Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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Chapter Text

???, ??, ????, 1:50 PM, ???, Texas

“John! What did I tell you?!”

“To be reading my books instead of playing with my toys…”

“And what are you doing?”

“Playing with my toys…”

“Put your toys away and go read! You won’t be playing with them for a few days as punishment. You understand me, Mister?”

“… Yes, Mom…”

Chapter Text

July 3rd, 2027, 11:30 AM, Base, Commander’s Office

“Here is the report for the time period between 20:00 and 10:00 hour, Commandant!” Seydlitz informed him, remaining at attention after handing the report.

“Thank you, Seydlitz, for the report. ” the Commander wrote out. “Is there anything else you need or want to report about? ”

“Nein, Commandant!” the pink-haired battlecruiser replied.

“Very well. Dismissed. ”

With a salute, Seydlitz performed an about face, and exited the office; leaving the man to view the report alone.

Ever since the spotting of “Glitch” those days ago, the base has been on high alert — watching both the base and town for any signs. The search went so far as to screen all incoming and outgoing cargo ships as they docked. So far, no one has re-establish contact with them. With nothing else to do, the Commander also ordered for the security system to be implemented back in.

From the report Seydlitz handed him, there has been nothing caught on the cameras, the hydrophones only reported the usual route of cargo ships, and inspection teams haven’t seen anything when checking them. There was also note pertaining to Kursk, who was unable to pick up their scent as there the metal fragments they obtained had no identifiable trance on them. She also said that she was taking those fragments to conduct composition analysis to see what they’re made of.

As he finished reading the report, a knock on his door alerted him to someone who wanted his attention.

“Sir, I have a complaint form from Her Majesty, along with New Jersey who wishes to talk with you,” Howe called from behind the door. “Entering now.”

“Hello, Commander!” New Jersey cheerfully greeted him as the two girls strode into his office. “How’s today been to ya~?”

“I’m doing fine, NJ. ” the man replied. “Just a little stressed out about this ‘Glitch’ situation. But nothing to pull my hair over. ”

“Good, good. We don’t want you to go through something like that again,” the Union battleship said. “We’re still sorry about that.”

“That’s not your girls’ fault. I blame High Command for that incident. So! What do you need from me? ”

“I think Howe should go first~” she offered. With a nod from the Commander, Howe walked over and handed him the form from Queen Elizabeth. He was quite curious as to what the monarch was complaining about as he couldn’t think of anything that would cause this. He hadn’t heard any gossip from either Howe or the maids about Elizabeth being mad with anyone else.

Looking at the form, the first thing he saw was that in front of the words “Complaint Form”, there was an additional word penned in: “Preemptive”. That made him both confused and understand what the complaint could be about. Reading further, the Queen marked as a noise complaint, writing “the whole day’s celebration” was a massive disturbance to public peace. That the fireworks could be heard from almost every corner of the living quarters. And that this was a blow to Royal Navy honour; them flaunting their success from those three centuries ago. But he could tell that this was more about the noise than anything else.

“New Jersey, where do you girls usually set off the fireworks? ” the Commander asked her.

“We usually set them off in our backyard,” she answered. “Usually, Liz would just be fine with us doing so. But I guess after more than a decade of doing so was enough for her to complain. I wish she would have said something sooner so we wouldn’t have this talk now.”

“Surely you girls can do it somewhere else, right? ”

“Well after receiving the complaint, that got us thinking about how the others would feel about it. We can’t do it by the Quarters as that will disturb people trying to sleep. Similarly, doing it in town will most likely yield the same problem.”

Scratching his chin, the Commander thought of what would be the best place to not disturb the peace.

“Perhaps the beach? ” he suggested.

“That’s still a little too close to the Quarters,” Howe enlightened him.

“Oh! How about where I live? ”

“Are you sure, Sir?” the blue-haired battleship questioned.

