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Changing Destiny (Kancolle)

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That's literally the only reason I did it that way, honestly.

Well, that and it's amusing to think of trying to hold a conversation with someone who can only say 'Wo' back at you.
 
Heh, that snip with Wo reminds me to a doujin comic titled 'Newlywed Carrier Wo-class chan' somewhere in the depths of booru site.
 
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Skywalker_T-65 said:
Yeaaahhh...

On the plus side, that's probably staying as a little 'my muse won't let go' thing. And I'm likely to do something more cheerful for whatever my next omake is, wherever it is.
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What do you mean, more cheerful? There's enough WAFF in there to make DesDiv6 green with envy. A love strong enough to defy boundless hate? That's the stuff of legends. The best legends. The ones, as Mr. Gamgee puts it, that really matter.
 
As I see it, the perparations Thompson can do is 'better training, more efficient equipment, better coordination and communication'. What he can't do is 'fill everything everywhere up with reinforcements'.

The first just makes what the Japaneese already knows is there more dangerous and better able to cover each others weaknesses. The second means the japaneese needs to reevaluate their plans or their targets, because the target is obviously more dangerous than it used to be. Look! A lot more ships! etc.

SALUTE (Size Armament Location Unit Time Equipment)

SALUTE is almost certainly what is considered up until the start of the second world war. You see 10 torpedoes? That is x firepower. Whether they work or not? Not relevant. And let's be honest here, if diplomats everywhere knew the american torpedoes did not work, the prestige loss to America and its navy would have resulted in orders flooding in to fix those torpedoes NOW.

Sam & Doc (Strength Armament Movement Deployment Organization Communication)

The actual combined combat strength of a number of military units (ships for example) working together is better shown using "Sam & Doc". If you're not convinced, compare a sports team that work perfectly together, with a team composed of equal or better sportsmen who are completely unable and unwilling to cooperate at all. Guess who wins in any team activity?

Hint: Fleet actions and warfare is a team activity.

What Thompson needs to improve is what the newer "Sam & Doc" does cover, that the stiffer "SALUTE" does not cover. Intelligent and effective Deployment. Organization. Communication.
 
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Something to note about Thompson and the torpedoes - once he has documentation of the failure rates (over 70% dud rating for the mark 14's, for example), a possible (nuclear) answer to hostile political action is to go: "This many duds is obviously because of sabotage, nothing from BuOrd could possibly be this bad. Search for enemy action of this type and field repairs is simply standing orders. Hmm. Who exactly told you to silence knowledge about and stop attempts to remove said sabotage?"

Mind you, it's best if BuOrd does not hear about this before a lot of people know about both the problems with the torpedoes and the fixes. At that point, they can either go "No, we're actually giving you torpedoes this bad, and either you use them or else", OR they can go "Hmm, that's correct. Still, you should have told us sooner." Result: Repimad to cover their own asses if they can make it stick. Thompson can point at attempts to get the torpedoes properly tested, and reports he has written himself. Still, much better than a courtmartial.

The main problem is if Thompson tries to do illegal fixes of the torpedoes BEFORE they have been tested (at least indirectly in training exercises) and found wanting. If he does that, he's begging for trouble. If Thompson tries this answer too early? Well. 'Disappeared' might be a thing.
 
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Anti-No said:
Something to note about Thompson and the torpedoes - once he has documentation of the failure rates (over 70% dud rating for the mark 14's, for example), a possible (nuclear) answer to hostile political action is to go: "This many duds is obviously because of sabotage, nothing from BuOrd could possibly be this bad. Search for enemy action of this type and field repairs is simply standing orders. Hmm. Who exactly told you to silence knowledge about and stop attempts to remove said sabotage?"
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Oh slip this to J Eger Hoover, the man who made the FBI the FBI, and he'll have a field day.

Caused Hoover thrived on stuff like that.
 
I found an interesting article describing Langley and the Lexington sisters' days during earlier fleet exercises.

It is amusing to read about how Langley managed to school Sara by holing the latter's flight decks with dive bombers. :lol
 
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Firefinder12-B said:
Oh slip this to J Eger Hoover, the man who made the FBI the FBI, and he'll have a field day.

