In Defense of Hawaii

[Greywall]

Casualties

Galra: 15 carrier fighters, 2 light cruisers, 10 escort destroyers
Kumo: 8 Michizuki class ships, 5 Odoyo cruisers, 1 Sento class battleship, 3 Tone class ships, 5 carrier fighters

[Greywall]

Galran aircraft made their move decimating Kumo ships in an attempt to hit the flagship before needing to return to carrier group.

"Out of fuel, need to rearm and refuel."

"Dammit" Hillingbee muttered, the aircraft flew back Northwest to the carrier group.

He had enough, he ordered the heavy fleet to press the Kumo in range and for the remaining torpedoes off his destroyers to fire. "I want that fleet destroyed, NOW!" the bridge affirmed with a simple 'aye aye'. The Galran heavy ships went broadside and began bellowing at the remaining Kumo warships. Growing impatient he ordered his submarines to press from the South and begin attacking the Kumo from there. Kumo enemy fire damaged two heavy cruisers and left a battleship crippled and slowly taking on water. Hillingbee ignored them to press the attack.

The battle had dragged on, it was more than a simple raid on Pearl Harbor and Hillingbee was getting close to having to make the decision to regroup with task force Charlie and resupply or press the assault one final time.

[Sophie]

"Owl 2! Need some help over here!" The Mukō class fighter was showing her designer's lack experience and restrictions. Once the Galran fighter locked in behind the Kumo she desperately tried to shake him. She wanted to fly closer to her fellow pilots, but they were either engaged in their own fight, or too far to reach. THUTUTTUUTTUTTINGK. Several machine gun rounds impacted Owl 2's fighter. "My engine's on fire!" She called out as flames spat out just in front of her cockpit. "I can't pull up! I'm going down! Mayday mayday mayday!" She desperately clawed at her canopy trying to peel it open.

Through their octoculors, a spotter on the bridge of the carrier called out. "Owls 2, 4, 7, 9, and 10 all shot down. Two survivors."

"Fuck!" The frustrated CO shouted. "All remaining fighters, remain in group together. Only engage enemy bombers! Do not get bogged down in fights!" All the remaining owls responded with affirmatives and joined in a single wing over the carrier.

The torpedo bombers continued on their mission. All of them smiled when they saw the galran fighter's turning around. They began to ascend up high, attempting to outrange any enemy triple a.

---

Damn it! That's another Sento gone!" Reito smashed her fist into her arm rest. "I'm going to have to investigate the entire class. They must be flawed." She bit her first in anger and made a mental note to order an inspection of the class. They would need a retrofit to stay in the fight. She watched as another batch of 8 super heavy armor piercing shells flew into the sky leaving deafening booms in their place. "Keep up the fire on that target!" She called out referencing the believed Galran flagship. "The way she's zigging and zagging! It must be the flagship. Get all remaining Sento class ships firing on that target! We need to cut off their head!"

The orders were sent out and followed. Shells began whizzing and spinning through the air. "Ma'am! Galran units are altering course!"

"Instruct all cruisers to fire torpedoes in their path!" Reito commanded. "If the huks have any left, let them loose! If they're taking fire deploy smoke and fall back. Let the cruisers provide cover. Heavies, take aim at anything you can hit! We cannot let them push on us! Adjust our heading sixty degrees! We need our broadside slinging every ounce of weight it has!"

The Kumo battleline began to bend, adjusting to try and keep the Galran's in sight of all their big guns. The Huks slung out torpedoes at relatively shallow depths. Those that could aimed them and guided them towards the heavy ships, hoping to tear open massive wounds in their side so the waves could flush inward. The cruisers, behind the huks, fired their own torpedoes, set to a deeper depth in order to guarantee no friendly fire to the shallow draught huks. Due to the altering course, and pure chaos of the unmanicured truth of combat, more than half the torpedoes lost their wires before they could reach a target. This of course did not make them inept or even a miss. Just that they could not be further guided from their last command.