“Yeah, it’s pretty far from where everyone lives, and you have a nice clear view of the night sky. You guys can do it down by the shore, and fire them out to sea so there is very little chance of harming anything. ”

“Oh thank you, Commander! I’ll let the girls know about it,” New Jersey said, as she rushed off to tell the rest of the Eagle Union.

Walking around the desk, Howe rested her hand on his shoulder, saying, “That was very sweet of you to sacrifice your peace for their enjoyment~”

“Well I saw no better options. Besides, I think I’ll have a nice view of the fireworks from that cliff. ”

“Do you mind if I join you, Love?”

“Of course not. ” John said, before giving her a quick kiss.

Howe giggled at that, then proceeded to head to her space. Before closing the door behind her, she informed him that, “Lunch in an hour, where should we go?”

“Let’s go to Mainz’, grab something small and go find NJ. See what the EU girls want to do. ”

“Alright~”

Chapter Text

July 3rd, 2027, 1:01 PM, Base, Southern Beach

“I was not expecting this. ” the Commander said using the soundboard on his tablet.

After he and Howe had a nice lunch together, the two of them headed down to the designated area over by his side of the base. He was expecting to see a few girls here and there, preparing some fireworks or something similar. What he wasn’t expecting was an entire stage being set up, along with an entire cooking area, and dozens of picnic tables.

“Oh, hello Comrade Komandir and Howe!” Murmansk cheerfully greeted the two when she saw them walk towards them. She was carrying a box filled with various fireworks and sparklers.

“Heya, Murmansk. ” the Commander returned the greeting. “I sometimes forget that you’re like half-Union, half-Parliament. ”

“Yes, while I do spend most of my time with my Northern comrades, I will always remember that I’m still an Omaha; just like my sisters over there~” she said, pointing to where Omaha and Marblehead were — the two plugging in some electronics on stage.

“So what's happening?” Howe asked. “Is New Jersey heading this planning?”

“Oh no. She had delegated that task to my other sister, Memphis. She’s been tasking people with specific jobs, and supervising the progress. She should also be up on the stage, as well.”

“Where is New Jersey then?”

“Oh she’s in town with North Carolina and Washington letting the word spread in their unique way…”

Meanwhile in town…

“Come on down to the Southern Beach and join us to celebrate the 4th of July~!” New Jersey shouted with flyers in her hands — wearing her “Exhilarating Steps!“ outfit.

“We’ll have tons of activities to do and plenty to eat~!” North Carolina further added, also wearing her “The Heart’s Desire“ outfit.

“I can’t believe you made me wear this again…” Washington embarrassingly said with a blush across her face as she was wearing her own bunny outfit.

“I can’t believe you agreed to it so easily,” New Jersey shot back.

“That’s because if I refused, Sis would have continued to pester me until I wore it.”

“I don’t know… I think you just secretly like wearing it,” North Carolina blurted out.

“Carol!!”

Back at the beach…

“Thanks for letting us know. ” the Commander gave his thanks. “Will you be joining your sisters for tomorrow? ”

“I’ll be there for the night; not for the full event, I’m afraid.”

“As long as you’re able to make it, then that’ll make them happy,” Howe said.

“Agreed. Well I wouldn’t like to keep you two from doing your duties. I’ll be getting back to my task,” Mil-mansk bid them farewell, both parties heading in opposite directions.

Stepping up the stairs onto the stage, the Commander and Howe saw the three other Omahas were surrounding an open panel on the stage; along with other girls around the stage, too. Memphis was clutching onto a clipboard close to her chest in her left hand and a walkie-talkie in her right; she pointed at different wires that Omaha and Marblehead were holding onto as they plugged them in. Up above, Concord and Raleigh were up in the rafters, securing lights up there as Richmond handed them lightbulbs to insert; herself holding onto her own walkie-talkie.

“Alright! That should be the last one,” Omaha declared, wiping a bit of sweat on her cheeks.

“Excellent,” Memphis declared before raising her walkie-talkie to her mouth. “Richmond, how are things up there? Over.”

“Things are good,” Richmond said. “We're just installing the last ones. Should be able to test the lighting. Over.”