Caused Hoover thrived on stuff like that.
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On the other side, how many remember Thompson? Depending on how he was ransported to the forties it would be a really bad idea to call one paranoid, OCD, bastard without regard for the constitutional rights of people to investigate him. Frankly as far as we know he can be different enough from his Navy's profile and known associations from before that he might be read as a spy after stealing the identity of a flag officer and seeding false tactics, such as giving undue relevance to carriers over the Battleline and forcing the navy to spend millions of dollars repairing perfectly good torpedoes (mind the sarcasm).
 
Skywalker_T-65 said:
That's literally the only reason I did it that way, honestly.

Well, that and it's amusing to think of trying to hold a conversation with someone who can only say 'Wo' back at you.
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At least in context here it can be interpreted that she's trying to tell him who she is. But yes, the adorable pokemon murder-waifu (or something like that....) that you have written is adorable.
 
Part of the reason why the attack on Pearl was so devestating, (my phone wants to correct that to feces fencing) was that we were to prepared. Now before I get run out on a rail let me explain. The base got word that "something" was coming and as we were not at war it was assumed that it was going to be a sabotage attempt. To prevent sabotage you limit the amount of failure points by various means like putting all the aircraft together so that you aren't having to watch a whole air field but just a few clusters on the run way, or bunching the ships together so that the potential angles of approach are restricted. These actions will limit the amount of damage any potential saboteur can achieve , the problem is that grouped targets make very nice targets for bombers as there are a lot of targets to hit, and there all grouped together.
 
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Chapter 12
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    • Chapter 12:
    ​
    "I will never get used to this..."

    Wandering through Honolulu, listening to the bustle of people, was not something that James had expected to spend doing. But, well, it was necessary. He had been spending entirely too much time cooped up in his room. Not that he minded spending time talking with Sara and the others, mind you. He quite enjoyed it actually. But spending all his time doing that was asking for trouble. Especially now...now that he couldn't realistically risk just talking with the girls over the radio. He had known it would happen, from the moment the first reports came in. But it hardly made it any easier on him, really.

    After all, he could only really relate to the girls. Everyone else he was around, reminded him of the time he had ended up in.

    Not that wandering through the city itself didn't, of course. The Honolulu he remembered was absolutely nothing like the one he had found himself in. Granted, the city he remembered was a ghost town. Shattered buildings and all. Abyssal raids on Hawaii had been so common, the islands had been evacuated long ago. Honolulu had been gutted. Seeing it full of people, carefree and happy, was not something he was used to. Toss in the lack of glittering skyscrapers- burnt and damaged or otherwise -and it was...an odd experience. Very odd.

    At least I know what I'm fighting for, seeing this.

    With that in mind, he started looking around for something to do. Didn't take long either.

    "Papers! Papers here!"

    Considering his green eyes locked onto an honest to God paper boy. Shaking his head in amazement at the novelty of it all, James followed along with the small group moving towards the kid. A kid who looked up at him with clear awe that an officer was getting his paper. At least Thompson hadn't gone out with anything marking him as an Admiral.

    "Five cents, sir."

    "Here you are."

    Handing over a nickel, and reminding himself that was a lot more than it was when he came from, the Admiral took his paper. Moving aside so others could do the same, he sat down on a nearby bench. Unfurling the paper, James looked at the date. September 24th, 1940.

    Hmm...anything special happen today?

    Nothing came to mind, as he looked to see how much the events meshed with his memories. There was the expected 'homefront' things. Sports and all that, nothing that really caught his interest. What did catch his interest was a certain foreign affairs event. One that had his hands clenching the paper, as he cursed under his breath. No one noticed, and the Admiral was thankful for that. He didn't want to explain his reaction.

    He couldn't, reasonably.

    "Embargo...it's just steel so far, but..." Thompson forced his hands to relax, taking in a deep breath. Calming himself in a way taught by...Akagi...the man sighed softly. "This is not good. I knew it was coming, but this is the first step."

    The first step towards the attack he was trying to prepare for. Would Japan and America have come to blows anyway? Perhaps. But the embargoes speeded up the problem...without imports, Japan would crawl to a halt. Militarily and on the homefront. It was necessary of course, with what they did in China. But...

