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Aboard THU Yonaga in orbit over Tōkyō, Wednesday 26 April, an hour after lunch...
"The bodies have been disposed of, Thoughtmistress-prime."
Hearing that declaration from the senior Avalonian aboard her namesake starship, Yonaga nodded as she calmly sipped some of the herbal tea she needed to properly eat the meal that her sister was now preparing for her. "My thanks, Hinano-san," she said as she sat back in the captain's chair overlooking the several square kilometres of flight deck THU Yonaga had been given due to the ten-to-one scale increase the Avalonians had employed in her construction. "Current ship status?"
Masatada Hinano nodded as she raised a dataPADD to begin her report. Yonaga knew that she had been created as an auxiliary observer to effectively take the place of the slain great-great-granddaughter of Fujita Hiroshi; the original Hinano had died in Blood Week thanks to a major assault on Hiroshima, where she had been studying for her degree in law. Ironically, the woman who had prompted the creation of the current Hinano had been an abolitionist; according to Moroboshi Negako when the grandmaster of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū had briefed the carrier about her namesake's caretaker staff, she stated that Hinano's "mistress" had actually been thankful for being "caught". Because of her feelings — which would probably get her lynched back on Phentax Two or some of that planet's colonies — she had been allowed to relocate to the planet Tengsei in the Alpha Centauri system; Noukiite religious refugee laws would protect her from possible retaliation from her people.
Once the report was made, Yonaga asked, "And our guests?"
"Thoughtmistress-prime Taeko will move THU Taihō to assume orbit alongside us. All our guests will see her once she's alongside. They've pretty much recovered from what they witnessed on the hangar deck. Per your orders, Miyake Shinobu was beamed directly back to Tomobiki. Her emotions were still too much in a turmoil; with her inability to see people such as yourself as you really are, I doubt she will be an issue with Ataru-sama anytime in the near future. Tendō Nabiki is still in the brig per your orders; she's been demanding a lawyer come up immediately to defend her." A giggle escaped her. "She doesn't realize that she has no friends up here now and that Kanami-san is going to send her back home in bandages."
"Indeed, Roberta-san had it right about her. A would-be yakuza who cares nought for anything save herself, not even her family. Her younger sister is about to forever lose her iinazuke, her older sister has been emotionally beaten down to the point where she couldn't operate as anything other than a mere meek housewife for the rest of her life and the father is nothing more than a craven coward chasing a false dream. Never mind the thief and his lying wife..." Yonaga shook her head. "If Kanami-san requests the right to seek personal vengeance on that woman, please make sure it's done by the Shrine. If she desires witnesses, she can have them. I'm sure Momoe-san would be pleased to watch such a happening."
Hinano giggled before she sobered. "Is it going too far, Yoiko-sama?"
Yonaga's eyebrow arched. "For those who say they follow the samurai way, they have forgotten far too much, Hinano-chan," she stated. "From what I learned from Negako-sama, Kanami-san has hideously suffered from the moment of her 'birth'. Her karma was damaged the instant she was made to live a separate life thanks to that incense burner that troll Happōsai stole from the Joketsuzoku. Hai, she'll have her vengeance when her 'brother' dies thanks to her father's defiance of the power of Jusenkyō, but the others who cast her aside like a scrap of paper have not been properly taken to task for their abandonment of her. By punishing the would-be yakuza in such a way she'll never recover from, the hub of whatever information network the others of this 'wrecking crew' used over the last year will be shattered. Any attempt by the girl's foolish father to seek vengeance will see HIM done away with; you know Tennō's wishes on matters concerning those who become our special boatswain's mates. If indeed the Tendō, the Saotome and the Kunō wish to be seen as samurai, they will be held up to samurai standards. The people of Nerima have long suffered enough for all their selfish foolishness."
The bioroid nodded...
...before she perked as her empathy picked up two people approaching via the elevator. "Your sisters are here."
The rear doors to the bridge swooped open, revealing a smiling Yamato and a calm Musashi. "Please excuse us, Hinano-san," the elder of the battleships then asked. "We need to speak to Onē-sama on private matters."
"Of course, Thoughtmistress-prime Yasuko. Excuse me, please."
With that, Hinano stepped off the bridge through a side door. Once they were alone, Yamato placed a covered plate of food on the table before the captain's chair. "I hope you can eat this at least, Onē-sama," she then said as she and her sister moved to sit in nearby chairs. "Even if you are 'nuclear powered' thanks to all that mesonium in your body from the deposits in Sano-wan, you still need to replenish yourself. Cold fish and seaweed doesn't sound filling to us."
"Something Dakota-san must have told you about," Yonaga noted as she took the cover off the beautiful Kōbe steak with mixed vegetables and fluffy rice. As she tried not to make a face at the intensive smells from the food, she sipped her tea.
Yamato gaped. "How on Earth...?" She then caught herself before giggling. "Naomi-san, I believe."
"Amazing that she was America's first shipgirl," Musashi noted. "Indeed, Lassiter-daitōryō was wise to keep her existence secret. Even if she is the 'crazy one' who makes the Abyssals RUN wherever she sails, her attitudes..."
"Understandable, Mutsuko. That war in Vietnam was the most ill-run conflict in history, save for what the foolish Soviets unleashed in Afghanistan." Here, Yonaga took a small bite of the beef. "Damn! So rich...!"
"Please, Onē-sama! Take it...eh?!"
Yonaga and Musashi perked at Yamato's surprised cry, then all turned to port as their radar picked up something...
...before the outer-space version of an Agano-class light cruiser move to assume formation to THU Yonaga's port, maintaining a kilometre's distance from the outer edge of the space carrier's angled flight deck. The hull number 50 was written on the sides of her bow in the modern Self-Defence Force standard. Seeing that — the cruiser was angled in such a way that her stern couldn't be seen — Yonaga hummed as she considered that before she smirked. "Yaeko-san, I believe."
«Permission to come aboard, Captain?» a voice called out in the shipgirls' minds.
"Granted, Commander," Yonaga called out.
A materializer beam then allowed the third of the Agano-class light cruisers to appear on the bridge close to the navigation officer's station. Once she was fully aboard, Yahagi snapped to attention, saluting her dear friend's long-missing sister. "Captain Itō," she formally began. "Lieutenant Commander Ōkawa Yaeko reporting with Tennō Heika Uchūkan Yahagi to serve as primary escort for Tennō Heika Uchūkan Yonaga and Tennō Heika Uchūkan Taihō in the current operation."
"So ordered by Teitoku?"
"Hai, Captain."
"Very well, Yaeko-san. At ease."
The cruiser nodded before she moved to sit beside Yamato. Noting how similarly the two were dressed, Yonaga could only shake her head at the sense of humour the Kami clearly had when it came to allowing her sister and her old companion from Operation: Ten-gō to come back dressed as they did. The carrier knew it was that young arahitogami now living in Onomichi near Hiroshima, Hitotsubashi Yurie, who had brought her eldest battleship sister back as a kanmusu in the late fall of 2011 after Blood Week, when Yamato's living spirit called out from her shattered wreck 100 kilometres west-northwest of Gaja-shima in the Ryūkyū Islands to get the chance to spiritually return to her birthplace at Kure. That Yamato had been strong enough to fight the understandable Abyssal retaliation for "losing" such a prized ship spirit enhanced her karma admirably — in the Battle of Onomichi, Yurie had also been able to call back the spirits of Yahagi as well as destroyers Isokaze, Hamakaze, Asashimo and Kasumi to help Yamato in successfully repelling the sea yōma — even if the raging hunger that overcame Japan's first super-battleship in the wake of that fight made her deploying overseas questionable until more supplies could pour in from Canada, Russia, Korea and America to make sending Yamato and later Musashi out more economical.
It was no wonder that the battleship also known as Itō Yasuko eventually became such an incredibly good chef.
"Still having trouble eating?" Yahagi wondered.
Yamato smirked. It didn't surprise her that the light cruiser equivalent of the "Tin Can Mafia" information network picked up on that so easily. "Fortunately, the Ryūseizen were able to help Onē-sama eat some normal foods, Yaeko-chan."
Yahagi considered that before she blinked. "Was it her, Yoiko-san?"
Yonaga's eyebrow arched, then she smiled. "Yes, it was her, Yaeko-san." She raised a finger in warning. "I cannot speak her name, though. Tennō ordered me to silence. However, if Fate does give the chance, do take advantage of it."
Here, she glanced down in the direction of the area of Hiroshima. Yamato and Musashi were quick to note that...
The ship's wardroom, that moment...
"Doesn't it sicken you, Kaeru-kun?"
