Took a bit longer than anticipated, but here we are with chapter 6. Which will also be the last one before our first timeskip, so there's that. With over a year and a half until Pearl (the end of Act/Arc 1), we kinda need timeskips or it would become a lot of chapters. That said, it won't be too massive a skip.
Chapter Six: Dreams
Well, that went about as well as I could hope...
James had a small smile on his face, as he exited the meeting with his fellow Admirals. The talks in there had, to some extent, gone over his head. He had made his name in commanding ship
girls, not proper warships. Even so, he felt that the suggestions he had made- even if only half-remembered -were being put to good use. New formations, new ways of thinking. He didn't expect something like the late-war Carrier Taskgroups by any means. James knew there weren't
enough carriers until the Essex sisters came online for that. He also knew that it would take more than even having Richardson's ear to make that work. There was going to be a lot of, completely justifiable for the times, resistance to his ideas.
And for all that James was in an unusually advantageous position, he couldn't do everything. Even Admiral Richardson could only do so much, were the forward-thinking man even willing to listen to all the ideas.
If Admiral Thompson had to make a comparison, he was in the same trap that Billy Mitchell had been in. His suggestions on carrier doctrine were as revolutionary as the man who redefined air power. And if he wasn't careful, he
and Admiral Richardson would go down in the same manner. Billy Mitchell had been too caught up in his ideas and visions of the future, and managed to insult and aggravate damn near everyone in power. The same potential was here, in what James was trying to do. He could pass off being a 'carrier man', and use that to his advantage. But if he pushed too hard and too fast, the battleship skippers would fight back and...
Well, that was something he couldn't afford.
"Are you okay Admiral?" Ari's worried voice dragged him from those thoughts, even as it widened the smile on his face.
The battleship next to him, petite body covered in her loose fitting blue overcoat, was looking up at him worriedly. Her brown eyes were wide, and filled with concern. James felt rather bad for worrying her like that, and leaned enough to the side to brush his shoulder against hers.
I'm not blind. I've noticed that Ari likes physical contact...poor girl probably never had the option for it before...
"..."
Ari didn't vocally respond to the move, but she did lean her head on the Admiral's shoulder. That managed to get a brief chuckle out of James, as he managed to walk without shifting the girl's position. The Ari
he remembered, was not this touchy. But as he constantly needed to remind himself, these girls weren't the ones he remembered. He needed to stop thinking like they
were, but it was...hard, at times.
"That looked like it was hard for you," the battleship finally spoke up again, voice soft and low as they exited onto her deck.
James sighed softly at that, replying just as lowly, "I never thought it would be easy, Ari."
"How so?" there was honest curiosity in her voice, as Arizona looked up at him.
This really wasn't the place to talk about that, but the look on Ari's face, brown eyes wide with interest...
"Ari...how would you feel, if your entire purpose for existing was gone? If you were relegated to nothing but fire support for land invasions?"
A frown crossed her face, "I wouldn't be happy about it, but as long as I was serving our nation I'd gladly do whatever task I was assigned!"
"Exactly, but how would your
crew feel?"
Arizona opened her mouth to reply, before James held up a finger. Looking around to make sure they were alone, the Admiral leaned down to eye-level with the battleship. Missing a flush on her face, Admiral Thompson began to explain.
"You're not the newest battleship in the fleet anymore, but you're still a powerful girl Ari. Your crew and commanders...they're used to being the top dogs. Battleships are the heart of a fleet, while carriers are scouts and harassers. Sara...girls like her aren't supposed to be the heart of a taskforce, not yet. That's changing, even without me here, but the fact remains that dreadnought skippers think their ships are the heart of the navy," James sighed softly, looking at the dreadnought in front of him, "And that's why it's so hard. If I try to push too hard or too fast, all I'll do is make enemies. Powerful enemies, who could have me reassigned to a desk if I'm not careful."
"But you're trying to help," Ari protested, a stubborn look crossing her face, the girl biting her lip slightly, "I can't believe..."
In any other situation, the protectiveness in the girl's voice might have gotten a smile out of James, right now it just made him place his hands on her shoulders, "Ari, you don't have the same mindset. And I don't blame them for how they feel, either. Carriers are...well, we're untested until Taranto. And even then, it's the Italians who get hit...even now, they're the butt of a lot of jokes. At least I think they are..."
