1606/Tour of Hikari

Tour of Hikari
Date of Scene:	18 February 2015
Location:	Hikari Sea Port
Synopsis:	Nagato opens the home of the Fleet Daughters to her Union allies and hosts a tour, fleet maneuver demonstrations, and a dinner party.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, 150, 253, Rebecca Chambers, 342, 367, 385, Riva Banari, Ayako Hasekawa, 637, 675, Nagato, Shigure, Reiji Arisu

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Nagato has posed:
1500 - February 18th. Hikari Sea Port. Weather: Clear. 24 degrees Celsius. Light waves rolling in.

Hikari Sea Port, a massive structure built on part of one of Japan's islands, home to the Fleet Daughters. The airfield is in plain sight towards the west of the port, and the docks to the east and in front of the visitors port stands a two story tall building fronted by two Torii gates. Strewn aside the visitors docks area are various deactivated mines and blocks of concrete, giving the place a rustic and war-time-like feel to the place.

Standing on the edge of the docks, graced by two more women in the same clothing, Nagato stands firm with a stoic look upon her face, a salute to the ones who've come by the boat to join the tour of the Fleet Daughter's home base. "Greetings, members of the Union. It's a pleasure to have you all grace the Hikari Sea Port with your presence today. Please, disembark carefully and come join us upon the docks. If you do not know me from radio chatter, I am Nagato, the nameship for the Nagato-Class battleships and Admiral of the Fleet Daughters. Behind me are Musashi, my second in command and Mutsu, my third in command. I will have the rest of the women introduce themselves as needed."

With a bow from the three battleships they all say in sync with each other, "Welcome to Hikari Sea Port!"

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Nasa, meanwhile, is NOT here! At least, not obviously so. She has decided that, instead of joining as an outsider, she would infiltrate the Hikari and explore it on her own! Mwa ha ha~! Which, of course, meant that she probably would be following the tour group anyway. At present, Nasa looked like one of the submarine Fleet Daughters by the name of U-511, the one she had copied happening to be particularly perfect for her. They were both bad at japanese, and she had white hair as well. To keep up the act of not being with the Union's main visiting force, she came running up from a semi-opposite direction, moving to quietly half-hide behind the battleships.

     She was presently peeking at the unionites shyly, as if she had come to see them but was too hesitant to actually talk to them! She didn't speak just yet, instead opting to keep her semi-hidden spot behind Nagato, peeking out 'shyly' at the unionites. Infiltration stealth mission, start!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber's reasons for being here are two-fold: The first and most obvious reason is that it is always good to see the base of operations for new allies that you're going to be working with for the forseeable future. The Fleet Daughters had helped to protect his city, Kongou pretty much unilaterally declared him her Admiral, and that put him somewhat irreversably connected to this situation.

    The second reason is that Kongou probably didn't give him a choice on whether or not he was coming. This part is not vocalized or readily apparent. So it's mostly that first thing.

    Regardless of motivations, the half-angel is here! He's not wearing his fancy Admiral hat, instead dressed in his stock-standard noir outfit of long jacket, slacks, and a shirt. He arrived via helicopter today, dropping him off at the docks, because when you're past a certain rank and want to seem like a cool guy, you arrive a lot of places that way as a matter of keeping your 'cool guy' reputation above a certain line. He is also smoking, but when is he not?

    "Nagato, Musashi and Mutsu. I am Reserve Colonel Psyber of the Union, representative for the Specialist Response Division, better known as the Elite Forces. Thank you for opening Hikari Sea Port today."

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Well, it's not as if Nasa would look out of place seeming particularly shy. There's at least one among the Union tour group wearing exactly the same expression - and hers isn't an act.

    Despite having met Nagato in person and at least knowing Kongou by voice, Nozomi Houken is not terribly familiar with the Fleet Daughters in general, and their base is military enough to put her a little on edge - in some ways it reminds her of the JSDF base that serves as Taiga's home. So without even thinking about it, she edges closer to the black mechatiger beside her. Taiga himself, at least, does not seem perturbed. But then again, he rarely does.

    "A-ah, thank you," Nozomi replies to the three ships' welcome, bowing in return. That triple-greeting seems to intimidate her a little, though. Thank goodness Psyber is here to provide safety via presence.

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma is around. She's just finishing scrubbing up the courtyard! Running back and forth with the scrubbing brush. Nowaki and Shigure have mops and are sudsing the concrete, while Chitose sweeps sand away with a broom. They're just finishing up as the Union visitors arrive, Kuma beaming brightly as she offers a salute. "Admiral~! Courtyard is ready for inspection!" The Fifth Force Reconaissance fleet form up with thier flagship, and salute in kind.

    As U-551 shows up, Kuma blinks. "Little Yuu! Come away from there~!" calls the cruiser, scooting forwards to gently pull the 'Submarine' away from the battleships. "I know you want to see the visitors, but you need to be good!" she chides.

    She then introduces her fleet. "Name-ship of the Kuma-class light cruisers. Kuma!" She gestures to Nowaki next. "Kagero-class. Number 15. Nowaki. Pleased to meet you all." then Shigure. "Shiratsuyu-class Destroyer, Second ship, Shigure... P-Pleased to meet you." finally Chitose. "Hi~~ First of the Japanese Seaplane tenders, Chitose! I have some sake if anyone wants some~!"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's here to check out this new place and get to know some of these Fleet Maidens a bit better! Especially after the Kongou thing, Riva's been definately motivated.

(SOCIAL LINKS, SOCIAL LINKS, SOCIAL LINKS)

Though she's in her formal Templar uniform, Riva seems to be not so interested in remaining formal and dignified, as she returns the salute in her jaunty and irreverent way. She smiles brightly as she pops down the disembarkation ramp to look over the trio of DESTINED INTRODUCTIONS. "Hello Nagato, Musashi, and Mutsu! It's good to see you all in person!" She turns to look over the base, tilting her head and nodding. "I really like the decor! Reminds me of old World War 2 documentaries and stuff. The gates are a nice touch too, I like the contrast, very proper for the area too. You also have a lot of room available for maneuvers, which should make it simple to get around even in high traffic situations. You really have a nice fusion of form and function going on here."

And then Kuma arrives to introduce herself and her associates as well! Riva gives them a salute too, and grins. "Nice to meet you all as well! I look forward to having a lot of good times together."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
Tsukumogami can take many forms. Sometimes they're vengeful umbrellas, other times they're shoes that someone forgot to fix, and at least one has been a bloodthirsty sword. Never before has Reiji Arisu heard of one issuing forth from a battleship- until a couple weeks ago. And, not only were these Fleet Maidens a type of spirit he had never encountered before, they were also both A) Numerous and B) Born of the spirit of ships from the Second World War.

It helps that they're all also rather courteous and friendly types.

Plus there's curry.

    And so Reiji steps onto the docks, his jacket and body armor left somewhere at home. It'd be a shame to waste the sea breeze on such heavy clothes, after all. The Shinra Agent cranes his head to take in the dock. It's well built, certainly, if somewhat rustic. But that's probably the point, isn't it? His eyes linger on the curvature of the cove cradling the docks, idly musing on the suitability of the geography to maritime architecture.

    "Admiral," Reiji replies, his gaze flickering back to the women at the dock. He snaps into a crisp salute himself- some things don't change over the years, it seems, "Mutsu and Musashi, and all you destroyers. It's an honor to meet you. I am Reiji Arisu, Agent of Shinra. Though I've spoken to a couple of you over the radio already, I believe. Still, it's good to finally meet in person."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    A small airship from Galianda's kingdom of Ramuh set down on the airfield, and a woman in silver and bronze platemail steps off it's ramp and onto Hikari soil for hte first time.

    The silver haired woman looks around briefly. Nagato gets her attention quickly however and the Judge turns sharply to salute the Flagship and Admiral.

    "Cirra Constantine, Judge of Ramuh. It's my pleasure to finally meet you." she's got a bit of a cold tone of voice, or just stoic. Ice blue eyes flick over Kuma and the others as well.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe the Iron Lily, nor Eisen is seen to day but a five foot 10 girl of european linage, she's bit gaunt and has long stark red head. She's wearing a jacket that has an GU logo on the back and she seemed to also be wearing blue jeans as well. She was really curious to see these spirits of warships from the last century. After all many vessels on both sides were still talked about today and a few still existed as museams and such.

"Hi! I'm Sheena Armstrong, you'd know me as Tomoe however. I figured I should come as my self."

She also nods to Cirra and says "It's good to see you again Cirra."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Yay! The sea! Yay! A port! Yes, Ayako does love her water. She cheerfully steps off the boat and... begins glancing around quickly. Just like a typical tourist. She's not dressed like a witch today! Nope. She's in her normal clothing this time. "Yes! Hello Nagato! And nice to meet you both, Musashi and Mutsu!" She bows towards the three of them and then a cheerful smile is given with a gentle inclining of her head. With a little hop, Ayako departs the boat and onto the docks.

