"Admiral, these are..." (Shigure)
Shigure pointed at a small stack of brown files on the corner of my desk. She sat on my lap as I re-braid her hair.
"Why are there After-action reports here? Is someone going to get a remodel?" (Shigure)
"Oh. I must have forgotten to keep them. I will hand them over to Akashi later. There. All done."
"Thank you, Admiral." (Shigure)
Shigure got off and returned to her seat. Today, it's her turn to be on Secretarial duty.
"When is Yuubari coming back?" (Shigure)
"Supposedly, today. She was supposed to come back last week, after the operation. She told me she needed to remain at HQ to write a report."
"That doesn't sound too good." (Shigure)
"Yeah. I didn't ask for the details so god knows what happened. Maybe some poor guy got hurt during the project."
There was a knock on the door,
"Admiral. It's Yuubari. I have returned." (Yuubari)
Speak of the devil.
"Come on in."
Yuubari walked in,
"Phew. Finally I'm back." (Yuubari)
"Welcome home, Yuubari." (Shigure)
"I'm home." (Yuubari)
"Welcome back. How was the project?"
"Horrible." (Yuubari)
Yep. I expected that much.
"Hear this. None of the JMSDF 'Experts' or 'Engineers' have even the most basic knowledge in shipbuilding! And they want to build a ship?! It was ridiculous!" (Yuubari)
"Hold on. Wasn't Grand Admiral Hasake overseeing the project?"
"No. The project was greenlit by the JMSDF. Some Lieutenant from JMSDF was the project leader. None of them knew what they were doing." (Yuubari)
Yuubari sat on the sofa. Shigure placed a cup of tea in front of her.
"Grand Admiral Hasake went back to his home in Kobe a week before. His granddaughter was very sick so he went back to help take care of her. That's why they wanted Akashi and me to assist." (Yuubari)
"What about old man Ujihara?" (Shigure)
"From what I heard from the others, Ji-ji was hospitalized five days before. While teaching a class of trainees how to disassemble and assemble a Type 10, someone left a bolt on the ground. Ji-ji slipped on it and broke his hip. He was only discharged two days ago. Grand Admiral Hasake also came back two days ago." (Yuubari)
Yuubari took a sip of the tea Shigure gave her,
"Those guys actually thought building a ship is as simple as slapping a gun onto a piece of metal. Like in both figuratively and literally! Look!" (Yuubari)
Yuubari took out her phone, scrolled for a bit before passing it to me. It was a picture of a 20mm Phalanx gun on top of a large piece of metal. It looks funny.
"This is their proposed model. The one IJN was commissioned to build. " (Yuubari)
What?!
I can see Shigure's eyes widened. I bet my reaction is just like hers.
"This is the new Project Gaia??" (Shigure)
"More importantly, who the hell greenlit and commissioned this?!"
"I want to know the answer too! Which bunch of idiots thought this was a good idea and that it would work against the Abyssals? If only I had veto power like Grand Admiral Hasake and Ji-ji..." (Yuubari)
Aside from the top brass, only Grand Admiral Hasake and Old man Ujihara, the Head Engineer, can reject projects. Though there is a limit to that. The JSDF still holds a higher authority over the IJN so not all commissions can be rejected.
I listened to Yuubari rant about the entire experience. How she had to teach them basic shipbuilding skills, how they did not want to listen to her, how they disrespected her because she is shipgirl that is supposed to listen to men, how she and the other engineers had to do the whole thing themselves twice since the self-proclaim experts would make a huge mess that which forces the former to take it apart and rebuild, there were a lot of stuff she said makes me want to write an official complaint to the JMSDF top brass. In fact, I am going to submit an official complain to the JSDF. Yuubari stayed behind to help with the clean-up and write an official report about the entire situation but I'm gong to submit a complain. I am actually thankful to the other IJN mechanics and engineers who were dragged into this farce. Yuubari said they tried to stand up to the bullies but couldn't do anything because they were outranked. It was only when the two top dogs returned that the project was shut down on the spot. Everyone, save for the JSMDF shitheads, cheered on the spot and happily took apart the vessel that they were miserably in the midst of building.
"Phew~ Finally got that out of my system. Thank, Admiral." (Yuubari)
"No need to thank me. You did well despite that shitstorm."
"I don't think I want to handle another project by those guys ever again... Oh. I almost forgot." (Yuubari)
She opened the laptop bag she brought with her and took out a folder.
"Here. Blueprints for Ryuuhou." (Yuubari)
"Oh. Thank you. Taigei will be elated."
Yuubari smiled for the first time in a while since I've seen her.
"Hehe~ Don't mention it. I just picked it up from HQ." (Yuubari)
"If Taigei gets remodelled, will there be anyone taking her place as Submarine Tender?" (Shigure)
"I doubt so. Even if we do not have a Submarine Tender, those girls are more than capable to handle themselves."
"Besides, we still have Zuihou and Shouhou. They have the knowledge to take care of the submarines." (Yuubari)
"If they heard that, you are going to get whacked."
Yuubari placed her palms together and playfully stuck out her tongue,
"Hehe. Don't tell them I said that." (Yuubari)
She closed her bag and stood up, stretching,
"Mmm~ Fuah! I'm gonna take my leave and head back to my room now. I brought back some souvenirs for everyone and will be distributing them during dinner." (Yuubari)
"Get some rest. We are going to have our own Natsu Matsuri tonight."
"A summer festival in Autumn?" (Yuubari)
"To make up for lost time. I wanted to wait till everyone comes back. Pola and the other 2 said they were coming home today. The fairies are already preparing for it."
"No wonder they seem busy. I can't wait!" (Yuubari)
There was a knock on the door. Shiratsuyu poked her head in,
"Admiral, have you seen Shi- There you are!" (Shiratsuyu)
"Shiratsuyu... Ah. Sorry. Is it time?" (Shigure)
"Yep. Come on. Everyone is waiting." (Shiratsuyu)
Shigure got up,
"I will see you, Admiral, Yuubari." (Shigure)
"Break a leg."
"What's up?" (Yuubari)
"You will see later. Go take a short a nap or something. Tonight will be fun."
I also need to check the stage props and fireworks later before the festival.