Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
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Whoops. Thought that was the PM, to be fair.
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Indestructible Spirit (Kancolle AU)
- Thread starter Skywalker_T-65
- Start date
Selonianth
Writer of Words
It COULD be him too, to be honest, but if he knows... he'd probably be telling the Diet as well.
Either way, a stupid politician in the Japanese Government is aware that Indestructible, formerly the Battlecruiser Kongou, has returned, and wants to force her to stay where she doesn't want to be. Diet or no, that's not smart.
Unfortunately for the Japanese Indestructible strikes as someone who give no fucks what other people think of her if she doesn't know them. So them telling the media wouldn't phase her at all.
Edit: I can see it now.
Indy: "Oh they manage to summon Kongo? I'll love to meet her."
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Selonianth
Writer of Words
I'm almost completely positive it would cause a LOT more rage than that.
She KNOWS she is "Kongou". She's also super pissed at the japanese government as a whole because of the whole "Yea, you're too much hassle. We don't want you." stuff, and would LOVE a target for it.
Oh I know that. It just be funny as hell if Indy decides that the best way to get back at them is to make them look bad.
Remember FACE is a major thing in Japan. Indy knows this, and I bet really don't care about how her rep is.
So say the Deit does do the news thing, the first time someone gets a good picture of her in her BRITISH uniform or even better someone manage to get an interview with her. I can see her asking who the bloody hell this Kongo is and telling them that she is the BRITISH battlecruiser Indestructible.
Anyone with a internet connection, damn near everyone in Japan, will then look it up to see what the hell is going on.
Cue backlash.
Selonianth
Writer of Words
I thought she was British Fast Battleship Indestructible, I could've sworn I saw something storywise that referred to her as a BB rather than a BC. Hiei, Haruna, and Kirishima are still BC's though. Apparently japan didn't get the idea to armor them in this continuity.
sorry they were modernized into BB's in the prologue.
Skywalker_T-65
Writer with too many ideas.
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Reverse that actually. Hiei-class are considered BBs, it's the Indestructible-class that are still designated BCs. Mostly because, to the British, that's what they are. They were upgraded to about the same extent as the Japanese ships, but it's still a Battlecruiser hull, and as such, the Royal Navy never changed their designation.
Indy considering herself a BB, is her own thing.
Selonianth
Writer of Words
Ah, so in reality Indy IS a Fast BB (else the Indestructible Class is known as the single most heavily armed and armored cruisers in... ever) but the British are stubborn tradition-bound dunderheads and don't change her designation.
Especially if it packs firepower of a ship. It would be a shame if a shell "accidentally" near them.
On the British view, there's also the fact that some of the planning documents for our last battleship, Vanguard, describe her as a "fully armoured battlecruiser".
See ADM1/10141 for this relevant paragraph -
A ship mounting 15-inch guns on a displacement of about 40,000 tons could probably be given a speed of about 30 knots without making any substantial sacrifice in protection and although not quite so powerful as our 16-inch gun ships when lying in the battleline, she would be of inestimable value as a fully armored battlecruiser:
(a) To detach in pursuit of Japanese 12-inch gun cruisers raiding our Eastern Trade routes.
(b) To counter Japanese 8-inch gun cruisers in battle.
(c) To operate in Indian and Australian waters before the arrival of our Fleet in the Far East, such a ship would be very appropriate for the Royal Australian Navy to take over.
[The above was kindly posted for my information on the NavWeaps discussion boards by 1Big Rich; I haven't actually been to the Public Records Office in Kew to study the document.]
You'll note that the Admiralty was apparently falling for the same erroneous reports that led the Americans to construct the Alaskas.
For the British, at least until the 1940s, the difference in speed over the battleline was what defined the battlecruiser as much as anything, not armour or armament. Hood, after all, had unmodernised Queen Elizabeth level armour yet was a battlecruiser rather than a fast battleship.
Chapter 8
Skywalker_T-65
Writer with too many ideas.
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- United States
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Chapter 8: Feelings
I have never been in this sea before...Goeben has, but I haven't. But I have to get to Japan! Indestructible...
SMS Seydlitz squared her shoulders as her bow cut through the calm sea around her. This may have been her first time in the Med, but it was hardly like that was an issue. The calm sea she sailed through was nothing on the choppy North Sea...or Jutland. The only problem the German girl had was in keeping up with her escorts and the girls she had tagged along with. Her top speed, so great for her design, was only 27 knots. Irresistible and Implacable could make thirty without issue. At least Cavour wasn't faster than her! Well, that and they were going at a more sedate twenty-knot cruising speed considering the Med was a lot safer than the Atlantic, so far as Abyssals were concerned.
