3485/Field Test and Training

Field Test and Training
Date of Scene:	06 December 2015
Location:	Hikari Sea Port
Synopsis:	Nagato sets up a Destroyer's training session... with the Special Class Destroyers Amakasu, Kagurazaka and Nasa with assistance from Akizuki and company.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 367, 385, 637, Nagato, Shigure, 829, 901

---

Nagato has posed:
    Today, a day unlike any others, most of the forward bay has been repaired and the launching docks have been fixed and extended with three more launch bays. "The modified launch bays at the end should work for non fleet." Nagato mutters after making a couple calls on the radio. She expects the entire destroyer line to report, but some, still on expedition and some even sleeping after. She's invited a couple of the non fleet to join in testing the new equipment as well.

    Nagato herself is waiting at the flagship position in the launch bays, completely unarmored and unarmed, staring at the door. "Amakasu, Kagurazaka... they should be here soon..."

Shigure has posed:
    Nowaki mirrors the Admiral, arms folded as she stoo stands unarmoured, a diminuitive little silver-haired girl next to the imposing figure of the Battleship. She's silent as usual, watching. Waiting.

    Shigure, wearing her uniform but not her rigging, walks slowly so Amakasu can keep up. She's a lithe thing, but deceptively quick on her feet if she's not paying attention. "It's just over this way." she offers, deep, boyish tone barely reaching above a soft murmur, though somehow carries as far as normal volume words, somehow.

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Naikui, AKA Na-191 who is basically just Nasa under an illusion... is here! At the docks. She doesn't really look like Nasa though, due to the fair skin, as well as the navy-style blue dress with a 'sailor' handkerchief. Still, most of the fleet daughters knew that NA-191 was just Nasa trying to fit in. Even if not all of the Union knew that.

     Held in her arms was a handful of large bags, most of which held bath bombs with a small film over them to avoid immediate 'explosion' of the bath bombs. She makes her way over to Nagato, setting the bags down next to her. "Here~." She says cheerfully, if perhaps a bit tiredly. She had been working hard to help with the repairs of Hikari, as well as worrying far too much about various random people in the Union. Not that she'd ever admit to it, baka!

     Afterwards, Nasa began to make her way towards one of the modified launch bays, shifting a bit nervously. Nasa never did well with heavy things, and being only 4 feet tall didn't help, since she was shorter than even a lot of the other fleet daughters. The pint sized not!Destroyer!

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    As soon as Nagato had made the call clear, Hoshi had hustled her way towards the Black Forest in her world to enter the warpgate. Few hops and a skip, and she's making her way towards the gate in her spiffy new Fleet Daughter uniform. Spotting someone waiting for her, she grins and waves as she jogs over.

    One of the places that Hoshi hadn't seen in Hikari yet was the launching bay, so she's grateful for Shigure's help as they make their way. Even if she has to jog a couple steps sometimes to keep up. "Thanks for leading me, Ms. Shigure. It's nice to finally meet you in person." As they go, Hoshi slowly leans over. "I don't suppose you could give me some tips?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
How do you dress up for testing prototype equipment? Yuna's first inclination was to wear her Light Suit, but odds are the gear wouldn't even fit over her battlesuit - and going in Marine Form would waste the point of it. For lack of any better ideas, she's wearing a sundress; presumably somebody will tell her if she needs to change into more appropriate clothes than that.

Yuna's been to Hikari a couple of times before, though, so at least she knows how to get there and how to find her way around. She heads to the launch bays, smiling and waving (or bowing) to kanmusu and other personnel as she passes. Nagato, on the other hand, gets a polite (if not terribly formal) salute. "Good afternoon!" she greets the group. "Where do you need me?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa heen been talking to her friend Hoshi the other day and had heard abotu the gear test that she was going to be helping with. Given she was starting to consider Hoshi and friend she wante to support her in this so here she is to help but she's not testing the allied gear as Nagato had noted over the comm she's to help with the testing by being an agressor during the testing itself. It taken a bit to refit her ships weapons for the training but it was well worth it.

She'd still shown up ahead of time to get a meet u0p with those who'd be taking part and she seemd to be pretty curious as she took in the base itself and the Fleet Daughters.

"Reporting and glad to help with this."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Approaching Slot 7 from the opposite direction is ... not a shipgirl. It's a little creature consisting of a gun turret mounted on a cylendrical body, with little paddle-flipper hands and feet, and a propeller for a tail. With the way the guns are arranged, and the rangefinders that strongly resemble eyes, it looks every bit as much like a weird sort of rabbit.

    A moment later, two girls circle around the same corner. The first, a brunette, carries a second of these turret-rabbits in her arms chatting politely with the girl beside her. The second is a much more muted specimen, a younger looking girl with dark hair brushed over one eye, her arms folded loosely.

    "--And this one was upside-down somehow!"

    "..mm.." A slight nod from the raven-haired of the two. Without another word, her attention shifts forward, focusing on Amakasu and Shigure. This draws her companion's attention, and the taller of the two shifts her charge to one arm so she can wave, "Hello~! I'm Akizuki, you must be Amakasu."

    "...Hayashimo," the second girl murmurs.

    "And this--" Akizuki thrusts out the turret-rabbit in her arms. It jitters for a moment, shocked, and then lifts its paw-flippers to either side with a pleased wirring sound, "--is Choujuucentihou-chan!"

    "...Destroyer training exercises," Hayashimo murmurs, her posture shifting, "...We will assist."

Nagato has posed:
    This... this is acceptable. Most of the destroyers have come and the ones she was expecting to be here are here. Then there was Amakasu and Kagurazaka, the latter getting a casual salute of her own in return. "Yuna, Sendai will have an outfit for you to wear during this, it's designed to help work with the equipment. Once you're changed, report to launch bay eight." Sendai herself salutes and then moves up towards Yuna, giving a motion that suggests 'come this way'. Nasa... Naikui gets eyes shot her way as she moves to the launch bay, a nod is given. "Naikui, launch bay nine."

    With Shigure and Nowaki here, she gives them both a nod, "Shigure, two. Nowaki, three." and then there's the Choujuucentihou-chan's. "Akizuki, Four. Hayashimo, Five. Once everyone is in position, we will begin. First will be equipment checks and sortie preperation." as she waits for Yuna to get back from the changing spree, a woman in a blue hakama-skirt and white haori steps up to the sixth slot. Short brown hair done in a side ponytail, she's in near traditional archery outfit.

    "Admiral, I am ready to assist with destroyer training." comes the woman, with a nod given to her by Nagato herself. "Fleet Aircraft Carrier Kaga, First Carrier Division." she introduces, "Pleasure."

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
FLYING IN THE SKY, somewhere out there in that great, blue yonder, a brilliant light streaks out to the ends of the earth!

    Or maybe that's a CERTAIN WITCH GIRL with a penchant for shining approximately as bright as some smaller varieties of supernovas. But THAT girl is only interested in stealing tomes of mystical and arcane import, (metaphorical) hearts and other sorts of precious things, why then is she here!? And why is she coming in, covered in a halo of starlight like some kind of living comet!?

The answer is simple!

    Marisa has it in her head to go visit the Abyssals one of these days to see whether her BOUNDLESS ENTHUSIASM and/or magical laserbeams can penetrate even the deepest, darkest heart of the sea. Coming to Hikari seaport is something of a practice run. One that just so happens to overlap with this particular training exercise.

