Small Ship, Big War - The Voyages of the Hibiki

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Cuttlefish, when the war (and AAR) are over, will you be so kind as to let us know what the future holds for those who survive the war?  You know we'll have to know.

I will be doing some kind of epilogue along those lines for sure. We've come too far with this crew not to at least get a glimpse into what happens to them after the war.

[Mike Solli]

Excellent.  Thanks CF. [:D]

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Taiki seems to be taking an... unorthodox approach to his position as nakodo...[:D]

Right out the Shun school of interpersonal interaction [:D]

[Cuttlefish]

February 2, 1944

Location: Tokyo
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders.

---

There is no further work to be done on Hibiki and the berth is needed, so Chief Engineer Sakati and his men light the boilers. Bringing up steam in a cold system requires a careful touch – too much heat too quickly can cause damage – but Sakati and his men are experienced at the job and within a couple of hours Hibiki is operating on her own power once again.

The destroyer moves out into the bay and takes up position at the end of a row of about a dozen other destroyers. The crew is back to full strength, the last of the sick men having recently been cleared to return to duty, so now it is just a matter of waiting for new orders. These could come in a day, or next week, or next month. It all depends on the vagaries of war and the whim of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

---

Kojima Miharu and her husband walk through a park in Tokyo. Kojima’s eyes are red but she is no longer crying. Instead she holds Lieutenant Miharu’s arm as they walk, lost in thought.

“The last thing I ever told him was not to come back,” she says at last. Her husband stops walking and turns her to face him.

“None of what happened was your fault,” he says. “Morito made his own choices and suffered his own consequences. You meant him no ill when you told him that, and I think he knew it.”

Kojima nods, though her face is still somber. She looks at the cherry tree growing next to the path beside them. Its branches stretch overhead, bare shapes between them and the gray winter sky.

“I am glad Mr. Shun and his family are all right,” she says. “His mother must be a remarkable woman. I should like to meet her some day.”

“They are in town,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “Young Mr. Ariga’s courtship is proceeding at last.”

“Good!” says his wife with a faint smile. “It is good to hear about new beginnings. I have heard too much about death lately.”

Her husband draws her closer. “I’m afraid that will not change soon,” he says gently. “This war is a long ways from over.”

[FeurerKrieg]

So, CF, with this high standard of writing, do you ever ind yourself taking forever on a post since maybe you are worried it isn't good enough? Your standards have improved steadily over the course of this epic and I wonder if you ever have a tough time keeping the bar so high.

As always - great job!!

[kaleun]

So, CF, with this high standard of writing, do you ever ind yourself taking forever on a post since maybe you are worried it isn't good enough? Your standards have improved steadily over the course of this epic and I wonder if you ever have a tough time keeping the bar so high.

AKA writer's block.

Outstanding work cuttlefish.

And IMHO you are entitled to as many episodes of writer's block as you need.

Unfortunately I have neglected all other AARs for this one.[8|]

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

So, CF, with this high standard of writing, do you ever ind yourself taking forever on a post since maybe you are worried it isn't good enough? Your standards have improved steadily over the course of this epic and I wonder if you ever have a tough time keeping the bar so high.

As always - great job!!

Oh yeah. I write a lot of stuff that never makes the cut. Sometimes I can salvage it by writing it a different way, sometimes I have to scrap it and start completely over. Sometimes when I read something I just wrote I think "Wow, this sucks." I don't run into a lot of classic writer's block, but I do have a hard time making some ideas work.

Maybe I should have saved some of the worst stuff and used it for a "bloopers" section at the end of the AAR. Then again, maybe not. I still wince when I think about the scene with Ensign Handa and the gorilla.

[Onime No Kyo]

I'm almost afraid to ask. Almost.....

[kaleun]

I'm almost afraid to ask. Almost.....

Oh, go ahead; you know you want to...[;)]

[gladiatt]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

“It’s the name,” he says. “Benzaiten is a lucky goddess. She is connected to the sea and to snakes and dragons.” He stops and looks at the executive officer. Miharu shakes his head, not understanding. Shun’s expression doesn’t change, but Miharu gets the impression Shun thinks he is being dense.