“Roger. Marble, you know what to do.”

“Gotcha, Sis!” Marblehead confirmed, walking over to the electrical box a bit away. “Ready?”

“Are you girls ready up there? Over.”

“Ready! Over!” Richmond affirmed.

With a thumbs up from Memphis, Marblehead flipped a switch and the stage lit up from the various lights. The Omaha sisters let out cheers of their accomplishment, and gave each other high-fives.

“How does it look from down there?” Raleigh asked, snatching the walkie-talkie from Richmond.

“Things are good,” Memphis informed them. “But we need to reposition some of the lights. I’ll let Omaha tell you where to point them; I have to go check on everyone else. Over.”

“Copy that, Memph,” Concord affirmed. “Switching channel. Out.”

“Nice job to you all,” Howe said, as she and the Commander finally made their way to the pink-haired woman; having stood by to see what would happen.

“Oh, Commander and Howe,” Memphis said in surprise, too preoccupied with the lights to notice them. “What brings you two here?”

“We’re just here to see the progress. The stage is looking good. ” The Commander wrote out.

“Well that’s just the lighting. We still need to work on the sound systems, pyrotechnics, and most importantly, safety. But I trust everyone that everything will work out. If you want, you can follow me to the firework zone to see how progress is going. I was just about to head there.”

“We’d gladly accept,” Howe humbly accepted, stepping off the stage and bidding the Omaha sisters goodbye as they headed down the beach. As they walked down, they could see more Eagle Union girls helping with the celebration — even those not in the Union but have sisters in it are helping them.

As they walked along the sand, a thought crossed the Commander’s mind. He asked, “Shouldn’t Seattle be in charge of something like this, given she enjoys setting up a good party? ”

“She’s handling watching over any needed construction and the delivery of party supplies to here,” Memphis clarified. “She should be in Storehouse 12.”

“So who’s in charge of the fireworks? ”

“Reno and Altanta were the ones who volunteered to test out the fireworks.”

“Test them?” Howe confusingly asked. “You mean that they’re going to set off some?”

“Well we need to check if the fireworks will launch and explode, and to see any potential dangers that we need to address. They’ll be setting off a small sample of each firework.”

As she finished explaining, they could hear the whistling of a firework rising into the sky. Looking up, the three of them spotted a blue rocket soaring higher and higher, until detonating into a bright blue and white explosion with sparkles flying in all directions. Turning their gaze down from there, they saw Reno, Saratoga, and Albacore near the fireworks; with Sara and Alba ready to ignite some firecrackers.

“Ready to record?” Saratoga asked the other two. She held onto a bundle of red firecrackers and a lit match close to the fuse. Albacore held onto a camera, ready to record it. Reno held onto a clipboard and pen, and gave the thumbs up.

With permission granted, Saratoga lit the fuse and threw the crackers into an empty zone on the beach; far away from them, other people, and the fireworks and firecrackers. Moments later, crackling and small sparks flew out, lasting a good few seconds before dissipating.

“Success!” Albacore proclaimed, ending the recording. “Whaddya think, Reno?”

“I’d say that one is good to be used, but we still need to try out another two. Afterwards, let’s try out this one,” Reno said, reaching over and grabbing a slim, black and red rocket. She then noticed the other three making their way to them. “Afternoon Memphis, Commander, and Howe!”

“Afternoon to you three, as well. ” the Commander returned the gesture.

“Reno, where’s Atlanta?” Memphis questioned. “I thought she was supposed to be helping you out with this.”

“She’s currently grabbing the next batch of stuff for us to test. Before she left, Sara, Abla, and Casablanca arrived to help us out. So Casa is with Atla, and these two are here helping me test the ones we have here.”

“Not to sound mean, but are you sure it’s good for them to help you out, Reno? ” the Commander questioned, all of them knowing full well their mischievous behaviour.

“Don’t worry, Commander,” Saratoga began to say. “We won’t purposefully steal a few firecrackers, rig them to your door, and wait patiently for you to return to your office so we can see your reaction.”