It's totally a coincidence.

Not at all because she knows that a certain someone with a very interesting name was going to be here.

    Wind blowing her blonde hair back across her shoulders, Marisa shoots over sea and under sky until, there, in the distance, she can see it! Her destination approaches! She... does not slow down at all. Instead, she comes in hard, swooping down so close to the rippling waves that her passage blasts a spray of seafoam and stardust in her wake. A witch's MAD CACKLE does should not sound nearly as fun-loving as Marisa's laugh, but she manages somehow, sweeping back in a wide arc until she's hovering just over the assembly of recruits.

"Heeeey there," the witch sing-songs to ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE, "Looks like you guys are about to have some fun! Don't suppose I can join in?"

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure offers a smile. "Don't get hit." she offers, likely teasing, though it is also rather sound advice. "It's hard to explain how to do something that comes as naturally to us as breathing... but just, follow our lead." she offers next. As Akizuki and Hayashimo round the corner, Shigure stoops to scoop up the other Choujuucentihou-chan with a soft little smile as she greets the other destroyers. "I am glad to have your assistance." she offers, bowing to them and cuddling the turret-rabbit. As she's given her orders, she lets the little gun-familiar go, and moves into position. "Shigure, Heading out."

    Nowaki remains impassive, arms folded. Judging like a cat. Just put a pair of nekomimi on her and she could pass for one with the dour expression she wears. "Destroyer Nowaki. Ready to sortie!"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna's eyes light up a bit, and she smiles. "Ah, thank you very much!" she replies to Nagato, bowing deeply. "I appreciate your going to the extra trouble ... I'll be right back!" She waves to Marisa as the witch arrives, then hurries off, following Sendai out to the changing area. Sendai might have to endure a moderate amount of gushing over the cute new uniform.

She'll be back as soon as she can, obviously; she doesn't want to miss out on this after Nagato went to the trouble of inviting her!

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     "Nine. Okay!" Naikui says cheerfully towards Nagato, beginning to make her way to the nineth bay. Phew. Let's see... there was ... some sort of ...turret-bunny, which was odd. Hoshi gets a small wiggle of Naikui's fingers towards her as she passes her. "You will do fine." She says encouragingly.

     Nasa stretches out slightly, before carefully moving her wings that were presently hidden by the illusion, folding them up to be as out of the way as possible when she inevitably gets the metal equipment attached to her. Phew. And then... there was ... something off in the sky.

     She smelled and looked like she was of magic, which got Naikui idly sniffing at the air. What a time to get hungry. Ugh. Right, behave. Behaaaave. Nasa distracts herself from the deliciously magical-smelling one by focusing on Kaga and getting ready for the fight ahead though. "Hello, Fleet Aircraft Carrier Kaga!" She calls out cheerfully towards her, before focusing on her lane. Already. She'd heard of how to do this before, you step in and the equipment shoots out to equip on you and it should be okay! ... Probably!

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi nods, a curious look on her face. Shigure was right--how would she explain breathing? But being able to maybe try to copy the movements of the Daughters that were with her. It's kind of how one learned kendo, too, when you thought about it. "Thanks, Ms. Shigure. Good luck!"

    The moment Hoshi catches a glimpse of the strange rabbit-like gun-turret thing, she pauses and watches it a little uneasily. Mostly the turrets, admitedly, she had to admit they were oddly cute in a way. Thankfully she's able to grunt at herself and shake her head free of the thought and keep going, to meet two more of her fellow... shipmates? Sisters? She wasn't quite sure the proper term. Regardless, Hoshi bows from her waist at the introductions. "It's a pleasure, Ms. Akizuki, Ms. Hayashimo, and..." Guns... "Choujuucentihou-chan. That's kind of a mouthful. Thank you so much for being willing to help me out."

    There was Nagato! Hoshi grins when she spots the Admiral and gives the best salute a former civilian can. "I'll be ready soon, Admiral! I'll do my best!" Hoshi also grins and waves to Yuna as she slips off. She wanted to run out and properly greet her, but it would probably be best if she went to her assigned place already.

    She was able to get a good look at the bright light that suddenly came streaking towards her, and it causes her to wince and cover her eyes. Even then she still probably managed to get the full show of Marisa's entrance whether she wanted to or not. "Gaah... You really do like to make an entrance, Ms. Marisa. Are you going to strap on some of the equipment too?" Doubtful, but hey. Hoshi can hope. When she hears Nasa, Hoshi turns and offers a small grin. "Let's hope so."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks to see the Destroyer and she's admittly curious how this gear will work out but for now she knows her job today. She's happy to do it as she wa takes note of YUna and the others who are getting ready to suit up. She'll gives a bow to NAnato and the other personel here and grins a bit.

"I'll let you get set up and I'll get back to the Bluenose. Unles I can watch for a moment longer?"
F She'll tail along and it wont' be much of a problem for her to get backj to the ship.

She looks to Hoshi for a moment.

"I got faith in you on this Hoshi. I look forward to seeing what you can do."

She also gives Marisa a bit of a grin.

"Hello to you as well."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "...Five," Hayashimo repeats. She turns slightly, glancing towards Akizuki, then Hoshi. There's a slight bow at the waist and a dip of her head before she turns and moves to her position.

    Akizuki smiles brightly, "Yeah, no problem! We could use all the help we can get, so it's really appreciated." Tucking her turret-rabbit back towards herself, she brightens, "Aren't they cute? These little guys are the best destroyer guns you can get, no contest~!"

    Best must be subjective, they look pretty puny, even compared to the hand-carried gun turret Hayashimo's picking up from her equipment rack.

    Already on her plate, Hayashimo inspects her weapon while the equipment arms load the torpedo launchers onto her legs and affix her backpack-like rigging to her back.

    The Choujuucentihou-chan Shigure picks up lets out a cheerful wirring sound of its own, before it scurries off to the launch slot. Akizuki dips her head to SHigure as well, "Mm! No problem--" SUDDENLY WITCH.

    Both Choujuucentihou-chan turret-rabbits swivel around to face a new, unknown aerial target, guns elevating. They don't open fire, though. Akizuki herself shades her eyes briefly, then squints under her outstretched hand, "Huh?" But others seem to know this newcomer, and so she slowly relaxes herself, trotting to her launch slip to equip her own hip-mounted gear. Once it's in place, the turret-rabbits hop into the holders on either side like they belong there. Because they kinda do.

Nagato has posed:
    The last three slots haven't loaded up the equipment yet for the new girls but the destroyers who set themselves on their positions are soon loaded and ready for action. Once Yuna returns, she starts the instructions. "First thing is first. Loadout. You three will be loaded with ten centimeter high angle guns that can work both on sea and air targets. You will also be loaded out with triple tube torpedo launchers on both your outer thighs. You will then be provided a backpack that contains a small engine inside of it, silent running, to assist providing motion to your turbines on the feet. This equipment, while basic, has the advantage of having a single equipment fairy working inside of them to assist you. Expect movement to be jerky until you and the fairy get used to working with each other. Expect aim to be off for the exact same reason."

    Nagato takes a bit of a breath, "For the torpedo exercises, we will do them one by one, the torpedoes are fitted live with a remote detonation controller handled by Yuubari." She gets ready to go into another explination, but suddenly, flying woman. "I would not consider this fun, however if you are volunteering, I will use you for later. We do need an anti air target." a smile is cracked on the corner of her lip before she turns towards Kotone, "Launching is nothing spectacular..." says the one who's done many a sortie. "I won't stop you but please make sure your ship is ready. There's a specially crafted bay where you can sail to prevent a torpedo strike. Use it when ready."

