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An Unexpected Admiral (Kancolle)

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In fact, it could be a small Arctic research station with a population of five. This is what fits the description "Stuck in the middle of nowhere."
 
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by tramp_stamp on Jul 7, 2021 at 11:29 PM, finished with 25 posts and 13 votes.
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  • Voting
    • Since most people who voted Russian didn't put a name, are you going to come up with something since the highest voted runner up is an Italian name?
     
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    Day 1, part 1: Introductions
  • Threadmarks
    • Leontina's Exact Age: 24+1d10 (6) = 30
    Shipgirl: 1d12 = 8 (Nagatsuki)
    Distance from Town: 1d11 = 2 miles

    You don't know what's going on or where you are, but those are problems for later ...

    The green-haired girl with you is holding something shaped like an oversized cheeseburger which you instantly recognize as being your purse.

    It, like you, is soaked.

    Nagatsuki hands it to you. "This was floating next to you. What is it?" she asks.

    "It's a purse. Women carry to one to hold small items like ID, money, make-up, and more."

    You are met with a blank expression of utter confusion.

    "Right ..."

    A quick look inside reveals your ID, money, credit cards, and phone are in it. Thank God for small miracles. The phone's probably ruined. Your makeup and definitely is.

    Turning to the girl you introduce yourself. "I'm Leontina. What's your name?"

    The girl pull herself to full height and says, "I am the Japanese Mutsuki-class destroyer Nagatsuki. You are my Teitoku." She scrunches up her face in thought for a moment. "You are my Аdmiral."

    You think to yourself "this green-haired girl is delusional". She notices your expression of utter disbelief and continues.

    "No really. Let me show you." Out comes her rigging, complete with weapons. "Watch."

    Nagatsuki walks to the ocean, steps out on to it, and skates around for a bit before coming back to you.

    "Assuming you aren't just some hallucination, I believe you."

    She huffs "But I am real."

    "I said I believe you. Anyways, we should try to find our way to civilization." Pointing at the rising smoke, "That's nearby and as good a place as any to start looking."

    "Hai!"

    Before you start off she points at your watch and asks. "What time is it and where's that set to?"

    You reply with the time and timezone of your hometown. A moment later a few tiny chibi looking versions of the girl appear on her shoulder with navigation instruments before vanishing a short time later.

    "What are those?" You ask with disbelief.

    "Fairies. They're my crew."

    You take her statement at face value because it makes just as much (non)sense as any other possible explanation.

    The walk is mostly uneventful, although it does start raining. Nagatsuki talks your ear off to the pass the time while you get where you're going, telling you all about herself - her armament, size, speed, range, &c - along with some of what she did during WWII.

    You're impressed. She either knows everything about some random Japanese ship or is some sort of witch with an impressive ability to spin a story at a moment's notice. Assuming she's not just a figment of your imagination, that is.

    One of Nagatsuki's fairies pops out, salutes, says, "Oi, oi oi oi oi oi oioioi," and hands her a clipboard.

    "Thank you, you're dismissed." The fairy disappears as the clipboard grows to human scale. Nagatsuki flips through the pages and sighs.

    "What's that say?"

    "My fairies can't figure out where we are. We're in the Southern hemisphere on a West coast. Their best guess is not near land so your watch must be off too."

    You visibly slump. The last place you remember being is the East coast of Scotland. On holiday. With your family.

    The two of you reach the source of the smoke to discover it's a small town which has suffered some sort of disaster. The harbour has been destroyed and many of the the buildings are piles of ash and rubble. Some are still on fire. Most of the ones still standing are damaged.

    "This town was shelled or bombed within the past few hours."

    You merely nod in agreement with her assesment.

    People are scampering about - trying to put out the remaining fires (the rain is helping here), digging through rubble, or tending to the injured. Everyone looks like they're in shock.

    Nagatsuki's outfit is still completely dry, despite the rain. That's when you finally notice how cold you are. You aren't freezing but you are shivering.