    "Great. It's only a matter of time now..."

    "Matter of time?"

    James blinked, turning his head. A young Japanese-American man was staring at him curiously, not a hint of awe or fear at approaching an officer. He could give the man that at least.

    "Nothing, just reading the paper." James put said paper under his arm, as he looked at the younger man. "Do I know you?"

    The man shook his head, "No sir. Sorry for bothering you, I was just wondering since you looked...angry."

    "Well, there is nothing to worry about Mr..."

    "Iwata, Riku Iwata." The man, Iwata, bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure."

    Nodding back, James smiled slightly, "Likewise. Names James Thompson, mind if I ask what you were doing?"

    His new acquaintance smiled back, "As I said, I noticed you were angry and was curious about why. I myself am a fair bit upset at the embargo. I understand it, and as I was born here in Hawaii I can't say it impacts me as much as my parents, but..."

    The Japanese-American civilian trailed off, perhaps realizing who he was talking to.

    "My apologies, sir."

    "No need for that," James waved his hand. "I understand what you mean. Sometimes we have to do things we don't like, and with what is happening in China..."

    Both men winced at that thought. Frankly, if you weren't a militaristic nutjob what the Japanese got up to in China was deplorable. Even though James knew not everything was known about that yet,enough had come out, clearly. It was enough to remind him of why he did what he did, at least. Sometimes it was hard to think of Japan as the enemy. He had many Japanese friends, it came with spending so much time in Japan. But when even the Japanese-Americans knew that what Japan did in this day and age was wrong, well...it spoke much of the nation.

    Pushing those thoughts away, James sighed. He didn't need to think of that right now. Right now, was time spent relaxing. He couldn't leave port until Admiral Richardson had the torpedo tests set up, so best to spend his time on something not related to the inevitable war.

    In that line of thought...

    "Enough about that though." The Admiral looked at the other man. "Do you mind showing me around town? I haven't spent much time off the ship, lately."

    "Certainly." Iwata replied with a short nod of his head. "What ship, if you don't mind me asking?"

    James may have been a bit trusting, but he was no fool. He shook his head, "Sorry, can't tell you that."

    "Ah. Understandable, I suppose." Iwata didn't seem all that put out, as he started walking down the street. "Operation security?"

    "Exactly. You have family in the military?"

    A smile crossed the other man's face, "My cousin serves aboard one of Japan's carriers. I'm sure you understand why I can't say which one."

    Oh, he has a sense of humor.

    "And yes, we do keep in contact." The younger man continued, with his smile not fading. "Though his letters have been a bit sparse, as of late. With the war..."

    "I can imagine." Thompson nodded back, "Still, I hope he's okay. We aren't enemies yet, and I hope we never are."

    "As does my family. I...don't like the idea, of our family back home being an enemy."

    That was the problem with war. And most especially this war. Loyalties...loyalties could tear families apart. Japanese-Americans were almost universally loyal to America, and that meant they would be in conflict with their homelands. With their families, back home. That was almost a uniquely American problem, as few other nations had such a varied immigrant population. And James couldn't say he understood it, having not lived through any proper war, beyond the Abyssals.

    Still, moving past that...

    "Well, I'm sure we all hope a war doesn't come." The Admiral nodded at the younger man by his side. "So, how about we keep that in mind?"

    Iwata didn't dispute the point, "Quite. Now, here is the most popular restaurant in town. I would recommend it, if you haven't eaten yet."

    As James' stomach chose that very moment to growl, he could hardly dispute the point. Iwata's lips twitched upwards, as the Japanese-American waved at the door. Thompson sent him a thankful look, to which the man responded with a small shrug. He left the Admiral at the door, likely off to do...whatever he had been doing. Watching him go, James sighed softly.

    That had been...enlightening.

    I need to remember, just how the war impacts everyone. I focus too much on my girls, I know that. I forget about the civilians. The ones who are hurt by the war, even if not directly. Lord, I wish I could stop it entirely.

    Even as he sat down, his order taken by a waitress, James sighed again. He knew just as well that it was far too late to stop a war. Even if he had been shot back to 1938 or something, that would be true. The events leading to this war were already in place. Japan was going to invade China. They were going to be embargoed. And they were going to attack America. There...just wasn't anything he could do to stop that. It was why he focused so heavily on the attack coming to this city.

