Souls of Beyond, Returned to Protect (Kantai Collection)

UbeOne · Jan 9, 2019

Sara Tan, USS Saratoga
Commander's Office, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Morning
What to choose...

Jhin Lemon said:
Matthew Walker
His Office
Morning

The commander looked at the girls gathered in front of him, seemingly counting them. Once he reached a number he was happy with, he nodded.

"Good morning to you all," he began with an air of professionalism, "I wish I could have allowed more time for you to relax, but the Abyssals are only attacking more and more often it seems. I've received three alerts about Abyssal activity nearby that needs to be dealt with or investigated: The first is related to those Abyssals you intercepted before, they were moving in a straight line, the higher-ups want you all to go back along that line and see where they came from. It might be dangerous though, if they came from some kind of large hidden base, it might be too much to deal with..."

He trails off and slumps slightly, a moment later, however, he forcibly straightens his posture and continues speaking.

"The second alert is about a number of Abyssals we managed to catch on satellite passing through a specific site at specific intervals, before and after that area though, they just seem to vanish. They seem to be acting like a convoy, most of them are round and seem lightly armed, with a few we've managed to identify as cruisers nearby. If it is a supply convoy, and we can disrupt it, it might slow down their movements in the area. We can't see much around there though, so support would be limited and it might just be a trap."

The commander's face turns hesitant for a moment at the mention of a trap. He recovers quickly though.

"Finally, we have a convoy of our own that we're sending to deliver supplied to Mexico, it seems some of their ports were attacked by Abyssals without any defence. The seas between us and them have multiple groups of Abyssals though, so they need an escort. You won't have to go the whole way though. The recent attempted attack on San Diego, plus the number of shipgirls popping up, lead to another shipgirl base being created there, they'll be meeting up halfway if you take the mission, or they'll be coming here if you don't. Additionally, when you all return, I'd like at least one of you to try to help talk to the prisoner of war. She's refused humans so far, but a shipgirl might elicit a different response."

The commander handed out some dossiers with basic information about the missions that did little but reiterate what he'd already said (and emphasise how little information you all had).

"Please discuss amongst yourselves and let me know what you all decide to do. You're people, not machines, after all.

Three missions, all of them important in some way. We don't have enough people to handle all three at once, so we'd have to prioritize.

"I would recommend the escort mission. Our allies could use help, and the goodwill would go a long way," Hood suggests.

"I'm not sure... I think we'd do more if we raid their convoy, to cut their supplies," I share my opinion. Getting at their logistics is an attractive proposition.

"But we know too little about their movements, sis. We might as well think they're everywhere. Wouldn't it help both missions if we find out where they're coming from? You and I could send scout planes and report back," Lex says.

...She has a point. Intel is vital, and we need more of it.

shinkiro · Jan 9, 2019

Salt lake City
decisions, decisions

Jhin Lemon said:
stuff

"So far the escort mission sounds the best, the other two pose too much risk at the moment, a potential enemy base would potentially spell our doom, and even a trap could inflict losses upon us that we cannot afford right now." Yamato stated. Her reasoning was sound enough. and me, haida, and Medusa where inclined to agree.

"as much as I wanna find a good fight, I must agree, we canot afford losses right now, so an escort mission sounds like a good idea." I state in agreement.

"as for the captive abbysal, I will vounteer to try." Medusa states. "as a repair ship I should be the least intimidating."

Ash19256 · Jan 9, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
Matthew Walker
His Office
Morning

snip
"Please discuss amongst yourselves and let me know what you all decide to do. You're people, not machines, after all.

Montana sighs. "Ultimately, I believe I would be best suited to the Escort mission, as my low speed is less of a disadvantage when I only need to keep up with freighters."

Jhin Lemon · Jan 10, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
"Please discuss amongst yourselves and let me know what you all decide to do. You're people, not machines, after all."

Maria Cercel
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"Options, eh?" Fir mutters to herself.

"Hmm, escorting is what we're made for; and the raid could be kinda like last time, just wait for them; but scouting might end up with us being found by too many ships to fight..." I think out loud, half to Fir and half to the room.

"Miss Lexington does have a point though," Fir counters.

"Huh?" I ask, with absolute eloquence.

"We could have the carriers scout from a distance so we won't get caught."

"But what would the rest of us do?" I ask.

"Um," she doesn't seem to have an answer.

"Wait," I tell her, before speaking up so everyone is sure to hear it, "we could have some of the carriers scout for where those Abyssals came from, and have the rest of us do another mission. That way we can do two things at once."

Victoria
Pearl Harbor
Morning

Maria's idea is certainly interesting, but people seem to be leaning towards the escorting mission, and submarines aren't really escort ships.

"I-I vote that we go on the raid, maybe on top of the scouting mission like Maria said." I hope I spoke loud enough to be heard.

