>>115418
>Mission Preparation
Let's get this shindig going.

>>115418
>Mission Preparation

We're already late, no need to waste time on small talk.

>>115418
>Mission Preparation

>>115418
>>Mission Preparation

>>115418
>Mission Preparation

File: Mission Prep Pretty Much.jpg (414 KB, 1920x1080)

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‘Sir, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to get straight to mission prep.’

He gives you a large smirk, ‘You don’t need to get all business-like to get on this old man’s good side, son.’ You hesitate for a bit – that had not been your intention at all. ‘But you’re right. We’ll save the small talk for later. Come on.’

As he finishes his words, a klaxon – not loud enough to be annoying, but certainly noticeable, reaches your ears. Some of the personnel around you, around tables and the crates in the large tent, take notice too, but return to their task. The Admiral himself raises his head for a bit, before grimly nodding and motioning for you to follow him. The klaxon still sounds, and a rumbling accompanies it, but you don’t pay attention – you follow the Admiral to a specific section of the tent, past pushing people and loud discussions.

It stands in stark contrast to the rest of the tent.

For one, the center of the section has a circular table made of electronics and the like, surrounded by hi-tech displays not unlike what you had seen in your tour of the Base prior to the attack – back when you had taken part in the screening process. There is a second table, heavily-connected by wires leading out of the section, where tiny fairies squeak to one another – you can’t make out what they say, but as soon as they’re done, another display comes online. The displays show numbers and scans of contextual targets – some of them, you notice, are listed under MAIZURU and OMINATO.

If it had not been apparent, you were definitely in the big leagues now.

‘Commander, your operation hours begin in less than four hours; as you know, your mission is to infiltrate and secure developed tech from Aquarius.’ You nod – he continues, ‘You know it’s hazardous, so I don’t need to go into detail as to how your girls on how carefully they handle it – only that they need to… and very.’

He says that last part with emphasis. The Admiral then gestures a finger to the fairies, who disappear under the table and bring out a clipboard over to him.

‘You’ll be hooked up to the RAY Interface for calibration prior to your launch. Be warned, though, the RAY Interface is a little ad-hoc, so you might find the controls on it a little bit wonkier than it was during the demo.’ He flips the sheet over, ‘Your team is already undergoing prep in Prep Dock XJ-9.’

He turns away, and you open your mouth to speak.

He snaps right back, throwing you a look.

‘Wait, you do remember the demo, right, son?’

> ‘How’s my team doing?’
> ‘Can you go over the demo one more time, sir?’
> ‘This place is pretty high-end.’
> ‘Are there any additional parameters before I roll out?’
> ‘I'm ready and able, sir.'

>>115549
>> ‘Are there any additional parameters before I roll out?’

>>115549
>‘Can you go over the demo one more time, sir?’

>>115549
>> ‘How’s my team doing?’

I swear I thought your image was someone holding a glowing blue ball in their hand before I opened it.

>>115562
OOC: ...What?

>>115569
I'm dumb.

>>115418
whp are the two shipgirls in the large paintings on the wall.. I know the left one is IJN mikasa but who the fucks the one on the right.... the last bit of the kanji would be "we" but I can't make out the first part

>>115574
https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1863970

>>115549
>> ‘How’s my team doing?’

File: TTK.jpg (50 KB, 340x503)

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‘How’s my team doing?’ Your first though is to your Squadron, and the Admiral raises both his eyes in surprise at your statement.

The Admiral opens up an impressive holographic display with a dash of his fingers – on it, you see images of Shigure, Murakumo, Tenryuu and your Squadron Leader, Nachi. Along with the images you see several bars reminiscent of those loading bars on those computer games of yours with designations – they were being armed and prepped, as Nagato had told them to be before.

‘Your team’s doing okay. They’re going through the preparation process right now; I believe that the fairies and personnel have just started with their armament calibration.’ He looks at you solemnly. ‘We’re giving them what we can right now. Don’t be disappointed if the guns don’t pack a punch as big you see in those ads – it’s all we could cobble together after the assault.’ He taps on one of the windows, which showcase a fairy and a few schematics of a weapon – a KanMusu Weapon. ‘Discretion is advised in weapon usage – if you can, try not to provoke a full-scale firefight.’

You sigh slightly – you had expected as much. It’s a wonder they were able to spare some Kantai Steel for your prosthetic – but then again… you didn’t know how much or how little they needed for you. Whatever it is, you’re thankful for what you have – even if it isn’t much to go by right now.

‘I understand, sir.’ You nod.

The Admiral leans over the table, biting his lip as if to hold back something. He looks at you seriously.

‘Commander, I need to ask you something.’ He breathes out, and you can hear the puzzlement in his voice.

‘Yes, sir?’ You stand at attention.

‘Now, far from it to be in my character to actually question the decisions of those under me on the choice of their teammates,’ you feel something flip in your chest, ‘but is there a particular reason that three of your four current Squaddies – one of which is your Squadron Leader – happen to have questionable psych profiles and a history of disorder and dissent in the military and that, knowing this, chose them to be the members of your Division?’

You really don’t know how to answer that.

‘I’m just saying,’ he raises he hands, as if in surrender, ‘you chose a pretty high springboard for your first jump is all, son. That’s it.’

‘I think, sir,’ you finally say, ‘that you can trust me with my decision to include them in my squad; and that I’m thankful you were able to assign them to me – I won’t break your faith, sir.’

‘I know you won’t,’ he crosses his arms, ‘but they might break more than your two front teeth.’

He takes out his pipe, pointing it at you… pointedly.

> ‘Can you go over the demo one more time, sir?’
> ‘This place is pretty high-end.’
> ‘Are there any additional parameters before I roll out?’
> ‘I'm ready and able, sir.'

>>115662
> ‘Are there any additional parameters before I roll out?’

>>115662
>> ‘Are there any additional parameters before I roll out?’

File: I Love This Game Too Much(...).png (326 KB, 600x375)

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'Sir, I'd like to inquire whether or not there are any other parameters to add before I roll out.' Your arms uncross themselves – you have a slight worry of what is to come, inexperience or no – and you had told yourself time and time before the now that you are going to be zooming with one eye closed. ‘I’ve gone through the Compound notes and blueprints, and I understand it somewhat – but is there anything else I need to know about this before we start?’

The Admiral lets out wry chuckle, leaning against the display. Some of the fairies frown as he sits down on their display. Some of them even, cutely, if you may add, try to lift him up from his makeshift seat. He doesn’t budge.

‘Not beyond what the uppercrust tells me,’ he takes off his hat, running a hand through his hair – you can see the age of years on his brow, ‘and they don’t tell me a whole lot more than I should know.’

He chuckles again, and you regard him – there’s annoyance there, but not at you; or, at least, you hope it’s not mostly at you.

‘Anything I should know, then, sir?’

‘You know the Compound’s seen better days,’ he walks over to the display, ‘and I don’t know much about architecture and whatnot about the structure if that’s what you’re after, but if you’re gonna ask me, I’m wondering why the staff are MIA. That’s not even going into detail on Abyssal activity there.’

He opens up a window for the both of you – those things that you had encountered before are in a number all around the Compound, some of them climbing on its foundations like demonic cockroaches. You approach the screen to see an electronic copy of your report with a few addenda – mostly notes on the activity of the Abyssals since. There’s not much of a change; you turn to the Admiral.

‘More than expected?’

‘No – it’s exactly as reported, but they’re not aggressively guarding the place or anything,’ he taps on the screen again, ‘it feels like they’re scouting it for themselves too.'.’

You see a few pictures – how the Admiralty got ahold of them you don’t know – of the things probing the outer Compound. Most of them are still in the water or along the foundations, but you see that they’re crawling over the office levels and peering into open windows.

‘Ah, anything else I should know about the tech we’re retrieving?’

‘Other than secure and contain and the standard don’t touch, I don’t have much else to go on.’ He taps his pipe against the metal of the display. ‘Which is weird – since I have access to all C and B Level Projects.’

Something catches your interest.

‘What about Level A?’

The Admiral gives you a look that makes you feel chills roll down your spine.

‘Let’s pray it doesn’t come to that.’

> ‘Can you go over the demo one more time, sir?’
> ‘This place is pretty high end.’
> ‘I’m ready and able, sir.’

>>115707
>‘Can you go over the demo one more time, sir?’

>>115707
> ‘Can you go over the demo one more time, sir?’

File: I Have A Clear Obsession (...).png (629 KB, 1254x836)

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‘You know what, sir?’ You embarrassingly scratch the back of your head with the prosthetic; there really were no two ways around this. ‘If it’s all right with you, I’d like to go over the RAY demo with you again.’

The Admiral nods.

He wipes away the current window, bringing up what looks like trident-shaped craft in 3-D imaging. If you’re impressed, you don’t show it – you’re concentrated on the details that come out in small pop-ups around the craft. Clumsy and sleek, compact and somehow bulk, this is the unmanned drone that served as the battle chariot for KanMusu operations.

In another pop-up, you could see the RAY Interface being prepped by personnel and annoyed fairies.

