--------------SIXTH DAY, ABOUT TEA TIME----------------

Nagato had returned to the Admiral’s office, slowly trying to make sense of it all. First, what did she know? Something unknown had given the fleet godlike powers. Just a few minutes before that, an allied ship gets a radio transmission from someone claiming to be “Shangri-La air traffic control”. First was the bothersome fact that no carriers could launch their planes during night. Apart from the Wo.

Nagato growled a little to herself. Already they had fought a monster that could defy darkness, evade death with the slimmest margin and yet be close enough for the planes to strike home at friendly ships. First the grey ghost, and now Wo. She knew what happened. How could the ghost ever come to rest with the atrocities it had done? No. It had come back as Wo, to disgrace the world with its presence, once again.

So what was this? It couldn’t have been planes. Not out at sea. She couldn’t figure what did it. But maybe where it came from. There were a few options. Either this was ships, or some place inland. Both had a figurative and a literal meaning. So, either the CV-38 or the CV-8 if it was ships. Or in the case of places, the actual valley of Shangri-La or some far away location whos radio station didn’t want to reveal its name. 

Maybe on of the carriers knew something? The thing was the whole nature of a carrier was it was hard to find. Well, apart from one anyway. Nagato pushed the door behind her shut and set course for the cafeteria. 

It was mostly empty at this hour, apart from Akagi, predictably. How she could maintain that figure with as much as she at was nothing short of a mystery. 

Just as predictable as Akagi being there was her escorts. Some unidentified destroyer had found its way to the carriers lap and used it for a pillow after the meal, while Akagi was having her fourth serving. 

Nagato sat down, took a little bit of the food and brought the subject up. She was very much on point with what she wanted. And possible options were further narrowed down as Nagato learned of the incident with the missing pilots. 

As they conferred, they were now certain there was an American aircraft carrier in the base they didn't know of. If it had anything to do with the godlike powers the battleships got last night wasn't known yet. But they had to find her. 

And when it came to this, they could ask two ships. Firstly, Iowa. She really had stepped into a sort of protector for the US forces. She was however fiercely protective of the flattops, likely a consequence of being built to escort them. 

After all, she was with Intrepid in the repair docks. Had she not taken as much hits as she did during that last engagement, Intrepid would have sunk. 

At a second thought, Iowa would probably not be much help. But Saratoga would. She and Nagato, along with Prinz Eugen had a very special bond no other ship really had. After all, whoever stands next to you in front of the firing squad isn't an enemy. 

They both decided that waking the sleeping destroyer was an unpleasant necessity. She was very gently woken up, offered a drink and then sent away to get Saratoga. 

Fleetgirls going into the other district wasn't exactly uncommon, but there was usually a reason behind it, and not a leisurely stroll. There were naturally exceptions. Kongõ and Saratoga for instance that seemed to be friends and get along with everyone and often spent time in the opposing part of the naval district. 

And thus, no one really gave Saratoga a second glance as the little destroyer guided her along to the cafeteria. It might have seemed a bit odd for an American carrier to be so well liked among the Japanese, but that all came with Saratoga’s personality. She was rarely seen not smiling, always helpful, caring, supportive, and like many bigger ships, fiercely protective of the destroyers. 

Even Mamiya smiled and waved as Saratoga entered the cafeteria. But she wasn't stupid. She didn't sit down by the window as she usually did, but in a back room where Nagato and Akagi were waiting. Something was going on. 

‘HI Saratoga, please sit down’
‘Heya, Nagato! And Akagi, hello’

Akagi smiled politely and drank from the cup in front of her. Saratoga sat down opposite to the others. 

‘Greetings, Saratoga. I wish I had more pleasant things to discuss today, so I am happy you could come on such a short notice’

Saratoga felt a little odd. Nagato usually never used her full name, and went with “Sara” instead. 

‘Anytime, Nagato. What do you wish to bring up?’
‘Case is as follows: Two nights ago, we did a sortie against a lighter abyssal force’
‘Yes, I remember. I even participated in it’
‘Correct. The oddity I wanted to bring up there was that out destroyers found almost none of the downed pilots themselves. Instead, the pilots came in an unidentified aircraft, with the propeller on top. A destroyer managed to catch this aircraft as it was attempting to land on Akagi’s deck, with all of the missing pilots in it. I bring this up because we strongly suspect it was an American aircraft’
‘I can put my hand on my heart and tell you I have no idea what is’
‘I know, Saratoga. Besides, I suspect you'd come and tell me if you knew something. You know why?’