    Voting Options:

    What does Leontina do? (pick one):
    [] Help put out the fires
    [] Help treat the wounded
    [] Help search the rubble for survivors
    [] write-in

    She tells Nagatsuki to (pick one):
    [] Assist with the fires
    [] Assist the wounded
    [] Search the rubble for survivors
    [] Search the harbour for survivors
    [] write-in

    The two of you can't be everywhere at once.

    Once the immediate emergency is dealt with, what next:
    [] Talk to the locals, try to figure out what happened and where you are
    [] Talk to Nagatsuki, try to learn more about her
    [] Explore the town to get a better feel for what's still standing
    [] write-in

    You'll have access to food, dry clothing and a place to stay. You did help after all.

    Leontina's father was named:
    [] write-in (a Japanese or Russian boy's given name)

    This is for constructing her patronymic.

    Leontina's surname:
    [] her husband is Italian, don't tweak it
    [] Russify it
    [] write-in (something Russian)

    It's up to you.

    That Nat1 on the location roll meant I didn't have to wait for the vote tally to start writing.

    BTW: I sent you straight to town without a vote because of how close the distance roll came up. Nagatsuki would have been able to spot it from sea within a few minutes of setting off to scout in the direction of the smoke.

    I've also updated the informational posts.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Help put out the fires
    [X] Search the rubble for survivors
    [X] Talk to the locals, try to figure out what happened and where you are
    [X] Mikhail
    [X] Russify it
     
    [X] Help treat the wounded
    [X] Assist with the fires
    [X] Talk to the locals, try to figure out what happened and where you are
    [X] her husband is Italian, don't tweak it
     
    [X] Help treat the wounded
    [X] Assist with the fires
    [X] Talk to the locals, try to figure out what happened and where you are
    [X] her husband is Italian, don't tweak it
     
    [X] Help treat the wounded
    [X] Assist with the fires
    [X] Talk to the locals, try to figure out what happened and where you are
    [X] her husband is Italian, don't tweak it
     
    Vote closed
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by tramp_stamp on Jul 10, 2021 at 7:44 PM, finished with 4 posts and 4 votes.
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  • Voting
    • Day 1, part 2: Helping the Locals
  • Threadmarks
    • Local reception: d100 = 98
    Leontina's action: d100 = 68 v. 20/40/60/80
    Nagatsuki's action: d100 = 81 v. 20/40/60/80

    Abyssal night encounter: d100 = 89 v. 85 Yes
    Leontina awake: d100 = 32 v. 75 No

    Moments after reaching the settlement you looked at Nagatsuki but your question went unasked when she said "My fairies have fire hoses."

    "Help with the fires then." With that, the shipgirl scampered off.

    You, meanwhile, headed into town a bit unsure of how to best help. Your first aid knowledge was rudimentary and you didn't have a travel-sized first aid kit in your purse or know where the local hospital was.

    The question of how to help was answered when you spotted a man with a nasty gash on his head and clearly broken arm staggering in the street. After you got his good arm over your shoulder he directs you to the hospital, in English, a language you thankfully understand.

    The scene at the hospital is one of controlled chaos. With only one doctor for a few dozen injured he clearly needs help.

    While you can't assist with surgery or set broken limbs there are things you can do. After a very brief conversation he tells you where the supplies are and sets you on dealing with the lightly wounded so he's free to focus on the more serious cases.

    For the rest of the day you clean and bandage minor wounds, sterilize instruments, act as a gofer, &c. The thankless little tasks which get noticed when there's no one around to do them.

    While Leontina was helping out at the hospital Nagatsuki was a whirlwind of activity. With only one fire truck there wasn't a quick way for the locals to douse all the flames. She methodically went from fire to fire and deployed her rigging. Her fairies would pop out with hoses and spray it down before it was on to the next one. By sunset all the fires were out, including the big one where the fuel for the for the local boats and the island's four generators was stored.