Jackie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"I'd quite like the raid as well." It felt weird to speak against Hood like this, like Jackie might be souring whatever relationship we have left, but she was asked for her thoughts, "I'd be able to use my speed better there, Hood too."

She suppressed a wince, why did she have to bring attention to her? Now Hood would counter argue...

Connie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"I vote the escorting mission," Connie brung up rather simply, "we do have some slow ships with us, and raiding means we might have to catch up. Leaving some of us behind to do that just sounds like bad news."

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Despite Eskimo's plan to simply stay quiet, here she was, being asked to provide her opinion. And people were talking about choosing the mission that wouldn't hurt the monsters the most, some weren't, but she had to be sure. So she stepped forward.

"I say we raid their convoys. Stop their supplies, they have to pull back, ships can move around more easily around here. We might even manage to follow some back to wherever their base it. Two, maybe three, birds with one stone," she says matter-of-factly.

Ryven Razgriz · Jan 10, 2019

Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

Jhin Lemon said:
"Please discuss amongst yourselves and let me know what you all decide to do. You're people, not machines, after all."

""Jawohl."" Both warship-turned-human-females acknowledge before looking at each other then at the others for input.

UbeOne said:
Sara Tan, USS Saratoga
Commander's Office, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Morning
What to choose...

Three missions, all of them important in some way. We don't have enough people to handle all three at once, so we'd have to prioritize.

"I would recommend the escort mission. Our allies could use help, and the goodwill would go a long way," Hood suggests.

"I'm not sure... I think we'd do more if we raid their convoy, to cut their supplies," I share my opinion. Getting at their logistics is an attractive proposition.

"But we know too little about their movements, sis. We might as well think they're everywhere. Wouldn't it help both missions if we find out where they're coming from? You and I could send scout planes and report back," Lex says.

...She has a point. Intel is vital, and we need more of it.

shinkiro said:
Salt lake City
decisions, decisions

"So far the escort mission sounds the best, the other two pose too much risk at the moment, a potential enemy base would potentially spell our doom, and even a trap could inflict losses upon us that we cannot afford right now." Yamato stated. Her reasoning was sound enough. and me, Haida, and Medusa where inclined to agree.

"As much as I wanna find a good fight, I must agree, we canot afford losses right now, so an escort mission sounds like a good idea." I state in agreement.

"As for the captive Abyssal, I will volunteer to try." Medusa states. "As a repair ship, I should be the least intimidating."

Ash19256 said:
Montana sighs. "Ultimately, I believe I would be best suited to the Escort mission, as my low speed is less of a disadvantage when I only need to keep up with freighters."

Jhin Lemon said:
Maria Cercel
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"Options, eh?" Fir mutters to herself.

"Hmm, escorting is what we're made for; and the raid could be kinda like last time, just wait for them; but scouting might end up with us being found by too many ships to fight..." I think out loud, half to Fir and half to the room.

"Miss Lexington does have a point though," Fir counters.

"Huh?" I ask, with absolute eloquence.

"We could have the carriers scout from a distance so we won't get caught."

"But what would the rest of us do?" I ask.

"Um," she doesn't seem to have an answer.

"Wait," I tell her, before speaking up so everyone is sure to hear it, "we could have some of the carriers scout for where those Abyssals came from, and have the rest of us do another mission. That way we can do two things at once."

Victoria
Pearl Harbor
Morning

Maria's idea is certainly interesting, but people seem to be leaning towards the escorting mission, and submarines aren't really escort ships.

"I-I vote that we go on the raid, maybe on top of the scouting mission like Maria said." I hope I spoke loud enough to be heard.

Jackie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"I'd quite like the raid as well." It felt weird to speak against Hood like this, like Jackie might be souring whatever relationship we have left, but she was asked for her thoughts, "I'd be able to use my speed better there, Hood too."

She suppressed a wince, why did she have to bring attention to her? Now Hood would counter argue...

Connie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"I vote the escorting mission," Connie brung up rather simply, "we do have some slow ships with us, and raiding means we might have to catch up. Leaving some of us behind to do that just sounds like bad news."

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Despite Eskimo's plan to simply stay quiet, here she was, being asked to provide her opinion. And people were talking about choosing the mission that wouldn't hurt the monsters the most, some weren't, but she had to be sure. So she stepped forward.

"I say we raid their convoys. Stop their supplies, they have to pull back, ships can move around more easily around here. We might even manage to follow some back to wherever their base it. Two, maybe three, birds with one stone," she says matter-of-factly.

"We lack concrete intelligence and as such we should not commit into Commerce Raiding. All we know is that they appear at a certain place, we don't know where they come from and where are they headed and that there's a lot of ships. Some of the round ships could very well be a well disguised warship and that there could be a lot of hidden enemies at the area where the convoy appears and disappears." Joins Prinz Eugen while Bismarck stays silent and listens in, both Germans talked silently and quickly to each other and that the Heavy Cruiser should join in the planning as Prinz has more experience than Bismarck even if said Battleship is of the higher rank of the two.

