PORTLAND'S HEROES.

AN: So here I am seating thinking, what story can I do in the Kancolle universe? After a while I decided that the way to go was to base my work on a war movie, but what movie? Most of them are greedy and I don't like going super dark in my fan fictions, especially if it makes the fanfic have a different tone from that of the original work (Granted my Strike Witches story has a severe lack of cuteness in it-and witches for the matter- but it isn't more dark than the anime or most mangas on the series) So I had to chose the correct one, and the correct one turned up to be the 1970 classic Kelly's Heroes, starring Clint Eastwood and other good actors my dad would have better chances of recognizing. The reason why I based my fanfic around this movie is simple, more than a war film telling the tragedy that was the war it is a bank robbery/comedy set in WW2, so replacing WW2 with Kancolle and going with the rest had a better chance of fitting than Black Hawk Down or something similar.

And to be crystal clear this story has a crap ton of OC's. Why? Because as far as I know no one in the official cannon is greedy enough to risk their lives by going behind enemy lines for money and the ones that are crazy enough to go behind enemy lines would not do it for money (Or if you have evidence of Ise having such bravery or Tenryuu wanting to buy something so desperately please show it to me because I haven't seen it) So in conclusion, I had to come up with the crazy people required for the job.

In any case I have bored you for to long so let's begging…

Chapter one

Crucial Intelligence

It was the middle of the night in the pacific; there was heavy raining and the Gods of thunder were competing to see who could illuminated the black canvass that was the sky, not many seconds passing between the lightning strikes, as a consequence of this constant attempt of making the night day a massive Abyssal formation that was gathering on a small lagoon had its cover blown, even without radar everyone who cared to could clearly see the lines endless lines of battleships, cruisers and destroyers sailing around as if they had nothing to fear in the seven seas, they were just there, silently going at their business with their glowing eyes and grey skin giving them the appearance of a ghost army getting ready to take the souls of the living.

One of the countless formations that was at that moment making their way around the place passed a channel, it was a little one created by two rocks that were separated by more or less by 70 feet of whish haft were blocked by semi sunken boats, everything from a rather big fishing ship to sailboats and little canoes, all were resting there, abandon by their owners and just rotting as the powerful Abyss passed them by without paying attention, they were just debris after all, unable to stop them. As the waves pushed against the hulls of the done for ships no one notice that at the very end of the channel were the rocks gave way to the open sea, there was something odd, an inflatable launch with markings that belonged to the US navy and that unlike the rest of the ships in the line was floating and had its powerful engine ready to go. Inside of it were 3 girls, the one that was on the controls of the launch was almost as tall as Fusou but unlike her she had really disorganized short black hair and grey eyes that had more in common whit daggers than with eyes, in front of her were the other two, a destroyer girl with black eyes and chocolate hair that ended in a pony tail that was sitting to the left of a completely immobilized Abyssal Ri class cruiser, a threatening creature that despite been one of the most powerful things at sea just limited herself to gaze coldly to the horizon whit her glowing blue eyes without a single expression in her face as the destroyer girl pointed to her head whit a 5 inch gun that was covered whit black cloth to make it less obvious for any casual observer, but in reality that was just a gesture to spy movies because there was no camouflage or other consoling attribute in the launch, basically they were just at plain sight and any one that turned at the right time could have seen them, but the ship girls either ignored this or didn't care because they were as calm as if they were at Pearl Harbor.

As time passed many Abyssal went by, not a single one detected the very launch and its occupants, they just sailed by the side of it without hesitation, not that they were idiotic or blind, they simply were pre occupied with the imminent attack that was coming their way, there was no time to detail an out of place inflatable boat, the only way someone would have detected the girls is if it had stopped for a moment to actually see her surroundings, and sure enough, some did.

