The training ground was populated by the members of the 1st Fleet and the Infiltration Fleet, and Shigure could see that her fleet now consisted her, Ayanami, Naka, Jintsuu, Saratoga and Haruna while the Infiltration Fleet consisted of Shiranui, Kagerou, Chitose, Kuroshio, Arare and Sendai.
The new member of the Infiltration Fleet was a Kagerou-Class destroyer, and she wore the same uniform which Shiranui and Kagerou wore, which was a black vest covering a white collared, short-sleeved shirt as well as white gloves, black compression shorts and skirt.
She possessed short gray hair as a white hairpiece secured her fringe, looking forwards with emerald eyes while wearing a bright smile as she was exuberant and outgoing like Kagerou, wearing a blue neckerchief in contrast to Shiranui's red and Kagerou's green neckerchief.
She also wore light-grey socks which reached up to her calves, along with brown school shoes which were shielded by her boat slippers, and much like her Kagerou-Class sisters, her boxy rigging was attached to her back along with mechanical arms which brought up her torpedo launchers and cannons.
Her rigging was armed with a quadruple torpedo launcher and a twin-barrel cannon, Anti-Air turrets which were strapped to her thighs and another twin-barrel cannon which was slung over her left shoulder.
She was friendly to everyone regardless of ship class, chatting with Ayanami while Kagerou occupied Shiranui and Arare's attention and Sendai chatted with Jintsuu, Shigure noticing all this while she was talking to Naka about her second career as a fleet idol, Saratoga politely listening in on the conversation.
It was interesting to find out what drove her to perform as an idol in her off time in order to maintain the naval base's morale, the Sendai-Class cruiser explaining herself as they waited for the training session to begin.
"Well," Naka began.
"I know that everyone fights with all their might, and I think that as someone who has a passion for being an idol, I feel that I have a responsibility to try and relieve some of our comrades' stress through my songs. And that's why I host a concert every three months for the ship girls and sailors of this base to attend, free of charge."
Lifting an eyebrow in order to express her interest in Naka's reason behind her aspirations, Naka nodded as she turned to look at the ocean's horizon, elaborating on how her older counterparts had retired long ago in order to launch successful musical careers.
"And I understand that my senior Kai Ni counterparts have retired after serving their time, so it's clear that there is a legitimate career in singing. But it's quite the interesting conundrum where a lot of Nakas possess the same voice, so it's difficult for a newly-retired Naka to distinguish herself from the other established Naka idols, although this can be accomplished by branching out from the over-saturated 'Pop Idol Naka' genre."
Nodding along with the light cruiser's explanation, she understood that due to so many senior Nakas retiring and becoming professional singers, it would cause a problem wherein similar-sounding ship girls who all specialized in one genre would over-saturate said genre with songs that were seemingly sung by the same person.
Fortunately, as her research showed, there was friendly competition between the various retired Nakas, because,
One, they were all retired war veterans, and were mature enough simply to be happy that they survived long enough to be able to focus on their idol career full-time after retiring from the navy.
Two, Naka was a lovable and friendly idol, and she would certainly find an upside to the situation by seeing it from another point of view, where they could perform at many concerts around the world since they could be in many places at once.
Three, there were many Nakas who had successfully branched out into other genres like rock, jazz, girl-group singing and experimental, amongst others, since as talented androids, they were perfectly capable of hitting the high and low notes and pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved in the music industry.
Naka seemed excited about being a respected singer amongst the pantheon of Naka idols some day, explaining herself to both Saratoga and Shigure.
"I suppose every Naka is created as a small-time singer, but for us, those seniors are whom we aspire to become in the future, simply because they're both strong seniors and talented singers. It's always interesting to see how every Naka comes into her own as an established singer, and they live a modest lifestyle in order to fund the ship girl war effort and various charities with their earnings. It's what I'd do too, in order to help as many people as possible while doing what I love!"
Saratoga nodded, now joining in the conversation as she understood Naka's motivations to some extent, but was still interested to know more about her as she inquired.
"But don't your senior counterparts feel a little too, I don't know… Un-unique, in a sense, when you see so many clones around you, possessing your voice and looks? I'm simply asking how you try and distinguish yourselves from everyone else when you're all essentially the same person, so please don't take this the wrong way."
Saratoga tried to ask her question in a way which wouldn't come off as insensitive, but Naka nodded understandingly as her expression softened from her usual "bright cheery idol" demeanor to one of patience and understanding as her eyes and expression belied her three-and-a-half years worth of experience, answering sagely.