"As such, we strongly suggest that we pursue the scouting mission. More information on enemy composition, numbers and locations are always welcome." Finished the Heavy Cruiser.

Jhin Lemon · Jan 10, 2019

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Ryven Razgriz said:
Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

""Jawohl."" Both warship-turned-human-females acknowledge before looking at each other then at the others for input.

"We lack concrete intelligence and as such we should not commit into Commerce Raiding. All we know is that they appear at a certain place, we don't know where they come from and where are they headed and that there's a lot of ships. Some of the round ships could very well be a well disguised warship and that there could be a lot of hidden enemies at the area where the convoy appears and disappears." Joins Prinz Eugen while Bismarck stays silent and listens in, both Germans talked silently and quickly to each other and that the Heavy Cruiser should join in the planning as Prinz has more experience than Bismarck even if said Battleship is of the higher rank of the two.

"As such, we strongly suggest that we pursue the scouting mission. More information on enemy composition, numbers and locations are always welcome." Finished the Heavy Cruiser.

Eskimo scoffs and crosses her arms.

"There would be more hidden enemies if the scouting mission goes well. It'd be like the US sailing straight to Japan after 1941!" Eskimo didn't really care about the faux pas of mentioning the Pearl Harbour Attack while at Pearl Harbour right now.

Ryven Razgriz · Jan 10, 2019

Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

Jhin Lemon said:
Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Eskimo scoffs and crosses her arms.

"There would be more hidden enemies if the scouting mission goes well. It'd be like the US sailing straight to Japan after 1941!" Eskimo didn't really care about the faux pas of mentioning the Pearl Harbour Attack while at Pearl Harbour right now.

"Hence the need for scouting mission, at least we'd know now if there are more hidden enemies in their reserves than later where we could be in a mission and didn't know as such. With the scouting mission, we'd be able to estimate our enemy's capability." Reasoned the Heavy Cruiser to the Destroyer. "At the very least, we'd be able to deploy ourselves properly to counter if not eliminate whatever the enemy sends at us and be able to predict their movement more accurately. While being on the defensive in war where we have little to no information is bad, being a reactionary force in said war is the worse and would only get even more worse overtime."

Jhin Lemon · Jan 11, 2019

@Miho_Chan
You remember luck. Quite a lot of it. An impeccable record of crew survival, yet you were overshadowed. Your sister more famous. This past is a part of you now, whether that bothers you is your own choice. You now find yourself floating on the oceans, just outside a US naval base.
"You guys are lucky I'm back!"
(Location, Pearl Harbor)

Jhin Lemon · Jan 11, 2019

@Zeroth Jupi
A captured carrier, refitted for United States service. Extremely stealthy, and ultimately a historic ship. Will you live up to your past now as a humanoid? Your eyes open to a blue sky, floating with your back on the ocean. Nearby is a US naval base, as well as a destroyer in a similar situation.
"Not just a museum piece!"
(Location, Pearl Harbor)

Zeroth Jupi · Jan 12, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
@Zeroth Jupi
A captured carrier, refitted for United States service. Extremely stealthy, and ultimately a historic ship. Will you live up to your past now as a humanoid? Your eyes open to a blue sky, floating with your back on the ocean. Nearby is a US naval base, as well as a destroyer in a similar situation.
"Not just a museum piece!"
(Location, Pearl Harbor)

USS Wake Island
???
Day

Upon the water's surface, a carrier of old awoke, her crimson eyes blinking at the sudden intrusion of light, instinctively the carrier drew one of her arms in front of her face to shade it from the merciless light of the warm sun. Blinking in confusion the carrier stares at her arms before she grows uncomfortable with the water lapping upon her back, so with a quiet noise of exertion the carrier draws herself into a sitting position. Momentarily distracted by moving into a comfortable posture the carrier does not consciously notice the furred protrusions from her backside until one such appendage made itself known by touching the back of her neck a quick and painful tug put paid to any thought that they did not belong to her.

"What?" That single word more than sufficed to sum up her confusion and consternation to her current condition.

Shaking her head after a few moments the carrier set about familiarizing herself with her new form to avoid any more surprises.

UbeOne · Jan 13, 2019

Sara Tan, USS Saratoga
Commander's Office, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Morning
Recon time...?

shinkiro said:
Salt lake City
decisions, decisions

"So far the escort mission sounds the best, the other two pose too much risk at the moment, a potential enemy base would potentially spell our doom, and even a trap could inflict losses upon us that we cannot afford right now." Yamato stated. Her reasoning was sound enough. and me, haida, and Medusa where inclined to agree.

"as much as I wanna find a good fight, I must agree, we canot afford losses right now, so an escort mission sounds like a good idea." I state in agreement.

