Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to KanColle.

Chapter 6

Sendai glared at the other girls as they gathered into the base's operation room. Captain Chiba had informed them that their next meeting would be in this room before leaving them two nights before. After nearly six hours of training and tests, they still hadn't decided upon a flagship; and Sendai was certain that the other girls had sabotaged her chance to earn the position. Everyone kept bumping into each other, and no one was listening to anyone else. Only when Tenryuu had finally had enough, and snapped at them, had they finally fell into alignment.

However, even Tenryuu's command over the group hadn't seemed to be satisfactory to the captain. More than worrying about who would be the flagship, Sendai had a terrible feeling that they would be disbanded and the captain would move on to another base. It had happened before, especially when the smaller class of ship girls was chosen. More often than not, news of new styles of operations was followed by information on Admiral Fujisaki's Kongou sisters spearheading the new development.

"Do you think the captain's angry with us?" Shioi asked.

Turning her attention to the smallest girl in the group, Sendai was about to try and comfort her when the door to the control room opened.

"I am, but that's part of what we'll be talking about tonight," Captain Chiba said.

The captain was dressed as formally as ever and Sendai blushed as his eyes met hers. Although she was more focused on becoming a world renowned Fleet Girl, Sendai couldn't deny the fact that she felt butterflies in her stomach when the captain met her eyes. Unlike some of the other officers, he never seemed to leer at any of the girls. He treated them as professionals; something that they hadn't acted like when performing the tests.

Guilt filled her as she reflected on her actions. Rather than proving that she was qualified to be the flagship, she had just embarrassed herself in front of someone who believed that they actually were the professionals that the papers claimed they were.

"The tests were abysmal," the captain said, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "You were all embarrassing in your desire to hold the role of flagship and ruined the entire purpose of the tests. For that reason, I'll be assigning each of you your roles based upon your files. A less effective manner, but as there will be little time to hold further tests; we'll have to make this work."

He stopped to pull out a collection of manila folders from a box on the table in the middle of the room. Settling them in his arms, he opened the first one, before turning his attention to Tenryuu.

"Miss Tenryuu, you will be at the rear of all formations. I'm expecting you to take responsibility in making sure everyone makes it out alive," he said.

"Yes sir," Tenryuu replied, saluting sharply.

If Sendai was seeing the older girl correctly, she would swear that Tenryuu even seemed excited to be put into such a position. However, the fact that she wasn't the flagship meant that the role was going to one of the others, and Sendai had to stop herself from cheering. Despite everything that had happened, there was still a chance that she would be the flagship.

"Here is the list of equipment that you'll need. Once we're done here, I expect you to head out and switch up your gear immediately. That goes for all of you," the captain continued.

Putting what was obviously Tenryuu's folder onto the bottom of his pile, the captain switched to the next folder.

"Now, Miss Isokaze, your radar is invaluable, so you'll be responsible for keeping the squad up to date on enemy locations and formations. Here is your equipment list."

Passing Isokaze her list, the admiral continued through the others in the squad. Shioi was meant for first strikes, attacking before the enemy would even notice that she was there, while Yahagi and Murakumo were their primary gunners. By the time he opened up her folder, Sendai could have sworn that she was hyperventilating.

"And last, Miss Sendai, you're going to be our flagship. I'm expecting you to lead the squad safely through each mission that you're sent on. Do you think you can do that?"

All the sound that Sendai could manage as she received her equipment list was a squeak. She wasn't one of the more commonly sortied girls, but whatever was written in her folder had convinced the captain to name her the flagship. It was a thrilling feeling.

Forcing her attention onto the list of equipment that she needed, she felt an even greater thrill. While she wasn't expected to equip any torpedoes, the fact that the captain was expecting her to utilize star shells was interesting, and exciting. That single piece of equipment solidified the fact that they would be entering into night battles. Her realm of expertise would be right there for her to revel in. It wasn't often that her luck held out twice in a row, but today was definitely on her side.