    Ayako just stares out and around. Yup. Just like a tourist. "Eh heh... thank you for the welcome! And hello Kuma! It's wonderful to see you're okay." She bows towards the three. "Nice to meet you Shigure and Chitose!" For a moment, she blanks... and then startles. "Oh. Right! I'm Ayako Hasekawa, a water spirit! Please call me Ayako!" A big drop of water falls from the back of her head and onto the ground. Yes, she did just sweatdrop. It vanishes very quickly once it hits the ground at least!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
As Yuna disembarks from whatever transport brought here to Hikari, she smiles brightly to Nagato, Musashi, and Mutsu, followed by a deep, proper, very polite bow. "Yuna Kagurazaka," she introduces herself. "Idol singer and Union Ally. It's great to meet you in person - and outside of a fight," she adds wryly as she straightens up. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the Fleet Daughters better!"

Kuma gets a similarly polite and friendly greeting from the idol singer, although possibly wavering more towards 'friendly' than 'polite' - just by a smidgen. Yuna's also exchanging introductions where she can with the *other* Union personnel whom she hasn't met previously, but the Fleet Daughters get top billing for Yuna's attention. For now.

(On a side note, Xiaomu would probably be here ... iiiiiif she hadn't been sidetracked reading the newest manga anthology magazine that came out yesterday. Reiji could possibly have dragged her along by the scruff of the neck despite that, though.)

Reiji Arisu has posed:
Reiji knows how not to lose his hand, thank you very much

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
    S.T.A.R.S. doesn't have aquatic transportation, so Rebecca Chambers arrives via helicopter instead of by aquatic transportation. Nevertheless, she arrives by descending by rappelling cable from the helicopter, and then gives the thumbs up to the pilot, who flies away. After that, she looks to Nagato, Musashi, Kuma, and Mutsu, offering a formal military salute. "Greetings, I'm Rebecca Chambers. Ensign of the UAF, field medic, and Bio-Organic Weapons specialist." She says with a slightly formal tone to her voice. "It's very nice to meet each and every one of you."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    One younger woman and two girls accompany the flotilla of battleship Flagships. The woman, black hair in pigtails and her outfit primarily red and white, bows as well, "Nagara class light cruiser, Isuzu! Nice to meet you in person!"

    The taller of the younger two bows next, "Shouhou class light aircraft carrier, Zuihou, pleased to meet you."
    When Zuihou straightens, the shortest of the trio bows, "Lead ship of the Akizuki class anti-air destroyers, Akizuki. Please depend on me."

    Kongou herself is conspicuously absent, but Isuzu steps up, "We represent the 4th Mobile Unit, our flagship is on her way from the mess hall right now, she'll be here shortly."

Nagato has posed:
Such spirited introductions from a variety of members of the Union. Nagato's impressed with everyone who's showed up. Wait, when did Yuu-chan come into the meeting... She lightly shakes her head and stands back up, since Kuma has her now. The absence of Kongou could mean a couple things... she's loading up blanks for a 'spirited' introduction, or she's finishing the curry. In this case, probably both. "A pleasure to see everyone in the Union. I want to be the first to thank you all for allowing the Fleet to assist with your operations, our capabilities are as your own. And once again, welcome to Hikari."

Nagato looks at Mutsu and Musashi, the other Battleships split up and head off into separate directions: Mutsu towards the airfield, Musashi to the docks. "We're standing now at the visitors docks with the airfield to our west and the docks for us Daughters to the right. Behind me is the main facility that houses the mess hall, the barracks and lead towards the beaches and repair baths. I-19, Yuu-chan and the rest of the submarines should be cleaning that at the moment, so that will be an area we're going to be avoiding for the tour. And please, if you have questions, do not hesitate to ask, we will answer to the best of our ability."

Nagato gives a quick look at Yuu-chan/Nasa, "You'll get your chance to have a visit with the Union, Yuu. Head back to the baths and make sure they're scrubbed." With a turn to Kuma and Kongou's fleet, she gives a brief salute in greetings before starting to walk towards the three way split that separates the roads between the three major areas of the Sea Port. "The airfield is more of a relic, we don't field aircraft like you normally would here. The carriers we have, Akagi,Kaga... the light carriers, Ryuujou, Chiyoda... the Tenders, Chitose and the rest have their own way of fielding theirs. Generally, the strip is used for visitors such as yourself."

Pointing to the right as she continues, "Those are the docks for the Daughters. We equip there, we sortie from there and we return there. There are all sorts of mechanisms in there that allow us to quickly sortie at a moments notice, the fast equip systems and the equipment fairies do their best in getting us out the gate within a matter of minutes." pointing ahead, "Behind the main barracks are the supply caches that store the Daughters stock of ammunition, steel, bauxite and oil, along with the ingredients to make the repair baths for when we come back damaged."

Stopping at the roundabout pagoda, she turns around, "Any questions?"

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Okay. There's Psyber, arriving and being cool and crazy and using noisy methods of transportation like usual. Underneath the glamour, Nasa's ears shifted slightly to protect themselves against the noise of the chopper's propeller. Okay, so far this was going fairly well! And she'd managed to mostly avoid notice. Nozomi was carefully noted as well, the fae watching her curiously for a few moments as she takes in her appearance and demeanor. She seemed a bit on edge... to a degree, Nasa wanted to go try to help reduce that, and she almost started to.

     But her facade was saved by Kuma, who walked up and began to pull her away from the battleships and the rest of the group. "...Traurig <Sorry> - a-ah, that's wrong. G..gomen <Sorry>." She mumbles, speaking similarly poor japanese to the true U-511. .o(So her name is Yuu. Okay, now I know the name to respond to...)o. She gives a somewhat timid smile towards Kuma, "I'll be good." She mumbles, moving to step in closer to Kuma, almost half-hiding behind her now to peer at the unionites.

     In spite of what some might think, the shyness was not actually all that much of an act for Nasa. There was a fair amount of people she didn't know, so 'Yuu' was a very good guise for her. Riva was here, someone else she recognized... Reiji was someone she didn't recognize, foreign to her... Cirra was also foreign to her, though she recognized Tomoe and Ayako. Plenty of people, that was for sure. She shifts slightly to the side and dips into a small bow towards the group of unionites. "H-herro, i-it i-is nice t...to meet you." She mumbles, doing her best to emulate horrible engrish towards the unionites, her words fading out to basically nothing before she can give 'her' name. Which might just be further drowned out by the helicopter that Rebecca arrived on.

     And then Nagato gave her a direct order! 'Yuu' straightened up and gave a quick salute. The baths. That was almost exactly where she wanted to go, anyway. "Y-yes ma'am!" Yuu says, straightening up fully as she lowers her hand. She shifts her gaze around quietly, before looking up towards Kuma, mumbling shyly, "I-I'm still getting used to the new base... can you show me where the baths are?" She asks quietly towards Kuma, giving her a shy, hopeful little look. She really really hoped that that was not entirely wrong, because she couldn't outright lie. The other thing that she hoped, is that there was someone who had recently come back from a sortie who needed repaired in said baths.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"How many Fleet Daughters *are* there?" wonders Yuna. "And how many different bases do you all work out of, if you don't mind my asking?" Hikari certainly seems big enough to support a lot of them, although it probably takes more space to store the assorted supplies and equipment than to keep the girls housed, fed, and trained.

... although considering that the logistics are probably not that different from, say, an airfield or a mecha base, she might be on some kind of wrong track. 'U-511' gets a brief, raised-eyebrows look - sympathetic apart from the confusion: Yuna has done her share of drudge-y chores, and scrubbing baths may not be *hard* but it's time-consuming.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber reaches out and plants a palm firmly on the top of Nozomi's head in his attempt at a reassuring gesture. He's not great at reassuring people, but attempts to. It tends to work for Homura when she's upset, so it should work here, right?

    After the gesture is given to Nozomi, Psyber looks at the ships introducing themselves. He watches Kuma, Nowaki, Shigure and Chitose. A tilt of his head is given, but he remembers most of those voices from the Harbor attack. A far more curious glance is given to Isuzu, Zuihou and Akizuki. The first time seeing them in human form (he'd run into Isuzu as a ship the other night).

    Overall and on the whole, though, Psyber is presently quiet. He has his hands in his pockets and his cigarette in his mouth, so all that's left for him to do is to follow the tour and listen. And he'll do just that, quietly following along without many questions, just taking in the sights for now.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
    Rebecca listens intently to the explanation by Nagato about what the place is and what goes on, but she doesn't say anything for the time being. Instead, she simply nods her head and listens intently.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "None so far," Reiji answers, allowing his saluting arm to fall back to his side. He inclines his head at... Wow, there are a lot of spirits here. More than he was expecting, definitely. He wonders if the /entire/ Imperial Japanese Fleet has been incarnated at these docks. "None that haven't been asked already," he corrects himself, eyes flickering towards Yuna between blinks.