The man now known on the planet Nagussa as Kaeru ryi'Kouhae-Raikue blinked on hearing that pained question from Gekasawa Kumiko, then he sipped the simple tea that had been prepared for him by one of the bioroid culinary staff aboard THU Yonaga. "Were they not acknowledged as having done criminal acts against Ataru in support of my genetic mother's drive to seek wealth she was not entitled to, all because of Ataru's emotional immaturity and legal status?"
Many of the girls now seated close to the adopted son of two of Nagussa's leaders blinked as they interpreted his wordy phrase, then they nodded. "Hai, they were!" Marubeya Momoe noted. "And I can understand why the Metropolitan Police permitted Yonaga-sama to do what she ultimately did." She paused as her stomach churned as the memories of Moroboshi Ataru skinning alive his maternal uncle Yamaguchi Keisuke before beheading him with a straight blow by his granduncle's shinobigatana played once more before her mind's eye. While she had thrown up her breakfast after that happened — which hadn't bothered Yonaga at all; no doubt, the long-missing seventh carrier of Operation Z had expected such reactions from those students, knowing they had been relatively sheltered from the horrors of the Abyssal War — she had been given some special medication from the starship's staff of healers which would keep the nightmares suppressed and her stomach calm.
Then again, given that it was Yonaga's sister who cooked lunch...!
"What do you mean, Momoe-chan?" Sugihara Nara then asked.
"Could you imagine the SCANDAL that would have broken out if this all went to trial, Nara-chan?" Momoe asked. "The police don't need that sort of thing. It wouldn't be contained in Tomobiki like if it had happened weeks ago, before that whole time loop started for Kaeru-kun's brother. Given how much people outside town see Ataru-kun as a MULTIPLE TIME saviour of ALL HUMANITY, the idea of his own UNCLE stealing HIS INHERITANCE — when it was expressly FORBIDDEN in his late grandmother's will for his parents to touch a single yen of that! — would have a LYNCH MOB on the bastard and his friends as soon as they were brought out in public! Never mind how the Mafia — which Roma-sama is affiliated to — would react to it!"
"The Mafia?!" Kumiko demanded.
"Momoe is correct, Kumiko."
Eyes locked on Kaeru, who had been busy gazing at the stars around his birth planet. "My future sister-in-law — when she was still a warship — had blood and affiliated members of the Vongola Family serving on her when she was sunk," the adopted Nagussan engineer reported. As the girls shuddered on remembering Sawada Tsunayoshi and his friends — especially Hibari Kyōya — from their meeting the people of Namimori on NSI Roma on Monday, he added, "They are masters of a form of metahuman power known as 'dying will flames'. Such a power allows one to manipulate one's life energy to create many effects, similar to what Yizibajohei are capable of doing." As the girls gaped, Kaeru raised a finger in caution. "They do, however, acknowledge a law of secrecy concerning the existence of that power. Please keep that information to yourself."
"We've already got an exception to the Statute of Secrecy when it comes to magicals, Kaeru-kun," Momoe noted. "I doubt any information about metahuman mafia would make people in Tomobiki blink." She sighed. "Not like what your brother did."
The others nodded. "Once people learn that Yonaga-sama will allow that sort of thing — especially when it comes to anyone Ataru-kun might want to go after to get vengeance over what was done to him over the last year — people will back off right there," Nishihara Ikue noted as she leaned her head on the palm of her hand. "Except for morons like Megane, of course."
"Not that they will be missed much," Kumiko noted.
The girls laughed. As soon as they were moved to the wardroom to recover from the scene near the Shrine of Infinite Salvation, Aisuru Satoshi began to rant and rave about finding a way to bring Redet Lum back to Earth in hopes of getting the "one proven way" to control Ataru back in range to keep him "suppressed". After the Avalonians bashed the Stormtroopers down — given that the bioroids had many reasons to loathe their old masters' "goddess", they didn't care one bit about the woman's loyal fans living in Tomobiki — the third of the Littorio-class battleships warned the leader of the Stormtroopers that she looked forward to having Lum come back to Earth...so that Roma could KILL her "rival" for Ataru's hand in marriage and remove her presence from Existence forever. What was worse, there would be NOTHING that Lum's father Invader or her "most faithful" on Phentax Two could do to avenge the stupid girl; Roma had been happy to remind Megane and his friends of what happened on Monday afternoon when the battlewagon Repia was destroyed near the Ceres orbit line.
The idiots who screamed out against the battleship's plot to "hurt dear, sweet Lum-san" then got put in the brig.
"Pity Shinobu-chan didn't let it go," Momoe then mused.
The other girls gazed at her, then they all nodded...
Onishuto on Uru, the Onishuto Central Medical Facility, an hour later (local date and time: The First Day of the Fourth Month, nightfall)...
A wailing shriek escaped one room in the intensive care ward.
As the duty nurse flipped on noise-suppression fields to prevent people from hearing Moroboshi Kinshō screaming her guts out, Redet Invader could only take a breath as he shook his head. He just saw the "special news flash" transmitted by one Lieutenant Commander Fujimoto Ayako of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force — supposedly the living spirit of the old Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser Aoba made mortal flesh — sent through the Ceres observation post to Uru concerning what happened on the hangar deck of the namesake starship of the aircraft carrier his would-be son-in-law's paternal granduncle had served on concerning that boy's maternal uncle...and what Moroboshi Ataru had done to seek vengeance over the attempted THEFT of his own INHERITANCE that had been set aside for him by his late grandmother Nagaiwakai.
Maidens! No wonder Mister Groom rejects the whole idea of marrying Lum...!
"Why did we make a deal with that woman again, Husband?"
That was his wife Chim, who was in the bed next to his in a private suite in the intensive care ward. Both of them were swathed over half their bodies in healing bandages to remove the third-degree burns from their skin and underlying tissue. In addition to that, there were pressure dressings keeping their broken limbs set in place; Invader had both lower arms broken by a collapsing beam while Chim had her right thigh broken by another. Despite the fact that all the alien guests had been hurt to one extent or another when the wedding was to be held days before in the Onishuto Cathedral, no one had died. An odd "mercy" from the "king" of Noukiios' heavenly dragons, the ancient spiritual patron of the Dragonspeaker herself.
The woman who had effectively walked Ataru into the Battle of Morningstar Plain.
And guaranteed he would become a monster the likes of which NONE in the Galactic Federation could imagine him becoming.
Not to mention reveal his affiliation to the Maidens of the Eternal Voyager.
If what King Fuyu had told Invader when he visited after that meeting aboard USS Missouri was true...!
"I too regret it now, my wife," the large battlewagon captain said with a tired sigh as he laid back on his bed. "We let too many things get out of control when it came to our daughter. Not that we expected a lot of this...!"
"We shouldn't have allowed her to get away with that lie," his wife lamented. "Sooner or later, Ataru would have learned the truth. Given what is etched on the vambraces of his armour, he clearly disapproved when Hensō informed him of the laws."
Invader nodded, a surge of guilt ripping up his spine as the truth surrounding his second daughter by genetics raced through his mind. To believe he and the fathers of both Shigaten Benten and Oyuki had allowed that sweet-talking murderous sycophant Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh to get away with actually declaring that living bioroids were nothing more than mere gynoids like the human-like pleasure machines the Zeiwanites often used. While a part of him felt awe that Ataru had gone forth to help liberate the Avalonians from slavery like he did, the sheer scale of ANGER those poor women felt now scared him to death. And with their now accessing the technology of their creator race on lost Sagussa — which was THOUSANDS of years more advanced in many realms than what Uru possessed — and that they were willing within reason to share such with the Terrans would totally transform the local cluster in a way that would terrify a lot of galactic leaders.
Was the lad really ready to become the leader of the Maidens of the Voyager?!
To be the Chosen One...?
Oh, Lady Noa, why did you choose him of all people...?! He's a good lad despite his issues, but he's not ready for THAT...!
"Captain, you'll be amazingly surprised at what Ataru is capable of doing."
Both Invader and Chim gasped at that soft voice, then they turned...
...before both of them gaped in awed shock at the petite woman now standing at the foot of the captain's bed, dressed in a VERY familiar black-and-gold jumpsuit that displayed a considerable amount of cleavage framed by the phoenix-like symbol long accepted as the main sigil of the Maidens of the Eternal Voyager, the Great Birth Mothers of the Fifth Republic of Sagussa. "Lady Noa!" both of them cried out as they instantly bowed to this reincarnation of their world's greatest hero.
