Anchovy Peaches L - Reply, Riposte and Recalcitrants
Anchovy Peaches L - Reply, Riposte and Recalcitrants
The Admiral looked up from the report and looked at Callahan. "Five hundred meters?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," the nervous Marine answered. "Ten for ten in the bull ring, and no problems with fire discipline. They are snipers with their breath weapons and energy beams. They picked up areas they are and are not allowed very quickly. How their formation disperses is a sight to behold. I could have 200 meters of clear ground, say 'dismissed' and suddenly I'm by myself with no one traversing the empty space, just gone."
The admiral nodded at that. Closed and even locked doors were not slowing down those looking after various people, or performing their duties. "Problems? They sound like ideal soldiers."
"The idea of uniforms being uniform seems to be a bit of a sticking point. Some wear the modern kit. Some are wearing kit from the Meiji Period, and everything in between. Some are army, some navy. Predictably, the division between Japanese and American uniforms falls along where the movie came out, although a couple of the Zillas wear the Foreign Legion's battle dress. Gorgo insists on something Nelson would have recognized," Callahan explained, "And don't get me started on Rank insignia."
"Yes, one of the nurses looking out for my house wears 6-star rank on her nurse's uniform," Crawford noted then saw Callahan couldn't manage a chuckle for that. "But that's not what's bothering you Major."
The marine sighed. "This morning, I woke late, because someone turned off my alarm. I woke to the smell of blueberry pancakes. I rushed downstairs to look around, and Carlos was making them. It was all I could do not to grab the fire extinguisher. I mean I can burn soup, and Carlos had even less interest in cooking. If our meals don't come from the mess, they come out of the microwave. I'd never seen him at such ease as he was making the pancakes and unlike the stereotype, there was no huge mess to clean up. He was just pouring, flipping and stacking, and he looked happy. And watching both of us was The Silver Mare."
The Admiral sighed. "Neither you nor Carlos are betraying your wife by getting along with your lives. She likely would have wanted that. These `Smols` as Admiral Richardson called them are very much like ship-girls. They fiercely want to be useful, they want to do well for the people they care about. They're advancing theories that the Abyssals are ship-girls who've lost touch with their humans, either their crews, their nation or the human race as a whole. If The Silver Mare was created from a template that Godzilla provided, he probably used the ship-girls as a basis. She isn't trying to supplant Maria, she's just trying to look after you two."
"So, Northampton and you had a talk about this kind of thing?" Callahan said.
"Many long and sometimes frustrating to terrifying talks," the Admiral said, "There are a lot of things that we gloss over because we see things one way and assume that if it looks like us, it thinks like us. And if it doesn't, it doesn't. You've done training of new recruits, a soldier and a civilian can seem two different beasts, but we're all people. Ship-girls don't quite fit as humans, but they're close. The only danger is letting her boss you around. Wanting what's best for you isn't the same as doing what's necessary, and many are still technically civilians."
"I have to wonder what possessed him," Callahan said.
"Beyond what he said that night? Ask him, he isn't shy," Crawford said, then looked at the tray of coffee, sliced fruit and crackers with cheese that had appeared beside them. Crawford knew who was beneath it and that it would be politely insisted on by the largest of the Smols, "Probably looked at who Carlos was interested in, to ease acceptance of a more motherly figure."
"Hasbro(TM) is going to sue us if this gets out," Callahan said as he took the black coffee nearest him and a couple of apple slices.
"I'm more worried about requests to make more of them," Crawford said.
------------------------------
Victory and Constitution hadn't been expecting a squad of marines blocking their plane, nor an angry Admiral Crawford leading them.
"Open up the suitcases," the Admiral said, his usual humor gone.
"You'd look at a lady's underthings?" Victory asked coquettishly.
"Either you do it, or I'll have John Ericsson do it," he said, not a smile, not a glimmer.
The two tall ships headed towards the table that had been prepared for just such a need.
The pair opened the suitcases and looked anywhere else as Corporal Wilcox and a female nurse uncovered the Abyssal destroyer hidden within each of the pair of cases.
Crawford handed the tall ships each a clipboard, while Wilcox handed a clipboard to each captain of the destroyers.
"There are rules," Crawford said, "And don't put 'he just followed me home' or you'll be thinking up a better explanation in the brig," Crawford said, he looked at the destroyer captains, "That goes for you two as well."
