On reflection, it seemed wiser to preserve your fuel. You had no idea what might lay ahead of you, after all, and the boat itself wasn't exactly blessed with a large coal bunker. No, it would be best to stay at your cruising speed and do your best to shave time off as you could. Your boat churned onwards across the northern swells. Thankfully, the weather this time of year wasn't severe and the boat road well in the water. Despite there being no reason for it, you stayed up on your little conn-slash-bridge, standing next to the helmsman and eying the compass as he kept on the assigned course.
As the hours ticked by, an evening fog began to creep in. Even though it was summer and stayed light until quite late, the appearance of fog made things worse. You had to slow your engines just out of concern that you didn't run into anything. You posted two men for'ard to keep an eye on what was coming up with strict orders to report if they even thought they saw shoals, debris, or anything else that might impede your progress. Even with your careful attempts at making things safer, the slow speed of crawling through the fog made your skin crawl and you obsessively checked your watch as the sun slowly sank down towards the Western horizon. It was beginning dark by the time you crawled into anchorage appointed for the assembly and well past the assigned time. Sheepishly, you had to announce your presence, flickering out with your signal lamp as you crawled past the shadowy shapes of other vessels. Not just other torpedo boats, you realized. Cruisers. Destroyers. Transports. What was this?
You didn't have much time to wonder, unfortunately. As you slid into a berth between two other torpedo boats, a signal light started across the bay. Tall enough that it might be on the bridge of a cruiser.
COMMANDING OFFICER OF TORPEDO BOAT KARI--ORDERED TO REPORT ABOARD TOKIWA--AT ONCE.
Joy.
You had the small boat lowered away, then sat, hands on the hilt of your sword, as a few of your tired sailors hauled at the oars to get you across the bay. Soon the looming bulk of
Tokiwa, one of the armored cruisers of the Northern Area Fleet, loomed above you. You scrambled up the steep temporary staircase which swayed against the side of the ship, trying to maintain some dignity as you went. As much as you adored skirts, you were frequently finding them impractical for use outside of formal occasions. When you finally reached the deck, you paused to salute the bridge (it being night, the national ensign was not being flown) before looking at the Junior Lieutenant who was waiting passively, his hands tucked behind his back. He looked familiar--had he been in your class? Or maybe the year after you?
"Lieutenant Arisukawa. Rear-Admiral Hamasaki is waiting for you. This way, please." You followed the ensign into an open hatchway and through the dizzying maze of the cruiser's internals, past hurrying sailors and officers. Even at night, the ship buzzed with life. Finally, you were lead to a bulkhead where the man knocked, waited for a gruff voice that said 'Enter' and stepped into the room with you in tow.
The admiral's office was probably big enough to fit your for'ard gundeck, though that was small compared to the space one might have on a battleship. He was a middle-aged man, with a bushy moustache beneath a hawk-like nose, and he was one of the younger senior officers in the Navy, having been only a child during the restoration and civil war. One of the first real career Navy men--he was admired by many junior officers for that reason. He looked up at you and frowned. The junior officer bowed slightly, then retreated from the room. Hat tucked under your arm, you bowed slightly, the prescribed greeting in lieu of a salute.
"Lieutenant Arisukawa Haruna, commanding officer of Imperial Torpedo Boat Kari, reporting as ordered sir!" You held your stiff bow, waiting for an acknowledgement. The seconds ticked by and you wondered if he planned to keep you here all night before there was a gruff 'harumph' and a nod. You straightened.
"Lieutenant, is there a reason you arrived off of the time table you were given?" No pleasantries. Oof.
"My sincerest apologies, sir. We had some engine trouble."
"It is a poor workman who blames the tools he is given, lieutenant," the admiral said, a disapproving, stern glare coming from his dark eyes. "Considering your exemplary record until this point, I will not be giving you any official reprimand for your tardiness." Phew.
"However…" Oh no. "If your vessel is not in fighting shape, I believe we will be able to find you someplace that you needn't worry about a troubled engine. You will be helping to escort our noble comrades from the Army on their mission to reclaim the Empress' soil from the damned Caspians." He paused to light his pipe.
"We depart in the morning. With a little luck, the Caspians will be forced to come out and play if they wish to preserve their garrisons. Commander Watsuji of the
Asashio is the senior officer of the escort force and he will have instructions for you in the morning. Now, go make sure your boat is ready. Dismissed."
"Yes sir!" You bowed again, and then hurried out of the room. The same junior lieutenant was waiting and he lead you back to the main deck where you rejoined your crew and at last got back aboard your boat.
