeting Trin and Saratoga.
So, with that in mind? The spoken text that is in italics is Japanese unless otherwise stated.
Good? At least I hope so, so anyway here we go!
With Firestorm. . .
. . .
The fiery shipgirl just happened to not be in the best of moods right now. She felt it had been wonderful to have full access to all she'd learned and experienced before being sunk. But it would have been better if returned memories and "personal skills" for herself and her sister would have passed down to our ship crew fairies!
That had not happened, however. So of course that meant for her crew? Something along the lines of "drilling them into the ground". Meaning Firestorm and Hypocenter prior learned knowledge from their first . . .life?. .was going to be applied to the now rather nervous crew fairies. Oh no, there was going to be not much slack indeed when retraining them; the state they were in right now was deplorable and they better not complain about the "Port/Starboard" rotations being used to get them back up to snuff!
That was annoying enough, but what was "was"!
The sisters thanked the Deep (and wished the Abyss to get f*cked!) that at least some of Doctor Takahashi's remaining experiments at least had covered something to have gotten some of her crew fairies some training time in before meeting her mother. That was until the very last test, which had been rather upsetting. It could not have been helped. It was a fact that they knew at some level they would have to face sooner or later. But it had not made it very palpable to be faced with it so soon. That just fed into something of a heated conversation between the secretary shipgirl who'd been so helpful earlier.
In their defense, the two former Abyssals had been taking cues from Dr. Takahashi for expectations when Saratoga would have been available for speaking with her daughters. From what the man had told them about either the military jet plane being able to make the trip from Japan to America in three mere hours. That and even if it had taken longer, there was such a thing as RADIO. Surely, they could have just slapped the coms together from shore to some kind of satellite to ship to the jet plane? Turned on the built-in encryption key that the doctor had been sure the jet was equipped with, and the sisters could have chatter away with their mother whilst she was still in flight!! He'd done well by them and had done his part in passing along their occasional requests to contact their mother (if possible at the time). That and he had been and continued to have been a very GOOD guide to this weird world of humans they'd been thrown into here! Oh! And they had been patient, but as time went along their fraying patience had been showing. It felt like they were being stonewalled for some reason!
Oh, and there was their chance encounter that the sisters had with the battleship shipgirl who had blasted and sunk poor Hypocenter back at the Bikini Atoll. No, while startling enough for Nagato in meeting Hypocenter it hadn't lead to violence. Yamato had stepped into makes SURE of this. Being that she'd been "read in" after everything was said and done had helped. As surprised as Nagato, she'd come to TRUST the former Abyssals. They were friends. Besides, unless seriously altered into an Abyssal Summoning Pool--which would have been very obvious to inspection--then there was NO way in H*ll that an Abyssal could have come through their Kanmusu Summoning Pool!
....
Yeah, basically what the Abyss did with Firestorm and Hypocenter with them have been marked? Basically, the Kanmusu-ization they'd experienced had been made permanent, instead of merely temporary (doomed to fade with the next Summons from an Abyssal Pool). Got it? Fantastic.
....
What was upsetting to both sisters was that Nagato had--however horrified over having found out that the "drone" fodder Abyssals she'd proudly slain in order save Saratoga from the Abyss's clutches were NOT drones--revealed that none of the Crossroad Fleet had survived the battle. Not even the submarines!!
The sisters had hoped for at least that much. That some of their sisters in arms had survived, even IF they'd . . .
Well, it left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth. At least the sisters had let Nagato know they had understood and had forgiven her. Instead, they damned the Abyss for this damn war and all the tragedy it had caused (and was still causing).
Bottom line, all that said and done had still left the sisters in something of a pissy mood. And the Doctor felt they were justified in having been pissy. Thus, he had been rather pissy in sending along with their requests through him!
In defense of the good of Dr. Takahashi? Well, he was an expert on a lot of things. Knew a lot of things, but was hardly an expert in military aircraft. In other words when he'd Googled trip times for the sisters about how long a jet fighter would have taken from here to America he'd not . . .done a good enough phrasing of the question and leave at that. Basically, he'd been in a hurry but since the carriers had been asking so nicely he'd at least done that! It had been . . .just not good enough. If he'd not been in one of his manic phases--he'd shamefully admitted to the girls after having to pause to take his medication for his condition when they'd asked innocently--perhaps this would not have happened.
No! Dr. Takahashi was not INSANE, but he did have a mental condition. One that was being regulated . . . with prescription meds. Something not to be ashamed of but was something of a social stigma in the Japan of this world, alas.
Such as life and it was not fair. But fair or not this whole affair had also been a bit rough on Houshou--being the gatekeeper she was the secretary for the Admiral--so she was kind of stressed at this situation as well. Namely, she was stressed at the *sshole (though she' was too polite to call Dr. Takahashi that) who kept calling her and having made demands. And none too polite demands recently!!
But soon enough, Firestorm had gotten impatient with a Houshou over yet another delay contacting their mother. So, she had held onto her temper with both hands and TRIED so HARD to not yell at the aircraft carrier shipgirl who'd helped them in so many ways and had been so kind.
When the misunderstanding over how long a jet fighter would have taken from Japan came up, both sisters and Dr. Takahashi had properly apologized but had not given ground either.
"But is there some reason we can't just contact my mother in flight by radio?!" Firestorm finally asked, while having tried hard not to just start stomping around like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.
Given consideration to her actual chronological age, that would have been . . . . kinda acceptable. Still...
"I am sure the Admiral had good reason not to arrange such a thing," the secretary shipgirl replied in a motherly tone, having held Firestorms hand to have calmed the former Abyssal. "Being not in the know as to why dear Saratoga is en route to America by a fighter jet, I would hazard still a guess that is due to technical issues. Or some kind of security concerns even IF such were possible. So, until the Admiral . . ."