A column of battleships and cruisers passed the strait at full speed and like so many others they didn't even blink, or at least that was the case for the first thirteen Abyssal that comprised the column because the fourteen girl was distracted by a big commotion behind her, it was a big crash followed by a big orange flame that raised several feet into the stormy night, probably lightning detonating fuel of one of the sunken ships, the Abyss just looked at the explosion with indifferent eyes, as with the majority of its kind there was no way of knowing if she was shocked scared or just impressed by the sudden fireworks, all that was clear is that the explosion had made her fall behind the rest of her formation, and that had to be corrected if the intention was to defeat their enemy, she began turning her body in the other direction when she noticed something odd in the line of sunken boats that was close to her, light was scares been only provided by the diminishing orange glow of the explosion but nevertheless it was enough for the floating boat and three figures in it to be distinguishable, the Abyssal looked at it with her face showing a bit of confusion in a weird demonstration of emotions that indicated the launch had caught her attention, she began moving towards it at a snail pace as if fearing the boat was going to bite her; on the boat no one even flinched as the creature got closer, the Abyssal cruiser didn't try to get her attention, the destroyer girl was firm on her position not even lowering the five inch gun and finally the girl with grey eyes was as stoic as always, barely blinking as the enemy got to just a few steps from them before stopping dead on the water, seconds passed as the Abyssal stared at the boat and the figures in it that stared back from the darkness, it was uncomfortable at best and scary at worst, only something radical could break the scene and as if invoked that something drastic happened in the form of a monstrous lightning that illuminated all the zone as if it was day. The Abyssal eyes went wide as the occupants of the launch became clear to her in their entire bizarre splendor, the tall girl with black hair, the destroyer girl with a pony tail that was holding her left arm towards the head of one of her comrades in arms, the light disappeared in just one second but the second it was on was enough for the Abyss to figure out what the hell was going on, her guns turned simultaneously and pointed their barrels at the inflatable boat ready to blow that thing out of the water, but there was no change that was happening, the tall girl operating the controls turned the engine on in one blink, the sudden sound of the engine giving the attacker pause, then the ship girl forced the throttle to its absolute limit expressing every single horse power out of the motor giving the boat a big whack as it suddenly rocked forward, running over the Abyss girl in the process that went from powerful warship to an inadequate submarine as the launch passed her over, hitting her with the blades of the engine and then leaving her face down on the water with a very severe headache and a deep cut in her gut.

The launch went around at full speed maneuvering wildly as it dogged dozens of submarines, destroyers, cruisers and battleships that were sailing around getting ready to sink any girl that crossed their sights, ironically ignoring the two almost defenseless ones that were sailing around in a boat that had the same protection as a balloon, the only ones that remotely noticed the escapist girls was a group of submarines that was on the surface doing something when all the sudden the boat speeded by, pulling a sharp turn in front of their faces and filling their eyes and mounds with salt water as the big wake from the boat hit them like a locomotive, all of them screeched and some raised their hands in protest as the responsible went by at the speed a soul goes to hell. Onboard the launch very few things had changed after their escape was put into motion; the destroyer girl was a little uneasy but was still keeping guard at their prisoner that still showed as much emotion as a jellyfish, and at the wheel the tall girl was as stoic as always, only one thing having changed in her was that know she was singing, it was an old song that had nothing to do with the navy but it had some melancholy to it.

"All the burning bridges that are falling after me, all the lonely feelings and burning memories…" She sang to one in particular as she steered the launch in no particular direction but away from their enemies nevertheless.

The only time that they even showered down was after they finally got the Abyssal on their back, because with that part done they actually had to see were their fleet was because they were disoriented and none of them had their radars on, this problem was rather easily solved however as all the sudden the horizon was illuminated by orange flashes and tracer salvos that crossed the sky and landed all over the place exploding all over rocks, coral, their own lines! And sometimes their actual target.

"There you are loons"

Said the girls on the controls as the launch turned and moved again now towards the relative security of friendly lines, emphasis on relative security because the bombardment was so insanely bad that even as they got closer the shells keep on falling around with the same frequency as it was before. Under such intense fire the mad maneuvers pulled by the boat keep on going uninterrupted as they now had to dodge their own side artillery. On the way they passed some friendly's that were having it as difficult as they, Sendai and destroyer squadron 11* were moving in the opposite direction at full speed almost as if their combined positivity made them impermeable to shells and providing a good contrast with Tenryuu and the Akatsuki sisters that were having it difficult to advance even an inch without a shell splash sending them backwards like shower toys or something just as inconsequential. All the while the launch pushed forward in the opposite direction gaining some glances from booth groups but not much else as there were more pressing issues like not been blown up.

After one final close call from a shell and a tight turn the launch and its occupants arrived to the destination, the grounded and bombarded hulk of the landing ship Kunisaki, its big door on her stern been inviting to escape the rain and the shells.