    Once things settled down everyone gathered in the church, one of the few undamaged buildings on the island. With the generators damaged anld the power out it was the safest place to spend the night.

    Thankfully you were no longer in your soaking wet clothes. A townswoman had lent you a warm dress which mostly fit.

    You were about to start asking around to see who was in charge when a gentleman in his 60s sat down next to you. There was a bandage on his forehead and his left arm was in a sling. He was the man you helped get to the hospital earlier and, coincidentally, the Chief Islander. He was also very glad you were here to help and made it clear you welcome to stay for as long as you'd like.

    The conversation with him was lengthy. He inquired about where you and Nagatsuki were from while you asked about where you were.

    You told him you were from Russia and last remembered being in Scotland with your family along with other friendly small talk. When you asked the date (July 19th) you realized there was a roughly three-week gap in your memory.

    What you had to say about Nagatsuki was a bit more complicated since you'd only met her earlier that day. He took your explantion that she had extraordinary abilities at face value because he'd been told about the unbelievable things she'd done when fire fighting.

    He in turn told you about Tristan de Cunha, the history of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (the town) and so-on and so-forth ... including a description of the pre-dawn attack. Neither he, nor anyone else, got a good look at the ship which shelled the town.

    You also got the bad news: Tristan de Cunha is a small volcanic island in the South Atlantic with no airstrip. The only way in or out is by boat. It's a six-day trip to South Africa and a ship stops by roughly once a month. The last one was four days ago. With the power out internet and telephone service is unavailable. Without either it'll be at least a month before the outside world knows what happened here.

    Nagatsuki, sitting next to you, idly fidgeted throughout the conversation. She couldn't understand what was being said because she didn't speak English but realized this was a conversation she shouldn't interrupt.

    Towards the end of it she bubbled in Russian, "I'm gonna go watch the sea and stars," then darted off before you could respond.

    You just shook your head and muttered, "That girl needs a leash."

    SG detection: d100 + 4 + 20 (binoculars) = 72 v. 20 + 40 (night) Yes
    AB detection: d100 + 3 - 20 (damage) = 41 v. 20 + 40 (night) No

    Round 1
    Nagatsuki attacks.
    To hit: d100 + 12 (surprise) = 73 v. 14 Yes
    Critical: d100 + 12 (surprise) = 103 Yes
    Damage: d18 * (100 - d5)/100 * 2 (12, 2) = 23.28

    I-class: -14/20hp, sunk!

    Drop roll: d100 = 7 v. 100 No, TN now 95

    Nagatsuki felt good being on the water as she patrolled, ever vigilant, five miles north of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas in the darkness.

    Off in the distance, but very close in naval terms, she noticed a moving shape. Magnified by by a pair of binoculars, she could make it out.

    The silouette looked like a warship but something was off. It reeked of evil. She instinctively knew it was an Abyssal even though she'd never seen one before. I-class, heavily damaged, according to her fairies.

    "I need to contact the Admiral but there's no time! What should I do?"

    A fairy popped out and said "Oi oi oioioi."

    "Radio? Think it'll work?"

    "Oi."

    Nagatsuki attempted to contact Leontina with her radio and was met with snoring.

    "Admiral, wake up!"

    More snoring.

    "I guess I'm on my own and I doubt that thing has noticed me yet. A full spread of torpedoes should sink it."

    She fired and waited for the torpedoes to arrive. When the they hit there were four waterspouts followed a magazine explosion.

    The Abyssal was consigned to a watery grave.

    Back in town the noise from the explosion woke everybody up, nervous and on edge after the attack that morning. You could tell they were afraid. The lack of further explotions allowed them to relax a bit.

    In her mind she heard Nagatsuki happily calling her by radio. "Admiral!" Leontina looked around but couldn't see the green-haired destroyer in the church. Exitedly the girl continued, "You're awake! I did it!"

    "Where are you and what did you do?"

    "A few miles offshore. I just sunk an Abyssal!"