"Now that your positions have been determined, we're going to move onto the next order of business: your uniforms."

Immediately the room burst into a cacophony of noise as the girls argued over the need to change their appearance. Instead of joining them, Sendai glanced over at the box that the captain had brought with him. It was definitely too big to have only been used for carrying their files. Craning her neck in an attempt to see what was in the box, she was startled once the captain yelled.

"Everyone quiet down!"

The captain hadn't even yelled during the testing when they had gotten out of control. His usually cold tone of voice, which had even managed to stun Tatsuta, had worked well enough for him before. So yelling had definitely managed to gain the attention of the occupants of the room. All arguments and murmurs died down, leaving the room quieter than it had been since they arrived.

"Now that everyone has stopped, I'd like to discuss the necessity of the change in uniform. I know that Admiral Sakata and all of the other admirals have let each of you retain your specific uniforms. Whether they were based on your class, or a personal fashion sense, I don't really care. I will be sending you out on some of the most dangerous missions that you could ever imagine, and for that reason, I want each of you to have as much protection as possible while out on the water."

As the captain spoke, he pulled out one of the uniforms from the box. As she took in its design, Sendai's eyes widened. Covered in splotches of numerous shades of blue, black and grey, the uniform was distinctly similar to the camouflage that she had heard was in use by many of the worlds' militaries. She wasn't the only one to catch onto what the captain was getting at either. Behind her, she could hear Tenryuu chuckling amusedly at the reveal.

"These uniforms will provide you with some cover on the open waters," Captain Chiba said. "The darker colours are meant to work alongside the fact that most of our missions will occur at night, and it should make you all harder to be identified by the enemy while you're out."

Isokaze and Yahagi immediately started to ask the captain questions, but Sendai was more interested in seeing the uniform in its entirety. Anything that gave her an advantage while out on the water at night would be a boon to her.

"Now, each of these uniforms has been marked with an icon indicating your role in the squad. Come find yours and proceed to get changed. Admiral Sakata wants to see you all in action, so I expect each of you to stay within your roles tonight," he said. "No fighting over commands, Miss Sendai is your flagship, so she makes the calls. If you disagree with her, feel free to make suggestions, but remember that it is her decision. Now you are all dismissed, meet at the docks in 90 minutes. Make sure to get your new equipment."

With that said, the captain turned and left the control room. However, Sendai had a question she wanted answered so she rushed to find her uniform in the collection of clothing that had been left behind for them. Quickly finding it, she gathered it all up and ran out the door.

Making her way through the halls of the command center, she found the captain just as he was about to exit.

"Captain Chiba," she called out.

"Miss Sendai, what do you need?" he asked, turning to face her.

"I wanted to ask a question," she said. "By your leave, I mean."

"Go ahead."

Sendai took a breath, although she was really excited about her role in the squad, she really wanted to know "Why did you choose me for the flagship?"

The captain chuckled as soon as she asked her question.

"I thought this would come up," he started. "You were all terrible a couple nights ago, there's no getting around that, but I needed a couple of you for very specific positions. Tenryuu, as the most experienced, would be the perfect guard for your escapes, and Shioi, as a submarine class, would be perfect for advance strikes. After that, it really came down to what I did see out on the water. Each of you were overly eager to prove that you were the right choice for the role of flagship, but you managed to do something that the others didn't. You were able to keep an eye on everything going on out in the water. Sure, it didn't end well for any of you, but I can see potential in you, more than with the others. You're quick, efficient and with more experience I have no doubt that you could lead this squad better than any of the others. That's why I chose you."

Sendai's face felt like it was on fire. She had been praised in the past, but never like this. Most of the time, it felt like platitudes meant to include her when her sisters had done something outstanding. For the praise to be directed at her for what she had done, it was thrilling.

"I'll do my best to live up to your expectations, sir," she said, saluting smartly as she did.