“Why does it sound like you’ve already done that before? ”

A few years ago…

“Man… I am pooped…” Armstrong said, walking back to his office with his secretary at the time, Bolzano.

“If you’d like, we can visit a play being performed soon, or have a nice cup of tea with some of the Royal Navy girls,” Bolzano suggested, wanting to help his tiredness.

“That sounds nice, but I don’t know which one I should go with…” he said, opening the door to his office.

As he did, Saratoga, Abercrombie, and Albacore popped out from behind his desk, and shouted, “Surprise!!” before three bundles of firecrackers fell from above Armstrong. Once they hit the ground, they started to pop and spewed sparks in all directions. The poor man was so taken aback from this prank, that he nearly had a heart-attack, and fell backwards — being caught by Bolzano.

“You three are in serious trouble!” Bolzano started to scold them.

But the chewing out would have to wait, the firecrackers they had ignited were still going off — onto the carpet floor. Soon, a small fire broke out right in front of them all; causing the three pranksters to panic at the sight. Luckily, the smoke that was also being emitted set off the fire-alarm, and the sprinklers up above managed to contain it.

After that, Armstrong placed them under house-arrest for the next month, and placed them on pranking probation for the year. Failure to comply with the punishment would have resulted in them a time extension.

Back to the present…

“I’ll tell you later,” Howe said.

“Either way, how’s the progress going so far? ” the Commander asked, refocusing the conversation.

“Good, good,” Reno cheerfully said whilst nodding. “We’ve managed to test twenty so far, and only had three duds. I’m having Atlanta and Casablanca grab another three of those to see if it’s just those or the entire brand. Oh, speak of the devil; they’re over there.”

Turning around, they all saw the two Reno was talking about walking towards them with a box each full of different celebration items within them.

“Commander and Howe! Nice to see you two here,” Atlanta greeted them, setting down the box with Casablanca.

“It’s nice to see you two here, too~” Howe returned the gesture.

“You girls got the three we requested?” Reno asked, looking down at the boxes to find them.

“They’re in my box,” Casablanca informed her. “The first things we grabbed once we reached the storehouse.”

“Awesome! More things to ‘test’!” Albacore excitedly said, grabbing a large yellow rocket.

“Well it looks like you girls have it. I’ll take the Commander and Howe to another part,” Memphis told them. “Make sure not to do anything dangerous.”

“We won’t, take care now!” Reno said, all of them waving each other a farewell. When they were a distance away. The comic-head picked up the two pranksters from their collar. “Alright you two, drop them.”

“Fine…” they reluctantly relented, dropping a few firecrackers from their arms, and in Saratoga’s jacket.

“Remember, these are for tomorrow. Not for whatever prank you’re planning.”

Chapter Text

July 4th, 2027, 12:00 AM, Base, Outskirts

“See him yet?” Sheffield asked, looking through a pair of binoculars aimed at the Commander’s house.

“Negative,” Belfast denied, looking through her own binoculars.

The two were conducting a stake-out operation, seeing if the Commander would do something he’s already done before. With the lack of cover near his house, the two had to find the best tree for concealment and hid up there — not the most elegant solution. They’ve been up there for ten minutes now, figuring that now would be the time he would do it.

As they continued to scan the house, Sheffield noticed that the lights in the living room were turned on now. Tapping the Head Maid’s shoulders, the two of them focused their attention to the front door. After a few seconds, the door opened and out walked the Commander. This also triggered an alert on their phones thanks to that alarm system they installed. Continuing to watch the man, they saw him lock up the house once again, and head down the path.

“Now,” Sheffield said, both of the maids dropping from the tree, and making a beeline towards their master.

He had no time to react; not expecting anyone would be near his house at this time of night. The Commander was immediately pinned down to the ground, and Belfast pulled out some rope to tie him up. Try as he might, he was unable to break free from their grasp and was bound. Of course, being tied up prevents him from “talking” with them, so the Commander has to rely on head movement. This feels oddly familiar…

“Master, you know well that it is not good for your health to be up this late, and go out to do work by yourself,” Belfast scolded him as Sheffield slung him over her shoulder — the three entering his house.