    "A what? Nevermind. Just get back here and then you can explain. I'll meet you at the harbour."

    A few minutes later Leontina arrived to see the destroyer standing there with a mixed expression - partly excited for her first victory and partly worried she'd messed up by going after the Abyssal without orders.

    She described the battle and then explained what Abyssals were (evil creatures from the deep with a genocidal grudge against humanity) and how she was able to contact Leontina (shipgirls can mentally radio their admiral and vice-versa). She could not explain how or why she knew these things because she'd only been back for about a day and practically everything was new to her.

    You decide to mentally file away inexplicable things involving Nagatsuki as "Magical Sparkly Shipgirl Bullshit" and call it a day, or night as the case may be. You're still not certain Nagatsuki isn't just a collective hallucination, but the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of "she's real".

    Ruffling Nagatsuki's hair you say, "You did good. Now let's get back to everyone else. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

    Voting Options

    Leontina:
    [] Explore the town to get a better feel for what's still standing
    [] Help search the rubble for those who weren't found yesterday
    [] Work with the Chief Islander to come up with a plan for getting things back to some semblance of normalcy
    [] write-in

    Nagatsuki:
    [] Have Nagatsuki scout the island along with the nearby ones for Abyssals
    [] Have Nagatsuki look at the damaged generators, she's a ship and her engineering faires might be able to repair a somewhat modern diesel generator
    [] Have Nagatsuki help search the rubble for those who weren't found yesterday
    [] Have Nagatsuki search the harbour. Perhaps one or more of the sunken local boats is only lightly damaged and can be repaired without too much difficulty.
    [] write-in

    The chance of an Abyssal showing up is low, but don't discount the possibility.

    Lastly:
    [] Talk to Nagatsuki about what else she's capable of at some point during the day. This will distract her from what she's doing and impose a penalties for the rest of the day (or tomorrow, if over dinner).
    - [] Over breakfast
    - [] Over lunch
    - [] Over dinner
    [] Leave her be and let her focus on the task at hand

    Writing Leontina talking to the Mayor was the hardest part. Dialogue is not my strong suit and after several awkward attempts at dialogue I decided to describe the conversation instead. I'll probably do that a lot.

    Nagatsuki was much easier to write. I figured it would be the other way around since she can't speak English.

    Now that you know where you are here's the wikipedia articles on Tristan da Cunha and Edinburgh of the Seven Seas:

    en.wikipedia.org

    Tristan da Cunha - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

    en.wikipedia.org

    Edinburgh of the Seven Seas - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

    It's very remote. Distances to some "nearby" inhabited places (in nautical miles):
    - Saint Helena (1,316)
    - Cape Town, South Africa (1,505)
    - Walvis Bay, Namibia (1,613)
    - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1,823)
    - The Falkands (2,161)
    - Buenos Aires, Argentina (2,202)
    - Cape Horn, Chile (2,452)

    Other: Leontina's full name is now sorted out. Nagatsuki hasn't realized she knows how to build a summoning pool, repair bath, or bring you onto her hull. You'll need to talk to her about what other tricks she's got up her sleeve before she does.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Explore the town to get a better feel for what's still standing
    [X] Have Nagatsuki look at the damaged generators, she's a ship and her engineering faires might be able to repair a somewhat modern diesel generator
    [X] Talk to Nagatsuki about what else she's capable of at some point during the day. This will distract her from what she's doing and impose a penalties for the rest of the day (or tomorrow, if over dinner).
    - [x] Over lunch

    They need lights and heat at least
     
    [X] Explore the town to get a better feel for what's still standing
    [X] Have Nagatsuki look at the damaged generators, she's a ship and her engineering faires might be able to repair a somewhat modern diesel generator
    [X] Talk to Nagatsuki about what else she's capable of at some point during the day. This will distract her from what she's doing and impose a penalties for the rest of the day (or tomorrow, if over dinner).
    - [x] Over lunch
     
    Vote closed
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by tramp_stamp on Jul 14, 2021 at 7:22 PM, finished with 2 posts and 2 votes.
    • [X] Explore the town to get a better feel for what's still standing
      [X] Have Nagatsuki look at the damaged generators, she's a ship and her engineering faires might be able to repair a somewhat modern diesel generator
      [X] Talk to Nagatsuki about what else she's capable of at some point during the day. This will distract her from what she's doing and impose a penalties for the rest of the day (or tomorrow, if over dinner).
      - [x] Over lunch
    Click to expand...
     
