User blog:Tadano Hitoshi/Ragtag Hustle Kancolle Edition - Behind the Curtain, Within the Shadows

'The Marksmen'
Snipers.

Marksmen trained to shoot enemies from far, from concealment.

Having one as an ally is an invaluable asset, while encountering them as an enemy brings significant impact on morale.

In the seas, a special kind of warship - submarines - were often likened to snipers, down to role and their expertise in concealment and firing far from where the enemy could reach.

The difference - they are man and machine.

Today is a story of a day where man and machine meet.

In a firing range, of all places.

Imuya: "Commander, you're alone today again?"

Admiral: "Oh, good day Imuya. Well, to be fair, you submariners are the only other personnel I explicitly allowed access into the range so... yeah."

Imuya: "Is that an indirect way of asking us to be your company?"

Iku: "Admiral!!! We've been so busy today. I want to play with you-nanoooo!" (Grabs the Admiral's legs while he is staying prone.)

Admiral (shaking Iku off his legs): "Hey, hey, Iku, quit it or you're going to get a literal boot to the face."

Iku: "No-nano! Let's play all day today-nanoooo!!!"

Admiral: "That's it, you're getting one." (lightly kicks Iku in the face)

Iku: "Ouch! Admiral, that was so mean!"

Admiral (gets up): "A general rule of thumb, in case you forget: You. Do. Not. Disturb. Soldiers. When they have. A GODDAMN GUN WITH THE SAFETY OFF." (while repeatedly flicking Iku's forehead with his finger)

Iku: "Ow! Ow! Ow!!! Admiral, you're a jerk." (pouts)

Admiral: "Safety isn't something to be taken lightly, you as a submariner should know this above all else. Especially from the you who proclaim to be the 'sniper of the sea'."

Iku (still pouting): "Fine, fine. I'm sorry, hmph."

Admiral: "All things said and done, what's the sitrep for today?"

(Hearing this line, the faces of the submariners turn into serious expressions.)

Imuya: "Normal, nothing much to report from my observation of our carriers. Though in general the base is starting to go into the Summer mood so I suppose it's time to be more mindful of the loonier ones once the season fully kicks in... I'm thinking of the First CarDiv as I'm saying this."

Iku: "The usually misbehaving cruisers are awfully quiet. Iku suspects they're preparing themselves for the season-nano. Ah, but Sendai-san is a bit too slick for me to observe, though she being loud as usual doesn't really help hiding what she is usually up to. Jintsuu-san is helping to keep her in check, though. By the way Maya-san just smuggled into her quarters some new stash of magazines-nano~"

Hachi: "Rumors has it that Yamato-san is preparing herself some swimwear for the season. I don't know if Haruna-san plans to do the same or not, but watch out. The Fusou sisters got their swimwear ready quite early, surprisingly. Also, Admiral, if you'd like to know... Italia-san has a pretty alluring outfit."

Goya: "Goya is really happy to be observing the destroyers-dechi. They're so well-behaved... well, some of them won't really be acting as part of the disciplinary action team otherwise. Watching the bigger shipgirls getting scolded by the likes of Kasumi-san was pretty funny to see-dechi. Though, well, some of them aren't exactly nice girls... Admiral, lately I notice a certain destroyer has been looking at you with funny eyes. At times it seemed like she's in a trance. Strangely though I can't get myself to tracking her further to investigate why..."

Admiral: "Oh? Who might this shipgirl be?"

Goya: "It's... Teruzuki dechi."

Admiral: "Teruzuki?"

Goya: "I don't think it's just me who notices this, Admiral. I tried approaching Choukai-san casually about this since I did recall her saying something about 'a destroyer looking at the Admiral longingly with eyes as empty as the Abyss' in her report in the past operation; but the reason why you didn't notice this part, Admiral, was because Choukai-san omitted it in your copy of the report-dechi."

Admiral: "And why would Choukai-san do that?"

Goya: "She says she isn't even sure about it, also that the harshness of our operations last Spring might be clouding her opinion about that."

Admiral: "Hmm... this is interesting."

[ To be continued in a later edit, I need me some sleep. ]