- Location
- USA
Is there a reason that not all of the new omakes/canon stuff from 9ther authors isnt threadmarked?
Belated Battleships (KanColle) [REHOST]
- Thread starter theJMPer
- Start date
CompassJimbo
Where’s Your North?
- Location
- The former Rubber Capital of the World
Because @theJMPer is kind of a lazy fellow who does what he wants.
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
You know how we got Sasebo in this? Meet the newest JMSDF Mascot for the Sasebo Area, Namakoro!
The reason why? Sea cucumbers do not run, do not hide, and have thick skin to protect against enemies.
Why do I see Jane in a costume now...?
The reason why? Sea cucumbers do not run, do not hide, and have thick skin to protect against enemies.
- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
You know how we got Sasebo in this? Meet the newest JMSDF Mascot for the Sasebo Area, Namakoro!
Why do I see Jane in a costume now...?
The reason why? Sea cucumbers do not run, do not hide, and have thick skin to protect against enemies.
Why, Japan? I guess mascot costume duty is a punishment detail for enlisted personnel.
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
Why, Japan? I guess mascot costume duty is a punishment detail for enlisted personnel.
Actually no, the fact that it hides exactly who is in the suit makes it perfect for punishing mid-rank officers
HolyDragoon
Call Gespenst!
- Location
- Portugal
... wait, aren't sea cucumbers the ones that spit their guts out when thretened?
- Location
- Minot, North Dakota
Came across an interesting article regarding both the Battleship Indiana and the new sub Indiana.
WWII Veteran returns to service
Also, I wonder if Indy might wear a fedora and leather jacket when she gets summoned.....
WWII Veteran returns to service
Also, I wonder if Indy might wear a fedora and leather jacket when she gets summoned.....
ijnfleetadmiral
CinC Rengo Kanmusutai
- Location
- Admiral's Bridge, HIJMS Kongo
I believe Achilles would find a friend in Archerfish.
"Fishies..."
As for the new mascot, keep it away from Nagamon - er, Nagato.
"Fishies..."
As for the new mascot, keep it away from Nagamon - er, Nagato.
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
Why, Japan? I guess mascot costume duty is a punishment detail for enlisted personnel.
What makes this especially hilarious is that someone over on SB mentioned using this to punish Pennsy for what happened with Ashigara by having her wear it.
Admiral_Corgi
The Admiral of the PT Boats
- Location
- The Strange land of Florida
Yeah that doesn't surprise me at all, that Intrepid latched onto Exeter like this. Poor girl is badly shaken up from the ordeal she had survived.
This is good to see here, Dreadnought is in a class of ship girl I tend to call 'founding mother'. Basically the first ship of a new era of ships, so its good to see that she's trying her best to help poor intrepid as best as she can. Though it isn't surprising that Intrepid wasn't exactly willing to stay when Exeter left. I can guess that the poor destroyer thinks Exeter too will vanish under the punishing fire of that abyssal monster that slayed Intrepid's sisters.
Ah yes, this is what a proper response to an abyssal that's managed to kill two ship girls should be. Though it probably wouldn't hurt to have a couple more heavies to help box the monster in.
While its unfortunate that the US can't lend surface combatants, but that air recon fleet? At the very least, hopefully, that Abyssal Graf Spee won't be able to hide for long. Though these formations... they seem oddly familiar for some reason.
Oh come now Exeter, America isn't that bad now...
Okay maybe it can be if you don't have the disposition to deal with ship girl shenanigans. I'm sure if Exeter's boyfriend has been named in this omake series yet or not. Though I don't think he'll go crazy before the day is out, maybe, I don't know for certain but if nothing else then it'll be the aerial (cat girl) aircraft carriers that'll really test the limits of his sanity.
No, she probably won't be okay with that Exeter. Now whether or not this means Intrepid drags herself along or not remains to be seen. But I can already tell that the parting won't be easy on Exeter. Poor Intrepid will likely be terrified out of her mind that Exeter would encounter Abyssal Graf Spee and get sunk by that monster. Certainly can't rule that out as thing that'll haunt the destroyer's dreams. Well that and/or her having nightmares of meeting her end by that monster's hands (cannons?).
Okay from this lil bit alone I'm already starting to like Achilles quite a bit. She's so energetic, and what she said here made me laugh my ass off.
Okay this whole part here has made me realize a few things. One, I knew exactly what anime Achilles was taking about. Two, Achilles is a total weeb like Wisconsin, three I am fearful for Exeter's sanity if and when Achilles mets Akron or her sister. Or even some particularly energetic destroyers or Destroyer escorts. Because I can't shake the feeling that Achilles is the type of girl to unwittingly rally the other girls with high energy around her. I won't rule out Achilles and Akron (or her sister) to end up singing something memetic and likely highly annoying together at some point down the line. Its like one of those things you just know will almost certainly happen. You just don't know when exactly it'll happen.
Okay I think everyone can agree that Achilles would make great friends with Archie. I can't be the only one right?
I can't help but think Achilles said this part here with the same energy and tone that she had when she was talking about anime. Now whether or not if Achilles retains this energetic and bubbly personality when they're out hunting for Abyssal Graf Spee again remains to be seen. But I do believe that she will, it might grate on her squadron mates nerves (and probably Exeter's most of all) but who knows. Maybe Exeter might be quietly thankful for Achilles help ease the tension everyone else will inevitably feel when they're zeroing on that Abyssal monster.
I can already feel a certain Navy Lieutenant groaning in misery and despair right now.
rofl:Maybe, just maybe its because I'm just a tad bit paranoid. But I can't shake the feeling that Achilles statement here about Exeter rejoining the fight with only one turret left is gonna be echoed to at some point later in this story line. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But I can't rule it out.
Achilles, yer tempting fate there. That's dangerous to do! I mean you should know better! Besides Abyssal Graf Spee has already sunk a Convoy plus two ship girls. In all likely hood, when you do confront her, she won't be alone. There's no way it'll just be her, you're gonna need Renow and Formidable's help dealing with Abyssal Graf Spee and whatever demons she's birthed by the time she's found again.
While I'm curious to know exactly what this uncomfortable subject is for Exeter. However i have a strong suspicion it involves HMS Intrepid.
Okay, this part here just tells me that Exeter is a great momboat. Both in the sense of being a parental figure for a destroyer like Intrepid. and in the sense of being an actual momboat if she and her Boyfriend ever marry and try having kids. Its sweet that Exeter cares thinks about Intrepid this way, but its also painful because she has to in essence leave the destroyer that's acting much like how she's imagined a daughter of her's by herself in a way. Poor Intrepid
I'm going to take a wild guess here, but I think Intrepid may had just woken from a nightmare she was having. From what I've seen mentioned about HMS Intrepid's state during this omake. Its not unreasonable to think that the poor girl has had a real difficult time sleeping at night. Actually I'm fairly certain that Intrepid is gonna spend a portion of the next chapter trying (in vain) to convince Exeter to stay. Now whether or not if Intrepid tries to join Exeter is a toss up honestly. Trying to understand how Destroyers would think in situations like this something even my theory crazy mind can't figure out. It honestly could go either way. All I do know for certain is that Exeter is gonna be in for some heartache. I know I'm already bracing myself for it when it comes.
Overall, this was a great chapter and I'm looking forward to seeing part three and what'll happen next in this story line.
Harry Leferts
Suave Shadow Cabal Kaiju
Arms crossed, Jersey looked between Naka and Wisky who had grins on their faces. Then she glanced at the hull of her oldest sister, Iowa. Needless to say, looking at said hull always made her wince. Forcing herself to look away, she frowned. "You say that the two of you came up with something to... get Iowa summoned? Seriously?"
Beside her and arms also crossed, Mo had a similar frown before turning to Jersey. "Couldn't hurt."
That made Jersey give her a look over her sunglasses. "The fuck, Mo? You seriously believe them?"
Her tone dry, the tanned beauty gestured at the hull of the Battleship. "You got any other ideas, Jerjer? Unless you want her to sink." When Jersey winced, Mo gave a nod. "Exactly."
Scowling, Jersey shook her head some. "I still say that this is... fucked up, or whatever." Still scowling, she turned to Wisky and Naka... and the box by their feet. "Fine, what the fuck. Do fucking whatever."
Only nodding, Wisky gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Sis. This will work!"
Then she dug into a dufflebag and minutes later both Jersey and Mo blinked as Naka and Wisky were in highly protective gear with welding masks on their faces. Now unsure, Mo coughed. "Uh, Wisky? What in the hell are the two of you doing?"
Holding a pair of tongs, Wisky turned to them as Naka carefully pried the box open. "We're dealing with some dangerous shit here. It will work, but we don't want anyone exposed to it who shouldn't be... What we've got here is something that should not exist in this world, but that Naka and myself have worked hard at creating."
Box opened, Naka gave her a nod. "Okay, Wisky. Grab it, but careful! We don't want it to touch anything but what we need to."
Feeling droplets of sweat on her, Wisconsin nodded as she put the ends of the tongs into the box. "Hai, hai! I can do that." Closing them on whatever was inside, she slowly, carefully lifted it out as both Jersey and Mo leaned in to have a better look...
And promptly blinked at the odd crown that was held in the tong's prongs.
Just pointing at it, and feeling creeped out by the odd lines, Jersey frowned. "Uh, the fuck is that?"
Swallowing, Wisky looked at her older sister. "Iowa's salvation..."
Walking to the hull in the dry dock, Wisky reached out as far as she could and then dropped the crown onto the ship. To all those watching, it fell in slow motion until it landed on Iowa's deck. Then they had to look away as the hull glowed brilliantly. But when the light died down, there was Iowa standing in the dry dock, her hull gone. Grinning, she looked up and laughed. "HEY, YOU BUNCH!"
Her sunglasses slipping down her nose, Jersey blinked and said the first words that came to her mind as both Naka and Wisconsin cheered. "What the fuck..."
Beside her and arms also crossed, Mo had a similar frown before turning to Jersey. "Couldn't hurt."
That made Jersey give her a look over her sunglasses. "The fuck, Mo? You seriously believe them?"
Her tone dry, the tanned beauty gestured at the hull of the Battleship. "You got any other ideas, Jerjer? Unless you want her to sink." When Jersey winced, Mo gave a nod. "Exactly."
Scowling, Jersey shook her head some. "I still say that this is... fucked up, or whatever." Still scowling, she turned to Wisky and Naka... and the box by their feet. "Fine, what the fuck. Do fucking whatever."
Only nodding, Wisky gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Sis. This will work!"
Then she dug into a dufflebag and minutes later both Jersey and Mo blinked as Naka and Wisky were in highly protective gear with welding masks on their faces. Now unsure, Mo coughed. "Uh, Wisky? What in the hell are the two of you doing?"
Holding a pair of tongs, Wisky turned to them as Naka carefully pried the box open. "We're dealing with some dangerous shit here. It will work, but we don't want anyone exposed to it who shouldn't be... What we've got here is something that should not exist in this world, but that Naka and myself have worked hard at creating."
Box opened, Naka gave her a nod. "Okay, Wisky. Grab it, but careful! We don't want it to touch anything but what we need to."
Feeling droplets of sweat on her, Wisconsin nodded as she put the ends of the tongs into the box. "Hai, hai! I can do that." Closing them on whatever was inside, she slowly, carefully lifted it out as both Jersey and Mo leaned in to have a better look...
And promptly blinked at the odd crown that was held in the tong's prongs.
Just pointing at it, and feeling creeped out by the odd lines, Jersey frowned. "Uh, the fuck is that?"
Swallowing, Wisky looked at her older sister. "Iowa's salvation..."
Walking to the hull in the dry dock, Wisky reached out as far as she could and then dropped the crown onto the ship. To all those watching, it fell in slow motion until it landed on Iowa's deck. Then they had to look away as the hull glowed brilliantly. But when the light died down, there was Iowa standing in the dry dock, her hull gone. Grinning, she looked up and laughed. "HEY, YOU BUNCH!"
Her sunglasses slipping down her nose, Jersey blinked and said the first words that came to her mind as both Naka and Wisconsin cheered. "What the fuck..."
- Location
- Beyond the Unknowable Veil
Um....
What?!
What?!
- Location
- Somewhere
Supercrown/Bowsette meme
Admiral_Corgi
The Admiral of the PT Boats
- Location
- The Strange land of Florida
Well after a the wait compared to how quickly I pumped out other omakes. I will say though that I had to split this one to two parts just because of how long it started to get.
Omake: An Officer and his Dogs part 4
Lieutenant William Corgi awoke in a rather annoyed mood; his otherwise pleasant dream had been ruined by the sudden appearance of a certain orange-clad idol right before things had gotten very interesting.
"Damn traffic cone invading my dreams. Letting Lisa jam out to her albums last night was a bad call on my part." William muttered as he glanced at his clock and noticed the time was 0347. He had woken up early, again. The PT Corgi that was at the foot of his bed awoke to his muttering and tilted its head to one side before crawling up besides the Lt.