In fact, they had yet to see a single one of the monsters, despite nearing Egypt!
"So, 'litz," Irresistible pulled up alongside the German, grin on her face at the pout the scarred girl sent her over the nickname.
"Ja?" Seydlitz asked back.
"How's the Med?" the British battlecruiser waved her hand around, grin not leaving her face, "I haven't been down here since the War, but it's quite a bit nicer than the Baltic innit?"
Despite herself, the scarred girl couldn't help a giggle at that, "Have you ever served in the Baltic? It is quite..."
"Cold? Rainy? Miserable?"
"Ja!"
The two girls shared quiet giggles at that. Wiping at her red eyes, Irresistible looked out at the calm waters, "Joking aside, it has to be nice to get out once in awhile. I know that being cooped up in the North Sea all the time would drive me bloody crazy!"
"It is not bad," Seydlitz shrugged, her ponytail swaying with the motion, "It is rather..."
"Cold?"
"You already said that!"
Irresistible snickered, "So I did. Seriously though, why would you rather be there than here? The Med's great!"
Despite her fondness for her 'home turf' as the Americans would say, Seydlitz could hardly deny the point. Crystal waters and warm sunlight beating down on her were nice. Her fairies were even taking advantage, sitting on her deck and marveling at the weather. It wasn't often they were able to sail in something even remotely like this, after all. That said, Seydlitz herself wasn't as eager to stay in the warm Med. This was a means to an end for her...she would have been just as eager to go through Panama or even 'round the Cape. That Suez, and by extension the Med, was the shortest route was...a happy coincidence.
What mattered to the German girl, was no the journey but the destination.
And even then, it was far less the destination. Japan held little meaning to her, as her Germany was an enemy of that nation. Seydlitz knew that Bismarck's Germany had been tense allies with the Imperial Japanese, but to her, they had been an enemy. An opportunistic enemy, interested only in Germany's territory not in 'freeing oppressed Asia'. So to her, Japan was nothing but her destination.
Indestructible...she is the reason I am doing this.
"Irresistible," Implacable sailed up to the pair of battlecruisers, "Cavour wants to talk to you."
"Ah," the elder girl pouted, "What about?"
"Ask her."
"Wanker," Irresistible stuck her tongue out at her sister, before shooting up to the Italian girl.
Implacable sighed, turning to Seydlitz, "Again, sorry about her."
"It isn't a problem," Seydlitz smiled slightly.
"Still, I feel the need to apologize for her. She may be my older sister, but..." again, the British girl sighed, "In any case, I was interested in something."
The German battlecruiser blinked, "Interested in what?"
"Why you are so eager to meet our sister," Implacable replied, holding up a hand to forestall any argument, "You may be interested in meeting her because of Jutland, yes. But that is not enough reason to come all this way, instead of just waiting until we bring her home. Especially as your design is not meant to operate this far from home."
Seydlitz's mouth snapped shut, as a flush stole over her scarred face. It was hard to imagine that Implacable and Irresistible were related...and it made her wonder even more what Indestructible herself was like. Maybe it was just because she didn't have any sisters of her own...Moltke was the closest thing Seydlitz had, and they were more cousins than sisters. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, the German girl focused back on her British counterpart, Implacable's face was...well, implacable. She couldn't read what the other girl was thinking at all!
I don't know what to say. I don't even know what I feel...
The question she had been asked was a difficult one to answer. Seydlitz had...complicated...feelings when it came to the British girl. Anger had been there, from Jutland. That had long since faded away, but it had been there. Then there was sadness, as crewman stationed on Indestructible had attempted to stop her scuttling at Scapa Flow. They had failed, but the memory...it lingered. And then there was what she felt here and now, after returning to life.
"It's...complex, ja?" Seydlitz finally replied, turning her green eyes on the water, "My feelings...I don't know how to describe them."
Kicking at the water, the German sighed softly.
"She is the closest thing I have to a rival, an honorable foe to match myself against. The part of me that remembers Jutland, remembers that. And yet...how do I say it...part of me misses her. Did you know that your sister's crew were the ones to attempt to avert my scuttling at Scapa Flow?"
Implacable frowned, "No I did not. I know she was in port for engine trouble but..."
"She tried to save me, when my crew tried to kill me," Seydlitz had a small, fragile and perhaps even bitter smile on her face, "I know now that...that I would have been scrapped or sunk as a target, regardless. But the feeling of your crew opening your hull to the water, watching as you drown in place..."