"Just stop already!" nearly shouted Dr. Takahashi, finally have been done with the whole thing, which had shocked the matronly shipgirl in his rudeness in the process by not quiet have had yelled. He wanted to yell, but still was the matter of 'good security'; which didn't happen to have happened by the act of having broadcasted all far and wide with shouts! That and not having been aware of certain unfortunate facts in the matter here. "Just because our 'redeemed' Common Abyssals here do not have the star power of the former Abyssal Crane Princess or their mother who had been the Jellyfish Princess doesn't mean they should be ignored, my dear! Gods! I'd think that if nothing else it would be a VERY good idea to at least pass along words to Saratoga to brace her! Not saying I fear she'll go back Abyssal at the mere sight of . . ."
"Wait, you two were actually Abyssals who came through our Summoning Pool?" Houshou sputtered. Hypocenter had requested that those two battleships had escorted them everywhere until the Admiral had met and soon authorized them general access to all base facilities unescorted.
There had been that base-wide security sweep... which had not been part of the regularly upcoming scheduled security drills after all!
She then blinked upon having noticed the cautious air and stressed silence in the room. Oh and the fact that she unconsciously had to have summoned her rigging was not helping at all in the tenseness here!
In utter mortification--so unseemly!--the mother of all aircraft carrier de-summoned her rigging but Hypocenter stepped up and had put a hand on her and the doctor's shoulders.
"Let's just step back everyone and calm down please," the calmer of the two sisters present sighed. "I see that Certain things got mislaid ."
A suggestion was made and gladly accepted.
Firestorm and Hypocenter bowed and apologized as how they had seen in. . .somewhat similar (albeit more violence-prone) cases which concerned Abyssals of Japanese origin. Still, it was clear Both sisters were willing to be folded into the ranks this was not going to last much longer at this rate. But they were sorry for having stressed Houshou with increasingly angry demands, passed along by a human doctor (eccentric or not) who was also getting angered. Angered at the apparent snubbing going on by the powers that be!
Dr. Takahashi bowed and apologized for his part in things. Yet in his defense, he had always been the odd one out and knew what it was like to be marginalized. To be the nail that stood up was the one that gets hammered down, and the former Abyssals had wanted to speak with their mother ahead of whatever scheduled time these . . .heathens had set up? Well, it stank of old times when he'd gotten "hammered down". Enough said? Yeah, man's got a LARGE chip on his shoulder. He had been wrong, he'd really been but . . .then what in the name of the gods and goddesses he didn't really believe in here was the right-hand man (or rather shipgirl) of the Admiral had not been in the loop in this matter?! She was in a position that demanded "need to know" for the situation and . . .somebody dropped the ball or something.
But as turns out . . .the Admiral had overlooked the fact he'd not informed Houshou of Firestorm and Hypocenter. He'd informed her of Dr. Takahashi being a "specialist" who'd been called in to take care of the two new shipgirls, but not the doctor's specialty. And . . .that was that.
And Houshou was so VERY looking forward to having a discussion with the Admiral over that. Nothing vulgar. Nothing loud and heated, but the motherly and kind shipgirl was going to let the admiral know of her feelings of frustration being left out of the loop in her own manner. When the time was right for it, Trust me.
Ah, and as for poor Houshou she apologized and bowed (as what custom called for here). Honestly, given everything Dr. Takahashi had been incredibly rude (but for good reason in retrospect). The poor dear secretary had been patient with the others here, but firm in the idea that the Admiral had NOT needed his elbow constantly jostled by the new shipgirls. Surely what the Admiral was taking care of with Saratoga's was of higher priority, considering the level of concern the Admiral had been displaying. Considering the level of security that the teleconference (which she had witnessed on the video display before leaving), that business with the family getting Saratoga flown back so quickly to the US was a much higher priority! And being that it had all started with a phonecall by said trouble-causing "family member" (aka Trinitite), Houshou was rather annoyed with our wayward Wo.
And so were the former Abyssals, not that they had known Trinitite was still in the picture (and a cause of all this ruckus).
....
What? Did you expect that Houshou should have known that Trinitite was the Abyssal daughter of Saratoga (from her time as the Jellyfish Princess)? Saratoga never told her about the naming convention of her Abyssal fleet. Of her now having known Firestorm and Hypocenter were former (and safely allied with humanity) Abyssal, they never mentioned ANY names of their now-defunct fleet mates. This and the fact that the name Trinitite--named after the fused sands created by atomic explosions--had not rung any kind of association with atomic bombs or anything atomic related, like what the names like Firestorm and Hypocenter for the secretary shipgirl!
Pfft, and before you ask Houshou was NOT a rumor monger and respected Saratoga's privacy and feelings. Sharing Trinitite's name and details about that call would fall into violating those things of Saratoga, and our poor fast destroyer shipgirl had done enough of that earlier today, thank you!
And oh boy, if only she'd done that Houshou could have avoided a coming shock for Saratoga and the others here! It's like a train wreck, you know.
But one thing that Houshou could do? Reassure worried newcomers about the good character of soon-to-be combat allies.
"No! No, poor Zuikaku is nothing like her old Abyssal self!" Houshou reassures the worried former Wo-class shipgirls. "She might be brash and hot-tempered at times, but I count her as a fine friend and ally! So . . . don't worry about her tossing any depth charges at those who annoy her."
"Abyssal Princesses actually DO that?" Dr. Takahashi blinks, rather shocked at how bloody badly some of the Princesses out there would treat their own fleet despite himself. He'd thought that such rumors going through the Abyssal research community being just garbage and nonsense. Monsters towards humanity were one thing, but to do it to what he realized was the Abyssals Princesses' own children?
Maybe . . .no, definitely he would be well advised to listen to the others in the field he'd dismissed as short sighted idiots. While he'd been dismissed by them, maybe it had been more than a bit foolish to dismiss their theories and expertise? Could be lethal if his next phase of tests should be approved.
Yes, caution!
"Yes . . .and seeing how callously other Princesses treat their own children made us love our Princess all the more," Hypocenter said softly, smiling fondly remembering especially when mother had treated them to ice cream after things like flubbed deck landings and such.
Good times.