Sheepishly, the two tall ships filled out the pages of paperwork. The ships' captain's paperwork was simpler, basically verifying they were going of their own free will and that they'd have to be vetted properly upon reaching their destination.
He surveyed the paperwork, then Crawford saluted. "Have a pleasant day, and remember they aren't cleared yet."
Victory and Constitution saluted, then they and their charges boarded their plane.
"How'd you know," Wilcox asked as they watched the plane taxi.
"Ship-girls get predictable after a while," Crawford said and glanced at the Corporal who looked at him as if from a nightmare.
"I don't think I want to be able to predict that, sir," she said.
"They first teach it in Sergeant school," Crawford said as the plane took off.
------------------------------
Mutsu lay face down in the water, her legs languidly waving in the air. Godzilla knew full well the snorkeling battleship was teasing him, but the instant he would withdraw his hands, she'd utterly panic. Nagato hadn't teased as seductively, but her panic at being face down in water unsupported with only a snorkel providing air had been very real. For both, they would panic despite the water being only waist deep or less for all three of them.
That Gordon was having similar issues, as were the entire Swedish Squadron, did little to alleviate the dissonance of ships being afraid of the water. Swimming came easily for the Humans and the Abyssals, but ships seemed terrified with the possibility of more than standing slightly above the water.
The subs being there in force as lifeguards helped both with the ships' concerns, and the acceptability of the closeness of the sub-girls. Even the most sub-phobic was still immensely grateful that someone else was there if the water suddenly ignored the laws of physics and tried to spontaneously drown someone.
He lifted Mutsu up and pointed to where Nagato sat in the lagoon, with a dozen other ship-girls completely submerged save for their snorkels. "Yes," he told her before she had a chance to voice her objections. She swam over, keeping her head above the water the whole time.
Godzilla looked over at Kirishima. The Kongo-sisters were even more nervous than the Nagato-class had been. They all knew that the prank war in Yokosuka and Kongo's private war at Nishinoshima had not ended well for them, and they all expected payback. Putting your life in the hands of someone ready, willing and eager to prank you filled none of the battlecruisers with hope.
But Gordon and Godzilla had told all the trainers: one, NO ONE was to prank anyone during this training. Anyone who broke that rule would pay as dearly as The Joker and Godzilla could think of. And two, the terrors the Kongos would create and embellish in their heads would be worse then anything any of them could come up with, and the growing paranoia of the Yokosuka master pranksters delighted everyone. Gordon had added the Biblical quote from Romans 12:20 'Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.' Everyone loved the idea that they could completely prank the pranksters by just being an exemplar of polite professionalism.
"You look quite fetching in your suit. Are you ready to begin?" Godzilla said and smiled.
Kirishima could barely nod.
"Just think about Tennryu, and asking if she's scared," Godzilla said.
------------------------------
Gordon looked around the empty shoreline. "I'm not going to say this is nuts, because that's so obvious." They'd been airdropped near the Supply Princess' base, and swam in underwater to avoid detection. Kushi had dropped off a short company of Smols and skedaddled. Ecchi-Nein was providing the same service to Godzilla's group further north.
Gotengo smiled. "That's why it'll work," she said and walked ashore. She'd gone for the 6" with 12" stinger outfit. It reduced her torpedo armament to three quintuples a side, but she felt better about her fighting power. Sharlin, John Ericsson, G'Quan and Omega headed onto the shore with Gordon bringing up the rear. Everyone launched their scout planes as soon as they were on dry ground.
"We should be in the palace at first light, that oughta shake things up," Gotengo said, "Just gotta do the paperwork."
Gordon was not happy about the way this inevitably had to go. No moonlight and radar receivers at maximum helped. They started hiking over the mix of crushed coral and basaltic rock. Patrols were sparse and easily avoided. That spoke to serious issues with planning, or manpower. If they could do it, then others could do it.
Part of it could be that the former Abyssals still sort of seemed Abyssal from a distance, he thought, And that in most militaries, once you're on base and not trying to go where you shouldn't, no one cares.
The first hitch came from their glimpse of a lone warehouse, well-separated from all others with more guards than there should have been, and these guards were not standard Abyssal classes.
"I don't remember any reports of something requiring that kind of security," Gotengo said.