"as for the captive abbysal, I will vounteer to try." Medusa states. "as a repair ship I should be the least intimidating."

Ash19256 said:
Montana sighs. "Ultimately, I believe I would be best suited to the Escort mission, as my low speed is less of a disadvantage when I only need to keep up with freighters."

I kinda find it hard to imagine someone like, say, Yamato, running an escort mission. I mean, that's normally something entrusted to destroyer escorts and escort carriers, which don't require nearly as much supplies to do the job, their low speeds a negligible issue since transports are slowpokes anyway. However, we're pretty much the only ones available, so...

Jhin Lemon said:
Maria Cercel
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"Options, eh?" Fir mutters to herself.

"Hmm, escorting is what we're made for; and the raid could be kinda like last time, just wait for them; but scouting might end up with us being found by too many ships to fight..." I think out loud, half to Fir and half to the room.

"Miss Lexington does have a point though," Fir counters.

"Huh?" I ask, with absolute eloquence.

"We could have the carriers scout from a distance so we won't get caught."

"But what would the rest of us do?" I ask.

"Um," she doesn't seem to have an answer.

"Wait," I tell her, before speaking up so everyone is sure to hear it, "we could have some of the carriers scout for where those Abyssals came from, and have the rest of us do another mission. That way we can do two things at once."

Victoria
Pearl Harbor
Morning

Maria's idea is certainly interesting, but people seem to be leaning towards the escorting mission, and submarines aren't really escort ships.

"I-I vote that we go on the raid, maybe on top of the scouting mission like Maria said." I hope I spoke loud enough to be heard.

Jackie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"I'd quite like the raid as well." It felt weird to speak against Hood like this, like Jackie might be souring whatever relationship we have left, but she was asked for her thoughts, "I'd be able to use my speed better there, Hood too."

She suppressed a wince, why did she have to bring attention to her? Now Hood would counter argue...

Connie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

"I vote the escorting mission," Connie brung up rather simply, "we do have some slow ships with us, and raiding means we might have to catch up. Leaving some of us behind to do that just sounds like bad news."

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Despite Eskimo's plan to simply stay quiet, here she was, being asked to provide her opinion. And people were talking about choosing the mission that wouldn't hurt the monsters the most, some weren't, but she had to be sure. So she stepped forward.

"I say we raid their convoys. Stop their supplies, they have to pull back, ships can move around more easily around here. We might even manage to follow some back to wherever their base it. Two, maybe three, birds with one stone," she says matter-of-factly.

Ryven Razgriz said:
Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

""Jawohl."" Both warship-turned-human-females acknowledge before looking at each other then at the others for input.

"We lack concrete intelligence and as such we should not commit into Commerce Raiding. All we know is that they appear at a certain place, we don't know where they come from and where are they headed and that there's a lot of ships. Some of the round ships could very well be a well disguised warship and that there could be a lot of hidden enemies at the area where the convoy appears and disappears." Joins Prinz Eugen while Bismarck stays silent and listens in, both Germans talked silently and quickly to each other and that the Heavy Cruiser should join in the planning as Prinz has more experience than Bismarck even if said Battleship is of the higher rank of the two.

"As such, we strongly suggest that we pursue the scouting mission. More information on enemy composition, numbers and locations are always welcome." Finished the Heavy Cruiser.

Jhin Lemon said:
Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Eskimo scoffs and crosses her arms.

"There would be more hidden enemies if the scouting mission goes well. It'd be like the US sailing straight to Japan after 1941!" Eskimo didn't really care about the faux pas of mentioning the Pearl Harbour Attack while at Pearl Harbour right now.

I couldn't help but wince at that, and I could see a similar expression on Lex's face. That was rather flippant of her. We really don't need to be reminded of what happened that day... and also, that's not a good comparison. "It's not like we're sailing all the way to Asia. It's more like finding a base somewhere midway," I remark. Not that it's on the actual Midway Atoll, but who knows?

Ryven Razgriz said:
Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

"Hence the need for scouting mission, at least we'd know now if there are more hidden enemies in their reserves than later where we could be in a mission and didn't know as such. With the scouting mission, we'd be able to estimate our enemy's capability." Reasoned the Heavy Cruiser to the Destroyer. "At the very least, we'd be able to deploy ourselves properly to counter if not eliminate whatever the enemy sends at us and be able to predict their movement more accurately. While being on the defensive in war where we have little to no information is bad, being a reactionary force in said war is the worse and would only get even more worse overtime."

I now prefer scouting, rather than raiding, but that has problems of its own, too. "I agree with scouting now, but what would you do while Lex and I send planes? As for Maria's suggestion, I don't feel safe going in just with Lex or by myself... we'll need destroyers with us in case of submarines."

I put my hand to my side where I feel a ghostly ache, a reminder of past encounters with submarines.

Samantha "Sam" Hood, HMS Hood
Outriders?

