WMG / Ambience: A Fleet Symphony

Warning: Here be spoilers!

Mr. Pulupet's girls are not ship girls

For those not up to speed, Mr. Pulupet is a traveling merchant who does business with various cities east of the Mississippi River, providing much needed supplies in return for information that he can provide for others. It is believed that his entourage includes some of the unaccounted for ship girls, as the Shakers compared Suzukaze to some of the girls that Pulupet has. After Suzukaze helps the Shakers, the leader's grand-son answers her question as to how they knew she was one: There used to be a ship girl living with them until she went along with the Quakers.

However, as the final chapter of Suzukaze's side-story reveals, that girl with the Quakers is NOT a ship girl. The Shakers had mistook Suzukaze as a mutant who survived the radiation, which also means they had no knowledge of the ship girls whatsoever. This also means that there's a very high chance that Pulupet's girls are not ship girls as well. Rather, they are mutants just like that girl that was with the Shakers.

• Confirmed in Chapter 208 when Damon meets Pulupet face-to-face. The men and women in his entourage are all just mutants, and he has no ship girls with him.

A group of Abyssals will break off to form their own faction hostile to both mankind and the Inner Circle.

Look at what the Wo-class said to Shoukaku about Abyssals being a superior lifeform to mankind. Now, it could have been delusional, but what if there are Abyssals who genuinely believe that? Maybe they might take a look at their situation, realise that the Inner Circle is led by humans who aren't so different from the ones they fight, and decide that they want to be their own master now.

Xenolith was a Super Prototype and Genesis Thesis was an attempt at making more like him.

It's probably not a coincidence that Xenolith and Damon have similarly unnatural hair and eye colours. Maybe way back when, Xenolith was the product of a Super-Soldier programme that encountered a No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup snag. Genesis Thesis was an attempt at reinventing that particular wheel, but it fell short of expectations.

Gernot Wedekind was killed not by the Inner Circle, but by....

Before I go further, Retia mentions that her father was killed when Inner Circle forces stormed the Reichstag and forced her and surviving SDP forces to retreat to their home. However, Alton Holmwood, when pressed by Lauren for the exact details as to his deal with the Inner Circle, mentions that Retia committed patricide to unsurp his position of president. At first, it seems like the Inner Circle was simply feeding him lies, but then Sir Hunter Stormrider, Holmwood's sworn enemy, is pretty much accusing her of patricide as well. So what are the chances that this may be true?

• As of Chapter 252, this seems to be the case. Blackwood's alliance with Retia seems to stem from the fact that he knows that one of her family friends, Marco Santini, has evidence of her committing patricide.
• Marco himself confirms this on ch333...just before he too suffers the same fate.

Kaga will undergo a controlled Abyssalisation into Aircraft Carrier Demon/Princess in order to defeat Aircraft Carrier Water Demon.

Aircraft Carrier Water Demon is by far the strongest Abyssal yet, beyond even the Re-class. And turning to Arpeggio of Blue Steel would be Ass Pull even by this story's lenient standards. Kaga's partial Abyssalisation, on the other hand, seems to be a Chekhov's Gun, perhaps in this direction? Certainly, the odds are far enough against the Combined Fleet that Kaga also being turned into a puppet of the Inner Circle with presumably-similar power would take things straight into Only the Author Can Save Them Now territory.

• Jossed; it is Zuikaku, not Kaga, who defeats Aircraft Carrier Water Demon in chapter 195.

The Samidare that Suzukaze encounters shortly before her immolation is the ship girl counterpart to JDS Samidare.

Maybe we'll get a more definitive answer once Benjamin reviews the video and audio logs from Suzukaze after her expulsion from the fleet, but I'm betting that the Samidare she encountered shortly before her end is not merely a clone of the canon Samidare, but rather she is based on her modern day JMSDF counterpart, the Murasame-class destroyer Samidare. Of note is that ship itself is featured in the alternate universe fic.