William sighed and scratched the top of the PT boat's head; the dog gave a sleepy yawn and leaned into his touch.
"I'm sorry girl, did I wake ya?" He said to the dog apologetically, who then simply pushed its snout against his hand twice to tell him no. And he knew the dog was telling him no, even if he couldn't exactly explain how.
"At least today the new transfers to the unit will arrive. Y'all don't give them too much trouble now, okay?" William said softly to the PT boat before pulling the blanket aside just enough to get out of bed. He shuffled over to his quarter's personal bathroom to shower and freshen up for the day, leaving a trail of removed clothes on his way to the shower.
After he was done washing, he'd take a final cold rinse to help keep him awake long enough to get some Coffee. And he did desperately need some Coffee after last night.
After drying off from his shower and getting dressed for the day, William took the time to put away his night sleepwear and used towel in their appropriate hampers before he made his bed to regulation standard. Once all that was taken care of, the Lieutenant exited his quarters and walked down the hall that led into the main room of the PT Barracks. With the PT Corgi that had watched over him during the night right behind him the entire time.
William reached the Coffee machine and set a new pot to brew. By the time Jim exited his quarters a few minutes later, the pot had finished brewing and William had already poured out two cups. The Lieutenant handed the Gunnery Sergeant one of the mugs and kept the other for himself.
William noticed that his friend had bags around his eyes and general grumpy air around him.
"Lemme guess, Traffic cone invaded your dreams too huh?" William said as he took a long sip of the black brew. From the grumbled reply Jim gave him before downing a quarter of the mug's contents in one go, William would take that as a solid yes.
"I had almost forgotten how catchy and annoying that idol's songs could get." Jim said as he drank down another quarter of his coffee and felt the life return to him.
"Yeah her songs can be annoying as fuck at times but I have to admit when she doesn't do those damn high-pitched and high-intensity songs, her singing is really good." William countered before taking another sip of his coffee. The PT Boats were all waking up now, no doubt stirred to wakefulness by the smell of Coffee.
"Yeah you got a point there; I loved the Christmas album she released last year." Jim said as he finished off the rest of his coffee before handing William the now empty mug. William just gave a hum of agreement as he finished the last of his coffee before he washed the mugs as Jim went to wake everyone else up.
William sighed as he went to make a quick, simple breakfast of spam and eggs for everyone. They had quite a bit of work to do today; introducing the new guys to the unit would be a task and a half itself. However they had to take care of changing the patrol rotations first before anything else.
It was an about an hour and a half later, after the day patrol was topped off and sortied and the returning night rotation had returned and indulged in their required gluttony, that William was able to sit down at his desk and do some needed paperwork. It never seemed to end no matter how quickly he filled out the forms; it was something that annoyed him to no end.
He heard a knock on his door, a familiar three-note knock that only one person he knew made. "Enter." Corgi said as he read a form requesting some of the PT Corgis and one member of his Staff to part take in a Navy PR event scheduled for the New Year.
Gunnery Sergeant Clayton entered the room and handed Lieutenant Corgi a small stack of papers. "Some medical reports from Lisa, it seems like part of night squadron 2 got injured on their way back to base." Clayton spoke with a rather severe tone; Corgi was flabbergasted at what he heard. He hadn't even noticed anything wrong with the dogs of squadron 2 when they came in from patrol.
"How the hell did they get hurt?" William asked before he looked at the paper and did a double take at what he saw.
"Are you fucking kidding me? They collided with a pair of Ocean Sunfish? How the hell does that happen...wait since when do Sunfish horizontally bask this early in the day?" William asked as he glanced out the window, it was barely even nautical twilight yet, let alone sunrise. 'So why would two of those fish be on its side on the surface before the sun was even up?' He pondered to himself briefly before sighing again. He just couldn't catch a break could he? More things to ponder, more things to check out to see if there was a pattern to be found.
He had learned the hard way once, and just once, to never dismiss anything, no matter how random it seemed during times like this. However, right now he had a more pressing concern and that was the health of the injured dogs. The health of his dogs. He knew that if he didn't try and stop em, they'd attempt to sortie before they had completely healed. A persistent trait carried over from the crews of their original lives as mere boats.
"Are they going to be completely healed before tonight's patrol or I'm gonna have to split squadrons 3 and 4 to cover the gap left by squadron 2's injured till they're fully healed?" William asked Jim, who simply nodded.
"Lisa said that she had their noses and hind legs in splints and they're a taking a soak in the repair docks right now and they'll be good as new by tonight. Hell she said that they'll probably be out before its lunch time." Jim said to William, who breathed a sigh of relief at the news. If Lisa said something like that, he knew that it was the truth.
Ellen really did work miracles with the dogs whenever they got injured. Her skills were a godsend in lieu of a proper repair ship and because of that, William was willing to put up with Lisa's more...eccentric habits. Which have caused him more than a fair number of headaches in the past.
From the corner of his eye, William saw Clayton fish out his phone and check his messages. "William I just got word from my friend that's running the transports from MYS. Those Ensigns we're getting, their plane just landed at the airport, it won't be long before they get here. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops if Traffic is bad after they get their bags." The Gunnery Sergeant said as he put the phone away. The Lieutenant had a small smile crack across his face as he opened up a desk drawer and pulled out two dossier folders.
"Gunny Sergeant Clayton, inform every one of the news and have them assembled at the briefing table after the ensigns get here and put their bags away. Pull the extra chairs out of the storage room and make sure everything is in order. I'll be outside waiting for them." William said as he looked at the paperwork for New Year's PR event, he figured he could put it off, if only just for a little bit. To make certain that among other things the new ensigns knew how the unit ran.
Besides, William had always personally greeted newcomers to the unit, and he wasn't about to skip what had become the unit's tradition.
Ensigns Mitchel Crawford and Matilda Jones struggled to shake the last dregs of sleepiness from their minds. The two and a half hour plane ride from Maryland they just got off of didn't really give them a chance to get any rest. They knew their deployment orders would entail them getting up early and flying out well before dawn.
However knowing that still hadn't prepared them for the reality of it, not completely anyways. Though on the other hand neither of them had really slept well during the night, before they had to get up and depart for the Airport along with a sizable number of their fellow classmates.
Maybe two of their fellow classmates had gotten on their flight but they were being deployed to elsewhere and therefore they'd part from them after arrival. Most of the rest of their class were flying out west and a small number of their classmates were left behind in Maryland due to their deployment orders. It took almost ten minutes for Matilda and Mitchel to get off the plane and get down to the baggage claim area to get their luggage.
Mitchel sighed with impatience as he waited for the luggage return carousel to start spitting out everyone's luggage. Matilda was just a few feet off to his left, chatting with a civilian. He didn't fault her for talking with civilians, many folks were confused, scared, or for some; in complete denial of how the world was now. Having the chance to speak with Navy personnel, or really anyone from the Military went a long way to help people understand what was going on and maybe assure their fears.
Before Mitchel could ponder further on it, a loud buzzing alarm alerted everyone around the baggage return that their luggage had arrived. Sure enough in a few moments the first large bags and suitcases started making their rounds on the track. Mitchel believed it was good fortune on he and Matilda's part that their luggage was among the first to come out. He grabbed both his and Matilda's bags and pulled them off the track. Matilda had noticed his movement and was at his side by the time he had turned to tell her that he got their bags.
"Wow Mitchel, we got lucky with baggage return didn't we?" Matilda said in a rather upbeat manner as Mitchel handed her bag before they started making their way to the exit of the baggage claim area.
"Yeah we did, didn't we?" Mitchel said before his eyes caught sight of a man, a marine standing near the exit of the building. He held a sign that had their names on it, so the Ensigns both figured that someone from the base was already here to pick them up. Mitchel hadn't expected that, and a brief glance to Matilda told him that she hadn't expected it either.
"Are you Ensigns Matilda Jones and Mitchel Crawford?" The man asked them over the din of the Airport. Even this early in the morning, it was still fairly noisy.
"Yes we are."
"Good. Follow me; there's a truck waiting out on the loading curb for you two." The marine said before he led them out of the terminal building. Waiting there on the curb for them was a M1109, a scout variant given the utter lack of weapons the vehicle had. The driver was sitting behind the wheel drinking out of a to-go cup and messing about with his phone before he noticed the return of his fellow marine with the Ensigns in tow.
Matilda had to bite back giggles and Mitchel had to subdue chuckles when they saw the driver almost dropped his coffee cup into his lap to attempt to look like he wasn't just screwing around on the phone till now and got the Humvee started.
As Mitchel and Matilda placed their bags in the vehicle before getting in themselves, they heard a few choice words the one marine said to the driver. Though they couldn't quite catch what was exactly said because of noise of the airport even at this early hour, and the rumble of the Humvee's engine.
Once they were settled in the truck and underway, the marine that had greeted them spoke up. "So you two are going to Dog Squad huh? Boy did you two end up in an oddball unit." The man said as the driver weaved the Humvee through traffic.
"Oddball unit?" Matilda said with a measure of confusion.
"Yeah, a mix-and-match of Navy and Marine personnel that deals with the PT Corgis here in New Orleans. The Lt's XO is a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, despite the fact there's a Navy W-5 in the unit." The marine explained as they stopped at a red light. The driver took this moment to jump in on the conversation.
"Yeah, like the only stranger Job you could get in the Navy is dealing with ship girls directly on a regular basis. Though that doesn't mean you won't run into em while doing stuff for Dog Squad. Some of them girls just like either messing with the corgis, spoilin em rotten, or snatching em away for snuggles or some other kind of shenanigan; much to the Lt's continual misery." The drive said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"So are you two part of this, 'Dog Squad' and is that why you were waiting for us at the Airport?" Mitchel asked the marines, who looked at one another for a second before breaking out in laughter just as the light turned green and they got moving again.
"No Sir, we ain't from dog squad. We don't have the dog handling qualifications or experience to get into that unit. We just got asked by the unit's XO to pick up you two from the airport while they got the daytime patrols ready for sortie and fed the returning night patrols." The marine that had greeted said as they passed through the dimmer lit areas of the city. The only strong light present was from the Humvee's headlights since sunrise was still roughly an hour or so away, though the horizon was clearly visible now.
A few minutes of silence passed before Mitchel broke it with a question directed at the marines. "Marines, I've heard a few rumors about Lieutenant Corgi from some of the old salts at the Naval Academy. Mainly that Corgi was the hard-ass of hard-asses when it came to adhering to rules and regulations when he and his class was going through the Academy. Is he still like that?" Mitchel spoke with a degree of concern in his voice.
"Well, yes and no." The marine riding shotgun bluntly replied.
"What do you mean yes and no?" Matilda asked the marines before Mitchel had the chance to say it himself.
"No as far as he doesn't follow everything so strictly now. In fact, depending on circumstances he could let ya get away with quite a bit. Though then again, I suppose that's just the part and parcel of life you get when it comes to dealing with well, anything and everything that involves MSSB." The marine said, and the ensigns grimaced slightly. Their class on ship girls and the... antics they could get up to as well as the bottomless mystery that was MSSB was woefully ad-hock. Though the Ensigns didn't ponder on just how unprepared they really were for dealing with all things MSSB related because the driver spoke up next to finish the second half of what the passenger was saying.
"Yes in the fact that the rules he does strictly enforce are mainly the ones he came up with for dealing with the management and internal workings of Dog Squad... Ugh I don't really remember everything Clayton said and I ain't gonna take guesses on the details, so here's the short of it. You fuck up how Lieutenant Corgi runs his unit or if he learns that you've mistreated and/or neglected the PT Corgis at any point. He will verbally tear ya a new one with the wrathfulness of the Old Testament." The driver said as he made the turn that was the final approach to the main entrance to the naval base.
"Yeah LTJG Jackson found that out second one the hard way…Okay, he was a dumbass for grabbing an angry blimp cat when it was in a scuffle with one of the PT Corgis. But when Lieutenant Corgi came up back here from Port Fourchon to fill in for the LTJG while a replacement was being looked for, Corgi discovered that Jackson had been almost completely negligent with his duties and responsibilities on managing the PT Boats. Lemme tell ya, you could hear the LT chew out Jackson well the hell away from the window of the infirmary room the LTJG was recovering in." The marine riding shotgun said with a tad bit of nervousness in his voice.
"So does that mean Lieutenant Corgi has a short temper?" Mitchel asked with a strong hint of dread. He had enough experiences dealing with people who short tempers to last him several lifetimes, he really didn't want to be deal with another person like that who was also his new CO.
"No, He really doesn't." Both marines said at once, before they glanced at one another and shared a short laugh. Though the marine's laughter died down as the Humvee came up to the Naval base's entrance. It was another minute before the sentries waved them through and one of them elaborated further.