"Okay Craven, take our gets inside so we can talk to her"

"Yes Portland, you get moving" Responded the destroyer girl as she pulled the Abyss cruiser by her tied hands without lowering the gun from her head (the black cloth long gone from the gun) and then the 3 girls entered the big interior of the Kunisaki. The once proud and modern ship from the JSDF it had been bombed to pieces by a surprise attack a few years back and now was a wreck that could be use for very few things, inside cables hung from the ceiling like webs, the many shell holes made the interior as waterproof as an open box meaning anyone searching for a dry space was going to have a bad time, and while there was good amount lamps they were so randomly distributed that there were several black spots all around giving the space a hunted filling that was difficult to shake off, but on the good side it was still more dry than the exterior and the water inside was enough for the ship girls to sail freely between all the interior accommodations such like a table with radio equipment, another one with maps, lots of broken equipment that served as improvised desks and benches to sit and finally the big door at the stern of the ship, not much but better than been under fire, or at least that would have been the case if the imprecise barrage wasn't also falling all around the Kunisaki.

As Portland, Craven and their prisoner entered and went straight for the radio were a light cruiser was sitting alongside it and the heavy cruiser that was their battlefield commander that was talking (Or rather screaming softly) to someone that definitely was not having a good time, the girls arrived just in time to discoverer who that ship girl was and also to hear how that girl day got worst.

" … Hear me out Iowa because I want you to remember this for the rest of your live, I don't care how much Roma tries to impose gunnery techniques on you, I don't care how much Bismarck wines about how you are so incompetent and definitely how much Warspite complains about how all of you are so uncivilized all of you are" She declared angrily adding a mocking tone when talking about Warspite "All I care about is that the fire from your group is falling on Tenryuu's group, is falling on Sendai's group, is barely touching the God damn enemy, and more importantly, is falling on my own bloody head!" She screamed before an explosion shook the Kunisaki from bow to stern, many were almost thrown to the flour as lamps and cables fell all over the place, when the commotion subsided the interior was an even bigger mess than it was before, with the ungrateful addition of a 10 feet hole in the sealing that let the rain water (Already abundant) enter in even more quantity, but all of this was secondary to the continuation of the discussion over the radio.

"You can't hear me?! Well, that is because you are firing the shells on your side, and they are falling on my side! So at you better pull it together, improve your aim and that of your partners, and stop shooting at me or else I am going to call William D. Porter* and make sure her torpedoes are aim well this time!"

The almost completely one sided conversation ended with the screaming girl dropping the radio and going towards Portland and Craven, in the mid time the light cruiser with curly hair that was sitting there took the radio and in a low tone spoke to poor fast battleship on the other side.

"Iowa? Here Honolulu, I recommend you don't pass by our dormitory for a long time, in fact I recommend you and all in you group go out of town for a time." While Honolulu was recommending Iowa to run for the hills, the heavy cruiser got up to Portland and Craven and began talking a little more calm but still having a passive aggressive tone on her voice.

"For the love of God Portland I told you to get my someone important of their fleet not a pale cruiser that makes Naka look like Atago" Despite the pointless nature of the comment it was rather true, the Abyssal was rather short and was as plain as a table, the only thing that identified her as a heavy cruiser had been the size of riggings that Portland and Craven had destroyed almost completely before tying her hands and putting her on the boat.

"Well Northampton, if you wanted someone different you should have sent someone else because I took the one I could and that turned up to be a Ri class cruiser" Responded Portland in low dragging tone "Besides Northampton this one is special, guess what he was doing when we catch her"

"Eating fried chicken? Doing voodoo? I don't know what she could be doing because they are brutes, they probably don't know how to speak!" Answered Northampton in the same tone she was using whit Iowa, but unlike Iowa Portland didn't lose her composure, but instead began smiling and responded in the same tone she used in the beginning.

"In that you are wrong my dear friend, because this gothic over here was reading Moby Dick loud and clear when we got to her." This raised the eyebrows of Northampton and of Honolulu that had finished telling Iowa to ran away and was now paying attention to the ongoing conversation, it was her that talked next.

"So she can read, I suppose that she can understand us?" All the ship girls shared glances before all settled their eyes on the Abyssal that was among them, the girl in question had her head a little down with hair covering nearly all of her face, she hadn't do as much as move since Portland and Craven had kidnapped her but after Honolulu talked something clicked in her because she immediately raised her head and cleared the mess of hair that covered her eyes and with a surprising delicacy moved her head apparently to see the little congregation that was around all expecting a response from her, for a while it appeared as if she was going to remain silent but out of nowhere her mount went open, everyone leaned forward in expectation and then.

