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>>36895856
The winter sun shines against the ice and snow, bringing vibrant colors to life. In the muted air, six shipgirls hack and plow a path across the ice. A path of calm sea wedges open in the middle of the ice sheet, spiderwebbing cracks further out as the sea lane stretches toward land.

A frosty breath flutters out. "Whew, how much further does this ice sheet go?" you wonder, as you plant a icebreaking plow to the side.

"Just a little more Maya! We'll be out of this any second!" Ryuujou shouts to the group. She's the furthest ahead, a mix of enthusiasm and competitiveness giving her a bit of second wind.

"Why OF COURSE it's any second now. Leave it to Heavy Cruisers to put their back into it!," you grumble. "Why couldn't we have gotten Ise or Hyuuga to come here with us. They're pretty strong...well they're battleships anyway."

For you this was the last stretch before Christmas, so you yank the icebreaker out into action again. It was hardly an hour after that the six of you broke through.

"We're finally done!" all of you shout in relief.

"I think this a good spot to rest for a while," Yuubari says carrying the bulk of the gear amongst everyone. "The coffee's still warm."

You could use something warm alright, but you look behind you at the supply barge inching in through the path you made. Now now, where'd everyone be without you doing the icebreaking, right?

[ ] Alright, let's anchor up on that big hunk of ice over there
[ ] Let's move further inland while we can.
[ ] Inch back to the barge, maybe a warm treat can wait, just any second now!

>>36896119
>[ ] Inch back to the barge, maybe a warm treat can wait, just any second now!

>>36896119
>[ ] Alright, let's anchor up on that big hunk of ice over there

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>36896221
>>36896390
Tiebreaker.

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>>36896221
>[X] Inch back to the barge, maybe a warm treat can wait, just any second now!

The shadow of the barge draws up as the six of you match up its crawl, pushing everything off to the side. You see fairies teetering on the bow of the ship keep a sharp watch as the ship precariously slips past the ice floes. A collision could tear into the ship hull and delay everyone for hours.

That wasn't the case, thankfully.

Soon, you hear the shrill cheers of fairies and human sailors in heavy coats at having finally passed through the icy corridor.

A fairy tips over with a megaphone, its tinny voice amplified for the six of you to hear.

"Good work! Warm up in here for a while!" she shouts. In the cold out here, that's very much the dinner bell.

"Wah! We're finally done!" shouts a squeaky voice of a girl. The pint-size Destroyer Tokitsukaze speeds up ahead of everyone , and makes a sharp turn, swinging right behind the barge. She almost falls to the side from turning too hard in her impatience, but she throws herself to the other side, and quickly gets up the ramp, plopping down all her gear and rigging in a heap.

A puppy running for the dinner bell, you think, as the teeny Destroyer, short for her class as it is, once again paints that doggy impression.

"Come on, wait for us!" Yuubari says, being dragged down by a huge amount of gear and a fairly weak engine strapped to her back. She's the first to follow, but with everyone else's help, they push on her from behind as they bring her up onto the barge first.

You clamber up last, and before long does your tiredness wash away with warm coffee, and a biscuit with the other ship girls sitting all bunched up for warmth.

>What do you want to do?

[ ] Grumble, "If we only had a decent working beaver with us..."
[ ] Ask, "So what is this village like?"
[ ] Grumble, "All this equipment, is this another KNT48 concert I didn't hear about this time?"
[ ] Other (Write-in)

>>36896792
>[ ] Grumble, "All this equipment, is this another KNT48 concert I didn't hear about this time?"

>>36896792
>[ ] Ask, "So what is this village like?"

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>>36896792

>We'll be back in an hour; Christmas basket deliveries are like that... Sorry to hear this but we might be edging on Paradise Arsenal's timeslot tonight. No hard feelings, okay?

>It looks like another tiebreaker, so if there are no other votes when I get back, we'll update.

>I'll keep you guys posted at @ twitter.com/FreQuenphase

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>36896851
>>36896876
>>36897123
>We're back.

>Coin flip time. Heads or tails, in that order of choices being posted.

