Life With the Ship Girls, or, How I Learned How to Stop Worrying and Love the Polygamy

[Icywinter]

"K-chan, I will now teach you about the wonder that is the St. Louis..."

Click to shrink...

It is time for Gunboat Discoball.

--

For some inexplicable reason, I get more creative the more sleepy I am. Must be my left half of my brain shutting off before the right half...

Anyway, a return to our roots.

Let's roll!
--

Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Fleet, what's your plan?
Jingles [GNOME] (Bismarck) : Well, for starters, we're going to have to blob together. I don't think that we have much in the way of anti-air firepower aside from Hakuryuu giving us fighter support.
Jingles [GNOME] (Bismarck) : What we do have though, is a massive amount of firepower.
Jingles [GNOME] (Bismarck) : So if we clump our ships together, we can probably win this.
Fog_Carrier_Hakuryuu [FOG] (Hakuryu) : Jingles is right, we'll have to commit all of our battleships to a single flank, while the destoyers and heavy cruisers act as our eyes and ears on where the enemy are heading.
Icedbismarck [NEXT] (H39) : Roger. I'll head the push.
Rodnol (Nelson) : Will do as well.
Pendragon [NEXT] (Lion) : Winter, what's your strat?
Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Take Bee and Solo here and reenact the Battle of Ironbottom Sound.
Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Attention to Sector D3!
SolomonNightmare42 [FOG] (Kagero) : Poi~
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Sounds like a plan.
PearlAri [NEXT] (Iowa) : I'll support you Winter.
Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Thanks Ahri.
PearlAri [NEXT] (Iowa) : Winter, what did I tell you about using that nickname!?

Alphonse smirked. He loved it when Ariadne freaked out when he referred to that incident. Said battleship was currently glaring daggers at the technomage, who was on the brink of laughter.

No, scratch that, he thought as a chuckle escaped his lips. He was laughing now.

Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Aww, but you like it.
PearlAri [NEXT] (Iowa) : I seriously have no idea how Bismarck and Pendragon can stand you.
PearlAri [NEXT] (Iowa) : ... or how I can stand you either.
Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : It's called gnomish magic.
Jingles [GNOME] (Bismarck) : Muhahahaha.

"You're so dead, Al," Ari said, frowning and blushing.

"I'll enjoy it," Alphonse responded.

"Kinky," Erika said.

"Very kinky," Heather added.

"Okay, okay, I get it, I'm the ultra-pervert," Alphonse sighed. "So, let's roll."

The three battleships and the doctor split up, Alphonse and Ari heading toward the western area of the map, while Erika, Heather, and Aurora took on the eastern flank with Jingles and the rest of the fleet. Yvonne's first wave was already in the air, and the personification of the legendary carrier Enterprise was trailing behind at a steady rate behind Alphonse's little division.

Fog_Carrier_Hakuryuu [FOG] (Hakuryu) : I've sent my fighter squadrons to help you out, Winter. You should be able to get early warning for your division if the enemy fleet is headed your way.
Fog_Carrier_Hakuryuu [FOG] (Hakuryu) : I'm also going to be trying to find that other carrier and smash her to bits. Standby.
Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Thanks.
Fog_Carrier_Hakuryuu [FOG] (Hakuryu) : No problem.
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Winter, looks like we have enemy contacts bearing down from the enemy team. They haven't spotted us yet, but we're in torpedo range. Want us to drop?

Alphonse checked his range.

Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Not yet. Hold fire until they're firing at us, then torp them.
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Roger that.

"Come on, you sorry sods. Fire at us, damn it."

"Looks like they're turning to engage," Ari muttered beneath her breath. "How are things looking over on the Eastern Front?"

"All is quiet on the Eastern Front," Erika softly said. "We're pushing it now to try to get into position behind the enemy fleet."

"Somehow, I think they've all blobbed this way," Alphonse sighed.

Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Haku, you've got their bearings yet?
Fog_Carrier_Hakuryuu [FOG] (Hakuryu) : Yeah, and it's not looking good. They're all headed your way.
Icedbismarck [NEXT] (H39) : Roger that, we're underway now. Seriously wish I could overload my reactors now...
Rodnol (Nelson) : In range now, firing rounds.
PearlAri [NEXT] (Iowa) : Roger that, firing rounds now. Target, New Orleans-class, two salvos, AP, fire, fire!
PearlAri [NEXT] has achieved 'Devastating Strike'!
PearlAri [NEXT] has achieved 'First Blood'!

"Nice shot Ari."

"Thanks. They seem to be focusing fire on me."

"Roger that, firing cannons now."

Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Target, North Carolina-class, three salvos, HE, feuer frei!

The twenty-seven shells struck home, setting the American battleship on fire on all four points of the ship. A few seconds later and the ship blew up, the gigantic ammunition explosion shattering the battleship into pieces.

Ari whistled. "Good hit, Al."

"Thanks. Switching target now."

Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Switch target, Baltimore-class, two salvos, AP, firing!
SolomonNightmare42 [FOG] (Kagero) : Winter, permission to engage the enemy fleet?
Winterpwner [NEXT] (New Orleans) : Permission granted! Drop them!
SolomonNightmare42 [FOG] (Kagero) : Roger that! Dropping the hammer!
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Hey, that was my line!

The two destroyers unleashed their payload of torpedoes, turning the once safe waters of the ocean into a sea of torpedoes. Yuudachi and Samantha bugged out, activating their smokescreen and their engine boost.

A couple seconds later, two enemy warships exploded spectacularly in a ball of fire.

SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Tell the devil I said hello!
Yarahensen [IOC] (Iowa) : FUCCCCCKKKK YYOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : I love you too, hun~
Yarahensen [IOC] (Iowa) : Love you too, bby
Yarahensen [IOC] (Iowa) : One day I'll get you. >
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Hah, you'll never get a piece of this.
SolomonNightmare42 [FOG] (Kagero) : Lewd.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the map, the fleet had finally gotten into gun range. Aurora was busy hammering down a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, while Erika and Heather had pushed with Jingles to cut the enemy fleet's only route of escape.