Saratoga shook her head

‘Mutual trust. And that's not something I feel with many. Hell, it would be frowned upon by many of the Japanese ships! But because of the end we share…’
‘Yeah… there is some-’
‘Let me finish before you say anything. Because this was at its core just a minor incident. What happened last night was not’

Now both the Japanese turned their heads to Saratoga’

‘Nagato’ Akagi opened her mouth for the first time during this meeting. ‘Since you trust her to tell us the truth, let her tell us what she knows about the battle last night’

Nagato made a friendly gesture telling Saratoga to do so

‘I heard it was a great success. No injuries and several ships sunk’
‘Great is an understatement. For four ships, anyway’
‘Just four?’

Nagato looked at Saratoga in all her confusion. She knew Saratoga didn’t have a clue about this. 

‘Yes. Four battleships, me not included managed to fire and hit abyssals in a way none of us even thought was possible at night. heck Musashi shot better at night than what she does at that range by day. Mutsu said it felt like she was given the power of a godess’

Saratoga sat completely silent, so Nagato continued

‘What i would like to tell you is that i know what caused it. How we did it, and more importantly, how to do it again. But I don’t know for certain. But i do know a radio message was sent just before this… phenomenon occurred. a radio message on an open channel from someone who identified themself as “Shangri-La air traffic control” And as far as i know, that is either a place that is made up, or an American aircraft carrier. Is there something you want to tell me, please do it now’

Saratoga sighed and put a hand on her forehead

‘It’s very complicated all this. Yes, it’s true we have a new aircraft carrier. But I’m pretty sure she isn’t Shangri-La. Or… I mean, i don’t know. That’s an Essex-class, and’
‘Waitwaitwait, slow down. What do you mean you’re not sure who she is?’
‘Yeah. As weird as that sounds, neither of us know. I’ve been introducing her as Essex for the time being, just a guess based on her size. But i don’t recognize any of her planes, she’s much too big, and she has memories from a completely different ship. And none of her rigging makes sense’

This seemed to confuse both of japanese ships. For the moment at least, before they both took on a more serious expression and looked at Saratoga

For the first time in a while, it was Akagi’s turn to speak

‘I’m afraid you can’t stop there, Sara. Please go on’
‘Eugh… where do i even start with her. First of all, all of her rigging came in bits. It took us days to get everything together’
‘Her rigging was broken?’
‘In pieces! Hundreds! We, or mostly she, has welded, nailed, riveted, sown and glued them together into some kind of rigging that resembles nothing i’ve seen before. Two flight decks, a lever action system to launch planes and engines that no one, and I include even fucking Graf Zeppelin in that, knows how her boilers work’

Nagato sat and frowned, not really believing what Saratoga said

‘I’m not joking. The turbines are gigantic, similar setup to Iowa but i guess 50% larger, which would put her on the three hundred thousand shaft horsepower mark. Think that’s weird? The boilers make no noise, and produce no smoke’
‘Wait a second, three hundred thousand!?’
‘I have no idea to know for sure, but that’s my guess’
‘Just how big is she?’
‘That’s another thing I don’t get. Saratoga is a Lexington class carrier, alright? My steel hull usually sailed around just under 40 000 tons. The biggest carrier the US had during the entire war. The Essexes were 35 thousand, Yorktown about 25. Sure, the US launched a new class of carriest just after the war ended, so that shouldn’t be it. That means i should be the biggest, right? No, she’s bigger than me, much bigger. Hell, i think she’s taller than Yamato’
‘Yamato is the biggest, heaviest and most powerful warship anywhere in the world’

The way Nagato said that was a change of tone. As if she stated a fact, known to any little kid.

‘Yeah. It doesn’t make anymore sense to you than it does to me. You wanna know if she did that to your battleships? Truth is i don’t have a clue. Especially since i don’t even think she has 20 planes in total that actually work’

Nagato and Akagi sat quiet for a while before Akagi spoke

‘This does indeed sound interesting, but I feel you’re withholding information from us’
‘I’m sorry, what?’
‘You must excuse me, I didn’t intend to be rude, or suggest anything. You simply didn’t tell us about what she remembers from a steel hull’

Saratoga sighed. She wasn’t happy with how this turned out

‘I’d break a promise if i told you, but i can’t lie to Nagato either. The best compromise i can do is tell her she thought she was a Yorktown’
‘If she is a Wo…’
‘Oh please, Nagato’