"Yes, I understand you loud and clear"

Everyone except Portland had their eyes wide open after this, they had been ordered to kidnap an Abyss to learn more of them, but everyone thought it would be the same way students used frogs to learn more about biology, but no one had actually excepted to get responses from them.

"Well damn, out of everything in this new life this takes the cake as the most impressive one so far" Said Northampton in a voice that for once didn't carry the anger of a God with it. As for the Abyss prisoner she was still not moving much but the comment seemed to cause some humor to her because she began giggling in a low, creepy tone.

"What? Do we really cause such a bad reputation around here?" Said the Abyss in an ironic tone again enraged Northampton that at first looked ready to scream like the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket but then seamed to rethink that idea and just talked angrily.

"Anyhow you jerk; since you can talk we might as well interrogate you. Craven you can go, Gridley and McCall are playing cards back there and I don't see why you shouldn't joint them, but for the love of God put the totality of your rigging on, we are suppose to be called into this mess at any minute so at least pretend to be combat ready." Craven nodded and then went off to search for her sisters.

"Portland! Put her on those chairs over there and let's see what this psychopath has to say" Portland also nodded and pushed the Abyssal towards the chairs that in reality were just a few upside down buckets that to their side had a helicopter engine that served as a table. They all took places in the improvise conference room, with the Abyssal sited in the left side of it, Portland opposing her and Northampton standing in the middle of them, her massive rigging (composed by a black painted bow section that went a couple of feet to her right and hoisted two superfiring triple turrets, a shorter stern section that hoisted a spotting tower and another triple turret all topped by a white tripod mast that stud over her head) almost touching both girls.

"So you nut" began Northampton as her left turret turned towards the head of the Abyssal "What can you tell us about this area?" The Abyssal just grinned and then said in a mocking tone.

"I won't tell you anything about our defenses or how our forces are composed; all I will tell you is that there will be a massive counter attack that will sweep all your forces once and for all."

"Yeah, yeah whatever mate we will kill your buffoons as they come so would you rather tell me about the resorts and beaches around here." Responded Northampton in an indifferent way that took the Abyssal by surprise, her scare tactics failed completely and that left her with only a confused face and no idea how to deal with these ships girls.

"Well… There is a fishing village in an island nearby" She began.

"No you nut I need information about the tourist destinations, resorts, big cruise ships that had beached, any place that is enjoyable for some girls."

Interrupted Northampton, again throwing the Abyss into a bigger confusion than she already was.

"Well, umm… eh, there is an hotel near the beach in this island called" She stopped for a second sounding more like a very timid destroyer than a serial killer "Miyako! Yes, the island is called Miyako and there is a hotel."

Northampton placed her right hand to her shin as if pondering about the response the confused Abyss had given her, and then she turned her head towards Honolulu.

"Hey Honolulu, search in that machine of yours this Miyako island" She nodded and then reached for a pocked in her white navy uniform and took the Smartphone she had recovered from a wreckage a few mounts ago and had become good at using it to the eternal sorrow of the admiral walled that gave the money for the data of the thing, she tapped in the search bar the name of the island and soon she had an answer for her irritable friend.

"Here it is, Miyako is the most populous of the island chain of the same name that are part of the Okinawa prefecture, is located approximately 190 miles away from Okinawa and 250 miles east from Taipei. It has an area of 158 square kilometers…" The exposition would have gone on if someone didn't run out of patience for it.

"Can you skip the damn geography class and get staid to the tourist attractions!" Screamed Northampton causing Honolulu to squeal as she almost dropped the phone to the water, there were a few desperate seconds of scrolling before the light cruiser spoke again.

"In the island of Miyako there are several tourist destinations, for the rich there are two golf camps, for the general population the Ueno German Culture Village is a popular attraction just like the Hot Spring located near the middle of the island and the most popular hotel in the island is the Atoll Emerald that is located near the beautiful Sunayama beach" Northampton looked at her satisfied with that answer, she smiled and turned her attention to the prisoner that was almost finish going form an evil girl to a very gothic Maruyu.

"So sweet heart, can you tell me if the hotel and the beach are still intact? Or did you scum backs ruin them like you always do?" The Abyss shuck on her place as if the weight of the question was going to kill her.

"As far as I remember all the island installations are in the same conditions as humans left them when they evacuated."