"Relax!" Aruka Noa called out before she perked as shocked cries echoed from the main floor as doctors and nurses all gaped at the sight of the reborn elder of the Maidens of Aruka now visiting their highest ranking local patients. "Relax!" Noa barked out again. "Lufy! Go into that room and shut that kimei'aidoei up, please! I'm sure the good healers here don't want to listen to that creature scream out at the fact that her son has finally caught onto her schemes!"
"En, Ashi'cha!" a rough voice with a powerful Yehisrite-Falcros cant to the tones echoed from the main reception area.
A couple seconds later, a muffled scream of pain escaped Kinshō's room. As the doctors and nurses flashed Noa grateful looks even if all of them were still staring in awe at her, she took a deep breath before she gave the Invaders an apologetic look as she sat down beside the captain's bed. "If we had only known what Kouhae and Raikue had discovered when they rescued Kaeru from death all those years ago." As Lum's parents perked — thanks to Aoba's video, they now knew of Ataru's twin brother — Noa added, "They were exploring the local cluster in the wake of the downfall of the Goa'uld to observe how the races around the 'Tau'ri' homeworld were recovering from what the System Lords did. They were in Japan when Kaeru had his accident. Their logic..." Here, an amused smile crossed her face. "Escaped them when they saw how much Kaeru was suffering. So they took him to a Majujjō elder close to Nagussa to have him healed, then moved to return him to Earth..."
She then thumbed in the direction of Kinshō's room. "They saw how much she was verbally abusing her surviving son, then assumed that Kaeru would get the same treatment," Chim concluded as she tried not to scream out in laughter.
"Exactly," Noa finished. "When they learned we had Ataru as our guests as his own emotions allowed us to fully develop our own a decade ago during his two months with us, they warned us about Ataru's parents. He himself lamented how much his mother always treated him badly." She took a deep breath. "But we, unlike our counterparts on Nagussa, weren't experienced enough to understand that this was child abuse Ataru was enduring, so we returned him home to await his reaching emotional maturity." A wry smile crossed her face. "In a strange sense, Thoughtmistress-prime Negako became more of a mother to Ataru than his birth mother. As you'll no doubt suspect, she is now Ataru's legal guardian, though he is on his way to becoming emancipated before reaching legal age in Japan. Given his experiences..." She sighed. "We all failed him to one extent or another. Lyna, it's a miracle he turned out so well and was willing to accept the Master's gift to help him control that anger..."
Lum's parents winced. The Noukiite ambassador to Uru had thoroughly briefed them on Morningstar Plain and the overt interest of old Sagussa's GOD OF DEATH when it came to their would-be son-in-law that allowed him to become the Cyborg and fight at the side of the Dragonspeaker during that brutal battle near the capital city of Okusei. They had also seen thanks to their THIRD genetic child the images of Ataru's fight against the Messina Princess on the previous year's Christmas Day, saving the living spirit of the Italian battleship Roma from dying thanks to a hideous bout of post-traumatic stress disorder by personally dismembering that creature with his bare hands, plus sinking her fleet in the Messina Straits with that eye-mounted ki powered pulse laser of his. Seeing the poor woman hold the lad for dear life, screaming and wailing as the memories of her sinking in 1943 rolled through her mind for an hour until her elder sisters came from Taranto to find out what happened...!
"It's a marei'cha bond, you mean," Invader observed.
"You know of that?" Noa wondered.
"Nassur told us," he admitted, earning him a delighted smile from the effective moral leader of the Daishi'cha. "You've met?"
"Shortly after the Thoughtmistress-prime was allowed to live her own life and Lady Tuyuki..." — Noa gave them apologetic looks as Lum's parents shivered on hearing THAT battle name — "...was allowed to live again, I led a delegation to Okusei to brief Ataru on the last decade's events on Sagussa. As you'll both know, the Hunter Commander was invited to Okusei by Chancellor Nakkyek to be briefed on what happened to Ataru. I actually meet Hunter-prime Cinba back when Lum had her accident with the Central Warp Chamber when she was four. It turns out she was teleported to the farm owned by Ataru's paternal uncle Komeru in Sendai. I was there at the time with the Hasei'cha — that's Lufy's ship — looking for a potential Daimon'cha candidate when we noted the warp signature, then I went down to investigate. Ataru had taken Lum under his protection while Komeru and his mother tried to figure out what to do with her. I arranged to take Lum to Cinba, who was in Tōkyō at the time meeting with members of the Special Committee based there. She was then returned to you, safe and sound." She then giggled as one particular memory of that incident came back. "Even then, she was calling Ataru 'Darling'."
"Did he tag her horns?!" Chim asked, the hope in her voice apparent.
Noa gazed at her, then she sighed. "Chim, much that I am very sympathetic to your desire to get your daughter away from this MADNESS that surrounds her here thanks mostly to her 'most faithful' and what people like Yethis and his ilk want to do to her if they get the chance, you know the laws. A child tagging the horns of another child is not seen as a marriage tag."
Lum's parents winced at that affirmation...then they blinked as Noa smiled at them. "Would you believe it was Tariko who may provide a solution to Lum's issues here...and in a way that even the moderates of the Round could accept?"
That made Invader and Chim perk. "What do you mean?" the latter asked.
Noa's dark amethyst eyes glittered in anticipation...
In a nearby room...
"Darling...Darling CAN'T be the Chosen One...he CAN'T...!"
Hearing their best friend continuously sob that statement after watching several recordings of what befell Moroboshi Ataru over the previous year, both Shigaten Benten and Oyuki could only shake their heads in sympathy at how much Redet Lum was suffering from the sheer supernova of revelations that had been dumped on her over the last couple of days after she regained consciousness from nearly being ROASTED ALIVE by a three millennia old spirit dragon from Noukiios. Given that Ataru was now fully aware of his power as the Chosen One of the Eternal Voyager — as he so readily demonstrated to Oyuki's father not a day before in that flag-of-truce meeting hosted by the Noukiites aboard that American star battleship then in orbit over Jupiter which had been attended by the famous President Josiah Bartlet — the chances of Lum ever trying to win Ataru away from the third of the Littorio-class battleships given human form were growing dimmer by the microsecond...
Never mind what the living spirit of the fifth of the Yamato-class was more than willing to allow her junior navigation officer's grandnephew to do when it came to seeking final revenge on those who had hurt him.
And given what now burned in the man's very SOUL...!
"All this was a fucking scam by that bitch Moroboshi calls a mother to get his inheritance from his grandma," Benten muttered as she tried not to twitch too much from the tingling feelings of the burned parts of her body. "Isn't that rich? No wonder Moroboshi went ballistic over that fucking dirty cop he called an uncle." She shook her head. "You saw how cool he was..."
Oyuki grimly nodded as she tried not to look ill. "Given he was in the heart of that battle on Okusei when this Master of Entropy gave him that 'gift', it doesn't surprise me in the end that he could be so emotionless when he tortured and killed that man." A wry smile crossed her face. "Amazing that man's co-conspirators refused to have Ataru stand as their second when they committed seppuku. I can't imagine the pain they went through when they cut themselves open like that."
"Trying to deny Moroboshi his final revenge, no doubt," Benten noted. "The folks in Japan are like Yehisrites in a way, Oyuki. Death don't scare them as much as it does other folk; it's an expected part of life. That kinda explains Moroboshi even when his brain was out to lunch thanks to this Negako being in his head all those years. He wanted just to live his life."
"Knowing it could end anytime and without any sort of warning," Oyuki finished, shaking her head. "Well, this 'promise' he was tricked into making when he was six was fulfilled in a way that allowed him to live his life as he would desire to live it. Fate was the only one responsible for bringing Lady Roma into his life when he destroyed that installation princess at Messina. While I'm sure Lord Nengmek'i hoped something like that would happen, I doubt he planned it personally."
"Nah! Dragons on Noukiios are always up in the clouds all the time. They see things way differently than normal folks like we do." Benten sighed as she laid back on her bed. "Did you know about these Abyssals, Oyuki?"
"Honestly, no," the crown princess of Neptune admitted. "Pukaze knew, though. She did report it to Father, but suggested that it be kept secret so as to not alarm the Federation as a whole. After all, the whole issue with those creatures could be seen as a metahuman revolution similar to the Dawn of Power." The whole room seemed to chill on her saying THAT phrase. "I'm sure the observers on Ceres were ordered by Rei's uncle to keep quiet on the issue until they were replaced at the order of Chancellor Nakkyek just after the Tag Race to blind everyone as to what was really going on Earth. Given how peaceful Earth seemed when Lum-cha went there to have the Tag Race with Ataru, it was an easy mistake to make."
"No problems with those monsters," Benten concluded. "I can guess why Ōgi kept quiet about that whole thing. If Lum got into trouble even with a little one like that Hoppō girl, he could have swept in to 'save' her..."