"True," Firestorm--not a fan of the Crane Princess and had been glad up until now with the thought of her being permanently sunk--still managed to smile before frowning and turning to Houshou. "And all that aside I will not . . .distrust Zuikaku for now. But if she should raise one depth charge my way I will not be held responsible for how I react. Fair warning!"
Dire warnings aside it was a small relief to finally know why various random things had been causing them to repeatedly find themselves going to Battle stations. They weren't losing their minds, there really was a (former) Princess somewhere around here. That was why she and Hypocenter kept on getting the oddest feeling of recognition (and wariness) in seeing Musashi earlier today (and Zuihou with her wearing her hakama).
Ah, as things turned out the Admiral finally chose to interrupt things here by intercom. So how Houshou would have responded is lost to history. Anyway, he asked for Houshou to contact both Dr. Takahashi and the former Abyssal shipgirls. The officer wished both for the doctor to bring the admiral up to date on what his findings were on the shipgirls and for further clarifications on "something possibly radical which would IMMENSELY help the Americans with their Summoning Shipgirl." That needed clarification to put it MILDLY. Oh, and he wished to speak with Firestorm and Hypocenter over contacting Saratoga when she landed in America.
"We want to do the last in such a way that will not cause a needless . . .stress to Saratoga to where she 'relapses'. Her 'family' problem back in the US has put her on the spot enough as it is, and let us not add to it accidentally!" the Admiral ended, a sigh having been evident over the intercom.
"Well, it is a fine thing that we are here to do just that!!" Dr. Takahashi clapped his hands as if delighted at the turn of events rather than the admiral only NOW only have gotten around to this business. Takahashi had been ready for quite a while now and the shipgirls had very MUCH wanted to at least do such things like speaking with Saratoga...
"Oh Deep," grumbled Firestorm meanwhile, having remembered that Saratoga had fallen into the Abyss' hands when in despair and grief. If that damn 'family member' who was causing troubles. . . "I'll be damned if I let the Abyss get its slimy hands on my mother as Jellyfish again!"
"As it stands with that I don't know if I want to either hug this other sister for making it possible to be back at Mother's side," Hypocenter added, her head having been shaken in consternation all the while. Takahashi had said going theory why their Summoning had happened. "That or strangle her for having caused Mother so much grief and caused her to be taken from us in a jet fighter plane!"
" . . .I see that they already are here," the Admiral observed flatly.
"The Admiral will see you now," Houshou smiled slightly, before then having gestured to the officer's door behind her.
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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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PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
Oh man, I haven't gotten around to replying to stuff in a while. Apologies for this. I'll try to get to every post I missed, here.
Oh hey, fanart! Thank you! Like to see the tearful reunion pic!
Note: art by Phi_md
All of the abyssals of the Crossroads fleet were determined to protect their Princess- they basically threw themselves between the human fleet and Jellyfish.
Yeah, there's hope... although if they did come back, they'd have pretty good reason to ally with their new Princess against the humans.
Yeah, sorry for that typo. It should be fixed, now.
Awesome! I love to see more omakes, but I had some issues reading these ones. It seemed to shift between past and present tense a few times, as well as between first and third person...
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Annoyed Catholic
Moody fellow
Ok. Glad you liked the latest omake. Will have fixed my mistakes I missed.
Thanks!
Thanks!
41: Seductress
PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
The two worked in relative silence, the sound of heavy machinery drifting up from the worksite below. The lack of conversation was partially because of the stress of work, but another reason was that, at the end of the day, the two didn't have that much in common. On top of that, while the younger Sern was busy operating the bender, Alton would find his gaze wandering over to the other pair's progress.
When he realized there were only two teams assigned to assembling the rest of the floor's cages, Alton could feel his competitive nature stirring. A part of him, the part that had gotten his ankle broken in the Banzai Pipeline when he was young and stupid, was keeping track of how many colums each team was finishing. This time, however, he felt a little more comfortable monitoring the impromptu competition, as it meant a little more than pride.
Tirto was a good man, and a hard worker, but his age was clearly getting to him. In contrast, Sern was in perfect condition for this kind of work, with Alton only lagging slightly behind. The other team making more progress than them, something Austin seemed to be expecting if he wanted the floor completed today, would require superhuman effort on Elizabeth's part.
For a moment, Alton allowed himself to watch the… entity that was working with Tirto. She had taken over on the bender, her motions making her slightly inefficient style look effortless. For most people, that could be excused by them being fresh from just starting, but Alton knew Elizabeth's stamina was practically bottomless. If she got more columns done then Sern and he did, then he'd have proof that she wasn't human. It probably wouldn't be enough to convince others, but it meant… something.
Damnit, he didn't know what to do with that knowledge! The chance she was just a shipgirl trying to help out during mandatory leave was… overwhelming, but whenever he looked at the new girl, the story of a battle off the coast would invade into his mind. There had to be a way to tell the difference without her noticing, right? He needed to do more research on abyssals and shipgirls before he formed a concrete plan.
"Here you go." Sern reported, offering the end of a finished rebar length to him. Welcoming the distraction, Alton accepted the length, slotting it into place and tying it off. After ensuring it was level and signaling Sern to secure his own end, the younger man returned to the bender, threading the next length of rebar in, before stopping for a moment.
"So…" Sern began, his voice measured. "Alton?"
"Yeah?" Alton acknowledged.
"You, uh, worked with Elizabeth yesterday, right?" He asked, producing a tape measure and checking the length he'd fed into the bender.
"I did…" Alton allowed, not sure he liked where this was going. He'd welcome a bit of light conversation, but it would be to distract his thoughts away from Elizabeth, not focus them!
"What's, uh…" Sern stood, meeting Alton's eyes as he handed him another length of rebar. "What's she like?"
Alton paused, returning the young man's stare as his mind raced.