The German girl shuddered, hands wrapping around her chest, her modest bust doing little to restrict the movement.
"It was cold, so cold. But your sister...her crew tried to save me. They may have failed, but they at least tried, ja? I...need to talk to her about that, and many other things. I know that, but there is something else. I feel...I feel..."
Seydlitz trailed off helplessly, not able to enunciate what she felt. The warm feeling whenever she thought about seeing Indestructible, when she didn't even know what she looked like. It was hard to explain that, in words. At least, it was hard for her. It hardly helped that she still was unused to speaking in English either! Still, Seydlitz knew she should have at least try to explain more to...
"Hey..."
The youngest of the Indestructible sisters tugged the German girl into a hug, ignoring the fact that both of them were still in the water. If any of their comrades noticed, they didn't say anything.
"I cannot say I understand how you feel," Implacable whispered softly, "I was sent to the breakers, after serving for so many decades...it was almost a relief, to my tired old body. So I...don't know how you must have felt, having your crew betray you like that. But...I do know my sister. She will be glad to meet you, if what you told me is true. I'm certain of that."
"I hope you are correct," Seydlitz slumped slightly, before pulling away, "I truly do."
"Don't worry, Indestructible is very kind."
The utter conviction in the younger girl's voice had Seydlitz smiling again, as they continued towards the rapidly approaching Egyptian coast. They would stop in Alexandria to resupply, before moving through Suez...and from there, towards Japan. The Italian girls would split off in favor of a detachment of units from the Indian Navy- or rather, Royal Navy girls on loan to India. The journey was going to be long and fraught with danger. It was fair to say the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific, were far more dangerous than the calm Mediterranean. And Seydlitz had even less knowledge of how to traverse those seas.
But...
It was going to be worth it. Worth all the trouble she could be in. Because Seydlitz would see the girl who had been in her thoughts since she first came back, into an unfamiliar world. The girl who had been more important to her than her own half-siblings. Her own cousins. Seydlitz still had no idea how to put into words what she felt. But after the talk with Implacable...
I at least know that I am not alone. We will meet Indestructible, and bring her back.
With a small smile crossing her scarred face, Seydlitz pulled into port in Alexandria. Just a quick stop over, and then back to her long journey!
"Why do I have the feeling someone is thinking about me?"
"Indestructible-san?"
"It's nothing..."
Shaking her head to clear that random feeling, Indestructible looked down at the destroyer by her side. Fubuki's green eyes stared right back up at her, as the pair of warships slid across the calm water of Yokosuka's training area. Shigure had left to talk with her sister two days ago, apparently the same Yuudachi who had sent Hiei to her sister. The British girl had just shaken her head in amusement at the coincidence, though she did worry that Shigure hadn't shown back up yet.
Even so, the pair of girls remaining had gone to the empty kanmusu training area, to start training Indestructible up to where she could sortie. With Sendai and Jintsuu out helping the convoy with her sister, Indestructible only had the young destroyer to help her. Luckily for her, Fubuki was a patient teacher. Something about struggling herself when she had first been summoned, and making so many amateur mistakes she wondered if she would ever serve. Indestructible found it somewhat hard to reconcile the confident- if soft-spoken -girl with the girl Fubuki described. But then again...people could change. And it was immaterial in the long run, compared to the training she needed to go through.
"Anyway," Fubuki smiled as she changed the topic, "Jintsuu-san showed you how to use your rigging, right?"
"Yes."
"Good! We need to test how well you shoot then," the destroyer kicked her boilers into high gear, speeding over to a target range.
Fubuki zipped and zagged through the targets, only slowing long enough to fire her turrets at the various targets. Her fire was accurate, and quite well performed. Each salvo found a target, splintering the wood. Indestructible was impressed at the skill she saw, and reminded herself that Fubuki had been serving in this form for well over a year.
"Do you think you can do that, Indestructible-san?" the destroyer came to a halt, looking over at the battleship.
Indestructible frowned in concentration, "Maybe. I don't know for sure though."
"Take it slowly then!"
Nodding, the British girl slowly put fire into her boilers. Water kicked up around her shoes, around her bow. Moving at a sedate ten knots, she turned her 15-inch turrets on the targets. Her guns, the same as Hood's, loaded armor piercing shells. Biting her lip, the British girl listened to her...crew? Her 'fairies' as Jintsuu had called them. They listed off targeting data, as her firing computers worked through the range. It was only when her fairies listed off a proper solution, that Indestructible held out a hand.