He gave the Head Maid the puppy eyes which were saying, “Aw come on, Bel. Let me do this.”

“No can do, Master. You must rest properly so you won’t fall behind on work. Additionally, the entire Eagle Union will be able to complete the preparations in the morning.”

Making their way up to his room, Sheffield plopped him onto his bed before the two maids started to make their way out there.

“We will untie you once morning comes. We will also be staying the night in case certain people decide to visit,” the stone-faced maid informed before closing the door.

Chapter Text

July 4th, 2027, 11:39 AM, Base, Southern Beach

“Good day to you, Azur Lane!” Guam cheerfully greeted, holding on to a microphone as she spoke in front of the cameramanjuu crew. “Right now, I’m currently down at the Southern Beach, where the Eagle Union’s 4th of July Celebration is being held this year. Joining me for this broadcast are the honey bunny-loving New Jersey, the life-of-the-party Seattle, and the hard-working Memphis!”

“Hey y’all~!” the three of them greeted the viewers and listeners.

“So girls. What do you have for those visiting us today?” Guam asked them, extending the mic to them.

“There’s going to be a whole host of activities to do the whole day!” Seattle excitedly said. “Plenty of food, fun events to participate in, and some rocking music to jam out to!”

“Indeed,” Memphis agreed while nodding her head. “And this event isn’t just for us Eagle Union girls. Those from other factions or residents of the town with the free time are welcomed to join us at any time.”

“Especially for tonight!” New Jersey added. “We will be launching a whole lotta fireworks into the clear night skies! And what's better than watching fireworks? Watching them with your friends and family, don’tcha agree?”

Pulling the mic back to her, Guam said, “I agree with you, New Jersey. And like I said earlier, all of this is taking place down at the Southern Beach — courtesy of our wonderful commander. Speaking of him, he doesn’t seem to be here.”

“Yeah… Where is he?” Memphis questioned.

“Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it,” Seattle, who was tasked to fetch the Commander, informed them. “His job is holding him up.”

Meanwhile, with the Commander and Howe…

The Commander and Howe ascended some stairs that lead up to the Tempesta’s living quarters to talk with Mary Celeste and Adventure Galley. They needed to make the trip to their quarters as the girls requested some renovations to it. The pirate girls’ space was actually a little different compared to the other faction’s places. They reside on a small island a couple dozen meters off the mainland with a bridge connecting the two places. Facing out into the ocean was a large cove where the entrance laid.

“Ah! Greetings, Commander and Howe!” Adventure Galley welcomed them as they crested the top of the stairs.

“Good day, ladies. ” the Commander greeted them back. “Shall we talk about your planned renovations? ”

“Yes,” Mary Celeste nodded. “As we’ve already entailed on our request, we’d like to install a freshwater aquarium right there.”

“It looks like it’ll be a difficult task for the Manjuus to do, given that they’ll need to lift it pretty high,” Howe noted, looking over the edge.

“It’s about twelve metres from the water to here, but they won’t be doing it alone.”

“That’s right! We’ll be helping them carry it up here for them while they do the installation. How’s that sound, Commander?”

“That sounds like a sound plan, I think we can approve of this. But let’s make sure that we have all the details in order. ”

Back at the Southern Beach…

“Makes sense,” Guam nodded. “Given the recent incident with ‘Glitch’, he has sent out some patrols around the base — even during this event. But we would all like to give a big thank you to him for allowing us to use this beach for today.”

As the broadcast continued, two figures quickly moved behind the camera crew, and down towards the beach.

“Come on, Laffey!” Javelin shouted back at the narcoleptic bunny. “Nimi and Ayanami already arrived before us!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming…” Laffey lazily said, making her way to where they were heading.