Jhin Lemon said:
"I'd quite like the raid as well." It felt weird to speak against Hood like this, like Jackie might be souring whatever relationship we have left, but she was asked for her thoughts, "I'd be able to use my speed better there, Hood too."

She suppressed a wince, why did she have to bring attention to her? Now Hood would counter argue...

Hm? Sam weighs the options once more. Her own speed as a battlecruiser would be of good use in a raiding mission, but there's also a way to use it while escorting. "Fair point," she says, "But I figure it's more important to help our allies and shore up their supplies. With our speed, we could steam ahead of the convoy and sink the enemy beforehand. Still, a raiding mission is also fine by me."

She tries to suppress the nerves in her mind. Her ship-self may have gone on sorties before, but she hasn't. She is now able to apply what she read about ships, but she has not put herself in danger like this before...

Jhin Lemon · Jan 13, 2019

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Ryven Razgriz said:
Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

"Hence the need for scouting mission, at least we'd know now if there are more hidden enemies in their reserves than later where we could be in a mission and didn't know as such. With the scouting mission, we'd be able to estimate our enemy's capability." Reasoned the Heavy Cruiser to the Destroyer. "At the very least, we'd be able to deploy ourselves properly to counter if not eliminate whatever the enemy sends at us and be able to predict their movement more accurately. While being on the defensive in war where we have little to no information is bad, being a reactionary force in said war is the worse and would only get even more worse overtime."

UbeOne said:
I couldn't help but wince at that, and I could see a similar expression on Lex's face. That was rather flippant of her. We really don't need to be reminded of what happened that day... and also, that's not a good comparison. "It's not like we're sailing all the way to Asia. It's more like finding a base somewhere midway," I remark. Not that it's on the actual Midway Atoll, but who knows?

This was becoming a pattern. Eskimo would put forth something reasonable and everyone would start to gang up on her because of a slip of the tongue.

"The point was that we'd be sailing into enemy territory, location doesn't matter," she responded to Saratoga curtly.

As for the cruiser, "Getting information only helps us if we survive, and running into enemy territory sounds like a plan that'll get us all killed. As least sending the carriers to do it would have less of a risk."

Maria Cercel
Pearl Harbor
Morning

UbeOne said:
I now prefer scouting, rather than raiding, but that has problems of its own, too. "I agree with scouting now, but what would you do while Lex and I send planes? As for Maria's suggestion, I don't feel safe going in just with Lex or by myself... we'll need destroyers with us in case of submarines."

I put my hand to my side where I feel a ghostly ache, a reminder of past encounters with submarines.

My hand shoots up. "We could go with you then," I announce, before hesitating slightly, "um, if you want."

Eskimo and Haida are also destroyers after all, Sara might want to go with them instead. I'm not sure why she would considering how Eskimo is being, but still. Out of the corner of my eye I catch Fir staring at me while I look at the British destroyer in question, she looks away as soon as she notices. Odd.

Jackie
Pearl Harbor
Morning

UbeOne said:
Hm? Sam weighs the options once more. Her own speed as a battlecruiser would be of good use in a raiding mission, but there's also a way to use it while escorting. "Fair point," she says, "But I figure it's more important to help our allies and shore up their supplies. With our speed, we could steam ahead of the convoy and sink the enemy beforehand. Still, a raiding mission is also fine by me."

She tries to suppress the nerves in her mind. Her ship-self may have gone on sorties before, but she hasn't. She now gets to apply what she read about ships, but she has not put herself in danger like this before...

Jackie grimaced slightly at that thought, "Going ahead like that would be...risky though, wouldn't it?"

If we don't manage to sink all the enemies quickly, we could end up getting surrounded, or cut off, and our speed would be useless...

Ash19256 · Jan 13, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
This was becoming a pattern. Eskimo would put forth something reasonable and everyone would start to gang up on her because of a slip of the tongue.

"The point was that we'd be sailing into enemy territory, location doesn't matter," she responded to Saratoga curtly.

As for the cruiser, "Getting information only helps us if we survive, and running into enemy territory sounds like a plan that'll get us all killed. As least sending the carriers to do it would have less of a risk."

Montana looks over at Eskimo with a slightly pitying expression. "Eskimo, I have a question regarding your plan. It's kind of an important one."

She promptly gestures to herself. "How in the name of heck am I supposed to do commerce raiding when I am literally only a bit faster than most freighters? Especially considering I only have an 8,000 nautical mile range when cruising 5 knots slower than literally the entire rest of this little fleet?"

Jhin Lemon · Jan 13, 2019

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Ash19256 said:
Montana looks over at Eskimo with a slightly pitying expression. "Eskimo, I have a question regarding your plan. It's kind of an important one."

She promptly gestures to herself. "How in the name of heck am I supposed to do commerce raiding when I am literally only a bit faster than most freighters? Especially considering I only have an 8,000 nautical mile range when cruising 5 knots slower than literally the entire rest of this little fleet?"