  • Voting
    • Day 2: Some Progress
  • Threadmarks
    • Generator damage: d100 = 48

    Leontina's action: d100 = 7

    Nagatsuki's action: d100 - 10 (distraction) = 24 v. 100 - (damage) = 52
    Nagatsuki's knowledge: 1d100 = 58 v. 50/70/80/90
    Result: 1d3 = 1 Summoning pool, TN 25 (DD) or 50 (DD or CL/CVE)

    Abyssal encounter: d100 = 3 v. 85 No

    July 20

    Morning comes all too soon when it suddenly hits you. You're very far away from home and your family is almost certainly worried sick about you. With the way things currently are there's no way to contact them at the moment.

    Nagatsuki is sticking close to you. You're the only one she can easily communicate with. She's likely just as homesick as you are, but she's difficult to read.

    The church is almost empty and the surviving Tristanians are mostly all awake and getting ready for the day. They appear to have an understanding of what needs to be done after yesterday's disaster.

    Shortly after leaving the church you and Nagatsuki see the Chief Islander. He waves you over and invites you to breakfast with him and his wife.

    What was his name again? William, that's it! You hope you're right because you've always been bad at remembering names.

    You were right, thankfully.

    Over breakfast you explain last night's excitement and make sure Nagatsuki knows that the Tristanians are greatful for her quick on the spot response.

    Neither you, William, or his wife Beatrice were prepared for Nagatsuki's ravenous appetite. She made a hungry teenage boy look restrained. That is, no locked pantry or refrigerator could be considered secure when she's nearby and her belly's rumbling. She ate that much.

    She explains that most of the food is being used to top up her bunkers and stores, including the six torpedoes she fired last night ... so that's a thing.

    As breakfast concludes it's agreed that you'll take a look around town, partly to get your bearings and partly to see what damage you notice that the islanders might not have spotted yet.

    William isn't too worried about the lack of electricity because, even in winter, it's never below freezing in Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (The Settlement). He does agree to letting Nagatsuki take a crack at repairing the generators because that will let him get word to the outside world about what happened more quickly than waiting for the next ship to arrive in about a month.

    With breakfast concluded you head your seperate ways for the day.

    ****

    You meander about town with a notebook and umbrella taking notes as you go. Only two buildings aren't damaged or destroyed: the hospital and the church.

    Everything else has a least a few broken windows. You're not an architect so estimating the amount of damage to any one building that hasn't been reduced to rubble is just amateur guesswork at best.

    About half the buildings, including the local factory and school will need to be totally rebuilt from the ground up and several streets have craters in need of filling.

    Around lunchtime you stop by the generators Nagatsuki is working on to bring her lunch and see how she's doing.

    She has one partly disassembled and her fairies are pouring over it with fairy sized tape measures and taking notes. Nagatsuki explains that these are more sophisticated than anything they have experience with. They're having a bit of trouble figuring out the fuel injection system but think one generator can be fixed within in a few days.

    Before departing you ask her to think about what kinds of things she can do now that she couldn't do before she came back in human form as a shipgirl.

    ****

    As the sun starts to set William catches up with you. After stopping by to the generators to collect Nagatsuki because you don't want her wearing herself out by staying up all night, it's time for dinner.

    All but one of her fairies vanishes into her. The last one remains perched on her shoulder like a parrot chattering a string of "Oi's" whenever you or William speak.