The way the Admiral's voice trailed off uncertainly got a giggle out of Arizona, and made him smile despite himself.
"Anyway, my point is, right now the battleship skippers have no reason to believe that their ships aren't the top dogs still. Our exercises have shown the strength of carriers, but it isn't enough. All we can do, all
I can do, is prepare as best I can anyway. Even if it isn't easy, even if it takes a long time and a lot of work. I'll do what I can, so that girls like you don't
have to worry."
There was nothing but utter conviction in James' voice. If nothing else, the meeting...it had reinforced the need to focus. Between it and his earlier talk with Ari, the man knew one thing. He couldn't let himself be distracted. These girls...all of them were counting on him. Seeing the difficulties inherent in changing a navy from within, without pushing too hard or too fast? It might have been overwhelming, were it not for that. But looking down on Ari, on her smiling face? It drove home to Admiral Thompson, that he needed to do everything he could to protect that smile.
Protect the girl, and all the others he could.
Because, when war came, some of these girls were going to die. He knew that, however much he didn't like thinking about it. But...even so, James wasn't going to give up. Yes, it was war- the greatest war in history, until the Abyssals arrived. But that
did not mean he shouldn't do his best to protect as many of these girls as he could. Sara, Utah, Ari...he wasn't going to let these girls die, not without doing his damnedest to save them.
"Thank you," Ari herself whispered, leaning even more against the Admiral's side, "Thank you, Admiral. Do you have to...?"
"Go back to Sara? Not yet, I was hoping to talk to Admiral Richardson alone first."
"Ah...can we...?"
James smiled, merely shifting slightly so that Ari could be more comfortable. There were worse ways to spend his time. And...well, and he had the feeling it wouldn't be long before moments like this were just a fond memory.
Far from Arizona, USS Utah leaned against her aging barbette once again. The battleship-turned-target ship was resting, all the energy she had been expending exhausting her. She knew she was old, by warship standards. Her old hull was showing the strain of years, and her relative lack of priority for repairs was telling. Utah had never thought to complain about that before, but now? Now that she had a reason
to be moving constantly, it worried her. She couldn't let herself all apart, until she was sure her surrogate daughters were okay. And when merely chasing her Captain around, trying to get the man to
hear her instead of thinking he was being haunted, was enough to tire her out this much?
Utah couldn't help but sigh, brushing grey hair from her face. There was nothing for it though, was there? She was getting better and better at making her presence known, but she couldn't talk to her Captain yet. She wasn't going to give up by any means, but the battleship needed to rest. Utah knew she was pushing herself too hard, and a little break could hardly hurt anything, right?
"I'll just rest here..." Utah muttered, her eyes slowly sliding shut, "For a few minutes..."
Soon enough, the battleship would find herself asleep. But she wouldn't find the rest she had been hoping for.
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"West Virginia is burning!"
"Who's attacking us?!"
"Meatballs on the wings! It's the Japs!"
"What?! That isn't..."
Utah's eyes snapped open, her protesting body forced upright. The aging battleship jumped to her feet, frantically scanning the horizon. Her ears were ringing with the panicked radio traffic, as she looked out at the harbor. At the burning harbor, smoke rising into the air from both Ford Island and...and...
"No...no no no..."
And from her daughters. Despite being moored on the opposite side of Ford Island from Battleship Row, Utah could see. She could see better than any of her crew, as the other girls burned. West Virginia...thick black smoke poured from the girl, her hull alight with angry red flames. The smoke did nothing to hide the source of these flames, pure white aircraft flitting across the sky. That coloration did not lend them an angelic appearance however. No, it only served to contrast against the dark black bombs and torpedoes some carried, and the red circles all were marked with. The Rising Sun of Japan, the enemy that Admiral Thompson had warned her about.
She was seeing, now, that everything he had said was true.
"Oklahoma was hit! We're taking on water!"
"I...I can't feel my legs..."
The voice of Oklahoma's Captain and the girl herself merged in Utah's ears, the battleship bringing her hands to her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the voice of one of the oldest girls she considered a daughter. Banish the pain and anguish, as Oklahoma's hull began to lean to her side.
"This can't be happening," Utah got out, her voice shaking, "This can't be happening..."