    Besides that, he... Follows along, for now. He takes in the sights, wondering just how long these buildings have been here, and how large this facility must be. Are they recieveing assistance from the Japanese Government, or is this an international affair?

Well, he can wait until Nagato's a little further along before inundating her with questions.

Nozomi Houken (342) has posed:
    Well. A hand on her head certainly wasn't what Nozomi expected in the way of reassurance, but surprisingly enough, it seems to work a little; Psyber's firm presence is enough to reassure the quiet girl at least to the extent that she can walk along quietly with he and Taiga, listening to the information Nagato is giving them for the tour. So many terms and names go by, though, that she just ends up slightly lost, and so remains quiet.

    Taiga, on the other hand, watches Totally Not Nasa go with a slightly tilted head and a very steady stare.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako raises her hand cheerfully. "Oh oh, so you really do repair by taking a bath, huh? Umm... umm... what's bauxite?" Of course she's interested in how they repair themselves! Although once in a while, her gaze turns towards the tori gates by the building...

    Which she just stares at.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva listens intently as Nagato clarified some things. A different way of handling their aircraft? Riva ponders this. She didn't have much of a chance to see a Fleet Maiden in action last time, she was too busy wrestling with a giant undead dragon.

Oh well.

She follows along with Kuma, Magato, and Kongou's groups, and looks towards the docks. "That's really cool!" Riva exclaims. "Quick-fit setups? Suddenly I'm envisioning an F1 pitstop with tiny fairies loading up guns and fuel." She chuckles at the mental image. "That would be pretty awesome!" Yuu's greeting causes her to tilt her head and smile. Awwww, she's so shy! It almost makes her want to go up and give her a big hug. But for now, Yuu is dispatched to the baths. Hugs will have to be later.

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma blinks at 'Yuu' and points over to the proper building. "I know what it's like, I mean, you did transfer over not that long ago, right, kuma~! It's okay! You'll get used to it, kuma~." she reassures, then turns to fall in line with Nagato and the rest of the tour group. She responds to Riva. "I saw something like that on the videobox, kuma! All zoom and NEEEAUWWW! and stuff!" she says animatedly, earning a groan from Nowaki. Shigure chimes in as Kuma goes off on a little tangent. "The Assault Launch System is pretty complex, but... I suppose it could be likened to this, Eff One, Peetu Stahp." she offers softly.

Tomoe has posed:
Sheena aka Tomoe seems to be very much at ease here it's rare thing to see her in the flesh. Her voice is the same however, still being here? Is a sign of how safe she feels and thus how much she trusts the fleet daughter. She takes note of Pysber, Nasa, Yuna and Cirra, get a grin form her and then she pays attention to what all their hosts have to say. She's quite impressed with how the base is set up, they done a fine job but as the round of questions comes up there is something plauging her mind. The war in which all these ship spirit's came from? It was the last great era of the big war ship before smaller and more stealthy became the order of the day such as on her world. She also wonders about some other great ships she knew of and choses to ask.

"I'm curious to ask have only ships from the Japanese navy risen? Or have any from Allied or Axis powers also returned? I'm honestly curious, I mean I did study a fair bit on the war due to my great grandfather's involvement."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra nods slightly as Nagato goes through the description of the area. "It seems..." She isn't going to say run down, thats rude, and it seems servicable enough. "...Homey. Which is approprieate of course."

    The Judge follows along as Nagaato begins the tour proper. "How does the fleet obtain the resources it needs? Are you still connected to your goverment or are you self suffcient?"

Hayate Yagami (150) has posed:
    The correct, impressive way to disembark and join a tour fashionably late is, of course, to stop all conversation in its tracks by blotting out the sun with the impressive vastness of one's conveyance as it descends from the sky with stately grace. And in that silence, one's honor guard should fan out to encompass and frame one's unhurried descent down to the gathered crowd. It is to be /fashionably/ late, after all.
    Hayate did not have such luck. She's heralded briefly by a white runic circle on the wharf fifty paces away, then unceremoniously appears standing, still looking into a hand mirror and sorting out her hair.
    "... I didn't say to initiate yet!" She complains into an otherwise unseen comm window while snapping the mirror shut and pocketing it. Thankfully, most were probably too far away to have gotten a good look at such indecent appearances. Hair! Mussed! The scandal of it all! Well, might as well start walking that way...

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Three methods," Isuzu raises up one hand in response to Cirra's question about supplies. One finger is extended, "First, we are supplied through donations by various governments who enjoy the benefits of our protection against the Abyssal Navy. It's not strictly necessary nor is it particularly large amounts of resources, but it is pretty constant." A second finger rises, "Second, we field light cruisers and destroyers on expeditions to depots to collect larger amounts of resources, particularly fuel, and pay for it by protecting the shipping lanes." A third finger raises, "And third, we collect resources during sorties against enemy positions and supply lines."

    Zuihou speaks up for Riva, "I can show you a little later, and demonstrate my aircraft if you're curious!" Recognizing Reiji's voice from the Boston sortie, the little carrier puts on her brightest smile, "The Suiseis, they've got cute legs and they like to show off, you know?"

    Meanwhile, for no immediate reason, the ground starts to shake. It's very subtle, like a truck or train driving by.

Nagato has posed:
Nagato looks towards Yuna with her question. "Including myself, there are about one hundred fifty. Mostly DD's , then followed by CL's and CLT's, then CA's and CAV's, then BB's and BBV's, CV's then CVB and CVL's. The list goes on more designations." a pause , "Pardon. Destroyers, Light Cruisers, Torpedo Cruisers, Heavy Cruisers, Aviation Cruisers, Battleships and Fast Battleships, Aviation Battleships, then Carriers, Armored Carriers and Light Carriers."

Turning to Ayako, Nagato gives a light nod. "The baths can only do so much. Us battleships take a lot longer in the baths to repair compared to lighter ships such as Kuma and Nowaki. Musashi was in the bath for a few days last time she sortied. Though, there are a couple Union members who are looking at adjusting the baths to facilitate faster repair times. I need to get in touch with Nasa and see how her research is coming along." a pause, "Bauxite. Aluminum. The Carriers and Tenders use them to help with their aircraft."

A nod towards Riva, though, since Shigure started to answer, she won't interrupt them so she goes on to Tomoe. "We do have a few ships from other nationalities. Bismarck is German. Yuu is German as well. Though I am not sure I completely understand what your second question is with the Axis and Allies... my apologies for not being prepared for this question."

Cirra gets an inquisitive gaze met back from the Admiral, "It's home. It may not have the best features but it is what us daughters call our base. As for our resource acquisition, we go out on expeditions, so roughly self sufficient. However I had to pull in favors from the Union's resident Supply Officer to have some emergency rations with some of the recent operations that have been taking place." a pause, "In addition to all the methods Isuzu has mentioned."

With a look both directions after finishing this round of questioning, Nagato turns towards the right, heading off towards the docks. "Kuma, surprise inspection. I trust it will look well?" her voice is stern and stoic, knowing the answer to this one is yes. "If you follow along, we'll show you the docks and how we equip and sortie." a pause, the ground shaking...

Nagato's fingers are pressed up against her forehead...

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Sympathetic looks were noted, though 'Yuu' didn't particularly grasp why they were being sent to her, since it was perfect for her mission... then again, she supposed that they didn't know that. Hmm. She makes a note to give Yuna a quick thankful look in return, a small smile on her lips as she did, trying to be all awkward and bashful at the same time... pretending to be a fleet daughter was hard for the emotionally-restrained Nasa! But she was managing to keep it up... for now.

     The look from the cat was also definitely noted, because Nasa made a note to keep an eye on cats. A habit from occasionally flying around in a tiny form, she also notes it staring at her. .o(...Creepy...)o. She thinks to herself. It was almost like she was about to be hunted, and that always felt weird for the huntress. She did her best to return the smiles offered to her, though it was starting to make her cheeks a little sore! Luckily she could let the illusion do the smiling for the most part if necessary, but it felt more real if she smiled too.

     Kuma's directions recieve a thankful smile, as she gave a quick little bow towards her. "Danke(Thank you)... ah... that's wrong... arigato(thank you)..." She murmurs, quickly turning and beginning to make her way towards the bath house. Ah, perfect. She could hopefully do her experiment without any disruptions. The ground beginning to shake was a little unnerving though, and 'Yuu' shifted a little uncomfortably as she walked.

     Once she arrived at the baths, 'Yuu' would begin to look around carefully, both checking on the status of the room and how dirty it was or wasn't, as well as to see if anyone was in there who seemed to be in the process of repairing at the moment. "U-uhm, anyone repairing right now...? I-I was sent to clean the baths..." She calls out timidly, doing her best to keep the shy submarine act up.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako nods her head slowly. "I see, I see... I wonder if I could help? Also if I could try to make a Healing Water to repair out in the field would be nice!" She thinks to herself for a while... and then nods her head slowly. "Hmm... I see?! Sort of, anyway!" She giggles softly.