Saratoga’s voice sounded a touch irritated

‘She looks and acts like any of the rest of us. And she has sunken abyssals. Not even a week in and she has a battleship, two cruisers and a few destroyers to her name. I will not listen to any of your theories about us and the abyssals’

Nagato growled a little and stood up

‘Fine. I have to go and have a think about this. But I’m going to meet with this mystery carrier sooner rather than later. And that will be in company. Until next time’

Nagato walked out from the little room at a brisk pace leaving Akagi and Saratoga behind

‘I messed up, didn’t I?’
‘No’ Akagi responded in a surprisingly calm voice
‘She’s pissed right now’
‘You’re friends. You can’t possibly agree on everything. Especially with someone as headstrong as Nagato. It’s quite admirable that you stand your ground, in fact. You need to care for your friends, but she needs to be more focused on the naval district as a whole’
‘How come you and Kaga always say really clever things?’

Akagi chuckled a little at the remark and smiled at the American carrier

‘Jokes aside’ started Saratoga ‘Do you think one of my friends could be...could be that thing?’
‘We and them must be two sides of a coin. Maybe we’re the ships that came to rest, and they didn’t’
‘Augh… how do we know that? There is no defining characteristics for us fleetgirls, right? We’re from all over the world, met all kinds of different fates, sunk in battles, grounded, scuttled… hell, Iowa’s steel hull is still afloat! there is no way for us to tell before we meet her!’
‘Then we really do have to meet her’
‘Could you do that?’
‘Hm?’
‘From what i’ve said, there is a one in three chance that she has memories from the ship that sunk you’
‘Enterprise sunk me. She earned the nickname “Grey ghost” as the old war dragged on. I think i’ve made peace with my old demons. I think i would want to meet her actually. But for my comrades, i can’t say the same. Enterprise in particular has a bad name here. Her record in the old war, Wo’s resemblance. Nagato isn’t alone in thinking we’re fighting the same ghost we used to’
‘Do you?’
‘No’

Akagi said that without any trace of hesitation in her voice

‘No?’
‘I’ll let you figure that out on your own. It’s been nice talking to you, Saratoga. And i’d like to meet this mystery ship of yours, whoever she is. But that at a later day, perhaps. Do take care’
‘See ya ‘round, Akagi’

Saratoga’s head was filled with a hundred thoughts and about ninety of them were that she had fucked up in some way. Had she just set Nagato on Enterprise? Shit. She had to go her a warning at least.

But Enterprise was neither in the room nor in the workshop, which was a first. Instead, the surprise came as Saratoga went down to the docks.

‘Wait! Wait for it! A little more…. And turn!’

There was quite a spectacle for her to see as she rounded the corner. Enterprise stood at the corner of the little harbor in full rigging, with Gambier bay in the middle. Above them, the sky was heavy with aircraft.

‘No! No, no no! Turn into them! You have to turn into the aircraft!

Predictably, one of the dummy torpedoes dropped by the skyraiders slammed into Gambier bay’s side. They did no damage, but splashed quite a bit and sent cascades of blue paint up Gambier Bay’s legs. 

She winced, sniffled and whined after the hit. Enterprise sighs a little and brings Gambier Bay in to to the concrete dock before her eyes got too wet

‘Alright, little one, you have to hear me out here. I will do anything in my power to prevent any planes getting to you. That goes for surface ships too. But i’m not infallible. I’m not perfect. There will come a day where you have to be able to protect yourself, alright?’

Gambier bay sniffles a little and nods

‘I don’t mean to be hard on you, but this is important’
‘B-but i c-c-can’t t-turn against th-them’
‘I can get turning into torpedoes seems a little counter intuitive. But you become a much much smaller target, and be able to control the approach. Gamby, you must, and i mean MUST protect the propellers and rudders. So even if you take a hit when facing them, you will take that hit on your bow. And with a bit of luck, you will hit the torpedo before it has armed, and- wait, Gamby, no...

The little carrier started sobbing softly and Enterprise found herself needing to comfort her. But it is instead Saratoga that picked the little carrier from the ground and held her close.

‘Shhh, none of that. It’s okay. As direct and… firm she is about these things, she is right. It’s an extremely important skill for a carrier, crucial dare i even say’

Through her sobs, Gambier Bay leans in and whispers something to Saratoga

‘No, sweetie. She isn’t teaching you because of her size. That’s experience speaking’

With Saratoga inspiring a little confidence, Gambier bay gathered up enough confidence to meet the torpedo bombers again. There was a fair bit of potential for improvement, that was for sure. But the little carrier did at least get the basics in. It was hard managing the AA guns and dodging the incoming attacks. When should you focus on what? 