"It's actually pretty damn hard to make the Lieutenant lose his temper most of the time. I've heard from the marines that work under him, he might be grouchy most of the time but he never snaps at anyone unless they've done something to completely deserve it." The marine riding upfront said honest and frankly to the two Ensigns.
Mitchel breathed a sigh of relief at the news, and glance over to Matilda showed that she looked considerably less nervous. Though they were pulled from their thoughts before they had a chance to talk to one another by the marine riding up front clapping his hands hard twice; this drew their attention to the building that the marine was pointing at. However, it was the driver who spoke up.
"Alright, you see that building up ahead. That's the PT Boat Barracks; just about all the Marines on base though call it 'Fort Bork'. Though, uh, you might not wanna call it that around Lieutenant Corgi because uh, yeah he kinda gets annoyed by all the nicknames people have given him or his unit or the buildings they occupy. Hell you two will probably know at least two dozen of those nicknames by the end of today." Their driver informed them as they pulled up to where the paved road ended and a concrete walkway began that led to the barracks building.
Someone was already outside waiting for them. The two marines that chatted with them on the ride got oddly silent all of a sudden and that concerned both Ensigns greatly. It only took a few moments for them to realize that it had to that was someone from 'Dog Squad' waiting for them. Ensigns Matilda Jones and Mitchel Crawford wanted to make a good first impression on whomever it was waiting for them. So they got their bags and got out of the Humvee.
Ensigns Matilda Jones and Mitchel Crawford looked at one another briefly before their gazes shifted back to the man that was waiting for them just outside the PT Boat barracks. As what their Marine driver had informed them that the building in front of them was called.
The man waiting for them had his back facing them, arms folded behind his back in parade rest. This man was obviously Navy like them given his uniform. But to both of their eyes, he seemed like he was tense about something, even the tight cut dusty brown hair the man had mostly concealed by his cover seemed to have been raised in tension. It honestly unnerved the both of them.
Then man turned around with a single fluid motion as they left the Humvee behind and came several steps closer to him.
The two Ensigns snapped to attention the moment they saw the Lieutenant Bars on the man's collar and realized that this was their CO, Lieutenant William Corgi. Matilda and Mitchel were more than a tad bit frightened as his gaze swept over them. With the light of the early dawn sun partially lighting his eyes, it gave the Lieutenant's Hazel-Green eyes a yellow-gold hue to them along with a rather terrifying intensity. It was as if though he was looking down into the very depths of their beings with those eyes, searching for some fundamental fault they possessed.
After a brief few seconds of silent staring, the Lieutenant returned their salutes and spoke up. "At ease sailors. I take it that you're Ensign Matilda Jones and Ensign Mitchel Crawford." The Lieutenant asked them, though his expression said that he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from them.
"Sir, Yes Sir!" They both responded at once before they briefly glanced at each other. The rather serious expression the Lieutenant had faltered slightly as a faint smile cracked across his lips.
"Good. Take your things inside and find yourself an empty room to claim, there's plenty of unused rooms to spare. After that, report back to the General assembly table in the main room to get briefed on what to expect in this unit and introduce the both of you to the people you'll be working with from now on." The Lieutenant said before he thought for a moment and added one more thing
"Ah. Pardon me, I almost forgot to say this. Welcome to the United States Navy's 5th Patrol Torpedo Boat Support Unit or 'Dog Squad' as other members of the Navy colloquially call this unit." He spoke the last part in a far more relaxed tone than he has been using prior.
As they entered through the front door the two ensigns were taken aback at how different the building was on the inside compared to the outside. It hardly looked like what they were used to given that there was a small open kitchen just off to their right. A long table was positioned just outside of it and by the coffee machine. To their left was what looked like a decently sized entertainment area that had several couches, coffee tables & end tables, plus two TVs mounted on the wall.
On the other end of the room there were dozens upon dozens of dog beds neatly lined up on the floor that formed a channel leading to a hallway. The Ensigns walked through the main room, past the PT boats that either played in the open space between the entertainment and sleeping areas or were napping in their beds. It didn't take them long to see that each door along the hallway was someone's quarters, what surprised them was that it looked like everyone here had their own quarters.
Soon the two ensigns found two rooms that were unclaimed and got settled in.
The two Ensigns thought for sure they hadn't taken that long to unpack and put their things in order. However when they came out of their respective quarters and walked back out into the main room, things were very different compared to when they first came through.
Every dog that was sleeping was now awake and every dog that had been playing had stopped. All the dogs were gathered off to the side of the long table that was adjacent to the open kitchen and they were looking at them. Forty pairs of beady eyes followed their every movement across the room with the fluidity of a well-oiled gun mount. That alone was unnerving enough for Mitchel and Matilda but it was what was waiting for them at the table that unnerved them even further.
At one end of the table sat the Lieutenant and one very stern looking Gunnery Sergeant. Behind them were four marines and two Navy personnel standing at parade rest. All the chairs were pushed in at the table save for the two that were directly across from Lieutenant. The Lieutenant gestured for them to have a seat and they quickly sat down at the table.
Matilda briefly glanced over to the dogs and saw that all but one of them had their eyes squarely focused on Mitchel and her. The odd one out had its eyes focused on the Lieutenant. She felt that the dogs were sizing her and Mitchel up; that didn't help make her feel any more comfortable. In fact, it made her more uncomfortable than she was already. Her eyes darted back to the Lieutenant when she heard him cough.
"I won't beat around the bush here, I'm damn glad that I've got the both of you for my Staff. This unit's been understaffed since its inception but now it's a lot less so with the two of you aboard." The Lieutenant said as the marine sitting next to him handed him a few folders. He opened one of them and flipped a page before his eyes looked up and locked onto Matilda's.
"Ensign Matilda Jones, your file here says that before you enrolled in the Naval Academy, you were a therapy dog trainer for four years. Is this correct?" Lieutenant Corgi asked with a level voice.
"Sir, Yes sir!" Matilda said on reflex, which caused both the marine and the Lieutenant to blink twice before they started chuckling. Much to Matilda's confusion and to some degree, indignation; however the chuckles died soon after they had begun.
"No need to for the strict formalities here Ensign unless otherwise called for, or if you're outside the PT boat Barracks. However when either of you are here, you can just call me William." The Lieutenant said not just to Matilda, but to Mitchel as well. William's gaze then moved to Mitchel as he opened the second folder and looked at its contents.
"Ensign Mitchel Crawford, your file here says that before you enrolled in the Naval academy you spent three years as a K-9 Handler. Is this correct?" William said while closing the folder, looking rather intently at Mitchel.
Mitchel to his credit didn't flinch at William's change of posture, nor from the intensity his gaze held. "Yes Si-yes William." Mitchel was glad he was able to catch himself from being too formal when his CO had just asked him not to. A small smile graced William's face.
"That's damn good to hear. With you two's help I'm certain the PT Corgis can be a hella lot more flexible when they're not in their rigging." William said with plain relief in his voice. He was glad to get two people with their skill sets as part of his unit. He'd made a promise to the dogs that he'd do his damn best to make sure they wouldn't be abandoned or discarded by the Navy when this war was eventually won.
"Alright, now with that out of the way let me introduce you to the people you're going to be working with from now on and a few things you should know about them right off the bat. Staring off with the marine sitting next to me, Gunnery Sergeant Jim Clayton, my XO and the man who handles most of the day to day logistics of the unit." William paused for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing.
"You need something specific from supply, he'll help you get it. No matter what it is." William said, whilst the Gunnery Sergeant nodded before speaking up.
"Trust me; don't be afraid to come to me with a strange request. I get those plenty of times from everyone else."
Matilda and Mitchel listened with rapt attention and followed the Lieutenant's hand as he pointed to one of the two naval personnel standing behind him, and the furthest person on the left.
"Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mitchel Sanderson, He's the Chief Hull maintenance technician for the PT Corgis' rigging. Anything and everything barring the Radar Sets and Torpedoes he manages. Take it from me, he's as overworked as I am or even more so depending on the day of the week." William again paused and allowed the information to sink in before telling the Ensigns about the quirk with Sanderson.
"The last cup of coffee in the coffee pot is exclusively his. Take it without brewing a new pot at your own peril." From the way how the Lieutenant sounded when he mentioned that, it scared both Ensigns.
"William come on, that only happened once!" Sanderson retorted with a small glare directed at William before he regarding the two Ensigns. "Anyways, I won't bite ya heads off if you take the last cup. Just set another pot to brew if you do, okay?"
The Ensigns nodded rapidly, in manner one could liken to a bobble head, which made the Gunnery Sergeant crack up a bit. William rolled his eyes at Jim's behavior and moved his hand to the next person.
"Petty Officer Third Class Simon Lake, before he got into this unit he was a torpedo technician on USS Florida, SSGN-728. After Florida got damaged eight months ago in a depth charge attack out by the Bahamas, Simon was transferred to this unit at my request." William took a small breath before continuing.
"He's generally assisting Sanderson or Sergeant Banks with their work when he's not busy with his own. However, Simon is the only person currently authorized to work on the torpedoes and their mountings on the PT Corgis' rigging." From the deathly serious expression William had on his face when he mentioned the torpedoes, it didn't bode well for the Ensigns. The Ensigns noticed a few of the others grimace, which made them wonder if an incident had occurred in the past.
After a moment of heavy silence, William's expression changed as he spoke up again.
"Also, like almost all submariners he can bluff very well. Don't play poker with him unless you really know what you're doing." William said with an amused look on his face.
"Glad to be working with you two. Hopefully I and Sanderson's workloads can finally drop down a bit."
There was a small murmur of agreement from Sanderson before William moved his hand towards the first of the marines that were standing up.
"Sergeant David Banks, he's our electronics technician. More in point he's responsible for maintaining the radar sets on the PT Corgis' rigging for the dogs that have it. He's also responsible for installing sets on the dogs that are undergoing upgrades." William said with a small hint of pride in his voice.
"Just don't ask him for a drink from the canteen you see him carrying around, unless you want to try uncut torpedo juice." The lieutenant said with a bit of a grin on his face. The next marine in line shuffled a bit uncomfortably at the last part William had mentioned. The Ensigns were concerned and were about to ask for an explanation when Banks spoke up.
"I know what you two are about to say. No, I don't normally drink it while on duty. It's just really good at cleaning electrical contacts and it's damn easy to make in the amounts I use for my job." Banks spoke in a defensive manner. Silencing the questions both ensigns were about to ask. However it did tell them that somewhere in the area of the PT Boat Barracks there was a still.
William moved his hand to the next Marine in line, the one that had shifted uncomfortably on his feet when William mentioned the canteen Sergeant Banks carried with him.
"Lance Corporal Stanley Desmond, he's the unit's communication technician. His main job is to set the radio codes for the day, though he's also responsible for making sure every PT Corgi knows what the day's code and keys are." William paused to let it sink in before continuing.
"He is also responsible for informing the PT Corgis out on sortie of sudden weather developments. He'll route them around particularly bad thunderstorms or to the nearest port to shelter at until the storm passes." William seemed to hesitate for moment after he finished speaking; like there was something else he wanted to say but was unsure if he should say it.
Ultimately, he did say it.
"He's got...strange tastes in music." From the way how the Lieutenant didn't elaborate further on that point, it kinda worried both Ensigns.
Desmond huffed a bit and held an annoyed expression on his face. "My music tastes aren't as strange as everyone makes it out to be, I just like a very large variety of music, that's all."
Jim and William gave briefly looked back behind them to give Stanley a raised eyebrow. In fact, all but one of the personnel standing at parade rest turned and gave Desmond a raise eyebrow. Matilda felt more than she saw from the corner of her eye all of the PT Corgis that had been staring her and Mitchel down shift their gazes to the marine.
Matilda turned her head slightly and saw that the Corgis were giving Stanley what she figured was the Dog equivalent of the raised eyebrow look. Stanley squirmed slightly at the weight of the stares directed at him. After a moment of silence, everyone turned their attention back to the two Ensigns. William then pointed to the only other woman present in the room.
"Private First Class Lisa Ellen. She's the unit's Medic for the PT Corgis. She was a Veterinarian Surgeon up until about a year ago when she signed up for the Marines. While Sanderson, Lake, and Banks can put the Corgis equipment back together, Ellen can put the dogs themselves back together." William said with a healthy respect in his voice.
"She's the closest thing to a dedicated repair ship we've got for the PT Corgis and I've seen her work miracles in the past." The Ensigns could see Lisa's chest swell with pride at the praise.
"However..." William trailed off before he let his arm fall back to his side and his head hang down with a long, suffering sigh before looking back up.
"Ellen is a lewd woman. While she's almost never lewd first; however if you say something that can be taken as an innuendo or otherwise lewd thing, She'll tease ya on it without mercy." Instead of being embarrassed at the remark, the Ensigns noticed Lisa swell even more with pride. There was a devilish grin on the Marine's face and the Ensigns couldn't help but shudder at it. William took a moment, as if though he was bracing himself for something before speaking up again.