Well, that wasn't going anywhere good. Sern was going to have serious problems if his first date was an Abyssal or Shipgirl. Ignoring jokes about broken hips, an undercover shipgirl wouldn't be able to commit to any advances Sern made, and even if she did, she wouldn't be here for too long before… redeploying to Taiwan, Australia, Italy, or something, which wouldn't help them at all. That was assuming, of course, that Elizabeth wasn't an abyssal, a possibility that had borrowed into the back of his mind like an alien tick.
Somehow, Alton needed to discourage Sern. What could he do, though? The evidence he'd seen so far was more than enough for him, telling someone Elizabeth wasn't what she said she was because she 'worked too hard' wasn't going to convince many people, especially someone as cynical as Sern was.
"I don't know." He finally admitted. "I've only worked with her for a few hours."
He couldn't think of anything! Alton cursed himself, trying to find his way around this, but beyond finding definitive proof, he wasn't going to be able to save Sern a lot of heartbreak.
Or much worse, for everyone.
"Ah." Sern replied, the hopefulness in his voice dead. The two continued to work for a few moments. That was a pretty sour note to end things on, so as Sern rose with another prepared length of rebar, Alton spoke up.
"I, uh, wouldn't get my hopes up..." the Hawaiian cautioned.
"What do you mean?" Sern asked, but Alton predicted the question more than heard it. A comment she'd made during that lunch, three days ago, had just resurfaced in his mind, and a story was starting to form.
"Well, apparently, she lived on a private island, belonging to her Mother."
"Oh." Sern replied, his voice unsure. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well," Alton started. "Pacific property is really expensive, right?"
"I don't know." He replied, shrugging.
"I have first-hand experience of the Hawaiian real estate market. Take my word on this." That might not be true in other parts of the pacific, but The Marshalls' economic status with the US meant they couldn't have been far behind in prices. A question rose in the back of his mind, on the feasibility of buying real estate in Abyssal-occupied territory to sell once it's liberated, but that thought could wait. "It's very difficult to get the money to purchase your own island." He asserted, making a show of shrugging and accepting an unvoiced point. "Well, legitimately, that is."
"What," Sern asked, his tone still unsure, "like Epstien?"
That caught Alton off guard. Why had the Malasian ever cared to remember that name?
"Probably not that bad." He tempered. "I was thinking of a criminal family, or... cult, or something." Were abyssals a cult? Eh, that wasn't that important a question. Alton rose his end of the rebar to the cage, tying his side off, but instead of placing the level on the length, He met Sern's eyes. "Bottom line is this: getting too involved with her might attract attention from people we wouldn't want to."
Sern's eyes widened, and he nodded slowly.
"I see." he replied.
He probably didn't, but this likely was as far as Alton was going to get with him. Not everyone his age did their thinking with their other head, but Sern didn't seem like one of the exceptions.
Sighing, he placed the level on the rebar, focusing on the bubble as Sern straightened the rebar on his end.
"Up a little.""
He needed to get some proper proof, before Elizabeth had his coworker wrapped around her fingers.
- - -
Trinitite shifted uncomfortably, trying very hard not to notice the attention she was getting. The two humans immediately astern of her seemed to be keeping their distance, focused on their own conversation, but as she was on the ground with so many other human males, hardly moving, she was feeling more rangefinders on her then she'd ever be comfortable with.
She hoped what lay at the front of the line was going to be worth it. With the realization she didn't really know what you were supposed to eat during lunch, along with the realization that there were plenty of… suspicious options, Trinitite decided it might be best to stop using her own supplies, and do what most of the humans on the job site did already: Trading with the resupply fleets that arrived during the lunch break. That way, if she ate a food combination that was strange to them, they would have to suspect the resupply fleet, instead of her! It would cut into her humble stockpile of money, but she was planning on spending most of that on food at one time or another, anyways. It was a negligible cost to get rid of one of the weaknesses in her disguise.
The Wo-class took a deep, slow breath, allowing the smell from ahead of her to flow through her ventilation and permeate her spaces. Despite the normal sounds of the construction site, the strange scent was… fascinating. It was why she'd chosen the vehicle hailing from the 'Johnny's Bar-B-Que' Fleet over the one belonging to "Delhi Curry," which smelled suspiciously like the mistake she'd consumed on the Pacific Lilly.
The worker in front of her shuffled forwards, and Trinitite followed. She couldn't quite read their list of options yet, but judging by the meals carried by humans trickling back into the worksite, she had a lot to look forward to.
One of the many bread variants, sliced in half so a layer of shredded, juicy meat could be inserted into between the sections. A pool of the sauce gathered around it, like blood leaking from a freshly caught animal. Another human had procured slices of another meat, dark with another sauce that slathered every piece, faint, wispy steam drifting off the creature's fatty muscles. A third human left with a portion of another animal, covered in so many seasonings that it was only identifiable by the regular protrusions of precisely-cut bone. The rib's marrow was perfectly displayed for the abyssal to salivate over.
Despite the attention she was getting, Trinitite was starting to think this was one of her better ideas…
As her position in the line decreased, the smell grew in intensity. The Wo-class focused on the 'menu,' trying to interpret the list of unfamiliar terms, but it l quickly became apparent she wouldn't find much use from it. Sure, she could jam eighteen more terms into her research list, but there might be a better option…
"What can I get you?" The woman manning the vehicle's window asked, her voice calm despite how quickly she spoke.
"Yes..." Trinitite delayed, reviewing her 'battle plan.' "What is your best food?"
The question was based on another she often asked, when Trinitite wanted to kill time with ships of another fleet but didn't know what to talk about. Asking them about weapons systems was an inoffensive way to get them to talk, without sucking them into dangerous topics like each other's princesses. She had a different objective here, but the question should't clue in the fact that Trinitite had no idea what they were actually offering here, beyond meat covered in sauce.
"Well…" The human paused for a second, leaning forwards to look at the menu, before straightening back up. "You can't go wrong with the Brisket."
"It doesn't have…" Trinitite paused, searching for the next word. What was that sauce she'd really regretted drinking called, again? "...Pepper sauce, does it?"
"No, it's not spicy at all." The human reported, leaning back and presumably checking the supplies in the truck. "We could add some."
