>>6103653"… we have guns, yeah, but those don't really cut it anymore," Long Beach is explaining as you walk in, sitting on a table next to a rusted-out engine block. "Missiles just go so much further. I mean, Bainbridge went twenty years without even having- hey!"
The moment she sees you she jumps off the table, rushes over, and pulls you into a death-grip hug. Her head reached nowhere near your chin. "Nice to have you back, E."
"Good to see you too, Long Beach," you say, patting her awkwardly on the back. "Um, this is rather improper, you know."
"Oh, right. Sorry." She is Asian-American, you see as pulls away, perhaps an inch taller than Bainbridge, with long black hair, big brown eyes, and an easy smile. Her ship parts aren't visible, but her clothes are civvies, an open white sailor top with a white undershirt and a pleated black skirt. "Long Beach, CGN-9, reporting for duty!"
"At ease. And you must be Nagato," you say, looking to the other figure in the room.
In sharp contrast to Long Beach's easy posture, the battleship stands straight, arms crossed over her chest. She is taller than the two cruisers by a good five or six inches and is built like a champion boxer, an impression complemented by an angular face and sharp eyes more red than brown that gave the impression of a bird of prey. Her clothes were... rather more at home in a boxing match, or maybe a drunken costume party, consisting of a black and white halter top that showed her shoulders and toned stomach in full and a skirt that barely reached mid-thigh worn over dark red leggings and knee-high boots. Atop her head is a curious headband with brass horn-like projections whose purpose you could not deduce. "Former flagship and last and only ship of the Imperial Navy, the battleship Nagato," she says with a stiff bow.
“As strange as this all may be, I promise you we will do everything in our power to see you home."
Nagato’s expression is tightly neutral, but the clench of her jaw suggests that this isn’t quite what she wanted to hear. “I will follow where you lead,” she says tersely, not quite meeting your eye.
“Well, you’re a free woman. That’s your choice.”
“I… thank you, Enterprise.”
“Hey so, boss, it’s nice that the gang’s back together and we’re makin’ friends and all,” Bainbridge interjects, “but what’s the plan? Are we just gonna sit here on our asses, havin’ a chat?”
“That’s what I’m here to discuss. Have you had any luck with satcomms?”
“You’d know if we did. We ain’t got dick.”