This was your place on that battlefield.

‘As you know, this is the RAY. Our model’s a bit older than advertised, but she’s still as good as it gets. Top speed of 150 miles an hour, standard fairy magic makes up its design. Engines, system; what you saw in Basic, it’s there. Your remote system is fully installed and prepped, but you’re not gonna be able to jam it like you usually would, so cut the stress on the thrusters.’ He tapped a particular ‘One hitch, though; this model, one of the few that we could actually manage to reactivate is devoid of a lot of your features – a lack of an escape system, . It also doesn’t have a Retreat System.’

If you had been drinking something, it would have exited your mouth by now.

‘Excuse me?’

You cry out in sheer disbelief – Fairy Magic had shown the ability to teleport the girls safely into the craft after a certain span – it made for easier retrieval of Squads, and was one of the most impressive pieces of technology that had been developed in the war – it’s one of the things that positively fascinated you prior to your failed sign-up.

‘You won’t be able to teleport the girls back in 15 minutes just like in training – you’re gonna have to physically pick them up or have them come back to you.’

You fight something at the back of your throat, feeling something uncomfortable reaching and dominating your vocal cords as pressure not known before comes onto you. It is a nauseating and frustrating feeling, and you feel desperation as you look to the Admiral.

He only frowns at you.

‘I thought the details were clear on that we are not up to a hundred percent.’ You fight back the urge to let out an outrage in the understatement. ‘So you’re slower, have no automated retrieval button, have a clunkier control state from the feedback room, and not much Magic to spare for long-term operations. From launch time to retrieval, this op starts and ends in six hours, tops.’

That, you think, while tight, you could perform – if there weren’t any hitches.

You had the sinking feeling, though, that there would be.

> ‘This place is pretty high end.’
> ‘I’m ready and able, sir.’

>>115809
> ‘I’m ready and able, sir.’
Time to dive on in then.

>>115809
> ‘I’m ready and able, sir.’

OOC: That's it for my temporary burst of updates. Back to the grind, and I'll try to have something up in the space of... I don't know, 6 hours? Take care of yourselves till then.

>>115832
Take care.

>>115809
> ‘This place is pretty high end.’

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‘I’m ready and able, sir.’

The Admiral looks at you, the age of years forming upon his features.

‘No, kid, you’re not,’ He lets out a small smile, tapping on the holographic windows on the screen, ‘but no one really is when the moment comes.’ The display shows a red, beeping dot, which the Admiral taps. The display shifts to a more general-looking menu. ‘Yuubari, this is the Division Commander.’

A silver-haired woman in a female officer's uniform startles you as she walks past you from behind, offering the Admiral a salute. You keep your eye on her before noticing she is flanked by four large MPs clad in what looked to have come out of the page of a Special Forces manual – not that you could say much; you are more overdressed and out of place than they are in your grey fatigues.

‘Admiral,’ she begins, throwing a glance at you, ‘the baseline calibrations for the RAY Interface are attuned to 80 percent of the setting. The feedback’s a little rugged, but anyone who’s driving is going to be okay so long as they don’t start turning sharp corners. Check-ups are on-going and will be finished in one hour pending anything else we need to do – but she’s ready to be fitted and loaded.’

‘Good timing, Yuubari.’ He says gruffly, nodding in your direction. Yuubari turns to you and offers a salute, which you awkwardly return – she’s a little bit like Nagato in the regard of stiffness, even though the Battleship had a clear line and advantage when it came to it, ‘Yuubari, this is the Division Commander. Commander, this is Yuubari. She’s in charge of restoration of the town and the refurbishment of our gear.’

‘Not doing a good job so far,’ she doesn’t crack a smile, but she does offer you a hand.

You put your right hand out, to which she frowns.

‘Flesh, please.’ She gestures to your left hand, which, puzzled, you do offer.

She grabs it roughly and places it on a sort-of clipboard only about the size of an exercise book, which sends a searing pain through the surface of your hand. You pull it away, glaring and wincing at her in an instant. As you do, you hear a positive beep.

‘Thanks,’ she says, and walks away – before turning around, glaring at you, ‘are you coming or not?’

You turn to the Admiral, who gestures for you to follow her.

You do so, and the four MP follow behind you – somehow you feel even more sandwiched than you previously did heading through the tent, but you don’t say anything to them. You find yourself breaking into a light jog to keep up with Yuubari, whose face grows sour by step.

She taps on the device a few more times.

‘Come on,’ she picks up the pace, ‘I want to hurry this up. With Tenryuu gone, I’m filling in for her,’ She grits her teeth, adding sourly, 'among other things.'

Tenryuu was Quartermaster. Right.

>‘What did you just do?’
>Try to initiate small talk
>Follow her silently.

>>117190
>‘What did you just do?’

>>117190
>>Follow her silently.

>>117190
>‘What did you just do?’
Followed by
>Try to initiate small talk

>>115707
>I Should Play Long War.png
See you next month.
>>117190
"So you're the one I can thank for the maintenance people that showed up at our barracks on such short notice?"

>>117190
>‘What did you just do?’
>>117310
Lets not antagonize the overworked shipgirl.

>>117608
This wasn't sarcasm.

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‘What’d you just do to me?’

A surplus buggy zooms past you as the both of you walk past the tent and the shed, from which mechanical sounds are clearly coming from. Yuubari doesn’t say anything for a bit, but you can see her clear frustration with the device now; she taps it furiously as MP behind you bumps into you. You look to your back, surprised you both didn’t barrel.

‘Took your bio-scan, imprinted your data into this crappy slate. Can’t let you drive a car without your keys.’ She grits her teeth visibly, furiously tapping the pad until it lets out a positive beep.

Yuubari lets out a whoop of joy, putting the device away into a small pouch – she looks to you, now in a slightly better mood if the crinkle in her forehead and upward turn of her lips is any indication. She takes out a small notepad and leafs through it. The both of you approach the shed next to the Command Tent, which, upon closer inspection, looks more like a black box of epic proportions than anything else. The entrance flaps open, to reveal two more MPs, who turn in a stiff salute. Yuubari enters the structure – and you follow suit.

It’s a makeshift shipyard.

Or at least, that’s as close as you can make of it.

In the center of it, was the RAY, hovering above the water, dormant as can be. It is connected to several pylons and cables that make up the majority of the structure – what you had merely thought was a simple large shed. It looks like the head of a demon in a sort of strange slumber – the cables and tubes that connect to it look like some sort of life-support device, keeping it alive. Upon closer inspection, it looks like it has seen better days – the ship has been hastily repaired, and it showed.

A loud rumble echoes in the structure and the fairies grow agitated.

‘Commander.’

Yuubari calls for you, and you find yourself guided to what looks like a large box, eight feet high, across and wide, hooked up to several other boxes on the small balcony that overlooks the RAY. Your eyes widen as you realize just what it is.

It is the RAY Interface.

The door opens, and you see the cockpit, dark save for a few green lights beeping – very unlike the interactive interface you had seen. You step inside - !

UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL. UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL

‘Hey, did I tell ya to do anything?’ She seems to drop formalities, pushing you back with her considerable strength. Yuubari glares at you and you raise your hands in apology. ‘Give it a sec. I have to feed the Interface your bio-scan before you can even breathe in the damn thing.’

Yuubari slots the data slate somewhere on the side of the cockpit, and a green light lights up the inside of the Interface.

‘Go on.’

>Go Inside
>Inquire on the Interface

>>117902
>Inquire on the Interface

>>117902
>Inquire on the Interface
May as well

>>117902
>Inquire on the Interface

>>117902
>Inquire on the Interface
"Now that you've shown me the way the sales people designed the system, could you show me how to start it when the keyhole fails and which is the button to blow everything up?"

>>117940
>You already know how to start it. You just failed the shit out of your audition. Remember, you're not a newbie - you're just a failed applicant.

>>117902
>>Inquire on the Interface

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You open your mouth to say something.

'Commander, you're not going to tell me you don't know how to operate this thing, right?'

‘No,’ you relent, ‘but would you be able to tell me on the specifics of this thing? The only RAY Interface I’m mostly familiar with is the one where there’s a lot of standing up. This looks like one of those - !’

‘Older models.’ Yuubari cuts you off, the impatience in her voice rising. ‘The Admiral did tell you just how much of the older stuff got reactivated, correct?’

‘I suppose.’

She lets out a grunt, rubbing the back of her neck, before smacking the box strongly. The MPs accompanying you jolt slightly – evidently they’d been around her for a while.

‘This RAY Interface is the Sankaku KYS-0447.’ She starts, as if reading a manual, crossing her arms and regarding you, ‘It’s a bit jukier than the new stuff, but it still runs like it normally would on the standard interface you’re used to – you’ll be getting same options, same menus, pretty much. The cockpit, as you know, has a thruster interaction module, guidance state and your standard holographic interface which you’re going to use to maneuver ship all smooth-like.’ She gives the cockpit one last look, ‘This one’s a little old, but you’ll be able to experience Fairy feedback fairly decently, given the make.’