Jingles (Bismarck) : Looks like they're completely surrounded.
Icedbismarck [NEXT] (H39) : Yep. Let's turn them into shrapnel!
Jingles (Bismarck) : You can say that again. Firing at that lead Bismarck-class battleship.
Rodnol (Nelson) : Just about finished with this Queen Elizabeth here...
Rodnol (Nelson) has achieved 'Devastating Strike'!
Rodnol (Nelson) : time to turn them into paste.
Pendragon [NEXT] (Lion) : Roger wilco. Target, Bismarck-class, one salvo, AP, firing!
Icedbismarck [NEXT] (H39) : Seriously feels weird to be shooting at yourself.
Pendragon [NEXT] (Lion) : You're telling me. I had to shoot at so many Admiral-class battlecruisers yesterday I was seriously wondering what I was doing to myself.

Winter's group was firmly stuck in now. Yuudachi and Samantha had swung back around and was harassing the enemy formation, slamming torpedo after torpedo into the enemy fleet. Alphonse was busy torching a battleship, and Ari was firing multiple salvos at the enemy fleet, citadeling three battleships in quick succession. "They're falling now, keep pushing!" Ari said.

"Aye-aye!"

Icedbismarck [NEXT] (H39) : Keep on pushing, they're all panicking!
Rodnol (Nelson) : Roger!
Jingles (Bismarck) : Time for surprise buttsecks
SolomonNightmare42 [FOG] (Kagero) : Lewd.
Winterpwner [NEXT] has achieved 'Confederate'!
Winterpwner [NEXT] has achieved 'Devastating Strike'!
PearlAri [NEXT] has achieved 'High Caliber'!
Icedbismarck [NEXT] (H39) : Nice one!
Pendragon [NEXT] (Lion) : Sweet job.
PearlAri [NEXT] (Iowa) : Thanks.
SolomonNightmare42 has achieved 'Liquidator'!
Rodnol (Nelson) : GG
Fog_Carrier_Hakuryuu has achieved 'Arsonist'!
SammehBee [FOG] (Fletcher) : Good game
SolomonNightmare42 [FOG] : Good game, poi~
Jingles (Bismarck) has achieved 'Dreadnought'!
Jingles (Bismarck) : And that's how you win battles in World of Warships, folks.

"And there you have it, a prime example of how teamwork and a modicum of planning can win games. Hope you enjoyed today's video. As always, take care, and I'll catch you next time."

Paul "Jingles" Charlton put down his headset and rubbed his tired eyes. All he needed to do now was finish editing the video and upload it to Youtube.

"Hey."

"Hey Aurora," Paul waved from his desk. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just watching you do you video magic," the personification of the battleship Rodney said, smiling. "Is it ready to go?"

"Pretty much," he nodded. "Got to take a break though, I've been at it for hours now."

"Ah, well, dinner's ready."

"Oh really?" he asked, eyes suddenly brightening. "What is it today?"

"Spaghetti. Rita helped."

"Perfect. Let's go."

--

some strange things with text colour are happening. for the record, Jingles, Rodnol (Aurora), and Haku (Yvonne) are in one division, Winter (Alphonse), Ice (Erika) and Pendragon (Heather) are in another, and SolomonNightmare42 (Yuudachi) and SammehBee (Samantha) are in the final division.

 

[CompassJimbo]

Meanwhile, in Ohio…

"So let me get this straight: A girl claiming to be an old Jap battleship somehow wound up in Cleveland along with two kids, claimed to be married to some kid, and somehow escaped custody so she could be with him? Do… do I have that right?"

"Y-yes. We believe this is related to what's going on out in Montana. We have those five in custody, although we still have no idea where all of that ice cream is coming from. Or the sakè."

 

[U.N.Spacy000]

"K-chan, I will now teach you about the wonder that is the St. Louis..."

Click to shrink...

Welcome to the American Cruiser Line. Here, ships are made of guns.

It's called gnomish magic.

Click to shrink...

And then Al's pelvis was shattered

 

[Greek Fire]

"And there you have it, a prime example of how teamwork and a modicum of planning can win games. Hope you enjoyed today's video. As always, take care, and I'll catch you next time."

Paul "Jingles" Charlton put down his headset and rubbed his tired eyes. All he needed to do now was finish editing the video and upload it to Youtube.

"Hey."

"Hey Aurora," Paul waved from his desk. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just watching you do you video magic," the personification of the battleship Rodney said, smiling. "Is it ready to go?"

"Pretty much," he nodded. "Got to take a break though, I've been at it for hours now."

"Ah, well, dinner's ready."

"Oh really?" he asked, eyes suddenly brightening. "What is it today?"

"Spaghetti. Rita helped."

"Perfect. Let's go."

Click to shrink...

Are you shipping Jingles and Aurora?

 

[Icywinter]

Are you shipping Jingles and Aurora?

Click to shrink...

More like the two are best friends. Like Rita's relationship with Jingles. Purely platonic. Jingles gets to be Uncle Jingles, and Aurora gets spoiled.

Hood might also be trying to pull Arizona into the polyamory black hole that is Alphonse's house...

OH! I almost forgot. Here's the full name of the clans that will appear in my snips

[NEXT] = Special Task Group, Northern Expeditionary Fleet
Alphonse's Clan Wars clan. Widely regarded as one of the best clans in WOWS alongside FOG. Entrance is by invitation only. Has a sister 'casual' clan in the form of STCH, which stands for Special Task Group, Home Fleet.

[ANZIO] = Anzio High School
Alphonse's former clan. Yumeipoach bestpoach. Actually a real clan in WoT!

[GNOME] = Gnomish Gentlemanly Society for World Domination
Jingles' fan club clan that he created with Rita and Aurora. Pretty nice.

[IOC] = Idiots On Computers
Formerly known as Imperial Order Clan, IOC was previously infamous for being ironically known as BEST_CLAN_NA. IOC_1 through IOC_4 were subdivisions of this massive clan. IOC_5 was created as an 'anti-IOC' by some unicums in CR/D as a joke, and eventually took over the main clan and renamed it as 'Idiots On Computers' in late 2014.