"No!" Trinitite objected, speaking louder than she'd thought she would. "Uh, please..."
"Got it," The human smirked, but the expression only lasted for a second. "What size?"
Trinitite checked the menu again. None of these were going to be enough for a carrier, but… "Uh, your largest."
The human nodded.
"Would you like to make it a combo?"
"Uh…" it didn't matter what that was. There were other humans behind her, and she was starting to take a little too much time here. "Sure?"
"Coleslaw, 'tato salad, or Beans?"
No… She'd answered incorrectly! Trinitite didn't have any other choice to pick one at random, but...
"Our Coleslaw is pretty nice." The human offered.
"Yeah. Uh, go with that." She replied, thankfulness apparent in her voice.
"Alright, what will you have to drink?"
"The, uh, regular." She replied, looking over the list of drinks. She recognized a lot of them from supplies she'd pilfered from the Fred Meyers Fleet, but hadn't tried any of them yet.
"So, Coca-cola?"
"Yes!" She accepted. Anything that got this over with!
"What size?"
Deep, the human hadn't asked this many questions to the worker in front of her, had she?
- - -
After a short wait and almost twenty dollars, Trinitite found herself scaling the scaffolding surrounding building two, several of those thinly-cut meat slices resting on a flimsy plate of… something. Trinitite wasn't sure how much she trusted the light material, but the rectangular sheet seemed to do well enough holding the meat, a plastic version of those tools used on the Pacific Lilly, and a container of a sliced plant slathered in a white sauce. In her other hand, a dark liquid sat in another container, ominous bubbles escaping from between chunks of ice that bobbed with each step she made. She was pretty excited about the food, but she wasn't looking forward to trying a drink that didn't even seem chemically stable.
Unlike on friday, Sern and Tirto had beaten Trinitite here, the two coworkers discussing something with Alton.
"I'm just saying," Alton's voice was the first she heard approaching the three. "...they aren't actors."
Tirto's reply was too faint to make out, the soft-spoken man difficult to hear from a distance.
"Hasn't she been in a lot of movies?" Sern asked. Trinitite quietly added 'movi' to her research list, but didn't announce her approach. There wasn't any point to interrupting their conversation, especially if she didn't understand what they were talking about.
"You're thinking of Missouri." Alton shook his head. "...and I haven't seen anything about her being back."
"I'm just not sure when the scheduling would work." Tirto commented. Now that Trinitite was close enough to hear him, she could see his choice of meal: A similar sauce-on-rice meal to that she'd had on the Pacific Lilly, but with a leafy green color, instead of the reddish-orange she'd had the displeasure of eating there. "They're fighting a war, after all."
"Eh, you can't fight a war all the time." Alton asserted as Trinitite found her seat. "People and machines break down after too much combat, and Iowa is both."
Iowa… Trinitite turned the name over in her head as she focused on her food. Was that the name of a ship? A high-profile admiral? As she speculated, Trinitite skewered one of the slices of meat with the plastic tool, watching how the viscous liquid dripped down to the rest of her meal.
"It's not like acting is an easy job, though," Sern argued, "even for something as lazy as an Adam Sandler comedy."
Trinitite raised the slice of brisket to her mouth before pausing. If this turned out to be spicy, what was her emergency plan? The drink could do anything, so maybe she should try to stop it with the coleslaw? It just looked like leaves, and the white sauce might not be that different from milk…
"Compared to war?" Alton asked. "Please, Sern, Tirto and I have seen combat. Elizabeth too, probably." The abyssal nodded, although she wasn't paying that much attention. She'd heard of acting, although Princesses used the term rarely enough that she never really figured it out. Maybe another topic for the research list? Anyways, this brisket had already made most of the journey to her mouth. It was time for an experimental nibble, at least.
The human from Java said something, but Trinitite was too wrapped up in the taste of the brisket to notice. The flavor was… deep. There weren't many other ways to explain it. It had a heaviness to it that Trinitite couldn't dismiss, lingering in her mouth as she quickly ate the rest of the brisket slice. The meat itself was interesting, naturally tougher than the fish she was used to, but prepared so that it would melt in her mouth, just like the meals she was so used to.
It was so new, and certainly didn't taste like the fish at Bikini, but the warm meat almost felt like home. The abyssal closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lost in the sensation. Now that she'd let it linger for a bit, she guessed it was a little spicy, but it had taken her a good amount of time to notice. Better take care of that before it became an issue…
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything like that," Sern backpedaled, Trinitite's attention returning to the conversation, "but if you were looking to destress, wouldn't you just want a vacation?"
Trinitite considered using the coleslaw to deal with the minor heat, but it was already dying down. Instead, perhaps a further experiment with the strange drink would be in order.
"I don't know." Tirto replied. Setting her tool down, Trinitite lifted the drink to her mouth and took a cautious sip. "I can't speak for her, but some people always have to be- Are you alright, Elizabeth?"
She hadn't really known what to expect, so when the fizzing drink entered her mouth, she found herself puckering in surprise. It didn't seem to be reacting with anything, thankfully, but the feeling of bubbles constantly tickling her tongue was… new. She nodded, to alleviate Tirto's concern, hoping she hadn't brought too much attention to herself. After experimentally swishing the sweet drink around, she swallowed, taking another experimental sip.
"...Never had that before, huh?" Alton asked. Trinitite nodded again, focusing on the taste of the… cola? Was that what the attendant had called it?
"Anyways..." Tirto chuckled, continuing. "Some people always have to be working on something, or they can't live with themselves. Maybe Iowa is one of those."
The conversation continued, Trinitite focusing quietly on her meal. She didn't fully understand the topic, but it didn't seem like she needed to. Besides, it meant the human's focus wasn't on her, and that was always good.
When he realized there were only two teams assigned to assembling the rest of the floor's cages, Alton could feel his competitive nature stirring. A part of him, the part that had gotten his ankle broken in the Banzai Pipeline when he was young and stupid, was keeping track of how many colums each team was finishing. This time, however, he felt a little more comfortable monitoring the impromptu competition, as it meant a little more than pride.