"She's also scarily good at voice impersonations too." William said without further comment and a hint of dread in his voice. Crawford and Jones were about to ask him to elaborate further when Ellen spoke up.
"Now, now~ don't make the Lieutenant explain everything. That'd take the fun out of karaoke night~" Ellen said with a teasing lit to her voice, a voice which at the mention of Karaoke disturbingly came close to the 'idol' voice used by a certain orange-clad light cruiser.
Matilda struggled to keep herself from cracking up upon hearing the rather impressive impersonation Ellen had just performed. Mitchel was more confused than anything else. William, Jim and everyone other than Stanley and the last marine in line however groaned upon hearing the voice.
William pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed out a suffering sigh before he raised his hand and pointed to the last marine standing at the other end of the line.
"And this is Private First Class Raphael Sandbar. Like you he's new to this unit but he has a general idea of managing the PT Corgis." William said in an encouraging manner to get the rather shy marine to speak up.
Sandbar straightened up a bit more than what the Ensigns thought was possible before speaking. "I look forward to working with the both of you to the best of my abilities."
William was going to inform the Ensigns and Sandbar about the unit's standing orders. However before he could say a word, his phone went off. "Now what?" William grumbled as he fished his phone out of his NWU jacket pocket and checked his texts.
William's eye twitched as he read the text. This didn't go unnoticed by Jim or anyone else. "What's the matter William?" The Gunnery Sergeant said with palpable concern. To which William gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked at his friend.
"The dogs we left with Sergeant First Class Stacker and his men back in Port Fourchon, they got attacked by a big gator, probably a 17 footer when they were out on the water doing maneuver drills." William spoke with vexation before continuing.
"The Dogs killed the gator and dragged it back to the barracks building. Made a mess that Stanley Kubrick would be proud of. Though the gator broke the leg of the PT Corgi it attacked."
Everyone else in the room blanched but not for the same reasons. William dialed a number and a few moments later the person on the other end picked up the line.
"This is Lieutenant Corgi, Sergeant First Class Stacker I'm giving the Phone to PFC Ellen now, she'll walk your medic through the steps for setting that dog's leg." William said while motioning for Ellen to take his phone.
Ellen took the phone and right away and began speaking with Stacker's medic. The change in how she acted shocked the two ensigns, if they hadn't seen the change themselves they wouldn't have believed that this was the same woman.
As Ellen headed back to her quarters, William gave a sigh. "Everyone else is released back to their duties. Pfc Sandbar, wait here for a moment. I have something to tell you and the Ensigns."
Everybody else save for the aforementioned departed to take care of other things. Sandbar, Jones and Crawford however remained with Corgi.
"Okay, Right now I can't take the time to properly inform the three of you of the various standing orders this unit has. So come by my office around 2100. I'll be able to give those standing orders then. Right now I've got other matters that need my attention." William said to the three. Sandbar nodded, though Matilda spoke up.
"And what are we supposed to do now sir?"
"Shadow the others and get a feel for things, help them out when and where you can. Beyond what Simon does, everyone else in the unit knows how to do just about every other job. There's a lot for you two to learn." William said as he got up from his chair before pushing it back in.
"As for me, I've got a whole new mess of paperwork to deal with. On top of the stuff I was putting off to greet you two and introduce you to everyone else. The three of you are released to your duties." William said before walking off towards his office.
Raphael stood there for a moment before he motioned for the Navy Ensigns to come with him. Jim did ask him to help out with brushing the PT Corgis fur and Raphael figured a couple extra hands would get the task done faster.
William opened the door to his office and sighed as he made his way to his desk and sat down. Looking at his desk, he swore the paperwork that was on it before had multiplied. Could it had been a sub sneaking in through the window to his office to drop off more? Probably, if his past luck was anything to go by.
"Some days, I just ain't payed enough for this crap. I swear, if those Corgis did that just because Stacker and his men are Army..." The Lieutenant muttered darkly to himself as he went about the seemingly unending task that was completing paperwork.
After a short while, Ellen entered his office to return his phone. He picked it up and started speaking with Stacker on how to clean up the mess, and keep ahead of the inquiries that were bound to follow.
It was only 0735 and William already felt somewhat tired. Today was going to be long day, he could just feel it in his bones.
Omake: An Officer and his Dogs part 4
[=]
Lieutenant William Corgi awoke in a rather annoyed mood; his otherwise pleasant dream had been ruined by the sudden appearance of a certain orange-clad idol right before things had gotten very interesting.
"Damn traffic cone invading my dreams. Letting Lisa jam out to her albums last night was a bad call on my part." William muttered as he glanced at his clock and noticed the time was 0347. He had woken up early, again. The PT Corgi that was at the foot of his bed awoke to his muttering and tilted its head to one side before crawling up besides the Lt.
William sighed and scratched the top of the PT boat's head; the dog gave a sleepy yawn and leaned into his touch.
"I'm sorry girl, did I wake ya?" He said to the dog apologetically, who then simply pushed its snout against his hand twice to tell him no. And he knew the dog was telling him no, even if he couldn't exactly explain how.
"At least today the new transfers to the unit will arrive. Y'all don't give them too much trouble now, okay?" William said softly to the PT boat before pulling the blanket aside just enough to get out of bed. He shuffled over to his quarter's personal bathroom to shower and freshen up for the day, leaving a trail of removed clothes on his way to the shower.
After he was done washing, he'd take a final cold rinse to help keep him awake long enough to get some Coffee. And he did desperately need some Coffee after last night.
After drying off from his shower and getting dressed for the day, William took the time to put away his night sleepwear and used towel in their appropriate hampers before he made his bed to regulation standard. Once all that was taken care of, the Lieutenant exited his quarters and walked down the hall that led into the main room of the PT Barracks. With the PT Corgi that had watched over him during the night right behind him the entire time.
William reached the Coffee machine and set a new pot to brew. By the time Jim exited his quarters a few minutes later, the pot had finished brewing and William had already poured out two cups. The Lieutenant handed the Gunnery Sergeant one of the mugs and kept the other for himself.
William noticed that his friend had bags around his eyes and general grumpy air around him.
"Lemme guess, Traffic cone invaded your dreams too huh?" William said as he took a long sip of the black brew. From the grumbled reply Jim gave him before downing a quarter of the mug's contents in one go, William would take that as a solid yes.
"I had almost forgotten how catchy and annoying that idol's songs could get." Jim said as he drank down another quarter of his coffee and felt the life return to him.
"Yeah her songs can be annoying as fuck at times but I have to admit when she doesn't do those damn high-pitched and high-intensity songs, her singing is really good." William countered before taking another sip of his coffee. The PT Boats were all waking up now, no doubt stirred to wakefulness by the smell of Coffee.
"Yeah you got a point there; I loved the Christmas album she released last year." Jim said as he finished off the rest of his coffee before handing William the now empty mug. William just gave a hum of agreement as he finished the last of his coffee before he washed the mugs as Jim went to wake everyone else up.
William sighed as he went to make a quick, simple breakfast of spam and eggs for everyone. They had quite a bit of work to do today; introducing the new guys to the unit would be a task and a half itself. However they had to take care of changing the patrol rotations first before anything else.
[=]
It was an about an hour and a half later, after the day patrol was topped off and sortied and the returning night rotation had returned and indulged in their required gluttony, that William was able to sit down at his desk and do some needed paperwork. It never seemed to end no matter how quickly he filled out the forms; it was something that annoyed him to no end.
He heard a knock on his door, a familiar three-note knock that only one person he knew made. "Enter." Corgi said as he read a form requesting some of the PT Corgis and one member of his Staff to part take in a Navy PR event scheduled for the New Year.
Gunnery Sergeant Clayton entered the room and handed Lieutenant Corgi a small stack of papers. "Some medical reports from Lisa, it seems like part of night squadron 2 got injured on their way back to base." Clayton spoke with a rather severe tone; Corgi was flabbergasted at what he heard. He hadn't even noticed anything wrong with the dogs of squadron 2 when they came in from patrol.
"How the hell did they get hurt?" William asked before he looked at the paper and did a double take at what he saw.
"Are you fucking kidding me? They collided with a pair of Ocean Sunfish? How the hell does that happen...wait since when do Sunfish horizontally bask this early in the day?" William asked as he glanced out the window, it was barely even nautical twilight yet, let alone sunrise. 'So why would two of those fish be on its side on the surface before the sun was even up?' He pondered to himself briefly before sighing again. He just couldn't catch a break could he? More things to ponder, more things to check out to see if there was a pattern to be found.
He had learned the hard way once, and just once, to never dismiss anything, no matter how random it seemed during times like this. However, right now he had a more pressing concern and that was the health of the injured dogs. The health of his dogs. He knew that if he didn't try and stop em, they'd attempt to sortie before they had completely healed. A persistent trait carried over from the crews of their original lives as mere boats.
"Are they going to be completely healed before tonight's patrol or I'm gonna have to split squadrons 3 and 4 to cover the gap left by squadron 2's injured till they're fully healed?" William asked Jim, who simply nodded.
"Lisa said that she had their noses and hind legs in splints and they're a taking a soak in the repair docks right now and they'll be good as new by tonight. Hell she said that they'll probably be out before its lunch time." Jim said to William, who breathed a sigh of relief at the news. If Lisa said something like that, he knew that it was the truth.
Ellen really did work miracles with the dogs whenever they got injured. Her skills were a godsend in lieu of a proper repair ship and because of that, William was willing to put up with Lisa's more...eccentric habits. Which have caused him more than a fair number of headaches in the past.
From the corner of his eye, William saw Clayton fish out his phone and check his messages. "William I just got word from my friend that's running the transports from MYS. Those Ensigns we're getting, their plane just landed at the airport, it won't be long before they get here. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops if Traffic is bad after they get their bags." The Gunnery Sergeant said as he put the phone away. The Lieutenant had a small smile crack across his face as he opened up a desk drawer and pulled out two dossier folders.
"Gunny Sergeant Clayton, inform every one of the news and have them assembled at the briefing table after the ensigns get here and put their bags away. Pull the extra chairs out of the storage room and make sure everything is in order. I'll be outside waiting for them." William said as he looked at the paperwork for New Year's PR event, he figured he could put it off, if only just for a little bit. To make certain that among other things the new ensigns knew how the unit ran.
Besides, William had always personally greeted newcomers to the unit, and he wasn't about to skip what had become the unit's tradition.
[=]
Ensigns Mitchel Crawford and Matilda Jones struggled to shake the last dregs of sleepiness from their minds. The two and a half hour plane ride from Maryland they just got off of didn't really give them a chance to get any rest. They knew their deployment orders would entail them getting up early and flying out well before dawn.
However knowing that still hadn't prepared them for the reality of it, not completely anyways. Though on the other hand neither of them had really slept well during the night, before they had to get up and depart for the Airport along with a sizable number of their fellow classmates.
Maybe two of their fellow classmates had gotten on their flight but they were being deployed to elsewhere and therefore they'd part from them after arrival. Most of the rest of their class were flying out west and a small number of their classmates were left behind in Maryland due to their deployment orders. It took almost ten minutes for Matilda and Mitchel to get off the plane and get down to the baggage claim area to get their luggage.
Mitchel sighed with impatience as he waited for the luggage return carousel to start spitting out everyone's luggage. Matilda was just a few feet off to his left, chatting with a civilian. He didn't fault her for talking with civilians, many folks were confused, scared, or for some; in complete denial of how the world was now. Having the chance to speak with Navy personnel, or really anyone from the Military went a long way to help people understand what was going on and maybe assure their fears.
Before Mitchel could ponder further on it, a loud buzzing alarm alerted everyone around the baggage return that their luggage had arrived. Sure enough in a few moments the first large bags and suitcases started making their rounds on the track. Mitchel believed it was good fortune on he and Matilda's part that their luggage was among the first to come out. He grabbed both his and Matilda's bags and pulled them off the track. Matilda had noticed his movement and was at his side by the time he had turned to tell her that he got their bags.
"Wow Mitchel, we got lucky with baggage return didn't we?" Matilda said in a rather upbeat manner as Mitchel handed her bag before they started making their way to the exit of the baggage claim area.
"Yeah we did, didn't we?" Mitchel said before his eyes caught sight of a man, a marine standing near the exit of the building. He held a sign that had their names on it, so the Ensigns both figured that someone from the base was already here to pick them up. Mitchel hadn't expected that, and a brief glance to Matilda told him that she hadn't expected it either.
"Are you Ensigns Matilda Jones and Mitchel Crawford?" The man asked them over the din of the Airport. Even this early in the morning, it was still fairly noisy.
"Yes we are."
"Good. Follow me; there's a truck waiting out on the loading curb for you two." The marine said before he led them out of the terminal building. Waiting there on the curb for them was a M1109, a scout variant given the utter lack of weapons the vehicle had. The driver was sitting behind the wheel drinking out of a to-go cup and messing about with his phone before he noticed the return of his fellow marine with the Ensigns in tow.