"Not realizing he was being cut off day after day thanks to Lady Negako and those of They Who Must Never Be Named on Earth acting to remove his observers from the planet," Oyuki finished with an amused grin. "I have to admit, Ataru's move to have that lunatic sent directly to Admiral Ninsur for trial and imprisonment during the Liberation was simply inspired."
"Still are a shitload of mindless dolts on that planet."
"But contained thanks to President Miree."
Benten considered that before she nodded. She now knew of the civil war in the Niphentaxian Union thanks to broadcasts from the Interplanetary News Network on Zeiwan over the last week catching the local cluster up on events in that system during and after the Liberation. The former chief priestess of the Church of Hollywood, Miree ot'ndai-Bohgar, was now consolidating her own anti-Church of Lum government on Phentax Fourteen, with the overwhelming majority of the natives of the Union in the colonies on her side. Only the homeworld itself remained in control of the "one true faith" under Ōgi's second-in-command, Fangi t'ndai-Marthon. While heads of state in the other worlds of the Galactic Federation were going to panic stations because of the total loss of the "Army of Lum" — the nickname of the Niphentaxian Defence Force while Ōgi served as president of the Union — during the Liberation nine months ago, the fact that the Avalonians had graciously allowed Miree's forces to retain nearly six hundred factory satellites to build a new space force...never mind the action of the Mistress of Time and Space, the Weaver, in literally closing off the Phentax system from outside intrusion, especially from Ipraedos...!
"Old man Schwartz would be disappointed now," the adopted daughter of the vice-commandant of the Fukunokami central government then cackled. "Did you see those new star destroyer designs those people came out with in the last six months?"
"Indeed, they are very nice. And quite unique, I should add!" Oyuki noted. "Amazing! It appears that Elder Ganzo was right all along. Enslaving the Avalonians did nothing for the Niphentaxians except make them totally forget the fact that they COULD create their own society on their own with the blending of all the knowledge they got from other worlds. All it needed was the right sort of push to get it done. Despite all the deaths in the Liberation, they came out of it quite well."
Benten nodded. "Guess it still does bother Moroboshi deep down. He just knows how to bottle it in these days..."
"Which is to his detriment."
Hearing that toneless woman's voice, both Oyuki and Benten paled as someone who looked like Ataru's own fraternal twin sister aged to about twenty Earth years stepped into the room. As they took in that black martial arts gi with the pleated umanori hakama trousers and the black belt drawn around her waist, the gold kanji 地 at the ends of the belt, Lum's head snapped up to let her stare directly at Moroboshi Negako. Total shock crossed the warlord daughter's face for a second before a look of cyclonic rage flooded her body, her whole body instantly sparking. "YOU...!" she shrieked as she elevated herself out of the bed while moving to focus all her bio-electricity at this monster that had hurt her husband so much.
Negako's eyebrow arched in amusement as she raised one hand, a ki field forming around it.
"Oh, SHIT...!" Benten gasped as the ki field literally leapt out of the ninjutsu grandmaster's hand to wrap around Lum.
The results were...predictable.
"Ittacha...!"
As the violently-twitching Lum — who just got electrocuted by her own lightning thanks to Negako's use of the Paranormal Power Inverse Fire-Bomb attack, which used one's ki to literally reflect any type of energy attack on its perpetrator — dropped back onto her hospital bed, the current Steward of the Moroboshi Clan moved to her side, then manipulated a couple points on top of Lum's head. "There," she then pronounced. "All your paranormal powers are disabled until you properly heal and learn proper self-discipline." As Oyuki and Benten both gasped on hearing that statement, Negako moved away. "Your reckless behaviour will get you killed if the circumstances are correct. Much that Ataru is angry at you for your lies and half-truths, Lum, he still sees you as a friend and does not wish to weep over your ashes in case your immaturity sees you killed."
"Oh, Onē-sama, stop that!"
Negako turned while Benten and Oyuki looked to see a female version of Ataru at his physical age step in, dressed in a turtleneck sweater and form-fitting jeans. As both the crown princess of Neptune and the Fukunokami biker-babe breathed out in relief on immediately sensing this was NOT Moroboshi Tariko, the newcomer then made her way to the foot of Lum's bed. "Much that Redet-san is a stubborn woman at times, she doesn't need to be treated so harshly," she added.
"Who are you?" Benten demanded.
The newcomer's eyebrow arched as if she was amused by something, then she whipped out a traditional war banner from nowhere, the word LOVE written in red on the white field. Seeing that and remembering what they had learned about Redet Danu, both Oyuki and Benten sighed. "You're Ataru's film-replica," the former then declared before she giggled. "I trust the gender reassignment isn't bothering you too much. How are the replicas of Shūtarō and Lum-chan's 'fans' adjusting?"
"They're adjusting quite well, Denka-sama," Moroboshi Hiromi stated with a polite bow of her head, surprising Oyuki at her not addressing the crown princess by name as Ataru had done. "I will convey your good wishes to them."
"Oi! Hiromi! You don't need to be that formal!" Benten protested.
"Shigaten-san, I realize that is your way. It is not MY way," Hiromi gently scolded as she glared at her in disapproval. "We have just met even if Danu-san obviously gave me a good character reference if you knew my name. In MY society, it's rude to address a stranger by given name, much less address a crown princess by name. You can't ask me to deviate from that, can you?" She gazed knowingly at the stunned Lum. "Would you not agree, Redet-san?" she then asked as her eyebrow arched.
Negako shook her head. "Such useless formalities..."
"Onē-sama!"
As Hiromi moved to berate her sister, Lum, Benten and Oyuki just stared at them, blinking in confusion...
The Invaders' room...
"What the hell was THAT?!"
Noa sighed. "It appears that one of the Thoughtmistress-prime's all too many quirks is making itself apparent," she noted.
"Noa!"
The Elder Mother of Sagussa winced. "Hai...?"
"Cease calling me 'thoughtmistress-prime'," Ataru's adopted sister coldly declared. "You know my feelings on that matter."
"Hai!" Noa trilled out...
...then she perked as shouts exploded from a nearby examination room, making her and Lum's parents perk in confusion. Standing, the chestnut-haired Seishin-turned-Sagussan minister without portfolio peeked out of the room to see several doctors and nurses working hard on one of the other guests who had been badly hurt at the Cathedral days before. Seeing the coquettish green-haired Oni woman Lum's age — who was far more than that as Noa could sense thanks to her empathy and her inner eye to the Te'a — standing there as the healers moved to save her father's life, the Elder Mother could only smirk as she glanced briefly at Negako, who now stood at the entrance of the shared recovery room holding Lum and her friends. Seeing the ninjutsu grandmaster's eyebrow arch slightly in a show of what was considerable amusement to the normally VERY reserved woman, Noa smirked as she reached to one of the metal cuffs of her jumpsuit, tapping a control to open a hatch there. Pulling out a small device, she placed it on the wall next to the doorway, then tapped it. Both of Lum's parents were quick to sense a faint surge of energy flood their room, which made them gaze in curiosity at their honoured guest.
"As you'll probably know, you're being monitored by Yethis' close allies in the Defence Intelligence Directorate," Noa quietly stated as she moved to sit down by Invader's bed. "That just disabled all the sensors put into this room."
"And they can't afford to make a show of walking in here to do an 'inspection' due to the guests from other planets such as Oyuki-cha and Kurama," Chim finished with an amused smile. Much that Seq Yethis was a distant cousin, Lum's mother was a Unionist through and through; to her, the Imperial Round had no place in Urusian society. "Who is that, by the way?"
"Skelad Slan," Noa answered. "As of now, he's brain-dead. His elder daughter Lara — or rather, the NEW version of your daughter's old kindergarten classmate — rendered him that a couple hours ago with a telepathic force bolt."
Lum's parents gaped. "She's one of you?" Invader asked.
"She's an Avalonian replica of her, with her soul derived from a Type 33G gynoid replica of hers built on special order by your daughter's friend Chara at the request of the original Skelad Lara. That was to ensure that Renning Uday's young daughters Shunran and Mayhan could be raised in peace and not be 'killed' for their being women by that monster that is their father."
"What happened to the real Lara?" Chim asked.
"Dead," Noa answered in a cold voice. "To make sure her replica worked perfectly, a mesonium memory-copying crystal was inserted into Lara's mind to ensure the replica could obtain real-time knowledge from the template. When Tariko discovered what was going on, she transformed the gynoid Lana into a bioroid. Doing that killed the original. Fortunately, Kasuga Ayumu — the current Infinity — was able to make the original disappear while the replica took her place, with no one the wiser."