As the two finally got within sight of the beach, they could see the festivities were already in full swing:

Up on the stage, the Colorado sisters were setting up their instruments; while the Omaha sisters were doing one last check to make sure everything was correct and safe to be around. Down, ahead of the stage, Independence and San Francisco were marking a line on the ground to denote where the audience should stand — to prevent anyone from being harmed by the pyrotechnics. Closer to the waterline, Reno, Atlanta, and Houston were doing their own last inspection, making sure that the fireworks were in good condition and accounted for. Surrounding them were all the Essex sisters, making sure no troublemaker would make a mad-dash to nab one or two fireworks. A few hundred yards down the beach, an intense match of American Football was being held, Washington and South Dakota being team captains. On the opposite end, patties, hotdogs, and other delectable foods were sizzling on a large grill — Cleveland and her sisters being the grill masters.

Over there, Z23 and Ayanami patiently waited at the food line for the other two to slowly arrive.

“There you two are,” Z23 said as they two as they came up to them. “What took you two so long?”

“Laffey wanted to sleep in…” Laffey sleepily admitted, rubbing her eyes.

“I had to drag her out of her bed, but I managed to do it!” Javelin cheerfully added, raising a victorious fist up in the air.

“Well let's grab our meals, grab a seat, and watch the event unfold. The concert should start within the next hour according to Memphis,” Nimi informed them.

“I’d like to try the kebabs they are having here, yes,” Ayanami said, all of them stepping closer to the grill as the line shortened.

“I want to watch the football game they’re having over there,” Javelin told them, pointing over to where it was happening. “From what little I saw, the game is quite evenly matched. As always, Washington and South Dakota are giving it their 110%!”

“Laffey is going to sleep over there…” the little bunny said, pointing to a nice spot where the sand and dirt blended together — trees giving it a roof to hide from the sun.

But the other three noticed that there were two people already relaxing where Laffey had pointed to. Those two were Shinano and surprisingly, Bremerton. The two of them in beach attire and lounging on some deckchairs — an umbrella furthered added more shade for the two.

“What are they doing?” Javelin asked.

“I understand Shinano-san sleeping here, yes. But I don’t know why Bremerton-san is sleeping next to her,” Ayanami communicated everyone’s thoughts. “Perhaps she needs more sleep?”

“Next!” a shout roused them from their thoughts. Looking back to the grills, they saw that they were the next in line — Cleveland being the one to call out to them. “Heya, Starter Squad! You feeling peckish?”

“A little,” Z23 admitted. “So what do you have?”

“Plenty! We’ve got burgers, hotdogs, kebabs, ribs, pulled pork, potato salad, corn on the cob, etc… The entire menu is right above you.”

As Z23, Javelin, and Laffey looked up; Ayanami already had her order ready.

“Three kebabs, a watermelon slice, a corn on the cob, and one bottle of oxy-cola, yes,” the demon asked.

“You got it!” Cleveland confirmed before turning around. “Monty! Three kebabs! Denver! One watermelon and corn on the cob! Columbia! Bottle of oxy!”

“You got it!” they all said, moving around the stall to prepare Ayanami’s order.

“Just let me know when we’re running low on something, alright?”

“We’re still fine,” Montpelier reassured her.

“Okay, we’re ready to order, too,” Javelin said, making Cleveland turn back towards them. “I will have two ribs, potato salad, and lemonade. Nimi will have a hotdog and some pulled pork, along with two Hawaiian rolls, some fruit salad, and water. While Laffey will only have a cheeseburger.”

“Nothing else for you Laf?” Cleveland questioned. “No sides or drinks?”

“I have my drink here…” she responded, summoning her rigging and opening a compartment in it to retrieve a bottle of her “coolant”.

“Okay. You girls heard their orders, right?”

“We did,” Denver confirmed, carrying a plate with Ayanami’s food. “Here ya go.”

“Arigatō,” the Sakuran destroyer thanked them, and turned to her friends. “I will go find a place for us to sit, yes.”

“Over where the football game is happening, okay?!” Javelin reminded her as she walked away.