Honestly, the official reprimand might have been preferable. Babysitting Army brats squatting in obsolete boats was essentially an insult, especially when other ships would be going into the fight proper. It was your duty, and you'd do it to the letter as you always did, but it was still a nightmare.
You filled Ishinari in on the plan for tomorrow, made sure the men were as comfortable as could be sleeping aboard the tiny torpedo boat (some had to find space on the open deck) and finally, sometime around midnight, you plopped into your narrow little cot that was barely wide enough to fit you, let alone someone else. In the dark, you stared at the bulkhead above you, unsure of what to think until the weariness of the last day caught up with you and you fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
---
The next morning, you waited. The escorts were meant to meet the convoy on the sea but the main fleet was leaving ahead of you, to position themselves between your course and the enemy--hopefully in a position to pounce if they decided to sally out. You watched in the dawn twilight, first as destroyers and cruisers steamed out and then finally three giant battleships, sliding past like ancient leviathans, until at last the bay seemed almost empty except for a few old destroyers and a couple of torpedo boats. The lead ship, the
Asashio, was a clunky old destroyer probably a decade old. Signals sprang from the masts and then your little escort force steamed out to sea. It was a relief to be at work again, even if the job felt more punishing than it had any right to be. Two hours out of port, the sailors on watch still had not so much as a periscope to report and what must have been the Army convoy came into view. A bunch of rickety tubs, exactly the sort you'd expect for this kind of operation.
Asashio signaled to you the other vessels in the motley collection of escorts and the ships began to move, splitting up to fall into position ahead and behind of the convoy. Your assignment was to guard one flank of the group of ships, since with your smaller size and high (relative) speed, you would be able to maneuver more freely. You slid past the convoy, looking over each said little boat in turn. A lot of civilian vessels, an old liner, and…
Was that the
Okinami?
Of course it was, you'd recognize the rust in her wake anywhere. Apparently ferrying Lieutenant Arita home was a portent of things to come for the old ship.
"I wonder what they've done to my storeroom." You mused.
"Ma'am?"
"That was my first posting." You said. "Two years and a month ago. And look at her now, moving soldiers." Had it really been so short a time? It felt like a lifetime ago after all that had happened.
"A shame, ma'am."
"Honestly, not really." That place was a shithold, and you hated almost every single officer on it. Especially the old bastard who had dared to get angry at you for organizing his dangerous wreck of a cargo hold and who had found the first opportunity to toss you off the ship. Thankfully both of your friends (strange to think of Akio as a friend now when your first meeting had been so… Akio) had proven themselves more than competent enough to be moved to new postings.
There was a shudder from the old ship, groaning metal in her hull, and a particularly large plumb of black smoke escaped her as you passed by. You couldn't help but shake your head.
"If you were resenting being posted on a torpedo boat, Ensign, believe me when I say there are worst first postings." Poor old thing should've been scrapped by now, honestly. Above you, soldiers lined the railing in their blue uniforms. A few already wore helmets, but most were still in their caps, chattering amongst each other and throwing mocking gestures out to the Navy escorts as you passed close by. When one of them finally seemed to notice that you were a woman there was a rush of bodies as a bunch of gawping mudsloggers whistled and waved (and worse) across the short distance between the two vessels. Ishinari's mouth twitched a little.
"... Do you think anyone would blame us if they accidentally got torpedoed?" He said with his usual straight face.
"Ishinari, do my ears deceive me? Did you just make a joke?"
"That's the one the good book allots me a year, ma'am." He said, so serious you couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Hatred of the Army: bringing Naval officers together ever since there's been one, really. As you watched, a pair of officers were breaking up the hooting masses of conscripts, one in Army blue and the other in Navy white. Wait, that guy looked familiar. You cast about, then picked up your hailing trumpet.
"AHOY! Is that…" Uh, what was his name? All that came to mind was that dumb name he'd come up with at dinner that one time. "...Is that Ensign Joe Smith?"
You wished you were closer: at this distance you only got a hint of slowly dawning recognition crossing his face.
"Ensign McSriff… I mean, Arisukawa? Also it's
lieutenant now!" He called back as you brought the boat a little closer.
"Congratulations on the promotion!"
"To you as well!" Well, he seemed genuinely pleased for you, at the very least. He turned aside to speak to the Army officer, who raised a hand to give you a salute across the water. As you returned it, a familiar bulk in a Navy uniform stomped up behind the two--the old goat who had said you giving anyone orders was a disgrace to
his Navy.