Eskimo responded to the pity with a slight glare, there was no need to act condescending.

"It's not like the convoy is constantly going through at all hours, we go there before the next one should come through and wait for it. Like with that fleet that was going to San Diego."

As she finished speaking Eskimo's expression became noticeably more triumphant.

Ash19256 · Jan 13, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
Eskimo responded to the pity with a slight glare, there was no need to act condescending.

"It's not like the convoy is constantly going through at all hours, we go there before the next one should come through and wait for it. Like with that fleet that was going to San Diego."

As she finished speaking Eskimo's expression became noticeably more triumphant.

Montana's right eyebrow raises, and she doesn't really look any less condescending. "Really? And how, pray tell, is a battleship like me supposed to not get noticed idling in open waters well before they get inside gun range?" She spreads her arms. "Because at that point, we're then straight back to square one, with me again having to try and chase down freighters. And this assumes that they aren't doing something like the Tokyo Express trick the Japanese used during World War II, and using destroyers or warships to haul cargo."

Ryven Razgriz · Jan 13, 2019

Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser Prinz 'Pringles' Eugen
Bismarck-class Battleship Bismarck 'Bisko'

UbeOne said:
I now prefer scouting, rather than raiding, but that has problems of its own, too. "I agree with scouting now, but what would you do while Lex and I send planes? As for Maria's suggestion, I don't feel safe going in just with Lex or by myself... we'll need destroyers with us in case of submarines."

"We escort you, or have ourselves in the back line waiting to reinforce you if you were, somehow, spotted by the enemy umu. That or perhaps take some fast escort units instead." Bismarck added as she finally speaks up.

Jhin Lemon said:
"The point was that we'd be sailing into enemy territory, location doesn't matter," she responded to Saratoga curtly.

As for the cruiser, "Getting information only helps us if we survive, and running into enemy territory sounds like a plan that'll get us all killed. As least sending the carriers to do it would have less of a risk."

Twitching, the German Heavy Cruiser merely shrugged and took a breath as she retorts mentally. 'The point of a scouting mission is to send units inside enemy territory to scout Yankee.'

Ash19256 said:
Montana looks over at Eskimo with a slightly pitying expression. "Eskimo, I have a question regarding your plan. It's kind of an important one."

She promptly gestures to herself. "How in the name of heck am I supposed to do commerce raiding when I am literally only a bit faster than most freighters? Especially considering I only have an 8,000 nautical mile range when cruising 5 knots slower than literally the entire rest of this little fleet?"

Both Bismarck and Prinz Eugen nodded at the older Battleship's question. 'Another reason why I didn't suggest Commerce Raiding despite the fact that most of Kriegsmarine Warships' careers were of Commerce Raiding.'

Jhin Lemon said:
Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Eskimo responded to the pity with a slight glare, there was no need to act condescending.

"It's not like the convoy is constantly going through at all hours, we go there before the next one should come through and wait for it. Like with that fleet that was going to San Diego."

As she finished speaking Eskimo's expression became noticeably more triumphant.

'Umu? Is this little one a glory hound? Or a battle maniac?' Bismarck's eyebrow rose as she watches Montana and Eskimo argue.

Jhin Lemon · Jan 13, 2019

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Ash19256 said:
Montana's right eyebrow raises, and she doesn't really look any less condescending. "Really? And how, pray tell, is a battleship like me supposed to not get noticed idling in open waters well before they get inside gun range?" She spreads her arms. "Because at that point, we're then straight back to square one, with me again having to try and chase down freighters. And this assumes that they aren't doing something like the Tokyo Express trick the Japanese used during World War II, and using destroyers or warships to haul cargo."

Eskimo clicked her tongue at that, "Tch. And how is a battleship like you suppose to help defend freighters against destroyers and submarines? Just because you can keep up with them doesn't mean you'll be able to help. At least if we scare off their convoy we slow them down."

Ash19256 · Jan 13, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
Eskimo clicked her tongue at that, "Tch. And how is a battleship like you suppose to help defend freighters against destroyers and submarines? Just because you can keep up with them doesn't mean you'll be able to help. At least if we scare off their convoy we slow them down."

Montana smirks. "With regards to your question, two words: Aircraft Carriers. Just because I can't necessarily defend as well against submarines, and might have minor issues with destroyers by myself, doesn't mean I'm useless at convoy defense. See also, the USN using battleships to escort aircraft carriers."

Her expression hardens.

"As for spooking convoys to slow down the enemy, in the long run that's going to do dick all to the enemy's ability to actually prosecute future battles. So what, we slowed down the delivery of a single supply convoy, or perhaps even two or three. Problem is, those supplies likely would get delivered by alternative routes, which we might not find out about for a fairly long time, at which point convoy interdiction patrols become a waste of resources at best. Meanwhile, while we're busy wasting time and effort trying to scare enemy convoys into not delivering their cargoes, the enemy is sinking our own supply convoys potentially without any effective resistance."

