Fusō

It had been two months since Westaria had delivered their ultimatum. Since that day, the entire navy was slowly being moved to Tokyo.

However, there was one imperial fleet that disobeyed the order to come back. 

Instead, it stayed in Eastasia, damaging their fleet and repair facilities, ensuring that they would no longer be a threat.

Having completed this, the fleet went back to Tokyo, ready to fight the Westarians. This fleet was known as the ‘Iron Fleet’, and was centred around a number of large battleships.

Its commander, Fusō, was contemplating a war with Westaria.

She was sitting on top of her superstructure, her primary radar system spinning above her head. From where she sat, she could see her entire fleet: nine battleships, four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and fourteen destroyers.

Fusō tucked her leg into her chest, resting her head on her knee. She didn’t really understand what everyone was so concerned about.

Sure, Westaria had a lot of carriers and subs, but none of them would hold up under the firepower of the Imperial battleships, especially that new one, Fuji.

She had destroyed Eastasia’s military so that all of the battleships could focus on Westaria. It would probably make Westaria less likely to invade them if they knew that they would be facing the entire force of the Imperial Navy.

Fusō grinned. In all honesty, she wanted a war with Westaria. Not only would it give her a chance to prove herself and rise through the ranks, it would also show the superiority of a battleship fleet as opposed to a carrier fleet.

"Fusō!" 

A voice shouted from the superstructure of a nearby battleship. It was Kongō, the vice-commander of the fleet, and an old friend of Fusō's.

"What is it?" she called back. She knew that they could be using signal lights or radios, but there was something so nice about simply shouting across the ocean. 

"We're three hours out from Tokyo. We should see the Westarian fleet soon."

Fusō smiled. Things were going to get interesting.

***

Fusō was sitting in one of the palace waiting rooms, Kongō by her side. According to one of the destroyers who guarded Yamato, the Empress was currently meeting with the Westarian representative.

That guard unnerved Fusō. She looked young, thought that hardly meant anything, and she had short white hair and bright blue eyes, but there was no life in them. They were cold and calculating, like the winter wind.

Kongō, however, had no such reservations. 

Despite being one of the oldest shipgirls in the Empire, older than Fusō or Yamato, she sometimes acted like a child around Fusō, but she changed when she was around her sisters. With them, she acted like she was their mother, a complete change from the Kongō that Fusō normally saw.

Right now, she was complaining about her little sister again.

"I can't believe her! Her whole job is to prevent this kind of thing. What has Kirishima been doing?" 

Her tone made it sound like she was a child throwing a tantrum. Her younger sister, Kirishima, was the official Imperial Ambassador to the Neutral League in Montevideo, and she was tasked with maintaining friendly foreign relations. 

When she had been told that she was being sent away, she hadn't taken it well. All she really cared about was her little sister, Haruna, and she wasn't known for being diligent with her work.

It looked like Kongō would just keep going on and on, but, at that moment, the door to the audience chamber swung open, and out walked the Westarian representative, Salem, was it? flanked by two of Yamato's guards.

The expression on Salem's face was similar to that of a child worried about their parents punishing them. It almost made Fusō laugh.

The white-haired destroyer walked up to them.

"The Empress will see you now."

They followed her into the room, and, after going through the usual formalities, Fusō asked the question that she had been holding since this all started.

"What will we do with the Builder? Surely the Empress does not intend to give away our greatest asset without so much as a fight."

They were daring words, and Fusō could feel the outrage and disgust emanating from Yahagi, but she knew that Yamato wouldn't mind. 

"I want your honest opinion Fusō. What are our chances in a war with Westaria, assuming that Eastasia does not recover from their losses and no one else gets involved?"

"We could win, but whichever side takes the victory would probably throw away at least 80% of their existing forces. As long as we can hold on to the Builder, things are in our favour."

"I see." Yamato paused, contemplating. "Very well then. You are to do deep water exercises right next to the Westarian position. Show them what our best fleet is capable of."

She smiled, but it wasn't a human expression. It was that of a wild animal, about to kill its prey.

"If they want war, we'll give it to them."