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>>36898987
>[ X] Grumble, "All this equipment, is this another KNT48 concert I didn't hear about this time?"

You pass by stacks of supplies and equipment as you come out of the cold. Pasted on a ship wall is yet one of those Fleet Idol Naka-chan posters.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

You and the five other shipgirls are warming up in the ship, not too far from the cargo hold. You squeeze yourself in amongst the others, and take the mug Yuubari passes over.

"It's great we got some time inside. Having to anchor outside for coffee is just like having to go on an supply run again, or one of those chases for that lone Abyss ship someone sees" you say.

"(sometimes I wish they'd just shrug it off as their imagination playing tricks)", under your breath.

Ryuujou, being the designated flagship, and a Light Carrier-class of this six-ship fleet, rolls her eyes at you, covering part of her face with the coffee mug and the other under the lip of her cap.

"All of this," as you sip, "Is all for the idol concert? Christmas tour? That KNT48 thing everyone else is working on?" You thumb back in the direction of that poster you saw.

"Oh, that?" Ryuujou asks, "It's not on this ship they're carrying stuff for an idol visit."

"Maya, most of the stuff in the crates are supplies and a few medicines," Yuubari sighs. "I made sure of that. You're not a fan of this whole idol thing, are you?"

"...no, sometimes I wish I could've made it, sometimes I wish we never even bothered with the idea. Sometimes I wonder how we shipgirls end up doing just about everything...."

"...but you know, I'm glad to have you guys here! We're gonna get this done sooner than usual! Especially with flatty here and two working dogs!" you laugh, patting Ryuujou on the back.

The girl in black, and in army clothing, Akitsu Maru, puffs up, "It's the pride of an army dog to work earnestly!" she thumps her chest. If it weren't for the glimpse of her chest, you'd think, just like Ryuujou [1/2]

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>>36901173
[2/2]

that Akitsu Maru was a boy ---or at least the first day she arrived. To some degree, the cut of her uniform and the hair has a look that adds to the boyishness of she carries herself; You've heard of some charming boys with that style of hair...

>What do you say?
>[ ] "I could fall for a boy like that"
>[ ] "A little too wispy and ghostly to pass for a boy"
>[ ] Other (write-in)

On the other hand, the jab doesn't fall flat on Tokitsukaze. "I bet you wish you had a bunny or a beaver as your worker," she says.

>>36901434
>[ ] "I could fall for a boy like that"

>>36901434
>>[ ] "A little too wispy and ghostly to pass for a boy"
>"Damn, where's the admiral. I want to jump his bones!"

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>36901468
>>36901684
Face of the coin, or Back of the coin?

>How about that? It's been a lot of coinflips and defaults...
>WRITING.

>>36901468
>>[X] "I could fall for a boy like that"

"Maybe a bunny or a beaver wouldn't make us as lucky, even if they might be good," you say.

On the other hand, maybe a wispy boy like that might be nice to fall for. Maybe he's a good opposite to you, with the way you're like.

"Leave it to a barbarian to like beavers," Ryuujou snickers.

Tch.

---

The six of you strap skis to your shoes. It's not perfect, but it's a solution partway to getting across land for a while. Some shoes with skates, that some shipgirls use, aren't very good for going across land. It would've been an option to simply use shoes but that's going to make you all sink knee-deep in the snow with all the stuff you're carrying.

At the back of the formation, Yuubari offloads some of her gear onto a sled.

"This should be enough to spread the weight evenly," she says. "The engines should be able to pull all the way to the town at this rate," she says.

The six of you are waved along, as you pass through a nearby fishing dock. Along a long winding route, the six shipgirls are trailed by a long convoy, until you hit deeper snow. With shovels at hand, you and the others push away piles and piles of snow, clearing the road again. It's not much, but as you see the gleam of a lantern from the town meeting with yours, it's good to see people able to help themselves.

At the foot of the town, you can barely make out the shape of the town square, as some houses are still being dug out from the snow.

