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Shinano sat on the front-edge of her airstrip, looking out into the deep blue ocean as the sun began to crest over the horizon. She had learned to enjoy this little moment of time when the sky was streaked with colors of red, pink and orange. It felt like another life-time ago she had left the Fleet of Fog and gone rogue, to pursue a near impossible dream. A smile creased her lips as she remembered the two humans who helped her on her path towards that dream. It was almost embarrassing to recall how much effort it took to think the way she does now. The beautiful and traditional-style black kimono that she typically wore reflected this. War no longer interested her. Instead, she wished to find a reason to exist outside of it. She could feel the other ships in her fleet through the closed connection they shared. They were her reason for existing right now. Nothing mattered more than them. That was why they were currently sitting in open waters off the coast of Japan. She had spent enough time hiding from Fleet of Fog, specifically her half-sisters. The prime minister of Japan wished to meet with her about a mutual beneficial plan, something that might allow her and her children to be truly free.

There was only one human in the entirety of the Phantom Fleet: [i]Hayashida Kioshi[/i].  A brilliant scientist and engineer, he is the son of [i]Hayashida Shohei[/i]and [i]Hayashida Chisa[/i] whose work developed the Stealth Drive. Now he carries on their work by helping to maintain the device while studying the technology of the Fleet of Fog. His technical expertise is also useful for repairing some of the more delicate sub-systems of the fleet that can't simply be repaired with nano-material. Half of his life has been spent aboard Shinano and living with the Phantom Fleet. He is a chronic workaholic and often exhausts himself with maintenance, experiments, and repairs. Despite this, he keeps a jolly attitude and considers all of the mental models to be his close friends. He has a particular obsession with Shinao's Super Gravity Cannon and constantly requests a live-firing of the weapon, despite Shinano's persistent rejection.

Shinano was currently waiting for a human ship to come from the direction of the mainland. The Prime Minister insisted that the Phantom Fleet stay just off the coast as the meeting was intended to be secretive and their presence might cause a panic. Launching a ship always had a chance to attract the attention of the Fleet of Fog, but the risk was minimal at this distance. Even so, Shinano had the destroyers and destroyer escort Le Terrible, Yukikaze, and Sammy B. on patrol to spot any hostiles. The light cruiser Ping Hai was in charge of bringing the human ship to Shinano and contacting the rest of the fleet when it arrived. Scharnhorst meanwhile was next to Shinano and well within her Stealth Field. The Battleship was the only other ship in the Phantom Fleet to possess a Super Gravity Cannon, a more recent addition that gave them a significant power boost.

The ocean remained peaceful until a single vessel could be seen coming from the coastline in a direct interception route to the area where the Phantom Fleet was positioned. Of course while the stealth drive was active, there was no way for the vessel to detect or see them. The model of the ship matched the information given by the Japanese Government. A Shimakaze-class destroyer, it was supposed to be one more their newer production missile destroyers. Time had come for the Phantom Fleet to stop running and shift the balance of power.

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[i]Meanwhile...somewhere in the Pacific Ocean[/i]

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Yamato drifted along with the gentle pull of the sea, her mental model completely submerged just a few meters away from her body's vessel. Here she surrendered all of her movements to the will of the ocean, while she meditated and examined her thoughts. This state of being was most soothing to the leader of the Fleet of Fog.

[color=pink][b]"I-401, what is the situation." [/b][/color] Her regal voice called out to her subordinate, across the seemingly endless waves. A response was almost immediate [color=6ecff6][b]"A human vessel has left land to meet with Shinano. Her fleet consists of one battleship, one light cruiser, two destroyers, one destroyer-escort, and one submarine. Should I have Kongo intervene?"[/b][/color] The youthful voice of the submarine was monotone and plain. Yamato feel a strange surge of emotions before fighting them back down. It had been years since they had a proper sighting of Shinano, her sister [color=pink][b]"Maintain surveillance. Try to see what they are up to."[/b][/color] Yamato quickly closed the communication link.

She rose quickly to the surface and created a bridge up to her deck. It had almost broken her heart when Shinano left the Fleet of Fog and Yamato had promised to bring her back. Now that Shinano appeared to be cooperating with humans, it was clear she was farther gone than she hoped. The 'other her' would have a tough job ahead. Every ship was in the Fleet of Fog was built for a single purpose: War. Diverting from that path would only bring sadness and grief. The water that had soaked into her clothes were pulled out and throw back in to the ocean, leaving Yamato completely dry as she stepped towards the edge of the bow. Tough love was sometimes needed to show a loved one their error. A lesson that Yamato would have to teach her younger sister.
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