    It was all he could do, to avoid thinking of the rest of the war.

    "Here you are, sir."

    Drawn from his thoughts, James smiled up at the young waitress, as she left to take another order. His appetite wasn't quite as strong, but he still dug into the food. Iwata had been right about one thing...this was good food. And it served to get his mind off what he had been thinking, as the Admiral looked around. He couldn't fail to notice there were no African-Americans in the building. Nor were there many women, outside the waitresses. Stifling a sigh, he acknowledged that it was to be expected, even if he didn't like it.

    As such, Thompson continued to scan the room. At least, until he saw another officer enter. The younger man, blond hair cut short, locked onto the Admiral. He ignored the waitress, instead coming straight to the older officer. James frowned at that, as he made room for the officer. The man sent him a thankful look, even as he sat down. Even as he looked at the Admiral, question quite obvious.

    "Yes?" Still, James asked first.

    "Admiral Thompson, correct?"

    "That's me. You are?"

    If they were on duty, it wouldn't be anywhere near this informal. But formality had a time and place.

    "Lieutenant Commander John Baxter, CAG off Enterprise." The younger man, Baxter, replied. "I was hoping to talk with you."

    Well now. I would have expected Yorktown's CAG, if anyone.

    "About what?" Thompson was curious now, as he looked at the younger officer.

    Baxter smiled slightly, "The new tactics you've introduced. Lieutenant Commander Brown told me about them, and how badly your pilots mauled his. I would like to see exactly what you taught your boys, so I can do the same."

    On the plus side, at least word was spreading. If this word got back to the States, Ranger, Wasp and- when she was complete -Hornet would benefit as well. That was his goal. Or, at least one of them. That thought in mind, James waved over the waitress. After paying for his lunch, inwardly amazed at the price once more, he nodded at Baxter. The other man nodded back, both officers walking back onto the streets of Honolulu. Once outside, James turned back to his younger counterpart, as both men moved towards the Harbor.

    "So, you want to know more?"

    "I do. It's in everyone's best interests that we are all as prepared as we can be." Baxter sighed, looking up at the sky. "Even if we don't end up fighting, better to be prepared. After the whacking you gave Yorktown, I'm not inclined to risk my boys. So I want to know anything you can teach us."

    "That, I can do." James nodded seriously. "That I can do."

    Baxter nodded back, "And thank you for that, Admiral. I don't know where you came up with these, but they'll be a big help. Anything else you have up your sleeve?"

    Many things, that I can't tell you.

    "Not right now, no."

    The Lieutenant Commander smiled, as he shook his head, "Worth a shot. Well, hopefully you can get my boys in top shape. If we go against you in a fleet problem, I won't have them losing."

    "Nor will I have mine lose."

    Somehow, James got the feeling it was only because he was an Admiral that the other man didn't break out laughing at that statement. Rivalries between ships were the bread and butter of the Navy, after all.

    Still, at least we are moving forward. I can take what I get, at this point...


    "Can you all hear me?"

    "Yes!"

    "I can."

    "Same here."

    "Loud and clear!"

    Saratoga smiled softly, as she looked down at her lap. She was acting on her own initiative again, her Admiral still on land. But...she was working to help him! In fact, that was the entire reason she was talking with the other capital ships. Arizona. Utah, if only for her wisdom. Yorktown. Enterprise. She hadn't contacted the other battleships, and her sister already knew the reason for this. But these four...they needed to know what she wanted to do. How they could all help her Admiral.

    Sara knew. She knew that Admiral Thompson was running himself dry. She appreciated everything he was doing to help them all, but she worried all the same. This time ashore was going to do wonders for the man, but that didn't mean she couldn't do her best to make it easier on him anyway. She was loyal, and liked to think they were friends. And friends helped each other, even if the very notion of doing so was still very new to her.

    So help him she would.

    "Arizona, you mentioned that your Admiral is unhappy?" Sara began, focusing on what she knew.

    "He...is not happy, at all." The normally cheerful battleship sounded more subdued than usual. "He doesn't like the idea that carriers should take over. I understand, but I don't think he does."

    "I do not entirely understand myself." Utah chimed in.

    "You don't?"

    "No...I understand that Admiral Thompson knows far more, but it is hard to reconcile that with all the time I've served. Don't mind me, Arizona. I do agree with him."

    Sara smiled, the byplay reminding her of talking with Langley, "At any rate, this is a problem. We need to prepare, my Admiral made that clear. How do we help him?"

    "Talking with our crews is one way." Yorktown suggested.

    "I have been trying that since the moment Admiral Thompson arrived. It has yet to work."

    A soft hum came from Enterprise at that, "Have you tried everything yet? I'm sure you can think of something!"

    Another smile came from Sara upon hearing the younger carrier. Little E always was one to talk like that. Give her a problem, and she'd do everything she could to win. She loved impressing her elders.

    "That is one thing we can do. I would also suggest we talk about tactics. The more we think, the more we can help Admiral Thompson. Any ideas?"

    I sound like the Admiral...

    Stifling a giggle at the thought, Sara focused on the conversation. Each of the girls were bouncing ideas off the other, as they planned. Utah was invaluable, her experience and time as a training ship making her uniquely suited to this. She could take a suggestion and look it over, improving and discarding where needed. Ari's enthusiasm lead to many suggestions, though her own relative lack of experience meant they were discarded more often than not. But where the truly valuable suggestions came from?

    Yorktown and Enterprise. The sisters spoke almost in unison at times, each of them making suggestions that sounded like they came from Admiral Thompson himself. The ideas had Sara making mental notes to tell her Admiral when he returned. Perhaps, as young carriers, they were able to adapt to the new reality better. Regardless, Sara valued what they had.

    "I know!" Little E piped up.

    "Yes?"

    "What if we mix our formations? Have my fighters escort big sis' bombers? Or vice-versa?"

    Sara nodded, "We tried that ourselves. Lieutenant Commander Thach did a very good job covering my sisters' planes."

    "So it works?"

    "It works, Little E."

    "Great! Then we should try that. I want to see how well it works with Yorktown."

    "So do I. Still want to pay you two back for beating me twice!" Yorktown, for her part, sounded just as competitive as ever.

    Smiling, Sara shook her head in amusement, "Yes, well, I'm sure we can try that. I'll let my Admiral know."

    Tuning out the resulting noise from the younger carriers, Sister Sara focused back on the battleships.

    "Do you have any more ideas, Utah? Arizona?"

    "Just one, really." Arizona replied. "We're slow, but you can put a lot of guns on us. Would refitting us as escorts work? At least for operations where we can keep up!"

    "I'm not a combat ship, Arizona..." Utah pointed out.

    "But..."

    "I'm fine with training..."

    Saratoga frowned, as the old battleship trailed off, "Utah?"

    There was no response, as even the Yorktown sisters stopped talking. Sara bit her lip, worry taking over her previous good feelings. Why had Utah stopped talking? Had something happened? Shewas being refit, on some level. Maybe she had to conserve energy? That would make a certain amount of sense at least, and was better than the other options. Still...it worried her, that the battleship had gone silent. Sara was a worrier, at the best of times.

    This was not the best of times.

    "My apologies." Utah finally spoke up, getting a sigh of relief from the blue-haired carrier. "My radio operator has become quite good at noticing when we talk like this. As is my new Captain...I think he may hear me, more than my last one."

    "Can you talk to him?"

    "I am about to try. Do you need me for anything else?"

    Sara shook her head, aware it couldn't be seen, "Of course not! If you think you can talk to him, please try. If we can talk to our Captains..."

    "Everything will change."

    Utah's line went silent, as the battleship went to try again. Sara sighed softly, as she continued to make plans with the remaining girls. If Utah could pull off the impossible...well, they would all be better off. She could only hope...hope that the old battleship could do it.

    If she can, we have a way to truly help my Admiral.


    Re: Enterprise's CAG

    I try to use historical figures, where possible. This is one of the cases where I can't, at least with any level of justice given to the person in question. So OC time, at least for now.
     
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    • hmn, i know the focus is going to be navy, but maybe our admiral might consider doing something about the utter travesty that was the internment of japanese americans?
     
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