This winter storm's got your work cut out for you. [1/2]

>>36902108
[2/2]

The shape of the town was no good for the Christmas. But with your help it could be remedied in time. Slowly, the snow was dug out, and by using your engines, you got people warm and safe again. Soon, the lights came back up, and finally, the town square was brought back to shape. It wasn't before long until things became almost business as usual, as warm lights stood against the deep winter evening.

With your mittened hands tucked inside your coat, you could finally sneak in a bit of liberty. Not all too bad in a day's work, huh? Under the warm lights, you remembered -- this season was going to be Akitsu Maru's first Christmas with the shipgirls. The nights went out, dark and cold for a while until only recently when the fleets started with the winter storm relief. Having a warmly-lit night now would be something else for her.

Amisdt the hustle of the arrival of Christmas, you see children playing again, but mixed in the crowds, there seems to be an odd kid, face very covered. Either that, or you were tired. There was probably something else you've got waiting tonight.

[ ] Wait a minute, let's follow that kid.
[ ] Look for Ryuujou; let's see that we can actually take a long enough break this time.
[ ] Find Akitsu Maru; shouldn't she look forward to her first, proper Christmas?
[ ] Other ideas? (write-in)

>>36902363
>[ ] Wait a minute, let's follow that kid.

>>36902363
>[ ] Wait a minute, let's follow that kid.

>>36902363
>[ ] Wait a minute, let's follow that kid.

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>>36902436
>>36902477
>>36902597
>[X] Wait a minute, let's follow that kid.

Wow, that was quick, but that kid looks a little suspicious. You trail the kid, but every few seconds you seem to lose sight, sometimes as that kid ducks corners.

Maybe that kid has eyes in the back of his head.

A hand tugs at your coat; it's just one of the town kids. "Hey miss, we were looking for you. We wanna give this present to you, for helping out. You're one of those shipgirls, right?" asks this girl.

"Yeah, I'm one of them of course," you flash your best, charming smile while you're at it; it's not often you get to make that impression.

Gift in tow, you try to find the others. Ryuujou's the first one you've run into at the edge of the supply camp.

"Hey, the kids are pretty nice to give us stuff!" you say, holding up a box. It rattles a bit, but it's probably because it's something simple, you think. You feel it roll back a bit inside, but that's probably the way things are.

"I'm just hoping they'll let us slide with this and not put in some pile to even it across everybody at base," she says, as she puts her box among the few others, you as well.

Close to dinner, the whole place feels a bit off.

---where are the fairies? From the ones working on the barge? Didn't the town have a bunch of fairies? Where are they all?

In the distance you swear you see some of the lights flicker on and off.

[ ] Check your rigging, there's probably a fairy still inside.
[ ] Ask around town and see if anyone else noticed.
[ ] Ask Ryuujou and the others about the gifts.

>>36902828
>[ ] Ask around town and see if anyone else noticed.

>>36902828
>[ ] Ask around town and see if anyone else noticed.

>>36902828
>[ ] Check your rigging, there's probably a fairy still inside.

Writing.

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>>36902933
>>36902992
>>[X ] Ask around town and see if anyone else noticed.

That's odd. You saw a few fairies around town, up until just now. With Ryuujou, Ushio and Tokitsukaze in tow, you prowl around town trying to double check if there's anything really going on.

You flag down the first person you see. Didn't notice anything, he said. You try another, and another. Finally, someone says he kind of noticed something was off. After a few more oblivious adults were asked, another one mentions a missing fairy friend, but thinks it wasn't anything.

One of the kids however, is distressed at this.

"I'm not too good at this with kids," you say. "Ushio, you can, right?"

Ushio manages to get something out of the kid between snot-dripping sobs.

Ugh, eww.

"This kid, she said something about some of the fairies missing after they got the present boxes," Ushio says.

>What do you do?
>[ ] Let's ask one of the other kids about the present boxes
>[ ] Check back to our own pile of boxes.
>[ ] Get back to camp and put on our rigging again, it's the only way our fairies can be safe and get our gear running in a pinch.

>>36903825
>[ ] Get back to camp and put on our rigging again, it's the only way our fairies can be safe and get our gear running in a pinch.

>>36903825
>[ ] Check back to our own pile of boxes.
Think I know where this is going.