    Blink. Blink blink. Ayako's amber eyes turn downwards towards the ground. Huh? Why is the ground shaking?

Hayate Yagami (150) has posed:
    It is not really unusual for the ground to shake. There are a lot of earthquakes in this region, Hayate recalls, and since no-body who lives here seems to be running around in a panic, she shouldn't run around in a panic either. Worse come to worse, she's certain that everyone here can go jointly befriend a surly fault line or something and stage an intervention / attitude adjustment. Friendship is like that.
    Hayate catches up to the trailing edge of the group and tries her best to blend in like she had been there from the very beginning and absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary at all. Not a thing. There is nothing strange at all about staring at all the costumes, nope. Is that a tiny red recording light blipping near her head?

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Thankfully, Cirra goes and asks two of Reiji's most pertinent questions straight out of the gate. That saves time later! Good, good. He listens for the answer- and idly takes note of just how many warships there really are on-base. One hundred and fifty, specifically. 150. That's not a small number at all; and it's one he'll have to check against the historical records when he gets back to HQ.

And... Bismarck, huh? Hmm.

    "Are there any warships from the United States or Great Britain among the fleet?" Reiji asks, eyes still scanning the facilities. "Or do they have their own bases elsewhere?" He can't imagine that a single base can defend the entire ocean. The Pacific alone is... Massive.

    Then, a familiar voice gets his attention. Reiji looks towards Zuihou and nods. He might be smiling- it's hard to tell with him sometimes. "Oh? And the Zeroes too?" Is Reiji a WW2 Aircraft Buff? Maybe. "I'd like that. Maybe when there's a chance along the tour. Not... Really sure what you mean by legs, though."

Do... Do the planes here have spirits, too? Are they particularly leggy women?

    Then, the ground shakes. Reiji frowns, his mood darkening by reflex before he remembers that he's /not/ in Shibuya right now. Still, he furrows his brow as he looks off into the distance. "...What was that? Feels like an earthquake, or a subway train, or... something."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna waves to the just-arrived Hayate, but doesn't call out an audible greeting - other people are talking, after all. Sheena's question is a good one, though, and that prompts Yuna to perk her ears up she also takes note of Isuzu's answer to the supplies question.

... and then Nagato starts dispensing a whole lot of technical jargon. The acronyms all but literally make Yuna's head spin, and she still has trouble keeping track of all the *actual* names of the ship classes. But she caught what she was most curious about. "A hundred fifty Fleet Daughters?" She takes another look around what she can currently see of the base. "... Is that the most this base can support?" she wonders idly.

Then the ground starts trembling, and Yuna looks around again - this time trying to figure out where the road or track is that's in such lively and energetic use. "Do you have many earthquakes at Hikari?" she wonders. "Seems like that'd be a hazard, especially if one happens off-shore and sends a tsunami your way ..."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Nozomi gets a smile and then Psyber continues walking along with his hands in his pockets. He's still actually not saying much or asking much, but he's here! Hanging out, listening, and smoking his cigarette. It's hard to make a big post about just hangin' out, so we'll cut it there.

    He also looks pensive and cautious at the rumbling.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
    Rebecca's trying to listen to what Nagato has to say, but the technical jargon seems to be flying over her head too. She finds her eyes are starting to spin before she shakes her head and gets her mind back into focus. She still doesn't have any questions though. She does listen to what Yuna has to ask, though, in hopes of gleaning some new information about what goes on here and the types of technologies that are used as well.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    "I meant no offense. Military installations in Ramuh are much more...sterile." Cirra explains. She pauses as she feels the ground shake. She continues on after a split second.

    "I'll bring the idea of offering you supplies to King Reycharde. I'm sure Bauxtite occures in Titan and Odin. And if trouble were to happen on Leviathan, the Fleet Daughter could be an invaluable ally." she pauses.

    "Odin is the continent of metal, Titan is a giant mountian, and Leviathan is a massive sea dotted with islands."

Hayate Yagami (150) has posed:
    Just-arrived Hayate waves back to Yuna silently, as well. Technical jargon can be sorted out later, when she sends the recording into the ONI archives. The naval intelligence one, not the demonic one. For the time being, it's best to look politely interested (easy, since she's at least got the interested part down pat).

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma salutes to Nagato. "Yes Ma'am! The Docks are <Spick and Span>! You can count on the Fifth Force Recon fleet to do their very best, kuma!~" she chimes happily, her adhoge bouncing as she does a little hop and twirl. Careful where you stand, you might get whipped in the face!

    Shigure chuckles softly at Kuma's antics, while falling in beside Riva. "Kuma is really energetic... she reminds me of Sister Yuudachi sometimes." she offers, staring off into the distance briefly. Sigh.

    Nowaki just... palms over her face, while Chitose chuckles at the energetic little cruiser. The Seaplane tender then falls back to mingle, stopping by Yuna. "Don't mind the Admiral, she's big on formality and all that pomp and circumstance." she offers, then drapes an arm around the Idol Singer's shoulders. "So, you're an Idol Singer hmm? Don't let Naka hear you say that, or she'll challenge you to a duel!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe says "I see, forgive me. It's the term often used to cover the alliances of the second world war on my world I shouoldn't have made any assumptions so I should be the one to ask forgiveness."

She seems happy with the answer she got, still it's quite an interesting bit of information. She wonders if there's anything the union can do to help with things here. She falls in step and does pull out a smart phone to take a few photos given her Father most well known as Pendragon couldn't make it. Her dad was likely to fall over at something like this.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva claps at Kuma. "I know, right? Formula One Racing is a lot of fun to watch, people go so fast... and then there's the /crashes/. Oh man, it's crazy." shigure comes up to reassure her, and Riva waves a hand dismissively. "It's okay! I love it when people show energy in life! You gotta go out and take life by the horns, you know?"

Zuihou then brings it up. "Yeah, that would be awesome!" Riva nods. "I can't wait to see how you guys do your setups! Suiseis, huh?" Riva ponders for a moment. "I wonder..."

Nagato continues to give out pertinent information, and Riva listens intently. "Hhhmmm.... Repair baths. I bet they have to be really comfy if you guys have to stay in them for days on end, right?" She says jokingly. "What do you guys do while you're relaxing in there?"

The ground shakes a little, and Riva interrupts in her train of thought as she looks into the distance, looking for the source of the commotion. "Whoa... What's that. It feels like something's coming..."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Ahh," Isuzu shrugs lightly, "What I heard is that this base was repurposed from an old ruin. So it's pretty old, that's why it's not as clean as you might be expecting."

    Zuihou steps away from the other two Mobile girls to accompany Nagato, swinging her arms cheerfully. However, she pauses when she notices the rumble, glancing down at her feet.

    "AD~MI~RAL~!"

    Akizuki and Isuzu promptly step aside, just in time to avoid the rushing black, red, and white shape of Kongou bursting between them at full speed. Two more steps, the battleship throws her arms open and full-on leaps straight for Psyber, "Burning~! Love~!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "AUGH!"

    Psyber knew it was coming! Or he suspected it. When the ground shook, he had flashbacks to the original time this transpired. Even so, Psyber staggers back several steps upon impact of Kongou against him.

    He does not, however, topple over. Instead, this time, he swings around sideways and twirls Kongou in a wide arc through the air to dissipate the force of her tackle and then sets her down on the ground in front of him afterwards.

    "Hello, Kongou."

Nagato has posed:
Nagato gives a smile at Ayako, nodding some. "If it will assist the Daughters, I would not mind you trying, however, I cannot guarantee that it'll work." she continues to walk along, heading towards the docks entrance, a sealed up building with metal floodgates in front of it. With a turn towards Reiji, she shakes her head, "Not that I have been made aware of, my apologies. As far as we are concerned or notified, we're the only fleet around to deal with the Abyssal threat."

Yuna gets a quick reply, "We can support a variety of fleet compositions here and ships. We can officially support around three hundred to four hundred bodies with rationing the resources, however two hundred will get us by without having to stretch things very thin. Myself, Mutsu and Musashi are in talks about expanding the harbor and the capabilities of Hikari to allow non-daughters to use the facilities with ease concerning repairs."

Cirra's met with a shake of Nagato's head, "No offense taken and if you're willing to exchange services for services, I will talk to the others about such, perhaps a joint venture is a good opportunity to explore the other seas and worlds that the Union has to offer much like we're doing currently."

Kuma gets another nod, "Good, you and your fleet do such excellent work, it's not a question why I choose to have you work on the docks." Shigure shakes her head, "Yes, let's not let Naka hear that." a pause, "Or in second thought, we could hold a Idol Fleet concert here to improve morale, the Fleet has been doing exceptionally well as of late. So perhaps this may be a good idea." What did Nagato just suggest...