The jaws of the physically older people dropped in shock. "Are the kids safe?" Invader then asked.
"Of course. And don't worry about General Uday, Captain; he's got something coming to him soon enough thanks to the replicas of the girls' mothers." At their confused looks, the elder mother smirked. "Created the same way."
"Damn...!" Invader then breathed out.
"So why are you so concerned about Slan?" Chim then asked. "Yes, he's an under-the-table supporter of Yethis and his friends in the Round, but Lara is pretty much her father's daughter..." Her voice then trailed off as it hit her.
Noa's blue eyes sparkled. "The original Lara was as much an Imperial radical as her father, Chim." She then winked. "I doubt the new Lara would want to force your daughter into that situation as she pursues her hand in marriage."
Both of Lum's parents gaped at their guest...
Near Rannoch in Scotland, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, an hour later (local time: An hour before breakfast)...
"Master Harry! Master Harry, wakes up!"
A moan escaped the young man in his bed within the freshman boy's dorm in the Gryffindor tower. "I'm up! I'm up...!" Harry Potter-Yamamoto moaned as he reached for his glasses and slipped them on, then he looked over to see the elderly chief house elf of the castle, Lizzy, standing beside his bed, a frustrated look on the poor creature's face. "What is it, Oba-san?" he asked as he sat up in bed while groans and murmurs escaped some of his dorm mates from all the noise.
Lizzy blushed a deep grey on being addressed as "aunt" by the Boy Who Lived. "Lizzy is sorry for disturbing Harry Potter's sleeping time, but there's a problem in the kitchens!" she hissed out. "Lady Shinano and Lady Izumi are here in kitchens now! They's be COOKING, Harry Potter! Both seems very upsets, not wantings to make their sister upsets! But Lizzy knows how much Great Lady Yamato and Lady Musashi loves their sisters! Why's Lady Shinano and Lady Izumi so upsets?!"
Harry blinked as both Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley got up, both confused and curious by the elderly elf's moaned words. "What's up, mate?" the latter then asked as Harry moved to get his housecoat on.
"Two of the shipgirls from back home are in the kitchens cooking up a storm, Ron. I think," Harry answered, making the other boys blink in surprise. "They're two of the Yamato-class shipgirls, Shinano and Izumi." He blinked again as something came to him before he stared once more at Lizzy. "Oba-san, is Shizuka-chan making pancakes?" he then asked.
"Yes! Lady Shinano is making LOTS of pancakes! Even gettings phoenixes to brings in nice cloudberries from Siberia! How does Lady Shinano know how to asks phoenixes to brings nice cloudberries so Lady Izumi can makes jam, Harry Potter?!"
Harry blinked. "I don't know...!"
Ron and Neville gazed with concern at him...
"Harry!"
All three boys turned as the others in the dorm were woken up by the shout of Ron's older brother Percy, who just charged into the room. "What is it, Percy?" the adopted son of Nagato then asked, noting the older teen's worried look.
Percy waved him to follow. "You have to see this."
Harry nodded, then raced off after him...
Five minutes later...
"THAT'S SO POI!"
As the muggleborns and normal-raised half-bloods all whooped and cheered at the sight of town-sized starship versions of the large Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano and the super-battleship Izumi floating serenely side-by-side over the Black Lake, Albus Dumbledore — who was doing his best to maintain some sort of composure at a surprising event like this — looked at the Boy Who Lived. "Um...I take it, Harry, that you have no idea what this is all about," the headmaster commented.
People quieted down as they gazed hopefully on Harry, who now had a grin that threatened to split his face in half. "Honestly, Professor, I had no idea that the Avalonians were doing THIS!" he said as he waved to THU Shinano, which was closer to the castle than her effective sistership. "They probably did this to give us a good-sized space fleet to stop the alien bakayaro from causing trouble here on Earth, like they did for Ataru-niichan all the time in Tomobiki. But...!" He shrugged.
"He has no idea why Lady Shinano and Lady Izumi are busy cooking up a storm inside the kitchens, Professor," Ron finished.
That made Dumbledore blink. "They're cooking breakfast?"
"Yes, Master-headmaster!" Lizzy said from beside the man who defeated Gellert Grindelwald on the summer solstice in 1945. "Makings lots and lots of pancakes! Nice pancakes, too! Lady Shinano bes teachings Lady Izumi how to makes good pancakes because they wants to feeds their sister! Somethings terrible happens to Lady Shinano's and Lady Izumi's sister that prevents her from eatings properly!" The elf began to cry. "Lizzy only hopes Great Lady Yamato and Lady Musashi are well! Couldn't nice goddess that brings Great Lady Yamato back to fights Evil Ones after Blood Week helps her eats?!"
Dumbledore smiled as he gave the elderly elf a knowing look. "Lizzy, I'm sure Lady Yurie would move the Heavens Themselves to help Commander Itō if she suffered such a horrible curse! We all know how much she cares for the commander!"
"But what if nasty stalebloods tries something evils against Great Lady Yamato?!"
As the staff and many students gaped on hearing that despised Canadian insult for traditional purebloods escape Lizzy's lips, the headmaster sighed. "Must remind the Foresters to not visit the castle all the time..." he quietly muttered.
"Bumblebee!"
Dumbledore perked, then he looked over. "Good morning, Vicky!"
Everyone turned, then many of the students gasped on seeing the traditionally-dressed one-armed first rate man-of-war in human form that was the spiritual grandmother of all of Britain's shipgirls, dressed as her beloved admiral had been when he was struck down on her main deck in the midst of the Battle of Trafalgar. Much to Ron's personal delight, a certain fast super-dreadnought veteran of the Battle of Jutland was accompanying Victory, walking on the new shoes that the youngest of the sons of Arthur Weasley had made for her even if she still used her cane. "Good morning, Professor, everyone," Warspite called out. "My, good thing these starships can put up a counter-detection cloak that prevents the Air Force from scanning them now in orbit over the lake here." She then smiled at Ron, winking at him, which earned him knowing looks from his brothers.
"The Avalonians created these ships, Aunt Charlene?" Harry asked to confirm his earlier statement, pointing at Shinano.
"Indeed they did, Harry," the second of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships affirmed with an embarrassed smile. "Much that we do appreciate their building them, that they're at a ten-to-one scale from us as warships is rather disconcerting!"
Ron perked on hearing that from his friend and frequent chess partner. "Ten-to-one scale...?" His eyes then wide. "Blimey! You were almost a furlong long when you were a warship, Charlene! That would be a TEN FURLONG ship!"
As the other magically-raised people gaped in shock at such a huge size for a FLYING SHIP, Warspite chuckled. "Indeed. Haven't had the chance to go aboard and try her out a bit." She then perked before looking south. "STAY UP THERE!"
"But Ashoi'cha...!" a tinny version of the dreadnought's voice echoed over the scene, making the magicals all look around.
"I said stay the bloody hell up there!" Warspite snapped. "Young Shizuka and young Izumi were cautious when they flew their namesakes down here for whatever bloody reason possessed them to upset everyone's day like that...!"
"Ashoi'cha, you may want to explain that to the Commanders Itō, much less Captain Itō," the artificial intelligence in control of Her Majesty's Starship Warspite gently cut her off. "As of now, Tennō Heika Uchūkan-tachi Yamato, Musashi and Yonaga are on close approach to airspace over Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. They have full counter-shields up to prevent ground radars from detecting them and are avoiding known travel corridors, but having FIVE starships so close to Hogwarts...!"
"What the bloody hell is that crazy samurai doing?!" Victory demanded as the magicals blinked, even if some of the muggleborns had looks of realization on their faces. "Last I heard over Shipgirl Central was that she had whisked away some mutinous constables out of Tomobiki when they tried to kill her junior pilot's grandnephew to get the poor lad's inheritance!"
"They were all made to commit seppuku for their treason to His Imperial Majesty, Commodore, with Patriarch Moroboshi killing his maternal uncle," came the response, which made many people wince. "However, when Captain Itō learned that her sisters had come charging to Hogwarts without even telling ANYONE what they planned, she moved to confront them..."
Materializer beams then echoed over the scene, making people look over...
...before they gaped as four tall women appeared in showers of energy, three of them quite recognizable to Harry Potter even if the MUCH taller one between Japan's first two super-battleships was a total mystery.
Until Lizzy gaped at her.
"SHE WHO SCARES THE DARK ONES?!"
As many of the magicals gasped on hearing that term, multiple pops! soon saw almost the whole of Hogwarts' house elves swarm around the seventh carrier of Operation Z, earning Yonaga a tonne of confused looks from everyone around her.