But everywhere she looked, she saw nothing but flames and diving aircraft. Men ran, swam, tried to get away. But Utah could see them gunned down by the Japanese aircraft. No mercy was shown, no quarter given. Anything that moved was a target, and even things that didn't move. Ships caught fire, or took hits from torpedoes that impossibly worked in the shallow harbor.
"Bastards, fight fair!" Cali's angry voice echoed over the airwaves, as a handful of her anti-aircraft guns returned fire.
It did little good. Even in the target heavy environment they were in, only one or two Japanese aircraft began smoking. Nothing more. And Cali's anger soon turned to pain, as torpedoes slammed into her side. Utah felt tears come to her eyes, feeling like the hits had been to her, not the girl she considered a daughter. And there was nothing she could do but watch, as more and more hits slammed into her daughters.
Watch, as Tennessee took a bomb hit, shrapnel spraying over West Virginia. Watch as Oklahoma continued to roll over onto her side, her hull beneath the waterline seeing the sky. Utah couldn't turn away, even as this happened in front of her. Even as she cursed her inability to do anything but watch, her own guns silent. She wasn't a combat ship...she couldn't...
"ARI!"
Utah's head snapped around at the anguished cry from Pennsylvania, in time to see a gout of flame and debris shoot into the sky. The battleship fell to her knees, as she saw Arizona's hull lift out of the water, her bow shattered in fire. Ari settled back in the harbor, flames roaring over her hull. Her masts fell forward, the girl's bow ruined by the explosion. There hadn't even been a warning, a pained shout. Nothing. She was there one second and...
"I can't believe...Arizona..." Utah held a hand to her heart, tears flowing freely, "I was going to save you. Admiral Thompson and I were going to save all of you. It should have been me...it should have been..."
"Torpedoes in the water!"
Before Utah could finish her sentence, she was thrown to her deck, losing all feeling in her legs. The battleship cried out in pain, as her own hull began to list. However, that first cry of pain was instinctual. As her hull began to slide down, Utah felt a weak smile cross her face. Now she could no longer see her daughter's burning. And now, she could face death. It was preferable to facing her failures...she couldn't face that.
Far better to die, than live and be reminded of her failure every time she saw Ari's body.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
Utah's eyes slid shut once again, as she felt the water of the harbor rush over her decks...
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"Utah? Are you alright?"
"I'm worried...she sounded bad..."
"You always worry too much, Ari."
Wait...they're...
The battleship snapped up, ignoring the soreness in her body. Frantic eyes looked around, seeing nothing but clear skies and men doing their duty. No Japanese aircraft, no dead and dying sailors. No smoke, and no burning girls. And those voices...
"California? Arizona?" Utah whispered.
"You're okay!" the cheerful voice of the latter girl rang in her ears.
"You're alive?"
"Why wouldn't we be?" Cali's voice sounded more confused than anything.
Utah didn't respond at first, sliding back against her barbette. They were alive, and Pearl wasn't burning. It had been a dream then, a horrible, horrible nightmare. But still, nothing more than a dream. Looking down on her shaking hands, Utah clenched them to calm herself. It wasn't easy. That had been so...so real. She could still see Ari's shattered hull in her mind, if the battleship shut her eyes. She doubted it would leave her anytime soon. Was this what Admiral Thompson felt like all the time? A man who had grown up, seeing Ari and her own shattered hulls, rusting away in the harbor?
If so, Utah decided then and there she never wanted to see it again.
She had already been determined to do her best. That dream...that dream had her mind reeling, and she couldn't put it out of her mind. She wished she could, but it wasn't that simple. Utah was going to be haunted by that dream, that vision, that...whatever it was. It didn't matter in the end. What did matter, was that she couldn't let that come to pass. Seeing that...
I can't see that again. I would sooner die than see that again.
"I'm...fine," Utah finally replied, "Sorry, just a bad dream."
"Oh."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Smiling softly at the worried voice of her red-haired daughter, Utah just shook herself, "Yes, I'm perfectly okay Arizona."
Climbing to her feet, Utah ignored the stiff feeling in her bones. She had to find her Captain, and redouble her efforts to contact him. If the battleship could just
break whatever barrier remained, then they
all could talk to their Captains and Admirals. And figure out a way to save them all, from that horrible fate.