Matilda had to bite back giggles and Mitchel had to subdue chuckles when they saw the driver almost dropped his coffee cup into his lap to attempt to look like he wasn't just screwing around on the phone till now and got the Humvee started.
As Mitchel and Matilda placed their bags in the vehicle before getting in themselves, they heard a few choice words the one marine said to the driver. Though they couldn't quite catch what was exactly said because of noise of the airport even at this early hour, and the rumble of the Humvee's engine.
Once they were settled in the truck and underway, the marine that had greeted them spoke up. "So you two are going to Dog Squad huh? Boy did you two end up in an oddball unit." The man said as the driver weaved the Humvee through traffic.
"Oddball unit?" Matilda said with a measure of confusion.
"Yeah, a mix-and-match of Navy and Marine personnel that deals with the PT Corgis here in New Orleans. The Lt's XO is a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, despite the fact there's a Navy W-5 in the unit." The marine explained as they stopped at a red light. The driver took this moment to jump in on the conversation.
"Yeah, like the only stranger Job you could get in the Navy is dealing with ship girls directly on a regular basis. Though that doesn't mean you won't run into em while doing stuff for Dog Squad. Some of them girls just like either messing with the corgis, spoilin em rotten, or snatching em away for snuggles or some other kind of shenanigan; much to the Lt's continual misery." The drive said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"So are you two part of this, 'Dog Squad' and is that why you were waiting for us at the Airport?" Mitchel asked the marines, who looked at one another for a second before breaking out in laughter just as the light turned green and they got moving again.
"No Sir, we ain't from dog squad. We don't have the dog handling qualifications or experience to get into that unit. We just got asked by the unit's XO to pick up you two from the airport while they got the daytime patrols ready for sortie and fed the returning night patrols." The marine that had greeted said as they passed through the dimmer lit areas of the city. The only strong light present was from the Humvee's headlights since sunrise was still roughly an hour or so away, though the horizon was clearly visible now.
A few minutes of silence passed before Mitchel broke it with a question directed at the marines. "Marines, I've heard a few rumors about Lieutenant Corgi from some of the old salts at the Naval Academy. Mainly that Corgi was the hard-ass of hard-asses when it came to adhering to rules and regulations when he and his class was going through the Academy. Is he still like that?" Mitchel spoke with a degree of concern in his voice.
"Well, yes and no." The marine riding shotgun bluntly replied.
"What do you mean yes and no?" Matilda asked the marines before Mitchel had the chance to say it himself.
"No as far as he doesn't follow everything so strictly now. In fact, depending on circumstances he could let ya get away with quite a bit. Though then again, I suppose that's just the part and parcel of life you get when it comes to dealing with well, anything and everything that involves MSSB." The marine said, and the ensigns grimaced slightly. Their class on ship girls and the... antics they could get up to as well as the bottomless mystery that was MSSB was woefully ad-hock. Though the Ensigns didn't ponder on just how unprepared they really were for dealing with all things MSSB related because the driver spoke up next to finish the second half of what the passenger was saying.
"Yes in the fact that the rules he does strictly enforce are mainly the ones he came up with for dealing with the management and internal workings of Dog Squad... Ugh I don't really remember everything Clayton said and I ain't gonna take guesses on the details, so here's the short of it. You fuck up how Lieutenant Corgi runs his unit or if he learns that you've mistreated and/or neglected the PT Corgis at any point. He will verbally tear ya a new one with the wrathfulness of the Old Testament." The driver said as he made the turn that was the final approach to the main entrance to the naval base.
"Yeah LTJG Jackson found that out second one the hard way…Okay, he was a dumbass for grabbing an angry blimp cat when it was in a scuffle with one of the PT Corgis. But when Lieutenant Corgi came up back here from Port Fourchon to fill in for the LTJG while a replacement was being looked for, Corgi discovered that Jackson had been almost completely negligent with his duties and responsibilities on managing the PT Boats. Lemme tell ya, you could hear the LT chew out Jackson well the hell away from the window of the infirmary room the LTJG was recovering in." The marine riding shotgun said with a tad bit of nervousness in his voice.
"So does that mean Lieutenant Corgi has a short temper?" Mitchel asked with a strong hint of dread. He had enough experiences dealing with people who short tempers to last him several lifetimes, he really didn't want to be deal with another person like that who was also his new CO.
"No, He really doesn't." Both marines said at once, before they glanced at one another and shared a short laugh. Though the marine's laughter died down as the Humvee came up to the Naval base's entrance. It was another minute before the sentries waved them through and one of them elaborated further.
"It's actually pretty damn hard to make the Lieutenant lose his temper most of the time. I've heard from the marines that work under him, he might be grouchy most of the time but he never snaps at anyone unless they've done something to completely deserve it." The marine riding upfront said honest and frankly to the two Ensigns.
Mitchel breathed a sigh of relief at the news, and glance over to Matilda showed that she looked considerably less nervous. Though they were pulled from their thoughts before they had a chance to talk to one another by the marine riding up front clapping his hands hard twice; this drew their attention to the building that the marine was pointing at. However, it was the driver who spoke up.
"Alright, you see that building up ahead. That's the PT Boat Barracks; just about all the Marines on base though call it 'Fort Bork'. Though, uh, you might not wanna call it that around Lieutenant Corgi because uh, yeah he kinda gets annoyed by all the nicknames people have given him or his unit or the buildings they occupy. Hell you two will probably know at least two dozen of those nicknames by the end of today." Their driver informed them as they pulled up to where the paved road ended and a concrete walkway began that led to the barracks building.
Someone was already outside waiting for them. The two marines that chatted with them on the ride got oddly silent all of a sudden and that concerned both Ensigns greatly. It only took a few moments for them to realize that it had to that was someone from 'Dog Squad' waiting for them. Ensigns Matilda Jones and Mitchel Crawford wanted to make a good first impression on whomever it was waiting for them. So they got their bags and got out of the Humvee.
Ensigns Matilda Jones and Mitchel Crawford looked at one another briefly before their gazes shifted back to the man that was waiting for them just outside the PT Boat barracks. As what their Marine driver had informed them that the building in front of them was called.
The man waiting for them had his back facing them, arms folded behind his back in parade rest. This man was obviously Navy like them given his uniform. But to both of their eyes, he seemed like he was tense about something, even the tight cut dusty brown hair the man had mostly concealed by his cover seemed to have been raised in tension. It honestly unnerved the both of them.
Then man turned around with a single fluid motion as they left the Humvee behind and came several steps closer to him.
The two Ensigns snapped to attention the moment they saw the Lieutenant Bars on the man's collar and realized that this was their CO, Lieutenant William Corgi. Matilda and Mitchel were more than a tad bit frightened as his gaze swept over them. With the light of the early dawn sun partially lighting his eyes, it gave the Lieutenant's Hazel-Green eyes a yellow-gold hue to them along with a rather terrifying intensity. It was as if though he was looking down into the very depths of their beings with those eyes, searching for some fundamental fault they possessed.
After a brief few seconds of silent staring, the Lieutenant returned their salutes and spoke up. "At ease sailors. I take it that you're Ensign Matilda Jones and Ensign Mitchel Crawford." The Lieutenant asked them, though his expression said that he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from them.
"Sir, Yes Sir!" They both responded at once before they briefly glanced at each other. The rather serious expression the Lieutenant had faltered slightly as a faint smile cracked across his lips.
"Good. Take your things inside and find yourself an empty room to claim, there's plenty of unused rooms to spare. After that, report back to the General assembly table in the main room to get briefed on what to expect in this unit and introduce the both of you to the people you'll be working with from now on." The Lieutenant said before he thought for a moment and added one more thing
"Ah. Pardon me, I almost forgot to say this. Welcome to the United States Navy's 5th Patrol Torpedo Boat Support Unit or 'Dog Squad' as other members of the Navy colloquially call this unit." He spoke the last part in a far more relaxed tone than he has been using prior.
As they entered through the front door the two ensigns were taken aback at how different the building was on the inside compared to the outside. It hardly looked like what they were used to given that there was a small open kitchen just off to their right. A long table was positioned just outside of it and by the coffee machine. To their left was what looked like a decently sized entertainment area that had several couches, coffee tables & end tables, plus two TVs mounted on the wall.
On the other end of the room there were dozens upon dozens of dog beds neatly lined up on the floor that formed a channel leading to a hallway. The Ensigns walked through the main room, past the PT boats that either played in the open space between the entertainment and sleeping areas or were napping in their beds. It didn't take them long to see that each door along the hallway was someone's quarters, what surprised them was that it looked like everyone here had their own quarters.
Soon the two ensigns found two rooms that were unclaimed and got settled in.
[=]
The two Ensigns thought for sure they hadn't taken that long to unpack and put their things in order. However when they came out of their respective quarters and walked back out into the main room, things were very different compared to when they first came through.
Every dog that was sleeping was now awake and every dog that had been playing had stopped. All the dogs were gathered off to the side of the long table that was adjacent to the open kitchen and they were looking at them. Forty pairs of beady eyes followed their every movement across the room with the fluidity of a well-oiled gun mount. That alone was unnerving enough for Mitchel and Matilda but it was what was waiting for them at the table that unnerved them even further.
At one end of the table sat the Lieutenant and one very stern looking Gunnery Sergeant. Behind them were four marines and two Navy personnel standing at parade rest. All the chairs were pushed in at the table save for the two that were directly across from Lieutenant. The Lieutenant gestured for them to have a seat and they quickly sat down at the table.
Matilda briefly glanced over to the dogs and saw that all but one of them had their eyes squarely focused on Mitchel and her. The odd one out had its eyes focused on the Lieutenant. She felt that the dogs were sizing her and Mitchel up; that didn't help make her feel any more comfortable. In fact, it made her more uncomfortable than she was already. Her eyes darted back to the Lieutenant when she heard him cough.
"I won't beat around the bush here, I'm damn glad that I've got the both of you for my Staff. This unit's been understaffed since its inception but now it's a lot less so with the two of you aboard." The Lieutenant said as the marine sitting next to him handed him a few folders. He opened one of them and flipped a page before his eyes looked up and locked onto Matilda's.
"Ensign Matilda Jones, your file here says that before you enrolled in the Naval Academy, you were a therapy dog trainer for four years. Is this correct?" Lieutenant Corgi asked with a level voice.
"Sir, Yes sir!" Matilda said on reflex, which caused both the marine and the Lieutenant to blink twice before they started chuckling. Much to Matilda's confusion and to some degree, indignation; however the chuckles died soon after they had begun.
"No need to for the strict formalities here Ensign unless otherwise called for, or if you're outside the PT boat Barracks. However when either of you are here, you can just call me William." The Lieutenant said not just to Matilda, but to Mitchel as well. William's gaze then moved to Mitchel as he opened the second folder and looked at its contents.
"Ensign Mitchel Crawford, your file here says that before you enrolled in the Naval academy you spent three years as a K-9 Handler. Is this correct?" William said while closing the folder, looking rather intently at Mitchel.
Mitchel to his credit didn't flinch at William's change of posture, nor from the intensity his gaze held. "Yes Si-yes William." Mitchel was glad he was able to catch himself from being too formal when his CO had just asked him not to. A small smile graced William's face.
"That's damn good to hear. With you two's help I'm certain the PT Corgis can be a hella lot more flexible when they're not in their rigging." William said with plain relief in his voice. He was glad to get two people with their skill sets as part of his unit. He'd made a promise to the dogs that he'd do his damn best to make sure they wouldn't be abandoned or discarded by the Navy when this war was eventually won.
"Alright, now with that out of the way let me introduce you to the people you're going to be working with from now on and a few things you should know about them right off the bat. Staring off with the marine sitting next to me, Gunnery Sergeant Jim Clayton, my XO and the man who handles most of the day to day logistics of the unit." William paused for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing.
"You need something specific from supply, he'll help you get it. No matter what it is." William said, whilst the Gunnery Sergeant nodded before speaking up.
"Trust me; don't be afraid to come to me with a strange request. I get those plenty of times from everyone else."
Matilda and Mitchel listened with rapt attention and followed the Lieutenant's hand as he pointed to one of the two naval personnel standing behind him, and the furthest person on the left.
"Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mitchel Sanderson, He's the Chief Hull maintenance technician for the PT Corgis' rigging. Anything and everything barring the Radar Sets and Torpedoes he manages. Take it from me, he's as overworked as I am or even more so depending on the day of the week." William again paused and allowed the information to sink in before telling the Ensigns about the quirk with Sanderson.
"The last cup of coffee in the coffee pot is exclusively his. Take it without brewing a new pot at your own peril." From the way how the Lieutenant sounded when he mentioned that, it scared both Ensigns.
