An endless sea, stretching out towards the horizon. Upon its crystal-clear water, is the perfect reflection of the blue heavens above.
Here we stand, upon the water, neither sinking nor floating. We do not belong here, we do not exist here, we merely see. Walking, running, speaking, nothing that we utter or do has any effect or permanence. The water stays still, without ripples; the air remains undisturbed, quiet and motionless.
Time seems to have stopped, leaving this world free of the stain of decay, of death... but then, if something cannot die, cannot age... does it truly 'live'? The human mind cannot explain, but the human soul can feel -- and we all feel that there is life to this silent, motionless, immaculate world. It is certainly not a 'dead' place.
"Where are we? Where does it all lead to?"
"▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄"
Yes. It dawns on you now, as you look below, as you see past the reflection of the blue heavens, as you see beneath the surface:
The silence itself is a sound, a song. A song which rises from the depths and wraps itself around you like a sweet embrace, gently, innocently pulling you down to into the abyss. Perhaps that you never really realised it, perhaps that subconsciously, you never really wanted to acknowledge it, never wanted to see past the reflection -- but now that you've seen 'it', you can avert your eyes no longer.
You plunge your hand through the water, trying to reach for this 'darkness' veiled behind purity... and in that instant...
Just as thing were getting rather intense, scary, or for some, interesting... you wake up. No matter if you're a morning person, someone that generally doesn't need much sleep, or on the contrary, a heavy sleeper : it appears that your natural predispositions don't matter here. There is an unusually heavy feeling of tiredness still hanging over you... as if you drank some alcohol of sorts? It is certain at the very least that this 'fatigue' isn't just mere sleepiness... in fact, for how long have you been sleeping?
The darkness reaches back to you.
------
Location
Somewhere in the Pacific,
C-5 Airplane Passenger's CompartmentDate 16th of April, 20xx, 07:26 Weather Clear Sky, Sunrise
The last thing which comes to mind is that you had been served dinner... and then... you fell asleep? Probably. 'Fell' here relates more to brick crashing into the ground than a piece of paper gently drifting down. Quite clearly, there probably was something in that food. Well, for consolation at least it tasted good.
Your seat, inexplicably neither uncomfortable or comfortable, creaks as you adjust your seating position; the hum of the jet's engines reverberates as you rub your eyes, reminding you where you are, or rather, what you are inside of: a military plane which is ferrying you to your new 'Home', Aegis Naval Base. Plucked away from whatever you were, wherever you lived, you are now being sent to become part of the 'Living Fleet', a special task force created to be the spearhead against the Abyssal Forces.
Before you can mull much over the situation however and properly wake up, three women, or you could even say, three young ladies that you did not notice before, walk pass the aisle, making their way to the very front before turning around as to address everyone. They all have a rather peculiar dress code that contrasts starkly with your typical soldier uniform. In fact, asking yourself if they even have a dress code is a totally valid question.
When did they board the plane? You are fairly certain that other than the six of you "new recruits", the rest of the people which were on board of this plane were all military personnel.
But then, it is quite clear that you've been asleep for a while.
One of the members of the trio steps forwards as of to speak, but before she does so, she takes a good look at everyone. Her hair is long and silky, of a white-blonde color, bordering on silver. Her blue eyes bear a strong will and character, she does not hesitate to meet your gaze. Another notable feature of hers is the scar that she has on the left cheek, the maimed flesh there starkly contrasting with her pale, snow-like skin everywhere else.
"Well, it looks like everyone's awake. Rise and shine friends! Da steppt der Bär!"
If someone wasn't awake by then, her fairly loud and commanding voice would've been more than enough to at least shake them up a bit. It isn't the kind of loudness that is grating on the ears, rather, the way she speaks seems to naturally instil a duty within others to listen, no matter the tone she uses.
At least you didn't mess up your dose this time, eh?" she comments to the girl standing next to her.
"Eheheh... well, a learning experience, a learning experience," the girl sheepishly answers.
Small, with the appearance of a young teenager, she is quite the opposite of the tall, commanding silver-haired woman. Her childish face and wide, innocent eyes would be quite effective at triggering parental instincts... or bully instincts, depending on the person.
For the white-blonde-haired woman, it seems like it's the former, seeing how before resuming her talk, she nonchalantly pats the youth's head:
"Right, right... well, greetings everyone. I trust that you've had a nice, peaceful sleep; if you've got any complaint just go talk to that Fräulein here. First things first though, if you are wondering who or what we are... then you only need to look at yourself. We are Living Ships, just like you. 'Fleet Girls' though, is the better sounding name, I'd like to think.
Well, about what's happening and--"
"Don't you think that you're forgetting something important?"
The third member of the trio suddenly interjects, cutting her companion off. Her voice is quite deep, but more than anything it carries a certain sense of nobility with it, even if she's not using the most friendly of tones towards her companion right now.
"Oh... right! Well, this little cutie here is HMS Artifex, aka Arti; this silent, scary person standing behind me and probably wondering when we'll next sortie so she can shoot me in the back is HMS Repulse. (I call her Reppy). Finally, mein name ist Admiral, Admiral Hipper~"
The red-haired woman, Repulse, coughs, visibly irritated.
"Excuse her manners, or rather, her lack off."
With her companions are being a little bit too 'playful' towards one another, Artifex is visibly distressed. "Ahaha... i-isn't that a bit harsh, Miss Repulse...?" she says, trying to defuse the situation.
However, Hipper appears to be used to having abrasive comments thrown at her, either it's already become a routine with Repulse or her ego is just that big to the point where insults of that kind just bounce of it somehow. It might a mix of these two factors, really.
Casually laughing it off, Hipper smiles brightly at the six new recruits and says:
"Heheh, it's fine, she wouldn't be a real Royal Navy ship if she didn't have some bad blood with the Kriegsmarine in her!
At any rate, would you mind introducing yourselves? We'd like to know you girls a bit better, since we'll be touring you around the Base once we land in less than thirty minutes."
"If you have questions too, feel free to ask them," Repulse adds.
"Yep! We'll do our best to answer!" Artifex echoes with an enthusiastic hop.
Opening : Arrival
Introduction of the PCs, people get to write and have some fun! Get a feel of your character, get to know a bit more of what you're getting into, it's time to get comfortable~
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