‘How attuned is this RAY Interface with the Fairy magic?’

With normal RADAR and conventional warfare useless against the Abyssals, the use of Fairy Magic had been used to supplement the need for communication on the warfront and enable a clear line of command for operating KanMusu – the RAY provided a go-between as a drop-off craft and a RADAR array as though it was back in the old days. You didn’t need a history book to know the one you were about to get your hands around was one of the first models of KanMusu Command Modules.

As the Admiral had said: Ad-Hoc.

‘Not very.’

You fight back a curse. Definitely ad-hoc.

‘The KanMusu RADAR Fairies are attuned with the ship’s feedback, right?’ You inquire, inspecting the cockpit yourself – it look like it would suit your bulk, at least, ‘For visual and all that?’

As if answering your question, a fairy pops out, a happy glimmer upon its features, landing on your prosthetic’s shoulder.

‘It’ll bounce,’ Yuubari assures, albeit with hesitation, before continuing, ‘but how smoothly, you’re going to be the first to find out, Commander.’

You both share a gaze, and then a wry smile comes upon your lips.

‘We’re at the bottom of the barrel, aren’t we?’

‘Only way is up, Commander.’

You get into the cockpit; it’s a lot more cramp looks, which says a lot about just how it is. You somehow manage to wiggle your way into the seat – the fairy floats around, squeaking before landing on your lap.

A hum reaches your ears as something turns on.

Showtime.

>Request Calibration
>Request Readout
>Bring RAY Online

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>>118238
>Request Calibration

I love me some calibrations.

>>118238
>Cool, it works. Carefully turn it off, get out of the thing, send a message to the doc that you lost your pills and go have lunch with the team.

>>118351
This is why we can't have write-ins.

>>118238
>Request Calibration

>>118465
OP didn't answer when asked if we'll have to micromanage pills resupplying.

It's an effort to keep our backlog manageable, and to control the risk of putting mentally unstable people together.

>>118238
>>Request Calibration

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You bite your lip, remembering how the instructor had gone through the phase step-by-step. You calm your nerves down. You tell yourself the only real difference between this particular interface and the other one is that it’s a great deal more claustrophobic than the one the instructor’s use. For a moment, you wonder if you’re not just a glorified bus driver, but only for a moment.

‘Request Calibration.’

A small hum resonates in the cramped room, and small lights begin to beep and flash under the green glow of the instruments in standby. You feel a certain discomfort as the calibration – the attunement of your person to the RAY System. A pulse rushes through you as you grip the arm of the chair roughly and tightly.

It’s hard to describe the sensation that goes through you, but it is a strange wave, a vibration that comes upon your being – the instructors and proctors had always mentioned a discomfort when one was attuning, if they could at all to the RAY Interface. You grit your teeth for a moment, suddenly finding that the seat growing rougher and harder as the seconds ticked.

The sound of humming grows, until it stops in an abrupt blare of error.

A holographic display comes into your view, not unlike that which the Admiral had used before, only with windows filled with crosses and white lines. The compartment shifts from green to red and you find the discomfort gone – at your knees, the small screens show an exclamation mark with a detailed warning. You raise your hand to tap onto one of the holographic icons, only to have the fairy that had accompanied you inside, throwing a tantrum on the dashboard.

CALIBRATION ERROR

CALIBRATION ERROR

You raise yourself, trying to guess where you went wrong.

‘Commander!’

Yuubari knocks on the door.

‘You need to put the band on!’ She says with a clear annoyance in her voice, muffled as it is.

The fairy looks to you, and you at it – and you notice her pointing at that particular band and stomping her feet. You gingerly pick it up – it was more of a helmet than a band, with the top gone – and set it on your head. One size fits all it isn’t, but while a little tight, the fairy’s thumbs up at you indicates this time you had it right.

You raise your hand to one of the windows on the display, tapping it – the visuals go away, and you’re covered in the red glow of the lights now; you breathe in and out, and while Yuubari says something outside, you can tell it’s not intended for you. Your name isn’t “We’re Doomed”.

‘Request Calibration.’

CALIBRATION INITIALIZING.

ATTUNEMENT – 1%

The fairy drops on your knee, cheering as the discomfort, now doubled, courses through you. Most calibrations had taken fifteen minutes. You wonder how long this one would take.

You get your answer an hour later. Annoyed and bored.

CALIBRATION COMPLETE.

WELCOME, COMMANDER

>Request Readout
>Bring RAY Online

>>121152
>Request Readout

>>121152
>>Request Readout

>>121152
>Request Readout

>>121152
>>Request Readout

>>121152
>Request Readout

Poi~

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Finally able to raise yourself to do something, you lean a bit forward, that pulsing sensation now gone. You tap on the display a few times, finding it a bit surprising to see your vitals on one window. Elevated pulse, overall green – it’s typical, really. You bring up the ship’s schematics, seeing a curiously empty detail of the craft you are to be piloting.

‘Request readout.’

REQUEST GRANTED

The glue glow of the interface comes before you, and you see several graphs and bars moved to either side of your view. Even for an older model, it still has that impressive technical presence. There’s a thruster display, an attitude indicator, some stabilizer fields and a 3-D map of the RAY on one side. You raise your hand to the projection, tapping a few buttons that you hope are keyed in to what you had expected of them.

The display for the engines pops – you see two structures with prompt-able section, tapping on them to see that they had been restored to base status, at least. That is one thing that you had hoped would turn out right – it would be embarrassing to actually attempt a launch now and only have it fail.

You close the window and bring up another one to display the set of thrusters. You find the calibrations had been done to synchronize the ship to your own sensations and whims – a sort of telepathic connection between man and machine – just as was shown before. However, due to the outdated design of the cockpit, some functions require a manual fix or assignment.

You bring up a window, rerouting commands with a push of a holographic button and a click of the physical throttle/joystick to either side of the rests.

‘Initialize thruster mapping to and toggle.’

INITIALIZING...

You look down at the fairy.

‘How am I doing, little guy?’

The little fairy, which you notice is in an old-fashioned flightsuit, only shrugs. You roll your eyes.

‘What a bundle of confidence you are, bud.’ You flip a few buttons, physical ones, remembering some of the override sequences – it’s a good thing you’re not in a combat exercise right now. As you do, several windows vanish, leaving the basic HUD in your view.

You sigh, bringing up the windows with a few waves of your hand, only to find that as soon as several of the manual switches are pushed, they disappear as before. You sigh, reading your command out loud.

‘Enable permanent fixture on RAY readout.’

SYNTAX ERROR.( )

‘Enable permanent fixture on fuel efficiency.’

SYNTAX ERROR.( )

You begin to call Yuubari, until the words hit you – old model.

‘Commence equipment check.’

The reply is almost immediate.

STATUS: GREEN

You flick a few switches, and a picture several people, military men and women, come into view – from the RAY’s display circuit relay. Your HUD is now fully activated and you’re ready.

STATUS: Active

>Bring RAY Online

>>121912
>Bring RAY Online
Let's do it.

>>121915
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9PhfUsFvj0

Before I post, some appropriate music is needed. Be back in 30 minutes.

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As you flick another switch, the chatter from a comm channel hits your ears. You hear a shuffle of voices – many of them a little buzzed, but you can make out official designations. It was your support crew for the day – you are about to initiate a drone launch sequence with them. As you do, you feel another pulse go through you and realize that you and the ship had lined up together mentally. You don’t know how, but there was a sensation that linked you, the ship…

And the squadron inside.

Wonders of magic.

‘Attunement complete, synchronization locked.’

‘Division Commander on field.’

‘Commander, it’s all yours.’

You flick a switch, and the sensation reaches a strange, but not unpleasant, high – the connection that binds you grows stronger, and you feel as though there isn’t just you – but more than just you. It is a diffifcult thing to describe, but the closest thing of an analogue is that it’s like you had grown an extra appendage that you can’t quite control – that moved and breathed on its own.

SYSTEMS ONLINE

SENSORS SYNCHRONIZED

AUTHORIZATION CODE: BLUE

‘Detach pylons.’

The ship shows from its own eyes – an uncomfortable degree of visuals – the eight pylons that disconnect, fully putting the ship into your command. You raise your hand to a window, pushing it aside as you come into full view of the HUD. You cut reverse thrusters as the craft backs off… into the open sea. You can see your drone cockpit from the cameras.

PYLONS DETACHED. ENTRY POINTS SEALED.

When they said it was going to be a lot more of a rough patch, they were decidedly not kidding. The throttle-joystick is a little bit less sensitive and a lot more unresponsive, but you find that it’s not something that you find that you can’t handle with a bit more attention to. The chatter on the support comm is turned off with a swipe of the holographic window and you find yourself in the endless, open sea.

You push the throttle, bringing the ship quickly out to shore. It handles decently, and you find that riding a bike is as appropriate an expression as ever when it comes to this.

The fairy in your lap jumps cheerfully.

‘Visual on crew bay.’

Several camera viewpoints come into your direct sight. It really did feel like you had seven eyes at once.