[FOG] = Fleet of Fog
Is intentionally distinct from the real-world [-FOG-] due to differences that I do not want to divulge. Needless to say however, I really don't like [-FOG-].

A fan clan that Yvonne Swanson, personification of the carrier Enterprise joined in late 2015. Eventually she rose through the ranks and took over as the clan's commanding officer after the previous stepped down. After yet another massive reform (the third in the clan's troubled history), FOG became known as one of the best clans in the game, and is quite active on the Clan Wars scene. They maintain a friendly rivalry with Alphonse's clan. They also have two sister clans, [TSF] and [FOF], which stand for The Second Fleet and First Oriental Fleet respectively.

 

[CompassJimbo]

Next write-up coming soon.

 

[Greek Fire]

Hood might also be trying to pull Arizona into the polyamory black hole that is Alphonse's house...

Click to shrink...

That reminds me. I had an idea for an alternative worldline where instead of meeting Louisiana, Mike meets Yamato instead. And Yamato was rendered mute by a shot to her throat that severed her vocal cords. After 2 years, Mike could practically predict what she would say. Later on, the Alphonse of that worldline figured out how fix her voice.

...

Basically, I found Kanto-Celle Arizona's way of communicating cute.

 

[Icywinter]

That reminds me. I had an idea for an alternative worldline where instead of meeting Louisiana, Mike meets Yamato instead. And Yamato was rendered mute by a shot to her throat that severed her vocal cords. After 2 years, Mike could practically predict what she would say. Later on, the Alphonse of that worldline figured out how fix her voice.

...

Basically, I found Kanto-Celle Arizona's way of communicating was cute.

Click to shrink...

LET'S BREAK MICHAEL BY WAIFUING YAMATO INSTEAD

"Al, that's a crazy idea."

"Only because it'll work."

"Alphonse is pushing the button again, isn't he?"

"Yeah Heather... get the shields ready, we're going to see some crazy fireworks..."

"Activating the Bifrost Relay in three...! Two...! One...! Engage!"

The meters on the machine's console subtly changed, the glowing orange nixie tubes flashing once before rapidly changing...

DESTINATION WORLDLINE
3.604089130
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [?] [LOCKED] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

CURRENT WORLDLINE
3.604089130
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [?] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

LAST WORLDLINE DEPARTED
3.604899606
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [?] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

--

 

[Greek Fire]

LET'S BREAK MICHAEL BY WAIFUING YAMATO INSTEAD

"Al, that's a crazy idea."

"Only because it'll work."

"Alphonse is pushing the button again, isn't he?"

"Yeah Heather... get the shields ready, we're going to see some crazy fireworks..."

"Activating the Bifrost Relay in three...! Two...! One...! Engage!"

The meters on the machine's console subtly changed, the glowing orange nixie tubes flashing once before rapidly changing...

DESTINATION WORLDLINE
3.604089130
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [LOCKED] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

CURRENT WORLDLINE
3.604089130
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

LAST WORLDLINE DEPARTED
3.604899606
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

--

Click to shrink...

Michael looked up as he started glowing.

"Al, I am going to kill you."

 

[CompassJimbo]

Next round!

Spoiler

I awoke with a gasp, memories of being accidentally tazed rushing through my mind. And being crushed by Kongou. My vision re-focused as I noticed that I hadn't been moved to a different room. Or maybe I was sent to Emergency and back while I was out. However, a pair of Feds stood nearby, one of them smiling at me. I mentally named them Agents J and K.

"We're… terribly sorry about any inconvienence our… subject gave you." K said. "Now, can you tell us what happened last night. You're not in any kind of trouble or anything, but we do need witness statements once the story inevitably goes live."

Well, this looked to be less painful than I thought.

"Yeah. I can do that. Wait, how long was I out?"

"Ask a nurse when one stops by. But it's still the eleventh, in case you're wondering." J answered. "Oh, and our verification."

The two flashed their badges. FBI alright. I still kept the mental names.

"Alright then." I said. "My sister and I were heading home from a concert by a garage band some of her friends had set up at some point back. When we approached Whipp's Ledges Metropark, we ran into a patch of fog before swerving out of the way to avoid hitting someone who popped out."

"And did you get a good look at her?"

"After the car hit a tree on the side of the road. I dialed 9-1-1 while my sister called home. Or was it the other way around? Anyway, I took a look outside only to see some Asian chick looking at me. And a pair of kids. All three were sporting some kind of exoskeleton. Lots of guns on them. The woman seemed to know me, because she called me her husband. I passed out shortly afterwards."

"That's roughly in line with what your sister said, as well as the woman claiming to be the IJN Kongō. We'll be back later once we're done filling out reports."

The two left, leaving me all alone. Mom popped in shortly afterwards, probably to speak with me.

"Did yoy tell them everything you could?" She asked.

"Yeah. I did. They said it was in line with what Chy said. How is she, by the way?"

"She's texting Anna right now. She's not sure what to think about this."

"Figures. And how's Raven?"

"She's with Dan right now. They're at his house. They should be here in a little while."

"And the two kids?"

"Those agents took them for questioning, but they told me that you called one of them 'Junior'."

Mom sighed.

"Yeah. It's strange, too. What time is it?"

"About a quarter to twelve. And Protective Services apologized for tazing you."

Protective Services. Summa's private cops. Yeah, they should be apologizing. I sighed. I was now caught up in a Federal investigation in addition to the whole thing with Kongou. My life officially sucked right now.

"Can I have my phone back?"

"Oh. Hold on."

Mom dug through her purse and handed it over to me. It was on about 40% charge. God, those things burned through battery life. At least I had topped it off before I left. Cheynne's was probably on the verge of dying. Unless she had a charger with her.

I pulled up Twitter and noticed that the situation out in Montana had been trending for some time. Pictures of Enterprise holding the Akatsuki sisters and chatting with Yamato. And raiding the local Walmart's freezer section. I noticed that Hibiki was missing. She probably bought it before they came here. And possibly Tenryuu. A few people recognized them, though. Strange that the Feds didn't mention that. They were probably realizing that right now.

