Chapter 48 - 44.5

With permission from HQ and Akashi's help, I managed to turn an empty room in the docks into an entertainment room. Filled with gaming consoles, board games and books, all bought with my own allowance. The books and board games are great but the girls seem to be more fascinated with how a television works and how they can control the characters on-screen with the various buttons on the controller. Can't blame them though. They have never touched, let alone seen a television or a gaming console before. At least they are having fun.

Following our victory over Azur Lane in that excercise, morale here has been high over the past week. Not till the point where they get all conceited and stuff. All of them were highly motivated to get things done. Expeditions were of great success. Abyssal fleets encountered on patrols and sorties were eliminated without anyone getting hurt. However, there were reports of black sh.i.p.s roaming around Abyssal-controlled areas. Looks like the sirens have been expanding their influence. Fleet 2 tried fighting some of these black sh.i.p.s and discovered that they are not much different from the Abyssals. In fact, they seem easier. Just like what was shared by Azur Lane, the siren troops are almost entirely mechanical, making them easy to predict and destroy. The only ones that are tough would be the humanoid ones, like the Purifier stated in one of Yokosuka's reports. Thankfully, the Abyssals and Sirens seem to be fighting each other for now. 2 days ago, fleet 3 returned from their expedition later than usual. They reported that on their way back, they witnessed siren sh.i.p.s and a small Abyssal fleet attacking each other. They had to make a detour to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Because of this, now I need to put together an exploration fleet to secure a new expedition route. It's a headache but I will be putting my girls at risk of I don't do it.

"This will be your first mission. Are you alright? It's normal to feel nervous."

The blonde girl with twintails and big chest size took a deep breathe.

"Yes, roger. <I am doing well>"

This girl is CVE-73 Gambier Bay, an escort carrier, the same as Zuihou in her Kai Ni B form. She is one of the two foreign shipgirls who just transferred from Yokosuka two days ago. I have seen her training before and I can say she is almost on pat with the regular aircraft carriers. Being an American shipgirl, she mixes both English and Japanese together. The others may be a bit wary of them though. She is a scaredy-cat. Her low self-esteem is rather evident. She is definitely what I would call a marshmallow type, fluffy but a bit too soft.

The other girl is Jervis. Or Lucky Jervis, as she calls herself. Currently she is on an expedition with Furutaka's fleet. Jervis is a J-class destroyer from Europe. Likewise, she mixes both English and Japanese when she speaks. Unlike Gambier Bay, she is a cheerful and enthusiastic girl. She is almost the same Iku.

"Okay then. I will start the briefing. Basically, you will be following Hiryuu and Souryuu to look for a safe expedition route. The three of you are to recon ahead and thin out enemy lines if necessary. Yuudachi, Shimakaze and Mutsuki will clear out the rest and place the markers to secure the route. That's the oversimplified version. Any questions?"

"Erm... Do I have to relay this message to the rest?"

"No. The others already know their roles. I actually planned for the five of them to do this but since you just joined, it's a great time to give you some experience."

"<One more question.> Who is this Hiryuu?"

"You will know when you go to the port."

Gambier Bay left the office. She asked a ton of questions like, will this mission be painful, how many enemies are there. Now I having doubts about sending her for this.

"Admiral-san, let's play poi!" (Yuudachi)

Yuudachi came bursting in and ran straight to my desk.

"Wai-! Yuudachi..."

"Hey! Admiral has work to do. Don't disturb him!" (Ooyodo)

Ooyodo grabbed Yuudachi by her head. Or should I say gripped? That looks painful...

"I going to die of mistreatment poi!!" (Yuudachi)

"Ooyodo, don't be rough with her."

"Geez... Admiral you are way too soft. How many left?" (Ooyodo)

"Just the report on the Siren activity. Once Hiryuu comes back, it will be rescheduling of the expeditions."

"How many times have we re-route this year? This is more chaotic than before." (Ooyodo)

"I know. Right now, Azur Lane is trying to curb the situation at their end. But all this interference is really troublesome. The Abyssals aren't that bad. At least they stayed within the areas they took over."

I rubbed Yuudachi's head. This is somewhat relaxing.

"Come on, Yuudachi. Let's not disturb Admiral any further."

Ooyodo brought Yuudachi out. Alright, back to work.

So much needs to be done today... In the evening, Hiryuu came back. In addition to the expedition route secured, she also reported on Gambier Bays performance. Apart from screaming in fear, it looks like she performed pretty well for her first performance. Good, now that's one problem solved. Time for the hard part.