Surprisingly enough, they’re all awake. None of the KanMusu are asleep in their straps – Shigure is talking everyone’s ears off, apparently; Nachi in the meantime is doing some check-ups of her own armaments, but you can see Tenryuu trying to initiate conversation with her. Murakumo herself is chatting with the small fairy crew present.

Tenryuu raises her head to one of the cameras.

‘Finally decided to join us, Commander?’ She says over the comm.

The KanMusu raise their heads to the cameras now.

'Nice to see you too, Tenryuu.'

>Engage in small talk with crew member (Specify)
>Address Squadron Leader on updates
>Keep going

>>122101
>Engage in small talk with crew member (Tenryuu)
Then
>Address Squadron Leader on updates

>>122101
>>Engage in small talk with crew member (Specify)
Tenryuu

>>122101
>Address Squadron Leader on updates

...so...if we did a barrel roll right now...

>>122101
So we're about 2 hours early ?
>check watch
>Engage in small talk with crew member
Shigure.

>>122101
>>Engage in small talk with crew member (Shigure)
Years of being called a cute boy must have taken their toll.

File: Tenryuu-Sama YOSH!.png (1.39 MB, 1447x2046)

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You don’t have a particular reason, but you tap a private channel to ensure none of the others listen in. Once you’re confident it’s secure, you ease slightly on the throttle – even with the reassurances from the Admiral, you don’t wish to push the RAY more than it had gone through; being reactivated and all that.

‘Tenryuu, you there?’

‘Conscience?’

‘Tenryuu, it’s me.’

‘What’s up with the secure line?’ She hastily adds in a panicky tone, ‘You’re not about to confess your undying admiration of me or something, are you?’

‘No,’ you reassure, feeling a little tick on your forehead as you reply, ‘Tenryuu, I am most decidedly not confessing my undying admiration of you.’

‘Shame,’ she chuckles – with a quality that you feel a little too familiar with.

You frown.

‘Something up?’ If you could give yourself a roundhouse kick to the back of your neck, you would at the dismissive pick-up you’d attempted.

‘Sir, if I may speak freely?’

‘Yeah?’ You try to take a more empathic stance – you know too well the damage indifference does.

‘I’m kinda worried about you, sir.’

Unexpected. That’s the only thing that processes through you.

‘Excuse me?’

There’s a shushing sound – on the crew feed, the other three KanMusu had turned to Tenryuu; apparently your hissing voice from the exclamation had been loud enough to catch their attention. The fairy on your lap jumps in your view, waving her hands wildly before resting on your prosthetic – it would seem that between the both of you, she was more inclined to delicacy.

‘I’m sorry, but what do you mean worried about me?’ You blink as you take in Tenryuu’s words, steering the craft a little more stiffly now – both because you were multi-tasking and that it was a little bit sluggish in motion.

‘Sir, I’ve been with a lot of XOs.’ She says pointedly, and she takes a weird maternal stance. ‘You’re easily the jumpiest one I’ve seen operate.’

Something inside you deflates.

‘Wow,’ you breathe out, finding yourself having a small laugh, ‘that’s going a little bit harsh on your assessment, now, don’t it?’ You accentuate that last part jokingly – here you are a bundle of nerves and for some reason find hilarity in her doubt.

‘You’re a little bit different from what KanMusu expect from their officers,’ She says casually, going on, ‘take the Admiral for instance. That’s a cool guy if I ever saw one. Ice cool. You gotta be more like that – cool. Then you’ll start slaying the ladies like I do!’

‘Tenryuu.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Thanks for being honest.’ You then add, ‘And thanks for worrying.’

‘I’m not worried about you, personally,’ she insists loudly, ‘but this is a team, after all.’

You find yourself nodding in agreement.

>Engage in small talk with crew member (Specify)
>Address Squadron Leader on Updates
>Keep Going

>>122679
OOC: Take into account that you were very late getting to the meeting, the briefing going for about 40 minutes, calibrating and such taking the most part of about 2 hours.

You actually, miraculously, manage to launch on time.

>>122720
>Address Squadron Leader on Updates

>>122720
She sounds calm, there might have been no drama while we were away.
>Engage in small talk with crew member
>Shigure.

>>122720
>>Address Squadron Leader on Updates

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You tap on another private channel. Your thoughts are strangely a little calmer than you usually operate. This time to one of the surprisingly quieter girls in your rambunctious group. Shigure’s window pops, and you begin to speak into the mic.

‘Shigure?’

‘Commander?’

Her voice is strange. There’s a deeply unsettling child-like quality to it, but it sounds happy all the same. Shigure’s file had the most black lines through them. She’d been Covert Ops for quite a bit, and as a new Division Commander, you didn’t have clearance enough to know the kind of things she had done – and only just getting to know her, you don’t wish to pry right into things.

‘You settling in well?’

‘Yup!’ She answers.

‘You got to know any of your teammates yet?’

‘Nope!’

You frown. There’s some silence over the comm as you maneuver the craft. It handles a bit sluggish, and the pulsing feedback grows as you try to wrestle it into a certain direction. Shigure doesn’t reply back for five minutes as the channel is left open and you continue to steer.

‘Why not?’

‘You didn’t tell me to.’

‘You don’t want to get to know them yourself?’

‘No, I do not!’ She affirms, snickering into the channel.

‘Shigure, this is a Squadron – a team.’ You fumble for words, trying to come up with a proper way to proceed. ‘We’re all in this together, right?’

You wish you had a paddle to knock yourself senseless with that horrible attempt.

Shigure doesn’t reply. You bite your lip as silence comes over the comm again – you look down at the fairy, who worriedly shakes her head as you speed along in the craft.

‘Shigure...’

‘If the Commander orders me to get to know them, I will get to know them!’

It’s surreal. Shigure speaks like an enthusiastic girl, but her voice, her language – it has an eerie tone to it, and you wonder just what she’s trying to convey with every word. It’s a sort of reversal of concealment. It’s all out there to see, but…

‘Shigure, don’t you…’ you find yourself in the strange position of guiding a war machine of girl through social loops, ‘have anyone here you want to get to know?’

‘Only if Commander orders me to!’ Her voice takes a childishly stubborn tone.

‘What about me, then?’

There’s silence over the channel for a good minute. Growing a little impatient and a little more enthusiastic than you probably should be, you go on.

‘Did you know I’m a pretty good cook?’

‘No...’

‘Oh, I am. In fact, I make a mean casserole.’

Shigure doesn’t reply.

‘When you guys get back… I’ll make one for all of you; but don’t tell anyone.’

There’s silence again, and sighing, you move to turn it off, frustrated.

‘Commander shouldn’t say those kind of things...’

You swipe the window away.

>Engage in small talk with the crew (Specify)
>Address Squadron Leader on Updates
>Keep Going

>>122867
>>Address Squadron Leader on Updates

>>122867
>Keep Going

>>122867
>Address Squadron Leader on Updates

>>122867
>Address Squadron Leader on Updates

>>122867
>Address Squadron Leader on Updates

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After a while of pushing the craft, you find the approach vector on alert. Before you knew it, had passed over an hour and a half in steering the RAY – which handled a bit better well into the mission – you decide that, rather than keep quiet for the rest of the journey, you’d best at least make clear of the update mission parameters with your Squadron Leader.

'Nachi, can you hear me?'

'Loud and clear, sir.'

'Admiral’s given me a few some additional details I’ll be filling you in right now – take what you think is important and cut off the fat if you hear anything you already know.’

You can just hear Nachi’s irritation. No, she still did not like you that much.

‘Good news is that the Abyssals are exactly as reported – there won’t be any surprises on this one.’ You repeat what the Admiral said during the brief meeting, before going on, ‘Bad news is that Admiral’s got a gut feeling on what it is we’re retrieving – and he doesn’t think it’s any good.’

‘Excuse me?’ Nachi’s puzzled expression comes into view through the camera. You re-word your sentence to specify exactly what the Admiral had been talking about.

‘He doesn’t know what tech we’re bringing home.’

Nachi doesn’t say anything over the channel. The fairy with you floats upward to the HUD, pointing at your vector. You quickly adjust, and again feel that uncomfortable sensation going through you. After a few more moments, she puts out her reply.

‘No, that’s definitely not good news.’

You find yourself smirking and grunting as she lets out a small curse at the end.

‘You’ve been with Ops before, are you able to tell me anything?’ If there was anyone who would know, it’d be the person you’d put in charge of the squad, after all.

‘I’m a soldier, Commander – you point and I shoot.’ Nachi’s words are laced with annoyance, as if she’s wondering why you would bring the point to her, but she does continue, ‘But usually if an Admiral doesn’t know about something but the Court of Admirals does, that’s not something to cheer about.’

You nod in affirmation, even though she can’t see you.

‘Fucking brass.’ You hear her mutter – you don’t reply; you don’t think that those words were meant to reach your ears.

You understand Nachi’s feelings, but you don’t know whether you’re included in that particular bulls-eye.

‘What’s our ETA?’