"Fire!"
What? She was allowed to express herself on occasion.
"Good shot, Indestructible-san!" Fubuki cheered in the distance.
For her part, the battleship felt a grin tug at her lips. The miniature shells had flown straight and true, punching through two targets. The rest of her shells had fallen short or gone too long, but for her first attempt at shooting on the move- albeit slowly -it was a promising result. Her change in form hadn't lost the skill of her gunnery crews, that had fought at Jutland, then. That was good to know. Now, the better question, was how long it would take her to adjust to doing this herself.
"Do you think you can move faster?"
Her impromptu tutor had sailed back up to her, as they sailed out to where the targets were at a greater distance. Indestructible was thankful for the calm waters, as she looked at those circular pieces of wood. Hitting them when moving was hard enough as it sat. If the seas were choppy, that would be even more difficult. Granted, she would need practice in that as well. But preferably that would come after the battleship had adjusted to her new body. It wouldn't do to push things too fast. She had learned that lesson from her various Captains and Admirals. Training had to be done properly. Otherwise her crew wouldn't know what to do.
Well, otherwise she wouldn't know what to do, in this case.
"I will," Indestructible finally nodded, as she pushed more power into her engines.
Moving up to a headier speed of fifteen knots, Indestructible once more sighted in on her targets. This was going to be a more difficult shot, even for her computers and crew. But she could make it. She had to make it. The sooner this training was done, the sooner she could go out to her sisters. Protect them, like the eldest sibling should be doing.
I will protect them, as I should have. I failed that before, but I will not fail again.
The moment her computers and crew had run the data, Indestructible stuck out her hand again.
"Fir..."
"Fubuki-chan!"
The childish shout had Indestructible flinch, her shots going wide. Splashes of water flew up around the targets, though luckily not one hit something more...valuable. Turning her head, the battleship saw a purple-haired blur shooting out to where Fubuki was. Her friend sent the British girl a small smile, shrugging slightly as the blur resolved itself into the form of a destroyer. A...Fubuki-class?
No, on closer inspection this girl was slightly different. Her human body even moreso. Her outfit was different than Fubuki's, stockings covering her legs under a dark skirt with a white shirt. A pendant, the Roman Numeral for three, hung from her shirt and she wore a comically large cap over her long purple hair. Equally purple eyes looked up at the older destroyer, as Indestructible sailed over.
"Who is this?" the British girl asked, her voice soft. It was impossible to feel frustration with such a cute girl.
"Akatsuki-chan," Fubuki answered, "One of my...well...we're technically different classes. But she's probably a half-sister."
Turning to the newly named Akatsuki, the elder destroyer frowned ever so slightly.
"But you're not with your sisters right now. Where are they, Akatsuki-chan?"
"With Tenryuu," the little girl replied, "Admiral Goto told Kaga-san that the summoning went wrong and didn't summon her sister..."
Here the girl trailed off, before her purple eyes lit up.
"But Kongou-san is back instead!"
Understandably, Indestructible twitched at that. Fubuki sent her friend a worried look, before turning to her sister. Akatsuki seemed to have only now notice the battleship, and had moved closer to her sister. Indestructible didn't blame her for that. Or, for that matter, blame her for the name slip-up. Most Japanese girls wouldn't know...wouldn't know to call her by her actual name. To them, she was Kongou. Even if she had never once served in Japan. Or even ported there, beyond her recent summoning. Even her own sisters had fallen prey to that. To blame a girl who looked like she belonged in primary school for that would be...cold-hearted, honestly.
On the other hand...
That...that...bloody...
She most certainly did feel a surge of righteous anger with Goto. The Commander, not Admiral, had been there at her summoning. Admiral Takeda had told her the man had been the one pushing so hard to try and summon Amagi or Tosa, despite both never being completed. And she could remember him. Dark hair and dark eyes, as he was the first one to make the mistake of calling her Kongou. Admiral Takeda had been quick to correct him and defuse the situation, but Indestructible hadn't truly noticed what Goto felt about that.
Well, now she knew.
"Akatsuki-chan," Fubuki sighed softly, "do you know who this is?"
"No?" the little girl squeaked out, "But she looks like a real lady!"
"This," her elder sibling continued, "Is Indestructible-san. She is Kongou-san, but she doesn't like being called that. After all, she is a British kanmusu!"
The younger destroyer's eyes widened, before she bowed cutely, "I'm sorry Indestructible-san!"
Indestructible just smiled, despite the anger she felt towards a certain someone, "No need to apologize. No harm done...you didn't know. And, on that note..."