Riva's met with hmm, "We have the baths furnished to be comfortable for the hours to days we're in there. I personally use the time to reflect upon my failures on what brought me here in the first place and work on new strategies to prevent such from happening again. Some of the girls read, some sing, some just relax and use it as paid vacation..."

"Don't mind the pounding... should be expecting someone short..." and on cue, there is Kongou.

----------

MEANWHILE: Repair Baths, 17:12.

Atago's resting near one of them, most of the subs assigned to clean the baths are on a break but when Nasa-511 comes in, Atago's eyes meet Nasa's. "Yuu-chan, come back to work a bit more? Such a wonderful little ship you are, I'm so glad you came!" Atago bounces up and pulls the 'shipgirl' into a big hug, and mayhaps into marshmallow hell. "Come, let Atago take care of you this time, no damaged girls here yet, but I'm sure after Nagato's sortie, there will be."

Atago smiles a bit, "Though, I could stand to take a bath as well, I was scuffed up some on a recent trip, though not enough to warrant it. Come, let's go get the baths clean and take a dip, Yuu. What do you say? Let Atago take care of your worries about fitting in with the fleet."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles softly and nods her head once towards Nagato. "I'll give it a try and do my best!" Her smile becomes more cheerful! And then the rumbling intensifies! She glances around quickly and then she hears the 'AD~MIR~RAL~!' shout.

    Ayako just blinks her eyes quickly as Kongou tackles Psyber and watches Psyber turn it into a twirl hug. "I... uhh..." She then shakes her head as she giggles softly. "<Hello> Kongou!"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Kongou is twirled! It dissipates her momentum masterfully and, once the girl is set down, she just smiles, "Hmmhmm~! I knew you would make it, Admiral~." The angel gets a big ol' squeeze before Kongou relocates to just hanging off his arm, "This is my home away from <Boston!> Not many ships have two places to call <Home Port.>" She spots Ayako and relinquishes a hand to wiggle her fingers, "<Hello!>"

    Isuzu meanwhile rubs her face with one hand at the antics of her unit flagship. Akizuki however trots over to assume her place at Psyber's other side--though without trying to hang off his arm or anything. Instead, she just matches his and Kongou's pace, leaning forward with her arms folded behind her back, "Hey, Commander, could you help me? I got totally stuck on floor ten of Hero's Duty."

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Oh, good, there was a ship in here and -- she wasn't healing. There were no ships in here to repair. Luckily, the disappointment on Nasa's face doesn't show behind the illusion, otherwise Atago might have been tipped off to the fact it wasn't actually Yuu! "A-ah, I-I remembered a spot that I missed..." 'Yuu' says, doing her best to try to keep the act up. Thank goodness she encounered someone else, but this could pose a problem if she talked about something that had been done before. And then, of course, the hug happened, and she was pulled into marshmallow hell. While the 'Yuu' illusion turned bright red, underneath Nasa was turning bright purple from the hug, going briefly limp in that 'ack-I-don't-know-what-to-do' kind of way.

     Still, her sharp mind kicked in and she quickly shifted back to her shy girl act as she's hugged close, "A-ah, i-is it okay? I-I haven't finished cleaning yet..." She murmurs. And then Atago spoke of being scuffed up and such, along with helping clean up the baths and take a dip. Okay, that could possibly work as well, even if it wasn't perfect. Maybe the mission was salvagable still! "O-okay, Atago..." 'Yuu' says, as Nasa starts to get more into the act, partially as a survival mechanism. "A-are you sure I-I'll fit in with the fleet? W-we're from different places... a-and I'm not good at japanese..."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is just in tourist mode let's be honest she's got a lot to learn here nd she's is taking note of it. She can get how the Abyssals would be a terror to even the modern navies of her world. So the fleet daughters are a very welcome thing she hears about their plans to expand and just how many they can support she nods. That's quite the fleet there after all and she snaps a fe more photo of things. The idea of doing things to boost their moral was a good idea to. Keeping people's spirits up was a good things. She listens about the baths and takes a moment to consider being stuck for days in a bath? Yes one would need to be comfortable for such.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji frowns a bit at Nagato as she answers him. So they really are the only base operating in these waters? Or rather, the only one they know about. "I see," he says, rubbing at his chin. "It must have been difficult, patrolling the oceans from just one base."

He's about to go on when... Kongou.

Koooonnnngou.

    Reiji watches as he hurls herself at Psyber, and somehow has this awful feeling of deja'vu about the whole thing. There's a pain of... sympathy, there, too. "Battleship Kongou," he says with a nod, "Good to see you."

Is she always this energetic? If the radio is anything to go by, then the answer is a firm yes on that front.

    His eyes look back towards Nagato then- except his eyebrows are knit just a bit, as if he's not sure he heard her correctly. "An Idol Concert?" Reiji asks, "Are... are there many idol-singers among the fleet?"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Someone comes running through the area shouting, Cirra's immediate instincit is to...

    Get out of the damned way.

    Hey whoever Kongou is targeting, it isn't her Prince. Oh it's Psyber.

    "Oh." She turns away. "We're not under attack." as if she wasn't just shy of letting Psyber take a hit. "Regardless, I'll see what I can do to bring forward the idea to the king. I'm sure Leviathan would be worth visiting for you."

    "Id be interested in seeing how the Fleet Daughters deploy. I've only ever met Kuma before."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Owing to the three real hugs a year policy, the hug is only acknowledged via one hand patting Kongou on the back when she comes in to squeeze him. Gotta keep that quota under. Check back in June-July.

    "It's a great port, Kongou. And it's clear that everyone living here is both a military and one big happy family," He notes, shifting to let her hang off his arm while his other snuffs out the cigarette he was smoking.

    Isuzu gets a wave at her face rub before Akizuki approaches, "Ah, floor ten. Did you remember to get the shotgun in floor nine? That makes clearing the rooms a lot easier. And don't forget you have flashbangs," He says to her an an advisory tone.

    Overall, he's pretty relaxed about the whole event in the aftermath, and easily falls back into his normal demeanor.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna isn't so worried about the rumbling that she can't grin at Chitose, "So you've got a local idol too? I'd love to meet her -"

Warning: incoming Kongou. Yuna would probably be making sure she's out of the way if she knew which direction Kongou was incoming *from*. Fortunately, she doesn't have to wait long to find out, and she takes a moment to admire Psyber's skill in tanking KONGOU BAANINGU RAABU without serious damage. "Hi Kongou! Good to see you!" Yuna smiles, waving to Kongou and trying to pretend she wasn't worried at all.

"I really *would* love to meet this Naka," Yuna adds, "And I'd be happy to perform with her - maybe we can do a duet or two, I'd have to find out what songs she already knows and whether we know any in common."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva watches in shock as Kongou performs her Burning Love flip-hug intro /again/. She doesn't seem to be able to get how someone can pull something like that off...

Though she does ponder something for a moment, an odd look on her face. Hmmmmm.

Nagato brings her back to reality, and she blinks. "Oh, yes! That's really neat and very responsible and diligent of you."

It's at this point she waves to Kongou as well. "HI KONGOU!" She calls out exuberantly. "Good to see you're at 110 percent as always!"

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma wobbles a little as the Fast Battleship comes tearing through. She stares at the twirlhug and giggles. "Kongou is always so energetic, kuma~." she says, then spins around and trots off ahead of the group. Nowaki, always the stoic one, just sighs. "You're getting in front of the Admiral, Kuma." The young-looking silver haired girl chides.

    Shigure just remains quietly near to Riva, reaching up to play with a little red-gem hairclip she's taken to wearing recently. It holds the left side of her bands out of her eyes, though does nothing for the right side.

    Chitose unhooks from Yuna, and grins at the idol. "She's kinda territorial. There was this one time some of the Fubuki sisters got together to try out some singing, and Naka just came plowing in and challenge them all to a sing-off. It was a good time, but Naka really got into it!" she shrugs, brushes her fingers through her hair, then readjusts her bandanna. "Hey, y'want some sake? I have a bottle of Osakan here!"

Nagato has posed:
"I only know of one. Naka." comes Nagato, a sigh coming to her as Kongou makes her entrance to the other Admiral. "She's pretty popular here and does her own songs too. Though with the Multiverse now, I think she's picking up on some more songs outside of our world." she pauses, "As for the difficulty, its not as difficult as you imagine, though we take a lot more precautions than most fleets."

"I would love a chance to tour Leviathan with you, Cirra. And do let me know what your King decides, even if it's just to have a meeting with the Fleet as well." a pause coming to the 'under attack' statement. "Kongou does this. It's normal."

Yuna gives a light nod, "I'll have to introduce you to her then at a later point. For now, let's continue the tour, it's getting to the evening and I do not wish the food to get cold before you all have a chance to have a bite."