‘Twenty minutes until we enter the Hot Zone.’ You swipe a few windows away, annoyed at having to bring up another window manually. This time you address the public channel, ‘I’ll have the fairies do any last minute check-ups on your equipment.’

‘Won’t be necessary, Commander.’ Murakumo interjects.

On the camera, you see her step out of her station and swing her spear.

‘We’re all riled up and ready to go.’

As the clocks tick away… you pray you are, too.

OPERATION: ROTTEN CABBAGE IS A GO.

File: deploying shipgirls.jpg (162 KB, 538x760)

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So do we land or are shipgirls air-dropped?

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>>122867
I have a bad feeling about Shigure...

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>>123997
Fanon usually makes her a little off her rocker, at least when she isn't a pitiable moeblob

>>123527
Where's the rest of the comic?

>>124181
I think I like the moeblob.

File: 50453524_p0.png (1.64 MB, 1764x1245)

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>>123997
There's no need for concern.

So QM, show us your street cred. [spoiler ] Show us a screencap of your admiral's office/items or whatever proof and your shipwaifu [/spoiler]

>>125565
Protip: Ctrl + s.
You'll never fuck up a spoiler again.

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HOT ZONE BREACH IMMINENT

You floor it, and the lights around you turn red for a moment. The instruments go wild – some of the windows grow fuzzy for a brief second and some of the displays go blank. You flick a physical switch to an effective mode. The lights turn blue again – going into enemy territory, you’re not sure what to be prepared for, even with that little bit more preparation on your hands.

‘Nachi, you’ve entered the hot zone.’

You bring the RAY to a halt, checking your sensors for anything at all. Nothing’s within striking range of the craft; the pulse from your attunement dies down and you feel like a massage chair has just turned off in your lungs. It’s a strange sensation, but at least the feedback isn’t harmful.

You open another window to open the bay doors. On the feed, the KanMusu move themselves out of their stations and into the water. Their equipment is clunky enough that you can hear it on the audio feed. You check the sensors again to see that the RAY isn’t within any enemy’s scope at the moment – and diverting some of the power, you move your next step.

‘I’m initiating synchronization right now,’ you let out a huge breath, seeing some of the virtual dials on the interface tweak themselves; you bring up all the KanMusu’s windows, tapping on every single one. Each and every one of the windows turns yellow as the next step – the most crucial step in operational performance for any would-be Commander – initiates.

KanMusu Synchronization. The fusion of Fairy magic, human tech and the occult. A kind of melding of the souls if one wanted to bring it to that point; if one wanted to be crude, it was like having hold of a puppet on a string that could pull you back. Fairy magic and the human condition were so intertwined… but you couldn’t go into that now.

Right now, you’re on duty.

HUNKER MODE ENGAGED

UPLINK SYNCHRONIZATION INITIALIZING

The RAY focuses its magic on the uplink as per your commands – the fairies inside it had done their part, and you feel a spinning sensation as you hold on. You’ve felt this before. It’s much harder now, much more… painful – voices and screeching go off in your head, and you want to to quit, you want to get out.

But you don’t.

This time you don’t fail.

Like you did with the RAY, you feel like you’ve grown several extra body parts.

‘I can feel you in here, Commander. Uplink successful.’ Murakumo.

UPLINK: GREEN

DISTANCE FROM EFFECTIVE RANGE: 27.552 MILES

The moment they do, several windows pop to notify you of a new development.

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES APPROACHING

TASK: MISSION ASSIGNMENTS (Roll a d20, Highest wins their selection. Nachi may not serve as Point-Man)
> Point-Man (Heads straight to the Compound)
> Support (Cover fire)
> Scout (Does not enter Compound)

OR

>Let Nachi decide

File: I Don't Know Why You Guys(...).png (836 KB, 1287x801)

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>>125565
I don't know why the you guys are trying to get me to post my Base, but here you go.

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>125606
>Point Man
Shigure and Tenryuu
>Support
Murakumo
>Scout
Nachi

Uh, the scout just hangs back right? They don't do actual scouting duty.

Also, should we really do a d20 to this? Wouldn't it be better to hash out a proper plan?

>>125606
OOC: URGH. I meant Nachi may not serve as SCOUT. Brain farted. Sorry.

>>125650
OOC: Sorry, man, I invalidate that roll. You can do it again. My mistake on the Point-Man/Scout shit. My mistake.

If you guys can communicate with each other off this board, by all means do. Right now I'm just doing this roll because I don't have a table in front of me that you guys can bring up to discuss team composition.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>125651
Redoing my plan

>Point Man
Shigure
>Support
Tenryuu
>Scout
Murakumo

>>125664
Just to warn, closing in 15 minutes.

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>125606
>>Let Nachi decide

>>125846
Revoting
>Let Nachi decide

>Let Nachi decide
Lets show a little trust.

>>125606
>>Let Nachi decide

File: Squadron Leader Nachi 2.jpg (907 KB, 1016x1444)

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There’s no need for debate or a second guess. You chose who you wanted here because you know just what you they can do. You bring up the screen again as the beeping to alert you of just what’s on their way – the sensors recognize their shape; they’re the same Abyssal types. You tap a few of the screens here and there to give a better readout of the current situation.

You don’t need to alert Nachi just what is heading in their direction – the synchronization makes all four of your team members aware of the sensor alert. You swipe furiously to see at least half a dozen Abyssal units heading you way – fast.

‘Nachi,’ you begin – you hear the click of ammo and gear, ‘I’m trusting you take the reins for this Op. Get in, get out – structure’s still stable, so keep any heavy weaponry off if you decide to go inside. Got it?’

The hum of activated weaponry reaches your ears.

‘Roger that, Commander.’ Nachi acknowledges, before adding, ‘I don’t need telling twice.’

‘I know.’ You agree, feeling a smile coming on. ‘That’s why you’re Squadron Leader.’

‘Flattery will get you nowhere, sir.’ Nachi takes up her role in the next moment, and as you sit back to tend to the RAY Interface… you learn. ‘SHIGURE! You’re playing Point!’

Shigure jumps in joy, splashing Murakumo – who, from Tenryuu’s visual feed, looks to Shigure in annoyance. She doesn’t say anything back, turning her focus to her own gear and their fairies.

‘All right!’

Without another word, Shigure zooms off, leaving the three of them in her wake.

Tenryuu whistles.

‘She’s certainly enthusiastic.’ You say with a chuckle. Nachi doesn’t reply.

The Squadron Leader readies herself to follow.

‘Tenryuu, I want you to cover us. I’m going in with Shigure.’ She turns to Tenryuu, who you see from Tenryuu’s feed that her expression was definitely one of a grizzled vet – she knew what she was doing. ‘You’re Support, so keep anything that we don’t leave a corpse busy or put it down to the bottom of the ocean.’

‘You got it, ma’am. Rollin’!’

She follows a slightly different vector to Shigure’s.

‘Murakumo, you’re our Scout. Relay anything you see back to the Commander or back to me. Commander, I advise you to keep the channel secure to mine.’ Nachi hesitates for a moment, but turns to Murakumo again. ‘Since the Commander put you on triple duty, too, be ready when we call you for anything else – but don’t forget to cover and annihilate any advance threat prior to breaking off engagement.’

‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’

She grumbles – and the both of them stare each other down.

‘Get moving, people. In and out!’ You yell over the general channel. ‘Let’s do this.’

Shigure makes contact. From leagues away, the hint of gunsmoke somehow reaches your senses.

[TBC]

>>126003
Nice work so far i am thoroughly impressed by this quest. Keep up the good work.

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A humming sound reaches your ears – not the humming of machinations or metal against metal or the like, but actual humming – someone is humming a song. A feed under one of your many eyes sees the gnashing of teeth and unreal howls – and the sound of humming that has the attention of your ears.

Shigure was humming.

Do you know what bad children hate?
The dark and spooky things under their bed
Good children don’t have to be afraid
The Beast in the Closet waves them off to sleep

She flips and turns, blasting at the hardy things. Her guns don’t quite break through with the initial body, and she slides on the water as though it were solid ground. Once she gets to the underside of one of the I-Class Destroyers, she lets fly with her ammo, blasting through their white underbelly. Another one leaps at her from the edge of the visual, and again, Shigure flips in a somersault – she blasts at the hardy shell of the Abyssal, but this time it leaps right back at her.

She unloads into its teeth, which shatters.

It doesn’t stop. Shigure doesn’t move.

‘SHIGURE!’

No sooner than your cry, Nachi answers with a well-placed blast of her own, blowing the top of its shark-like snout, splattering into the sea. Three more leap from the ocean in a sneak attack – Tenryuu fires a few rounds of her own to intercept; Shigure thrusts herself into the air, landing a decidedly deadly uppercut into the soft underside of the I-Class. Nachi unloads some of her ammo into one more of the larger I-Class, sending the other spinning with a roundhouse kick.

She speeds some distance away – her screen flashes yellow, and you feel a shock at the back of your head. There’s a ringing in your ears, but you find yourself conscious – this was the burden of the Commander – a melded psyche with that of their KanMusu, an attunement to battle despite being leagues away. Your spirit and theirs are one in that battle, in this instant.