Despite herself, despite not wanting to scare the little girl, the British battleship felt her voice harden.
"Do you know where Commander Goto is?"
Akatsuki nodded so fast it was a miracle her hat didn't fly off, "With Tenryuu!"
Fubuki sent another worried look at her friend, "Can you take us there Akatsuki-chan?"
"Yes!"
With that, the tiny little destroyer set off towards shore. Fubuki followed, while Indestructible sighed heavily and did the same. Really, she should have expected something like this. Not everyone was going to accept that she was what she was. Not everyone in Japan could accept that she, despite being Japanese in origin, was British at heart. She had nothing tying her to this nation but her friends, Fubuki and Shigure, and her sisters. Hiei, Haruna, and Kirishima understood that. As did the two destroyers. But it was too much to ask to expect everyone in the nation to do the same. Especially the kanmusu, where things were so much more black and white.
Well, all she could do was head this off and give that man a piece of her mind.
I am HMS Indestructible, and they need to bloody well remember that!
obssesednuker
Commander of 10 Million Men
- Location
- In the Kremlin, activating Perimtr.
Man, Seydlitz has it for Indstructible bad...
I hope your Kaga isn't a stick in the mud. Also hoping for possible Zuikaga or Akaga.
I hope your Kaga isn't a stick in the mud. Also hoping for possible Zuikaga or Akaga.
SV5195R
C-Weapon
- Location
- Russian Federation
CMDR Goto, it seems, is not the same person as Admiral Goto from KCQ.
And as for Seydlitz... wow. That is certainly... something. Although such obsession is hardly healthy. And I think Indy is not going to be amused, considering she dislikes Germans (and her British sisters and Seydlitz dislike Japan). Interpersonal conflicts and drama ahoy!
It's a thing, that's for sure. But if her overall traits are like canon!Kongou, she's also got a kind heart and, despite disliking Germans, I don't think she'd hurt the girl on purpose.
I mean, she could have ripped into dear old Akatsuki, but instead behaved like an
Goto, on the other hand, seems to be cruising for quite a smack.
SV5195R
C-Weapon
- Location
- Russian Federation
Probably a verbal one. And, frankly, he'd have it coming.
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
Goto is coming across as either a hardliner or an Nationalist. Of course I could be mistaken.
Icywinter
50% ice, 50% winter
- Location
- ?
- Pronouns
- She/Her
"Assemble the fleet. I've got to go bitchslap somebody." -- Richardson
*winces*
Yeah, I can see how that would be rather traumatic.
It seems like it is not possible to dislike the DesDiv6 girls, and I see no problem with that. And I also think Goto is about to have a rather unpleasant (for him) discussion. Nice update!
Skywalker_T-65
Writer with too many ideas.
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- United States
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- Plural/They/He/Her
Heh. As for Kaga, she pretty well has to be the stoic carrier. Now 'stoic' does not mean 'stick in the mud' though.
Ayup.
There was a round one? I feel like I missed something.
And yeah, different person.
So far as Seydlitz goes...well, I never said she was totally okay. She's not at Memetic!Ooi levels (is anyone?
) but the point remains. It doesn't help with the fact that Indy was the last thing she saw before dying, sooo...yeah. She's going to be in for fun times when she actually meets Indy.But yes, it's going to be fun when they all get together.
Indy is more stoic and less genki, but deep down she is still Kongou. With all that implies, so far as her kindness goes. Seydlitz will have her twitchy for sure, but she's not the type to rip into someone without damn good reason. Hence not ripping into Akatsuki over what, painful or not, amounts to an innocent mistake.
Now if you do earn her ire...
Hmm.
Alright, that one got a funny.
To me, when a ship is scuttled by her own crew like that, it strikes me as a traumatic experience. Graf Spee was scuttled as well, but she had the chance to fight and only sank because she was damaged and her crew thought she couldn't escape anyway. So it was less 'forced suicide' and more 'honorable fight, that leads to an early death'. Now Scapa Flow on the other hand...
Weeeeelllll, I don't used 'forced suicide' without good reason. There was no threat to those girls, and so far as they knew, they would return to Germany or service with another nation. The latter wouldn't be fun for them, but they would bear it. But instead they are sunk by their own crew, not in combat, not scrapped after good service. They were opened to the water by their own crews, left to die in harbor without a chance to do anything first.
I don't imagine that is a fun experience.
(and yes, it's pretty well impossible to dislike DesDiv6)
I agree with that interpretation.