 

[Icywinter]

"Al, I am going to kill you."

Click to shrink...

OOC: He wouldn't remember because Alphonse is merely shifting the current 'observed' worldline to the one where Mikey boy waifued Yamato (or perhaps it's the other way around... ) instead of Louisiana. Alphonse, as the ordained 'observer' of the worldlines, will fully remember it.

 

[Greek Fire]

OOC: He wouldn't remember because Alphonse is merely shifting the current 'observed' worldline to the one where Mikey boy waifued Yamato (or perhaps it's the other way around... ) instead of Louisiana. Alphonse, as the ordained 'observer' of the worldlines, will fully remember it.

Click to shrink...

Ah, in that case, take it away!

Edit: In this worldline, Michael is not a security guard for Dr. Steiner's team, but rather part of it. He headed the ATLANTIS project. ATLANTIS was designed to provide a mobile home base for Kanmusu and conventional ships in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

 

[CompassJimbo]

Next snippet tomorrow. Or I'll compile the hospital scene. Who knows.

 

[Trace Coburn]

OH! I almost forgot. Here's the full name of the clans that will appear in my snips

[NEXT] = Special Task Group, Northern Expeditionary Fleet
Alphonse's Clan Wars clan. Widely regarded as one of the best clans in WOWS alongside FOG. Entrance is by invitation only. Has a sister 'casual' clan in the form of STCH, which stands for Special Task Group, Home Fleet.

[ANZIO] = Anzio High School
Alphonse's former clan. Yumeipoach bestpoach. Actually a real clan in WoT!

[GNOME] = Gnomish Gentlemanly Society for World Domination
Jingles' fan club clan that he created with Rita and Aurora. Pretty nice.

[IOC] = Idiots On Computers
Formerly known as Imperial Order Clan, IOC was previously infamous for being ironically known as BEST_CLAN_NA. IOC_1 through IOC_4 were subdivisions of this massive clan. IOC_5 was created as an 'anti-IOC' by some unicums in CR/D as a joke, and eventually took over the main clan and renamed it as 'Idiots On Computers' in late 2014.

[FOG] = Fleet of Fog
Is intentionally distinct from the real-world [-FOG-] due to differences that I do not want to divulge. Needless to say however, I really don't like [-FOG-].

A fan clan that Yvonne Swanson, personification of the carrier Enterprise joined in late 2015. Eventually she rose through the ranks and took over as the clan's commanding officer after the previous stepped down. After yet another massive reform (the third in the clan's troubled history), FOG became known as one of the best clans in the game, and is quite active on the Clan Wars scene. They maintain a friendly rivalry with Alphonse's clan. They also have two sister clans, [TSF] and [FOF], which stand for The Second Fleet and First Oriental Fleet respectively.

Click to shrink...

Informational:
For anyone who may still care about my sub-plot, [CLOAK] = 'Cloak and Dagger', an Australian clan originally born of an attempt by the University of the Sunshine Coast to found a university e-sports team. Unfortunately, a combination of lax oversight, inadequate leadership and too-generous funding led to the team developing the toxic mentality seen in my snippets. Soon to be disbanded by university authorities and closely investigated by the AFP in light of several suicides linked to CLOAK harrassment and cyber-bullying.
CLOAK is, AFAIK, a completely fictional entity.

 

[Stahor]

They also have two sister clans, [TSF] and [FOF], which stand for The Second Fleet and First Oriental Fleet respectively.

Click to shrink...

FoF generally used as Fleet of Fog acronym, so using it for First Oriental Fleet is questionable in this context.

 

[Icywinter]

PRESENT WORLDLINE
3.604089130
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [?] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

AUG 23 2016 | 08:03
Washington D.C, Maryland
--

"A-Alphonse...!"

"I'm here." Alphonse looked around the hallway. It was clear, save for Erika and Heather. Heather was hugging Erika tightly and consoling the despondent German, whereas Erika was halfway between wanting to murder him for being so foolish and relieved that he was okay.

Erika pouted and crossed her arms. "Alphonse, that was the mo-"

"Most stupid thing you've seen me do? Yeah, I know," Alphonse shook his head and hugged her, "But that kid and Yamato needed help."

"So you ran in there with an MP5, two grenades, and fought and defeated a Che-type!?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. And you'd do the same thing, Erika."

"Yeah... b-but..." Erika wiped her eyes. "Just..."

She tightened her hold on Alphonse. "Just don't leave me, alright?"

"Never." Alphonse gently rubbed the back of her neck. "The same goes for you as well, Heather."

"Y-Yeah..." The blonde nodded and hugged Alphonse's back, sandwiching the young Admiral in-between two girls.

Some people would look on in envy at the twenty-something, muttering behind closed doors that he was, perhaps, one of the most lucky men in the world.

Those people don't know how much pelvis-inducing pain(?) that two battleship-type shipgirls can inflict on a human.

"Anyway," Alphonse said after Erika stopped shaking, "How's the kid?"

"Alright. For a person who had nearly gotten blown to bits by an Abyssal, he's doing alright."

Alphonse nodded. "That's good to hear. And Yamato?"

"She's..." Erika bit her lip. "She's alright. But her voice..."

Heather shook her head. "The shot messed up her vocal cords. When she woke up, she couldn't even utter a single word. The superficial damage was repaired, but she's mute."

Alphonse took this in. While there were shipgirls out there that didn't speak -- because of the way they were 'born' or out of preference, this kind of trauma would shatter the battleship's heart. And the kid probably blamed himself for getting Yamato into this mess.

"I'll go talk to her," Alphonse said immediately. "Are you going to be okay, Erika?"

"Still not quite over watching you dive in there like a madman," Erika laughed quietly, "But yeah, I'll be alright."

"When I get back, Erika, I'll get you some ketchup potato crisps."

"Wait, the Americans have them here too!?" Erika asked.

"Uh-huh. One of Canada's greatest exports outside of Maple Syrup and Lumber."

Erika laughed -- really laughed -- at that. Heather grinned, though Alphonse knew that the self-styled 'cool and serious' kanmusu was trying really hard to not laugh along.