You recover.

‘Nachi, hang back.’ You manage to command, feeling the adrenaline suddenly course through you. ‘Tenryuu, mop it up.’

‘Burn in Hell, shitface!’

Tenryuu unsheathes her blade – sleek and blue, it glows with an almost heroic aura, cutting into another one of the Abyssals. It doesn’t die that easily, thrashing violently to get at its assailant. Tenryuu hangs on – from her feed you see that her view fluctuates between the water, the sky and the dark shell of the Abyssal.

Then its covered in black.

Shigure had punched a whole through the roof of its mouth.

Tenryuu was covered in Abyssal gunk.

‘Why, I oughta – !’

Shigure only smiles enigmatically, zooming towards the Compound. More alerts appear on your screen; the initial contact had alerted your Squad’s presence to them.

>Address Nachi
>Address Tenryuu
>Address Shigure
>Keep going with the Op

>>126090
>Address Shigure

>>126090
>>Keep going with the Op

>>126090
>>Keep going with the Op

>>126090
Changing vote from >>126105
to
>Address Shigure

>>126090
>Address Shigure

>>126090
>>Address Shigure

>>126090
>>Keep going with the Op

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You open the private channel with Shigure – you are confident Tenryuu and Nachi can gather themselves fine without you on that own – and turning your attention to her visuals. She’s speeding faster than the others (Which is a given, because she is a DD after all). As she rushes towards the Compound, you open your voice comm.

‘Shigure,’ you begin calmly, not quite knowing how to proceed, ‘what was that about?’

‘Oh, Commander,’ she says in a voice not unlike a typical teenager’s sarcastic roll back to their teacher or parent, ‘I’m just doing my job – I’m the Point Man. I do my best work solo, you know!’

The voice is cheery and enthusiastic, but there’s a hollow quality to it. You aren’t having any of it, soldiering on with your own observations, suddenly finding yourself with an anger you didn’t think you could throw a foot.

‘You engaged the enemy without thought to your Squadron Leader! You ignored a clear sight deliberation which could have injured your teammate!’ You refer to the hole punched through the I-Class, with a shot that could have broken through Tenryuu’s own skull.

‘She wouldn’t have been hurt so bad!’ She feigns innocence; you can’t believe your ears at what she says to you and move to retort, but the sensors – Shigure’s sensors – go off.

You turn your attention back to your HUD, picking up a second wave of interceptors coming her way. You open your mouth to yell to Shigure to slow down – that she’s about to break the compound’s mile border and would initiate battle with another enemy, but find that…

‘Shigure, engaging!’

She speeds up.

You grit your teeth, turning your attentions to Tenryuu and Nachi, who were now bringing up the rear. Shigure was quick – and now, evidently, off course – Not ten seconds had gone by since your last word and suddenly she was breaking off from the compound’s vector, moving to meet with the intercepting force.

Then, another sensor goes off. There was a flanking force…

The alert sounds.

Your blood runs cold as the profiles pop up.

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES DETECTED WITHIN UNIT RANGE

DESIGNATION: LIGHT CRUISER HE-CLASS ELITE (C-Rank)

DESIGNATION: LIGHT CRUISER HO-CLASS (C-Rank)

DESIGNATION: LIGHT CRUISER HO-CLASS (C-Rank)

‘Shigure, disengage and regroup!’

You find that the signal was either jammed – or turned off.

You need to make the call. Now.

>’Murakumo, break off and head off the force!’
>’Nachi, Tenryuu! Catch up to her!’
>’If you have a death wish, Shigure, go ahead and have one!’

>>126399
>’If you have a death wish, Shigure, go ahead and have one!’

She's on her own now.

>>126399
>>’If you have a death wish, Shigure, go ahead and have one!’

>>126399

>’If you have a death wish, Shigure, go ahead and have one!’

>>126399
>’Nachi, Tenryuu! Catch up to her!’

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>>126399
>>126408
>>126410
>>126411
OOC: Why am I so fucking forgetful today? Roll for your decision. Sorry. Highest roll wins - as usual, it's a d20.

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>126426
Rolling for death wish

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>126425
>>126426

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>126426
Death wish

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>126003
>half a dozen Abyssal units heading you way – fast.
>they’re not aggressively guarding the place or anything
Intel on the mission was fucked up. Yeah yeah they have limited ressources to gather intel... Then we go help them not send squads to certain death instead of being canon fodder. Run away, refuse any mission where you don't get to help on intel gathering.
>>126426
>retreat now!

>>126437
OOC: This isn't like the webge. You're actually in charge of an X-Com-esque operation. There's no retreat button and they suddenly are safe.

OOC: Intel isn't fucked up. Shigure just broke off from the group. If the team went according to plan, you would gotten out of this unscathed, but it looks like you're going to get a bloody nose. Write-up up in 45 minutes.

File: Press F To Pay Respects ((...).png (2.32 MB, 2396x1689)

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'Nachi, Tenryuu, Murakumo; proceed without Shigure.' You manage to say. You tell yourself you can’t risk the rest of your team with this – you had to soldier on, even if it cost more than you thought it would.

The fairy looks at you with worried eyes as you swipe away Shigure’s screen.

‘Sir?’ There’s a tremble in Nachi’s voice, and Tenryuu fights back something – they turn their eyes to the intercepting forces – they’re not many, but for any lone unit, they’re overwhelming. You decide you wouldn’t allow one thing to jeopardize the reliance of many.

At least, that’s what you tell yourself.

‘Shigure’s allowed us a clear shot into the compound. We’re taking it.’ You say decisively, swiping away several screens to bring up the compound layout. The blueprints had already been keyed in – the database is accessible, even from your remote point. Your synchronized state with Nachi and the rest allows you to convey your intent readily – a pulse throbs through you – there is reluctance, hesitation… but also obedience.

You can live with that.

‘Commander – !’ Tenryuu interjects.

They’re both already on course for the compound. There isn’t much resistance on the way – the I-Class Destroyers had zoomed from the southern side to Shigure’s location; you had shut off whatever visual feed Shigure had with the RAY, and while she was still connected, you had effectively left her to her own devices.

The mission is where your thoughts are with now.

‘I understand, sir, we’re coming up to the compound now.’

You turn the channel to Murakumo. She’s patrolling the southern side of the compound – there are no Abyssals in her immediate vicinity, but she remains within retreating and regrouping distance, looking over her route. There’s not much interference on her channel, but it is slightly jumpy on the frequency.

‘Murakumo, how are things on the other side?’

‘Clear, sir.’ There is an edge to her voice, but you ignore it. There are other things you have to focus on now.

‘Nachi… you’re Point now.’

The feed shakes.

‘Understood.’

The pulse swells as every moment that goes by – you ignore it. Nachi and Tenryuu arrive at the foot of the compound – and it definitely looks worse than the pictures imply. There isn’t any sign of enemy activity within direct visual range.

You had studied the blueprint well enough, and now had a selection of entry points. There wouldn’t be any Abyssals inside… but you don’t know what else awaited.

>Use the KanMusu entrance [Passes through quarters and hall]
>Use the Primary (South Side) entrance point [Passes the main office]
>Use the Secondary (East Side) entrance point [Passes the supply mags]

>OOC: Out of curiosity, what made you guys decide to abandon her so readily? I'm genuinely curious about this. I'm not judging, just asking. Didn't want to bother or something?

>>126521
>Use the Secondary (East Side) entrance point [Passes the supply mags]

She intentionally ignored us and disobeyed orders to go off and do her own thing. Mission comes first, so off she goes as the distraction.

Besides, she can probably handle it.

>>126529
You read her file. Good lad.

>>126521
>Use the Secondary (East Side) entrance point [Passes the supply mags]

She's too crazy to do team stuff, but probably perfectly suited to distracting the enemy. Was that her plan all along?

>>126521
>Use the Secondary (East Side) entrance point [Passes the supply mags]

>>126521
>OOC: Out of curiosity, what made you guys decide to abandon her so readily?
no coms, and no intel that enemy had jamming tech. She's a deserter. I'm not agreeing with pushing on since our intel sucks: their first contact force sounds overwhelming.

>Use the Primary (South Side) entrance point [Passes the main office]

>>126546
My lips are sealed.

>>125628
At least you have the bar furniture. I was actually banking on you revealing you were waifuing Aoba or something.

Oh well, I'm not gonna go criticize tastes here.

>>126568
OOC: As if I would be so pleb to not waifu my first LSC.

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>>126568
What's wrong with Aoba? Personally I like her sister more, but there's nothing wrong with Aoba.

>>126574
I didn't say there was anything wrong with Aoba. I originally meant to say I was banking on being surprised by the choice of waifu.

>>126594
Ah, OK.

>>126521
>>Use the Secondary (East Side) entrance point [Passes the supply mags]


Her file says she works better alone and we need to focus on the mission, so i'm banking on her ability.