• Jossed; chapter 219 reveals she is the previous-generation personification of the wartime Samidare.

Alabama and New Jersey will eventually get ship girl bodies.

Their having ship girl routines but lacking bodies seems like a Chekhov's Boomerang paving the way for them to, rather than be forgotten after giving aid to the Combined Fleet once, show up in ship girl form. And while neither of them have canonical designs, the existence of Wakamiya and the Royal Navy show the author clearly isn't above cribbing from elsewhere or making his own if need be, so lack of canonical design isn't a barrier to that.

• Finally confirmed in chapter 284 - New Jersey gains a human body and joins the fleet. No updates yet on the Alabama.

The identity of whoever broke into MAPS and stole Damon's cap while the fleet was away.

While investigating a break-in at the base after his return, Damon finds his cap missing, and the only clue as to the culprit is in the form of a strand of blue hair. As it is clearly not Suzukaze's hair, it leaves around 3 possible suspects: Urakaze (who has not made her appearance in the fic as of Chapter 215), the second Samidare, or however unlikely, a clone of Damon.

• Chapter 215 confirms that it is the second Samidare who broke in and stole the cap, as she gives it back to Damon when they meet again in Houston.

The Darkwater Protocol and Hellflower are connected.

Surely no one thinks Lauren's comparison of the two is merely an off-colour gag, as opposed to setting up for something?

Losira and Hellflower are the key to dealing with the Darkwater problem.

Building from the immediately above, if the two really are connected, dealing with Darkwater may require the use of Hellflower. How that works out, though, is anyone's guess. Maybe Darkwatered-up Suzukaze tries dragging Damon into the same dimension she dragged Samidare into and burning up him, which makes Losira manifest and fight back?

• Sort of; in chapter 215, Losira tells Damon that Samidare drew on her power to fight Suzukaze, but prevented her from outright taking control like what happened to Ushio.

!Samidare is to the FLEET Project what Xenolith is to Genesis Thesis.

Following from an above theory, just like Xenolith is a Super Prototype that Genesis Thesis tried to create, !Samidare is also a Super Prototype that the FLEET Project aspired to recreate, but failed. Being the super would explain why she insists that the Protocols used by the Shiratsuyu-class are not their own.

• Confirmed; chapter 219 reveals she is the Sole Survivor of the first generation of ship girls.

Canon Welding meets Cosmic Horror Reveal feat. Bloodborne

If !Samidare is Lady Maria, there must be a Gehrman. And the First Hunter in turn must have a Moon Presence. This will all lead up to the reveal that a cosmic-tier Touhou character from Naraku no Hana is behind this whole shindig.

• Franklin has been revealed to be taking the Gehrman role, complete with a dreamworld of his own. Still no word on a Moon Presence-equivalent.

The paranormal, sufficiently advanced technology... Same difference, right?

It's not Doing in the Scientist, not really. Once you hit cosmic-tier effects like with the Cthulhu Mythos or the Emotional Spectrum from DC, the line between magic and tech is effectively nonexistent, isn't it? SEAL Team Six, AAHW/Inner Circle, whoever made !Samidare, whoever made Substance XYZ... These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, and none of the players have done more than scratch the surface.

Where's Franklin Kevinson?

Theory 1: Franklin Kevinson was killed in action during a major naval engagement shortly after the Great War.His parents have in their possession a paperback novel titled F.R. Kevinson, and its appearance was described as old and worn. It is likely that someone wrote a memoir and tribute to their deceased son.

Theory 2: Franklin Kevinson is very much alive and is the admiral for the second Samidare. Seeing as how Franklin and Samidare became a couple in Franklin's own fic, it may not be a stretch to consider that the second Samidare's admiral is Franklin's counterpart from this universe. While this is seemingly confirmed in Chapter 208, one comment made by !Samidare suggests something else.....