"Ma'am commander Salt says that you need to support Sendai and Tenryuu in their attacks, they are taking all the fire in the world and they could use some help!"Cried a child voice from all the way back at the entrance.

"What do you mean I need to support that failed attempts at a light cruiser?! We are supposed to be the second wake of this offensive!" Backed Northampton at the destroyer that was dressed with a white polo shirt and a blue mini skirt.

"Look Nora I don't know what is happening, I am just relating orders that probably come from Nagato anyway." She said in a sorry tone and hopping that using Northampton nickname would calm her down "Anyway Salt also wants to see you." But that last bit of information destroyed any good will the nickname might have created.

"That sorry excuse of a cruiser wants to see me?! Why would..."she stopped for a moment before realizing that resistance was futile, her immediate commander was ordering her to do something and the faster she carried out those orders the better for her.

"Aright I guess the Prima Dona wants to play the role of the admiral so let's obey. Craven, Gridley, McCall get your asses over to were the japs are and help them in what you can." The 3 sisters nodded and prepared themselves to go out into the thick of the action.

"Warrington you stay here and make sure everything is okay, make sure Honolulu keeps you updated about the tactical situation."

"Why do I have to be the caretaker of this awful place instead of going out and fighting the enemy?" Responded in protest the aggressive flotilla leader that in keeping with her battle hungry attitude had the totality of her rigging (2 double turrets on her shoulders, another 2 on her hands just like her Japanese counterparts and 4 triple torpedoes mounts on her thighs and legs) on her and was ready to go out.

"Because you are me subordinate and if I tell you to go to mars you have to go there, is that clear you nut?!" Screamed Northampton at Warrington that after her face became a tomato just sighted and dragged herself to were the radio was.

"Honolulu you keep your ears on the radio. And Portland you keep an eye on the new pet we got here."

"What about me?" Asked the destroyer still standing on the entrance of the ship.

"You Marty please escort to wherever salt is, I don't want to pull a Maya and get sunk by a submarine before a mayor action*" Remarked Northampton putting a smile on everyone around her, with how different this new live was an opportunity to take a shot at their former enemies was always welcome even if it was rhetorical.

"Nora I think it is better to take the prisoner to the base for better interrogation" Interfered Portland still griming from the comment but a lot more serious than anyone was at the moment, Northampton looked at her and with a lot more constrain than usual responded.

"Look Portland, we better make thing our own way here, if you think she needs interrogation you do it here and then we report your findings." She said barely received a response from Portland that only stared at her as if to say okay.

"Any way." Said Northampton in a clamorous way while turning her body to the exit "Everyone knows what to do so let's rollout!"She gained momentum quickly and soon was alongside the destroyer girl that was waiting for her.

"Hey Northampton" Spoke set destroyer whit a high pitch voice.

"What?"

"Please don't call me Marty"

Northampton turned her head and looked the destroyer to the eye.

"Why not? It is your name after all" She responded without a trace of irony on her voice. The destroyer jumped back a few feet whit her face pale, eyes wide as plates and her eyebrows moving erratically, she then recomposed herself and stud firm putting her harms on her waist just over her two 5 inch guns that were there.

"My name is USS Maury DD 401, a Gridley class destroyer with 16 battle stars and a presidential unit citation to my name that again is MAURY not MARTY, the last one is a movie character not a ship." Northampton's face was completely indifferent to this with just the blackness of her eyes giving Maury the chills.

"Yeah right Marty lets go" Northampton sailed forward gaining speed while Maury was in shock for a second before regaining conscience again and then ran towards Northampton trying to catch her. Shortly after the other members of the Gridley class (Craven, McCall and Gridley herself) were standing at the edge of the entrance of the entrance with Gridley in front of her 2 sisters.

"Okay ladies, let's show the Japs and the Abyss what a goldplater* can do!" she said enthusiastically with her right hand on the air, her two sisters also raised her hands on the air and screamed to the full capacity of their lungs "Yes sis let's go!" And soon after the 3 destroyers went ahead at full speed towards the enemy, leaving only Warrington, Honolulu, Portland and their prisoner inside the hull of Kunisaki. The Abyssal was by now just staring at Portland that was still sitting opposite to her and looking at her with un-readable eyes, the atmosphere was tense and while the Abyssal had recovered from the stupefaction of talking to Northampton she was clearly on the edge because her hands shaking and her left foot was moving up and down in quick succession.