Tirto was a good man, and a hard worker, but his age was clearly getting to him. In contrast, Sern was in perfect condition for this kind of work, with Alton only lagging slightly behind. The other team making more progress than them, something Austin seemed to be expecting if he wanted the floor completed today, would require superhuman effort on Elizabeth's part.
For a moment, Alton allowed himself to watch the… entity that was working with Tirto. She had taken over on the bender, her motions making her slightly inefficient style look effortless. For most people, that could be excused by them being fresh from just starting, but Alton knew Elizabeth's stamina was practically bottomless. If she got more columns done then Sern and he did, then he'd have proof that she wasn't human. It probably wouldn't be enough to convince others, but it meant… something.
Damnit, he didn't know what to do with that knowledge! The chance she was just a shipgirl trying to help out during mandatory leave was… overwhelming, but whenever he looked at the new girl, the story of a battle off the coast would invade into his mind. There had to be a way to tell the difference without her noticing, right? He needed to do more research on abyssals and shipgirls before he formed a concrete plan.
"Here you go." Sern reported, offering the end of a finished rebar length to him. Welcoming the distraction, Alton accepted the length, slotting it into place and tying it off. After ensuring it was level and signaling Sern to secure his own end, the younger man returned to the bender, threading the next length of rebar in, before stopping for a moment.
"So…" Sern began, his voice measured. "Alton?"
"Yeah?" Alton acknowledged.
"You, uh, worked with Elizabeth yesterday, right?" He asked, producing a tape measure and checking the length he'd fed into the bender.
"I did…" Alton allowed, not sure he liked where this was going. He'd welcome a bit of light conversation, but it would be to distract his thoughts away from Elizabeth, not focus them!
"What's, uh…" Sern stood, meeting Alton's eyes as he handed him another length of rebar. "What's she like?"
Alton paused, returning the young man's stare as his mind raced.
Well, that wasn't going anywhere good. Sern was going to have serious problems if his first date was an Abyssal or Shipgirl. Ignoring jokes about broken hips, an undercover shipgirl wouldn't be able to commit to any advances Sern made, and even if she did, she wouldn't be here for too long before… redeploying to Taiwan, Australia, Italy, or something, which wouldn't help them at all. That was assuming, of course, that Elizabeth wasn't an abyssal, a possibility that had borrowed into the back of his mind like an alien tick.
Somehow, Alton needed to discourage Sern. What could he do, though? The evidence he'd seen so far was more than enough for him, telling someone Elizabeth wasn't what she said she was because she 'worked too hard' wasn't going to convince many people, especially someone as cynical as Sern was.
"I don't know." He finally admitted. "I've only worked with her for a few hours."
He couldn't think of anything! Alton cursed himself, trying to find his way around this, but beyond finding definitive proof, he wasn't going to be able to save Sern a lot of heartbreak.
Or much worse, for everyone.
"Ah." Sern replied, the hopefulness in his voice dead. The two continued to work for a few moments. That was a pretty sour note to end things on, so as Sern rose with another prepared length of rebar, Alton spoke up.
"I, uh, wouldn't get my hopes up..." the Hawaiian cautioned.
"What do you mean?" Sern asked, but Alton predicted the question more than heard it. A comment she'd made during that lunch, three days ago, had just resurfaced in his mind, and a story was starting to form.
"Well, apparently, she lived on a private island, belonging to her Mother."
"Oh." Sern replied, his voice unsure. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well," Alton started. "Pacific property is really expensive, right?"
"I don't know." He replied, shrugging.
"I have first-hand experience of the Hawaiian real estate market. Take my word on this." That might not be true in other parts of the pacific, but The Marshalls' economic status with the US meant they couldn't have been far behind in prices. A question rose in the back of his mind, on the feasibility of buying real estate in Abyssal-occupied territory to sell once it's liberated, but that thought could wait. "It's very difficult to get the money to purchase your own island." He asserted, making a show of shrugging and accepting an unvoiced point. "Well, legitimately, that is."
"What," Sern asked, his tone still unsure, "like Epstien?"
That caught Alton off guard. Why had the Malasian ever cared to remember that name?
"Probably not that bad." He tempered. "I was thinking of a criminal family, or... cult, or something." Were abyssals a cult? Eh, that wasn't that important a question. Alton rose his end of the rebar to the cage, tying his side off, but instead of placing the level on the length, He met Sern's eyes. "Bottom line is this: getting too involved with her might attract attention from people we wouldn't want to."
Sern's eyes widened, and he nodded slowly.
"I see." he replied.
He probably didn't, but this likely was as far as Alton was going to get with him. Not everyone his age did their thinking with their other head, but Sern didn't seem like one of the exceptions.
Sighing, he placed the level on the rebar, focusing on the bubble as Sern straightened the rebar on his end.
"Up a little.""
He needed to get some proper proof, before Elizabeth had his coworker wrapped around her fingers.
- - -
Trinitite shifted uncomfortably, trying very hard not to notice the attention she was getting. The two humans immediately astern of her seemed to be keeping their distance, focused on their own conversation, but as she was on the ground with so many other human males, hardly moving, she was feeling more rangefinders on her then she'd ever be comfortable with.
She hoped what lay at the front of the line was going to be worth it. With the realization she didn't really know what you were supposed to eat during lunch, along with the realization that there were plenty of… suspicious options, Trinitite decided it might be best to stop using her own supplies, and do what most of the humans on the job site did already: Trading with the resupply fleets that arrived during the lunch break. That way, if she ate a food combination that was strange to them, they would have to suspect the resupply fleet, instead of her! It would cut into her humble stockpile of money, but she was planning on spending most of that on food at one time or another, anyways. It was a negligible cost to get rid of one of the weaknesses in her disguise.