‘You will know’, Replied Enterprise. ‘In short, fire as much as you can while maintaining maximum maneuverability. You’re more important than the absence of their planes are’

And no matter how much her flight deck MIGHT be able to act as a shield, both the bigger carriers were very clear on that it is much better to not get hit than to deflect it. Even the Destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts, Sammy for short, turned up for a bit of exercising with the carriers. What she lacked in speed, armerament, armor, size, displacement, fire control systems and general combat worthiness, she made up for with a biblical amount of guts. 
Sammy threw herself at the torpedo bombers, jumping up from the water and trying to swat them down from the skies with her guns, like someone trying to swat a fly. Not even gunfire dazed her as she would charge in, even against battleships, to ranges where her 21 inch torpedoes and 40mm AA guns could start landing hits.

Against battleships, or indeed any other warship, these ranges were usually called “suicidal”. Sammy was informed, and did exactly the same thing another three times.

As polar opposites she and Gamby was, they were close friends, probably after meeting their fate within an hour of each other in the same battle, about 30 miles off the coast of Samar.

As sun was setting and dinner had been made, served and eaten, Sammy headed off to the Eastern district, babbling something about night engagements and gunnery training. 

Enterprise was a bit unsure about Sammy, since she looked more like a middle schooler, and not someone who wielded two 5 inch guns as revolvers. But she did eventually leave for some exercises with japanese destroyers. 

Sammy was outgunned even against the smallest of the destroyers, but fought like bullets wouldn’t bother her. She did however repeat her feat of firing off her 600 rounds faster than ships with three times her guns. 

Naturally, spending an entire afternoon and evening at full throttle did make poor Sammy more than a little tired. She was offered a place to sleep in the Eastern naval district and accepted, with a thorn to her pride. 

She was grumpy for about another 5 minutes until the Japanese destroyers showed her they Miyama’s restaurant was night open as well. The supply ship herself had gone to bed long ago, but they could still get some of the leftover buns from the day. 

It was smallish buns made by a slightly sweetened bread, and they could be eaten as they were, or with jam or other things in them. Sammy ate and laughed with her friends until the time had become way too late for little destroyers to be up. 

However, with the passing hour, the standard of discussion had dropped slightly, making it harder and harder for the bunch to suppress the giggling. It didn't get much better when they were doing the sleeping arrangements. First Sammy was supposed to sleep in one of the auxiliary rooms, a plan quickly abandoned as someone else was sleeping there. There was some shortage of rooms to sleep since an unfortunate attack on the district completely ruined the barracks building. Instead, the gymnastics hall had been outfitted with some hastily made bunk beds.

The big group had been split up as the hours went, with Akatsuki and her friends had trailed off an hour ago, Asashio had gone to bed to bed to make sure she could get up on time. How typical.

Left with little Sammy was Fubuki, who wanted to make sure the little destroyer escort wouldn't get lost, or something. Tashkent was there because Gangut would not stop snoring and Amagiri had too much energy left to go to sleep. Tashkent and Amagiri, both being rather competitive and very athletic had done several run’n gun courses. Amagiri was good, no question about that, but Tashkent was in another league. With twice the power of a Kongo class fast battleship, and at one tenth of the displacement, Tashkent was the de facto speed queen, pushing well over 43 knots.

It was a little unfair, as Tashkent was pushing the boundaries of how big destroyers got, both concerning her steel hull and other physical attributes, many which were enviable to destroyers of other nations. 

But the exercises had long come to end, food had been eaten and most of the naval district had come to rest, save for a few.

‘So did anyone win in the end?’ Fubuki asked in a light and playful voice
‘I never lose!’ Amagiri claimed

Tashkent laughed a little

‘That’s why you were setting the best times, huh?’
‘Not fair! You’re half legs!’

Tashkent laughed again

‘Is that jealousy I am hearing?’
‘You’re too big for a cruiser anyway’
‘Definitely jealousy’ Tashkent replied and arched her back a little more than necessary as she shifted around a little, all in the name of really proving to the smaller ships her more cruiser-like features.

‘That said… Sammy, your fighting spirit is just something else’
‘Well, it would be’ Fubuki said softly
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely! Have you heard about Samar?’