Sadly, torpedoes were not perfect. A handful of weapons fired from the cruiser line had depth keeping errors, and with just a sprinkle more bad luck, they slammed into friendly huks; splitting them open, breaking their spines, or engulfing them in flames. In the rushed attack, 5 Michizuki class huks were lost to friendly fire.

A call came into the Mikasa. "Ma'am this is RBS Momi, we've fired our last reload of torpedoes and our HE is running low. We've lost a lot of ships and I see a lot of women in the water. Not all of them close enough to be picked up on the fly. Requesting permission to break ranks and save some lives."

"Momi, this is your Empress. Your sense of honor and duty to your fellow sailors is commendable. Break ranks and begin picking up survivors." Reito thought for a moment. "All ships with no torpedoes and running below 25% ammunition break ranks and pick up as many survivors as you can. Once you feel you've done all you can, evacuate and get those ladies to safety. Heavies this does not apply to you." Another thought crossed her mind. "All ships running below 25% ammunition do not fire weapons unless you believe you have a 20% chance or higher of hitting. We've spent a lot of ammo keeping these freaks on the ropes, lets make sure we can keep them there!"

30 Huks broke ranks to begin picking up survivors of ships that had been sunk or damaged beyond repair. Tons of lifeboats polluted the water waiting for rescue. Those that could paddled away from the battle. Many women were stuck treading water, thankfully as Kumo this was quite easy. Though no one could swim forever. Kii's current reserve of ammuntion consisted of 280 super heavy armor piercing shells our of her full stock of 936. Of her 234 high explosive shells 224 remained.

Only 2 capital ships were at or below 25% reserve ammuntion and had to adhere to new firing protocols. No capital ships had more than 40% of their ammunition remaining.

[Greywall]

Casualties

Galra: 3 fast battleships, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 battlecruiser, 8 carrier fighters.
Kumo: 2 aka class ships, 12 Michizuki class ships, 9 Kaki class ships, 3 Senko class ships, remaining Momi class ships, 1 Senko disabled, Kii class hit and severely damaged still operational, 2 Odoyo class ships heavily damaged and taking on water.

[Greywall]

The Galran heavy ships turned and Hillingbee grinned thinking he could finally cut Reito off and kill her. 

The Galran ships erupted in mass of sea water being thrown into the air and massive explosive ordnance below. Several Galran warships had strayed right into the Kumo minefield and began sinking rapidly, "PULL BACK PULL BACK!" Hillingbee roared in fury, the fleet readjusted but not before some ships with too much momentum struck more mines and began to go under. Hillingbee could only hear the slight ringing in his ears, his face turned red and he felt hot. He could barely hear the bridge crew of the Omerta reporting the Kumo firing back at them when in a blistering display of madness and rage he yelled. "FIRE EVERYTHING!" 

And as if a game was being toyed with the Empress, came to a harsh end did she realize. Just how dangerous Galra was. 

The mass of firepower sent crashing on the Kumo fleet devastated it. Galran guns that seemed to fire without end tore Kumo ships apart. 

The Galran submarines that had been ordered to hold back fired their torpedo payload at the rear Kumo fleet, unknowingly targeting the ships Reito had sent back to retrieve sailors from the water. As the wave of torpedoes reached for the Huks, Hillingbee kept yelling like a madman ordering his fleet to continue their barrage and finally at his wicked glee did they hit Reito's ship. 

"You see!? You see now little bitch!? Your place is beneath ME! I am god's instrument and you are a ugly, smelly, stupid animal to be put down!" he slammed his fist, his bridge crew trying to avoid looking at him as he kept screaming, his mouth dripping with spit. "Kill her!" he yelled again.