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    "Heheheh, hey there Hocchi," Marisa chimes and wiggles her fingers in a sort-of wave. "Nah, I'm not that kinda girl. Something that big'd be tough to fly with, you know?" She's not a Stage 6 Boss. Marisa doesn't have some kind of huge banner that you can shoot at instead of trying to aim just for her! "I was just dropping in for a show. And for other things."

    'Other things' seem to be on Nagato's mind, too. The witch glances over at the Admiral Boat and flashes both a winning grin AND a thumbs up. "Hey, no problem! I'll just hang out up here and watch these girls try to sink each other. You just let me know when I get to start showin' off."

    But for now? For now Marisa flips her broom around so that she can lay down across it, her head resting against its bristles like they were a makeshift pillow. "Don't mind me! I'll do what I need to do when I need to do what I need to do."

But what is it that she needs to do!?

(The answer is always lasers)

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure's equipment latches onto her back. The quad-tube torpedo turrets wrapping around her thighs, while the large 'double gun' backpack shifts and adjusts as it clamps down. "Heading out!" She surges down the ramp, kicking up a wake before hitting the straight segment leading out the sea doors. As she moves from gravity-assisted, to self powered, she shifts her weight from one leg to the other, 'kicking' off like a skater.

    Nowaki's equipment is a little different. She has her purse-gun already, but the equipment arms latch another onto her right hip, while a torpedo turret is attached to the left. She kicks down the ramp herself, and much like Shigure, 'skates' out of the sea door, though she doesn't seem to be making as much of a show of it as her fleetmate.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa listens as the Admiral gives the testers and everyone else a briefing on this gear she's admittly quite curious but she'll leve them to testing it she's got a part to play to help and she's pretty happy with it. She holds back now watching and waiting muchlike Marisa meanmwhile on the BlueNose, her crewmate Slipbolt is waiting to beam her out. She takes note Shigure's and Nowaki launch.

"This is going to be pretty neat to watch for me, you curious to see how they do Marissa?"

She does keep her eyes however on the Fleet personel as they launch with intrest.

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Naikui, of course, had to have slightly different equipment. Her illusion was just that -- an illusion. The backpack and her wings weren't really compatible, so she had to have a lower-sitting engine that attached below her wings, instead of sitting where her wings would normally be. She also was wearing a heavy-duty set of 'headphones', to block out the worst of the cannonfire, but also allowing her to hear and send messages where needed.

     "...Even I am probably going to fall over, and I have excellent balance." Naikui says encouragingly towards the others, and rather cheerfully. Once she had her equipment on, Naikui got into her lane, locking into the launch system. "Faerie Destroyer NA-191, heading out!" Naikui calls out! And then... about the best way to describe the way that she leaves her bay is, to, well. She putters along. Moving rather slowly as her engines push her along. Putt putt putt. Definitely not at her top speed, in fact, she's probably not even going five miles per hour...

Kongou (637) has posed:
    With her equipment fixed in place, Hayashimo pushes off casually, hair billowing around the mast of her rigging. Much more muted than the other destroyers, she almost lazily makes her way out over the water, shifting legs in slow motions. A close look reveals her only visible eye is closed the whole time, her arms hanging at her sides in a relaxed fashion.

    A few moments later, the heavier Akizuki with her larger rigging slips out, a bit quicker, a bit more reactive. Keeping balance with her hands, she moves more like an in-line skater, leaning outboard as she turns into a formation alongside Hayashimo and slows herself down. On either side, the Choujuucentihou-chan turrets swivel their heads around, 'ear' guns elevated and 'eye' rangekeepers wide and attentive. Someone is on the alert, that's for sure.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Oh, hey, Kotone made it! Hoshi smiles and waves, flashing a thumbs-up. "I'll do my best. I've been working out a lot recently, so I'm feeling a little confident. Though I doubt I'll get it on the first shot..." She's learned from experience that you can't expect to be good immediately. "I'll see you on the water, Ms. Yamakawa."

    Are they cute? It's in between that and dangerous considering the guns. "I... Yeah, I guess. Let's hope they like me." This was going to be a day full of firsts indeed. In fact, she's pretty grateful that she doesn't have to try to handle anything much bigger.

    Marisa gets a long-suffering sigh as Hoshi shakes her head. "Why Hocchi? At least keep it to Hoshi, Ms. Marisa... By the by. Sorry if I end up shooting you at all. I hope it won't hurt you."

    She makes a point of listening into the armaments that the Admiral describes, and where they go. It's a good thing to learn for herself. With a cough, however, she reaches up to touch the hair tie that's currently holding her hair up. It's a bit more comforting when you can feel your sword. Rosamond's presence in her mind gives her strength. She also makes sure to watch as the girls as they start out. How they move, spacifically. The idea she's getting from all of this is that it was at least somewhat like ice skating. "Well, that's not so bad..." She mutters to herself. She wasn't that great at skating, but at least she wasn't completely blind.

    Nasa's exit is... a little less exciting. But Hoshi, ever the kendo club captain, raises her hand and lets out a small cheer. "You got this, Ms. Sabune!"

    Past that, she shuffles over to her spot, looking all over the various equipment that was around her. "... How do I put this stuff on?..."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Sorry I took so long!" Yuna apologizes as she returns to the launch bay, now wearing a fuku very much like those worn by some of the other destroyers. She quickly takes her spot at Track Number Eight (not to be confused with an 8-track anything), and listens attentively to Nagato's instructions. (Elner is here too, of course, but as with the initiation at Beacon, the robo-faerie is basically observing rather than getting involved.)

As Nagato explains the weapons they'll be carrying, the look on Yuna's face gradually shifts from excitement to wary concern. Carrying live-ammunition weapons ... well, that *is* what the kanmusu do, and for a very good reason - their mission is to fight the Abyssals, and Yuna's gear was designed so people other than the 'natural' kanmusu can assist them as well. And between the Abyssals themselves and the Confederacy, the girls of Hikari certainly need all the help they can get - there's no real question about that.

Yuna takes a couple of deep breaths, nodding to Nagato as she conpletes the instructions. "Okay - um, 'aye aye, sir'." She salutes again, although with noticeably less enthusiasm than before. "So we just launch in order by lane ... ?"

She may look like her enthusiasm just fell overboard, but Yuna's excitement is starting to pick up again anyway. This should be fun ... and she's sure she won't be the only one to embarass herself out on the water.

Nagato has posed:
    "Admiral, not sir." Nagato kindly corrects, though, it sounds more like a serious thing, can never tell with Nagato. "And you may be in a cruiser's outfit but I'm going to give you destroyer equipment. And all the turrets are loaded with paint rounds. No need to worry about sinking anyone." She faces forward and steps on her pad. "This is how you equip." she takes a small breath and nods, "Fleet Admiral Nagato, launching." The dock splits off around the pad itself and arms attach the turbines to the boots and with that, the pad tilts and sends Nagato on her way. Chains start pulling forward as a sign in Nagato's lane flips to her kanji.