Tashkent had not and shook her head

‘I charged down the Center force together with two fletchers!’
‘Center force?’
‘What was it again~?’ Sammy poked Fubuki in the ribs ‘Oh, i remember! It was four battleships, six heavy cruisers. two light cruisers and eleven destroyers! Including Yamato And we won!’
‘More like bought enough time…’ Amagiri grumbled
‘B-but we’re all friends here right?’ Sammy asked, a little frightened that she may have upset someone. She also turned to face Amagiri a little too quickly’

‘Ow, that’s my arm!’
‘Sorrysorrysorry!’
‘Stop pushing over there, there is barely any room here’

There is a little bit of shuffling around before they had all settled down again

‘Is there really no other bed?’
‘Unless you count the hammocks, no’ Said Fubuki in a very matter of fact way
‘You’re doing this all wrong’ Tashkent sighed.

She took Sammy in a firm grip and put her down on the other side of herself

‘Here, rest your head there, and you-’ She pulled Amagiri to lay on her shoulder like Sammy did on the other side ‘-go there and now Fubuki has room, too, yes?’
‘Yes!’
‘Everyone happy then?’

Agreeable humming noises was heard all around as all four now fit somewhat comfortable on the same bed. It was quiet for a little while before a voice piqued up

‘Sammy?’
‘Mhm’
‘Who trains you over there?’
‘It’s a bit odd… nearly all other americans fleetgirls are carriers. Saratoga is great, she takes care of everyone, Intrepid is much the same, even if she’s a massive nerd. And Gamby! Gamby is my best friend! Oh, and then there is a new one too! I worked super hard with her today!’
‘Wow, another carrier. Who is she?’
‘...’
‘What?’
‘I’m so bad at names, blast it. Uhh… E something. Edisto, Estero…? No wait those are smaller. Shit, wait, i have it, uhh… Essex? E-enterprise? I can’t remember Gamby is going to be disappointed in me now’

The first two were not really relevant. Some light or escort carrier, they had no real value. Essex was a large ship, sure but she didn’t do much. But that last one… Enterprise was something else entirely. That was something she had heard before.. maybe? Had she?

The three other destroyers were asleep. Fubuki was pretty sure they were asleep. But she waited. She really didn’t want to wake them up. How long was it? Ten minutes? 30? An hour? Then again, anyone using Tashkent for a pillow probably slept well. She waited until she could barely keep her eyes open and then very gently and slowly slowly eased her way out of the bed, got dressed and sneaked out of that room.

There was something peculiar about the naval district at night. Just the moon lighting it all up. And all these empty spaces that were filled with life during the day. It was a bit eerie. 

Fubuki snapped out of it. She had to do something. She had to tell someone. Someone who knew more than she did. 

She narrowed it down to three people. Firstly, the admiral. A natural choice, it may seem. But waking the admiral up at three in the morning may anger Kongõ as well, who probably was there anyway. 

No, not the admiral. Her other two picks were Akagi or Yamato. They always seemed to know what they were doing and what was going on. And she knew them a little better than other big ships. 

First thing to do was see if anyone of them was awake. She took the path down along the cherry trees to a big wooden building, the staff headquarters. Someone always had night duty, and maybe she'd run in to one of them. The wooden door was thankfully silent, and she just needed to push it a little open to see who sat by the radio. 

It was Atago, who seemed to do some embroidery with Takao who was reading. Fubuki gently closed the door and headed for the sea. 

There would always be at least a few ships out at night, patrolling for the enemy. The little destroyer sat down on a grassy knoll, as emerald green as her eyes and looked out to the water. 

She liked it here. The trees slowly swaying in the leaves, and the sound they made. So calming. The water surface on the bay would be as smooth as a mirror, unless a certain hyperactive destroyer were speeding around like her skirt was on fire. 

And the battleship was Hiei. She was nice, sure… but might not take this as seriously as she should. No, she had to keep looking. The cafeteria was a cheeky try as well, with a faint hope akagi was sneaking up and having a nightly meal. It has happened before.

But not tonight. Fubuki had looked at the places where they might be awake. Then again, it was 3am. They were both probably sound asleep. As they should, really.

Fubuki took a deep breath and headed for the barracks, that were really more like dormitories, especially for the bigger ships. She was going to go into the carrier dormitories, but there was something about the air there. No, waking up Akagi right now just didn't seem right. The battleship dormitories was silent as the grave, which did make it a little more difficult. She would have liked a slimmer of light from slit underneath the door, a quiet whispering conversation with Musashi or the rustling of pages from a book. Just something that would mean she wouldn’t have to wake Yamato up.