Moving things along, Nagato heads into the control room and looks around. Over a loudspeaker, "AKAGI! KAGA! FUSOU! KIRISHIMA! TENRYUU! TATSUTA! Sortie!" a pause "Guests, please stand back and watch how Akagi and Kaga equip themselves." Since describing this may take a while... have a webm. https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1896973?tags=kaga_%28kantai_collection%29+webm

As the fleet sorties, Nagato steps out of the control room and nods, "While that's just the base fleet, each individual has a customized set of parameters for the loading system to consider... especially for Fubuki..." a pause, "Now, I know some of you.." a pointed look towards Reiji... "may be hungry, so how about we head to the mess hall and enjoy some curry and more made by Kongou and the kitchen staff?"

-----------

Meanwhile, back at the baths.

Atago looks genuinely pleased at the prospect, "Such a hard worker, I'll make sure that the Admiral knows this." she nods, getting the baths ready "The spot can wait, let's just enjoy this bath, okay?" Atago's legs are scuffed up, a few bruises and a cut here or there... All in all, maybe ten percent damaged...

"The Admiral saw it fit to bring you, Yuu, and even though you're not good at Japanese, we'll teach you. You are doing a fine job. Perhaps practice with Bismarck, she's gotten really good at speaking German and Japanese."

Once again, back into marshmallow hell and cue obligatory bath scene. Minus the scene.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Hi, Hi~!" Kongou returns various greetings and well-wishes; Yuna, Riva, Reiji, Cirra, the gathered ships, "Please enjoy yourselves in our home." There's a glance up to Psyber, "You, too! Relax, Admiral!" Though he seems to already be well on the way to doing so, which has the battleship satisfied.

    Akizuki blinks, head tilting, "There's a shotgun..?" And then she leans in more interested, "Wait, there's flash grenades?! That'll make it so much easier!"

    Isuzu reaches out, snagging Akuzuki's collar and pulling her back, "Hey, you're being a bit rude, you know?"

    When Nagato mentions the food, Kongou visibly brightens and raises her voice, "I prepared it all with Mamiya's assistance! <Everyone,> please enjoy it~!"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra looks at Nowaki, sensing a kindrid spirit.

    Nagato orders a display of the equip system and Cirra watches as the gears and chains move "Hmmn..." Clearly it's at least partly done this way because the Fleet Daughters are still 'ships' in their minds... Except maybe Kongou, who seems to think she's some kind of long jumping rabbit or kangaroo.

    "You all seem very practiced at this method."

    "Dinner sounds lovely. Thank you."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako giggles softly. "Hmm... being an idol singer, huh?" She shakes her head slowly. "Maybe I should give such a try again someday! I mean..." She glances off to the side and upwards. "I mean... the Multiverse is a lot more accepting of non-human people and all..."

    When Nagato just explains Kongou's behavior as 'normal', Ayako giggles brightly and nods her head quickly. "<Yes! Normal!> And I wouldn't have Kongou any other way!" She smiles softly.

    When the tour brings them into the control room, Ayako just quietly looks around. And then the sortie is ordered! Ayako watches quietly... and then claps her hands together as she watches the way they equip themselves. "Oohh... how neat!"

    Ayako doesn't really react to the subject of food, but she does follow along anyway! Besides, she likes watching people eat.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Ooooh, transformation sequences! Yuna pays close attention to the equipping process, smiling a bit as she sees how the girls position themselves for their weapons and accessories to fly into place. "That's cool ... a lot cooler than my transformations," she admits sheepishly. "How much practice does it take for them to get the routine down? And what happens if somebody misses the timing on a step?"

On the other hand, she's not so curious that she's going to let her questions get in the way of dinner - she's happy to head down to the mess hall with everyone. Curry sounds good, too.

.... as long as it's not too spicy.

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Atago was damaged. Perfect. Not that Nasa wanted to see any of the fleet daughters injured, but it would be hard to test her quick repair solution if there weren't any damaged fleet daughters to try it on. 'Yuu' gave a shy little smile up towards Atago, "D-danke(Thank you)... ah... I mean... a-arigato(Thank you)..." She mumbles. Yeah, Nasa was definitely playing up the 'horrible at japanese' thing up, but it seemed to be a notable trait of Yuu from the observations she'd done before assuming her form. She takes a nervous little breath as she listnes to the description of why she would fit in, and why she would be good.

     It made Nasa feel a bit guilty on the inside, but also happy at the same time. The real Yuu, she was sure, would be happy here. Which she voices, murmuring adorably shyly, "Yuu will be happy here with friends like Atago..." She mumbles, aiming for third person that sounds like first person... so that it's an obscuration of the truth, rather than outright lie. As the obligatory bath sceen begins, Nasa had to try hard to act all bashful and shy, where in reality, such things weren't that strange to her.

     She also made note to subtly slip one of her hidden potions into the water underneath the illusion, the water subtly changing color to a very very slight purple. Mixed in with the usual healing solution, there were several magical healing plants and herbs, things carefully mixed and tested to make sure it didn't interact poisonously with the water. It would definitely not be nearly as potent as the Instant Repair Buckets, but it should almost -- or even instantly -- repair that small amount of damage to Atago...

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva, now back to paying attention to her surroundings (as recommended by 1 out of 1 practicioners of German Ninjutsu), she blinks at the hairclip. "Oh my, that clip is very nice. Where did you get it?"

Nagato orders a sortie, however, and Riva watches as the ladies GET EQUIPPED. "Wow, that's SO COOL!" She exclaims in excitement. "That is the most amazing way I've ever seen to get ready to go out onto the ocean!"

Her wowing seems to get distracted though, when curry is mentioned. "And curry too? This is basically the best tour ever." She pokes at Ayako. "Don't give up on it, Ayako! Soon when I have a group together we'll have an awesome singing party!"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is, to his credit, immensely patient and pretty mellow. It comes from years of handling odd situations. Plus Kongou and her team weren't so bad, if a bit energetic in their own ways, "Hell yeah. You hold alt fire and press the grenade button to throw the flashbangs. Stuns enemies for a bit, real useful."

    Akizuki gets her eager response, and when Isuzu comes in to retrieve her, Psyber even ruffles her hair as well, "It's okay, Isuzu. She just wants some advice. She's been practicing so she can join me in online Multiplayer, haven't you, Akizuki?"

    Nagato mentions food and Psyber perks up, "Oh right. Curry. Kongou was asking me about that earlier today. I'm eager to try some!" And internally dreading the fact Kongou said she was going to make it spicy.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
J-just because Reiji was talking about curry on the radio earlier doesn't mean he's some kind of starved wolf! Jeez!

    "I see," Reiji says with a slight sigh of relief- and a respectful nod. "That's good. Shinra has enough trouble just keeping Japan safe back home. I'm glad you don't have that problem." Though fighting supernatural creatures in the backwoods and under the cover of night is a very different animal from naval warfare- especially since they've been trying to keep it on the hush-hush for so long. And it's not like they exactly have a unified enemy to fight, either- not like the Abyssals.

    "Though-- this Naka's pretty competetive, huh?" Reiji rubs at his chin. "Sounds like things can get pretty rough around here, too. That's a good problem to have, though. Seems like you're all more like a family than just a naval division."

His eyes flicker towards Chitose. "Uh," he coughs, "Maybe over the curry. Don't think 'in the middle of a tour' is exactly the best place to appreciate good booze."

    And then, command-rooms! Deployment orders! /Transformation sequences./ Reiji kind of wishes Xiaomu was around to see this. She'd probably be all pressed up as close as she could get.

Maybe next time.

    "...Curry would be good," Reiji admits. He doesn't say he's hungry or anything! He is, just a little bit. But there's never anything bad about curry. "What kind is it, if you don't mind me asking?" There are as many types of curry as there are stars in the sky*, after all!

(*There are nowhere near this many types of curry)

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is just fading a bit to hear of Levithan and she does wonder about Cirra's world but given her lack of magic her thoughts to travel there are likely just a fantasy as it could become very bad to not be able to use a lot of the local technology as it were. Still she did love hearing about things. She listens and watches to see the process that is about to unfold.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako giggles brightly when she's poked and squirms away two steps from Riva. Super ticklish, she is. She then giggles a bit nervously. "Ha ha ha... I... umm... Wait. You're still doing that, Riva?" A soft worried noise escapes from her. "I don't know whether to be happy... or worried about the results..."

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma blinks. "Curry? Y-You didn't let Hiei near it, did you?" she asks, face paling a little at the prospect.

    Nowaki gravitates over to Cirra, looking up at her with a quirked brow, before just watching the group. "It's nice... Everyone's so alive." she offers without context.

    Shigure seems to freeze for a moment, then gives Riva a mixed expression before answering. "S-Someone... very special gave it to me before... b-before our last sotie together." the girl's lower lip quivers, then she looks away. "I'm sorry..." she says, before darting off toward the barracks.

    Chitose ahs at Reiji. "Right! I nearly forgot about the curry!"