John Ericsson piped up, "There are people raiding the warehouses, they're not acting like the disciplined locals. Their behavior is more like raiders."
"I haven't seen any battle damage," Sharlin said of her scouting. The other two nodded.
"You don't think," Gotengo pointed towards the lone warehouse, "Of course you do, because I'm thinking the same. The Princess currently known as Shark Dentures sold the secret to Supply Princess."
"Change of plans," John Ericsson said, "Unless you have a silencer for battleship caliber guns?"
"They're supersonic, so it wouldn't help," Gordon said, "Everyone got their knives or equivalent?"
They nodded and knelt down. Nearly a brigade of fairies quickly assembled from the ship-girls, joined up with the Smols and disappeared into the night. Their ship-girls now had to wait and count the minutes between now and sunrise.
------------------------------
Godzilla surfaced slightly. He set Nagato, Mutsu and their scuba gear ashore, then they helped the man ashore when he'd dismissed his rigging.
"If that's so useful," Mutsu asked, "Why don't you use it more often?"
"The form affects my mind," Godzilla said, "I didn't do that with the Smols, but it affects me. And to be honest, that one is a bit creepy."
Nagoto and Mutsu exchanged confused looks, then Nagato blushed.
"What?" Mutsu asked and noted the shy nod to Godzilla the man who was staring at them with a wistful smile.
"What, gray gray is a good look for you," Godzilla said.
"You're just a dirty old man," Mutsu said.
"First time I've heard you complain about it," Godzilla said. Behind them, Ecchi-Nein surfaced and climbed ashore, then released her cargo of Smols who fanned out to cover the perimeter.
"Apparently it was not as big a surprise as we had hoped for," Ecchi-Nein said as the Smols led a man in working clothes towards them.
"Uh, we appreciate the rescue, but other than getting a few things in the stores, we really don't need rescuing," the man said, "Unless all the other Abyssals have gone away."
"No, there's several Princess' fleets heading this way," Godzilla said.
The man blanched and turned around and began jogging away. "Follow me," he called as he moved over the rocks.
"This is not turning out like I expected," Nagato said and began following him. Mutsu, Ecchi-Nein followed and Godzilla brought up the rear, the Smols had vanished. Godzilla wasn't worried, you always wanted your kids to surpass you in some way.
The Admiral looked up from the report and looked at Callahan. "Five hundred meters?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," the nervous Marine answered. "Ten for ten in the bull ring, and no problems with fire discipline. They are snipers with their breath weapons and energy beams. They picked up areas they are and are not allowed very quickly. How their formation disperses is a sight to behold. I could have 200 meters of clear ground, say 'dismissed' and suddenly I'm by myself with no one traversing the empty space, just gone."
The admiral nodded at that. Closed and even locked doors were not slowing down those looking after various people, or performing their duties. "Problems? They sound like ideal soldiers."
"The idea of uniforms being uniform seems to be a bit of a sticking point. Some wear the modern kit. Some are wearing kit from the Meiji Period, and everything in between. Some are army, some navy. Predictably, the division between Japanese and American uniforms falls along where the movie came out, although a couple of the Zillas wear the Foreign Legion's battle dress. Gorgo insists on something Nelson would have recognized," Callahan explained, "And don't get me started on Rank insignia."
"Yes, one of the nurses looking out for my house wears 6-star rank on her nurse's uniform," Crawford noted then saw Callahan couldn't manage a chuckle for that. "But that's not what's bothering you Major."
The marine sighed. "This morning, I woke late, because someone turned off my alarm. I woke to the smell of blueberry pancakes. I rushed downstairs to look around, and Carlos was making them. It was all I could do not to grab the fire extinguisher. I mean I can burn soup, and Carlos had even less interest in cooking. If our meals don't come from the mess, they come out of the microwave. I'd never seen him at such ease as he was making the pancakes and unlike the stereotype, there was no huge mess to clean up. He was just pouring, flipping and stacking, and he looked happy. And watching both of us was The Silver Mare."
The Admiral sighed. "Neither you nor Carlos are betraying your wife by getting along with your lives. She likely would have wanted that. These `Smols` as Admiral Richardson called them are very much like ship-girls. They fiercely want to be useful, they want to do well for the people they care about. They're advancing theories that the Abyssals are ship-girls who've lost touch with their humans, either their crews, their nation or the human race as a whole. If The Silver Mare was created from a template that Godzilla provided, he probably used the ship-girls as a basis. She isn't trying to supplant Maria, she's just trying to look after you two."
"So, Northampton and you had a talk about this kind of thing?" Callahan said.
"Many long and sometimes frustrating to terrifying talks," the Admiral said, "There are a lot of things that we gloss over because we see things one way and assume that if it looks like us, it thinks like us. And if it doesn't, it doesn't. You've done training of new recruits, a soldier and a civilian can seem two different beasts, but we're all people. Ship-girls don't quite fit as humans, but they're close. The only danger is letting her boss you around. Wanting what's best for you isn't the same as doing what's necessary, and many are still technically civilians."
"I have to wonder what possessed him," Callahan said.
"Beyond what he said that night? Ask him, he isn't shy," Crawford said, then looked at the tray of coffee, sliced fruit and crackers with cheese that had appeared beside them. Crawford knew who was beneath it and that it would be politely insisted on by the largest of the Smols, "Probably looked at who Carlos was interested in, to ease acceptance of a more motherly figure."
"Hasbro(TM) is going to sue us if this gets out," Callahan said as he took the black coffee nearest him and a couple of apple slices.
"I'm more worried about requests to make more of them," Crawford said.
------------------------------
Victory and Constitution hadn't been expecting a squad of marines blocking their plane, nor an angry Admiral Crawford leading them.
"Open up the suitcases," the Admiral said, his usual humor gone.
"You'd look at a lady's underthings?" Victory asked coquettishly.
"Either you do it, or I'll have John Ericsson do it," he said, not a smile, not a glimmer.
The two tall ships headed towards the table that had been prepared for just such a need.
The pair opened the suitcases and looked anywhere else as Corporal Wilcox and a female nurse uncovered the Abyssal destroyer hidden within each of the pair of cases.
Crawford handed the tall ships each a clipboard, while Wilcox handed a clipboard to each captain of the destroyers.
"There are rules," Crawford said, "And don't put 'he just followed me home' or you'll be thinking up a better explanation in the brig," Crawford said, he looked at the destroyer captains, "That goes for you two as well."
Sheepishly, the two tall ships filled out the pages of paperwork. The ships' captain's paperwork was simpler, basically verifying they were going of their own free will and that they'd have to be vetted properly upon reaching their destination.
He surveyed the paperwork, then Crawford saluted. "Have a pleasant day, and remember they aren't cleared yet."
Victory and Constitution saluted, then they and their charges boarded their plane.
"How'd you know," Wilcox asked as they watched the plane taxi.
"Ship-girls get predictable after a while," Crawford said and glanced at the Corporal who looked at him as if from a nightmare.
"I don't think I want to be able to predict that, sir," she said.
"They first teach it in Sergeant school," Crawford said as the plane took off.
------------------------------
Mutsu lay face down in the water, her legs languidly waving in the air. Godzilla knew full well the snorkeling battleship was teasing him, but the instant he would withdraw his hands, she'd utterly panic. Nagato hadn't teased as seductively, but her panic at being face down in water unsupported with only a snorkel providing air had been very real. For both, they would panic despite the water being only waist deep or less for all three of them.
That Gordon was having similar issues, as were the entire Swedish Squadron, did little to alleviate the dissonance of ships being afraid of the water. Swimming came easily for the Humans and the Abyssals, but ships seemed terrified with the possibility of more than standing slightly above the water.
The subs being there in force as lifeguards helped both with the ships' concerns, and the acceptability of the closeness of the sub-girls. Even the most sub-phobic was still immensely grateful that someone else was there if the water suddenly ignored the laws of physics and tried to spontaneously drown someone.
He lifted Mutsu up and pointed to where Nagato sat in the lagoon, with a dozen other ship-girls completely submerged save for their snorkels. "Yes," he told her before she had a chance to voice her objections. She swam over, keeping her head above the water the whole time.
Godzilla looked over at Kirishima. The Kongo-sisters were even more nervous than the Nagato-class had been. They all knew that the prank war in Yokosuka and Kongo's private war at Nishinoshima had not ended well for them, and they all expected payback. Putting your life in the hands of someone ready, willing and eager to prank you filled none of the battlecruisers with hope.