Fubuki stood in front of the big wooden door, at the top floor, at the end of the corridor for a few minutes to gather courage to knock. She leaned her hand on the door for a moment, and soon gave it two quick knocks. Nothing. She got a little embarrassed. No one was in, she’d have to knock again. Another two times. No response. Fubuki was starting to get cold feet with this whole thing. Maybe she shouldn’t do this. Maybe Sammy just said something wrong, maybe this was just waking up someone unnecessarily. Someone who really needed the sleep. A key person at the naval district no less!

Ohh no, this was a bad idea. Fubuki regretted ever having set foot in the battleship dormitories. She took a swift step to the side, but her right shoe wasn’t tied up as well as she though, and the lace had ended up under the other shoe. No amount of flailing her arms would save Fubuki from the quickly approaching wooden floor. She landed with a thud, her shoulder taking most of the impact.

It hurt. But she was going to be strong. Not going to let that-

‘Fubuki…? What are you doing here’

Not Yamato, but Musashi stood in the door she had just knocked on and was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes

‘sorrysorrysorrysorryispoketosammyandshesaidtehrewas-’
‘Shhh, slow down, it’s the middle of the night’
‘imsorrysorryimreallysorry’
‘Fubuki, calm down. What’s going on?’
‘Ispoketosammyand-’

Musashi sighs in a really tired fashion and picks up the little destroyer as if she was a feather. She walks into the room, probably the biggest any fleetgirl had, and tapped one of the beds with her feet

‘For you i think’ Musashi said to the just awoken Yamato and dumped Fubuki in that bed before going back to her own

Fubuki meanwhile, was too embarrassed to say anything, and Yamato was too tired to ask. Instead, she happily accepted her new hugpillow, despite it really wanting to tell her about an aircraft carrier. 

However…

Morning eventually broke. Fubuki told both battleships of the Yamato-class about what she had heard yesterday. Those two told the rest of the battleships. Fubuki was then dragged on to the carriers’ dormitory. 

It was at this point the little destroyer actually understood what Enterprise was. She had only heard the rumors of the Grey ghost, “Wo” now. A demon in the shape of a ship cursed to stalk the earth. The offspring between the night and death itself, so evil  not even the abyss would accept her.

But worst of all, she was responsible for the sinking of Akagi and Kaga that day. This demon did that. 

At half past eight, what seemingly was a third of the entire imperial navy was marching towards the naval district with full rigging, Nagato leading the pack. 

Lesser ships stepped aside not to disturb the march, and those who didn't want to be seen running stepped aside and looked with a bit of awe in their eyes. Bismarck saw the whole group from her office and decided this really wasn’t the time to interrupt.

The three american carriers were down by the water, mostly chatting and helping Gambier Bay with her training.

However, with the approaching armada, especially one with Yamato in it, Gambier bay turned away and sped away as fast as her engines would carry her. 

Fubuki was near the front of the back, and saw a very nervous Saratoga speaking to the demon. The demon sat down, and had her back turned to her. But as she turned around, there was two things that became obvious, Firstly, this demon was really tall, towering well above Saratoga who wasn’t exactly pocket sized herself. Secondly, she didn’t much look like a demon. In fact, she looked a little motherly, appearing to be about the same age as the admiral.

‘So…’ Saratoga began, attempting to do her best to deescalate the situation ‘These are just some of the fin-’
‘Enough’ Nagato said with a voice as dry and fun as a drying machine instruction manual. ‘It should know who we are. It’s the contrary we are interested in. Who have you taken into our naval district?’
‘As much as i would like to tell you, I sort of can’t. We’re not sure’
‘Then we shall have to-’

And that was the exact point where a loud yell coming from the way. A yell that made half of the japanese ships draw a deep sigh

‘Our guardian angel…’ Saratoga whispered at a sight of a very enviable shaped woman with long blonde hair and somewhat strange clothes

‘Aight ladies, you know exactly where I stand on picking on american carriers’ The woman said, walking towards the two groups with big steps

‘Between’

USS Iowa rolled her shoulders and crossed her arms, firmly standing between the Japanese armada and the two carriers

Iowa knew that if it would come to a gunfight, she wouldn’t make much difference, not with that many guns pointing her way. But it was a matter of principle. Escorting carriers is what she was made for, and now two of them stood under japanese guns. But before she was willing to risk her life for that, there was a question she needed answered

‘Just, before we begin this. Uhh, Saratoga, who is this exactly?’