    Curious, you ask in Russian what that one's doing. She replies, again in Russian, that this fairy is one of her radio operators and translating English into fairyspeak so she can understand what others are saying. She'd noticed the fairy in question translating things written in English stamped on various parts of the generator for her engineering fairies and got the idea from that.

    ****

    Over dinner Nagatsuki, her appetite now back to that of a girl her size, brings up Summoning. She can build a pool which will allow more girls like her to be called from the beyond with the proper ritual and offering.

    This leads to a four way discussion between you, William, Beatrice, and Nagatsuki.

    To get a shipgirl to answer the call some food, steel, fuel, and ammunition or a weapon plus a plea by an Admiral is required. The size of the of the offering is surprizingly small and won't burden the resources available on Tristan de Cunha.

    Keeping a gaggle shipgirls fed, on the other hand, is another matter. Nagatsuki explains that, as a destroyer, her dietary needs after a sortie are small compared to those of a battleship or fleet carrier.

    William and Beatrice look concerned. The island could definitely use more helping hands, especially ones capable of defending it from the horrors of the Abyss, but too many would be problematic without importing food. They think five, maybe six, girls like Nagatsuki is manageable, so that's the limit for now.

    Voting Options
    These cover the next few days.

    Leontina (pick one):
    [] Check out the harbour and assist with salvage efforts there
    [] Lend a helping hand somewhere else
    - [] in town
    - [] in the farm fields
    - [] with the cattle
    - [] other (write-in)

    There's not really much for Leontina to do at the moment which could be called critical. The Tristanians have the situation under control but the only way on or off the island is by boat. Aside from Nagatsuki there's nothing currently seaworthy nearby.

    Nagatsuki (pick one additional):
    [X] Have her continue working on the generators - mandatory
    [] Have her build a summoning pool
    - [] Attempt to summon a DD
    - [] Attempt to summon a CL/CVE
    [] Have her check out the harbour
    [] Have her radio fairy give her a crash course in "Hey"-to-spoken English
    [] other (write-in)

    It would look bad if Nagatsuki does something else before the a generator is fixed unless she can't repair it. The option you pick happens after that's done.

    Those die rolls were less than stellar ... and once again good extended dialogue eludes me. The first draft sounded like I was having a conversation with myself, BOO!

    I also wrote myself into a corner with Nagatsuki's lack of English fluency and gave her an English-speaking fairy to compensate. Summoned shipgirls from now on will either know English or have a fairy who does.

    I'm treating Nagatsuki's generator work as an extended roll with a modifier of +(previous result / 2). Currently, that's +12 v. a TN of 52. Unless a Nat 1 is rolled power should be back online in a few days with her other action taking place the day after that.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Lend a helping hand somewhere else
    - [X] with the cattle
    If food will be an issue, then let's at least lend a helping hand on that front.

    [X] Have her build a summoning pool
    - [X] Attempt to summon a DD

    More hands would be quite welcome.
     
    [X] Lend a helping hand somewhere else
    - [X] with the cattle
    [X] Have her build a summoning pool
    - [X] Attempt to summon a DD
     
    [X] Lend a helping hand somewhere else
    - [X] in the farm fields

    The cows should be fine. The crops being ruined is more likely if damaged and not harvested
     
    Vote closed
  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by tramp_stamp on Jul 18, 2021 at 7:18 AM, finished with 3 posts and 3 votes.
    • [X] Lend a helping hand somewhere else
      - [X] with the cattle
      [X] Have her build a summoning pool
      - [X] Attempt to summon a DD
      [X] Lend a helping hand somewhere else
      - [X] in the farm fields
    Click to expand...
     
  • Voting
    • Day 3-6: Rain, Electricity, and ... Luck?
  • Threadmarks
    • Shenanigans: d100 = 73 v. 75 Barely averted

    Leontina: d100 = 84
    Nagatsuki:
    Repair 1: d100 + 12 = 37 v. 52 No
    Repair 2: d100 + 19 = 43 v. 52 No
    Repair 3: d100 + 23 = 107 v. 52 Yes
    Pool construction: d100 = 64 v. 50

    Summoning: d100 = 100 v. 25 double summon!