"I'll be back, don't worry."

--

When Alphonse entered Yamato's hospital room, the only sounds were from the constantly beeping monitors and machines crowding around her bed. The attending nurse quickly excused herself when she noticed the gold-trimmed ID card on his chest. The brunette was awake, reading an Agatha Christie novel.

"Yamato..."

The shipgirl looked up from her page, clearly in shock. She opened her mouth to say something before catching herself, and simply shook her head.

"Hold on," Alphonse said. "Gotta have a notebook and a pen around here somewhere..." He dug into his coat's pockets before producing a leatherbound notebook and an expensive fountain pen. Yamato delicately placed both into her hands before opening to a blank page and writing down her words.

How is Doctor Hawkins doing? she wrote in Japanese. Is he alright?

He's okay, Alphonse wrote back. Are you okay, Yamato?

The girl stared at the notebook for a few precious minutes before putting her thoughts to paper. I do not know, Admiral. Physically, I am fine, but emotionally? She spread her arms and shook her head slowly, I do not know what to feel. The doctors have already told me that I may not be able to speak again, and truthfully, I am afraid of what would happen next.

The unspoken 'next' that hung between them was Yamato's status as a front-line shipgirl. Alphonse knew how dearly she cherished her commission, truly proving her worth as a shipgirl with every sortie she went on.

I am afraid, Admiral. What should I do? she asked. I do not want to be relegated to the rear line, merely serving as a poster girl for the Navy.

Alphonse lowered the notebook. "Yamato, don't worry. I'll fight tooth and nail so that it will not happen, I promise you." He placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "For now, get some rest. You're still healing from that battle, Yamato, and I don't want you to get hurt any further."

He placed the pen and notebook by her bedside. "You should keep it. I really don't have a need for another notebook," Alphonse said sheepishly. "You'll need it more than me anyway. I'll see you tomorrow, Yamato, and trust me," he smiled, "You'll be back on the front lines in no time."

Yamato quickly grabbed the notebook and hastily scribbled something down.

Thank you, Alphonse.

Alphonse grinned softly. "You're very welcome, Yamato." The doctor turned commanding officer quietly closed the door behind him, before running into his wives.

"So," Erika wringed her hands, "How'd it go?"

"She's taking it surprisingly well so far, but I feel that she's still in shock about the whole thing," Alphonse admitted. "It's not every day that you get your vocal chords torn to shreds."

Heather nodded. "She's a tough girl, she'll handle it."

"It's not that I'm worried about," Alphonse said, gesturing to the two shipgirls to follow him. "I'm worried about her being pulled off from the front lines. You know how the media likes to take things, and with Yamato already being the crown jewel of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, something like this could make their command pull Yamato off from the UN Combined Fleet."

"Or," Heather suggested, "We could use the media to pressure the JMSDF to keep Yamato in the fleet. Spin a tale about how she's afraid that she's going to be locked up in a gilded cage. It's true, you know."

"Yeah. Well," Alphonse stopped in front of another hospital room, "We'll cross that bridge when we arrive to it."

Erika read the clipboard attached to the outside. "You're visiting Doctor Hawkins now?"

"Yeah," Alphonse nodded. "I need to talk to him. The kid's probably beating himself up thinking he got Yamato hurt." Alphonse shook his head as he opened the door. "Honestly, they were both doing their job. It's neither person's fault."

"Hey Admiral, what's up?" Michael greeted from the hospital bed. Like Yamato, he was in a solitary hospital room with a few pieces of medical equipment surrounding him. Unlike Yamato, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, not in it.

"Nothing much, just came to see how you're holding up," Alphonse truthfully answered.

"I'm doing fine," Michael replied. "How's... Yamato?"

"She's alright."

"Good... good." Michael closed his eyes and sighed. "Sorry," he said after a minute, "It's just..."

"... You were thinking about how you could have prevented it from happening," Alphonse gently finished. Michael's nod confirmed Alphonse's guess. The admiral sat down beside the researcher, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Hey," Alphonse said, gently patting him, "It wasn't your fault. Stop thinking about what you could have done. It'll drive you mad."

"Yeah, I guess," Michael lamely said.

"So," Alphonse gently pushed forward, "What do you want to do now?"

"Dunno, get something to eat, maybe?" he shrugged.

"That's a start. Come on, let's go find something to eat."

--

"What do you do at ARADIA?" Alphonse asked, finishing the last bits of his sandwich. "Well, other than sciencing the shit out of everything," Alphonse grinned.

Michael snorted. "Well, other than 'sciencing the shit' out of the Abyssals, as you say," he leaned back into his seat, "I'm working on a project. It's supposed to be a floating naval base, for both shipgirls and our conventional warships, with facilities for both. It's called ATLANTIS, for obvious reasons."

"Atlantis?" Heather asked as she sat down beside Alphonse. "Is it shaped like a snowflake?"

"Maybe," Michael smiled. "Maybe."

"Ah, Michael, this is Heather, also known as the HMS Hood. Heather, this is Doctor Michael Hawkins, lead researcher of the ATLANTIS project."

"Pleasure to meet you," Heather offered him her hand.

"N-Nice to meet you too," he replied, shaking her hand. "Uhm, forgive me for asking you, Admiral, but are you two married?"

"Three," Alphonse corrected him, "I'm also married to Erika, who's also known as the German battleship Bismarck. And please, call me Al. No one except my higher-ups call me Admiral Schmitt."

"A-Alright, Al... Wow." Michael shook his head. "So the rumors are true..."

"Yeah," Alphonse eloquently said. "By the way Heather, where is Erika?"

"She's right behind you, Al."

"Okay, seriously stop say-hwah!" Alphonse straightened as Erika nibbled on his ear. "E-Erika... there are people watching..."

"You like it though," she murmured. "So." Erika took the other seat beside Alphonse, "You must be Doctor Hawkins," Erika observed. "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you..." Michael weakly said.

"First time seeing two shipgirls up close?" Alphonse asked.

"First time seeing the Three Stars of the Atlantic," Michael corrected him.