"William come on, that only happened once!" Sanderson retorted with a small glare directed at William before he regarding the two Ensigns. "Anyways, I won't bite ya heads off if you take the last cup. Just set another pot to brew if you do, okay?"
The Ensigns nodded rapidly, in manner one could liken to a bobble head, which made the Gunnery Sergeant crack up a bit. William rolled his eyes at Jim's behavior and moved his hand to the next person.
"Petty Officer Third Class Simon Lake, before he got into this unit he was a torpedo technician on USS Florida, SSGN-728. After Florida got damaged eight months ago in a depth charge attack out by the Bahamas, Simon was transferred to this unit at my request." William took a small breath before continuing.
"He's generally assisting Sanderson or Sergeant Banks with their work when he's not busy with his own. However, Simon is the only person currently authorized to work on the torpedoes and their mountings on the PT Corgis' rigging." From the deathly serious expression William had on his face when he mentioned the torpedoes, it didn't bode well for the Ensigns. The Ensigns noticed a few of the others grimace, which made them wonder if an incident had occurred in the past.
After a moment of heavy silence, William's expression changed as he spoke up again.
"Also, like almost all submariners he can bluff very well. Don't play poker with him unless you really know what you're doing." William said with an amused look on his face.
"Glad to be working with you two. Hopefully I and Sanderson's workloads can finally drop down a bit."
There was a small murmur of agreement from Sanderson before William moved his hand towards the first of the marines that were standing up.
"Sergeant David Banks, he's our electronics technician. More in point he's responsible for maintaining the radar sets on the PT Corgis' rigging for the dogs that have it. He's also responsible for installing sets on the dogs that are undergoing upgrades." William said with a small hint of pride in his voice.
"Just don't ask him for a drink from the canteen you see him carrying around, unless you want to try uncut torpedo juice." The lieutenant said with a bit of a grin on his face. The next marine in line shuffled a bit uncomfortably at the last part William had mentioned. The Ensigns were concerned and were about to ask for an explanation when Banks spoke up.
"I know what you two are about to say. No, I don't normally drink it while on duty. It's just really good at cleaning electrical contacts and it's damn easy to make in the amounts I use for my job." Banks spoke in a defensive manner. Silencing the questions both ensigns were about to ask. However it did tell them that somewhere in the area of the PT Boat Barracks there was a still.
William moved his hand to the next Marine in line, the one that had shifted uncomfortably on his feet when William mentioned the canteen Sergeant Banks carried with him.
"Lance Corporal Stanley Desmond, he's the unit's communication technician. His main job is to set the radio codes for the day, though he's also responsible for making sure every PT Corgi knows what the day's code and keys are." William paused to let it sink in before continuing.
"He is also responsible for informing the PT Corgis out on sortie of sudden weather developments. He'll route them around particularly bad thunderstorms or to the nearest port to shelter at until the storm passes." William seemed to hesitate for moment after he finished speaking; like there was something else he wanted to say but was unsure if he should say it.
Ultimately, he did say it.
"He's got...strange tastes in music." From the way how the Lieutenant didn't elaborate further on that point, it kinda worried both Ensigns.
Desmond huffed a bit and held an annoyed expression on his face. "My music tastes aren't as strange as everyone makes it out to be, I just like a very large variety of music, that's all."
Jim and William gave briefly looked back behind them to give Stanley a raised eyebrow. In fact, all but one of the personnel standing at parade rest turned and gave Desmond a raise eyebrow. Matilda felt more than she saw from the corner of her eye all of the PT Corgis that had been staring her and Mitchel down shift their gazes to the marine.
Matilda turned her head slightly and saw that the Corgis were giving Stanley what she figured was the Dog equivalent of the raised eyebrow look. Stanley squirmed slightly at the weight of the stares directed at him. After a moment of silence, everyone turned their attention back to the two Ensigns. William then pointed to the only other woman present in the room.
"Private First Class Lisa Ellen. She's the unit's Medic for the PT Corgis. She was a Veterinarian Surgeon up until about a year ago when she signed up for the Marines. While Sanderson, Lake, and Banks can put the Corgis equipment back together, Ellen can put the dogs themselves back together." William said with a healthy respect in his voice.
"She's the closest thing to a dedicated repair ship we've got for the PT Corgis and I've seen her work miracles in the past." The Ensigns could see Lisa's chest swell with pride at the praise.
"However..." William trailed off before he let his arm fall back to his side and his head hang down with a long, suffering sigh before looking back up.
"Ellen is a lewd woman. While she's almost never lewd first; however if you say something that can be taken as an innuendo or otherwise lewd thing, She'll tease ya on it without mercy." Instead of being embarrassed at the remark, the Ensigns noticed Lisa swell even more with pride. There was a devilish grin on the Marine's face and the Ensigns couldn't help but shudder at it. William took a moment, as if though he was bracing himself for something before speaking up again.
"She's also scarily good at voice impersonations too." William said without further comment and a hint of dread in his voice. Crawford and Jones were about to ask him to elaborate further when Ellen spoke up.
"Now, now~ don't make the Lieutenant explain everything. That'd take the fun out of karaoke night~" Ellen said with a teasing lit to her voice, a voice which at the mention of Karaoke disturbingly came close to the 'idol' voice used by a certain orange-clad light cruiser.
Matilda struggled to keep herself from cracking up upon hearing the rather impressive impersonation Ellen had just performed. Mitchel was more confused than anything else. William, Jim and everyone other than Stanley and the last marine in line however groaned upon hearing the voice.
William pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed out a suffering sigh before he raised his hand and pointed to the last marine standing at the other end of the line.
"And this is Private First Class Raphael Sandbar. Like you he's new to this unit but he has a general idea of managing the PT Corgis." William said in an encouraging manner to get the rather shy marine to speak up.
Sandbar straightened up a bit more than what the Ensigns thought was possible before speaking. "I look forward to working with the both of you to the best of my abilities."
William was going to inform the Ensigns and Sandbar about the unit's standing orders. However before he could say a word, his phone went off. "Now what?" William grumbled as he fished his phone out of his NWU jacket pocket and checked his texts.
William's eye twitched as he read the text. This didn't go unnoticed by Jim or anyone else. "What's the matter William?" The Gunnery Sergeant said with palpable concern. To which William gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked at his friend.
"The dogs we left with Sergeant First Class Stacker and his men back in Port Fourchon, they got attacked by a big gator, probably a 17 footer when they were out on the water doing maneuver drills." William spoke with vexation before continuing.
"The Dogs killed the gator and dragged it back to the barracks building. Made a mess that Stanley Kubrick would be proud of. Though the gator broke the leg of the PT Corgi it attacked."
Everyone else in the room blanched but not for the same reasons. William dialed a number and a few moments later the person on the other end picked up the line.
"This is Lieutenant Corgi, Sergeant First Class Stacker I'm giving the Phone to PFC Ellen now, she'll walk your medic through the steps for setting that dog's leg." William said while motioning for Ellen to take his phone.
Ellen took the phone and right away and began speaking with Stacker's medic. The change in how she acted shocked the two ensigns, if they hadn't seen the change themselves they wouldn't have believed that this was the same woman.
As Ellen headed back to her quarters, William gave a sigh. "Everyone else is released back to their duties. Pfc Sandbar, wait here for a moment. I have something to tell you and the Ensigns."
Everybody else save for the aforementioned departed to take care of other things. Sandbar, Jones and Crawford however remained with Corgi.
"Okay, Right now I can't take the time to properly inform the three of you of the various standing orders this unit has. So come by my office around 2100. I'll be able to give those standing orders then. Right now I've got other matters that need my attention." William said to the three. Sandbar nodded, though Matilda spoke up.
"And what are we supposed to do now sir?"
"Shadow the others and get a feel for things, help them out when and where you can. Beyond what Simon does, everyone else in the unit knows how to do just about every other job. There's a lot for you two to learn." William said as he got up from his chair before pushing it back in.
"As for me, I've got a whole new mess of paperwork to deal with. On top of the stuff I was putting off to greet you two and introduce you to everyone else. The three of you are released to your duties." William said before walking off towards his office.
Raphael stood there for a moment before he motioned for the Navy Ensigns to come with him. Jim did ask him to help out with brushing the PT Corgis fur and Raphael figured a couple extra hands would get the task done faster.
[=]
William opened the door to his office and sighed as he made his way to his desk and sat down. Looking at his desk, he swore the paperwork that was on it before had multiplied. Could it had been a sub sneaking in through the window to his office to drop off more? Probably, if his past luck was anything to go by.
"Some days, I just ain't payed enough for this crap. I swear, if those Corgis did that just because Stacker and his men are Army..." The Lieutenant muttered darkly to himself as he went about the seemingly unending task that was completing paperwork.
After a short while, Ellen entered his office to return his phone. He picked it up and started speaking with Stacker on how to clean up the mess, and keep ahead of the inquiries that were bound to follow.
It was only 0735 and William already felt somewhat tired. Today was going to be long day, he could just feel it in his bones.
[=]
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- Location
- Canada
For those curious, Jersey's the one in the background. You can tell by Iowa's exposed conning tower--the other three were built with significant bridges surrounding theirs.
PAGDTenno
Verified Warmind. Probably on fire.
- Location
- South Carolina
You can also tell Iowa from the other three (During WW2) because the other three had 40mm installations on their Turret 2 roofs, but they obstructed the sightlines of Iowa's flag bridge, (the other three were not built as fleet flagships) so she had 20mm mountings installed instead.
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Omake: Wolfbait!
CompassJimbo
Where’s Your North?
- Location
- The former Rubber Capital of the World
Part 5, in which things come to a head.
[=]
There had been an ambient tension in the air for the past day or so, as I waited for the package to arrive, and forever damn my sister. Somehow I managed to salvage the situation somewhat, though Cathy refused to believe me, as usual. But I could tell she was starting to crack, a certain look in her eye when she saw the Myoukou sisters behind me during a Skype call. She was starting to see them for what they were, not what she thought them to be.
It was a miracle that I had gotten those four off the warpath, knowing what would have happened if things went to hell. Distance, canal restrictions, and fresh, shallow water wouldn't have stopped them from sailing up to my backyard, and giving Cathy a piece of their mind. That didn't mean they were no longer miffed. Just less likely to reduce her to a smoldering crater.
I checked my phone's clock. About half past eight, local time. The sun's light was just starting to creep past the horizon back home.
"Jim?"
I turned around, and noticed Ashigara had seated herself next to me, wearing a bathrobe rather than her usual outfit. I couldn't bring myself to care whether or not that was the only thing between me and her, even though she no doubt would have appreciated the attention.
My shoulders slumped, and a low, long sigh escaped me. My sister was about to go through what would no doubt be the worst moment of her life soon, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to help her. "What is it, Ashigara?"
I felt her arms wrap around me, trying to comfort me in a firm, warm embrace, but all I felt was that tightness when someone touches me, and it wasn't any kind of fun sensation, either. "I'm sorry for getting angry at your sister," she said quietly, leaning her head on my shoulder.
I set my phone down on the table, letting out a deep breath. "Yeah. I can understand why, though. You fought hard, and you continue to fight hard, so someone claiming it was all some sort of act…"
"Don't forget about my feelings about you," she added, before gently planting her lips on my cheek. I could feel my face heat up, and knew she had many more where that came from. "I was on the brink of giving up, of finally admitting defeat, when you gave me a chance."
I turned to face her, looking into those concerned brown orbs of hers. "And I don't regret it. I was hoping this could be resolved in a more quiet manner. She's the type who would crash our wedding, saying how I was falling into a trap. I don't want you to have to deal with that." I could make out the details in her eyes, noticing that they weren't quite brown. I saw hints of gold, showing that while she looked like an ordinary woman, she was far from it. But beyond that, I could also see that hunger, that would one day have to be sated.
"You're too considerate, you know that?" She asked, a small smile growing across her face. "We could have dealt with it."
"Except it wouldn't have ended there," I gently countered. Her determination was quite something, but here, a scalpel was needed, not an eight inch wide sledgehammer. "My grandma on my mom's side…" I sighed. "She didn't like who my mom had married. If it wasn't for the court orders filed against her, she would have driven to the cemetery and pissed on his grave. Cathy wouldn't have been that much different, I feel. I don't want that kind of drama in my life, especially considering what it cost my family."
Kind of hypocritical, considering what I kicked off.
A hum left her, before she tightened her embrace ever so slightly. It was like waiting for the end of the world to come and pass, knowing what would happen, and knowing there was nothing we could do by this point. "I'd try and give you something else to think about, but I doubt you're in the mood."
"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. Somehow." I laughed bitterly. She was definitely a Hungry Wolf, alright. She had her prey right there, but she couldn't quite work up the appetite at the moment.
"Just give me your all, when you do so," she told me, before leaning in. I followed, and our lips met for but a second. I could feel my heartbeat pick up slightly, amidst the scent of cordite and soap.