    Soon, the chains bring up a very large peice of equipment and Nagato's stoic face looks towards the open docks. Three... two... one... Nagato's rigging slams into her back and sets her going faster to join the destroyers, the rigging comes replete with the guns and everything Nagato needs to function on the waters. Signs above Yuna and Amakasu's lanes flip to their own kanji as well, ready for them.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hey! Paintball! That's not so bad at all. Suddenly Hoshi's looking at the things with a big wide grin. It wouldn't always be paintballs, yeah, but this was a good way to start. "It's going to hurt, but pain is only a focus!" She says to herself, pumping herself up!

    She goes silent and watches carefully as Nagato launches--seems pretty simple! So, once her lane clears, Hoshi hops up to the pad and gets herself ready. "Okay. Three, two, one. Destroyer Amakasu, launching!" She watches with wide eyes and a huge grin as she watches the transformation take place, though she grunts a bit and sets her teeth once she feels the weight in them. Not as bad as she'd worried, but she could still feel it. "Rosamond, give me strength," she whispers quietly, and she savors the feeling of her Persona inside her mind. Once the last piece of equipment is on, Hoshi opens her eyes and tries to roll out!

    ... And she does. Sort of. With a hot burst of initial speed, she manages to clear the dock. The only problem is, she wasn't expecting it as fast as this, and the water feels a LOT DIFFERENT from ice. "Whoa--hey, wait, wait--waaaaaaaah!" Eventually, it's too much, and she falls forward heavily, giving a nice big splash and a lot of pain and embarassment from Hoshi as she struggles to right herself. "Aghh--guuh!" In between breaths, she's spitting out sea water.

    ... This may take awhile.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa watches fairly excitedly as the resters launch she's clearly in a very good mood today she's in a very good mood today. She looks out as person launches but she does seem amuse as hoshi's having a bit of an issue getting suited up, but well she gets it finally hosish is all suitd up and she's ready to watch her friend go. She does not laugh at her so that's at least saying something.

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Her slow puttering had been a bit intentional. In fact, Naikui was moving slowly to ensure that the other two got out safely, since she had been around the fleet daughters to watch them for longer than the other two! She had a vague idea of what she was doing. Probably. Also, she was a half-faerie. Faeries aren't exactly known for their patience...

     Nasa turns her gaze towards Nagato, watching as she began to lunach, got shot forward by her equipment. THAT was the part that worried her about normal deployment -- even if she had her armor to protect her from that impact. She small and frailer than the fleet daughters, that was for sure!

     As her engine continued to spin up, her speed was beginning to get up as well. "...Okay, they're probably going to be fine, so..." She flashes a sudden grin. "Engine Faerie Mimi! Full speed ahead!" Naikui says, pointing forward. She was totally trying to show off! And ... well, she was beginning to get faster now, no longer puttering quite as much. She slightly leaned down, her right foot forward and left leg back, as her engines began to propel her forward. Though she would never admit it, it was both A: Fun. And B: Absolutely terrifying. She wasn't in control of her movement. And so her synchronization with the faerie wasn't.... the best. Mostly she was functioning off of the fact that she had had the chance to watch previous practices. "Let's catch up with Nowaki!" ... ... ... Unfortunately she was still getting up to speed, so she wouldn't be catching up immediately. At least she was moving somewhat smoothly. At least, in a straight line. For now.

     As Hoshi falls, Naikui's hand shifts. The water moves, rolling in a lightly unnatural way to push her back up to her feet. "...Everyone falls." Naikui says cheerfully towards Hoshi, before accelerating to work at catching up with Nowaki and get into formation.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    With a nod to the orders, Akizuki forms up with Nowaki and Shigure, forming the second row of the Double Line with Hayashimo a few meters to her left. Turning at the waist, she watches the new recruits launching, hiding a laugh behind one gloved hand at Naikui's cautious approach. The spill Hoshi takes prompts an emphathetic wince, though.

    Before Akizuki can do so, Hayashimo breaks formation and doubles back in a graceful arc. Her lean grows sharper as her turn tightens, and her speed drops.

    A few moments later, Hayashimo cruises to a stop beside Hoshi and leans down. Her arms unfold, one resting on her knees while the other reaches out to offer the girl help back to her feet.

    "...Even a ship had to learn. ...You'll do fine."

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    Ahh, the sound of a bunch of girls hurtling out into the great blue sea, and promptly falling over on top of themselves to try and stay upright. It's such a wonderful sound! Marisa smirks from her AMAZING VANTAGE POINT as she pops what appears to be a puff of kettlecorn into her mouth.

    "Maybe if you stop callin' me Ms. Marisa," Marisa replies to Hoshi as she (quite literally) rolls out. "Then I'd stop callin' you Hocchi. That sounds like a pretty good deal, eh?"

TWISTING THE ARM!?

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Okay, so it's just paintball ammo for this trip. Yuna relaxes further, even going so far as to joke, "Is the paint water-soluble?"

Then she focuses on the deployment process, watching as Amakasu goes through the equipment lane. Yuna's own turn comes up next - and she realizes, with a slight blush, somebody looked up the *actual kanji* that her name is officially written with. Not that she can really blame them; that detail's probably in her official Union file ... ah well. She steps forward to the 'DEPLOY' pad.

"Yuna Kagurazaka, liaison destroyer, launching!"

She advances through the launch lane, bracing a little bit against the impacts of her load-out being attached. It's not *entirely* an unfamiliar sensation - the process is vaguely similar to her partners linking with her Light Suit - but she feels it a good bit more, and wonders how visible the bruises are going to be. But having watched the others first, she has a fairly good idea of where the equipment and weapons are going to attach themselves, and tries to position herself to account for it.

A few moments later, Yuna is sailing out with the other girls, repeatedly glancing down at her feet as if she expects the water to stop holding her up at any second. Other than the aquaeous lack-of-terrain, it's kind of like skating, an activity with which she *IS* familiar - and she tries to focus on what's familiar instead of what's strange. She actually latches on enough to try pushing off -

- wait, why isn't there anything to push off from? -

"*BLUB!!*" Yuna gets a faceful of ocean, followed by spluttering energetically as she tumbles along for a bit before managing to get her feet underneath her again. She can just *imagine* a massive sweatdrop on her equipment fairy's head right now, she doesn't even have to look. "Sorry," she murmurs, trying to catch up, trusting the equipment now rather than her own ideas of what might constitute 'skills'.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    It's likely that Hoshi would have a few choice words with Marisa if it weren't for the fact that she'd just hit the water right in front of her. As it was, Hoshi knew she had nothing to say except a half-muttered half-sputtering something.

    Thankfully, Nasa and Hayashimo come to help her out, and slowly--trembling like a new born colt first on it's legs, she's back on her feet. "Thanks, guys," she says quietly, with a nod to both of them and a small, pained smile. "I got this. Sort of." The engines start to pick up again, but this time it's not quiet as fast, closer to Nasa's puttering than anything else. She tries to set herself a wider stance at her legs to compensate for the weight, but she's still wiggling and twitching. "Nng---whoa! Ahhh...."

    Despite the relative calm of this sea, it's one of the swells she feels under her that ends up causing her to go over, making her feet drift too far apart to support her. Thankfully this fall isn't quite as painful, just sort of going to her knees, then down. Slightly annoyed bubbles stream from the water until she manages to get her legs under her again and start slowly puttering again. "I'm okay!" She calls.

