The One Who Fell From Grace

Chapter 9: The truth

Time skip 5 hours, time 5:00 AM, location San Diego naval base R&D

Now a tall man with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a white lab coat and jeans could be seen walking into the same control room looking room that Airi was in just a few hours ago. He seemed tired as he walked over to the door to the odd playroom, and opened it.

"Rise and shine, guys" he said in a tired voice before yawning. He rubbed his eyes before looking down at the meowfficers. But he noticed something "Wait... 1... 2... 3..." he paused for a moment before saying "ugh... shit" out of the 6 meowfficers that were supposed to be there, he saw there were only 5.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Time skip 30 minutes, location Admiral Falcon's office

Now Jenkins could be seen in front of Admiral Falcon, though without Enterprise, as she was now near Africa. Jenkins seemed... nervous as he said "Sir I think we have a problem"

"And what is it?" Admiral Falcon asked.

"Yesterday night one of the meowfficers went missing"

"Did you look for it?" Falcon asked "its got to be somewhere in that room, or at least the building"

"The door knob to that room is too high for them to reach, Sir. Besides we already checked everywhere in the building. He's not there" Admiral Falcon seemed to think for a moment, but Jenkins then said "there's a possibility that someone deliberately took the meowfficer. Whether it is was a malicious act or not, we don't know"

"Well... there was something else we learned about 2 days ago. Meowfficers it seems have a natural inclination to follow ship girls around, even if they just saw them. So there is a possibility that one accidentally got loose and followed a ship girl around, though that possibility I think is slim"

"Hmm, I see. Well then, I'll have the base personnel begin looking for it, beginning with the ship girls' dorms. Though what does it look like again?"

"It's a cat with black fur, and an admiral's cap"

"Hmm, just out of curiosity, what are its known effects?"

"If I remember correctly, it is a special one that can be equipped to either one specific ship or to a small fleet. If equipped to a single ship it will give a reload boost and a speed boost if the ship girl is outnumbered by enemies. To a fleet it will give a general speed boost and reload boost, though to a lesser degree"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Location 90 kilometers off the coast of San Diego

Betty, Eliza, and Alice's ships could be seen. The 3 were sailing westward, though not in their normal patrol line. Something seemed... off. The 3 patrol boats alongside Airi, who was on Betty's ship, seemed to be hunting something. But the early morning was foggy, and they could only see a few hundred meters, though their radar helped guide them.

"Is this where the signal came from?" Eliza asked.

"Not yet" Betty said "it's still 2 miles out. Though I can see something on radar"

"Me too, it's coming towards us fast"

"Wait... there's two things on the radar. Hmm... Airi, summon your riggings, get on the water and see what is ahead"

Airi nodded to Betty before summoning her riggings, and jumping off Betty's ship. She then sailed forward much faster than the 3 patrol boats. Though after a few moments she couldn't see what was behind her, though she herself was using radar.