"So my lady" Began Portland in a slow drawl "Do you have something to say?"

"As I said at the beginning, I will not tell you about our forces and I will not help you with anything" The Abyss responded as calmed as she could be. Portland scanned her body and noticed something odd hanging from her left arm.

"What do you have here? A bag?" Said Portland as she reached for a small leather bag that was hanging from a small handle were the Abyss had squeezed her arm into, the reason something like this had gone without been noticed was because it was the same shade of black that the Abyss clothes. Portland leaned forward and took the bag with both hands.

"Can I see what is inside it?" Portland said to the Abyss leader in way that implied that there was no way she wasn't seen the bag's content, in respond the pulled back with unexpected force and said.

"First you untie my hands" She demanded raising her hands that were restricted by an entangle metal cable that looked as heavy as they were.

After minutes of fighting with the metal anaconda the Abyss hands were again free however it took longer for her to star massaging her wrist than for Portland to take the bag from her, she digged into the bag and at first she only found a big collection of random objects that went from sea shells and pens to broken phones and CD's that chances were she had found floating on the sea or on inside wrecked ships. At the very bottom of the back Portland discovered two thing that caught her attention, the first one she discarded almost instantly because it turned up to be just a light novel that was as interesting to Portland as boxing was to most of her Japanese counterparts, the second objet on the other hand proved to be much more eye-catching to her, the thing in question was a metal box about the size of a Spam can that was firmly closed with two simple locks.

"What is this, a clock or something?" enquired Portland to an Abyssal that was breading heavily all the sudden, it was almost as if something important was on that box.

"Nothing" responded harshly the Abyss "I only like how beautiful it looks so I keep it around" No one was really sure how much the Abyssal had in common with humans and ship girls, but if the blushing and nervous tics were any indication they had the same laying capabilities as a 5 year old.

"So I am guessing that if I open it I will see nothing?" There was no response, which for Portland meant that she had to open the box even if it was to mess with her defeated enemy. She took the box whit both hands and with her thumps she opened the locks simultaneously.

"Holy Jesus…" Was all Portland could say as the content of the box became visible. Inside was a big, fat bundle of green bills that was adorned by weird starts, flowers and a guy that looked like an Ottoman admiral, the only thing that identified the papers as money and not a postcard of sorts was a name written in it, Brunei, and the number 10.000 written at the top and the bottom of the paper. Seen this Portland took the bills out and threw the beautiful box out of View, be that point the Abyssal was clearly near the edge, and why wouldn't she be? She had clearly gotten herself captured by the most non-sensencical ship girls in the seven seas that had taken all her belongings and had discovered she was in position of a good amount of money, but if Portland thought those facts would convert her prisoner into an open book she should hold back herself from betting any time soon.

"So, care to explain why this nothing looks like cash?" Asked Portland in a little cocky voice, the Abyss seemed to recoil from this and then in a super defensive way that came out of nowhere responded "It's something I found floating around! A thing so insignificant I didn't even remember that I had it." By that point even someone lacking in observation could have noticed that the Abyss was hiding something, and someone a little more perceptive would have deducted that there was little chance she would revealed it without a fight, unless something was done to lower her defense.

"Okay you mad dog come with me" Portland commanded and reluctantly the Abyssal obeyed and rose up. They walked towards the radio set were Honolulu and Warrington were arguing about their service record and like any time this subject came up Warrington was all salty because she had the least battle starts out of all the members of the squadron (only 2) and that was not even mentioning how she had sunk, but before that part came out Portland appeared and interrupted the duel.

"Honolulu give me the whisky if you please." She said coldly gaining surprised looks from the two of them.

"Jesus Portland why would you give the good old Tennessee whisky to this abomination." Protested the light cruiser while holding another bottle on her left hand "Why don't you give her some Sake instead?" Suggested the girl in a little go lucky way, this did not impress Portland at all.

"Because if my first alcoholic drink was that crap I would hang the idiot that gave it to me, so give me the damn whisky please" Said in an aggressive way.

"Geez okay you psycho here it is" Honolulu said as she reached for the whisky bottle that Portland ripped from her hands and then dragged the Abyssal to the other side of the room.

"Forget Nagato, Roma and even Northampton, the real killer here is that cruiser over there that talks like a cowboy and commands like Halsey" whispered Warrington to Honolulu's ear.