The Wo-class took a deep, slow breath, allowing the smell from ahead of her to flow through her ventilation and permeate her spaces. Despite the normal sounds of the construction site, the strange scent was… fascinating. It was why she'd chosen the vehicle hailing from the 'Johnny's Bar-B-Que' Fleet over the one belonging to "Delhi Curry," which smelled suspiciously like the mistake she'd consumed on the Pacific Lilly.
The worker in front of her shuffled forwards, and Trinitite followed. She couldn't quite read their list of options yet, but judging by the meals carried by humans trickling back into the worksite, she had a lot to look forward to.
One of the many bread variants, sliced in half so a layer of shredded, juicy meat could be inserted into between the sections. A pool of the sauce gathered around it, like blood leaking from a freshly caught animal. Another human had procured slices of another meat, dark with another sauce that slathered every piece, faint, wispy steam drifting off the creature's fatty muscles. A third human left with a portion of another animal, covered in so many seasonings that it was only identifiable by the regular protrusions of precisely-cut bone. The rib's marrow was perfectly displayed for the abyssal to salivate over.
Despite the attention she was getting, Trinitite was starting to think this was one of her better ideas…
As her position in the line decreased, the smell grew in intensity. The Wo-class focused on the 'menu,' trying to interpret the list of unfamiliar terms, but it l quickly became apparent she wouldn't find much use from it. Sure, she could jam eighteen more terms into her research list, but there might be a better option…
"What can I get you?" The woman manning the vehicle's window asked, her voice calm despite how quickly she spoke.
"Yes..." Trinitite delayed, reviewing her 'battle plan.' "What is your best food?"
The question was based on another she often asked, when Trinitite wanted to kill time with ships of another fleet but didn't know what to talk about. Asking them about weapons systems was an inoffensive way to get them to talk, without sucking them into dangerous topics like each other's princesses. She had a different objective here, but the question should't clue in the fact that Trinitite had no idea what they were actually offering here, beyond meat covered in sauce.
"Well…" The human paused for a second, leaning forwards to look at the menu, before straightening back up. "You can't go wrong with the Brisket."
"It doesn't have…" Trinitite paused, searching for the next word. What was that sauce she'd really regretted drinking called, again? "...Pepper sauce, does it?"
"No, it's not spicy at all." The human reported, leaning back and presumably checking the supplies in the truck. "We could add some."
"No!" Trinitite objected, speaking louder than she'd thought she would. "Uh, please..."
"Got it," The human smirked, but the expression only lasted for a second. "What size?"
Trinitite checked the menu again. None of these were going to be enough for a carrier, but… "Uh, your largest."
The human nodded.
"Would you like to make it a combo?"
"Uh…" it didn't matter what that was. There were other humans behind her, and she was starting to take a little too much time here. "Sure?"
"Coleslaw, 'tato salad, or Beans?"
No… She'd answered incorrectly! Trinitite didn't have any other choice to pick one at random, but...
"Our Coleslaw is pretty nice." The human offered.
"Yeah. Uh, go with that." She replied, thankfulness apparent in her voice.
"Alright, what will you have to drink?"
"The, uh, regular." She replied, looking over the list of drinks. She recognized a lot of them from supplies she'd pilfered from the Fred Meyers Fleet, but hadn't tried any of them yet.
"So, Coca-cola?"
"Yes!" She accepted. Anything that got this over with!
"What size?"
Deep, the human hadn't asked this many questions to the worker in front of her, had she?
- - -
After a short wait and almost twenty dollars, Trinitite found herself scaling the scaffolding surrounding building two, several of those thinly-cut meat slices resting on a flimsy plate of… something. Trinitite wasn't sure how much she trusted the light material, but the rectangular sheet seemed to do well enough holding the meat, a plastic version of those tools used on the Pacific Lilly, and a container of a sliced plant slathered in a white sauce. In her other hand, a dark liquid sat in another container, ominous bubbles escaping from between chunks of ice that bobbed with each step she made. She was pretty excited about the food, but she wasn't looking forward to trying a drink that didn't even seem chemically stable.
Unlike on friday, Sern and Tirto had beaten Trinitite here, the two coworkers discussing something with Alton.
"I'm just saying," Alton's voice was the first she heard approaching the three. "...they aren't actors."
Tirto's reply was too faint to make out, the soft-spoken man difficult to hear from a distance.
"Hasn't she been in a lot of movies?" Sern asked. Trinitite quietly added 'movi' to her research list, but didn't announce her approach. There wasn't any point to interrupting their conversation, especially if she didn't understand what they were talking about.
"You're thinking of Missouri." Alton shook his head. "...and I haven't seen anything about her being back."
"I'm just not sure when the scheduling would work." Tirto commented. Now that Trinitite was close enough to hear him, she could see his choice of meal: A similar sauce-on-rice meal to that she'd had on the Pacific Lilly, but with a leafy green color, instead of the reddish-orange she'd had the displeasure of eating there. "They're fighting a war, after all."
"Eh, you can't fight a war all the time." Alton asserted as Trinitite found her seat. "People and machines break down after too much combat, and Iowa is both."
Iowa… Trinitite turned the name over in her head as she focused on her food. Was that the name of a ship? A high-profile admiral? As she speculated, Trinitite skewered one of the slices of meat with the plastic tool, watching how the viscous liquid dripped down to the rest of her meal.
"It's not like acting is an easy job, though," Sern argued, "even for something as lazy as an Adam Sandler comedy."
Trinitite raised the slice of brisket to her mouth before pausing. If this turned out to be spicy, what was her emergency plan? The drink could do anything, so maybe she should try to stop it with the coleslaw? It just looked like leaves, and the white sauce might not be that different from milk…
"Compared to war?" Alton asked. "Please, Sern, Tirto and I have seen combat. Elizabeth too, probably." The abyssal nodded, although she wasn't paying that much attention. She'd heard of acting, although Princesses used the term rarely enough that she never really figured it out. Maybe another topic for the research list? Anyways, this brisket had already made most of the journey to her mouth. It was time for an experimental nibble, at least.