Nagato has posed:
Nagato seems to be pleased with how everything has been turning out as of late, the meet and greet and tour of Hikari has been a big success, though the sky is getting darker. She heads towards the barracks area, leading the group into the mess hall where all of the subs are... including Yuu. This gives Nagato a curious look upon her face, "I thought I said... never mind."

"Everyone, do enjoy the food, there's enough here to feed two fleets. Eat, drink, converse and enjoy the rest of the evening."


-------


Meanwhile, the Baths.

Baths are prepared, the water taking on that odd purple that ATago isn't used to seeing. "Hmm, maybe something is wrong with this mixture. I'm sure I had the ratio right." she shakes her head, slipping in and relaxing, lifting a leg up to examine the... wait, where did the damage go? "Aaah, you're doing fine, though I may have to tell the Admiral about this water mixture. Purple for it doesn't seem to be good but that leg wound is completely gone." She tugs Nasa-511 close and smiles. "Aren't you enjoying your bath? Or do you want some of Kongou's curry?"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Hiei's been on sortie all week!" Kongou points out, "<No Way> I would let her cook for something like today~!" To Reiji, she answers, "We made several kinds! Even the Akatsuki girls helped out a little, but theirs turned out to be mild." A big grin crosses her face, "It's <Okay> since they're destroyers, but the best curry is spicy~!"

    Akizuki squawks when Isuzu grabs her, "H-hey! It's just tips on the game..!"

    And then Isuzu squawks when Psyber messes up her hair. Releasing the destroyer, she leans up to straighten out her appearance, "Jeez..."

    Still hanging off Psyber's arm, Kongou leans forward once they enter the mess hall, "Shall I get you a plate~? Or do you prefer to get your own?"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra looks down at nowaki with a similar expression, one eyebrow raised. She looks back at everyone else. "Yes." she agrees with the silver haired shipgirl. "It's good to be enthusiastic. It reminds me of Alexander Academy." Though theres more fights at the school.

    Cirra follows along to the mess hall where she quietly waits for the curry to be served. "A very close family." She finally comment to Nowaki.

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     "A-ah? I t-think the water is fine, Atago..." 'Yuu' murmurs, as a glamour sheens over the water, shifting it to its usual color when Atago isn't looking. "M-maybe you just had a long day and need a rest..." 'Yuu' says softly, slipping into the water after Atago to enjoy the bath with her, her eyes half-lidding as she relaxes in the bath. "MMmh... i-it feels nice." 'Yuu' says quietly, resting against Atago as she's pulled in close, just kind of giving in to the affection. It wasn't that it was unpleasant anyway. And on top of that, resting in the repair water gave her a bit of an idea what the fleet daughters felt when they were in their baths, since she had just made small doses to practice on herself. "The bath ... is very nice, ja." She mumbles softly, resting against Atago. Oh crap she felt safe and warm in Atago's arms. Nasa blinked a couple of times before shifting a bit. "Ah! Curry... T-that sounds good, but we should probably finish cleaning before we do..."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is now very glad she came in the flesh, as she sees the food, she does get a bit wided eyed at it. She does notice the spirits of every last one of the ships seem to have quite a bit of viggor for life. It must be interesting about here during thier off hours around here. The idea of food is a great one to her and she follows after Cirra nodding a little bit.

"One very happy family too from the looks of it, Cirra."

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "Is there something wrong with Hiei's cooking, or something?" Reiji asks, arching his brows incredulously. He shakes his head, "A variety's good. Sometimes a guy doesn't want his mouth and face to feel like they've been shoved into a bed of hot coals."

    A colorful way to describe spice. Does Reiji not like spicy things? Judging by the fact that he's piled a plate full of rice and split the curries into almost perfectly even quarters on top of it, he doesn't seem to have much of an issue with lighting his taste buds on fire.!

    "So, I noticed that most of the destroyers seem... A lot younger than the rest of the fleet," Reiji asks of the ship-girls as he meticulously shoves a spoon into one of his curry-quarters. "Is there a pattern between physical appearance and ship-ranking, or something?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Mild curry is fine with me, really," Yuna says to Kongou with a big smile.

And sure enough, while Yuna needs a big glass of milk to help quench her mouth after tasting the hotter curries, the destroyer team's curry is cheerfully chowed down upon by the blonde idol singer. (And yes, milk for her, not beer or sake, much as she hates to be rude by refusing the offer ... she's got an image to maintain and a petite enough frame that she'd be the first one going three sheets to the wind.)

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako walks over towards each of the pots of curry and glances inside each. "Eh heh... curry! Some people like it hot, some people like it mild." She giggles softly. "I just like watching people eat. It's really interesting watching all of the emotions that go across their faces when they do!" Her head nods quickly. "It's also interesting watching those who like their curry hot!" She pours cups of water for those eating. Water's good with curry, after all!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber elects not to escape from the Spicy Curry Hell, and will instead tank it like the champ he is so that Kongou won't be disappointed, "S-Sure, Kongou. I'll let you get me a plate of it," He notes, scuffing a foot against the ground and preparing to be breathing fire later.

    Regardless of spice level, the man's trained to take the pain from most injuries and his best friend is Nathan Hall, so for whatever internal screaming he's doing over spice levels (particularly if Kongou made him a Special Plate), he'll manage to keep it to a mild face-reddening and an easy sweat as he eats spoonfuls of curry.

    To Reiji, Psyber responds regarding the ships, "I've noticed it's less related to the model of the ship and more to its age during its prime usage. Or the amount of story and lore behind it in terms of mythology. But the framework and physical attributes of the ship could contribute as well."

Riva Banari has posed:
Ayako's giggling causes Riva to just put her arms akimbo and lean in towards her a bit. "Oh, Ayako, don't you worry! Everything will be awesome!"

Shigure, however, speaks up and Riva's smile sinks faster than a destroyer with no air support. "I..." She tries to respond, but Shigure runs off. Riva is left with an outstretched hand, and she replies quietly. "I'm sorry..." She sighs for a moment, and then looks back to the others on their tour, having taken a big morale hit. She sits down and gets herself some random curry, munching on it quietly for the moment. She doesn't explode on fire, so she must have picked one of the milder ones.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Tonnage," Isuzu states blandly to Reiji, spooning up a serving of chicken curry for herself. She takes a seat a few spots down but at the same table, pointing with her spoon, "As a ship, Akizuki displaces two thousand, seven hundred tons." She scoops up a spoonful, using her free hand to gesture to herself, "Meanwhile I, a light cruiser, displaced five thousand, five hundred tons. We're not quite sure why but displacement seems to be the biggest determinator for our human appearances." With that, she shoves the spoon into her mouth.

    After about two seconds, the cruiser girl's face turns red. With a 'heeeh!' sort of noise, she grabs for her drink with both hands and downs the entire glass, eyes squeezed shut.

    "Hiei's not a very good cook," Akizuki answers the youth's other question, "Like. Dangerously bad. She's put Kirishima in the repair docks before." Looks like she wimped out with mild curry, though. She's also seated a notable distance from Isuzu, since the FUMES coming off the older girl's plate were making her eyes water.

    "Okay, Admiral~!" And then Kongou finally releases Psyber's arm to skip off and fetch his meal. It's a few moments before she comes back--and keeping track of her in all the activity was next to impossible. Especially considering the two other girls in the exact same outfit milling around.

    Before long, though, Kongou returns, bearing two plates. One is adorned with a brown, steaming curry while the other's is a red-tinged beef curry. It's this one she sets down in front of the angel, before taking her seat beside him with a happy noise, "Please enjoy it~! I made it special for you!"

    TRIPPING ALL THE FLAGS AREN'T YOU, KONGOU

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako gives Riva a soft, warm hug from behind! Gently, though! Riva is eating, after all. "You didn't know. I'm sure she knows you didn't mean to bring up something sensitive." She releases Riva from the hug and sits down next to her. "Now... what's this about awesomeness?"

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma whews, and gleefully piles up a plate with rice and curry. She plunks down, and does the traditional thanks for the food, before chowing down, steam rising from her as she does.

    Nowaki nods to Cirra. "I would suggest the mild curry... Kongou tends to be a little... overzealous with her spices." states the silverhaired girl. She grabs a small plate of rice, and pours some of the mild curry onto it, before seeking out a seat.

    Meanwhile, Chitose offers little cups of sake to those that want it. It isn't /great/ quality stuff, but it's certainly no the kind you serve /warm/. She's easygoing enough to not press the issue with Yuna, just offering her a smile. The Seaplane Tender goes about the place, offering drinks, and generally taking a 'waitress' like role.

---------------------

Meanwhile

    Shigure sits in her bunk, having taken the hair clip out to hold in her hands. She heaves a sigh, staring at it... but not /at/ it, her mind seeing something a long time ago. Something is different, this time. The vision has Yamashiro as always, but, she places a hand around Shigures, and closes her fingers around the pin. Wordlessly, she says 'Go back to them' before the vision dies away.

