Multiple square metres of beach buckled and burst open like a popped blister, and up, up, up came sleek white metal and black growths. Black sludge washed over the shore, and began to twitch- then as one something surged up and out of it. "How about we make sure you look dangerous, as well?" she said with unnatural cheer, and closed her fist. Then, finally, she left my personal space and reoriented herself towards the beach. "Anning-chan is cuter, I admit," she said, and removed her hand, brushing a strand of hair out of my face as she did. She brought a hand down on my head, and I flinched- but she was just ruffling my already-messy hair, her hand just a little too cold to be human. "Perhaps whoever constructed you should have called you Archimedes-chan, hmm? Though." "Ah! Please, call me Akagi-senpai, little monitor." She grinned a grin that filled me with precisely zero comfort. "On destroyers-?" Midway barked out a laugh. They use pulses of directed light to superheat targets, and cause catastrophic structural failure in the target- preliminary uses have shown them to have reasonable effectiveness on destroyers." "The turrets are anti-air turrets, with predicted effective range on aircraft of roughly one kilometre, though this hasn't had an official study. "They have a degree of guidance, Midway-hime, with an initial rotation to reach the desired bearing," I informed her duly, keeping my language formal and precise, which was a habit of mine when I really didn't want to say the wrong thing. "And to put them on the front of a broadsiding vessel…" She turned to look at me expectantly, her change of focus putting her just a bit too close to me once more. "These torpedo launchers are interesting too," commented Midway. I stifled a confused noise as the Princess straight-up wrenched my hideous sea monster's mouth open to take a look at the missile launchers inside, and without even fleeting intent of a desire for brutal murder from Duckweed. Me and Plesiosaurus stared, neither of us sure how we felt about this development. Instead, she just… placidly waited, like a well-trained animal at the vet, as the Princess tapped the laser lenses and ran her fingers over the rigging's teeth. Surprisingly, Duckweed did not make any effort to bite her hand off. ![]() "Mmh, these are interesting turrets," she said, and reached down to pull up Duckweed's jaw to take a better look at the laser array suspended underneath. The amorphous flesh-lump behind her began to slowly float towards her, looming over my own rigging with ease. She looked over us again this time her eyes focused on Duckweed instead, wandering up and down. "Overconfidence sinks fleets, but a lack of it is just as sorrowful, no?" Perhaps it had been a little too strong a reaction, but the Midway Princess just smiled, conciliatorily. Plessy seemed startled by the force of the words. ![]() Why, if you want to replace it with a modernised fleet…" ![]() "And a Leander? You must have an old soul. ![]() If she stepped any closer I was pretty sure the hem of her excessively-poofy dress would be tickling my ankles. "So, you're a monitor? Oh, that's cute," she said, stopping just within my personal space. I restrained myself from backing up as her eyes roamed me. "You're not as spirited as I thought you'd be… But we can solve that," she responded, far too casually. She laughed, and it would've been a tinkling, bright sound- if it hadn't been missing some ineffable spark of life, that is. "Thank you for your hospitality, Midway-hime," I said, bowing respectfully and hoping I wouldn't get shot in the face.
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