Jhin Lemon · Jan 13, 2019

Eskimo
Pearl Harbor, Commander's office
Morning

Ash19256 said:
Montana smirks. "With regards to your question, two words: Aircraft Carriers. Just because I can't necessarily defend as well against submarines, and might have minor issues with destroyers by myself, doesn't mean I'm useless at convoy defense. See also, the USN using battleships to escort aircraft carriers."

Her expression hardens.

"As for spooking convoys to slow down the enemy, in the long run that's going to do dick all to the enemy's ability to actually prosecute future battles. So what, we slowed down the delivery of a single supply convoy, or perhaps even two or three. Problem is, those supplies likely would get delivered by alternative routes, which we might not find out about for a fairly long time, at which point convoy interdiction patrols become a waste of resources at best. Meanwhile, while we're busy wasting time and effort trying to scare enemy convoys into not delivering their cargoes, the enemy is sinking our own supply convoys potentially without any effective resistance."

"They won't be sinking our convoy!" Eskimo counters hotly, "There's a whole second fleet that'll escort it the whole way if we don't take it halfway. Do you really not trust your own allies? We can have our convoy get delivered, stop their convoy and scout them, all at once. You can probably just go with the second fleet if you want to escort things that badly, even if all you can do is anti-air."

Ash19256 · Jan 13, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
"They won't be sinking our convoy!" Eskimo counters hotly, "There's a whole second fleet that'll escort it the whole way if we don't take it halfway. Do you really not trust your own allies? We can have our convoy get delivered, stop their convoy and scout them, all at once. You can probably just go with the second fleet if you want to escort things that badly, even if all you can do is anti-air."

Montana's eyebrow doesn't go back down. "And how exactly do you know that said shipgirl fleet has the range to escort the convoy the whole way? It seems to me we wouldn't have been told that was a potentially useful mission if that was the case, because our superiors would have seen that no additional shipgirls were required, and thus we would have been picking from the scouting mission or commerce raiding."

She shakes her head. "Eskimo, I get that you're trying to be professional and smart about things, but there's a difference between sounding smart and actually being trained for this sort of thing." She looks Eskimo in the eyes. "Have a little trust that SecNav and his subordinates aren't just going to send us off on a wild goose chase or snipe hunt for no damn good reason, at least."

Miho Chan · Jan 13, 2019

Jhin Lemon said:
@Miho_Chan
You remember luck. Quite a lot of it. An impeccable record of crew survival, yet you were overshadowed. Your sister more famous. This past is a part of you now, whether that bothers you is your own choice. You now find yourself floating on the oceans, just outside a US naval base.
"You guys are lucky I'm back!"
(Location, Pearl Harbor)

Alex, HMS Jervis
Unknown US Naval Base, Coastal
Time? What time?
What did I get myself into this time?

Memories 'not mine' slam into my conciousness with the force of a speeding truck. With as much clarity as I remember my own death, I remember crying as the very people I served for so long sell me for scrap. Through this maelstrom of memories, one thing shines true. Both the foreign memories and I were willing to give our everything for the people we called "friend." This is the truth I hold onto as memories; both mine and hers; become one. As I begin to lose the fight against unconsciousness, I see her. The girl that the memories belong to. She smiles at me, mouthing,
"Thank you."
Regaining awareness, I take a moment to take in my surroundings. I'm in coastal waters (how I know this, I'm not sure of yet) and I can see a naval base, most likely a USN one, seeing as the star spangled banner is flying from it. I do a doubletake as my new instincts scream in warning when I see the other person who has appeared beside me. 'Kaga, HOSTILE!'
As soon as I process the fact that an IJN kanmusu has spawned right next to me, I fire up my boilers, and get the fuck out of the dodge. At flank speed, maybe I can make it into the naval base before her cruiser sized secondary's tear me apart....
@Zeroth Jupi

AlphaD · Jan 13, 2019

USS Albacore
Commander's Office

Albacore blinks blearily as the gears in her mind begin to turn slowly and silently wishing that her blood could be replaced with caffeine. It was clear to her that life as a person would not be so clear cut as her previous form.

The submarine turned young woman turned to silently regard Victoria who had moved to stand beside her fellow Romanian comrades-in-arms. It didn't really bother Albacore. Vicky or Victoria as she preferred to be called was a sweet and empathetic person, albeit slightly naive but that just made her look more endearing to the American submarine... Especially when she looked up to her with those expecting eyes as she waited for another lesson on underwater warfare.

... Hehe.

Gah! She digressed.

"I know we're supposed to be hard to detect and all, but we're here too y'know?" Albacore began, attempting to inject liveliness into her voice and overall trying her best not to sound like she had a grudge on the sun itself. "The escort mission seems kinda crucial if we wanna expand our operations but I don't think us submarines are capable of taking that kind of mission, we'd just slow the convoy down even at our top speed while surfaced."

