What might Battle Line training look like and how might others react? Hmmm...
Training was going well, mostly. Mutsu, Pennsy, Ari, and Yamashiro had been joined by Nagato and Gangut and even Texas had been flown in to supply additional experience.
Pennsy: OK, We will go from line ahead to line of battle by alternating turns. Texas in lead will turn to Port, Yamashiro will turn to Starboard, alternating down the line till I end up in the center with Texas, Mutsu and Gangut off my bow, and Yamashiro, Nagato, and Arizona off my stern. Is everyone clear?
All: Aye!
Pennsy: Execute! Good turn, T! You haven't lost a step! Excellent turn, Yamashiro! I think you were on the wrong side back in the war! A little slow, Mutsu! Otherwise, good! NAGATO! Your other Starboard!! ALL STOP!
Nagato: (Looks down at being called out, knowing she made a mistake) It is as if the Shoguns have returned in the form of an American.
Pennsy: (As she walks up) What was that?
Nagato: I turned the wrong direction. It shall not happen again.
Pennsy: And look what happened. You are blocking Mutsu's field of fire, and Yamashiro is off on her own. Everything we do is about timing. Everyone on me!
The rest of the line joins around her. Mutsu squeezes her sisters shoulder. She had been on the receiving end of Pennsy's correction previously.
Jersey: Wow, it's like watching a re-enactment or something. It's all so quaint!
Pennsy: Excuse me? (The line turns and faces Jersey) Line, Half ahead. Follow my lead.
" The old gunfighter stood on the porch
and stared into the sun
And relived the old days
When he was living by the gun"
(The old battleships moved ahead, eyes on Jersey, stepping as one. Pennsy spoke clearly and in a slow steady rhythm.)
" When deadly games of pride were played
And living was mistakes not made
And the thought of the smell of the blackpowder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke."
Half the line broke left, half right, Pennsy turned broadside creating an open ended box with jersey in the middle
Arizona: "And it's always keep your back to the sun
And you can almost feel the weight of that gun
It's faster than snakes or the blink of an eye
And its a time for all slow men to die
His eyes are squinty and he's straight as a log
As he empties his gun at the dirty dog
And he's hit by the smell of the blackpowder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke"
Jersey: Hey, get the F--- away from me, weirdos.
The right side of the box follows around and closes the top of the box changing Jersey's escape route
Gangut:
"Now the burn of a bullet is only a scar
And he's back at his chair in front of the bar
And the streets are empty, and the bloods all dried
The dead are dust and the whiskey's inside
So buy him a drink and lend him an ear
He's nobody's fool and he's the only one here
Who remembers the smell of the blackpowder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke."
The battlewagons made a series of short turns reversing the direction of their travel. Perfectly timed. Perfectly executed. Jersey noticed an aspect change in them. They were working as one. The look in their eyes was different as well. They were no longer the old battleships replaced by speed and radar and airpower. They were once again the absolute monarchs of the seas.
Nagato:
"Said I stood in that street before it was paved
I learned to shoot or be shot before I could shave
And I did it all for the money and the Fame
Noble was nothing but feeling no shame
And nothing was sacred but staying alive
And all that I learned from a Colt 45
Was to cuss the smell of the blackpowder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke."
The box of battleships began to tighten leaving one point of exit, almost daring Jersey to run for it.
Texas: "Now he's just an old man that nobody believes
Says he's a gunfighter, the last of his breed
And there's ghosts in the street seeking revenge
Calling him out to the lunatic fringe
He's out in the traffic now, checkin the sun
And he's killed by a car as he goes for his gun
So much for the smell of the blackpowder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke."
Jersey: F--- this, and F--- you all! I am out of here, crazy slow botes!
Pennsy: (Watches the fast superbattleship leave at a high rate of speed) That, ladies, is what the battle line is about. Exceptional work, all of you.
."