Harry blinked as he stared at the tall carrier. "Warship No. 797...?"
Ron gazed in confusion at him...
The Great Hall, two hours later...
Yonaga bowed her head. "Regent Lady Bones, I must sincerely apologize for my sisters' actions that caused such a disturbance here by bringing their starship namesakes to this ancient castle. They had no right to do such."
Amelia Bones chuckled as she returned that bow. "Please, Lady Yonaga, don't apologize. Your sisters did ask Chief Matron Lizzy to make use of the kitchens to create food that you could consume. They also cooked for everyone in the hall, even making enough seconds for everyone to enjoy Lady Shinano's pancakes. I must confess, that cloudberry jam topping Lady Izumi created was delicious." As many of the students seated at their house tables nodded in delight at that statement, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement smiled. "Given how much they were concerned about your being forced to be very picky when it comes to replenishing yourself — despite all the advantages that cove you were trapped in for so long in Siberia gave you and your late crew — I would swear that both your sisters are true Hufflepuffs in heart!"
"Hear! Hear!" Master Auror Constance Hammer, Bones' deputy for this emergency call to Hogwarts — so made by many people in Hogsmeade who were no doubt STILL gaping at the FIVE starships in formation over their village — chanted.
The other aurors — Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and Auror Trainee Nymphadora Tonks — nodded. As students from Hufflepuff cheered that and Pomona Sprout laughed while she applauded that call, Yonaga sighed. She had heard a lot about the many eccentricities of British wand-magicals from Chennalton and her sisters, so this didn't surprise her. While they accepted there was no ill-intent on the parts of Shinano and Izumi when they came here, things still had to be addressed.
"I thank you for your forbearance, Regent Lady Bones," the carrier stated. "However, given the disturbance that even I and my elder sisters helped cause this day which still upsets all those living in Hogsmeade as we speak, things need to be resolved. Excuse me," she stated before turning around, redefining the concept of "glare" at her sisters. "Lieutenants."
Both Shinano and Izumi braced to attention. "Hai!"
"In English!" Yonaga snapped.
"Yes, Captain!"
"Your actions, while accepted by our gracious hosts, still caused a massive disturbance in the schedules of all the people in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, not to mention these good people from Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic who were forced to come from their headquarters to investigate this incident. I'm sure the teachers will not be able to hold lessons today in the wake of what you two did. Therefore, you will properly APOLOGIZE to the students and the staff of Hogwarts AND the citizens of Hogsmeade AND these good law enforcement officials for causing such a disruption to their schedules. Understood?!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"That will be done by lunchtime today!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Yonaga nodded. "Since your elder sisters and myself can also be seen as guilty of causing this disruption, we too will also properly atone to everyone." As Shinano and Izumi both tensed, the carrier smirked. "Be calm, sisters," she scolded. "It does not require something as extreme as THAT. Do not let what happened at the Shrine of Infinite Salvation earlier guide your actions. You yourselves know how much Ataru-san needed that chance to seek justice for his mother's selfishness."
Both the younger Yamato-class shipgirls gulped before Shinano bowed her eyes. "It worries me, Onē-sama," she whispered. "I fear for both your karma and Ataru-san's karma. You don't know about what he was made to become on Okusei...!"
"I am aware of Keiseri's 'blessing', Shizuka-chan. Calm yourself."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"You know of the Cyborg, Oba-san?!"
That was a wide-eyed Harry Potter, who was looking in distress at the seventh carrier of Operation Z. "Shortly after I was transformed into what you see now, young admiral, I received the blessings of a being that once befriended Master Keiseri a hundred millennia ago," Yonaga stated as something seemed to shroud her with power that made the most sensitive of the magicals in the Great Hall all take a step back. "Much that his physical transformation repulses me, Ataru-san maintains a good head even when he is forced to don that armour as he did to save Roberta-san at Messina. You've seen what is emblazoned on his kote, have you not?" She pointed to the armoured strips under her hakama sleeves in emphasis.
Nagato's son nodded. "'Ai to Jijitsu'. 'Love and Fact', though it could also be said 'Love and Truth'. His statement against that oni bakayaro that nearly killed him a few times because she wanted to get away from that ushitora!"
Yonaga laughed as many of the magicals all gaped; a translation field set up by Albus Dumbledore in the Great Hall would allow them to understand the terms the people from Japan were using. "'Tiger-cow', Harry?" Draco Malfoy demanded.
"Oh, yeah, Drake!" Harry called back. "This guy looks even more handsome than that Gilderoy Lockhart guy who summoned Royal Sovereign back to duty...but believe me, man, this guy makes a TROLL like the one Hoppō-chan bopped on Hallowe'en seem SMART!" As people gaped in shock at him, Harry shook his head. "Even if Lum didn't want the jerk, he still kept chasing her, hurting Ataru-niichan all the time for 'stealing' her! I hope that dragon that crashed that wedding burned him poi!"
"Rest assured, young Harry, Negako-sama is now on Uru upbraiding that foolish girl and her friends for all their childish behaviour over the last year. We need not fear them again." Yonaga then sighed. "Oh, yes! I forgot..."
"I'll cook lunch for everyone today, Onē-sama," Yamato declared.
POP! Lizzy instantly appeared at the brown-haired super-battleship's feet. "Great Lady Yamato no does such things!" the elderly elf then scolded. "Much that Lizzy and castle elves understands why Lady Shinano and Lady Izumi wishes to makes sure that She Who Scares the Dark Ones is properly fed, cookings food is job for elves and not great sea spirits!"
Yonaga gave her a warning look. "Lizzy-dono, Yurie-sama is coming here."
Lizzy moved to object...before her eyes went as wide as the bore of the battleship's main guns. "GREAT LADY YURIE COMES HERE?!" she shrieked out. "WE MUST CLEANS CASTLE BEFORE SHE COMES!" POP!
As Dumbledore's jaw dropped, Musashi gazed at her sister. "How did you learn of what Yurie-sama is doing, Onē-san?"
Yamato blinked as her eyes teared. "His time is approaching, Mutsuko-chan..."
The other battleship's eyes went wide before she hissed. "I grieve with you!" she said as she squeezed Yamato's shoulder.
As Enterprise came over to warmly embrace her lover while Yamato tried not to break down and weep, Dumbledore sighed as many of the people in the hall bowed their heads on realizing what was going on and what was about to happen. As Rubeus Hagrid sobbed at the realization that such a wonderful person like Yamato was losing a friend like that, the headmaster straightened himself. "I join your sister in expressing my condolences, Commander Itō. I'm told that..." Here, he paused as he considered what to say, then he smiled. "The living spirit of the battleship that was there for your crew that awful day in 1945 is now in Onomichi as we speak." As Bones sent him a worried look, the headmaster gazed at Yonaga. "Much that I am technically breaking an edict of the Ministry of Magic for actually speaking of them to your sisters, as the Supreme Mugwump of the Confederation, I am also aware of a Magical Imperial Rescript issued in 1937 by your Heavenly Sovereign's late father that is STILL IN EFFECT, Captain. Given how much the deeds of the magicals who served in the First Canadian Battleship Squadron and the Australia and New Zealand Battleship Squadron have so marked those of you who were sunk in those horrible world wars, it is unjustly cruel in my eyes to keep you all in the dark about them when you already know so much."
Yamato gasped. "Kōchō-sensei! I don't want to cause trouble...!"
His eyes twinkled. "Let it be on MY head, Yasuko."
She blinked, then she perked as Yonaga asked, "This decree, Chief Warlock. Was it approved by Her Majesty?"
Dumbledore hummed, then shook his head. "Actually, no, I don't believe so."
"Then how, may I ask, can it be truthfully enforced legally?" the carrier asked as she spread her arms. "Previous holders of the office of Her Majesty's Minister for Magic always allowed those who could be trusted with the secret of those ships and their mission to protect all from the sea kaijū they were built to hunt in the normal world to know of them, right from Lord Jellicoe and Lord Beatty at Jutland...or 'Second Dogger Bank' as my friends from Canada and their crews always call it."
"Admiral Jellicoe and Admiral Beatty KNEW?!" Warspite demanded.
"Hai, Charlene-san. They were in constant communication with Admiral William Harlan, then in command of the First Canadian Battleship Squadron. Admiral Harlan was also in communication with Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper."
Victory blinked. "Any relation to Rear Admiral Drake Harlan, Captain?"
"The younger Admiral Harlan is the elder's great-grandson, Commodore Nelson. He's a nimmib."
The two British shipgirls blinked, then Victory laughed. "That explains how fast the Canadians were in doing the summons of their fleet almost right after young Anne and her sisters saved Tōkyō at the end of Blood Week!"
