Being escorted by Hiei and Nagato out of the theater as the lights started to come on slowly, basking the room in a warm light of increasing intensity as she kept her thoughts to herself and tried to go through everything in her mind while trying not to stumble over the bench legs, exiting the theater and re-entering the somewhat more relaxing afternoon corridor as the sun shone in through the windows, Mutsu rejoining them as Shigure connected the dots and guessed that the second Nagato-Class battleship likely controlled the projector to play the video.
Heading into the Admiral's office after walking up a flight of steps and entering the third door on the left, Shigure thought that the office looked rather tame, yet revealing a few things about the Admiral without ever having to see her commander in person.
The window on the left side of the room shone down on the Admiral's desk and empty chair, perpendicular to the window. A map of the world's oceans with marker arrows and magnetized ship cut-outs adorning the wall to the right of the room, and a crayon-drawn laminated banner written "Sixth Destroyer Division" hanging above the seat.
The childish drawing was drawn in bright crayons, and was attempting to portray a grinning girl with an eye patch and with what seemed like cat ears on the bottom right of the banner with purple-colored crayons.
The well-worn sofa beneath the global map seemed to unfold into a bed and was littered with scribbled notes, construction orders stamped "APPROVED" or "DENIED", with Red Bull cans and instant-coffee packs as seen through two transparent garbage bags, one wrapped around the other to prevent whatever liquid contents that remained from seeping into the floor.
Nagato turned to send a pleading look to Mutsu, who giggled, stepped forward, picking up the trash bag and headed out.
Nagato rounded the desk, also having stationery scattered through every available square inch, and apparently onto some shorter drawers adjacent to it, except for the laptop on the desk.
From set squares to compasses, to the two stamps she observed earlier. Nagato moved the laptop and placed it in an available drawer, then eased herself into the Admiral's seat, lowering her elbows onto the table and adopting the Gendo Pose.
Shigure stood at attention in the middle of the room, while Hiei placed the folder she held all this time in between Nagato's elbows on the table and made herself comfortable leaning against a wall, hands in her pockets.
Nagato shifted, trying to make things easier for the destroyer, which held an air of consternation and coiled muscles around clenched fists.
"As you watched the video just now, we're fighting the Abyssals and holding the line, but we're gathering our forces that have been sent all around the world to consolidate our forces to prepare for a retaliatory strike. We've got the back-up and full support from the public and government. They donate whatever surplus resources they have to help out in the war effort, which makes things much easier for us."
Pointing to the map in the room as all eyes were drawn to the heavily annotated diagram, Nagato continued.
"Right now, we've established a Safety Zone around Japan, which means that our economy is holding up right now due to ship girls guarding the supply lines from America off the Russo-Japanese and Alaskan coast, and in between China and Japan in the Sea of Japan."
The lines that indicated the supply lines were marked in green, hugging the coast of Korea and sliding down the Gulf of Alaska into American seas, and connecting China to Japan via a few transport lines.
Several lines led from Singapore in South East Asia, stopping by a few Indian ports and into the Suez Canal that led into Europe, coupled with the lines connecting Eastern Canada to the United Kingdom to supply the German and Italian front.
Whereas the blue contour lines surrounding them likely indicated the ship girls' area of influence, indicating a strong presence in the Indian Ocean, the Alaskan, American and European coasts and circling around major coastal countries like South America and Africa, near the Andes mountain range and radiating from coastal Europe, in contrast to the red lines, circling most of the isolated areas further into the Pacific Ocean and surrounding Greenland, the epicenter of the Abyssal menace right in the heart of the Pacific.
A few lines streamed down the center-line of the Atlantic Ocean and snaked around the South African and Northern Russian continents to occupy the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans respectively.
Nagato provided commentary to the sight in front of Shigure.
"Right now, we've defended our supply lines in the Indian ocean well enough to give our supply lines leading to Germany some breathing room, as the Abyssals have been hitting up some English coasts and need the help. The Americans have protected their coasts, but until the Germans can push back the Abyssals, they'll continue to sail up the Atlantic and down the Arctic to push forward the two-pronged attack they've been running with to assault the American and European coast. We were also planning to push back out into the Pacific, and head down South to scout out the Abyssal bases in the Antarctic. The Americans have expressed an interest to coordinate a two-pronged attack with our advance into the Pacific, but it's still in the works.
The human race depends on us to hold the line, seeing that we are the most effective way to combat the threat out there. I don't want to sound bleak, but during the course of this war, we've mostly had to play catch-up and be on the defense. An enemy which doesn't express any clear motives, remorse, any hints of an origin and their true end goal despite our best investigative efforts, except …"
With a chest-heaving sigh and gently gripping the arm-rests, the chair skidded back across the wooden floor as Nagato sluggishly rose up to move over to Shigure, as she deduced by the creaking of the floorboards.
As Nagato approached and looked down to address her, Shigure looked up and noticed the stress lines on the edge of her eyes that contrasted with the natural beauty of all ship girls, and the slight sign of exhaustion that lied behind the prideful and piercing eyes of the battleship.
"It's alright though. These things, right now, are beyond your capability to handle. Leave them to us. Right now, you should go and get some dinner. Take the time off to get to know the ship girls and Fairies here, and Hiei will show you your room before lights out. We start training tomorrow and start Fleet drills tomorrow."
Shigure looked down and acquiesced after a while, wanting to know more, but the pang of pain that shot through her stomach and Nagato's insistence finally persuaded her and replied with a meek,
"Yes Ma'am".
Hiei took that as her cue to get off the wall, taking her hands out of her pockets and putting a hand on Shigure's shoulder to guide her out of the office. Silently walking away from the Nagato-Class battleship, Shigure passively listened to the Kongou-Class battleship as she prattled on about something or another.
"Well, now that we're done with dinner, let's show you to your room in the barracks. You must be tired, after sailing straight from Kure. I know my sister and the Admiral well enough, so my best guess is that the Admiral would want to meet you, and my infatuated sister ship would be clinging onto her..."
Leaving Nagato alone with her thoughts, standing alone in the room as she looked back at the map wordlessly and taking in the situation, the last thing that Shigure could see before the door closed itself behind the duo, cutting off Shigure's view as she lowered her head and nodded listlessly to Hiei's one-sided conversation.