[Sophie]

Massive splashes rained around the Mikasa. "Fuck!" A shell ricocheted off the massive battleship's main belt. With the clear focusing of barrages on the Mikasa several small shells had managed to start fires aboard her. Nothing her damage control teams couldn't handle in a matter of moments. Every sailor's first training and daily training included damage control, so those who's stations were closest to damage were quick to blow down any fires or other damage. Reito stared out at the enemy in anger. They knew where she was and wanted her dead. "Like hell." Her anger turned into inspiration.

She saw their entire east flank start exploding. Their focus had been on the west and center of their formation. "They've wandered into the minefield!" Just as she made the revelation the ship was rocked by a massive explosion. A shell from a Galran battleship had penetrated the fore belt of the unmatched Kii class. "Damage report!" Reito screamed.

"Significant damage to the starboard aft! Several secondary batteries knocked out!" The DC officer shouted. "Compartments are flooding, watertight doors have been sealed." She paused and pressed her phone to her ear. "Threecompartments flooded! Two boilers damaged! Our engines are struggling. We need to limit our speed. Damage control is underway and pumps are working at 100%!"

"Fuck!" Reito cheered, then taking the radio once more, gave an order. "All units! The enemy has only eyes for your Empress! Not only that, they have wandered into our mines! Press to the west hard! Use whatever tools you must to shove them deeper into the mines! Huks, fire torpedoes to the west of the enemy and steer them back in to them! We need them to get slaughtered by our mines! Press hard, press fast. May your ancestors watch over you."

"If we push Mikasa too hard the massive gash in our side will flood more. Our engines may fully die. Maybe even explode." The officer warned.

"Your highness!" The commander of the carrier called in. "Parliament of dive bombers are in the air. We don't have much, but we're furious fighters. They are at your disposal."

"Parliament four." The Empress called the dive bombers. "We need your bombs dropped on their flagship. Their largest battleship. Forty degrees of my starboard bow!" She gave the best description of the warship she could.

"Owl 30, I see her." The pilot answered. "A lot of ships between us and her."

Reito's stomach twisted into a knot. "I know." She responded solemnly.

"Understood." The Owl nodded. "It has been an honor, your highness."

"On the honor of our ancestors." The ten dive bombers called into the same channel.

Reito looked up and saw the 10 planes fly overhead, towards the enemy. "May the living stars guide you."

The Kumo warships began running ahead flank towards the west. They curved north and flung torpedoes to herd the Galrans further into the thick minefield. This was their advantage. The home field. The water. Their water. Hawaii was close. Their land was close. A surge of emotions flooded every Kumo on the water. This was to protect their land. Their families. Their Empress. The Kumo worked harder than they ever had before. They pushed their ships to the absolute limits. Driving them forward. Not wanting to give the chance to the Galrans to react. Be it the living stars, or the fury of a woman scorned. The ships flew.

Not all was well. The brave Huks that volunteered to pick up survivors were being blown to pieces. As the first couple went up in flames, the rest abandoned their duty of rescue and accelerated away, promising to return for their rescue. They began returning back to the fleet. Though their ammo was drastically low they had something else they could do to help. Find those damn subs! They began pinging their active sonar into the water. Loud THUNG after THUNG flew through the waves. Their instruments listened carefully for returns. They searched carefully and knew at the very least, this would put fear in the heart of their submariners.

---

Finally the submarine's reached their position behind the Galran fleet. Their extremely low profile did well to hide them from the galran spotters. That is if they even bothered look in the opposite direction. They quickly submerged and began to pick their targets. Not the warships. Their auxiliaries. Without support ships, the Galrans would be forced to return home.

The torpedo bombers continued to follow the aircraft carefully back to their carriers.

[Greywall]

Casualties

Galra: 7 battleships, 10 battlecruisers, 5 light cruisers, 10 escort destroyers, carrier damaged, flagship hit and damaged but still operational
Kumo: All dive bombers, half torpedo bombers, remaining Aka class ship, 8 Kaki class ships, 1 Sento class battleship, remaining Momi class ships, 15 Huk ships.