She loosened her grip, before slowly shifting herself. I found myself following along, as we both laid ourselves on the couch. I could feel her weight press firmly against me, as we just held each other, my hand slowly running through her soft, wavy hair. It was barely a distraction, though. The only sounds in the room were our breaths, and a ticking clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Each little movement of the red hand marking each second that passed by, was slowly counting down towards that inevitable phone call, that the package had arrived, and Cathy finally broke. I didn't know how it would end, whether it'd be with a suicide attempt, with her shot by a nervous police officer, or her in one of the rooms at Saint Thomas, hopped up on sedatives and anti-psychotics.
While there was no risk of nukes being launched, it was still my little Doomsday Clock.
"What were things like, before you came here?" Ashigara asked, no doubt trying to distract me.
I took a deep breath. No point in leaving her hanging. "Between dad's death and now?" I let out a small groan, recalling those difficult moments. "Initially, it was chaos, obviously. It was a few months before things settled down, but they did. Mom found a job helping to manage one of the local stores, but we weren't in any danger of going under. Dad was smart enough to have a life insurance policy, though it was rough while that was sorted out. But things were starting to look up. High school was going well, my friends had my back, all of that good stuff. And then the War broke out."
"Did you join when you graduated?"
I nodded, even though I could barely remember when it began. Everything between then and when I went off to Great Lakes was a blur. "When I saw the news, I knew I couldn't sit idly by while millions died. There was a job that needed to be done. Mom was quick to see if I truly wanted to do this, and when she knew I was willing to fight, she wished me safety and godspeed. Cathy, on the other hand…"
"She didn't want you to leave."
Another nod, and a low, deep breath. "She thought I was ditching the family in its hour of need, unaware that there was nothing I could do. We were but a shadow, never to reclaim the stability we had long ago. 'Step up and solve this,' she kept telling me, as Mom fought with her side of the family. I don't think she would have been satisfied unless I burned their house down, or something. I was…" I rubbed my temple. "God, it feels like forever ago. I think I was fifteen or sixteen at the time."
I rubbed a tear away from my eye. It was a tragedy, soon to reach its climax. She could tell I wasn't quite comfortable talking about it, and yet it was the only thing on my mind, it seemed.
"Was there anything you liked to do?"
"I was into modelmaking. Legos, plastic kits, the works."
Her eyes lit up slightly. "What kind of kits?"
"A mish-mash, mostly planes and ships. I was working on a model of the Galactica when I shipped out, but my pride and joy was a model of an old cruiser."
I saw her eyes widen, realizing what was going on. "It…" she swallowed. "It was me, wasn't it?"
I nodded. "Technically the box said 'Myoukou-class,' but I decided it would be of you, not that I knew you were alive at the time, obviously," I told her. "I'm aware of the many flaws of Japanese warships, but I have a soft spot for their stories and looks. Sleek, aggressive…" I let out a small laugh. "…and hungry."
She couldn't help but laugh, slightly, before flicking me on the nose. "Bad puns won't be tolerated around here~," she playfully warned me.
"I blame dad," I replied. "But there was something about you and your sisters that I liked. Maybe it was because you four managed to fight until the end was upon you, or maybe it was something else."
"Maybe that connection was forming."
"I doubt I'm like Stewart, though. At least I didn't write a goddamn novel with you taking center stage." While Destiny was insanely popular, I knew it was ultimately a love letter to the ship its author loved so dearly. And now she was back and in his arms, or rather, if what I heard was true, he was in her bosom. Ashigara wasn't as… extreme in her form as Sister Sara allegedly was, perhaps for the better. But that didn't mean she lacked any kind of strengths. Glancing down, I could see just a glimpse of those long, lean legs of hers.
"But did you write anything else~?" She slowly leaned in, a curious smirk spreading across her sharp features.
Goddamn, she was good. "A school report, actually," I said. "One of my history teachers was from a Navy family, and gave us a ship to research as a project. He put a bunch of names into a hat, and everyone was hoping for an easy one, like Bismarck or Enterprise." Neither of which were likely to return anytime soon, it seemed. "I found your name, of course. It was what kicked off my interest in your side of the story."
A low breath left her. "I guess there was a reason why I returned eager to find a husband," she giggled. "I still remember the first feeling, and it wasn't the air of the chamber, or the water lapping at me." She paused, looking me straight in the eye. "It was someone holding my hand."
I felt her hand brush down my arm, seeking mine. Ignoring the sensations I got from someone's skin against mine, I grabbed hold and gently squeezed. She squeezed back, not eager to let me go anytime soon.
"Sometimes I laid in bed at night, the air still and silent. Not a sound from the house, nor from outside. And I woke up because I could have sworn I felt someone nearby. Every time I just brushed it off as some dream, though now I can't help but wonder if there was something more."
"I can't remember anything of the sort, probably because I was too dead to notice." She let out a morbid giggle.
"Funnily enough, I never really believed in ghosts. The dead were supposed to be at rest, never to disturb anyone. But I did believe there was more to the world, as did my mother. Superstition had to be rooted in some kind of fact, after all. But my sister refused to believe any of it. She was all about science and rationality, until both broke down."
There was a brief pause, as we both took the time to think. "Will she get better?" Ashigara asked, a look of concern on her face.
"I don't know." I let out a lowly sigh.
"There was a look in her eye, when you had that Skype call," Ashigara began recalling. "I think she was afraid, and not just for you. She was afraid of us."
"I could tell she was starting to crack. There's a reason why I didn't just simply show her anyone going out on patrol in the harbor. If she saw it, if she knew that what I was telling her was the truth…"
I felt Ashigara squeeze my hand. "How bad would it be?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "I don't know. She's been dealing with this for years by this point. I have a feeling that she'll ironically need one of you to recover."
Her eyes widened, as she sat up slightly. "Who exactly?"
"I can think of only a handful who wouldn't overwhelm her. By the time all is said and done, my sister is going to be lost, alone, and scared. She needs a fire in the cold rain, someone who'll never let her go, but someone who won't overwhelm her. Could you imagine her having someone like Nagato or Kongou as a glorified therapy dog?"
Ashigara laughed at the mental image, before slowly getting a grip on herself. "For a moment, I thought she'd have to fall in love with one of us."
"Oh, god," I groaned, pressing my hand against my face. "It'd be a disaster if that were to happen."
"Is she not into women?"
I uncovered my face, before exhaling. "Not as far as I'm aware. But if one of you were to develop feelings for her, she'd be too terrified to say 'no.'"
Her smile turned to a frown. "She should be happy, you know."
"It was all because she couldn't keep her nose out of things," I mused, facing the ceiling. "She listened in on stuff she shouldn't have, tried to add to discussions she had no place in, and that's before just how goddamn stubborn she is." I let out a sigh. "And now it's about to finally come crashing down."
I heard Ashigara let out a sigh of her own. "Not being able to do anything about this frustrates me."
"Same here."
I became the one to hold her more tightly, this time. Ashigara didn't seem to mind, but when she was protected by literal steel, there was no harm in it. "I'm sorry for bringing you into this."
I felt her nuzzle her head against mine. "You don't have to apologize, Jim. Just love me."
I knew she was right. Love seemed so hard to find back home, and yet it was within my embrace, in what should have been in an impossible form. Cathy constantly went on about how ships weren't people, and yet here one was, a 15,000 ton cruiser, who made a supermodel, even if she was exactly like what the airbrushed photos showed, look like a mountain hag. She was driven, passionate, and yet she was somehow understanding, perhaps after having been humbled by her long and arduous quest for love.
Silence once again fell upon the room, as our frustrated sighs turned into tired yawns. I could feel myself slowly drifting away, until I heard my phone buzz.
The two of us sat up, as I checked the ID. It was mom, and it was almost ten at night. "Hello?"
"J-James," Mom stuttered out. "Y-Your sister's in the hospital right now. She r-right f-fainted after she o-opened up that package. She's alright, b-but they're plannin' to t-take her to Saint Thomas after she freaked out w-when she woke up."
"I understand, Mom," I replied, before squeezing my eyes shut. This was it. "Do you need me to try and return home?"
"I-If you could, please," she sobbed. "If nawt, I-I understand."
"I'll see about that," I told her. "I love you, mom."
I didn't even hear her say goodbye before she hung up. I shut the phone off before slowly, shakily setting it on the table, as Ashigara tried to get my attention. "What happened?" She asked.
"The package arrived, and Cathy finally lost it," I grimly told her.
I felt Ashigara embrace me tightly, as tears began streaming down my cheeks. I felt so numb… "We'll get through this."
My arms slowly, perhaps unwittingly, wrapped around her, as I slowly wept, for my sister had now fallen off her rope.
[=]
Author's note:
I took a little longer on this one after reading a Twitter thread on improving one's writing, and deciding to see about applying some of the lessons. While people seem to like what I have so far, there's always room for improvement. I was also planning on having this be a two-scene part, one from James' POV and one from Cathy's, but the conversation bloated, and by the time I figured out how to begin the aftermath of this, I felt the above to be long enough to be a standalone. I also feel it works better this way, with a more singular focus given what's happening.
[=]
There had been an ambient tension in the air for the past day or so, as I waited for the package to arrive, and forever damn my sister. Somehow I managed to salvage the situation somewhat, though Cathy refused to believe me, as usual. But I could tell she was starting to crack, a certain look in her eye when she saw the Myoukou sisters behind me during a Skype call. She was starting to see them for what they were, not what she thought them to be.
It was a miracle that I had gotten those four off the warpath, knowing what would have happened if things went to hell. Distance, canal restrictions, and fresh, shallow water wouldn't have stopped them from sailing up to my backyard, and giving Cathy a piece of their mind. That didn't mean they were no longer miffed. Just less likely to reduce her to a smoldering crater.
I checked my phone's clock. About half past eight, local time. The sun's light was just starting to creep past the horizon back home.
"Jim?"
I turned around, and noticed Ashigara had seated herself next to me, wearing a bathrobe rather than her usual outfit. I couldn't bring myself to care whether or not that was the only thing between me and her, even though she no doubt would have appreciated the attention.
My shoulders slumped, and a low, long sigh escaped me. My sister was about to go through what would no doubt be the worst moment of her life soon, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to help her. "What is it, Ashigara?"
I felt her arms wrap around me, trying to comfort me in a firm, warm embrace, but all I felt was that tightness when someone touches me, and it wasn't any kind of fun sensation, either. "I'm sorry for getting angry at your sister," she said quietly, leaning her head on my shoulder.
I set my phone down on the table, letting out a deep breath. "Yeah. I can understand why, though. You fought hard, and you continue to fight hard, so someone claiming it was all some sort of act…"
"Don't forget about my feelings about you," she added, before gently planting her lips on my cheek. I could feel my face heat up, and knew she had many more where that came from. "I was on the brink of giving up, of finally admitting defeat, when you gave me a chance."
I turned to face her, looking into those concerned brown orbs of hers. "And I don't regret it. I was hoping this could be resolved in a more quiet manner. She's the type who would crash our wedding, saying how I was falling into a trap. I don't want you to have to deal with that." I could make out the details in her eyes, noticing that they weren't quite brown. I saw hints of gold, showing that while she looked like an ordinary woman, she was far from it. But beyond that, I could also see that hunger, that would one day have to be sated.
"You're too considerate, you know that?" She asked, a small smile growing across her face. "We could have dealt with it."
"Except it wouldn't have ended there," I gently countered. Her determination was quite something, but here, a scalpel was needed, not an eight inch wide sledgehammer. "My grandma on my mom's side…" I sighed. "She didn't like who my mom had married. If it wasn't for the court orders filed against her, she would have driven to the cemetery and pissed on his grave. Cathy wouldn't have been that much different, I feel. I don't want that kind of drama in my life, especially considering what it cost my family."
Kind of hypocritical, considering what I kicked off.
A hum left her, before she tightened her embrace ever so slightly. It was like waiting for the end of the world to come and pass, knowing what would happen, and knowing there was nothing we could do by this point. "I'd try and give you something else to think about, but I doubt you're in the mood."
"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. Somehow." I laughed bitterly. She was definitely a Hungry Wolf, alright. She had her prey right there, but she couldn't quite work up the appetite at the moment.
"Just give me your all, when you do so," she told me, before leaning in. I followed, and our lips met for but a second. I could feel my heartbeat pick up slightly, amidst the scent of cordite and soap.
She loosened her grip, before slowly shifting herself. I found myself following along, as we both laid ourselves on the couch. I could feel her weight press firmly against me, as we just held each other, my hand slowly running through her soft, wavy hair. It was barely a distraction, though. The only sounds in the room were our breaths, and a ticking clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Each little movement of the red hand marking each second that passed by, was slowly counting down towards that inevitable phone call, that the package had arrived, and Cathy finally broke. I didn't know how it would end, whether it'd be with a suicide attempt, with her shot by a nervous police officer, or her in one of the rooms at Saint Thomas, hopped up on sedatives and anti-psychotics.