    Type: DD (automatic)
    DD class: 1d28 = 5 Project 20
    Ship: Tashkent (only one built)
    Knows English: 1d100 = 9 No
    Knows Italian: built in Liverno, Yes

    Type: DD (automatic)
    DD class: 1d27 = 25 Shimekaze-class
    Ship: Shimekaze (only one built)
    Knows English: 1d100 = 43 No

    Abyssal encounter: 1d100 = 27 v. 85 No

    July 21-23

    When you asked Chief William how you could best help out while Nagatsuki worked on a generator he asked if you could ride a horse.

    You should have said "No."

    You didn't and so here you are, on horseback, in the middle of a pasture, watching over a herd of cattle, during a heavy rainstorm. At least you've got a borrowed waterproof raincoat and the temperature is above 10°C. Than God for small miracles.

    The cattle regard you with casual disinterest and go about their business. To them you're a piece of mobile scenery that'll get in the way if they try to wander. No more, no less.

    Idly remembering a Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode where Quark mentioned that the Ferengi have 178 words to describe rain you chuckle at the thought of a Ferengi unable to precisely describe the miserable weather you're stuck in. You also pray that Nagatsuki gets a generator fixed quickly.

    Unfortunately, your prayer isn't answered and the next two days are much of the same dreary boredom.

    ****

    Nagatsuki's fairies weren't rushing things, much to her chagrin. The least damaged generator had been mostly disassembled and the damaged parts had been identified.

    Now came the tedious portion of the teardown and rebuild. Finding undamaged replacements among the other three, more heavily damaged, generators.

    That meant partially taking those apart too. Near the end of the 22nd her fairies were confident they had what they needed.

    Putting the "good" one back together took all of the 23rd. It was late enough when they finished that a final once over by the fairies before starting it would have to wait until morning.

    ****

    July 24

    You set off for another day long shower spent on horseback. It's a rinse and repeat of the previous dreary three - nothing exciting happens.

    Nagatsuki is having a much more exciting day. The final generator check went well and turning it on went smoothly. With that accomplished she left getting power restored to the various buildings to the pair of islanders who handled most of the electrical work whenever something broke.

    Now it was time for the fun part: building the summoning pool.

    Chief William had helpfully provided her with a bag of potatoes, some diesel fuel in a gas can, an old rusty hatchet, and the remnants of what had been the passenger side door of an automobile to to use as an offering. Along with a shovel and some tools.

    Now she just had to build the pool.

    She seriously considered using one of her depth charges to make a crater near the high tide line and had one out when her common sense, in the form of her XO fairy, woke up and chimed in with string of "Oi''s" telling her that "Detonating 100kg of picric acid this close to town is a bad idea, so don't do that."

    Instead she dug a bathtub sized hole with a meter of flat deck surrounding it in a spot that would be filled at high tide. It was small and crude but would work.

    Adding some of her own hair into the the structure to anchor and reinforce the pool, she smoothed out the sides fairly quickly.

    Carving intricate patterns into the smoothed out surfaces and adding auspicious phrases in both Japanese and Russion took much longer.

    The sun was setting and it was almost high tide when she was satisfied with what she'd built.

    ****

    Leontina and Nagatsuki had been given the use of a lightly damaged small home previously occupied by someone who had died a few weeks earlier. The broken windows had been boarded up but the power was still out.

    Dinner went by quietly. Once everything had been cleaned up you both headed to the pool.

    You were impressed with her handiwork, now glistening in the moonlight.

    Once the offerings were carefully positioned you took the spot Nagatzuki told you to stand in and began making your plea.

    It was a very heartfelt request for aid and included a description of what harm the Abyssals had done people living on Tristan de Cunha.

    It worked and a blindingly bright ball of light took shape above the surface of the pool.