    The Destroyer swallows, stands up and replaces the clip before heading back out towards the messhall.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    "Ah. Thank you." Cirra says to Nowaki. She can see Kuma over there, steaming. Is that what ship girls do instead of sweating? She piles up some rice and pours some curry on top before going to sit down next to Nowaki.

    Carefully spooning up some of the curry, the Judge eats some.

    "This is mild?" She asks rather then states. She however continues to carefully eat the curry. She's a very neat eater.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji... watches as Akizuki's mouth almost literally catches fire. His gaze slooowly shifts until he's staring down at his own plate of curry. And at the wisps of unspeakable vapor wafting from what is almost certainly Kongou's special curry. He wonders if this is what she means by BURNING LOVE, and only then concludes that love must be a two way street. It can be painful, but it can be rewarding.

That doesn't mean that he has to go for it first, though, and he sticks to some of the other curry for now.

    "Tonnage would make sense," Reiji says with a nod. "It'd also explain the trend in ship class. A Heavy Cruiser is larger than a destroyer, after all. Though age and story would work, too. A tsukumogami with a storied history tends to be particularly powerful... Though I'm generalizing."

    He glances askance at Akizuki, "It's... It's really that bad?" He frowns, taking a bite, then swallowing. Yes, good and mild for now. "And I'm guessing she's the type who'll keep trying no matter how hopeless it seems, huh?" He knows people like that. Shinra has quite a few non-humans, and some of their tastes are... kind of inhuman too. "Could be worse, I suppose," he says with a sigh, "Does it at least resemble what she intended to cook?"

He also takes a cup of Chitose's sake. Cheap sake is still sake, even if it's not the kind of thing you shell out a week's paycheck for. Still, refreshments are good!

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva meeps as Ayako gives her a surprise hug. She smiles at that and reaches over yo give Ayako a good hair-ruffling. "Thanks." She says, then gestures with her spoon. "I'm putting together an idol singing group! It'll be you, and me, and Eleanor, and I have one or two more planned to get involved. I just want to try it out and see what it's like."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is now comming for curry and is going to go for the mild curry herself."

She catches the warning about the spices, she doesn't want to end up having to drink half a carton of milk to make hte burning stop. SO she'll just play it safe. She does take notice of Reiji and she thinks.

"So your saying the Yamato would be more powerful than say Maya would be?"

Seems she's followed some history as she noted eariler.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako giggles softly when her hair is ruffled. "Always welcome." And then watches Riva's spoon as she gestures with it. Yeah, she has no idea what these spoon gestures are supposed to be. "I... huh. Well... it's actually pretty hard, you know." She nods her head quickly. "Especially if there's going to be five... and it only gets harder if we're going to dance as well!"

    On another note, Ayako's hair unruffles and smooths itself out. A bit eerie if anyone notices!

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure chimes in, as she enters the messhall. "Yamato is the most powerful battleship ever built. It goes without saying that her firepower outstrips Maya's... However, our, human form's shape is largely dependent on our shipform's displacement, though age and history have some impact..." she's a Destroyer, but actually looks older than Kuma, despite being younger and lighter.

    Kuma grabs her drink, and gulps it down, slamming the cup down with an exaggerated 'Aaaah'. "Whoo, Kongou~ You make the /best/ curry, kuma~!" she offers in praise to the Battleship.

    Nowaki looks over at Cirra. "If you are unused to spice, then even a small amount can feel very hot." she suggests, nudging a glass of milk towards the Judge. "Drink some of this before continuing, it will help to keep the spice from overwhelming you."

    Chitose finally, after having made her rounds, plunks down across from Reiji with a plate of HOT curry. "So, Reiji, was it? How do you like our little base?" she asks, pointing her spoon at him as she leans on the table. "I have some better quality sake in my stores if y'like. But the /best/ stuff I'm keeping for that one special victory, y'know?"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Comparing a heavy cruiser like Maya to the heaviest and most heavily armed battleship ever made?" Akizuki spares Tomoe a glance, "Really? Does that even work?" Eyes closing, she shovels rice and sauce into her mouth. Once she's downed it, though, she adds, "Of course Yamato's got weaknesses too, like aircraft. That's where destroyers like me come in. With my Choujuucentihou-chan!"

    As if on cue, a little ... thing that looks like a rabbit and a gun turret had a child hops into the seat beside her. Using little flippers, it reaches for her curry plate, and she pulls it away, "Not for you."

    At Akizuki's other side, a second identical Choujuucentihou-chan scoops up some of her rice, unnoticed, and then sits back to nibble on it with a squeaking noise.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    "Shivans are sensative to changes in temperature." Cirra explains to Nowaki as she passes the glass of milk. "Thank you." She takes it all in stride and gently sips the milk. "I suppose it must extend to spices as well. Shiva is a very cold place, things like spices don't grow there."

    She glances aside at Kuma who has simply wolfed donw her spicey curry, then looks at Akizuki's...pet gun turret things.

    Huh.

    Mechanists from Galianda would have a field day watching the fleet girls, thats for sure.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva doesn't seem to notice. She does, however, get back to Curry Time. Curry is better with happiness, not sadness! "Of course it's going to be hard, but everything good is hard! But then, I can't really comment on that, you know that too!" She giggles at that. "Everything will work out eventually." That seems to sum up Riva's viewpoint on everything.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    There are a lot of people who wonder just how much life in Boston for a few centuries has changed Psyber from a European mindset into an American mindset. The answer to this question becomes apparent in one single moment:

    Psyber looks down at the plate of curry in front of him and then slowly starts mixing it together, trying to get as much sauce-rice-meat-mixage as he can and evenly distribute it. When this is done, he reaches into his Jacket (of Holding) and pulls out an entire french roll. Which he has pre-split (in case of emergency sandwich needs) and also placed slices of cold cheese into (see above). Then he tips the plate sideways and puts the curry mixture onto the sandwich, then takes a big bite while holding it in two hands.

    "Yeah! Ifffs rea-y goo, Kon-ou," Psyber murmurs around a big bite of his curry-turned-sandwich.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "...Yamato," Reiji says almost... reverently? The Battleship Yamato /was/ incredibly famous, after all. He considers saying something about her displacement, but quickly reconsiders because that would be /so/ disrespectful, oh my god. "I see. Well," he says instead, "It's probably not so important to figure out the specific details. Still, it's interesting to see how the trends behave."

    He takes another bite of curry. This time, he's eating from the one immediately to the left of the one he was sampling before. Does he have a pattern of curry-consumption!? Really, he's just building himself up for eating Kongou's Curry Hell. One needs to be sufficiently prepared for such things.

    He glances towards Chitose as she arrives, and then turns to look to her when she actually starts addressing him personally. Reiji smiles again- it's still kind of hard to tell, but at least it's more obvious this time, "It's a nice place. It feels... Very warm, like a home more than a military facility." Pause. His eyes narrow into conspiratorial slits, "Heh. Preparing for the great Decisive Battle, are we? I do appreciate some good sake, though, if you're offering."

His eyes flicker towards the... Bunny... turret... thing. A familiar? Do turrets have their own spirits as well!?

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako just shakes her head slowly with a soft smile... and then watches Riva and everyone else eat. She seems to find it fascinating! Even Choujuucentihou-chan gets watched! Including how Psyber eats curry. Huh... sandwich.

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure coughs lightly... maybe her voice just didn't carry. There's a /lot/ of people here, after all. She just, quietly sneaks over to the food, piles herself a plate of mild curry, pours a glass of milk and finds a spot out of the way from everyone.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks to Akizuki and seems embrassed.

"I ment no insult, they were some of the first ships to come to mind."

She almost cringes back a little bit.

"Yes it was the Yamato was a feat of Engineering it and it's sister ship have never had their likes sail the oceans since.Ah I see, it does make sense and it's I didn't know that's how it worked."

She goes back to her meal and is looking very apologetic now.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra looks up as Shigure goes past. She glances at Nowaki then at Shigue again, "I'd like to know more about the ships you came from. There aren't as many naval ships in my world." That should be loud enough for Shigure to hear. "Mosty we have airship."

    "Theres a very famouse one of legend called Ark. They say it was the first, and that it was made by the Gods to carry the first Job users to battle against Chaos."

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure pauses, and seems to be considering joining Cirra and Nowaki, but after a moment, continues on and away.

    Nowaki watches her fleetmate for a moment, then looks back at Cirra. "Don't mind Shigure. She is a nice girl but, has some... issues." she explains.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna finishes her curry eventually - taking the time to savor it, and mostly listening to other conversations going on around her rather than interrupting her eating to speak. She doesn't know that much naval history, either, so there's not a lot she can contribute on that topic.

"That really *was* delicious," Yuna says with a smile as she sets her spoon down on a now-empty plate. "I'm kind of sorry I can't appreciate the other curries that people went to so much trouble to make ..." Her smile turns rather sheepish as she says that.