“So are you manning the food stall the entire day, Cleveland?” Nimi asked the Union light cruiser.

“Nah,” she denied. “Just until noon. Then we’ll be switched with the Brooks. But no one will be here once the concert starts, which should be starting in about twelve minutes.”

“I guess we’ll only be seeing the last few minutes of the football game…”

It was at this point that Denver came to the countertop with the three plates of food and Columbia with their drinks. As they placed them on top for the Starters to grab their orders, Columbia said, “Hey, don’t tell anyone. But we’re going to watch the concert on the roof. You girls are free to join us.”

“Really?!” Javelin questioned.

“Sure,” Cleveland confirmed with an award-winning smile and a thumbs up. “Should be enough room for you four, my sisters, and I.”

“Awesome! I should tell Ayanami about this.”

“I am here, yes,” Ayanami said to alert them of her presence, a half-eaten kebab in hand.

“What happened to the game?”

“It ended in a tie.”

“Well just in time, then. The concert should be starting! I can see an audience already forming up on stage. Monty, help me with closing up.”

“Roger, Sis!” Montpelier nodded, turning off all cooking equipment and putting away ingredients.

“Hmm… the concert will most likely wake up those two,” the Iron destroyer commented. “Speaking of which. Cleveland, do you know why they’re sleeping there?”

“Sorry, I don’t know, either.”

“We were too busy with food preparations to know what they were doing,” Monty continued.

“Laffey… will investigate…” the little bunny volunteered, walking over to the two. But expected by everyone, she simply placed her food and drink on a table, and fell asleep with them.

“I guess we’ll figure it out later, yes,” Ayanami said.

Chapter Text

July 4th, 2027, 11:52 AM, Mundus Somniorum

“Did you learn anything from that footage…” Shinano asked Bremerton as they sat on the couch, a sleeping Laffey rested her head on the fox’s thigh.

“Well… The only thing I’m getting is a serious case of ‘Mommy Issues’,” Bremerton told her, attempting to lighten the mood. “Not landing? Okay, but it seems that the Commander’s mother was a serious control freak. Despite what looks like footage from… maybe when he was 5-7 years old; she demanded that he follow her words. However, our Commander was someone who didn’t like this authoritarian home-life that was happening, but wasn’t able to express how he felt. Instead, he has to bottle up that frustration and anger, which is something you should never do.”

“But this alone wouldn’t cause such resentment towards her, would it…”

“It’s not likely. But given that we were only just in his 5-7’s and there’s this much evidence about feeling constrained. It’s not a good sign that their relationship was the healthiest one.”

“We could be here for quite awhile…”

“Would be easier if he just told us. Even if Ikari told us.”