>>36903825
>[ ] Check back to our own pile of boxes.

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>>36903960
>>36904104

"Did you notice it too?" you ask.

"Then if this is all true... then the only fairies that won't be missing are the ones inside my scroll," Ryuujou says.

"That's right!' Tokitsukaze yelps." After all, Light Carrier-types like Ryuujou store their planes in a scroll, as paper cutouts!"

Carriers like Kaga and Akagi that have flight decks where fairies could hide, like the rest of shipgirl rigging, you recall. That means Akitsu Maru has some of her fairies still safe, since she carries a scroll with her after that remodelling the other month!

The three of you run back to camp. Your pile of Christmas presents seems to be gone, but a short distance away, you can see what's left of the boxes.It looks like that the boxes looked like they were carried off and knocked down. When Ryuujou takes a closer look at the boxes, there's a hole punched in the side. She runs over to her scroll, left untouched the way she left it.

The rigging however, seems to have been tipped over and messed with. You rock it and tap on it, and there are no fairies.

Meanwhile, you call over Yuubari who seems to have been busy with something else the rest of the night.

"Presents? No, I haven't gotten one. I didn't think of sticking around town. We do have fireworks and rockets to set up here," she says.

Leave it to her to be caught up doing something mechanic-like.

When she turns the boxes over, she notices something. "From the way it looks, something ripped a hole...from the inside. There's something like teeth that made a hole."

"So you think something inside the boxes made the fairies go missing?" you ask.

You hear the screams of fairies nearby.

>What do you do?
>[ ] HURRY! We could catch it in time!
>[ ] Send a plane to chase them ahead of you, they're faster.
>[ ] Stay here guys, I can do this!
>[ ] Quick thinking! Grab a can or a box!

>>36904857
>[ ] HURRY! We could catch it in time!

>>36904857
>>[ ] Send a plane to chase them ahead of you, they're faster.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>36904857
>>36904946
>>36905206
Flipping a coin here to tiebreak.

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>>36905206
>>[X] Send a plane to chase them ahead of you, they're faster.

"Come on! Get a plane going! It'll be faster... come on, go!" you shout the first thing in your head.

Ryuujou runs over to the scroll. With a strong flick, it unfurls as long as a rug.

Tch.

Tch!

Damn does that take long! Longer than shooting a damn arrow if it came to that!

You can't stand it, so you race ahead on foot. Merely seconds later, you hear the buzz of a plane gaining on you, and in a moment, overtaking you in the dimly-lit camp.

As you follow the plane, the fairies being chased come into sight, and soon afterward, the impish thing chasing it, a strange, eyeless, roly-poly imp with teeth and a sack. The plane starts to swoop in on the pursuit. The imp-thing, distracted by two tempting prey, skips back and forth between the plane and the escaping fairy, but never quite catches up to neither. And then with leap...

WHAM!

Your foot comes down on the imp, knocking it out cold.

The imp dangles from your hand, for all to examine it with. Yuubari is the first to get a good look at it under a light.

"Yeah, this thing looks like some Abyssal creature of some kind, but it seems intelligent enough to do all this".

"Sneaking in a box, waiting for the right time to chew right through, and kidnap fairies and stick them in a sack?" Ryuujou asks.

"Yes, all of that. It seems made just for that. But why?"

>What do you do?
>[ ] Go back to town, ask kids about this thing you've caught.
>[ ] Ask the other crew about this.
>[ ] Let's find out for real and bait them with a fairy in the middle of town.

>>36905965
>>[ ] Ask the other crew about this.

>>36905965
>[ ] Go back to town, ask kids about this thing you've caught.
Whered they get the gift.

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>>36905965
>>36906142
>>[X] Ask the other crew about this.

If the four of you found one of these purpose-made imps, then maybe there's other people who managed to catch onto this ploy in time. You look around for other ship crew, who might have been given "gifts".

As Ryuujou walks at your side, she keeps making glances at it. "From the way it looks, I swear I've seen this before," she says. For you, it looks like a cartoonish bomb taking on teeth and a few more body parts. On top of that it's taken a few more festive markings on its body.

