Chapter 246 - 222

The rain drops glimmer in the evening sunlight as they fall from the sky. The rain-loving Shiratsuyu class are out with their new umbrellas and rain boots, splashing about in the summer rain. Even the submarine girls have joined them, frol.i.c.k.i.n.g about in this wet weather.

"How nice. I want to go out and jump on puddles too." (Rei)

"You can do that once you finish writing that report of yours."

"Ugh..." (Rei)

Rei and I are writing a report about our respective portion of the third mission. Rei was in charge of phase 1 and half of phase 1.5 while I handled phase 2 and 2.5. Phase 3 was given to Brunei Anchorage, seeing as we handled the last phase of the second mission. I just completed phase 2.5 yesterday, so the two of us are writing our reports and making sure they match.

Rei has chosen Avrora, Tashkent, Minsk, Fubuki, Mutsuki and Kagerou to clear phase 1, which was a transport mission. Since it was a transport mission, it was completed quite easily, though her fleet met with a few abnormal Abyssals along the way, who decided to be a nuisance.

Her portion of phase 1.5 was handled by Mogami, Tallin, Noshiro, Kirov, Grozny and Shiratsuyu. Just like Shioi's solo mission in the second mission, the fleet had to secure Nodes O1 and O3. This was supposed to be a easy task, but the appearance of Sirens and Abyssals, both normal and abnormal, made things extremely difficult for the young Commander. She was forced to make snap decisions and adjust her plans accordingly, something which she wasn't really used to. Not yet, at least. Of course, I stepped in to assist her.

For my portion of phase 1.5 and phase 2, I had to deploy a Carrier Task Force, consisting of Zuihou, Shouhou, Souryuu, Hiryuu, Mikuma and Agano for the main fleet, Ashigara, whom was sent by Kure to make for the distinct lack of Heavy Cruisers in my base, Yahagi, Yuudachi, Murasame, Shigure and Samidare for the escort fleet. For phase 1.5, the fleet had to secure Node B and O2. I had no problem with this phase. It was only in Phase 2 where a large obstacle decided to rear it's ugly head. In phase 2, we had to sink a Wo-class Kai Flagship, who wasn't too kin on being sent to the depths of poseidon. As if to cause more trouble for us, it always had an intelligent Battleship Ta-Class Flagship with it, which was surprisingly loyal to the carrier and was able to coordinate the other Abyssals. We initially thought all of it's escorts were intelligent Abyssals, as they were coordinated with one another. We discovered that it was only the Ta-class that was abnormal, as it was the only one that used the ocean as a means of cover and to sneak behind my girls for a flanking manuveur. This happened four times before I realised what was going on and changed my strategy to sink the Ta-class before destroying the rest. It was smart enough to target my four Carriers so as to make sure they are unable to launch their planes, severely crippling our firepower.

Phase 2.5 required us to show the Lycoris Princess in charged for the irritating air raids who was the boss. I had to convert the fleet from a Carrier Task Force to a Transport Combined Fleet which had Zuihou, Mikuma, Shigure, Yuudachi, Kawakaze and Umikaze as the main fleet, and Agano, Samidare, Suzukaze and Yamakaze as the escort fleet. The mission was to destroy the air patrols sent by the Lycoris Princess and attain complete air superiority. It was just a one-off mission to secure the airspace so that Brunei Anchorage's Destroyer fleet can move in to sink the Lunga Princess, the main objective of this entire mission. All that trouble just to drag out this bespectacled Abyssal Princess with pet squids. I have seen enough hen- Never mind. Ignore what I said. In fact, I didn't say anything.

"I don't wanna do this anymore... This is way harder than writing resource reports!" (Rei)

"Now you know what I have have to deal with? You are going to write a lot more once you hit my rank, so better get use to it."

"Ughhh..." (Rei)

Rei plopped her head on the desk and started rolling around. She is acting like a child. Come on, I have to write about the second mission as well, and don't get me started on how HQ also wants a report on the Siren situation at Node P.

"The faster you finish your portion, the sooner you can relax. Otherwise, you can forget about sleeping tonight."

"Serious?" (Rei)

Ah, that got her attention.

"HQ wants this by tomorrow morning. We are on a tight schedule."

"Fine. I will try a bit harder." (Rei)

"That's a good girl."

Was this how I acted when I was Rondo's understudy back then? I wasn't like this, right? Or was I worse than this? Nah, that can't be right. I was definitely not like this.

The both of us continued our painful report writing session. We cross-referenced our reports, making sure certain events match and checking for errors.

"Finally, done. Rei, are yo- oops."

I immediately held my tongue as I see the lady lying face down on the desk, fast asleep. I slowly pulled on her report from underneath her. It's more or less done. Certain events she wrote in hers are also present in mine. Yep, this is ready to be submitted.

I can't let a girl sleep on the table like this. I should carry her to my bed. My three girls are spending time with the sisters today, so I have the bed to myself. Or so I initially thought. I can take the sofa. And it doesn't seem I would be done anytime soon.

"Alright. Please excuse me."

I carried Rei on my arms and brought her to my bed. I untied her ponytail to make it more comfortable for her head. I'm not going to mess with her uniform. That's dangerous territory right there. I tucked her in bed and placed a hand on her head,

"You did well. Sleep tight."

Now then, I need to finish my work. I still have the stupid Siren situation report. Stupid HQ.