    As the light fades you see two girls standing on the surface of the summoning pool with their rigging out pushing at each other as if they'd just squeezed through a tight doorway during a race to see who was the fastest.

    The one slightly closer to you is dressed in something sensible for cold Russian weather with the exception of her skirt. It's way too short. The ends of her long light brown pigtails are closer to the pool's surface than the mid-thigh hem of her skirt.

    The other has waist length blonde hair but otherwise looks Japanese. Her outfit is a sight to behold. A headband with bunny ears sticking up, very long white gloves, and candy striped thigh high stockings. The rest of her "school uniform" looks like what would happen if someone were to cosplay a schoolgirl, during Carnival, in Rio de Janeiro.

    To your side Nagatsuki is stunned by not one but two spirits answering Leontina's plea.

    The somewhat sensibly dressed one addresses you with a smart salute and Italian-accented Russian. "Soviet destroyer Tashkent, reporting to Admiral."

    The other one bubbly introduces herself while bowing with, "Teitoku, I'm Shimakaze, the fastest destroyer there is."

    Tashkent glares at Shimakaze. "No. No, you are not."

    "Great", you think to yourself, as the two start verbally sparring in Russian, with bits of vulgar Italian and Japanese and some shoving thrown in for good measure, and start wondering, "which all-powerful entity placed me on his fecal roster?"

    You clear your throat and the two go quiet. "I'm Leontina Mancini and," indicating the girl standing to your right, "this is Nagatsuki."

    Shimakaze wastes no time in tackle hugging her fellow Japanese destroyer.

    Helping the two up you say, "Let's get back to town before it starts raining. I'd rather not get soaked again."

    On the way back Nagatsuki explains the situation to the new arrivals, filling them in with what she knows about the Abyssals - some of which she hadn't told you yet. She also has to occasionally tug on Shimakaze to keep her from running ahead.

    You get the sense that Shimakaze has only two speeds: "flank" and "yes".

    Voting Options

    Leontina (pick one additional):
    [X] Call your husband - mandatory
    [] Check the news via the internet
    [] Call the Russian Embassy in London
    [] Call the Japanese Embassy in London
    [] Supervise the destroyers, you do need to learn "How to Admiral"
    [] other (write-in)

    When word of Leontina and her fleet gets out at least a half-dozen countries will take an interest in you. By the end of tomorrow the Royal Navy will know about you.

    The Shipgirls (pick one):
    [] Scout the nearby islands for signs of Abyssal presence
    [] Fleet maneuvers: they need to learn to work together before you send them out
    [] Harbor salvage, perhaps they can raise some local boats and get them ashore for repairs
    [] Have their fairies give them a crash course in "Hey"-to-spoken English
    [] other (write-in)

    Bonus: Ask them to think about what else they can do that they couldn't do before:
    [] Yes, distraction penalty
    [] No, let them focus

    Summoning:
    [] Yes, try for another shipgirl
    - [] Attempt to summon a DD
    - [] Attempt to summon a CL/CVE
    [] No, you feel three is enough of a handful for now

    Now that you've got a summoning pool, a few shipgirls, and communication with the outside world the action should start to pick up.

    I pruned the available classes to those made 1910 or later. Older destroyer classes are too short-ranged for where you are and the older cruisers don't slot neatly into the CL/CA divide.

    On another note: That summoning roll, OH MY! They've been added to the fleet info post.
     
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    • I see some of Stranded's summoning luck has managed to find it's way here.

    For the voting options, I think either checking the news or one of the two embassy options would be a good idea. I think, though, that getting a more general idea of things before phoning an embassy would be great.
    Given the... competitiveness between our newest ships, fleet maneuvers is a must. Thus, it's also probably for the best that we don't distract them.
    Summoning. I could be convinced either way, though I'm leaning towards staying with three for now. So, here's my slate:

    [] Check the news via the internet
    [] Fleet maneuvers: they need to learn to work together before you send them out
    [] No, let them focus
    [] No, you feel three is enough of a handful for now
     
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