    It's hard to tell if her face is red from embarassment or impact with the ocean by now.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato remembers this... that special type destroyer. She shakes her head and sails close towards Yuna and Amakasu, giving a hand, "Get up. Follow me. Legs close, center of balance lower, lean in. Trust me." as Nagato pushes off, there's a small wave from the propellers on her feet. "Alright, let's practice with the guns. There's ten targets set up for each of you all. Take aim and just think. The fairy will know when you want to fire."

    she watches some of the destroyers already take out their targets and Nagato turns to look at the three Special Class destroyers... "We'll do this for three rounds, then we will work on your torpedoes."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    With Hayashimo providing support (and another hand-up) for Hoshi and possibly also Yuna, Akizuki glances ahead again. There's a little nod when the order comes through to try a firing drill, and so she breaks from the formation with Nowaki and Shigure to give herself more room to maneuver, "I'll show you how to shoot! Just watch Akizuki, okay?"

    Gliding at an angle that she's certain is easy enough to see what she's doing, the girl raises one arm and points, "First, you tell the fairy where to aim-- like this!" In response, her port-side Choujuucentihou-chan swivels its head in the way she's pointing. Sighting the target, its gun barrels elevate slightly, "She'll do the fine work for you... And once she's ready, tell he to fire! C'mon, Choujuucentihou-chan~!"

    When instructed to, the turretbunny fires both barels with a blast of smoke. A heartbeat later, a red mark splatters across one of the closer range targets. Several yards behind it, the second shell hits the water with a tall splashing plume.

    Leaning into a turn, Akizuki spreads her arms out, "Give it a try once you're comfortable moving! Just remember, movement is life for a destroyer, never stop moving!"

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Once she was up to speed, Nasa was beginning to move faster and approaching her max speed -- just having a much slower startup time due to various factors. She works her way into the formation, before slowing down to work at matching their speed! She could handle the movement, at the very least! She could adjust to speed, at the very least!

     She did pout a bit at being told she wasn't allowed to cheat at all, giving a soft huff. Well, that was fine, she supposed. This was just practice, not a real battle. She could be ineffective. She looks towards the two guns that were attached to her hands, giving a small nod. "Okay." She says, looking at the faeries in particular. "You can be gun faeries Neenee and Hiera for nicknames, okay?" She says cheerfully towards them. "Help Naikui aim, she's probably going to be bad at it!" She says, leaning a bit into a subtle turn as Akizuki fires on her target and explains how. A hit... though one of them missed. Was it because it was a small target, and the two guns fired simultaneously? Hmm. Angled up... maybe it /wasn't/ so different from a crossbow.

     Naikui holds one of her hands forward, pointing towards the target. Sharp eyes locked on as she watched her gun adjust. Unfortunately, however... she was aiming like a crossbow. "Okay, Neenee, Fire!" ... The noise of firing, even the paint rounds however, has Naikui flinching slightly, which throws off her aim /even further/, and the paint rounds stray WIDELY off course from her target, one landing far to the right, while the other lands VERY short of the target.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
'Target practice'? That's familiar territory for Yuna, in several respects. Basic target-shooting arcade games are still pretty common on her home Earth, even in the early 24th century, and Ryudia has had her do quite a bit of basic marksmanship drilling in the course of her lessons in being a proper Savior of Light. (Not that Yuna *applies* those lessons terribly well in the field, mind you ...)

Getting used to moving is the first objective, though, and it's practice that Yuna really needs. She tries to think more in terms of 'swimming' than 'skating,' consciously learning to trust more in her equipment and in the fairies' less-than-verbal guidance, and applying the pointers from Nagato and Akizuki. Legs close, center of balance lower, lean in ... there really isn't anything Yuna can think of to parallel this. If they could do a civilian version of the equipment, it might make for a new sport in some worlds of the Multiverse.

Yuna shakes her head briefly, setting the latest batch of distracting thoughts aside - just in time, too, as a passing swell nearly dunked her on her butt, and would have if she'd stayed distracted. She practices maneuvering a bit more, then angles towards a set of targets that haven't been claimed yet; she brings her left arm up horizontally in front of her, focuses on the nearest target, and thinks 'fire!' at her turrets.

Maybe she should give her equipment fairy a nickname too ...

... which might be JUST the distraction that makes the wrong turrets fire instead of the ones she was actually aiming with.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is watching very intendly now she asks the Admiral a few questions over radio and she gets a smile on her face. She's got idea here for later but for now it's time to watch and wati while the others are doing thir part of the testing. She sees as they make ready with the tropedos now, this should be good. She watches the Destroyers and others start their actions. She ponders for a moment as the tests are going on torpedos for the moment but with what's to come? She's forumulating an idea it seems.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    With Nagato's help and direction, Hoshi is starting to get it. Plus all of the advice on the radio, it's getting her into a somewhat steady rhythm. She somewhat gets the timing of the swells underneath her as she sets her stance and pushes forward in the water. But now was the time for gun training. Hoshi glances at her armaments and mutters quietly, "I'll give you guys nicknames later, so for now, let's go with 1, 2, and 3. So I'll say fire and a number, and we'll go. Sorry about this."

    She watches Yuna and Nasa take their turns, and she's getting kind of nervous for her turn. Eventually, however, a stern look comes to her face. Time to stop screwing around. She reaches underneath her uniform to pull out a silver locket. She doesn't open it, however--she looks forward with a face set in determination. "Persona!"

         BURNING UP!

    Her Persona doesn't actually come, but suddenly Hoshi is moving forward (mostly) smoothly, setting her aim on the targets. "Fire one!" She yells, and the the turrets move into position and fire. Both miss, but Hoshi presses on regardless. "Fire two!" She yells, pointing at a different target. This one she just barely manages to hit, far to the right corner.

    All the while, she tries to keep herself moving and skimming, running under the assumption that movement was indeed life in a situation like this.

Nagato has posed:
    "It looks like they're getting it..." she mutters, looking behind her. A bronze skinned woman gives a brief nod, but doesn't say anything. Musashi was a silent leader type... but, with a louder voice, "Again! I want you hitting the targets! Yuna, you're missing. Focus. Don't let your thoughts stray. Amakasu, good job focusing, do it again." she takes a look at Naikui, "It isn't a crossbow, it's a turret. It has elevation, use it."

    Nagato takes a deep breath and places her finger to her ear, "Kotone, is your ship in position. I'm having one more run before we start torpedo testing." she takes a look at the triple tube torpedoes strapped to everyone's thighs, nodding, "If any slip through, which shouldn't, I will cover repairs."

    "I want one more round and then we'll focus on torpedo launching. The main armament of a destroyer is their torpedoes, but they themselves go forward and do not differentiate between friend or foe. I will not have anyone suffer damage from a mislaunched torpedo!"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Wow!" Akizuki comes about for another pass, leading what's become an impromptu line-ahead formation, "Follow me, ladies, we'll make another run in the opposite direction! Bring your guns around, okay?" To demonstrate, her starboard-sied Choujuucentihou-chan is already swiveling in the right direction, blinking with its big, attentive eyes. She raises a hand to gesture, "Just like before, pick your target, tell the fairy where to aim, and then tell her to fire once you think she's ready! Go, Choujuucentihou-chan!"

    Wait, wasn't that the other one's name?

    Regardless the turretbunny shoots, a puff of black smoke and a concussive (if somewhat small) cannon-shot resounds. In the distance, the same target she'd picked out before is struck again, this time dead center with a red splatter mark. The second paint shell clips low, shattering against the post holding the target upright.