[Greywall]

Kumo divebombers had come hell or high water finally damaged the Omerta, with enemy submarines finally striking the fleet from the rear the admiral had finally snapped out of his rage induced madness.

The Galran fleet began forcing itself West and then due North, bellowing their guns and taking on the brunt of the torpedoes lobbed at them. Several ships were hit but stopping the larger fleet wasn't possible at this point for Reito.

"Begin pulling us North, we're done here. The harbor has been hit and we've inflicted what we can without hitting the minefield."

The Galran fleet began withdrawing leaving freshly sinking warships and sailors behind to their demise. Meanwhile the Kumo were able to successfully attack the carrier group and force IGS Morningstar to be repaired and return to Decatur for extensive repairs. In a petty and cruel move the Galran sub fleet fired one last salvo of torpedoes at the defenseless Huk ships before following the remaining fleet North. Broadside firings were made as the Galrans pulled out, likely done to dissuade pursuit. The IGS Omerta fled with smoke pillaring into the sky, Hillingbee had damaged Pearl Harbor considerably and devastated the Kumo fleet but also took heavy losses. His operation in the Silk Sea would carry on but the Hawaiian strike force would desperately need to resupply and repair several warships. He failed to eliminate Empress Reito and would report that an invasion of Hawaii would be unlikely.

Hillingbee was determined to win the long game now, he failed to remove Kumosenkan off the board quickly, so he would have to fight the massive navy on the open sea.

[Sophie]

"They're retreating." An officer commented out of near complete disbelief. The dive bombers had just struck the enemy flagship. Through a fury of anit-aircraft fire, and angry fighters. Only three of the bombers had managed to strike their target. None would make the return trip home. Despite desperate attempts to claw open their canopy's they died in the inferno that resulted from their planes smashing into the waves. Only 5 torpedo bombers managed to even begin the trip home. Of the four torpedoes that were launched towards the aircraft carrier, only two hit, and only one detonated. It tore a wide hole in her midships, but it would not cosign her to an early death.

Only two fighters returned to their carrier, each with six kills to their names. Though when they landed they did not celebrate. There was no jumping for joy. Only a mournful return. Their bodies were racked with exhaustion. Kumo bodies already did poorly in the air, now you add the exertion of live combat, the incredible g-forces they had to put themselves through just to survive, and the loss of their friends. Both women's hair were a mess, their faces were marked with deep red where their masks and goggles touched them. When they finally set foot on the carrier's deck, one walked over to the other and they both collapsed to the floor. They stared off into the sky as one simply said. "It's such a beautiful day."

"They're retreating!" The officer cheered this time. "We've got the cowards running!" Just as she turned around a final massive explosion rocked the RBS Mikasa. A fifteen inch shell, not meant to do damage, but to prevent pursuers slammed into the superstructure. Glass and metal splintered. A slab of thin steel flew straight into the officer's skull, killing her instantly. More shards and shrapnel flooded the deck, killing two other officers and injuring four others.

Most notably, Empress Reito. A metal wire, no thicker than an inch but no less than half, impaled itself into her shoulder, instantly knocking her to the ground. "FUCK!" She screamed as she impacted the floor. By instict she started to pull the wire out. The acting commanding officer was quick to stop her. "No! Leave it in! I'll find a corpsman to help you! Just don't move and you'll be okay!" The Captain ran out of the bridge, screaming for help.

Thankfully a contingent of medical staff were already on the way the moment the damage was reported. A young enlisted woman, Yuki Maomao only 18, entered the bridge and froze at the sight. The Empress. A woman she has never met, nor dreamed she would meet, a woman she worshiped, who led this fleet into battle, was on the floor, bleeding. Without another moment's hesitation she knelt down next to Reito and placed down her kit. She pulled out a mass of gauze, a stitching needle and wire. She looked around and saw the Captain just staring in awe at the Empress. "Ma'am!" The Captain shook her head and nodded. "I'm gonna need your help pulling this out."

