The skies were clear on the 6th of April as the weather forecast predicted, the morning sun shining down on the 1st Fleet as they convened at the harbor to meet up with the Admiral and listen to her mission briefing before they sortied.
The Admiral brought along quite the crowd with her, the revered battleship Yamato sitting on the granite bench beside her and giving them her million-dollar smile as she held her folded umbrella.
Kongou was enthusiastically embracing the nonchalant Admiral from behind while Nagato sat on the Admiral's right with folded arms and seemingly meditating with closed eyes as she ignored the ruckus that was Kongou's Burning Love beside her and focusing on the situation at hand.
Akashi stood beside Yamato, keeping her distance from everyone as she looked away distractedly, looking as though she wanted to be somewhere else.
The 1st Fleet witnessed the Admiral being smothered by Kongou's hug as everyone noticed Hiei trembling, trying her best not to let her jealousy show upon witnessing her Onee-sama be so affectionate with someone that wasn't her, and it took a while before the Admiral patted Kongou's head to get her to stop and addressed the fleet gathered in front of her.
"Alright, your objective today is to sail along the route that will be sent by Yamato via wireless transmission and patrol the seas. If you encounter an Abyssal Fleet, you are to determine your odds of winning and reach a consensus as to whether you should engage them or not."
Yamato nodded at that, raising her hand as she announced,
"Please prepare for the file transfer."
The fleet was distracted by something that popped up on their HUD before addressing it and nodding to the battleship to signal the successful file transfer, Yamato smiling warmly as Admiral Haru continued.
"Like I tell every one of my fleets, the Abyssals can't always seem to outmatch us, so they often try to outnumber us.
If you find that you can't outmatch them and they outnumber you, the last option is to outrun them. I ask of you to be brave, not stupid. The 'Honor-before-Reason' shit is best left in the past, and I'd rather you girls use every trick in the book to bring everyone back alive rather than fight by some code of honor and sink."
Everyone nodded at that, understanding that they were fighting to protect both mankind and ship girl-kind.
And if fighting by a code of honor meant that they'd lose more often, they had to prioritize victory before honor to keep everyone alive at the end of the day.
Admiral Haru asked the 1st Fleet.
"So, who should be flagship?"
Causing everyone to look up upon hearing that, all of them contemplating whether they should nominate themselves without seeming too conceited.
Kongou brightened up, announcing,
"There's no question about that! Hiei should be flagship, desu!"
While Yamato expressed her opinion politely.
"Um, perhaps Ayanami should be the flagship?"
This caused the Ayanami-Class destroyer to blush a little as she puffed her chest out, secretly proud that someone as heavily worshiped as Yamato would elect her for the position of flagship.
Nagato opened her eyes to give her opinion.
"I nominate Shigure for the position of flagship."
Admiral Haru looked to Akashi for assurance that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was indeed capable of leading the fleet, Akashi noticing the Admiral's glance before turning to regard Shigure.
Shigure bristled as she met Akashi's cold gaze with her determined stare, making herself look as dependable as possible before Akashi relented and returned the Admiral's unspoken question with a wordless gaze, Admiral Haru nodding and announcing,
"Alright, Shigure will be the flagship and the senior ship girls will guide her along the way."
Causing Tenryuu to retort with a raised fist,
"Hey, come on! What are two of us Tenryuu-Class light cruisers then? Chopped liver?"
Tatsuta giggled at Tenryuu's annoyance, Junyou looking visibly relieved at the fact that she wasn't going to have to handle the responsibility of being the flag ship.
The surprise nomination caused Shigure to blink in surprise, Kongou popping out from above the Admiral's left shoulder and shrieking in her ear,
"EEHHHH?! Shouldn't Hiei be the flagship since she's the older ship girl, desu?!"
Causing Admiral Haru to draw away from the hysterical battleship, announcing,
"I know that Hiei is more experienced. But this is an easy sortie, and I'd like to have everyone to be flagship at least once on an easy sortie and learn the ropes, rather than circumstances down the road forcing them to take up leadership while on harder sorties and screw up due to inexperience with more consequences behind their failures. Hiei will lead the more difficult sorties, no question about that."
Kongou nodded silently, now understanding her Admiral's reasoning behind her decision.
Hiei looked a little down upon hearing Admiral Haru's reasoning, but was far from dispirited as she nodded towards Shigure in acknowledgement, understanding the Admiral's reasons behind electing her as flagship.
Admiral Haru reiterated her personal "Zero Casualties" Policy.
"Listen, I don't care if you have to retreat or cut your losses. Short of a major naval battle, I don't care what happens, you will do your best to bring everyone back alive, got it?"
And the 1st Fleet shouted unanimously,
"YES, MA'AM!"
Admiral Haru waved her left hand to dismiss the Fast Response Fleet, the 1st Fleet heading towards the harbor to suit up and officially sortie as a fleet for the first time.