Suddenly, the imp starts to come to, as it starts snarling and struggling to get away. It tries to swing around, trying to nip at your fingers. Oh fuck, you slam it against the nearest wall, a hammering metallic crash heard across the ship.

It won't stay down. Clang! Clang clang! You beat it again and again as you struggle between keeping it in your grasp and not getting your fingers chewed on. After a few more beatings, the imp is dead cold. For a second back there you clearly felt some teeth trying to make for your fingers in a lucky strike.

The three of you find one of the merchant seamen taking a smoke break. From asking other seamen, they talked about that guy being around to get one of those town presents. You flag him down for some questions.

"Yeah, you can't catch a good smoke when on the job," he says. "Only good chance would be like right now."

"So I slipped in town and bummed a cig off some guy earlier, but one of the kids came up with presents, so I thought, 'why not'? Can't turn down something like this, right? Thought the captain would be getting something later from the mayor, so it'd turn out alright in the end anyway."

"You lucked out for want of a smoke. So where did you find the little monster?" Ryuujou asks.

"One of you other shipgirls, the one in black managed to help me beat it down and toss it an empty drum. Damned thing was jumping around like some giant grasshopper." [1/2]

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>>36908586

They stole it from an Abyssal Shipgirl who just wanted to spend Christmas with her sister. Pic related.

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>>36908763
[2/2]

Following that seaman's directions, you come across the steel drum alright, wrapped in chains. On top is Akitsu Maru on all fours trying to wrestle down the barrel, the teeny Abyssal imp bouncing around the insides like a maddened...steel ball thing.

"Stand back, this is dangerous!" she says.

Ryuujou, Tokitsukaze and Yuubari gawk at Akitsu, holding on with her whold body, just like a monkey and a precious coconut!

This is no good, no good. You find yourself palming your face over this. Well, she does look heavy enough to stop the drum from bouncing wholesale. Maybe you need a "boost" to get through this night, or maybe rubbing your temples a bit might help.

"Ready?" you ask the three.

"Let's just kill it." Yuubari says.

Outside you drag the drum to a clear spot. Right behind you, Akitsu Maru and Ryuujou wave off everyone else to stay clear, crewmen and fairies included. and blow it up with one of your emergency supplies of munitions, "just in case". A flash and quake rock the night temporarily. Left behind is a crater of bare earth, scorched clean of snow all around. You'll probably have to explain that later to the townsfolk.

"Let's not make the town panic over this, okay? It's probably the worst thing we can let happen tonight," Ushio warns. "No firefights close to Christmas?"

You sigh, "No firefights, no firefights, okay".

>[X] Go back to town, ask kids about this thing you've caught.
>Alright, let me line this up for the next updates.

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>>36909319
>[X] Go back to town, ask kids about this thing you've caught.

The six of you split up and poke around town for questions -- namely the boxes being ripped open from inside, and how did these gift boxes containing Abyss imp things manage to slip into town.

One story talks about fairies being chased by some metal ball with arms and a sack that kids manage to drive away before it sneaked off somewhere.

Other stories, by several people have given different ideas on how the gifts got around, but there's a certain story that sticks out. One of the kids told you about a certain suspicious someone:

"Well you see, there's this one girl who speaks all funny. She showed up tonight, but I swear she was in town before the snow storm too! But I saw that kid tonight tell the other kids to find you people and give them your share of presents too!".

"What does she look like?" Ushio asks.

"She was always having this weird smile, and a hat I think?..."

"So, kind of like this?" as Ryuujou pulls her smile end to end with her fingers and does her impression of a toothy grin.

"Yeah! Kind of like that!"

Ryuujou shows off that funny grin.

"I have no idea what you're thinking," you say, befuddled.

"We'll have to catch her somehow, but I think I have an idea. We'll need Yuubari and Akitsu's help for this!"

>To be continued in our Part 2 of the Christmas Special! Thanks for showing up tonight!
>twitter @FreQuenphase

>>36910108
>Archived, and also saved as a single file. Keep posted, stay warm!