Theory 3: Despite being contradictory, BOTH of the above theories may be correct. Alexis and Gordon's son may have been KIA during the Great War. At the same time, Franklin is !Samidare's admiral. Now how is this so? Going back to Chapter 208 again, !Samidare calls the Shiratsuyu-class ship girls that they have captured the "Second-Generation". This, at first glance, sounds impossible. There were no ship girls before the FLEET Project was initiated. Unless you consider the implication that "Sandman" and !Samidare are actually from the Moebius Four/Summer universe, having somehow hopped over into this dimension. And looking at how !Samidare turned out, including to instances where she refers to herself as "Blood Summer", this may imply that something really, really, REALLY bad happened in their home dimension before they hopped over. Essentially, we may be in for a Downer Ending as far as the Summer series of fics are concerned.

• As of Chapter 224, theories 1 and 3 have been jossed. "Sandman" is indeed this universe's Franklin Kevinson. The "F.R. Kevinson" book is not a memoir, but rather Franklin's own personal diary. !Samidare's comment about the "Second-Generation" is made even clearer. There is indeed a first generation of the Shiratsuyu-class girls, with each of them being impregnated with and eventually giving birth to the second-generation.
  • Engines full stop! One particular line by Franklin in Chapter 289 ("We were not even supposed to be part of this world to begin with") seems to have put theory 3 back on the table.

Blackwood is a Super-Soldier or has some other superhuman/supernatural power.

!Samidare's remark in chapter 228 that Franklin is the only one other than Damon who can fight him suggests as much.

• Confirmed in chapter 250.

Damon will find Yamato by investigating rumours of a seemingly invincible Miami-based Vigilante Man.

Considering the number of references to games and other KanColle fan works, a nod to Hotel Miami sounds entirely plausible, all the more so given that both that and Ambience follow the Bloodier and Gorier Dark Fic route where ship girls are used as infantry.

The Abyssals will eventually get Northern Ocean Princess.

They will do so by making an Evil Knockoff of Jeannie.

When Damon and co. finally meet Eagle in person, he will have Aquila as a bodyguard.

Because the namesake joke was too totes obvious to be left unsaid. Because she has a namesake from Assassin's Creed III too, she will be a McNinja with a Hidden Blade in addition to her usual.

• First part is jossed; Aquila is said to already be with the Italians before Damon meets Eagle in chapter 284. No word on the Assassin's Creed connection yet though.
• Second part confirmed and taken up to eleven; all Italian shipgirls have Hidden Blades.

The Sheriff has superhuman or supernatural abilities of his own.

There surely must be some reason why the already superhuman Xenolith is secretly collaborating with Blackwood instead of openly rebelling against him.

• May be jossed as Sanford claims in chapter 294 that he was The Team Normal for the AAHW. Then again, who knows how up to date his info is...

Damon will get a new bladed hacking implement to replace his nanoknife.

And one of the things he'll need to do with it is Skulljack an Abyssal boss in order to get vital information on the Sheriff and/or Inner Circle operations.

Someone will give Suzukaze a "Hey, You!" Haymaker.

With all the Call of Duty references, it would be criminal to leave out "Oi, Suzy!"

• Happens in chapter 265.

Harusame will not be Abyssalised into Destroyer Princess.

It's already happened in the Summer stories, so it would be too obvious.

Fubuki will finally appear having been turned into the Abyssal Soldier.

Poor Bucky is the only member of the Starter Five that has yet to join the Combined Fleet as of chapter 263. The author surely must be saving her for something important. And considering all the Bucky is Bucky the Winter Soldier jokes, maybe the Abyssals got to her first...

Damon will have to fight a manifested Plasma-chan.

Fighting the Darkwater-possessed Suzukaze has set a precedent for him having to face the Superpowered Evil Sides of the ship girls.

Damon's child will be the most powerful being that is equal to Losira's opponents in the pre-sequel.

Due to what happened between Shigure and Damon in the bathhouse in chapter 289, It is possible that if she did managed to get pregnant, their child might have both powers of her and Damon's.

• Jossed as Sanford never really said anything about it when he talked to Damon about Shigure's condition in chapter 299.