Maomao redirected her to Reito's backside. "Your highness, I am incredibly sorry, this is going to hurt a lot."

"Just do it!" Reito barked. The corpsman began to pull as the Captain pushed. Reito screamed in agony as a burning pain shot through her arm and radiated through the rest of her chest. The wire pulled flesh from her chest as it was slowly being pulled out. She gnashed her teeth trying to deal with the pain. After thirty seconds of pulling the pipe it popped out with a horrifying squelch. Blood began pouring onto the floor. Maomao quickly pressed gauze into the open wound. She handed one to the Captain who did the same.

"Alright!" She nodded. "Good, it didn't hit an artery. I can fix this." She stated with a weak confidence that didn't even reassure herself. She grabbed her needle, and began pushing it into the skin around the wound. It took five minutes and the help of another seawoman to close the wound. Then she had to do it all again for the exit wound. The sheer amount of pain, and blood loss almost caused her to pass out. She barely managed to hang on but she focused on the hole in the bridge. The hole allowed her to watch the deep black smoke of the damaged Galran fleet retreating away.

She began to stand. "Ma'am! Please stay down. You've lost a lot of fluid." The Empress answered with a weak glare and continued to stumble over to the surviving radio.

The Radio Officer looked up with both awe and concern at the wounded Empress. "Get me on the public channel. The one they used." As the officer quickly switched the broadcast frequency, Reito took a long, deep breath. The officer nodded and radio took the mic and started speaking as confidently and strongly as she could. "Admiral Hillbilly. To be clear, I was in command of this fleet. A 16 year old girl just kicked your fucking ass." She slammed the microphone back down and started walking back to the corpsman, but collapsed before she could take a second step.

The fleet began a massive rescue operation. Thousands of sailors were in the water and only half of them managed to get into lifeboats before their ships sunk. Some ships were still actively sinking or on fire. Every Huk, cruiser, and capital ship that could sail and wasn't in need of repair were picking up sailors, finding them beds, and giving them warm meals. Medical attention was triaged out as best it could. In total 45,862 Women were pulled out of the water. Cots had to be placed on the deck of every ship to treat the mass of sailors that were being pulled up.

With this victory, Pyrrhic as it was, another opportunity presented itself. There were Galrans in the water. Left behind by their fleet. The collective brigs on any ship larger than a light cruiser could hold over three thousand prisoners. Not a Kumo felt an ounce of remorse or any feeling other than pure and simple hatred. Even during the most brutal years of the Hawaii war, neither Kumosenkan nor the UKUG targeted a single civilian ship. Galra just slaughtered them by the hundreds. Ships pulled up along side the Galran lifeboats, latched them with webbing, and pulled them up on deck. Dozens of armed Kumo greeted them with the barrels of their guns. Any man that had the thought of trying to overpower the women holding them prisoner were shot instantly. They were given strict orders in Commons, any betrayal of these orders was met with brutal and instant death.

The Kumo smiled when they got the opportunity to kill a Galran so directly. "Who among you, are officers?" Was asked of every group. Those that answered were taken into the depths of the ship, stripped of everything but their skivvies, and locked in the ship's brig. Anyone who was not an officer was asked a series of follow up questions to ascertain their importance to the Galrans. Those that were deemed somewhat important joined the officers. Some of the general crew were thrown down there as well. The young ones are much easier to break, and the older ones go further if it means protecting their underlings. The rest, were slaughtered.

The method varied from ship to ship. Some simply shot the Galrans that were deemed useless. Others jammed their bayonets into them and watched the life leave their eyes. A truly brutal few, used their own venom. They bit the useless Galrans and watched the horror on their face as the venom painfully ran through their body until they died. Once a ship's brig was full, they mounted their anti-aircraft weapons and fired upon any Galran they could see in the water. 2,500 prisoners were taken. An uncountable, tens of thousands of Galrans were slaughtered in their lifeboats, bobbing in the water, and thrown off the Kumo ships. Never to be talked about, were the ones who's bodies were taken to the ship's freezers. A long journey home awaited, and there were many hungry stomachs to feed.

The overflow of Kumo sailors were quickly sailed back to pearl harbor. Just as they returned to port, the sun was beginning to set. This was only day one. Pearl Harbor no longer had the means to repair a capital ship, but she could still supply them. The fleet docked in the port, much smaller than when it left, and the Pearl worked overnight to resupply the ships with ammo, fuel, food, medical supplies, and anything else they would need on the long journey to the home islands. Damage control teams, both belonging to the ships and to the Pearl performed incredible feats of repair to the damaged but functional warships. These were all bandaids, and most were in need of surgery.

As day broke the sailors awoke, lively and happy. Despite the massive losses they took this was a victory. A fleet twice their size ambushed them, and they forced them back into the ocean. For breakfast, every ship was provided with Dorayaki.This did well to further amplify their Jubilance. Crews were laughing, joking, even partying with one another in celebration of their incredible victory. Of course not all sailors joined in the joy. Many lost close shipmates. With so many dead sailors there was a lot to mourn.

Not among them, was the Empress. The mess of the RBS Mikasa was a mirror of the other ships, despite the massive damage she took on, Mikasa still floated, and her crew was celebrating that. The party came to an instant stop when a hatch opened. The room was dead quiet until someone shouted "OFFICER ON DECK!" Quickly, all the women shot up from their seats at attention. The highest ranking officer of the entire navy walked in cautiously. For the first time ever, the Empress joined the crew mess.

Reito had a smile on her face that she couldn't conceal if she wanted to, and she had a lot of training on how to do exactly that. There were a lot of reasons to smile right now, but in this moment it was pride. Not for herself, but for the women before her. Hundreds of women were eating their well earned meals but they still stood at firm attention when she entered. It wasn’t out of fear, it wasn’t out of necessity, nor even out of reflexive training.

These women had genuine respect for her. She had led the fleet into the maws of death, and pulled together an incredible victory. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she worked hard to push them back down. Her heart pounded. It was full. Full of the love she felt her sailors truly had for her. “At ease, Ladies.” Perhaps before the sailors would have returned to eating, but now they simply changed their stance to parade rest. This gave Reito an even bigger smile. “As you were.”

Most sailors stole a look at the Empress before returning to their food. Reito slowly wandered over to the Mess line. The Corpsman that treated her followed from a close distance. Twenty women were still waiting to be served. The moment she joined the line, the others jumped out of the way to allow Reito to go first. To which she put up a hand. “Absolutely not. You women deserve a hot meal much more than I.”

The women pause, not sure how to respond. “It would be our honor, Your Highness. You... you led us to victory. Please go first.”

“There would be no victory without a crew.” Reito responded, unfortunately the weakness in her voice showed. “We all had our parts to play, and you played yours perfectly.”

The women accepted this gesture and returned to line. Though the sailor directly in front of her was clearly anxious. Reito noted the woman’s collar device. “Machinist's Mate, second class?” She twitched around quickly and looked around.

The sailor, petty officer second class Emi Ikeda, was two feet taller than the young Empress. She pointed at herself. “Are you talking to me, Ma’am?”

Reito laughed a little and nodded. “Yes, Ikeda-kan.” The -kan made the woman’s heart skip a beat. ‘How could the Empress address me as an equal..?’

“Yes Ma’am. I am a machinist’s mate.” She answered, taking a step forward in line.

Reito thought for a second. “That’s a rather wide net of a job. What exactly do you do?”

Emi felt like she needed to find a reason why she was being asked this. Maybe she had to justify her job to the Empress? Surely she couldn’t just be asking to ask. “I am a powder loader for turret one.”

“Ah!” Reito nodded. “You take powder from the magazine and load it into the turret’s elevator?”