Although... the fact remains that how they went about in underwater warfare might change in the near future. These new bodies they were given allowed for many things that just wouldn't have been possible while they were still steel hulls. Maneuverability beyond her wildest dreams was only the start of it. The fact that she could fight face to face with enemy submarines in this body... It was a strange experience.

The grey-haired submarine shrugs and smiles easily. "So we split the fleet. If you guys could take the escort mission, leave the raiding and scouting to us. We may not be as fast as a scout plane, but we'd also be harder to detect if they aren't actively looking for us. Heck, if we play it smart then they wouldn't even know we'd be in the area... and... logically speaking, a carrier is worth much more than a submarine. At least we can disappear into the ocean if worst comes to worst."

Before anyone can speak their mind on her last sentence, however, Albacore raises her hands placatingly. "And I know! All of you folks are the kind that sees all of our lives as equal in worth and I appreciate that but hypothetically, if you weighed me against Sister Sara over there you'd find the scales would tip in one, obvious direction."

Surcouf
Commander's Office

And unseen, a baguette quietly slips into the office and trying to pretend that she had been there all along. Right from the start, almost as if she wasn't late at all. The corners of her mouth curve up slightly as Surcouf plasters on an amiable expression. It wasn't quite a smile, but neither was it a smirk either.

The French submarine had arrived just in time to catch Albacore's proposal and quickly seizes upon the opportunity to enter the conversation. "Your logic seems sound, ma cherie. However, I propose our primary aim is just scouting. We don't know what kind of response the abbysaux have prepared for us if we decide to raid one of their convoys so until we know the proper composition, I suggest we gather intel in preparation for a more prepared and strategic strike in the future."

Surcouf reaches up to flick a hand through her hair, the tressess fluttering in a non-existent breeze as the woman smoothly used the motion to plant one hand on her hip.

"I am open to other suggestions. From my colleagues, especially." She turns to glance meaningly at a certain other Romanian submarine currently standing in the office.

Zeroth Jupi · Jan 13, 2019

USS Wake Island
???
Day

Miho_Chan said:
As soon as I process the fact that an IJN kanmusu has spawned right next to me, I fire up my boilers, and get the fuck out of the dodge. At flank speed, maybe I can make it into the naval base before her cruiser sized secondary's tear me apart....
@Zeroth Jupi

The carrier finishes the cursory inspection of herself and is left just as confused as when she started, the discovery of fairy-like creatures aboard her calling themselves her crew likely fuelled most of her current confusion they certainly passed her inquiries and logs, a rushing sound pulls the carrier from her confusion as she looks at a ship? girl? shipgirl? rapidly headed towards the naval base in the distance and didn't the flag flying there fill the carrier with some relief. Looking around for any reason why the shipgirl could be fleeing and finding nothing the carrier is left once more in confusion.

Tired of being confused the carrier broadcasts a message in hopes of gauging the response or non-response to determine her next course of action.

"Unidentified vessel, please identify yourself and the nature of your flight", the carrier smoothly broadcasts while the fairies aboard her clamor into action.

@Miho_Chan

Miho Chan · Jan 13, 2019

Zeroth Jupi said:
"Unidentified vessel, please identify yourself and the nature of your flight", the carrier smoothly broadcasts while the fairies aboard her clamor into action.

I began to panic even more, urging my crew to disable the engine safeties so I could go past 36 knots. They; of course; refused. Instead, the little buggers had the utter gall to suggest talking to Kaga. That would end well. I'd just end up eating 203... Wait a minute. Risking a glance towards Kaga, I found that she wasn't equipped with 203s. Instead she had 5 inch dual purpose guns... Hesitantly , I responded.
"Kaga, this is HMS Jervis, please state your intentions over." "Mayday! Mayday! HMS Jervis requires assistance against hostile forces outside of an unknown USN base. Requesting backup! I repeat, requesting backup, over." I broadcasted the second over a channel Kaga (hopefully) wasn't using. I also continued to get the fuck out of the dodge. Just a little bit more....
@Zeroth Jupi @Pearl Harbor Naval Base

Ash19256 · Jan 13, 2019

Miho_Chan said:
"Kaga, this is HMS Jervis, please state your intentions over." "Mayday! Mayday! HMS Jervis requires assistance against hostile forces outside of an unknown USN base. Requesting backup! I repeat, requesting backup, over."

Montana turns in the direction of the surprise radio messages from out in the harbor. "What in the..." she stares for a moment, before sighing and turning towards the Admiral.

"Sir, it appears we have one, maybe two new shipgirls that have showed up outside Pearl. Requesting permission to go take a look and see if I can get them up to speed in time to participate in the upcoming mission, sir."

@Jhin Lemon

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