But Gordon and Godzilla had told all the trainers: one, NO ONE was to prank anyone during this training. Anyone who broke that rule would pay as dearly as The Joker and Godzilla could think of. And two, the terrors the Kongos would create and embellish in their heads would be worse then anything any of them could come up with, and the growing paranoia of the Yokosuka master pranksters delighted everyone. Gordon had added the Biblical quote from Romans 12:20 'Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.' Everyone loved the idea that they could completely prank the pranksters by just being an exemplar of polite professionalism.
"You look quite fetching in your suit. Are you ready to begin?" Godzilla said and smiled.
Kirishima could barely nod.
"Just think about Tennryu, and asking if she's scared," Godzilla said.
------------------------------
Gordon looked around the empty shoreline. "I'm not going to say this is nuts, because that's so obvious." They'd been airdropped near the Supply Princess' base, and swam in underwater to avoid detection. Kushi had dropped off a short company of Smols and skedaddled. Ecchi-Nein was providing the same service to Godzilla's group further north.
Gotengo smiled. "That's why it'll work," she said and walked ashore. She'd gone for the 6" with 12" stinger outfit. It reduced her torpedo armament to three quintuples a side, but she felt better about her fighting power. Sharlin, John Ericsson, G'Quan and Omega headed onto the shore with Gordon bringing up the rear. Everyone launched their scout planes as soon as they were on dry ground.
"We should be in the palace at first light, that oughta shake things up," Gotengo said, "Just gotta do the paperwork."
Gordon was not happy about the way this inevitably had to go. No moonlight and radar receivers at maximum helped. They started hiking over the mix of crushed coral and basaltic rock. Patrols were sparse and easily avoided. That spoke to serious issues with planning, or manpower. If they could do it, then others could do it.
Part of it could be that the former Abyssals still sort of seemed Abyssal from a distance, he thought, And that in most militaries, once you're on base and not trying to go where you shouldn't, no one cares.
The first hitch came from their glimpse of a lone warehouse, well-separated from all others with more guards than there should have been, and these guards were not standard Abyssal classes.
"I don't remember any reports of something requiring that kind of security," Gotengo said.
John Ericsson piped up, "There are people raiding the warehouses, they're not acting like the disciplined locals. Their behavior is more like raiders."
"I haven't seen any battle damage," Sharlin said of her scouting. The other two nodded.
"You don't think," Gotengo pointed towards the lone warehouse, "Of course you do, because I'm thinking the same. The Princess currently known as Shark Dentures sold the secret to Supply Princess."
"Change of plans," John Ericsson said, "Unless you have a silencer for battleship caliber guns?"
"They're supersonic, so it wouldn't help," Gordon said, "Everyone got their knives or equivalent?"
They nodded and knelt down. Nearly a brigade of fairies quickly assembled from the ship-girls, joined up with the Smols and disappeared into the night. Their ship-girls now had to wait and count the minutes between now and sunrise.
------------------------------
Godzilla surfaced slightly. He set Nagato, Mutsu and their scuba gear ashore, then they helped the man ashore when he'd dismissed his rigging.
"If that's so useful," Mutsu asked, "Why don't you use it more often?"
"The form affects my mind," Godzilla said, "I didn't do that with the Smols, but it affects me. And to be honest, that one is a bit creepy."
Nagoto and Mutsu exchanged confused looks, then Nagato blushed.
"What?" Mutsu asked and noted the shy nod to Godzilla the man who was staring at them with a wistful smile.
"What, gray gray is a good look for you," Godzilla said.
"You're just a dirty old man," Mutsu said.
"First time I've heard you complain about it," Godzilla said. Behind them, Ecchi-Nein surfaced and climbed ashore, then released her cargo of Smols who fanned out to cover the perimeter.
"Apparently it was not as big a surprise as we had hoped for," Ecchi-Nein said as the Smols led a man in working clothes towards them.
"Uh, we appreciate the rescue, but other than getting a few things in the stores, we really don't need rescuing," the man said, "Unless all the other Abyssals have gone away."
"No, there's several Princess' fleets heading this way," Godzilla said.
The man blanched and turned around and began jogging away. "Follow me," he called as he moved over the rocks.
"This is not turning out like I expected," Nagato said and began following him. Mutsu, Ecchi-Nein followed and Godzilla brought up the rear, the Smols had vanished. Godzilla wasn't worried, you always wanted your kids to surpass you in some way.