“Į̸̩̬̬̼̮̰̯͔̫̓̉̕͜ͅ ̷̢̧͎̲͇̳̘̖̹̝̥̭̪͉̈́̐̌̈́͒͂̆̈́͋Ď̶̨̛̜̟̎̄̾̈̈́͑̏̈́̈̒͝͝Ó̴̱̖̝͈̈͂̐̔̊͜N̴̡̨̲̼̙̙̭̩̦͇̾̀̽͐̉̀͒́̎͜͝͝’̴̳͍̼͆͊̍̈̎̓͠Ţ̸̧̹̣̪̱̂̏̕ ̵̢̛̘̣͎̟͚̮̜̹̼͍̽̆̇̈́ͅH̵̛̛̠͔͎̲̙̘̣͕̙̃̓̿̅̌̉͋̆̀̋̕̕̕Ą̸̛̩̼̗̙͖̪̩̥̑̂̐͊̀͂̃̓͘͝Ṽ̴͖̲̳͈̞̞̦̉͛̌̿̋̚Ȩ̵̻͎̲̠̲̩̓̓͋̀͊͋͗ ̶̢̞̲̙͇̖̰͇̯̰̭̠̊͂̈͜T̷̨̡̧̼̗̻̫̯̟̥̞͊̂͆͗̽̅̉̓̈́͘̕ͅͅH̴͍̹̿̐́̈́̈́̾̃̔͊̎͌Ȅ̵͔̤͕̪̤̻̤͇͎͔͌̾̍̿̔̈́͊̊͛̇̽̎͜ ̶̧͓͖͈̲̳̐̋͋́͜Ā̵͈̮̘͙͇̱̘̞̗̭̬̖̤̣͍͐̓̎̎́͒͠B̵̡͍̪͍̝̩̥̫̭̥͚̳̺̄̑̓̐͂͜I̶̧̛̫̜̫͚̻̘͑̔̒̔L̵̮̰̲̼̝̟͚̮͔͊̌͂͒̕̕͜͝͠ͅI̸̧̨͎͖͍̊̉̈͗̿͘͘͠͠T̷̤͙̞̮̂͋̀̈́̀̊̀͆͛̃Ỳ̶̖̙̩̪̦̻̬̣̱̠͘͜ ̶̨̳̭̖͓͍̟̦͓̥̲̩̋̂͛͂́̆̿͒̒͋͆̀̈́Ṫ̴̨̛͚̺̪̪̺̱͓̕̕ͅO̴̧̧̲̫̮̱̭̬̯̖͚̥̤͎̪͆̌͗͘͝ ̸̪̩̰͕̬̀̔̇͛̽̓̾̑͐̒̐̈́ͅD̷̨̩̬̮̩̮͎̟͉̘̄̎̎͗̇̓̕͝͠Ỏ̷̱̟͗̉̑̃͝ ̸͈̼̙̅S̵͔͙̀̌̈́͆͌͂̒́̀̏͛̉͗͌͝Ö̶̡̮̬̦̱͉́̏͂̓͝ͅ,̵͚̭̖͉̗̫̝̞̦̖̾̆͛͐͂̿̚͘͠͠” Ikari reminded them.

“Thus, proving Shinano’s case that you’re both annoying and helpful to us.”

“I never said that…” Shinano said, tilting her head in confusion.

“It was written all over your face.”

Chapter Text

July 4th, 2027, 8:55 PM, Base, Outskirts

As Howe walked the path leading to the cliff, she could only imagine what the night sky would look like with the fireworks illuminating the darkness. She and John had agreed to meet up at the top of the cliff to get full advantage of an unimpeded view. A couple meters away from the top, she could see John with his Stetson on his head sitting on a blanket and tapping his fingers to a song he was playing — something to which Helena META’s app told her beforehand. Taking this opportunity, she approached him from behind, before blinding him with her hands.

“So what song are you tapping to now?” she whispered into his ears.

Startled by this action, John took a moment to recompose himself before writing on his tablet.

“How long did you know? ” he asked

“Quite awhile,” Howe informed him, taking a seat next to him. “It looks neat.”

“You think so? ”

“Yeah… So, when are they sending them up?”

“NJ told me that when it reaches nine. ”

“Cool. I wish we were down there the whole day instead of in the office. I wonder what it was like?”

“I asked Starter Squad, they said they had a great time listening to the music, watching and participating in some of the events, and just hanging out with essentially everyone. ”

“That makes me more envious of the fun they had.”

“Can’t do much with this Glitch thing roaming around the waters near our base, and the other duties we had to perform for the base. ”

“Maybe next year…” Howe suggested as she rested her head on his shoulder. “I think I see something going up.”

As soon as she mentioned it, a whistling sound was heard rising up into the night sky — followed by a bright red, white, and blue explosion lighting the area. It was soon followed by equally as colorful fireworks and the many cheers of the girls down below them.

“Wow…” the battleship awed. “No matter how many times I see these events, the fireworks are always so beautiful…”

“Not as beautiful as what I’m seeing now,” John spoke up, causing Howe to turn her gaze over to him — seeing that his sights were on her.

“Ooh you~” she giggled out before giving him a quick, but passionate kiss on the lips. “And you said you weren’t good at talking with people…”