You looked to Ishinari.
"Mister Ishinari, pass the word--we will be rendering passing honors to the captain there." Ishinari looked at you for a barest second, and then called down to the deck. You waited until the old bastard was looking down at you from across the space between your vessels, then cleared your throat.
"Attention!" The bos'un's whistle shrilled and the men on deck came to attention as you lifted white-gloved hand to the brim of your cap in salute. If you had been a lesser woman, you might have smiled. While the man was distant, you could still see the skin of his face starting to turn red with what you hoped was anger. Stiffly, he lifted his hand to return the salute and then your boat turned away to continue down the course of the convoy.
Spirits. That felt good.
"Did you ever hear that Albian saying, the best revenge is a life well--" before you could finish, you heard the annoying whirr of an aeroplane engine. You looked up to see one of the Naval seaplane scouts pass by overhead, seeming distant and toylike. You wondered if it was one of yours from Habomai, but then discounted the idea. Too far, probably. As it moved onwards, you looked ahead to see it vanishing as the head of convoy nosed into another bank of fog. You winced, just a little, as damp and cold surrounded you again. Ugh. Damn this fog. It'd slow everyone down.
"Lights! Get the lights on, I don't want one of those Army ships running us over!" You ordered, and the forward and aft foglights snapped on and flickered to life, along with one above you on your single mast. You didn't know how far you had yet to go to your destination--you were just supposed to follow your lead vessel. A strange silence settled over the boat, only the muffled sound of your engines and the distant sounds of other ships reaching you. The world felt muted and hidden, and minutes ticked by like hours. Or maybe it was hours--no, your watch said it had only been fifteen or twenty minutes.
"We must be near land by now, fog like this." Ishinari muttered. "At least, I hope we don't have to play escort duty any longer."
"Do you think we should have heard gunfire by now?" You mused. The report of navy cannons could be heard for kilometers on a calm day like this one. They usually sounded like thunder. "Useless planes can't even find their fleet, I suppose. Here it comes back now." The faint sewing machine like noise of the engines was just discernible.
"Perhaps their fleet is busy with our fleet, ma'am… dodging them instead of fighting. I heard we got them good at Port Georgia." Ishinari said.
"That we did, Ensign…" The droning of the engines slowly faded back in from the fog, and you squinted up to try to get sight of it. There, a little black shape gliding through, like a ship riding on a cloud. A light began flickering out, Vail code at rapid speed.
"All hands, action stations! Helm, hard to port, now!" You yelled, praying that you hadn't accidentally crossed over to the opposite side of the convoy in the fog. The airplane buzzed back, maybe just fifty meters off the deck, lights blinking madly, the roar of the engines briefly deafening as it shot past you. Then another shape, this one black and yellow like a massive deformed hornet, the twin reports of its machine-guns ringing out like hammers on a steel plate. Then it was gone in an instant, only leaving a lingering scent of petrol.
Out of the fog ahead loomed a massive, jagged shape and as you turned your bow pointed away from it. Then another. They were a dizzying swirl of light and shadow in the fog, just odd incongruent shapes slashed across their silhouette, and they could have been a battleship or a corvette for all you could tell. Between the fog and the confusing lines, it was almost impossible to say where the sea ended and the ship began at a glance
A third shape loomed distant, this one seeming somehow larger. There was a flash of light somewhere further ahead in the fog and then the sound reached you, echoing across the water. The rumbling crack of guns as someone fired. Massive plumes of spray were punched into the water, then one of the convoy vessels suddenly leapt from the sea. There was no fire or smoke, just a sudden motion as something detonated deep inside its unarmoured hull. The shape of it was hideously outlined in the fog for a brief moment and its deck collapsed like a card house. You couldn't hear anything over the guns but you could imagine the screaming, the men struggling in the water, trapped in engine spaces--
This wasn't the time to think of that. You had to
fight.
[ ] Head more or less straight for the nearest ship and ready torpedoes! (Pro: Get into action. Con: Potentially be singled out.)
[ ] Turn away and see if you can come in on them from another angle… if you don't get lost. (Pro: Might sneak up on them. Con: Might get lost in the fog, or even accused to cowardice.)
[ ] Move down the convoy and take the shots that present themselves. (Pro: You won't stand out Con: You'll Be Less Effective.
[ ] Write In
THERE IS A FOUR HOUR MORATORIUM ON VOTING. WRITE-INS ARE SUBJECT TO VETO: WE WILL RELIST YOUR OPTIONS WHEN THE MORATORIUM IS UP.