The human from Java said something, but Trinitite was too wrapped up in the taste of the brisket to notice. The flavor was… deep. There weren't many other ways to explain it. It had a heaviness to it that Trinitite couldn't dismiss, lingering in her mouth as she quickly ate the rest of the brisket slice. The meat itself was interesting, naturally tougher than the fish she was used to, but prepared so that it would melt in her mouth, just like the meals she was so used to.
It was so new, and certainly didn't taste like the fish at Bikini, but the warm meat almost felt like home. The abyssal closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lost in the sensation. Now that she'd let it linger for a bit, she guessed it was a little spicy, but it had taken her a good amount of time to notice. Better take care of that before it became an issue…
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything like that," Sern backpedaled, Trinitite's attention returning to the conversation, "but if you were looking to destress, wouldn't you just want a vacation?"
Trinitite considered using the coleslaw to deal with the minor heat, but it was already dying down. Instead, perhaps a further experiment with the strange drink would be in order.
"I don't know." Tirto replied. Setting her tool down, Trinitite lifted the drink to her mouth and took a cautious sip. "I can't speak for her, but some people always have to be- Are you alright, Elizabeth?"
She hadn't really known what to expect, so when the fizzing drink entered her mouth, she found herself puckering in surprise. It didn't seem to be reacting with anything, thankfully, but the feeling of bubbles constantly tickling her tongue was… new. She nodded, to alleviate Tirto's concern, hoping she hadn't brought too much attention to herself. After experimentally swishing the sweet drink around, she swallowed, taking another experimental sip.
"...Never had that before, huh?" Alton asked. Trinitite nodded again, focusing on the taste of the… cola? Was that what the attendant had called it?
"Anyways..." Tirto chuckled, continuing. "Some people always have to be working on something, or they can't live with themselves. Maybe Iowa is one of those."
The conversation continued, Trinitite focusing quietly on her meal. She didn't fully understand the topic, but it didn't seem like she needed to. Besides, it meant the human's focus wasn't on her, and that was always good.
Not too much to say, here, besides dialogue taking a long time for me to write, as usual. I have a policy to ensure that updates do come out, forcing myself to write at least one sentence every day, but that snowballing into >300 words a day didn't happen until this week, really.
On the chapter itself? Thanks to Jessetheswift for betaing the first half of this chapter, although I didn't run the second by him. This'll be the last chapter for this workday, as I'm generally trying to speed up the fic now that a status quo has been established. There are some fics that can get bogged down in fluff, and I'm trying to avoid that. If I actually do is a judgment I'll leave to future readers.
I'm going to take another crack at that map project I started a while back, see if I can get an info post on that out before the next chapter.
On the chapter itself? Thanks to Jessetheswift for betaing the first half of this chapter, although I didn't run the second by him. This'll be the last chapter for this workday, as I'm generally trying to speed up the fic now that a status quo has been established. There are some fics that can get bogged down in fluff, and I'm trying to avoid that. If I actually do is a judgment I'll leave to future readers.
I'm going to take another crack at that map project I started a while back, see if I can get an info post on that out before the next chapter.
Ah, spicy PTSD. I can relate. Word of advice, if that one friend that loves really spicy food warns you that their "experimental dish " was too spicy for them, and that you shouldn't eat it, then you should probably listen to them.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
From what I've heard, being in an Adam Sandler comedy basically is a vacation hah.
Got a big laugh out Trin's trepidation with calling soda a chemically unstable drink, and it looks like the Friday right after that wasn't uppercase which is the only error I saw.
I also really liked the distracted nod that, yes, Trin has been in combat before. Though I have a crazy hunch she meant something entirely different from Alton...
Got a big laugh out Trin's trepidation with calling soda a chemically unstable drink, and it looks like the Friday right after that wasn't uppercase which is the only error I saw.
I also really liked the distracted nod that, yes, Trin has been in combat before. Though I have a crazy hunch she meant something entirely different from Alton...
Good choice! She's really got some strong opinions that she can indulge in.
Great description. Abyssals like sucking out bone marrow? Seems legit.
Hah - really oddly worded, but a very normal question.
Ominous indeed! Such a terrifying drink!
And Trin's forming relationships; slowly, and awkwardly, but she is!
- Location
- The Frozen North
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So I just caught back up with this and in doing so read the update that mentioned the subs Trin has sunk. Knowing that sunken Abyssal ships such as Trin's sisters are resummonable, is that also the case for shipgirls like the subs Trin killed? This is something I've always figured would be the case, but doesn't seem to be a thing in most KC fics.
The updates have been good. It'll be interesting to see what slip up ends up getting Alton the proof he wants. Hoping it'll still be a bit till he gets it though, construction seems to be a good job for Trin to learn how to human.
The updates have been good. It'll be interesting to see what slip up ends up getting Alton the proof he wants. Hoping it'll still be a bit till he gets it though, construction seems to be a good job for Trin to learn how to human.
- Location
- Newer England
Shipsgirls appear to be resummonable, since conventional subs are noted to be unsummonable in contrast to the shipgirl subs Trin sank (whose cause of death was presumably confirmed by resummoning them and asking).
- Location
- Oregon
Marrow is a good food. The texture isn't great (it usually ends up goopy or powdery), but if you can handle that the taste is good and the nutrition is excellent.
serra2
Himouto! Sylvanas-chan
Yeah, my mom had a thing for ribs, and would break the bones to get the nice insides.
PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
It was a great deal! Iowa got some luxury leave time, a boatload of money, and gets to try acting in a movie!
...That is, until her friends and sisters actually see the movie she's in, then she'll never live it down! Suddenly Missouri doesn't feel too guilty about starring in Battleship.
Yup, shipgirls can be resummoned. The US is working through a bottleneck of only two naval stations with working summoning chambers, so it's not a sure thing for them, but the JMSDF can typically recover a lost shipgirl within a few months.
Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
I had to ❤️ just for Trin's further experiences with human food 😘
"Alright ladies, I know it's hard, but there is to be no snickering when Missouri visits."
In all seriousness, how the hell could the Navy look at that script - specifically that main character - and think 'that looks good'?