“Hiryu,” says Shun, and suddenly the lieutenant understands.

“Flying dragon,” he says. “You think that if I order the snake killed and the carrier sinks…”

“Then people will say it’s because we killed the snake, yes sir,” finishes Shun.

I am impressed still more [&o] [&o]. You've clearly done an extraordinary amount of research on this!

Still nearly a year late to read, but i can't stop reading this AAR. I agree with Capt.Harlock; we must all bow to your imagination, research, sense of drama, humor, and good description of a great number of character. It sound like real life. Even events coming from the game (Hiryu trying to reach Tjilitjap and fighting against the whole ocean) with a great sense of suspens, it sound like it was made just to be a great TALE !!!
Congratulations !

[Dave3L]

Sooooo......
 
 
What about Ens. Handa and the gorilla?

[Capt. Harlock]

There is no further work to be done on Hibiki and the berth is needed, so Chief Engineer Sakati and his men light the boilers. Bringing up steam in a cold system requires a careful touch – too much heat too quickly can cause damage – but Sakati and his men are experienced at the job and within a couple of hours Hibiki is operating on her own power once again.

Something I'm not 100% certain about but which might be of interest. I've read that in Royal Navy destroyers, they preferred to operate with only some of the boilers lit, to save wear and tear. The 'black gang' is thus immediately able to tell the difference between drills and the real thing: when the call comes down to light all boilers, action is imminent.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: gladiatt

Still nearly a year late to read, but i can't stop reading this AAR. I agree with Capt.Harlock; we must all bow to your imagination, research, sense of drama, humor, and good description of a great number of character. It sound like real life. Even events coming from the game (Hiryu trying to reach Tjilitjap and fighting against the whole ocean) with a great sense of suspens, it sound like it was made just to be a great TALE !!!
Congratulations !

Glad you are enjoying getting caught up!

ORIGINAL: Dave3L

Sooooo......

What about Ens. Handa and the gorilla?

Thinking about it I seem to remember that I had to change it from a gorilla to an orangutan because orangutans are native to the DEI and gorillas are not. It was still a bad idea, though.

[Cuttlefish]

February 3, 1944

Location: Tokyo
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders.

---

The sun has come out and sunlight dances off the low swells in Tokyo Bay as Ensign Izu pilots one of the ship’s boats towards a dock. While the weather is warm enough to melt the recent snow it is still chilly, around 4 degrees C.

There are three passengers in the boat. Two of them, Lieutenant Miharu and Petty Officer Takahashi, sit calmly. The third, Riku Ariga, sits facing rigidly forward. His hands are gripping the bench seat so hard his knuckles are white.

“It is good your wife can be here for this,” Lieutenant Miharu tells Taiki. “And I imagine you are looking forward to seeing her anyway.”

“Yes sir,” says Taiki. He glances over at Riku. “And if Ariga here remains catatonic throughout the meeting I will be glad of her help in keeping the conversation going.” Riku does not show any sign of having heard.

“A nakodo’s job is never easy,” says the lieutenant with a laugh. “But you seem to be doing well.”

Taiki sighs. His task today is to supervise the first formal meeting between Riku and Nanami Shun. Ordinarily the prospective couple would be meeting for the first time and would get to know each other and decide if they want to marry. That would seem to be a foregone conclusion in this case, but Taiki knows it is important to observe the proper forms, for Chief Shun’s sake if for no other reason.

As the boat approaches the pier two women can be seen waiting. One is a small woman of delicate beauty, formally wrapped in a warm and beautifully embroidered kimono. The other is a tall and striking woman dressed in a western-style coat and monpe, the pantaloons increasingly favored by Japanese working women. The two women are standing close together and talking animatedly with one another. The men in the boat can hear a great deal of laughter as they get closer. Kojima Miharu is giggling, her hand over her mouth, while Sayumi Takahashi has her head back and is laughing out loud.

“Ah,” says the lieutenant, “it seems our wives are well on their way to becoming friends.”

“I wonder what they find so funny?” Taiki asks.

“Take it from an old married man,” says Lieutenant Miharu. “Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

---

Considerably later in the day:

“Hey, he’s back!” says Shiro as Riku appears in the doorway to their bunk area. Riku steps inside, expertly weaving his head around some pipes. The others gather around him.