"I have no doubt Miss Sendai, now go change and get your new equipment. We don't have a lot of time for you to dawdle here with me. I need you setting an example for the rest of the girls, after all."

Sendai nodded enthusiastically, before turning around and rushing back to find an empty room. She would make sure that she set the example that Captain Chiba was looking for. She wouldn't waste this chance that she had been given.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

3 months later

Keeping her eyes on the Ta-class, Sendai strafed through the water. Her shells had connected, but it seemed that the Ta-class was even more heavily defended than she had expected. Thankfully, Captain Chiba's decision to have their uniforms changed was proving helpful. The limited light from the nighttime sky, and her darker clothing, allowed Sendai to keep just out of sight of the Abyssal ship.

'I'm going to make sure everyone else gets away,' she assured herself. 'It's not my job, but I'll do it anyway. Tenryuu will get them back to base, I know she will.'

Preparing to fire at her foe again, Sendai did a quick count of the ammunition she still had on her. She had enough shells to fire twelve more times, but that would only help if the Wo-class and the Nus didn't reach her first. It was rare that a Wo-class would attack at night, but that wouldn't stop the possibility of an attack. The fact that one was even out at night was a cause for concern. Had they managed to find some way to utilize their planes effectively at night? If so, the admiralty board would need to hear about this. In that sense, their mission would still be a success.

"Sendai, you're not dying on me out there," Captain Chiba's voice crackled to life over her earpiece. "Remember my promise, no one dies."

"You can't do anything about this sir," Sendai said, her eyes glued to the form of the Ta-class. "The others need to make it back. I'll make sure that they do."

Her voice wavered as she spoke. She was scared of dying and scared of leaving behind the captain. He had become a friend over the past few months. His refusal to accept anything less than excellence from any of them had inspired her, and she knew that she wanted to live up to what he believed about her; about all of them. It was why she was going to fight to the end here. She would show them all. She would show them that she was not someone to be messed with. Not when her friends' lives were on the line.

"Sendai, don't do this. You have an opportunity to get out of there and catch up to the others. Don't sacrifice yourself," the captain was calling out.

Sendai tuned out his words as she fired once again at the Ta-class. This time she managed to deal some heavy damage, as she saw her opponent recoil; smoke rising from her equipment. Grinning, Sendai strafed out of her foe's line of sight and prepared another shot. Just getting rid of the battleship would be something to talk about. She would have allowed her friends a chance to leave and she would…

Before her thoughts could finish, she felt the water around her burst, as well as a striking pain shoot through her right arm. Screaming, she tried to keep up her strafing, but she knew it was hopeless. The sound had alerted the Ta-class to her position, and she was certain she could see a smirk upon the Abyssal's face.

Growling in frustration, Sendai tried to lift her arm to aim another shot, but she could barely move it; a noticeable hole indicating where she had been shot. Glaring at her foe, she felt guilt for not being able to defeat the enemy. Hopefully the others had managed to get away. At least then she wouldn't feel like she had failed.

"No you don't! All guns, fire!"

A new voice entered Sendai's thoughts as she awaited her end. However, her end didn't come. Instead, the Abyssal was retreating as shells exploded in the water around it.

"Sendai!"

Turning to see whoever had called her, she was stunned to see that the others from her squad were there, alongside another fleet of girls that definitely weren't from their base.

"Sendai, stay calm, we're going to get you back to the base and all fixed up," Yahagi said as she came towards her. "You're bleeding heavily. Let's get you back home."

Home: that sounded great just about now. Closing her eyes, she allowed Yahagi to help her up. With the other girl's assistance, they started to make their way back to the base. Yeah, home definitely sounded great.

"Sendai? S…Sendai!"

End Chapter 6

A/N: And we have now caught up to the prologue. The first arc of the story isn't over yet, there's going to be a little more timeline jumping in the next few chapters, but we're about to enter the next arc of the story – actual stealth missions and a build up to the investigation of the island mentioned in chapter 1.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who continues to read this story, and until next time:

Nanashi Wanderer