Xenolith is actually a Stealth Mentor.

In the grand tradition of enemies who were secretly on the hero's side all along like Itachi Uchiha, KIRYUUIN SATSUKI and Meta Knight, a number of his involvements seem to play vital roles in the Combined Fleet's successes. His being in F.L.E.E.T. second phase that gave Jeannie her powers, working with Blackwood that led to the fight where Damon manifested YRC, the EMP trap of Imwalle's that was a "gear check"... might he have had something to do with Genesis Thesis, the results of which are self-evidently vital? Far too many of his deeds worked out in the Combined Fleet's favour to be a coincidence.

Damon is a walking, talking improbability Drive.

With the introduction of Auditor, Tricky, Savior, and Sheriff. The closest existence of the Improbability Drive is Damon's YRC, mostly due to sandman saying that if awakened, has more power than they imagined.

Hank and Deimos are still alive

Let's be honest here, we all want to see what kind of person Hank is, is he as powerful as Losira if not, more? Not only that, he might be the reason why World War 3 started, just so Auditor won't power up. And Deimos? he might've took the remaining shipgirls and went underground with Hank to study the shipgirl structure, hence the creation of Shadow Helix. He might've already made a Losira Vessel in case she dies (which she did).

Yukari was involved in Hank's use of the AAHW's nukes in Iran. Also, it wasn't Hank's idea in the first place.

So this WMG came about due to a few things.

• 1: The Abyssals existed, or were at least in development, before the ship girls, not the other way around as previously thought.
• 2: Their existence presumably caused a change in objective as far as Project Constitution was concerned. The beginnings of the ship girls came about using knowledge, and "Serenity", stolen from the AAHW's Abyssal project.
• 3: That point above, along with FLEET Project devs figuratively bashing their heads on a wall trying to figure the ship girl thing out, led to Sanford and co. getting involved in the Project, and the subsequent creation of the Moebius Four Project. Yukari almost outright says, in a video addressed to the 2nd-gen Shiratsuyus that she left behind in ST6's San Pedro base, that the M4 Project was a direct response to not only the Abyssals, but also to the head of the AAHW, the Auditor, who was planning an invasion of Gensoukyo. The fact that the fruits of the M4 Project's labour resulted in a breakthrough that the other divisions of the FLEET Project sorely needed, and allowed for them to get their ship girls out in a timely fashion, was a bonus.

So if the Mk2 Shiratsuyus were meant to counter the AAHW, then what's Yukari's involvement in Hank launching those nukes? One theory is that something the Auditor did pushed Yukari into that course of action. Maybe there was a breakthrough in the development of, and the production of the Abyssals, that his invasion was practically imminent. She may have figured that in order to stop the Auditor's planned invasion, she needed to do something drastic.........like triggering global thermonuclear war, and this is presumably where Hank's involvement begins, as using the AAHW's nukes from their concealed silos in Iran was her idea.

And for all the destruction that action caused, it seemed to have worked. Nineteen and a half years later, and we haven't heard a peep from the Auditor himself, nor did the invasion proceed.

One or more ship girls that Ramsey saw in Japan may actually be from the first FLEET Project.

This could explain why some of the canon IJN girls, such as Fubuki, Yamato, or even Takao's sisters, have yet to be found. They didn't get shipped out of the country before the bombs hit.

There may be more survivors of the Genesis Thesis Project that are still living in the present day.

Officially, Damon and another girl (who died at the age of 7) were the only known surviving products of the Project, with the rest of the children presumably being rendered stillborn, which may/may not have been caused by the mother herself dying during the experiments. Unofficially, as Shelepov suggests, there may be more products of the Project still living today, and now that it's all but confirmed what the true purpose of the Project was (To create human beings with the power to control ship girls, via the injection of a modified strain of the Rebirth virus), there's reason to believe that some of the FLEET 1 girls, at least those that are not still in Japan, are under the control of one or more GT Project survivors.