"Well, I think it boils down to a simple question. Two Nakas who are recently built can be classified as the same person since they share the same interests, mannerisms and views. Now raise them in separate bases, and taking into account all the events which could change them for better or for worse, after a decade of service in the navy, can you really say that they're exactly the same person? After all, which characteristics define us as 'same' or 'different'? Is it our looks? Personalities? Passions? Or is it the amount of accumulated experience over time?"
Saratoga and Shigure contemplated the question, Naka appreciating the gentle gust of wind which blew in from the ocean as she eventually answered.
"Well, Saratoga-san, you're not exactly wrong when you say that we're the same person, but in some sense, it's strangely easy for the senior Nakas to tell each other apart. This is partially because of their unique tics and mannerisms, as well as the subtle differences in their lifestyles which were shaped by their experiences, after interacting with a myriad of people and growing up differently. So when they meet again, it's only fair to treat them as two different people. They certainly would, since every one of their experiences would change them in order to produce two different Nakas by the time of their retirement."
Saratoga lifted an eyebrow in agreement, seeing her point as she remarked.
"So I suppose we're shaped by our experiences and our interactions to become unique individuals. And even if there were two ship girl clones in the same base, there's no guarantee that they'll turn out to be exactly the same after several years, right?"
A vibrant smile was what they were treated to, Saratoga and Shigure feeling a little refreshed upon seeing the fleet idol show them her genuine feelings and express them so freely, Naka adding her own thoughts.
"Well, I personally feel that each and every ship girl ever conceived is unique in her own way, and that need to preserve a sense of self amongst a crowd of clones is something which is ingrained in all of us. And for us Nakas, that desire to be unique despite everyone technically being the same person is what drives us to distinguish ourselves from everyone else while fulfilling our dreams as idols. The result is a wide variety of unique idols who have carved out careers of their own in the music industry, and become a role model which every serving Naka aspires to be."
Naka looked towards the both of them as she gave them a wry smile and responded in a manner which one would use when discussing about a lifelong dream of theirs.
"I can't quite see what they see right now, since unlike all of them, who are at the top of the world and have earned their place up there, I'm starting out from the bottom like they did back then. But one day…"
Naka raised a gloved hand as she clenched her fist, and the Sendai-Class light cruiser looked determined to rise up the ranks while following in the footsteps of her seniors, and eventually finding her own path on the international stage.
"I'm going to join them! It's going to take a while, but my dream is to be an idol when I retire, and help energize everyone's spirit with my songs! To stand on the national and even the international stage is but a means to an end, amplifying my voice for our comrades all around the world to hear, no matter where they may be!"
Naka broke out into a wide smile, but despite Saratoga's attempt to return the smile, the American carrier found that while everyone had a dream to work towards, she was lacking a direction to begin with as she asked hesitantly.
"A-As much as I'd like to congratulate you on your dream, I can't help but feel that unlike everyone here, I don't have much to work with since my home's halfway around the world. I'm not really sure where to begin…"
But Naka was there to help her as she raised her clenched fist in order to gesture to Saratoga as she remarked confidently.
"Well, the basic dream every ship girl has is to protect her own comrades and friends! Look around you! Even though we're from different countries, we're still comrade-in-arms and friends, right?"
Shigure could see Saratoga's eyes widening in surprise as she looked around in order to take in the sight of Ayanami, Shigure, Haruna and Naka, amongst others, all of whom were friends who were fighting alongside her.
Shigure leaned in to reach for Saratoga's hand, and while the little move surprised the Lexington-Class carrier as she looked down at Shigure's little hand fitting into the carrier's older, and thus larger palm, Saratoga returned Shigure's reassuring smile as she wordlessly comforted her. Being the first friend to the American carrier had its perks, as Saratoga's dispirited tone shifted into a heartened one as she spoke to Naka, but looked down at Shigure whilst sharing her newfound goal.
"I understand, Naka-san. Making friends with Japanese ship girls is certainly a new experience, but you're all my friends nonetheless. I want to protect all of you, in spite of what happened between our countries in the past."
"That's a wonderful goal, but you need to become stronger in order to make that dream become reality. In this world, you can't protect anyone if you're weak."
Everyone turned to face the incoming Tone, another senior ship girl who was close to achieving her Kai Ni remodel much like Naka.
She looked at the recently created Saratoga, stating a fact of life which every ship girl learnt sooner or later after seeing the disparity between the ship girls and Abyssals in terms of numbers and firepower.
"You're a strong ship girl with lots of potential. But potential requires effort on your part to fulfill, otherwise it's meaningless. Out there on the battlefield, potential means nothing, and strength, everything. And to that end, how about we start our training session?"
Tone's expression brightened up with that last sentence as it morphed into one of excitement and anticipation, a sentiment which was shared by the two fleets who were gathered around her as they all nodded once.