Well, I've already written this out, so I thought: Why not?
By the way, all of this series is collected in my Fanfiction.net account. Exact same name as my SV account.
Summoning.
Despite some misconceptions, it was not as simple as some priest standing in front of a pool and doing some song and dance. Each Summoning involved over a hundred servicemen and civilians, as well as hundreds of dollars worth of offerings in steel, bauxite and oil for each attempt.
The media were invited, a first. Cameramen were ambling around, setting up tripods or adjusting lights. Smartly-dressed correspondents stood nearby, rehearsing lines or conversing with fellow newscasters.
Admiral Richards, USN, didn't know who exactly gave the go-ahead to let news cameras in, but she was sure whoever signed off on it had never stepped foot on a Shipgirl base in their lives. Considering the shenanigans humanity's last line of defense gets up to on a daily basis, one would think that the higher-ups would do anything to prevent the media from entering.
…
Actually, that just about explains it. The higher-ups have no idea what goes on in Shipgirl bases, do they?
One could only hope this was one of those few days where none of the several dozen Shipgirls currently stationed here felt like trying out one of their bright ideas.
One can hope.
Several foreign dignitaries attended this summoning as well. A show of friendship and solidarity between nations. And also, perhaps, a hope that their presence might encourage the spirits of their nations to come forth as well.
The Admirals in the room wished extra hard for nothing to happen around them.
The summoning began. The same procedure as last time (devised by Cpt. Yuubari of the R&D Division) was used: African choir singing in full force, the flags and banners of countries around the world were unfurling around the perimeter of the room. The only difference being that the "balls" of those countries not yet summoned were highlighted, their flags and insignias placed vanward.
The water started bubbling like the surface of a witch's cauldron.
It continued to boil…
And bubble…
Boil…
Bubble…
The water flashed, like a flashbang going off, bright enough to blind anybody looking in it's general direction, and deafen most everyone, if only for a moment.
…
And when everyone looked back, the pool now had occupants.
The cameras started clicking.
Just like before, the summoned took the form of multiple spherical beings, with blank yet expressive white eyes, and no mouth. Together, they spoke.
"Hooray, we are of modern secular nation-states now! We are finally free from shtoopid imperialist pig rule of Franc and Britain!"
At that moment, all Shipgirls in the room from Britannia and L'Hexagone twitched.
There were approximately two dozen balls at first glance, a good chunk bearing colours of red, white, black and green, with some blue scattered here and there.
"Oh, salam there, kafir harbi!" one of the balls (all-green, with the shahada and a sword in white) "greeted". "We are of the great and mighty Arab League! What has made of you to come to us? Perhaps you are of sick and tired of your atheist ways and wish to be of the one true faith!? Is okay, the great holy prophet has taught us to welcomes all races!" it preened.
"Oh, joy." droned Ark Royal. Lady Warspite, typically so collected, began to shift uneasily in her wheelchair.
The room erupted in a cacophony. Newscasters were talking into the cameras, cameras handheld and mounted were jostling to get the clearest view, and lights started flashing all around the darkened room, dizzying anyone without the quick sense to look away.
Admiral Cummingham, Royal Navy, resisted the urge to facepalm.
"Should me and the girls throw them all out, sir?" a stately battlecruiser asked, knuckles cracking. "Me and Seydlitz alone could handle them in five minutes."
"No, Invincible. Unnecessarily loud or not, they haven't broken any of our rules and tried to talk to our new summons."
"Ah, I see…"
She stepped back, frowning.
Meanwhile, the summoned balls, who had just exited the pool, were clearly overwhelmed.
"Look, Palestine, we are of famous!" Iraq said to it's smaller compatriot.
...
The balls then noticed that Palestine had a shadow growing over it, before it was crushed like a bug under a heavy glass brick.
The other countryballs, Shipgirls, Admirals, Diplomats and cameras broadcasting live over the Internet and on international television, all stopped. Slowly, they all turned towards the new arrival.
This one also had blank white eyes. But instead of being a sphere, this one was a semi-transparent cube. Two blue bands snaking around the cube, above and below it's eyes. And between these blue bands, right between it's eyes, was… a blue Star of David.
Oh dear.
"Shalom."
The Islamic balls gathered together, eyeing this new arrival suspiciously.
"Excuse, what have yuo of done with our good friend Palestine?" asked Syria.
"…"
…
Warspite rapidly stood up from her wheelchair, dropping scepter and orb, and started sprinting window-ward.
"Nope nope nope, not dealing with this bullshit, nooope."
She ran up the metal steps leading up to the metal catwalk, criss-crossing near the top of the crowded room, and executed a perfect action movie dive through the first window she saw, the glass artfully shattering into a rain of fragments that followed the battleship's descent, whereupon she touched ground in a flawless three-point landing.
She then ran to the edge of the water, executed an impeccable forward group dive, and started swimming towards the horizon.
...
Everyone else in the summoning chamber (humans and shipgirls, mostly) watched on.
…
And throughout all of this, the news cameras were still rolling.
*BASH!*
*BOOM!*
*BANG!*
Right behind them, the sounds of 1948 being reenacted were echoing madly.
*KABOOM*
*ZOOOOOOOOOOM...*
*RATATATATATATA-*
Gradually, all the Admirals in the room felt a headache coming along, mocking them for ever thinking that live broadcast in a Shipgirl base would result in anything but humiliation and pain.