"Since the ritual was based on something Master Hosan created, they had access to Dean Raeburn's records in Clayhurst," Dumbledore stated, earning him nods from the others. "Well, since Chennalton is obviously coming with Mister Gen..."
"Is that her name?"
Eyes locked on Yamato, who looked ready to break down and cry. Yonaga's hand then squeezed her sister's shoulder. "Patricia Chennalton," the carrier stated as the older super-battleship gazed at her. "That is the one, Yasuko."
Yamato blinked before she slowly nodded, tears flowing down her cheek while Enterprise hugged her.
"I know her name now, Yvonne..."
She then smiled as Harry came over to add his hug. Seeing this, others in the hall nodded in sympathy...
Aboard Tennō Heika Uchūkan Yamato in hover-orbit over the Black Lake, lunchtime...
"I still fear this will reflect badly on you, Albus."
Albus Dumbledore smiled as he watched HMS Warspite move to slip alongside the port beam of the Japanese star battleship on whose quarterdeck behind Turret #3 most of everyone from Hogwarts now stood on. "It may, Minerva, but given the times our friends from Canada have been forced to remind people in our ministry about the laws of the land, I think this is necessary. Besides, you've heard how much shipgirls have spoken of Erin and her friends. It could distract them from their duties."
Minerva McGonagall took that in before sighing. "I pray you're right..."
A boatswain's call then shrilled the still as a laser gangway connected the quarterdecks of the two starships. The collected students of Hogwarts all then stiffened on seeing the elderly gentleman in the uniform of an admiral of the fleet in the Royal Navy step across from Warspite to board Yamato. Following him was Warspite the shipgirl, now dressed as a full commander in the Royal Navy even if she still walked on her cane and wore her special shoes. People quieted down as Yamato the shipgirl formally received the Prince of Wales while his banner for Scotland was raised on one of the larger starship's foremast lines.
"A delight to see you again, Commander Itō," the heir to the British throne declared.
Yamato formally bowed. She was in her dress uniform as a commander in the Maritime Self-Defence Force, with her lover at her side in her dress uniform as a commander in the United States Navy. "An honour, Denka-sama! Welcome aboard the Yamato." She then giggled. "I trust it wasn't too difficult to come here," she then calmly stated.
"Materializers do make it very easy," the man who was also known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland noted as he exchanged looks with a giggling Warspite. "I can't express my sympathies enough at your pending loss."
A faint smile crossed her face. "It's his time, Denka-sama. He's lived his life and wants to be with his shipmates again. I'm so glad Patricia-sensei is willing to help out as her crew did my crew and my friends' crews in 1945."
The visiting royal looked around her to see the bright and eager faces of the one light cruiser and the eight destroyers who had accompanied Yamato on her last mission to Okinawa. Of course, their starship namesakes were now in a protective formation around the star battleship, with THU Yahagi ahead of Yamato; there was enough room on the latter's starboard side to allow HMCS Chennalton to pull alongside with her most honoured guests. "You girls excited?!" he called out.
The destroyers all cheered. "We wouldn't miss this for the world, Teitoku!" Yukikaze eagerly called out.
"Yukiko-chan!" Yamato squawked.
The Prince of Wales laughed. "That's enough, Yasuko! Little Yukiko's entitled to feel happy today, so she's entitled to her mistakes! As with the rest of you as well!" he called out to Yahagi and the other destroyers.
"HAI, TEITOKU!" they all chanted as they saluted him.
As many of the students from Hogwarts cheered in echo of such enthusiasm, a voice called out over the ship's loudspeaker system, "Thoughtmistress-prime, the Chennalton is now on approach to come alongside, astern to starboard."
Everyone immediately turned to look...
"Sugoi!" Fuyutsuki breathed out.
"The stupid kaijū were dumb to try to fight THAT!" Hatsushimo noted.
"And all the others, too!" Suzutsuki added.
Watching the starship version of the longest of Canada's magical battleships, Yamato tried not to shudder as her breath caught in her throat while such a gorgeous ship slowly came up alongside her namesake's hull. Shaped like a mixture of a Littorio-class and an Iowa-class in hull and superstructure, Her Majesty's Canadian Starship Chennalton — and her surface warship namesake, Yamato knew — was a twin-funnel giant that seemed to project both power and speed from every hull plate. With four gunhouses in the standard two-forward/two-aft arrangement of most modern battleships, each gunhouse bearing FOUR of the same model of naval rifle design New Jersey and her sisters possessed, the Canadian battleship had the heaviest broadside of any capital warship in history, outranking a Yamato-class' full weight by fifty percent. Yet despite the black hull with the white 49 under the bridge and her upperworks done in a dark haze grey similar to how American warships were coloured, the sight of that red maple leaf on the second funnel and the beautiful Canadian White Ensign now flying from the mainmast made Yamato stiffen as new resolve filled her body and hull. No! She would NEVER disgrace herself, not before THIS one! Knowing half of her "dead" had been saved by Chennalton's crew during Operation: Ten-gō...
"This is the first time this is being done in 'public', Yasuko. Do well."
Hearing Yonaga's words, Yamato nodded. "I am Yamato, Onē-sama. I need no reminders."
The carrier curtly nodded as Enterprise squeezed her lover's hand. "Good."
"KA-...MI-...CHU!"
Hearing the voice of the human goddess who now stood on Chennalton's quarterdeck echo over the scene — she dressed in the beautiful robes of her station as Onomichi-no-Yurie — everyone braced themselves as a titanic wave of energy flared from the Canadian starship to encompass all the surrounding starships in an aura of beautiful energy. As people turned to look, they then gasped on seeing the virtual SEA of kami now on Chennalton's quarterdeck. "Oh, Merlin!" McGonagall gasped while many of the Hogwarts students hissed and whispered to each other. "Are those ALL the spirits that haunt Onomichi?!"
"Indeed they are, Minerva," Dumbledore breathed out.
"If those who still think they can bring Japan down ever saw THAT...!" Severus Snape dryly observed.
"You're right about that, Severus," Hagrid mused.
"Ah! Yasuko-san! Yvonne-san! Yaeko-san! Minna!"
Everyone looked...
...then the Japanese shipgirls save Yonaga whooped as a laughing arahitogami came across the laser gangway connection the two starships. As soon as she stepped onto Yamato, Hitotsubashi Yurie ran over to embrace the the starship's shipgirl namesake. "Yasuko-san!" she called out as all the destroyers screamed in delight at the two old friends reuniting.
"TO YURIE-SAMA! BANZAI!" Yukikaze screamed out.
"BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!" the other destroyers chanted at the proper cadence.
Yurie blushed madly at that salute while the crowd on the quarterdeck applauded. She then took a deep breath as she gazed on Yamato. "He almost left us just as we were coming here, Yasuko-san," she quietly reported. "Patricia-sensei put him into stasis so he can live long enough to come here, but he won't be able to stay here much longer once the stasis is removed."
As Yahagi and the destroyers all gasped on hearing that, Yamato nodded before she gazed on the dark-haired woman in the formal mess dress waiting at the other end of the gangway. "Captain Chennalton! Please bring Chief Gen aboard!"
"Aye-aye, Commander Itō!"
Everyone tensed as a floating gurney came across from Chennalton in the wake of her shipgirl namesake, it bearing the still form of an elderly man in his nineties, his breathing very slow even if there was still colour on that weather-beaten face. Escorting Chief Petty Officer Gen Kiyonobu on both sides were Yurie's friends Saegusa Matsuri and Shijō Mitsue in proper shrine miko uniforms, with Matsuri's sister Miko and Yurie's boyfriend Ninomiya Kenji following, they escorted by Yashima, the older guardian kami of Onomichi. Behind them were eight people in the uniforms of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets: One petty officer 1st class in command of the detail, one master seaman with a bugle, one master seaman carrying a rolled flag and five junior cadets. Other kami, yōkai and yūrei who had come from Japan to be there when Gen rejoined his old shipmates floated across the small gap between the two star battleships, making many of the British magicals gape at such a display.
Once at the edge before stepping aboard, Chennalton paused to salute the Kyokujitsu-ki flying off the ensign staff. She then exchanged salutes with Yamato. "Permission to come aboard, Commander?" the former asked.
"Permission granted, Captain," the latter answered.
Chennalton stepped aboard, then moved aside as the gurney was floated over onto the Japanese starship. Seeing the light smile on her old crewman's face as the detail of Sea Cadets saluted while they came aboard, Yamato could only beam even if her eyes were misty with tears. She then looked a question at the Canadian battleship. "Once the stasis is removed, you'll have about three minutes, Yasuko," Chennalton then warned. "He wants to see his friends again."