    "For an extra challenge," she adds, "Try to hit the same one!"

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     A miss. One shot fell short, one to the right. Okay. Make note of how you aimed before, remember it exactly down to the slightest details. Naikui's eyes narrow slightly as she lowers the arm that had Neenee in it, letting her reload, while she turned to aim the gun arm with Hiera in it towards the target. "...Adjust 1-8th turn to the left, a half inch up, Hiera." Naikui says softly. Her eyes were sharpened, losing the gentleness they had half the time.

     Were her eyes glowing? ...Just a little. She was going through her training from before, to be a warrior. This wasn't a crossbow, but it was just another weapon to destroy with. Adjust. Fire. Adjust. Fire. That was how you learned. Systematically making adjustments until you could hit reliably every time, and adjusted to the quirks of your weapon. "Hiera. Focus on firing how you would normally." Learn the quirks, how Hiera fires versus Neenee.

     "Fire." Naikui says calmly, keeping her eyes focused as the paired cannons unleash another pair of shots. This time, they flew straight past the post that the target was being held up by, striking behind the target on either side. She lowered Hiera's gun, then lifted Neenee's gun. "One-half inch higher than Hiera's gun, Neenee. Otherwise, same adjustments." Emotionless, calm orders to the faerie. This time, one of the paint rounds struck the bottom edge of the target.

     Though it was easy to forget, Nasa had recieved soldier-like training in her youth, something engrained in her still, even several decades later and many changes later. "Hiera, do not change your aim from before." Naikui says, beginning to move forward, moving in a slow, curving movement. "Fire." Closer range, a strike. An extra round than was ordered, but Naikui had focused on 'killing' her target. She turns as the instructions on the torpedos began. She took a slow breath, her eyes relaxing out of that sharp look. "Okay, Admiral~." She says cheerfully towards Nagato, her lips turning back into a wide and cheerful grin as she looks towards the admiral-ship.

     Akizuki's skills had /definitely/ been watched though, and Naikui had watched attentively, watching the adjustments of her guns most specifically, how high they had aimed, and other notable details. Hmm. Alright, she thought she understood the theory towards how to aim ... well. Those specific guns. The knowledge could be applied to her guns, but not as directly.

     Still, though. It seemed like it was time for torpedo practice. That would be harder to aim though, she had no frame of reference for how to use something like that. Hmmm. "How do you aim the torpedos?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has her ship ready the moment the Admiral gives the word she nods and sends a singal to SlipBolt. Kotone vanishes in a pillar of white light and is back on her ship now making for the bridge. It's not too long of as trip as she sits down nodding to Slipbolt and jacks into the stations' controls. The ship had been out fitted with training rounds which should do well enough to track the damage between the testers and herself.

"Ready now."

The Bluenose waits at the point set out by Nagato and she waits, it's about time to see what everyone here can do.

"Well this should be fun, Slipbolt."

The Glitch looks over from her station.

"Excited: Yes, this is going to be fun!"

Her faceplate's even making a ^-^ at the moment.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
No time for stray thoughts on the battlefield, says Nagato.

Yuna wilts a little as she hears that over the radio. So many things to try and focus *on* - and frankly, this would be kind of fun if it wasn't so heavily on the side of business. But Yuna sorts her thoughts out and tries again, angling to join Akizuki's formation, bringing up the rear since she wasn't part of the arrangement to start with. Right, so:

'Sailing'. Feet on the water, heels in just enough, legs close together but not pressed closed, knees bent a little but relaxed just the right amount - move with the water to move upon it, don't let swells or hollows throw her off-balance.

Weapons and targets. Yuna brings her right arm up this time, and 'lets' the turrets swivel to point at one of the target buoys. Yuna doesn't command verbally; she thinks, gently applying her will, like she does when she's using the weapons that Jiina, Erina, or Marina 'lend' to her while combined with her Light Suit. Her posture straighens up just a bit, stiffening subconsciously -

Three quick cracks of turretfire; three splotches framing the target's center in a tightly-shaped triangle, albeit a slightly uneven one. It's better than she did the first time, though, and Yuna switches to her right arm again, bracing her wrist on her left palm as the turrets fire at a second target. Still not exact, but tolerably close for a newbie. The fairies are probably more skilled than Yuna is.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi follows not long after Akizuki, grinning a bit now that she's not looking quite so dumb on the water. Though, she's still swaying slightly, and a couple times she nearly goes one more time before she just manages to right herself by giving herself a bit of a turn into it to get her legs back under her. "This-whoao--This is pretty awesome! I'd never imagine that I'd be on the water by myself like this. I--wah! I think I'm starting to get it.

    Time for the second pass. Hoshi watches Akizuki and Nasa very closely, but a dubious look at Akizuki's distant target. "Ergh..."

    Come Hoshi's turn, she tries putting a little more speed into it, pointing out her targets again. "Fire one!" She calls. She aims at a distant target not far from Akizuki's, the fairies spinning to go along with it--but she misses, far left. "Crap. Uh, to the right a couple inches?... Fire two!" Another miss, this time just over. "Aww, c'mon, down a couple centimetres--fire one!" This time, she scrapes the top, enough to pop and spray most of the paint over the ocean.

    Hoshi grumbles a bit as she comes back into line. "Man, this is sad. Good shots though, Ms. Kagurazaka. Way to go. You too, Ms. Sabune."

Nagato has posed:
     The unexpected line ahead formation is actually okay for this, means no chance of her girls getting hit by their own torpedo fire. "Alright, this time follow Hayashimo. Line ahead formation and I want you to approach the ship at an angle." Nagato starts with the new orders, "Your fairies will help do the work but you need to guide them. Once your six torpedoes are launched, return. Do not worry about sinking Kotone's ship. I've provided some torpedo bulkheads to help mitigate any damage."

    Nagato looks towards Musashi, whispering. "I hate to send you out like this but head to Mamiya's and get a booth ready..." Turning back to the girls, "Firing them is going to be the trick. Some girls kick them out, others fire them out like rockets. There's no trigger, so order your fairy to launch them but make sure there is no other ship in the way other than what you're trying to sink. Now, go! Your torpedo racks will rearm in ten seconds after a launch!"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Akizuki makes a gesture, then breaks out of the formation, leaning aside as she does so. A few moments later, the black-haired Hayashimo takes her place. A much quieter girl, her communications come through the local radio, relayed by fairies in the various equipment, rather than voice carried through the air.

    "...Torpedo run. It is important to know range. ...Also speed." A hand raises, though she doesn't look back towards her students, "Yours. Type 90. At full size, eight kilometer range. ...Speed of sixty knots. ...In this size... Eighty meters. Speed is the same. ...In most fights... it doesn't matter as much. ...But always remember."

    The quieter kanmusu leans into another turn, angling herself towards the Bluenose. The launchers on her legs flip forward at a slight upward angle, "Estimate range. Speed of target. Lead." She leans again, suddenly the other direction. With a hiss of compressed air, the torpedoes on her left leg's launcher launch out of their tubes and splash into the water. Leaning the other way, her right leg's launcher does the same, and she follows through with the turn. One hand extends, though the wakes of the torpedoes are almost impossible to see, "...Watch. Follow."

    "...Do it now."