"Please," Heather waved her hand. "You guys are the real stars of the war. We just shoot things and look pretty for the recruitment reels. You're the boys and girls who are working hard every single day to find better ways to defeat the Abyssals. Don't sell yourself short, the work that you do is important. Really important."

"Thanks."

Heather brushed it off. "Not a problem. You guys need more recognition."

Just then, Yamato sat down beside Michael, notebook and pen in one hand, tray of food precariously balanced in another. Michael shrank a little in his seat. "H-Hey, Yamato..." he waved.

Yamato waved back before opening up her notebook to an empty page and scribbling down something in English.

Hello, she wrote. How are you, Doctor?

"I'm, uh... fine," he stuttered. "What about you Yamato?"

I am alright. She gave a small smile. I will be alright. Now, what were you talking about? A floating naval base? That sounds intriguing.

"Well," Michael smiled, "It's not just a naval base..."

Alphonse grinned as the two began talking about Project ATLANTIS. Erika tapped him on his shoulder, motioning towards the door.

"Yeah, let's go," Heather whispered.

The trio quietly got up from the table, leaving the shipgirl and the doctor to talk alone.

 

[Greek Fire]

PRESENT WORLDLINE
3.604089130
[α] [β] [γ] [Δ] [?] [STABLE] [UNSTABLE]

AUG 23 2016 | 08:03
Washington D.C, Maryland
--

"A-Alphonse...!"

"I'm here." Alphonse looked around the hallway. It was clear, save for Erika and Heather. Heather was hugging Erika tightly and consoling the despondent German, whereas Erika was halfway between wanting to murder him for being so foolish and relieved that he was okay.

Erika pouted and crossed her arms. "Alphonse, that was the mo-"

"Most stupid thing you've seen me do? Yeah, I know," Alphonse shook his head and hugged her, "But that kid and Yamato needed help."

"So you ran in there with an MP5, two grenades, and fought and defeated a Che-type!?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. And you'd do the same thing, Erika."

"Yeah... b-but..." Erika wiped her eyes. "Just..."

She tightened her hold on Alphonse. "Just don't leave me, alright?"

"Never." Alphonse gently rubbed the back of her neck. "The same goes for you as well, Heather."

"Y-Yeah..." The blonde nodded and hugged Alphonse's back, sandwiching the young Admiral in-between two girls.

Some people would look on in envy at the twenty-something, muttering behind closed doors that he was, perhaps, one of the most lucky men in the world.

Those people don't know how much pelvis-inducing pain(?) that two battleship-type shipgirls can inflict on a human.

"Anyway," Alphonse said after Erika stopped shaking, "How's the kid?"

"Alright. For a person who had nearly gotten blown to bits by an Abyssal, he's doing alright."

Alphonse nodded. "That's good to hear. And Yamato?"

"She's..." Erika bit her lip. "She's alright. But her voice..."

Heather shook her head. "The shot messed up her vocal cords. When she woke up, she couldn't even utter a single word. The superficial damage was repaired, but she's mute."

Alphonse took this in. While there were shipgirls out there that didn't speak -- because of the way they were 'born' or out of preference, this kind of trauma would shatter the battleship's heart. And the kid probably blamed himself for getting Yamato into this mess.

"I'll go talk to her," Alphonse said immediately. "Are you going to be okay, Erika?"

"Still not quite over watching you dive in there like a madman," Erika laughed quietly, "But yeah, I'll be alright."

"When I get back, Erika, I'll get you some ketchup potato crisps."

"Wait, the Americans have them here too!?" Erika asked.

"Uh-huh. One of Canada's greatest exports outside of Maple Syrup and Lumber."

Erika laughed -- really laughed -- at that. Heather grinned, though Alphonse knew that the self-styled 'cool and serious' kanmusu was trying really hard to not laugh along.

"I'll be back, don't worry."

--

When Alphonse entered Yamato's hospital room, the only sounds were from the constantly beeping monitors and machines crowding around her bed. The attending nurse quickly excused herself when she noticed the gold-trimmed ID card on his chest. The brunette was awake, reading an Agatha Christie novel.

"Yamato..."

The shipgirl looked up from her page, clearly in shock. She opened her mouth to say something before catching herself, and simply shook her head.

"Hold on," Alphonse said. "Gotta have a notebook and a pen around here somewhere..." He dug into his coat's pockets before producing a leatherbound notebook and an expensive fountain pen. Yamato delicately placed both into her hands before opening to a blank page and writing down her words.

How is Doctor Hawkins doing? she wrote in Japanese. Is he alright?

He's okay, Alphonse wrote back. Are you okay, Yamato?

The girl stared at the notebook for a few precious minutes before putting her thoughts to paper. I do not know, Admiral. Physically, I am fine, but emotionally? She spread her arms and shook her head slowly, I do not know what to feel. The doctors have already told me that I may not be able to speak again, and truthfully, I am afraid of what would happen next.

The unspoken 'next' that hung between them was Yamato's status as a front-line shipgirl. Alphonse knew how dearly she cherished her commission, truly proving her worth as a shipgirl with every sortie she went on.

I am afraid, Admiral. What should I do? she asked. I do not want to be relegated to the rear line, merely serving as a poster girl for the Navy.

Alphonse lowered the notebook. "Yamato, don't worry. I'll fight tooth and nail so that it will not happen, I promise you." He placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "For now, get some rest. You're still healing from that battle, Yamato, and I don't want you to get hurt any further."

He placed the pen and notebook by her bedside. "You should keep it. I really don't have a need for another notebook," Alphonse said sheepishly. "You'll need it more than me anyway. I'll see you tomorrow, Yamato, and trust me," he smiled, "You'll be back on the front lines in no time."

Yamato quickly grabbed the notebook and hastily scribbled something down.

Thank you, Alphonse.

Alphonse grinned softly. "You're very welcome, Yamato." The doctor turned commanding officer quietly closed the door behind him, before running into his wives.

"So," Erika wringed her hands, "How'd it go?"

"She's taking it surprisingly well so far, but I feel that she's still in shock about the whole thing," Alphonse admitted. "It's not every day that you get your vocal chords torn to shreds."