>>126521
>Use the Primary (South Side) entrance point [Passes the main office]

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‘Nachi, the secondary entrance is on the South-East side of the compound.’ You say into her channel. ‘Use that as the point of entry – there should be no resistance there – sensors don’t pick up anything within your immediate vicinity.’

‘Ain’t that a peach?’ Nachi grumbles. Her visual shows quick movement, past the main entry point to the upper levels of the building, to the secondary entry point – the railing and stairs, the catwalk, for maintenance personnel. ‘Nothing here, sir. Do we proceed?’

‘With caution.’ You warn, remembering just what the Admiral had said. ‘I still don’t sense any Abyssal activity nearby – whatever’s going on, they’re not securing this place that well.’

The immediate visual feed and your sensors say that there definitely no Abyssals within engagement range. Tenryuu and Nachi look around as they walk some hundreds of feet of metal stairs – above them, cables and concrete barely held the structure together. Even the stairs have a groan to them which gives you a jittery feeling, even though you’re leagues away. The feed gives you a better view of the condition of the Compound.

It’s in bad condition for sure. You’re a bit fearful for the rest of your Squadron; you suspect that the structure’s state might have been the reason the Abyssals had been so reluctant to aggressively take over the base. Who knew just what could cause it to just collapse on itself.

Just as you finish that thought, a chunk of concrete – and some railing – falls off from the other side, into the waters below. A loud splash reaches your ears – you can even hear Tenryuu’s gulps through the link. They make their way upwards, eventually reaching what looks like a large, thick, metal door – a hatch. Tenryuu motions towards it, grabbing the latches with both arms to twist.

It doesn’t budge.

‘A little help here, Squadron Leader?’

You fight a migraine as Nachi and Tenryuu have a stare down for about a minute and then some – she moves to grab onto the latch, and the both of them grit their teeth and grunt as they slowly turn it open – the whining sound is grating, but after a while, they have it open. Nachi takes point, entering first.

Her feed is pitch black – the corridors are void of any light.

‘Tenryuu, Nachi, turn on night vision.’

They do.

The place is deserted… and strangely untouched. Nachi and Tenryuu’s night vision serve to give you a bit of a headache, but there isn’t much to go by. The clanging sound of each step taken by Nachi and Tenryuu tells you that they are in the supply mag section of the compound. There is a quiet to this place that you don’t enjoy – you see old turbines, off but probably still active, working.

It looks decrepit on the outside, but it’s pretty much intact in here.

Tenryuu and Nachi turn on their heel, definitely on edge.

>Inspect the supply mag
>Go straight to tech storage
>Split up (Decide who goes where)

>>128115
>>Inspect the supply mag

>>128115
>Inspect the supply mag
For the love of all that is good do not split them up. It's just begging for trouble.

>>128115
>Inspect the supply mag
Let's find some loot.

>>128115
>>Inspect the supply mag

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The night vision helps tremendously. Nachi and Tenryuu’s feeds provide you with some details on Aquarius – namely that it looks fine on the inside. Tenryuu’s eyes go up – she sees several catwalks above leading to the office and quarters, but otherwise moves along towards the storage area.

Something then hits you.

‘Check if there’s anything at all we can bring back.’ You open a window, pin-pointing their position. ‘You’re in the supply mag; there might be something that we can use.’

They hesitate for a moment – you can’t really blame them. You’re piling an objective on top of another one, after all. You decide it’s best to clarify your reasoning.

‘We’re running low on supplies as it is – if we can find anything of use to bring back from the supply compound, it’d give us a better start on things back at base.’

From Nachi’s feed, you see Tenryuu throwing you a look of incredulity.

‘And just how are you going to bring it back, if we do find some?’

‘I’ll bring the RAY into the compound for retrieval with the tech. If it’s a supply point, you’ll be able to find a few boxes to put whatever we can use in.’

‘Yes, sir.' Nachi replies.

Nachi and Tenryuu walk down the stairs of the supply mag. An uneasy feeling comes over you as the sensors, once more, don’t pick up Abyssal activity near the both of them. Not only that, it seems that rather than being attacked, the place looks like it had been abandoned. There are no bodies – no damage at all inside – you hoped to find some survivors when you had first seen the crisp condition of the facilities, but, right now…

You shake your head, bringing Murakumo’s channel online.

‘Murakumo, anything on your end?’

‘No, sir.’ Murakumo replies, her feed showing a few I-Class Destroyers that cruise past the hidden KanMusu harmlessly. The pillars provided good cover for her, especially with her small size, ‘Nothing out of the ordinary other than a few patrols.’

‘All right. Keep me posted.’

The audio of something falling registers from Tenryuu's feed.

‘Commander...’ Tenryuu’s trembling voice comes on the comm.

‘Yeah, Tenryuu?’

‘I think we’ve found something.’ Nachi utters, terror in her voice.

Nachi and Tenryuu are looking at the same thing.

You’d found some of the crew.

They were encased in a chrysalis of some sort, large and overreaching. You don’t know whether or not they are alive or dead, but they’re not moving. It is black, over-reaching from the floor to the walls to the railing above. Their hands reach out for freedom, but you find them stiff and still, as if caught in time. There are many of them – close to a dozen covered in it – some of the personnel have crystal-like black protrusions coming – growing – out of their heads.

‘What the fuck?’

>Get them loose
>Grab a sample
>Get to the tech
>Order them to leave

>>128535
>Get them loose
But very carefully.

>>128535
>Get to the tech

>>128535
>>Get them loose

>>128535
>Get to the tech

>>128555
Actually I'm changing mine. There's no reason to risk the team over people who are probably dead.

>Get to the tech
We should collect a sample on the way back though.

>>128535
Get the tech. It's probably a bad idea to touch unknown biomass.

>>128535
>Grab a sample
>Get to the tech

>>128535
You can't help them, they're already dead...
>Grab a sample
>Get to the tech

>>128535
>Grab a sample

There might be a danger in cutting them down. Better to get a sample and complete the original mission, then report the intel back. Too bad we can't send a message back to the higher ups requesting guidance.

>>128535

>Grab a sample
Then get the hell out of dodge

>>128535
>grab a sample
>get to the tech
and then get ready because we may be dealing with abyssal mind controlled zombie bullshit

get a sample

if this is te reason that they got the facility we might want a way to fight it

>>130001
Unless their current state is the result of Being exposed to whatever they were storing here.

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‘Tenryuu, Nachi… get to the tech storage area.’ You feel your stomach lurch as the both of them look around at the growth – at the those caught within. Whatever the were in right now, they were beyond saving. You still had a mission, and you still had a war. The Admiral would want to know about this later, but for now, it’d be best for all of you to just move on. ‘I don’t think we can help these people.’

‘We can at least try to – !’ Tenryuu moves to take a scrape with her blade.

‘Don’t!’ You yell, louder than you intend to. Calming yourself down, you collect yourself, twisting virtual dials on the display. ‘I’ve got your feeds on record. When we’re done we’ll debrief the Admiral. For now, get yourselves into tech storage and right out.’

‘There’s some resource supplies here that we can use. All-packed up and clean.’ Nachi calls out; her feed says it’s true. ‘We can bring these to the entrance if Murakumo can bring them back to the RAY first.’

There are four boxes, all of them bulky, but for KanMusu in gear, they’re almost nothing to lift. Yo recognize them as supplies from the Admiralty to be shipped off to the KanMusu back on the mainland or outposts. Tenryuu pries one open with curiosity – without your order – and inside, you see raw Fairy alchemy materials. You try not to smile, given the atmosphere, but some good news was better than none.

These will do nicely back here.

‘You’ll be without eyes outside.’ You finally reply.

‘I think I’d rather have more eyes inside than out.’ Nachi says, effectively taking control. ‘If you can get her on the comm, we’ll bring these supplies to where we came in. She can bring them to the RAY if it's as quiet as you say.’

‘I’m on the channel.’ Murakumo’s grumbles. ‘What’s going on in there?’

‘Believe me, you don’t want to know.’ You say solemnly as Tenryuu looks around. They lift the crates, giving one last look at the people caught in the structure – you feel an itch in your throat – and go up the railing. ‘Get to the secondary entrance and get ready to pull some double duty. You’re going to need a few trips with what they’re bringing back.’

‘The tech?’

‘We found some supplies we can use.’ You open up another window; enemy activity is still not seen within the immediate vicinity. ‘With what we’re operating with, anything's a plus.’

Murakumo makes her way to the previous railing as Nachi and Tenryuu make their way to the entrance. There’s not much incident, as Murakumo had reported enemy activity within the compound to be minimal, even in her position.

Nachi and Tenryuu set the boxes by the hatch.

‘Sir, we’re going for a – !’

UNIDENTIFIED FRIENDLY

A green blip appears on your visual.

‘Nachi, there’s a KanMusu there.’

Nachi and Tenryuu look at one another.

‘Sir, I’m not getting any readout here. You sure?’

>Inspect it
>Get to the tech

>>132589
Before I cast my vote, where exactly is the friendly? Is it near or far? Inside or outside?