While there was no risk of nukes being launched, it was still my little Doomsday Clock.
"What were things like, before you came here?" Ashigara asked, no doubt trying to distract me.
I took a deep breath. No point in leaving her hanging. "Between dad's death and now?" I let out a small groan, recalling those difficult moments. "Initially, it was chaos, obviously. It was a few months before things settled down, but they did. Mom found a job helping to manage one of the local stores, but we weren't in any danger of going under. Dad was smart enough to have a life insurance policy, though it was rough while that was sorted out. But things were starting to look up. High school was going well, my friends had my back, all of that good stuff. And then the War broke out."
"Did you join when you graduated?"
I nodded, even though I could barely remember when it began. Everything between then and when I went off to Great Lakes was a blur. "When I saw the news, I knew I couldn't sit idly by while millions died. There was a job that needed to be done. Mom was quick to see if I truly wanted to do this, and when she knew I was willing to fight, she wished me safety and godspeed. Cathy, on the other hand…"
"She didn't want you to leave."
Another nod, and a low, deep breath. "She thought I was ditching the family in its hour of need, unaware that there was nothing I could do. We were but a shadow, never to reclaim the stability we had long ago. 'Step up and solve this,' she kept telling me, as Mom fought with her side of the family. I don't think she would have been satisfied unless I burned their house down, or something. I was…" I rubbed my temple. "God, it feels like forever ago. I think I was fifteen or sixteen at the time."
I rubbed a tear away from my eye. It was a tragedy, soon to reach its climax. She could tell I wasn't quite comfortable talking about it, and yet it was the only thing on my mind, it seemed.
"Was there anything you liked to do?"
"I was into modelmaking. Legos, plastic kits, the works."
Her eyes lit up slightly. "What kind of kits?"
"A mish-mash, mostly planes and ships. I was working on a model of the Galactica when I shipped out, but my pride and joy was a model of an old cruiser."
I saw her eyes widen, realizing what was going on. "It…" she swallowed. "It was me, wasn't it?"
I nodded. "Technically the box said 'Myoukou-class,' but I decided it would be of you, not that I knew you were alive at the time, obviously," I told her. "I'm aware of the many flaws of Japanese warships, but I have a soft spot for their stories and looks. Sleek, aggressive…" I let out a small laugh. "…and hungry."
She couldn't help but laugh, slightly, before flicking me on the nose. "Bad puns won't be tolerated around here~," she playfully warned me.
"I blame dad," I replied. "But there was something about you and your sisters that I liked. Maybe it was because you four managed to fight until the end was upon you, or maybe it was something else."
"Maybe that connection was forming."
"I doubt I'm like Stewart, though. At least I didn't write a goddamn novel with you taking center stage." While Destiny was insanely popular, I knew it was ultimately a love letter to the ship its author loved so dearly. And now she was back and in his arms, or rather, if what I heard was true, he was in her bosom. Ashigara wasn't as… extreme in her form as Sister Sara allegedly was, perhaps for the better. But that didn't mean she lacked any kind of strengths. Glancing down, I could see just a glimpse of those long, lean legs of hers.
"But did you write anything else~?" She slowly leaned in, a curious smirk spreading across her sharp features.
Goddamn, she was good. "A school report, actually," I said. "One of my history teachers was from a Navy family, and gave us a ship to research as a project. He put a bunch of names into a hat, and everyone was hoping for an easy one, like Bismarck or Enterprise." Neither of which were likely to return anytime soon, it seemed. "I found your name, of course. It was what kicked off my interest in your side of the story."
A low breath left her. "I guess there was a reason why I returned eager to find a husband," she giggled. "I still remember the first feeling, and it wasn't the air of the chamber, or the water lapping at me." She paused, looking me straight in the eye. "It was someone holding my hand."
I felt her hand brush down my arm, seeking mine. Ignoring the sensations I got from someone's skin against mine, I grabbed hold and gently squeezed. She squeezed back, not eager to let me go anytime soon.
"Sometimes I laid in bed at night, the air still and silent. Not a sound from the house, nor from outside. And I woke up because I could have sworn I felt someone nearby. Every time I just brushed it off as some dream, though now I can't help but wonder if there was something more."
"I can't remember anything of the sort, probably because I was too dead to notice." She let out a morbid giggle.
"Funnily enough, I never really believed in ghosts. The dead were supposed to be at rest, never to disturb anyone. But I did believe there was more to the world, as did my mother. Superstition had to be rooted in some kind of fact, after all. But my sister refused to believe any of it. She was all about science and rationality, until both broke down."
There was a brief pause, as we both took the time to think. "Will she get better?" Ashigara asked, a look of concern on her face.
"I don't know." I let out a lowly sigh.
"There was a look in her eye, when you had that Skype call," Ashigara began recalling. "I think she was afraid, and not just for you. She was afraid of us."
"I could tell she was starting to crack. There's a reason why I didn't just simply show her anyone going out on patrol in the harbor. If she saw it, if she knew that what I was telling her was the truth…"
I felt Ashigara squeeze my hand. "How bad would it be?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "I don't know. She's been dealing with this for years by this point. I have a feeling that she'll ironically need one of you to recover."
Her eyes widened, as she sat up slightly. "Who exactly?"
"I can think of only a handful who wouldn't overwhelm her. By the time all is said and done, my sister is going to be lost, alone, and scared. She needs a fire in the cold rain, someone who'll never let her go, but someone who won't overwhelm her. Could you imagine her having someone like Nagato or Kongou as a glorified therapy dog?"
Ashigara laughed at the mental image, before slowly getting a grip on herself. "For a moment, I thought she'd have to fall in love with one of us."
"Oh, god," I groaned, pressing my hand against my face. "It'd be a disaster if that were to happen."
"Is she not into women?"
I uncovered my face, before exhaling. "Not as far as I'm aware. But if one of you were to develop feelings for her, she'd be too terrified to say 'no.'"
Her smile turned to a frown. "She should be happy, you know."
"It was all because she couldn't keep her nose out of things," I mused, facing the ceiling. "She listened in on stuff she shouldn't have, tried to add to discussions she had no place in, and that's before just how goddamn stubborn she is." I let out a sigh. "And now it's about to finally come crashing down."
I heard Ashigara let out a sigh of her own. "Not being able to do anything about this frustrates me."
"Same here."
I became the one to hold her more tightly, this time. Ashigara didn't seem to mind, but when she was protected by literal steel, there was no harm in it. "I'm sorry for bringing you into this."
I felt her nuzzle her head against mine. "You don't have to apologize, Jim. Just love me."
I knew she was right. Love seemed so hard to find back home, and yet it was within my embrace, in what should have been in an impossible form. Cathy constantly went on about how ships weren't people, and yet here one was, a 15,000 ton cruiser, who made a supermodel, even if she was exactly like what the airbrushed photos showed, look like a mountain hag. She was driven, passionate, and yet she was somehow understanding, perhaps after having been humbled by her long and arduous quest for love.
Silence once again fell upon the room, as our frustrated sighs turned into tired yawns. I could feel myself slowly drifting away, until I heard my phone buzz.
The two of us sat up, as I checked the ID. It was mom, and it was almost ten at night. "Hello?"
"J-James," Mom stuttered out. "Y-Your sister's in the hospital right now. She r-right f-fainted after she o-opened up that package. She's alright, b-but they're plannin' to t-take her to Saint Thomas after she freaked out w-when she woke up."
"I understand, Mom," I replied, before squeezing my eyes shut. This was it. "Do you need me to try and return home?"
"I-If you could, please," she sobbed. "If nawt, I-I understand."
"I'll see about that," I told her. "I love you, mom."
I didn't even hear her say goodbye before she hung up. I shut the phone off before slowly, shakily setting it on the table, as Ashigara tried to get my attention. "What happened?" She asked.
"The package arrived, and Cathy finally lost it," I grimly told her.
I felt Ashigara embrace me tightly, as tears began streaming down my cheeks. I felt so numb… "We'll get through this."
My arms slowly, perhaps unwittingly, wrapped around her, as I slowly wept, for my sister had now fallen off her rope.
[=]
Author's note:
I took a little longer on this one after reading a Twitter thread on improving one's writing, and deciding to see about applying some of the lessons. While people seem to like what I have so far, there's always room for improvement. I was also planning on having this be a two-scene part, one from James' POV and one from Cathy's, but the conversation bloated, and by the time I figured out how to begin the aftermath of this, I felt the above to be long enough to be a standalone. I also feel it works better this way, with a more singular focus given what's happening.
- Location
- Pacific Northwest
He may or may not get emergency leave. While Seawolf is in port for repairs, it may be easier for him. It's up to the Navy to decide if what's happening at home constitutes a family emergency. I seriously doubt Jim's going to go on his own, even if he has a ship girl escort. At best, that's a career-limiting move. At worst, it's desertion in time of war, punishiable by death.
Given it involves shipgirl related actions/people, and the daughter of an Admiral, the USN might be more flexible than normal in the interest of dealing with the situation quickly and semi-quietly. Who knows? *shrugs*
- Location
- Pacific Northwest
It may, but that would depend on how hardcore the prosecuting JAG is, especially if they assign a high-powered JAG to handle the case. I can see them making the case that the UCMJ applies equally to everyone, no matter the circumstances. They could argue that he wouldn't get any kind of favorable treatment, if the shipgirls and the Admiral's daughter weren't involved, and even if they are, he still shouldn't.
The points that the JAG would try to make are:
- The reasons for desertion are irrelavent
- He knew desertion was wrong
- He knew the consequences of desertion in time of war
- He did it anyway
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I was talking about the granting of emergency leave, yes. I do agree that going AWOL would be a Bad IdeaTM for Jim.
- Location
- Central Standard Time
Muse, why? I swear: my muse is Gambier Bay. I start looking for an essay outline for a composition class, and end up with a couple hundred words of pseudo-literary analysis for BelaBat. Also, this was written around when Part 4 came out; I just haven't gotten around to posting this.
On Cathy
From all of the recent Kantai Collection works, Wolfbait's Daily Life especially stands out. As a member of SpaceBattles, Sufficient Velocity, and an avid reader of "hard-ish" science fiction, my attraction to self-bully and detailed world building is statistically near certainty. That would be selling this work short, however.
My fancy for "harsh-real" aside, there's another reason why I look forward to these updates: I like Cathy Hunter as a character. Not as a waifu, but simply as a character. She's certainly one of the most interesting.
I hesitate to call her an antagonist, but the label fits. A sympathetic antagonist, perhaps. But to call her that is letting our own biases, our own conceptions of what is Good and Evil (or even just Bad) overshadow the story. Antagonists are not people who are Bad or Evil or do not share our views.
No, Cathy is a protagonist in her own right, struggling against several forces we (the typical reader of KanColle fiction) agree with: the True reality (that Abyssals and Shipgirls and Magic exist), including A Certain Wolfbait's relationship and the need for James to fight, and the "Orthodoxy" that supports the reality she denies. None of these forces are evil, but neither is she. Her main obstacle here is her own mind, and the journey to acceptance is her arc.
I, for one, eagerly wait for its conclusion.
On Cathy
From all of the recent Kantai Collection works, Wolfbait's Daily Life especially stands out. As a member of SpaceBattles, Sufficient Velocity, and an avid reader of "hard-ish" science fiction, my attraction to self-bully and detailed world building is statistically near certainty. That would be selling this work short, however.
My fancy for "harsh-real" aside, there's another reason why I look forward to these updates: I like Cathy Hunter as a character. Not as a waifu, but simply as a character. She's certainly one of the most interesting.
I hesitate to call her an antagonist, but the label fits. A sympathetic antagonist, perhaps. But to call her that is letting our own biases, our own conceptions of what is Good and Evil (or even just Bad) overshadow the story. Antagonists are not people who are Bad or Evil or do not share our views.
No, Cathy is a protagonist in her own right, struggling against several forces we (the typical reader of KanColle fiction) agree with: the True reality (that Abyssals and Shipgirls and Magic exist), including A Certain Wolfbait's relationship and the need for James to fight, and the "Orthodoxy" that supports the reality she denies. None of these forces are evil, but neither is she. Her main obstacle here is her own mind, and the journey to acceptance is her arc.
I, for one, eagerly wait for its conclusion.
Some gets threadmarked. Some doesn't. Stuff that the Baron of BelaBat knows about in advance (Iron's Self-bully, Sky's Self-bully, Wolfbait's wolf-baiting, Corgi madness, etc.) seems to get bookmarked somewhat consistently.
ijnfleetadmiral
CinC Rengo Kanmusutai
- Location
- Admiral's Bridge, HIJMS Kongo
I don't see him going AWOL because if he did, he'd lose everything. Getting home will be a massive undertaking in itself, as he'd have to cross the Pacific to do it, and we all know how Abyssals have no problem in letting ships make a trans-Pacific crossing without interference.