Heather nodded. "She's a tough girl, she'll handle it."

"It's not that I'm worried about," Alphonse said, gesturing to the two shipgirls to follow him. "I'm worried about her being pulled off from the front lines. You know how the media likes to take things, and with Yamato already being the crown jewel of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, something like this could make their command pull Yamato off from the UN Combined Fleet."

"Or," Heather suggested, "We could use the media to pressure the JMSDF to keep Yamato in the fleet. Spin a tale about how she's afraid that she's going to be locked up in a gilded cage. It's true, you know."

"Yeah. Well," Alphonse stopped in front of another hospital room, "We'll cross that bridge when we arrive to it."

Erika read the clipboard attached to the outside. "You're visiting Doctor Hawkins now?"

"Yeah," Alphonse nodded. "I need to talk to him. The kid's probably beating himself up thinking he got Yamato hurt." Alphonse shook his head as he opened the door. "Honestly, they were both doing their job. It's neither person's fault."

"Hey Admiral, what's up?" Michael greeted from the hospital bed. Like Yamato, he was in a solitary hospital room with a few pieces of medical equipment surrounding him. Unlike Yamato, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, not in it.

"Nothing much, just came to see how you're holding up," Alphonse truthfully answered.

"I'm doing fine," Michael replied. "How's... Yamato?"

"She's alright."

"Good... good." Michael closed his eyes and sighed. "Sorry," he said after a minute, "It's just..."

"... You were thinking about how you could have prevented it from happening," Alphonse gently finished. Michael's nod confirmed Alphonse's guess. The admiral sat down beside the researcher, putting a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Hey," Alphonse said, gently patting him, "It wasn't your fault. Stop thinking about what you could have done. It'll drive you mad."

"Yeah, I guess," Michael lamely said.

"So," Alphonse gently pushed forward, "What do you want to do now?"

"Dunno, get something to eat, maybe?" he shrugged.

"That's a start. Come on, let's go find something to eat."

--

"What do you do at ARADIA?" Alphonse asked, finishing the last bits of his sandwich. "Well, other than sciencing the shit out of everything," Alphonse grinned.

Michael snorted. "Well, other than 'sciencing the shit' out of the Abyssals, as you say," he leaned back into his seat, "I'm working on a project. It's supposed to be a floating naval base, for both shipgirls and our conventional warships, with facilities for both. It's called ATLANTIS, for obvious reasons."

"Atlantis?" Heather asked as she sat down beside Alphonse. "Is it shaped like a snowflake?"

"Maybe," Michael smiled. "Maybe."

"Ah, Michael, this is Heather, also known as the HMS Hood. Heather, this is Doctor Michael Hawkins, lead researcher of the ATLANTIS project."

"Pleasure to meet you," Heather offered him her hand.

"N-Nice to meet you too," he replied, shaking her hand. "Uhm, forgive me for asking you, Admiral, but are you two married?"

"Three," Alphonse corrected him, "I'm also married to Erika, who's also known as the German battleship Bismarck. And please, call me Al. No one except my higher-ups call me Admiral Schmitt."

"A-Alright, Al... Wow." Michael shook his head. "So the rumors are true..."

"Yeah," Alphonse eloquently said. "By the way Heather, where is Erika?"

"She's right behind you, Al."

"Okay, seriously stop say-hwah!" Alphonse straightened as Erika nibbled on his ear. "E-Erika... there are people watching..."

"You like it though," she murmured. "So." Erika took the other seat beside Alphonse, "You must be Doctor Hawkins," Erika observed. "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you..." Michael weakly said.

"First time seeing two shipgirls up close?" Alphonse asked.

"First time seeing the Three Stars of the Atlantic," Michael corrected him.

"Please," Heather waved her hand. "You guys are the real stars of the war. We just shoot things and look pretty for the recruitment reels. You're the boys and girls who are working hard every single day to find better ways to defeat the Abyssals. Don't sell yourself short, the work that you do is important. Really important."

"Thanks."

Heather brushed it off. "Not a problem. You guys need more recognition."

Just then, Yamato sat down beside Michael, notebook and pen in one hand, tray of food precariously balanced in another. Michael shrank a little in his seat. "H-Hey, Yamato..." he waved.

Yamato waved back before opening up her notebook to an empty page and scribbling down something in English.

Hello, she wrote. How are you, Doctor?

"I'm, uh... fine," he stuttered. "What about you Yamato?"

I am alright. She gave a small smile. I will be alright. Now, what were you talking about? A floating naval base? That sounds intriguing.

"Well," Michael smiled, "It's not just a naval base..."

Alphonse grinned as the two began talking about Project ATLANTIS. Erika tapped him on his shoulder, motioning towards the door.

"Yeah, let's go," Heather whispered.

The trio quietly got up from the table, leaving the shipgirl and the doctor to talk alone.

Click to shrink...

This is perfect!

 

[hfdt123]

[UNSTABLE]

Click to shrink...

You know the big red button wants to be pushed.

 

[Icywinter]

You know the big red button wants to be pushed.

Click to shrink...

Those are just indicator lights that are greyed out.

Unstable worldlines mean that they diverge rapidly at a rate of 0.005xxxxxx or more percentages. Most worldlines only diverge past the tenth digit, but unstable worldlines can and will cause harm to Alphonse if he stays in one for long periods of time -- his Ripple Effect-Proof Memory would cause him to be unable to differentiate between the worldlines, causing him to go insane.

 

[hfdt123]

I noticed that Hibiki was missing. She probably bought it before they came here. And possibly Tenryuu. A few people recognized them, though. Strange that the Feds didn't mention that. They were probably realizing that right now.

Click to shrink...

..... This rustled my jimmies.

 

[Greek Fire]

Alphonse grinned as the two began talking about Project ATLANTIS. Erika tapped him on his shoulder, motioning towards the door.

Click to shrink...

So, is it really shaped like a snowflake? Yamato wrote.

Michael sighed.

"I wish, that was the original plan, but then when we ran simulations to see if the design would work, it either fell apart, or wouldn't go over a speed of 3 knots." He replied.