Emi smiled. She decided to just let herself be happy. Out of all the sailors on the massive Mikasa the Empress was talking to her. This didn’t completely crush her anxieties, but it helped. “Exactly!” Her voice picked up. “There’s a bit more to it. Mostly safety procedures.”

A wave of relief washed over Reito as the Sailor seemed to perk up at her conversation. “Did you know on average it takes 42 seconds to reload a Kii class turret?”

“Of course.” Emi nodded as the two moved another few steps forward in line. “That’s the standard we have to train to and maintain.”

“You and the rest of your shipmates averaged 38 seconds per reload during the battle.” Reito spoke cheerily. “A speed never recorded before with an 18 inch shell. I am not only impressed. I am incredibly thankful. Because of your incredible work we were able to dish out rapid and devastating punishment to those monkeys. I am in your, and your shipmate’s debt.”

Emi was flying on cloud nine. She was not just complimented by the Empress, she was full on thanked. Not just a general thank you. A personal thank you. Emotion flooded through the sailor and leaked out her eyes. “I am honored, Reito-kama. It was only through your leadership that we were able to succeed so grandly.”

Finally it was their turn to receive their food. Reito was in a situation in which she had never been in before. Where the fuck was she gonna sit? She had never been in a cafeteria and had no idea of the politics or unspoken rules of where to sit. She wandered down the mess with her tray in hand. Everyone wanted Reito to sit with them, but she didn’t want to pick a table that was already full. So she just followed the machinist’s mate and sat with her.

Surprisingly the table was a diverse set of rates. Machinist’s mates, electrical techs, gunner’s mates, Boatswain's Mates, Fire Control Technicians, and even a master at arms. The air of the table changed the moment Reito sat down. It became incredibly stiff and the conversation died quickly. Reito smiled awkwardly, “No need to stop on my account. This is a well earned meal, I implore you to celebrate.”

Still nothing changed as the sailors awkwardly pushed food into their mouths. Reito looked up to Emi for support. Emi smiled and turned to one of the electrical technicians. “Hey Matsuzawa, tell the Empress what you were doing when you got called back to the ship.” She spoke loudly with a clear joking tone in her voice.

Everyone looked over to Emi in shock. Especially petty officer Matsuzama. She mouthed ‘what the fuck’ over to the woman. Clearly something happened, and now Reito’s interest was piqued. “Oh my!” She allowed herself to laugh. “Should I be reporting you for missing movement?” In her weakened state, the joking intent didn’t really come across. “I’m, I’m just joking. Anything said here will stay here. On the honor of my ancestors.” She held up her hand.

Another sailor, neither Ikeda nor Matsuzama, spoke up. “MAIKO WA-HMMPH!” Her loud announcement was cut off by Matsuzama physically covering her mouth. “EMI!” She pouted. “I told you that in confidence!”

Reito felt an unusual happiness seeing her sailors act like this. It felt nostalgic in a way she couldn’t understand. “Now I have to hear it.” As any gossip hungry 16 year old would want to. “Don’t make me order you as your Empress.” She again hoped the joking tone came across.

“AAghghh!” Maiko placed her head in her hands. Everyone bit their lips in anticipation. “I... was in the middle of a one night stand.” She mumbled.

“In the middle of..” Reito prodded. “I couldn’t hear you.”

“I was in the middle of a one night stand!” Maiko shouted as her cheeks turned bright red.

The entire table erupted in laughter, including Reito. Even though the laughing flared the pain in her wound, she let her tummy lurch. Through the tears and laughter, Reito joked, “I guess he’s the one who missed movement!” The immature joke caused the table to erupt in even more uproarious laughter.

A few hours passed and breakfast had passed. The remains of the Yubari fleet departed the Pearl. The Empress had ordered the Nisshin fleet to take its place. To make it home safely the Fleet would have to stay at or around 12 knots. With 6,812 kilometers between them and Fuyonouso, it’d take almost two weeks to get home. The long trip began, and morale was high.