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Watching Naikui while she fired would possibly be mildly unnerving; she had gone entirely emotionless and cold as she gave the orders for aiming. She was adjusting and learning 'efficiently', but it did have that certain lack of emotion that could be very unnerving for someone who is used to being around people who were very emotional.

     Naikui falls silent and listens to Nagato's orders on the torpedos, saying that her faeries will help aim them. So each weapon was a teamwork effort. That wasn't really one of Naikui's strong suits, at least not in that kind of context. With her magic it was easier, but using a weapon... it was less... pleasant. She takes a slow breath

     She focuses on listening to the much quieter Hayashimo as she joins in, beginning to explain how to fire the torpedos, their speed. Knots. What was a knot? She frowns thoughtfully, before giving a small nod, sharp eyes watching as Hayashimo fires her torpedoes. Okay. She moves to follow after the quieter Kanmusu, mimicing her motion and that lean. She points towards the target, her eyes narrowing. "...Left tubes, narrow spread, right tubes, wide spread." Naikui says softly, as the two pairs of torpedo tubes fire a combined spread of torpedos, basically aiming for a 'saturate the area so that it's very unlikely to miss' tactic on the torpedo spread. Afterwards, she turns to follow Hayashimo's path to make sure that she's out of everyone else's torpedo's path.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Bummed as she was about her less-than-stellar show at the gun range, Hoshi's got one last thing she needs to focus on. Torpedoes. Hoshi glances down at the cannisters holding them on her thighs, and she nods firmly. She might not have done to hot then, and she might not this time, but she'll stubborn this down if she has to. "Alright... Here we go!"

    Hoshi gets herself ready for a bigger burst of speed as she pulls ahead for the torpedo run. Kotone wasn't moving, she had more than enough range--the knots was something she'd have to pick up later. "Fire three! Fire torpedoes, right leg, even split!" The silos all come to life as she dips a bit to her right to deposit them into the water. The five go out slowly, Hoshi counting off the time between fire and impact. She's probably off with a good two of them, but she's hoping...

    Whether or not she hits, though, she's quick to get back to her place to clear the lane.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
While not a naval ship like it's name sake? Kotone's ship the Bluenose is hovering a bit in the water, making use of it's lift systems to play the part of a naval shjip after all that's the nture of the exercise, right? It's coming in at a good clip as the destoryers are making their moves. She's more of a creature of land and space but she trcks their movments the ships.

"Slipblot you handle the missile launchers, they are loaded with training rounds, good job on getting them. The ship would be seen coming in and that's when the fire starts first there's a salvo of missiles launched from the ship's weapohn pods focuing on the destroyers trying to make them keep their heads down followed up by the ship's guns firing paint round and the missiles are much the same as the hailstorm of fire is now comming the destroyer's way and possibly even the testers as well. If one gets hit thery will be covered in the most annoying bright neon coloured paint.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna smiles sheepishly at Amakasu's praise. "It's kind of like what I already do with some of my armors," she admits. "Jiina and her sisters do the hard work when I need their beam cannons or whatever -"

Nagato gives further instructions, and Yuna's attention shifts back to the admiral ... as she says to launch torpedoes at Kotone's ship.

"They're ... training torpedoes, right? Just make a big pop but won't do any real damage?"

They *have* to be - Nagato wouldn't give them full-powered torpedoes for a training cruise, right? But there isn't really time to double back and confirm the orders; the formation's already settling in for the 'attack run' and Yuna isn't sure how to make her torpedoes launch. It's not just as easy as letting the equipment fairies do the work this time - and Yuna's fairies are certainly already working hard to keep her afloat. Yuna's got to do part of this herself, at least. She glances down at the torpedo tubes mounted practically on her ankles. She can't exactly lift her feet out of the water entirely to realign them for better launching, so ...

"Targeting the Bluenose," Yuna reports; words do have power, and shaping her intention verbally may help. "Torpedoes armed ... launching!"

And if her will is matched to what should happen, the torpedoes 'pop' out like champagne corks before splashing into the water and accelerating towards the Bluenose. Yuna stays in formation, but she watches where her torpedoes should be going until they go off ...

She DID kind of forget to dodge, though, so Kotone's most likely making her pay for that!

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     Missiles, a hailstorm of missiles, and practice rounds. Naikui hadn't heard the initial warning to fire. So, as the guns begin to open fire, and the missiles come flying towards her and the others, Naikui turns fully towards the Bluenose, her eyes growing sharp as that glow began again.

     Her movements shifted and it became quickly obvious that she was 'cheating', as her movements were wrong for a fleet daughter, and she began to move ~just~ enough to avoid the worst of the incoming bullet and missilefire. She turned to follow the formation shortly afterwards -- returning to not cheating, and moving as best as she could to take evasive maneuvers... but for those first few moments, that had been an utterly, terrifyingly /furious/ glare, straight at Kotone.

     And then as fast as it had come, it was gone, and Naikui was back into the group -- likely after she had realized it was just paint rounds, and not her firing anything actually /dangerous/. And as she moved after the 'superior' submarine, she even took some paint rounds to her side here and there. It had just been that moment of surprise there that had caused the slip in cheerfulness. "My my! What a surprise~." She says cheerfully, moving as best as she could to be unpredictable and difficult to hit, even as she stays more or less in formation. Of course, her relative inexperience -- even if she's watched the other fleet daughters -- means that she does almost loose balance on a few of her turns, which meant that several of the shells struck her.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi had been pretty late to hear the order to fire, so she notices more because all of a sudden she's getting hit, paint splattering on the back of her legs and her back, a good four or five. Hoshi nearly buckles when she gets an impact on the back of her left knee, but she stubbornly turns it into a strafing turn. Skiiing. It was more like self-powered skiiing. That in mind, she starts doing more gentle slalom to evade the fire. "I have to make another attack! I still have torpedoes. Let's go!"

    Hoshi stubbornly turns towards the Bluenose, facing the source of the fire as she keeps trying to roughly serpentine. One manages to find it's mark on her chin, but she grits her teeth. "Fire torpedoes, left leg, wide spread! Get her, guys!" She dips again, pushing the last of her torpedoes in before she pushes off, and... gets tagged a couple more times. Hoshi's face is grimly set when she brings herself back to line. "Ow."

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "...Evasive maneuvering," Hayashimo's voice rings over the local radio, "...It's easier than it looks. ...Be unpredictable."

    To emphasize, though Hayashimo's rigging has already taken a few hits, green paint standing out against the gray steel, she suddenly starts wiggling. A weaving motion on the waves that's a stark change from her graceful arcs before.

    "...Wiggle. ...Wiggle. ...Wiggle."

    It does make her a harder target for the gunpods' tracking systems, constantly having to recalibrate her trajectory, and it decreases the number of shots striking her rigging. The girl turns, leaning into the maneuver, once again staying as a moving target. "...Of course. ...The best defense..." Her own torpedo launchers have not reloaded, but as she turns towards the BlueNose, she lifts her hand-held gun turret. The barrels elevate, then depress slightly as she sights in. After a moment, once she's content with the angle, she fires at the gunship's port-side gunpod with dark blue paintball rounds.

    "...Disable a turret."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Yuna's coming for her an thus? Kotone's now coming under under fire, the torpedoes are live and in the water, thankfully the blasts are not enough to do hull damage, she's also turned off the shields so physical training rounds can get past. After all this is a training exercise for the Fleet, is it not? Yuna's torpedoes are on the mark, well some make it through, Kotone's shifted the guns and takes out a few before they impact but several get past. They hit and explode in bight colours you'd expect from old Dazzle Camo patterns all over the stern of the Bluenose. Someone's going to having to clean the ship off after all this is over, or she might just leave it for a bit as it could amuse her depending on how it all turns out.