Oh, Yamato wrote back, So, how did you fix that?

"We completely reworked the design, it's now more of a giant oval than a snowflake."

Yamato looked truly intrigued, so Michael continued.

"It's basically a giant oval that has huge blast doors on all sides to allow anything from a destroyer to a super carrier to dock with ease, there's even a docking bay on the underside for submarines to dock."

Yamato motioned for him to continue.

"The problem is, that's all we have so far."

What do you mean? Yamato wrote.

Michael sighed.

"The problem we're facing now is how we're going to integrate the defense systems and and the flight deck."

What is the problem with that? She wrote.

"Not enough space, or power. And they won't let add another nuclear reactor. And if that's the case, we may have to have to tell the Navy to deal with the fact that we're removing the Flight deck from the design."

The discussion went on for several hours, only ending once the food court finally closed.

 

[Icywinter]

AUG 24 2016 | 16:13
Washington D.C, Maryland
--

As it turned out, Yamato's fears were unfounded when Alphonse arrived the next day in her hospital room with a newspaper headline proclaiming that the Japanese government would do everything in their power to double their efforts in the Pacific, and had fully released three more shipgirls to join the UN Combined Fleet. She was so ecstatic that she had pulled Michael -- who was also visiting -- into a tight hug, and wouldn't let the poor boy go until Alphonse gently reminded her that humans needed to breathe.

"So you needn't worry," Alphonse said. "Just rest up for a couple more days. Doctor's orders," Alphonse grinned. Though he had been a high-ranking researcher and medical doctor in the previous worldine, it just felt... strange, to be waking up every day and leading hundreds of shipgirls into battle. It was certainly different, but it wasn't anything challenging -- the Alphonse of this worldine clearly knew how to fight a war.

"Say, Al," Michael said.

"Hm?" He turned his head. "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts. Say again?"
"I was wondering what you think about this design," Michael held up Yamato's notebook, where a rough design sketch of an oval with many smaller scribbles of warships and planes were scattered around it. "Yamato told me that you had an eye for these kinds of things, and I was wondering that since you're here, could you lend a hand?"
"Sure," Alphonse nodded, picking up the sketchbook. "Now, let's see what I can do to help..."

After a few minutes of mentally flipping through the blueprint box inside of his head, Alphonse began sketching out another design. "Now, I'm going to probably going to get yelled at for suggesting this, but instead of using a nuclear fission reactor, you could easily use a nuclear cold fusion reactor and get loads more power that way. And," Alphonse checked over his sketch before continuing, "You really don't have to worry a lot about fuel nor nuclear waste. Or heat dispersion, for that matter. You can fit two of them inside of the hull."

"And how do you suggest that we build a cold fusion reactor?" Michael asked. "We can barely build a functioning hot fusion reactor, and the thing's massive."

"You forget that I'm sometimes known as the technomage," Alphonse winked. "Here," he handed back the notebook with two finished schematics -- one for the Rosetta-class Mk. V* nuclear cold fusion reactor, and another for the Leviathan-class supercarrier that he had been working on at ARADIA. It was a fully functional design, and was in the process of construction when the world line changed.

"It's not complete, I can't remember all of it." Alphonse admitted as he let Michael read over the design schematics, "I mean, you'd have to do more work to finalize the design, but the basic design principles are there."

"A supercarrier?" Michael blanched. "Two kilometres long, three Rosetta-class Ionized H/DR Cold Fusion Reactors, twenty Glaive-class Directed Energy LASERs, a hundred-and-twenty Aegis-class Point-Defence LASER emitters linked to an AEGIS-GARDIAN fire control computer..." his green eyes widened, "Thaumiel-class Wolfram-Titanium-Hadium Composite Armour with Integrated Carbon Nanotube Buckypaper Reinforcement? Alphonse, what the fuck is this!?"

Yamato gently tapped him on the shoulder. "O-Oh... right, sorry."

Alphonse chuckled. "No need to apologize. So, what do you think?"

"I think this is completely ludicrous, but damn, if it isn't good..." Michael looked at it again, before handing it to Yamato. "What do you think, Yamato?"

After a few minutes of deliberation, Yamato nodded. It seems perfect, if completely outlandish. She gave a sheepish smile to Alphonse. I do not recognize the last element in the composition of the armour that comprises this warship. What is it, Alphonse?

"Ah, Hadium? That's what the Abyssals are made of," Alphonse explained.

"You're asking for us to use Abyssal body parts to build this carrier."

"Yes," Alphonse said, completely serious.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

Michael looked at it one last time. "This is completely crazy... and yet, it might just work."

It will, Alphonse thought. After all, I had already built it.

--

I leave the rest to you.

 

[Greek Fire]

I leave the rest to you.

Click to shrink...

I will work on a snip tomorrow, after I sleep.

Edit: The ATLANTIS-class battle station is roughly the size of Manhattan Island. It has to service several super-carriers at the same time you know.

 

[Aires Drake]

I think I might do some snippets soon-ish. Not a clue on a waifu, but the shenanigans appeal too much to me. They'd probably be done out of order as well, because the best idea of what to write for me is when Enterprise is trying to explain things.

The Keyword of the day is: trying. Things that interfere with explanations (not all-inclusive): computer with Skype is not working, only playing one game before passing out due to being in the middle of 12-hour days for work, family stuff, and actually got onto Skype but the computer-chair broke flinging my head forward into my desk as I fall out of my reaching to grab something only to drag my fifty-pound backpack down to break some of the bones in my hand.

Being an engineer is hilariously (for others) suffering (for me).

EDIT: Gonna re-read everything else first so that way I have a better grasp on people and such.

EDIT2: By soon-ish, I mean during this week. I have to work 44 hours in the next four days after all, and my muse works best after, during, or before playing a few rounds in-game.

 

[Icywinter]

I will work on a snip tomorrow, after I sleep.

Edit: The ATLANTIS-class battle station is roughly the size of Manhattan Island. It has to service several super-carriers at the same time you know.

Click to shrink...

Super Star Destroyer scale