>>132604
OOC: Ah, shite. Same floor, but heading away from Tech Storage. You'll pass by Tech Storage, but won't get to the access points to it in >>132589

>>132621
>Inspect it

>>132589
>Inspect it

>>132589
>Inspect it

>>132589
Oh boy here we go

>inspect it

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‘There’s no one on my feed, Commander.’ Tenryuu says, puzzled. ‘You positive?’

‘I have them on the sensors.’ You enlarge the holographic imaging of the Compound, confirming that there was a signal from the base. ‘I can’t ID them, so there must be something wrong with the software on their end – but they’re active.’

The blip stays. Whoever it is, they’d know what’d happened in the compound.

‘They’re on your level. Past the railings upwards; you’ll get past tech storage there.’ You open one particular section of the blueprint. ‘If the blueprints are right, they’ll be on the catwalk upwards into the supervisory offices.’

‘Roger that.’ Nachi acknowledges, before re-opening the general channel. ‘Murakumo, we’re heading back in. Supplies are here for pick-up.’

There’s a grumbling sound on the other side. Murakumo had heard them.

Nachi and Tenryuu keep their night vision on, walking past the entrance corridor and the walkway and stairs leading downwards. You still can’t get over how spic and span this particular section of the compound is. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that the place had just been closed for the night and you were breaking and entering.

‘Nachi, Tenryuu, are you both all right?’ You ask, feeling a pulse go through you again.

‘A little creeped out, but we’re okay.’ Tenryuu replies, tapping the walls with her blade. ‘You seeing all this?’

‘I got you on live feed, Tenryuu – I see pretty much everything you are.’

‘Aquarius is an old place.’ Nachi mentions from the front. ‘Everything here’s outdated. Supply extraction, points, everything’s old hat compared to what we had now. Hard to believe that the Abyssals bothered with an assault on this place after all that.’

‘She’s past the corridor.’ You notify.

Tenryuu and Nachi double time it… and you feel relief, seeing her standing there.

‘Hey, we’re here to get – ?’

You freeze as the night vision brings the details in.

She’s smiling. She has no cheeks. You see muscles… and teeth.

‘You okay?’

The girl trembles.

She twists and turns unnaturally, her neck cricking under strain, dropping on all fours like a beast. From her mouth, a silver tongue stretches out across the floor as a shell-like structure encases her. It’s a horrible spectacle. Her back is to the floor, her hands and legs supporting her like a crab. The girl’s head twists a horrible one-eighty – you can hear groaning limbs and a horrible high-pitched scream as the shell encases her completely in armor, with three snake-like tails emerge from her body.

Her jaw opens wider than humanly possible.

The blue blip disappears.

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES DETECTED WITHIN UNIT RANGE

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES DETECTED WITHIN UNIT RANGE

DESIGNATION: Unknown

>’Engage!’
>’Get outta there!’

>>132942
>’Get outta there!’

>>132942
>’Get outta there!’

>>132942
>>’Get outta there!’

So can Kanmusu use their full equipment while out of the water? Would firing their main batteries at the monster blow up half the Compound and themselves?

>>132942
>>’Get outta there!’

>>133047
OOC: Current majority vote says you're not willing to find out.

>>133047
While I obvisouly can't speak for how the QM will do thing, there are a few girls who threaten you with them firing their weapons at you.

>You like them too, Admiral? Yes, I have a lot attached to my legs! ...but you've touched them too much, so how about eating 20 of them?

>>133074
Aye, but this is a universe where Kaga is an insubordinate snarker. A lot of the assumed rules from the game probably ain't gonna carry over to here.

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‘GET OUTTA THERE, NOW!’

It’s fast. Almost as fast as Shigure. There’s a flash of teeth – no, fangs, as the creature makes a line straight for Nachi. You feel a pulse go through you as the vitals on Nachi’s screen turn orange – she’d been hit, bad. Nachi’s feed sees nothing but teeth and black – her night vision shows flashes between static and stability from the assault. You feel helpless and frustrated.

But you’re a Commander. You don’t have the luxury to be either of those.

‘Tenryuu!’

The Light Cruiser doesn’t need telling twice. She charges at it, drawing her blade – with lightning-like reflexes, she stabs through the armor. The creature screams. One of its tails makes its home deep in Tenryuu’s chest. You feel a pulse go through you as Tenryuu’s screen flashes orange as well. She digs deeper, and with a mighty throw, picks the creature up and throws it down the corridor.

Blood seeps out of her as the warning from the RAY Interface goes off.

The creature screams.

Nachi fires off a shot. Then another – and another – and fires off a…

Torpedo.

The din from the explosion could have made you deaf. It seems to take a whole chunk of the base. Your feed only gets static for the next few minutes. The audio feedback – from Nachi is the first to come back online. You swipe open a few windows, checking on their vitals and praying that the worst had not occurred.

Nachi’s visual feed had come online. She was alive. They both were.

But as the dust settled, so did you realize that so was the creature.

And her recently-arrived friend.

‘Oh, no...’

‘Commander, what’s going on in there?’

‘Murakumo?’

‘I got the supplies into the RAY.’ Her voice grows worried as it goes on. ‘What’s going on in there?’

You don’t know how to explain it. You had a tongue and your throat, but you don’t feel like you can say a thing - you can't, at all. Nachi’s feed shows two of them approaching their downed bodies. Nachi and Tenryuu aren’t moving. Injured, bleeding and on the floor, you lie useless in what now seems like a metal coffin rather than a drone cockpit. You find yourself yelling into the channel for them to wake up.

A shift occurs in the view. Tenryuu and Nachi fall through the hole, courtesy of the torpedo… into the sea below. Looks had been deceiving – the structure was in the middle of collapsing from intelligence reports. They were right. Their feed slowly dies as you grip the controls in agony.

They approach Tenryuu’s body first.

‘I’m sorry, Commander.’

The more-battered creature approaches her, opens its maw wide as the Compound falls around them...

And is promptly kicked some fifty feet into another collapsing pillar. The other creature rears its twisted head.

A channel rejoins the comm network.

‘Commander promised us casserole. It would be a shame for you to miss it.’

TBC

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>>133166
Well, Shigure's actually reliable.

I guess we should've told them to immediately open fire.

>>133166
Hell yes. I retract everything bad I said about Shigure earlier.

>>133197
For in-Quest lore, the Fairies and their magic draw power from the Blessing of the Sea, and are thus more capable on them. A lot of KanMusu are trained for open warfare, which is one of the reasons Nachi doesn't do well against the creature - the KanMusu lose a few things when fighting OUT of the water: speed, attunement to their weaponry and added "stat boosts" from being blessed by fairy magic/tech.

It's one of the reasons Fairy magic and human physiology and tech aren't "100 percent compatible". There are some exceptions, like BBs and CVs, who draw upon the Blessing of the Sky and the Blessing of the Sea, but for lower-"tier" KanMusu require a connection with the water.

I'd like to apologize for my lack of updates for this particular part of the Quest, because I've been busy with a wedding. I'm serving as a substitute Best Man and shit's been really tedious the last week. I'll try to shoe in a little more in Part V.

Again, feedback is appreciated.

>>133166
>‘Commander promised us casserole. It would be a shame for you to miss it.’
Is there going to be any special ingredients?

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>>133252
forgot picture

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>>133240
I'll say, the little bits of lore you've been giving have been pretty interesting. There ain't a lot of Kancolle works out there that ever actually deal with the mechanics of shipgirls and fairies beyond the practical stuff, like "weighs as much as a ship, smaller objects get bigger in flight, etc."

So to actually have an explanation for things beyond the immediate rules? You got me hooked.

>>133252
If you get out this, you'll probably give Shigure premium beef and let her fuck your sister

>>133264
Well, in a nutshell in this Quest

>Humans harm sea and the sky with pollution/war/whatever
>Sea and Sky bring the Grudge of the Sea, the Abyssals, to keep people out of the sea and attack any and all humans out there and confined to land.
>Fairies see humans suffering, and because they love humanity so much, summon them guardians from another time and place, the KanMusu
>KanMusu are the spirits of ships, vessels that protected their Masters in their past life.
>All of KanMusu tech are made of Fairy Magic
>Fairy magic and tech has been experimented on (with their permission) to see if it can directly help people - mixed results.

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>>133304
>Powerful monsters representing forces of nature come out of nowhere to destroy humanity
>Fairies summon their own version of these monsters to protect humanity
Mecha-Kanmusu when?

>>133304
>Fairy Magic
Even radios?

>>133333
In general, yeah. Atmospheric commercial travel has been made virtually impossible the last two decades due to: raw fuel shortages, the seas being a hazard zone and a lot of humanity being wiped out in First Contact. In this world, there are no nukes. Not that they can help, anyway. Only a Blessing can hurt a Grudge

>>134128
Do you have a Twitter or something to announce when a new thread goes live?

>>137855
I don't have a Twitter. I'll probably set one up after. I'm still fuckloads busy with wedding preparations, sorry.

I'm hooked on this questline, looking forward to more.

Will it be continued in a new thread?

New Thread

>>143052
>>143052
>>143052

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiceToTableTop