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Changing Destiny (Kancolle)

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KanmusuFan said:
Speaking of Utah, I hope Admiral Richardson knows a good psychiatrist.
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Engineer: Dammit, Utah's gotten to the croton oil again!

Midshipman: Didn't we spike it with torpedo juice after the third time?

Elsewhere

*cue Utah crying into Joesph's chest*

Joe: ...lets get you to bed 'tah.

Fun note, croton oil can be used as an ingredient in biodiesel.
 
Meanwhile, random fun fact from Discord:

Also joining the Saratoga during the month of September was a young aviation supply officer who worked quietly and efficiently. Most of the crew didn't know his name-- William F. Halsey III. He was "Bull" Halsey's son."


During the time in Noumea young Bill Halsey was approached by an aviation machinist's mate who came aboard the Saratoga and said he needed an ignition harness for Admiral Halsey's personal plane. Halsey let the youngster have the part, even though it left only four spares for Sara's ninety aircraft. Two weeks later the fellow returned, saying the ignition harness had broken. Halsey gave him another.

Another two weeks passed and Halsey received the same request, this time by telephone from an officer he didn't know. Bill denied the officer's request, since he was down to only three harnesses. "I guess maybe you don't understand," said the officer, "This harness is for Admiral Halsey's plane."

"Oh I understand all right," Bill responded, "You can tell Admiral Halsey to shove it in his ear."

The voice on the phone demanded, "What is your name, sir?"

"William Frederick Halsey," Bill responded, then hung up. Nothing more was heard of the incident.
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(from my ever-so-useful Sara book. Yes, Halsey's son is serving on her in roughly this time period)
 
Sorry.


Couldn't find one. But found this Serious Sara instead:

EDIT: Does this one count?
 
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I'm going to aim for updating tomorrow. Getting back into the swing of actually working is throwing me off something fierce. That said, as long as nothing throws me off tomorrow, I should be able to get something together.
 
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Chapter 50
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    • Chapter 50​

    "Goddamn, but am I tired."

    Letting out a long, low groan of exhaustion, Corporal Miller planted his Springfield into the ground. The rifle's bayonet had long since turned brown with dried blood, and he had run out of bullets hours ago. It was hell on Earth, because those goddamn Japs were insane. Not a one surrendered. They launched suicidal charges. They hid in shell craters and ambushed Marines. They would hide grenades until the perfect moment, faking surrender to take a few more Americans down with them.

    They would do everything but give up.

    It had been a nightmare. Even for a self-proclaimed 'devil dog'. Miller doubted that he would ever forget some of the things he saw on this desolate little piece of coral.

    "Corporal!"

    Groaning again, Miller spun around. His boots crunched on the aforesaid coral, while his bloody hand snapped up in an instinctual salute. He was too damned tired to care about protocol now. Major Devereux didn't see fit to comment on it anyway, merely raising an eyebrow as he returned the gesture.

    "You look like shit, Marine." Devereux's eyes ran up and down Miller's tired body, while a little smirk tugged at his lips.

    Miller grunted in response, "With all due respect, sir...screw you."

    While Devereux chuckled at that, Miller just glared at his commanding officer. While he was standing here, covered in cuts and things he would rather not think about, the Major was still in his immaculate uniform. Didn't even look like he'd left the bunker, since he had gone to the trenches earlier. Lucky bastard.

    Or just an asshole who stayed in the rear instead of fighting.

    Whatever. I'm too tired to give a shit anymore. My buddy's dead, half the others are dead or shot up, and the island is even more of a shithole than it was before.

    Grumbling under his breath, the Marine tiredly reached out and pulled his Springfield back up. Cleanup duty was still a thing, and there may be a Jap or two hiding under a rock somewhere. He may get lucky and find an ammo dump that wasn't raided yet either. One could hope.

    "Walk with me, Marine," Devereux seemed to have different ideas. He spoke up as if Miller wasn't even there, forcing the Corporal to look back over his shoulder.

    Miller sighed in response. "Where to...sir?"

    "To the docks." The Major replied, before nodding his head at the battle-scarred landscape. "And anywhere else along the way. I want to see how many men are still ready to fight."

    "Like me?"

    Devereux chuckled again, "Yes, like you. You can still fight, correct?"

    Naturally, the annoyed Marine only pulled his rifle higher on his shoulder, before setting off. He'd probably catch hell for that later. He was surprised he wasn't right now. Yet, Devereux seemed content to let it slide. Either the man was just as tired, or he was waiting to comment on the borderline insubordination later.

    Again, Miller couldn't really bring himself to care anyway.

    Though...maybe Devereux just didn't want to drive Miller off before he was done interrogating him. A suspicion that would be proven rather accurate, with the next words from his mouth.

    "I want your opinion on something, Marine." Devereux used his height advantage to move up beside Miller, and look at the younger man out of the corner of his eye.

    "Corporal Miller, sir."

    I'm getting tired of just getting called 'Marine'...

    If the Major cared about that response, he certainly didn't care to show it. He just shrugged and nodded magnanimously. "Corporal Miller then. Are you going to answer my questions, Corporal?"

    Miller was silent for a second. He didn't know what questions he was going to be asked. What the Major wanted out of him. Was he singled out? Or was he just the first Marine that the man had come across?

    In the end, he sighed heavily.

    "What do you want to know?"

    Devereux smirked at the answer, and raised a hand to wave out at the ocean. "Tell me how the Japs fought. I want to know how they think, how they fight, and how to prepare if they decide to come and make a second go at us."

    The Corporal fully turned to face his commander. He wasn't embarrassed to say that his mouth had dropped open a little. The Major...how the...if they...

    "We're not leaving?!"

    Years into the future, a retired Colonel Miller would wonder if he had been a bit drunk on exhaustion, when he had made that statement. Then-Corporal Miller didn't really think about that. He had assumed they would leave Wake, since the Japs would probably come back and in stronger force.

    "Of course not!" Major Devereux just snapped at the younger Marine, his eyes narrowed into flints. It was the first time his affable facade had fallen. "Wake is the gateway to Hawaii. If we hold here, the Japs are never getting the drop on Pearl again. This island may be a shit naval base, but it can still be a good airbase."

    Pointing a slim finger out at the smoking ruins of the Japanese landing craft, the Major continued with an ever rising voice. Anger and frustration mixing into a dangerous cocktail.

    "The Japs will come back. And I'll be damned if my Marines aren't ready to meet them, right here, right now. They won't even make it off the beach."

    For Corporal Miller, it was the final straw. He turned on his heel, and marched off towards where he saw the first transport arriving to unload supplies for the island. Maybe he could hitch a ride. Maybe he could find someone who had their head screwed on straight. Regardless of what he found, he knew one thing for damn sure.

    I'm not dying on this lump of coral. No sir.


    A victorious day for the Americans, was a solemn day for the Japanese Imperial Navy. Men who had been enthralled by reports of battleships blowing into pieces or American planes lined up like chickens to the slaughter, now had to look at the burnt husk of Kaga. These same men had dismissed the losses in the Pearl operation as acceptable and flukes. The Japanese soldier was superior to the American. They could never truly lose.

    No one had believed that more than Hiryuu. The short-haired brunette had always believed that.

    And now she had to watch as her hull pulled away from the flaming wreck of her senior. Destroyers circled Kaga, attempting to help deal with the fires. Perhaps they could even save her.

    Kaga herself doubted it.

    "You must leave, Hiryuu. No one can save me now."

    Her voice had been labored and full of pain, yet, still stoic. Despite the immense stress she had to be feeling...Kaga never once lost her even and soft tone of voice.

    "All I ask is that you remember, one single thing. Can you do that?"

    Hiryuu wiped tears from her face. Her body stood, ramrod straight, as she looked out at the old carrier. She would not, could not, look away. It was true that she had not always agreed with Kaga. It was true that she thought the elder carrier was too cautious and soft. Yet, she respected Kaga all the same. She had built the Imperial Navy into what it was. She was the heart of the Kido Butai along with Akagi. And she was gone.

    Or soon to be gone. With her final words echoing in Hiryuu's mind.

    "Do not let revenge consume you. The Americans will continue to fight just as they have today. If you allow yourself to be blinded, you will die as I am. Do not allow that to happen. Promise me. Promise me that you will go to Akagi, and tell her the same."

    The true reason that Hiryuu could not look away, was that she had no intention of honoring those words. Even as she watched the burning husk of her senior fade in the distance, a growing fire grew in her heart.

    "We shouldn't retreat." Hiryuu muttered to herself. "We should fight. I should fight." With each word, her voice rose higher and higher, until- with a turn of her heel -she looked at her crew. "The Americans did this! They need to be killed for what they did to Kaga!"

    If there was anything true to Hiryuu, in that single moment of primal rage, it was that simple fact. Americans needed to die to pay for what they had done. Kaga had been fine one moment.

    The next, her deck was ruined and her body broken. One moment. One moment, and the pride of the Japanese Navy was gone.

    It hardly mattered anymore that she had her arguments with Kaga. Hiryuu was angry.

    "Tamon-maru," Hiryuu turned to look at her Admiral. She knew he couldn't see her...but it hardly mattered, did it? She was still going to talk to him like he could. "You always taught me that we should hit hard, and hit first. Devastating strikes before the enemy knows what hit them. Why are we running away?"

    There was no answer to that question, of course. Admiral Yamaguchi, even were he able to hear her, was far too focused on his work.

    "Have any aircraft that are too damaged to repair pushed over the side," he was ordering the crew of the carrier. Yamaguchi wasted no time in setting to work. "Do we know where the other American carrier is located?"

    The younger man he was talking to, could only shake his head. "No."

    Admiral Yamaguchi sighed deeply. "I see...then our only mission remains the same. Returning to Japan and retaining Hiryuu. We cannot afford to lose two carriers."

    In another time, and another place, Admiral Yamaguchi would have done what Hiryuu was screaming at him.

    "Fight them! Don't let the Americans just get away!"

    In this time and place, he did not. He had fewer than thirty planes that could conceivably launch an attack. His men were exhausted after the raids on Wake and Pearl Harbor. The Americans had proven quite adept at combat, despite all odds.

    And more importantly than anything else, Admiral Yamamoto had given strict orders to pull back to the Home Islands, in the event that it looked as if there would be greater losses. The loss of Kaga was regrettable, if they were unable to save her. The loss of Kaga and Hiryuu would be catastrophic to the plans in the East Indies. That, as ever, had to be the primary focus for the war effort.

    Any delays were unacceptable.

    "Damn it!" Hiryuu ground out, turning away from her Admiral. Souryuu would barely recognize her, as she walked to look out at the plume of smoke in the distance.

    Her sister wasn't here to understand. She couldn't understand.

    The pain and rage burning deep inside Hiryuu, as her hull pulled further and further away from Kaga and Wake Island. As she ran away from a battle against her will.

    She would never forget this feeling.


    "It's a goddamn shame." Admiral Halsey sighed dramatically, safely ensconced inside Enterprise's bridge. "That last bastard got away."

    With darkness having fallen over the fleet, only dim electrical lighting illuminated his face. His craggy features were almost ghoulish, especially with the 'bloodthirsty grin' on his face. The Admiral was hungry for blood and had been denied his prize. Saratoga pilots had nabbed Kaga, but the other carrier had snuck away like a thief in the night. It wasn't fair.

    It also was him playing things up for the crew. No one knew that better than Enterprise herself, currently sitting on a stool across from her father.

    Though he would probably clarify 'father figure' if asked.

    He's my father, though. I never had anyone else. I never wanted anyone else.

    It was a sign of that fact, that the crew only rolled their eyes fondly when they saw her on that stool. Any other woman would have been told off. Not her. She was almost their mascot now.

    "Admiral...what are we going to do now?"

    A mascot that was currently looking at her Admiral with sad red eyes. She had been hit hard by what happened to her Aunt.

    Halsey turned his head slightly, so he could look over at his trusted ship. "That depends. Wake is secure, and the Japs are running with their tail between their legs. I'm inclined to chase them and sink that last carrier."

    "We're with you, one-hundred percent, Admiral!"

    Neither Halsey or Enterprise knew who shouted that, but they didn't bother checking either. The Admiral and the Carrier just stared at each other. Halsey may not have appreciated 'dadmiral' jokes, yet, he still treated Enterprise like his own. And he was very much a 'sink or swim' parent.

    He wanted her to speak her own mind.

    "I don't think we should chase them, Admiral." Enterprise jumped to her feet, her long blonde hair swaying with the movement. Her face was scrunched up in thought, while she paced a little. "Can we even catch them if we did? I--I don't know?"

    She really didn't. She knew her own capabilities- nervous stutter and all -but not what Hiryuu could do.

    Halsey grunted, "We probably could. Lord knows how much I want to catch those rat bastards and feed them a torpedo or two."

    "...Admiral?"

    "Don't worry about it, Enterprise," Bull Halsey smirked this time, rolling his eyes at the confused expression his carrier wore. She may not get the metaphor. "At any rate, I want to hear it from you. Do you think we could catch them?"

    It was a tough question. Her planes could catch them in the daylight. But Enterprise didn't know if she wanted to.

    "I...I think so." She twisted her skirt a little, if only to keep her hands moving.

    Realizing what she was doing, Enterprise forced her hands to stop. She needed to conquer her nervous habits. Aunt Sara was gone. She wasn't dead, but she was out of the war for however long it took to repair her. Hornet, the sister she had never met, would be here soon. Yorktown would join her. And she didn't want her big and little sister's to see a nervous girl.

    She had to be strong.

    I need to act like the Admiral. Father knows what he's doing! As she looked over at the chiseled features of her father, a little mental giggle broke the stress of the situation. Well, maybe not entirely like him.

    "I still don't think we should. We need to keep Wake safe in case more enemies show up, don't we?" Enterprise stood as straight backed as she could, and stared her Admiral down. "If we leave, they only have the Marines. We haven't even transferred everyone over yet."

    "Very good, Enterprise."

    Even as he said that, Halsey placed a hand on his chin and rubbed it a little. Was he faking it for her benefit or actually thinking? Enterprise didn't know.

    "Now, second question. If we did catch up to them, and the Japs didn't hit Wake while we did, could your pilots sink that bastard?" Here, he looked out the portholes, at the busy flight deck. Even at night, men worked double shifts to prepare for combat in the morning. Shouts rang out and lights flashed around the deck park.

    "Those Jap assholes are tough. We lost most of the Devastators last time, so we can't even rely on that working a second time. Can you send them to hell anyway?"

    Enterprise looked down at her feet, and sucked in a deep breath. He wasn't going to want to hear this.

    "I don't think I can. Not alone." Looking up from under her eyebrows, she saw an inscrutable face staring at her. No answers there. Right. "I'm not ready yet...Aunt Sara was hurt because of me. If I were better, she'd be fine. I don't want to risk losing again..."

    With no answer forthcoming, Enterprise continued to pour her heart out. This had started as a military question, but she needed to say this.

    "I know what everyone expects me to do. But I can't. I can't be her." She knew that literally no one would get that reference. Yet, the 'Gray Ghost' of Admiral Thompson's stories hung over her head like an axe. It wasn't her. It wasn't her. "I don't want to try going after that last carrier alone, not yet. I know you do Admiral, but..."

    Halsey held a hand up, and shook his head. "Enough, Enterprise. You've made your point."

    The Admiral stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, while he looked over at her crew. His sharp eyes dared any of them to comment. None did.

    They trusted their ship. They wouldn't say anything about what her views were.

    "Well, you all heard the lady. Get the planes fixed up and ready for the morning, but keep close to Wake. I'll be damned if they get the drop on us again." Halsey growled the last bit out, squeezing just a bit too tightly with the hand gripping Little E's shoulder. "As soon as the last supplies are off loaded, we're high tailing it back to Pearl. We'll meet up with Lexington, get resupplied, and keep hitting the Japs where it hurts. Understood?"

    "Sir, yes sir!" A chorus of voices answered him, as the men set to their tasks.

    As for Halsey? He turned to look back on Enterprise, leaning down to whisper in her ear. Just two statements.

    "I'm proud of you for finally showing what you can do, Enterprise. I want you to keep that up." Before she could hope to reply, his voice turned deadly serious. His eyes stared into hers. "And I want to know exactly what you were talking about."

    It didn't take a genius to know what he meant. Enterprise flushed...and decided she was fine with that. Admiral Thompson would forgive her, eventually. When he recovered.

    If he recovered.

    And she needed to do something to help Aunt Sara too. Even if it was only helping her Admiral. She had to make up for her failure here...she had to.


    Sorry for the delay. Work is more draining than anticipated...may just write on my days off, to be honest. Either way, here we are. Once again, this isn't as long as I was expecting...but then, I'm still not used to writing what fits instead of going for an arbitrary word count to fluff things up.

    Blame FFN for that being a thing for so long. :V

    At any rate, yes, Hiryuu survives. This is not to 'balance the odds' or 'buff Japan' or anything like that. Japan loses in the end anyway, we all know that.

    No.

    That was entirely for character reasons. Both for Hiryuu and Enterprise. You're already seeing some of that. Enterprise, in particular, is going to be changing quite a bit in this war...especially with the specter of her alternate self hanging over her.
     
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    • Skywalker_T-65 said:
    "Of course not!" Major Devereux just snapped at the younger Marine, his eyes narrowed into flints. It was the first time his affable facade had fallen. "Wake is the gateway to Hawaii. If we hold here, the Japs are never getting the drop on Pearl again. This island may be a shit naval base, but it can still be a good airbase."
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    And what good was Wake Island in acting as a tripwire for Pearl the first time, Major? Hm? I do wonder if Cpl. Miller gets smacked with Insubordination charges...hmm.

    Skywalker_T-65 said:
    If there was anything true to Hiryuu, in that single moment of primal rage, it was that simple fact. Americans needed to die to pay for what they had done. Kaga had been fine one moment.
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    Not so good to be on the receiving end, is it Hiryuu? Now you feel as the USN did when you suckerpunched them at Pearl. Seeing Kaga gracefully and stoically accept her likely impending demise, though, oof.

    Heh, Little E's starting to grow up some. Wanting to impress her father figure, but at the same time recognizing what is and is not within her capabilities.

    Skywalker_T-65 said:
    "I know what everyone expects me to do. But I can't. I can't be her." She knew that literally no one would get that reference. Yet, the 'Gray Ghost' of Admiral Thompson's stories hung over her head like an axe. It wasn't her. It wasn't her. "I don't want to try going after that last carrier alone, not yet. I know you do Admiral, but..."
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    And hopefully you will not have cause to become her, E. The Enterprise of an alt timeline embittered and hardened by both personal loss and the Fires of War.

    Thanks for the update, Sky. It was worth the wait!
     
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    Heh, how much would it twist the knife if the Americans went and salvaged/towed Kaga? Sure she's kind of a wreck but hasn't sunk yet and sheer, raw spite makes a damn good motivator for near-impossible salvages and repairs. :evil:
     
    maes said:
    Heh, how much would it twist the knife if the Americans went and salvaged/towed Kaga? Sure she's kind of a wreck but hasn't sunk yet and sheer, raw spite makes a damn good motivator for near-impossible salvages and repairs. :evil:
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    Such a move is impractical, considering the area is still swarming with Japanese ships and poor Kaga is set to be scuttled, anyway.
     
    maes said:
    Heh, how much would it twist the knife if the Americans went and salvaged/towed Kaga? Sure she's kind of a wreck but hasn't sunk yet and sheer, raw spite makes a damn good motivator for near-impossible salvages and repairs. :evil:
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    Not happening. Both sides had the practice of scuttling ships they could not tow, specially in waters with enemy presence. If the Japanese cannot take Kaga with them, she'll get a torpedo or two until she sinks.
     
    maes said:
    Heh, how much would it twist the knife if the Americans went and salvaged/towed Kaga? Sure she's kind of a wreck but hasn't sunk yet and sheer, raw spite makes a damn good motivator for near-impossible salvages and repairs. :evil:
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    Also, Kaga's... kind of an awful design. I don't think the USN wants her.
     
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