“How did it go?” says Oizuma.

Riku smiles. “It was wonderful,” he says. “Though I admit it got off to a bad start. I couldn’t talk! There she was at last, sitting right across the table from me, and at first I could not say a word.”

“To think this is the man who used to have a woman in every port,” says Yoshitake. “Two or three women in some of them.”

“No more, my friend,” says Riku.

“What happened?” asks Shiro. “Were you finally able to find your voice?”

Riku nods. “It was Mrs. Takahashi’s doing,” he says. “She and Takahashi kept trying to get me to say something. I guess Mrs. Takahashi ran out of patience, because she stabbed me under the table with a fork! Right in the thigh, it hurt like hell.”

The men laugh uproariously. “And that snapped you out of it?” Shoji asks after the mirth dies down.

Riku nods. ”Oh yes. I yelled, then I had to pretend I had a cramp. But that got things going. After that Miss Shun and I could not stop talking. It was wonderful.”

“What happens next?” Shiro asks.

“Takahashi and Shun will decide when the wedding occurs,” says Riku. “It will be later, when we know we will be in port for a while. We could be sent out again any time, now.” He eyes get a glazed look as his thoughts obviously revert to the day just past. “Ah, what a day it was,” he says. He looks so goofily happy that the other men exchange amused glances.

“Do you want to rig your hammock tonight, Ariga,” Oizuma asks him dryly, “or are you just going to float?”

[Onime No Kyo]

Riku would hardly be amiss by leaving Benzaiten a little something. [:)]

[Dave3L]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish



Thinking about it I seem to remember that I had to change it from a gorilla to an orangutan because orangutans are native to the DEI and gorillas are not. It was still a bad idea, though.

Sooooooo....

What about Ens. Handa and the orangutan?




(Actually, CF, although I have been a lurker, I must add my approbation to your AAR. Your style is good, and your story even better. Kudos!)

[AcePylut]

I kinda hope Riku dies.  Might be a good way to show the cost of warfare. 
 
 

[tocaff]

Once married to Shun's daughter he will have the omnipotent protection that it will bring.

[Cuttlefish]

February 4 - February 17, 1944

Location: Tokyo
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: Await further orders.

---

Recent events give way to days of calm aboard Hibiki. The crew is healthy and the destroyer is ready for action, but no new orders come in. The war in the Pacific is also in a period of calm. Not only are there no fresh Allied attacks, but their forces are keeping a low profile. No one mistakes this to mean they have gone away. To the Japanese high command, rather, this lull has an ominous feel to it.

China is also quiet, with both sides seemingly reluctant to open any fresh offensives there. Farther south the Southern Resource Area drowses in sleepy tropical calm. Word comes of renewed fierce fighting in Burma, however, with the British launching a fresh offensive against Mandalay. Japanese radio and newspapers confidently predict that these new attacks will meet with no more success than previous efforts.

The quiet days slip by for Hibiki’s crew. It is a welcome respite. Wives and families of many of the crewmen come to the Tokyo area to be nearby. The crew does routine maintenance, plays cards and shogi, and speculates endlessly on when and where the next battle will take place. Captain Ishii wishes he could get the baseball team together again but the winter weather in Tokyo is not suitable for playing ball.

Battleship Mutsu arrives in Japan for a refit following an extended stay in the Kuriles and Taiki gets to spend some time with his brother Noboro. Riku goes to nearby Kawasaki POW Camp 2-B to visit Jack and Ensign Turnby and finds that they are still in relatively good health. The prison official that he and Lieutenant Miharu are paying is taking good care of his nest eggs.

This period of calm comes to an abrupt end on February 17 when Hibiki receives orders directing her to make ready to sail and placing her in Task Force 33 under the command of Captain Shiro Shibuya. Rumor spreads like wildfire across the harbor and word quickly reaches Hibiki of what is going on. Powerful enemy forces have been spotted approaching Woleai atoll in the Caroline Islands. The quiet time is over. Hibiki is back in the war.

[kaleun]

Opening fanfare from "Victory at Sea" sounds.