- RP Date
- 45.7
- RP Location
- Ghost Star Fortress
Ghost Star Fortress
Somewhere Near the Nataria System
In the half month since Empress Himiko and Mistress-Taisho Yui assembled a conclave of Star Army admirals to talk war with the Mishhuvurthyar, Taisho Hokusai Akiyo's time had been consumed with rebuilding her new Second Fleet. Creating organizational tables and force structures suited to the conflict ahead were easy tasks for Hokusai and her veteran staff — many of whom had been at her side since YE 30 when they'd together crafted the Ninth Fleet, as well as through Hokusai's stewardship of the Third Fleet during the Kuvexian War — but that familiarity made their work no less exacting. Often in the past few weeks, Hokusai lamented that she'd been separated from command of the Third because of how much easier things would have been; she did not doubt her colleague Shizuka Endo, but Hokusai had already been on-track to modernize the Third when post-war admiral reshuffling had occurred. So it was some small inconvenience to restart such work with the Second Fleet while her old Third sat in reserve status.
Plus, Hokusai missed the gold dragon patch she used to wear.
But it was no matter. Now, the Taisho had become "The Sword of the Empire," a position to which she had no misgivings. Yet today, the Second Fleet stood as a spectral apparition of the mighty armada it had been mere months before. Massive destruction at the hands of Mishhuvurthyar was nothing new for the Second Fleet, of course, having been totally rebuilt after its elimination in YE 29. Nonetheless, the comfort of knowing their history meant little to the soldiers who served in the Second today, chiefly because they were already the triumphant replacements who'd been laid low again a decade after that first tragedy.
And so, more than matters of materiel and logistics, Hokusai's focus of late was on her personnel — both their morale and producing more Nekovalkyrja in the hundreds of thousands required to fully crew the fleet's mighty Izanagi-class Dreadnoughts. This mostly meant ramping up Neko production here on the fleet's headquarters, Ghost Star Fortress, to meet the wartime needs of the Yamatai Star Empire. Beyond that, too, the Second's existing soldiers needed their image tended to, so initiatives had already begun to both promote the fleet's exploits externally through SANDRA as well as instill within them a sense of meaning and camaraderie as warriors.
New places to relax, such as restaurants and recreation halls, were already being revamped or created aboard the Izanagi Dreadnoughts. Installations of Yamataian chains like Wings of Victory were being erected alongside more bespoke places for each gargantuan ship to keep spirits high during whatever expeditions those gargantuan ships would undertake in the coming months and years. They'd soon become grand motherships and bases of operations for smaller task forces to return home to as the Star Army explored unfamiliar worlds in pursuit of their Mishhuvurthyar foes.
These simple entertainment venues weren't all, though, and would only serve to bolster an esprit de corps already developing under Hokusai's leadership.
"Avika, send these new requisition orders off to Command," Hokusai said to her communications officer here at headquarters. The diminutive admiral stood leaning on both arms over her desk as she checked over the next thing she needed to inform Yui about. "This one's ready, too," she decided, confident everything was sufficient for SATA credentialing. "Still gotta get all of our little ghosts trained. Just because we can pump them out doesn't mean they're good to fight the Squids."
"Yes, Taisho," the pale communications officer confirmed in her soft, mellow voice. She bowed slightly before stepping away and out of Hokusai's expansive admiral's office.
Ghosts indeed. It was fitting for both the new Nekovalkyrja made aboard the Second Fleet's star fortress and for the veteran survivors of old wars who'd lead them. These Neko would be trained remotely here on the Second's Iori-class headquarters and aboard the Izanagi Dreadnoughts they'd bring to life. Together the rebuilt Second Fleet's soldiers, both grizzled and green, would prove to Yamatai's enemies their fleet's motto. Such identity was already forming among the fleet's personnel and helped give them an excited new purpose, amusingly contrasted with the idea of lifeless spirits that now inspired them.
Like a wraith's spectral sword, they'd take to the stars and strike at the Mishhuvurthyar without warning or remorse.