"Arigatō, Patricia-sensei," Yamato said with a bow of her head. "Please place him at the middle of the quarterdeck."
"Aye-aye, Commander!" the cadet petty officer said with a salute. "Detail, form escort party!" she then barked out.
The other cadets fell into place, with the bugler up front. The petty officer then ordered the party to slow-march the gurney to a point right under the central muzzle of the aft main turret, with Yamato, her sisters and her lovers following. Everyone watching this fell silent as the cadets marked time while they shuffled into place, then the bugler called, "Detail...HALT!" As the other cadets stopped, she then barked for everyone to turn inwards to face the dying veteran of World War Two.
Once that was done, the master seaman with the flag allowed his wand to fall into his free hand, then he twirled it to let the colours unfold, revealing a beautiful Kyokujitsu-ki. The other cadets used their wands to allow the flag to be properly tucked under the gurney, keeping Gen's face uncovered. Watching this, Harry Potter gaped in shock. "They're...?"
Hermione Granger shushed him. "Students from the Institute of Sorcery and Magic," the dentist's daughter from Crawley near London whispered. "There are Sea Cadet corps named after all the ships of the First Squadron based there."
Harry took that in, then he nodded as the petty officer ordered the detail to step three paces back from the gurney. She then saluted Yamato. Once that was done, Chennalton made a motion with her hand, allowing Gen to gasp as his eyes fluttered open. As people hushed in silence while many from Hogwarts instantly stiffened as they sensed what was about to happen, the old engineer's eyes focused on the beautiful arahitogami born from the living spirit of his beloved ship. A smile that showed he was fully at peace then crossed his face. "Yasuko-san..." he breathed out even if his heart was now stopping.
Yamato came over to kneel to his right, with Enterprise behind her. "I'm here, Kiyonobu-san..."
"Yes..." he said with a sigh, then he looked at the Canadian battleship standing at his feet. "Patricia-san..." he slowly whispered. "So nice...both of you...are finally together..." He gazed on Enterprise. "Yvonne-san...you're here, too..."
The American carrier nodded. "I could never stay away, Chief."
He faintly nodded. "Is...Yoiko-san here...?"
Yonaga walked over to stand opposite her sister. "I am here, Kiyonobu-san. Don't fight it anymore. Your friends are waiting."
Gen blinked, then he smiled as he finally saw the many who had served and died on THG Yamato in decades past appear before his vision. As all of the kami seeing this bowed their heads in respect, his eyes then closed forever.
"Still...the most beautiful..."
Silence then fell. Yamato blinked as Enterprise squeezed her shoulders in support, then she smiled as she reached over to pull the flag over Gen's contently smiling face. As quiet sobs escaped some of the normal people from Onomichi at the final passing of such a wonderful man, Chennalton nodded to the bugler. Enterprise and Musashi helped Yamato return to attention. "Sound the Last Post, Master Seaman!" the Canadian battleship called out in a clear voice.
"Aye, ma'am!" he said before placing the instrument to his lips.
Everyone drew off their headgear before the solemn tones of the famous salute for fallen comrades echoed all over Hogwarts. Unseen by those now on Yamato's deck, creatures in the Forbidden Forest and the people in Hogsmeade all stopped to gaze up at the Japanese star battleship, they all sensing what was happening even if most did not understand the exact reasons such a sad song was being played. As the ensigns on all starships were lowered to half-staff, everyone remained silent even if some of the people from Hogwarts were tempted to raise their wands in proper salute to the dead, even if they didn't know who he really was save being an elderly friend of the beautiful teenage goddess now standing next to Chennalton.
Once the last notes died away, Chennalton's voice echoed over the scene:
They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the Sun
And in the morning,
We will remember them...
Everyone tensed as the ghostly images of Yamato's lost crew appeared briefly among them...including a smiling Gen Kiyonobu, now looking as young as the day he first stepped aboard the world's first normal super-battleship. Gazing on all those who still lived and those kami and others who had been there for their just-returned shipmate, the crew then stood to attention, turning and saluting the living. As many girls from Hogwarts began to sob at such a sight, Yonaga spoke up:
As the stars that shall be bright
When we are dust,
Moving in marches
Upon the Heavenly Plain;
As the stars that are starry
In the time of our darkness,
To the end,
To the end,
They remain...
To Be Continued...
WRITER'S NOTES
Translation list: dataPADD — Data Personal Archival Display Device; Daitōryō — President (of a nation-state); ryi'Kouhae-Raikue — Literally "Child of Kouhae and Raikue"; Kimei'aidoei — Literally "fucking half-life", this is the lowest insult one can use on Sagussa; En — Yes; Ashi'cha — Elder Mother; Marei'cha — Literally "the one with whom one raises a child", this is the equivalent of a spouse in a married family on Sagussa; Te'a — Literally "That Which Is Above mortal understanding", a metaphysical; energy field permeating all that exists which is similar in concept to the Force in Star Wars; -tachi — The Japanese equivalent of the plural "s" ending in English; Kote — A warrior's vambrace (forearm guard armour); Kōchō-sensei — Principal/Headmaster of a school; Nimmib — A phonetic reading of NMMB ("non-magical magic-born"), the Canadian "politically correct" term for a squib; Denka — Honorific used for a prince or princess; Kyokujitsu-ki — The "rising sun" war flag of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Maritime Self-Defence Force.
The concept of Masatada Hinano was first introduced in my first Seventh Carrier story, The Angels of the Era of Eternity.
Urusei Yatsura and related stories' minor character notes:
Ōgi ot'ndai-Zkuhsbagh first appeared in The Senior Year story "What Price For Love?" This is also the story where Fangi t'ndai-Marthon first appeared.
Aruka Noa (based on the character Izumi Noa from Patlabor) first appeared in the TSY story "Tag Race Mark Three"; her name is introduced in "Spirit-War Tomobiki". The incident where Moroboshi Ataru and Redet Lum first encountered Sagussa's elder mother was shown in "Noa".
Lufy Wellington (based on the character Lufy from Gall Force) first appeared in "Spirit-War Tomobiki".
Kouhae and Raikue first appeared in the TSY story "My Darlings United". This story is also where the Majujjō were first mentioned.
Nassur and Cinba first appeared in the TSY story "Return of Memory". Nassur's father Ninsur was first mentioned in "Nassur's Story".
Miree ot'ndai-Bohgar first appeared in Lonely Souls.
Skelad Lara and her father Skelad Slan first appeared in the TSY story "Towards the Unstoppable Future".
Chara of Kutzei first appeared in the TSY story "Darling's Other Girlfriend".
The issue concerning HMS Royal Sovereign (Stefánija Lévchenko) and her being summoned by Gilderoy Lockhart was first written about in Harry Leferts' Harry Potter and the Shipgirls snippet collection at SpaceBattles. The specific short where the lead of her class of battleships was summoned was the second one written by AkumaOuja.
Gen Kiyonobu (his given name is my invention) first appeared in the ninth episode of Kamichu!, "Crossing the River of Time".
The poem For the Fallen, whose stanzas are read at the end of this part by HMCS Chennalton (Patricia Chennalton) and THG Yonaga (Itō Yoiko), is best known today as the Ode of Remembrance. Used during ceremonies marking Remembrance Day (11 November) in the nations of the Commonwealth (not to mention Anzac Day [25 April] in Australia and New Zealand), the third stanza (the part Chennalton speaks) is always spoken out either before or after The Last Post is played to herald a minute's silence in honour of the dead of the World Wars. The stanza Yonaga reads at the end is the final part of the poem.
The human names of shipgirls introduced or mentioned in this part:
JAPAN
(ship prefix THG [Tennō Heika Gunkan] ["Warship of His Majesty the Heavenly Sovereign"])
THG Yahagi — Ōkawa Yaeko
THG Isokaze — Yuhara Izumi
THG Hamakaze — Yuhara Hama
THG Asashimo — Kumasaka Asami
THG Kasumi — Akatsuka Kasumi
THG Yukikaze — Yuhara Yukiko
THG Fuyutsuki — Fukuyama Furui
THG Suzutsuki — Akiyama Suzumi
THG Hatsushimo — Haruguchi Hatsuyo
UNITED KINGDOM
(ship prefix HMS [Her Majesty's Ship])
HMS Victory — Catharine Ann "Vicky" Nelson
HMS Warspite — Charlene Victoria Boleyn
HMS Royal Sovereign — Stefánija Gordéjovna Lévchenko
UNITED STATES
(ship prefix USS [United States Ship])
USS South Dakota — Dakota Leigh Gatch