Kotone even in the ship is feeling the glare from Nasa somehow. She's not sure how but she's sure she's getting a death glare.

More are coming in from Hoshi who has endured the blasts of paint round, and she knows Hoshi is going to want some pay back on her. The Torpedoes fire, and Kotone brings the guns into play again, but it's not enough to stop the majority of the salvo and these ones catch it in the brow leaving a big splot of multi coloured paint in it's way. It's also blocking the bridge's view ports which means she's going to have to rely on camera now at this point.

Kotone is fighting a losing battle against a large formation of fighters like this but this is hopefully helping them to learn to fight better. They are at war and every edge to get back alive is important and it seems Hayashimo is learning quickly as she's got a plan which seems to be working well as she makes use of her deck guns the paint balls are launched. The destroyer's aim's on the mark as they impact with several of the weapon emplacements.

At the call to stop firing the weapons of Kotone's ship go silent and it floats there covered in gaudy paint.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato gives the order to cease fire and to rally at her. The destroyers, and Secret Type Destroyers, are given a nod as they approach. "You all have done well. Shigure, Nowaki, Hayashimo, Akizuki, you've earned a good rest as well. Thank you for your time to show them." as she turns to Hoshi, Naiuki and Yuna, she does that rare thing again and smiles. "For a first training session with new experimental equipment, you three have adapted decently."

    She takes a soft breath and nods, "Your next lesson will be soon, we won't focus on anti air tonight. The next lesson will involve fleet tactics. I'm sending you three on expedition with an experienced destroyer and Atago." she turns to look towards Akizuki again, "Akizuki, I do not like sending my best anti air destroyer out like this, but I would like you to be flagship of this operation." she hesitates a bit, and turns back towards the three "This expedition will involve live ammunition as a precautionary measure. The area I will be sending to you, from reports, do not have any Abyssal ships to worry about, however, it's better safe."

    "Any questions? If there are none, you are all dismissed. Sail back to the docks, the bay will strip you of your gear and you are to report to Mamiya's for parfaits. My treat for doing well."

Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367) has posed:
     The firing ship went silent. Everyone was calmly doing what they were supposed to, and Hayashimo was showing an interesting and useful tactic to make note of for the next exercises. She took a soft breath as Naikui's mind calmed and returned completely back to normal. That had not been betrayal, just a part of the exercise. Nobody was going to betray her here. Right. Okay.

     The danger was passed, and now Naikui had turned to quickly return to Nagato's position, moving calmly. She was half-expecting they were returning to that position for harsh words, which was understandable. She had been using her magic, and had moved out of formation. Naikui, and the Nasa underneath her, was fully expecting that.

     Naikui stops in front of Nagato, her back straight as she looks towards her. Her ears twitch underneath the illusion at the seeming lack of comment with regards to what she had been expecting. Hmm. She didn't fully relax though. "An expedition? ... Okay. I will prepare for it." Naikui says softly, bowing her head slightly towards Nagato, her head lifting. Report to Mamiya's for parfaits. Naikui shifts slightly in place, before speaking into the radio.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Parfaits at Mamiya's.

Now THAT is a REWARD. Yuna hasn't had the chance to eat at Mamiya's before, but she's heard some of the kanmusu talking about it - and as a girl, Yuna is genetically preconditioned to love ice cream. Her favorite is still the soft-serve ice cream from Paffy's back home, but if Mamiya's lives up to its reputation, this should give Paffy's a serious run for their money.

Forgetting exactly where she is and what it takes to stay on top of the water, Yuna bows deeply to Nagato. "Thank you very mu--"

*BLUBLUB*

... and nearly capsizes herself in the process of overbalancing, dunking her face, and practically rolling through three-quarters of a circle before she comes to rest on her back, drenched but floating. At least the uniforms from Hikari shed water in a decent hurry, that could have been embarassing. ... Well, more embarassing than it actually was.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Sliding to a halt some meters from the Flagship, Hayashimo folds her hands in front of herself, her cannon hanging from her fingers. Beside her, respectfully distant given her larger equipment, Akizuki also comes to a stop, and they both hear hte battleship out with mixed visible interest. Hayashimo, as usual, doesn't emote very well, but as the praise is poured on, Akizuki's face brightens up. At either side, her Choujuucentihou-chans lift up their pawflippers and whirr excitedly.

    "A-ah, of course! I"m happy to help, Flagship!"

    "...Assistance is okay," the quieter kanmusu murmurs. When Yuna spills, she doesn't skip a beat, leaning down and offering the tumbled idol her hand to help her back up, "...The rigging is heavy. ...Don't overbalance like that."

    Mentioning sending Akizuki out gets both girls' attention, though. The raven-haired girl just glances towards Nagato with a little 'nn' sound, while as usual Akizuki emotes much more, "F-flagship? You want me to be an expedition flagship?" A bit stunned, at first, she straightens up quickly, "I-I'll do my best!"

t"...nnn," Hayashimo makes that sound again.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    A little worse for wear, but not out. Hoshi makes her way over to Nagato's position after the order comes through, slowly coming to a stop near her. She's grinning again, at least somewhat, and she blushes a bit when she gets praise. Hell of a day, but it's worth it. Just sweet enough to be nice~ "Hehe. Thanks, Admiral. I'm really grateful you let me use this stuff."

    The mention of an expedition causes Hoshi to cough slightly. She... might just have to bring her cramming materials with her on this. Finals were coming up. And... guns. Live guns. Hoshi lets out a tiny, quiet sigh. "Yes ma'am. No questions, ma'am."

    Hoshi winces sympathetically as Yuna goes down, but she grins in what she hopes is an encouraging manner when she's righted again. Nasa gets a similar grin, this one a little bit teasing. "No magic next time, Ms. Sabune. Tsk tsk."

    Seeing Akizuki's excitement over being handed something like this was a bit infectious. Hoshi's grinning a lot more cheerfully, and the dismissal and offer of those particular parfaits gets her to kick her engines in to start going towards the dock. "Badass girls! Haha, whoo--whoa! Haha..."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets the call in to come form up with Nagato and the Bluenose does that it hangs back a bit given it's size and not wanring to run over anyone els here but it's clear Kotone's listening for the moment as there's a small hover drone which has been launched a moment after she arrived.

"I do have one I'd like to try to help with further testing of the support gear at a future point if your willing to allow it. Other than that no other questions."

Then the mention of Parfaits that gets Kotone's attention.

"You all dod pretty well I think I'm just gld I was helping and congratulations Akizuki!"

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato gives a nod and starts sailing off herself, in the complete opposite direction of the launch bays, the bronze skinned woman is following along with her. "Do you think this is a good idea, Nagato? The resource cost might be too great." Musashi has only a slight bit of concern in her voice, with Nagato shaking her head. "To be honest, yes. The resource cost for destroyer equipment is low. Modeled after the Kagerou class for efficiency. At least according to Yuubari's reports."

    Nagato shakes her head again, "And having them means more to the fight against the Abyssals, on even footing."

    "We don't know how the repair baths will affect them, if at all. Think of what you're doing before you send them on a real sortie, Nagato."