"You are absolutely right" She responded whit another whisper "I think it has to do whit her and Indianapolis been designed as flag ships, but unlike her sister that is an inspiring lieder that you follow come hell or high water, Portland here is more like do this or I will slowly strangle you" Warrington nodded as the two of them looked with mix of fear and respect at the black haired girl that at that moment was taking a sit with their deathly foe without having a trace of fear on her face, they were expectant to see what would happen (Maybe she was going to hit the nut whit the bottle?)But before they could witness what was going to happen the radio sounded back to live and soon they were back at it hearing the train wreck that was happening around them.

At the same time Portland and the Abyssal were again seated face to face but this time the Abyss had even less idea what was going to happen to her, she was just sitting there trying to defeat the eyes that were drilling into her face, it was rather scary even for a creature such as her.

"So, do you want Whisky?" Asked Portland opening the bottle with a piece broken glass and then extending the full bottle to her foe.

"I don't want to take part in a human custom…"Began protesting the Abyss before been interrupted.

"Is just a simple drink not a religious ritual, so just enjoy it as I am telling you to do okay?"Rebutted Portland as she almost forced the bottle on the Abyss mouth, she pulled back as far as she could but then she just stared at the mouth of the bottle as if all the sudden she had been enchanted by the golden liquid inside.

"Just a drink?" Asked the Abyssal in gingerly way.

Portland nodded and whit a simple "Okay" she took the bottle from her hands and making a good impression of o drunken sailor she raised the bottle and gulped down a big sip of the good old American whisky.

IN THE MEANTIME SOMEWERE ELSE.

The spectacle of fire power that was on that night was something truly amazing to see, not since the battle of Jutland more than a century before had so many capital ships exchanged fire with ferocity and for long, their guns turning the night into day every time they were fired. In the middle of this massive exchange of fire the cruisers and destroyers were also dueling against each other the way they knew how, at close quarters, with torpedoes and low caliber guns been exchange as quickly as possible, the massive brawl taking its toll on all sides as ship girls and Abyssal kicked the crap out of each other. At the margin of all of this and somehow intact after passing through such a massive chaos Northampton and Maury made it to were the commander in chief of their task force was at the moment. The place was one of the biggest rock formations in area been more of an island than anything around it, it was at least 500 feet long and at least 300 wide, whit a few palm trees and a one small vacation house populating the landscape, at the other side of the island a dock was clearly visible with at least one sailboat in it.

"Okay Marty wait for me here and keep an eye for any nut that dares to get close, if the attacker is anything bigger than a destroyer you inform us and then the three of us fire, if there is a destroyer or anything like that you fire at will and at least I will rush to help you, is that clear?"Ordered Northampton to the destroyer girl that nodded in response.

"Okay but don't call me Marty"

"Just do it you nut!"A big drop of sweat appeared in Maury's forehead and then she turned to face the ocean from where an attack could come, Northampton sighted and then presided to go towards the docks. In there they were a couple inflatable boats, a fast launch capable of transporting 6 people was also there but the most predominant thing in it was a big 60 feet sailboat that whit her white hull and tall mast commanded the waters the same way the great white fleet* did, inside this marvelous ship there were a few sounds that alongside the lights that were on confirmed were Salt was at the moment.

"Hey Salt" Called Northampton as she got closer to the sail boat, getting no answer from the insides of the ship.

"Hey Salt! What the hell do you want me for?!" Screamed a now piss off Northampton as she got closer.

"Oh Northampton, give me just a moment" Came the respond from one of the portholes of the sail boat, Northampton gave an angry face and as she crossed her arms on her chest she barked "Hurry". A minute or two passed by and Northampton loss bit by bit her patience until finally she lost it completely when a glance at the beach revealed almost all of Salt's rigging just lying there as If a giant battle wasn't going on around them "All those girls doing their best and this jackass is here doing god knows what" she thought and decided to go onboard the sailboat and take proper action against Salt, she pulled herself up and in the process the massive weight of her equipment almost made the ship roll over until she was finally on deck, she walked up to an open door that leaded below decks were Salt was.

"Hey salt what do you want?" Again no response from her commander.

"You little bastard" For the hard nut heavy cruiser that was enough, one of the turrets on her left side swung around and whit a heavy boom it fired to the distance illuminating the entire island and shaking the boat from top to bottom moving it a couple of feet out of the dock, that finally got the attention of Salt Lake City.

"Geez I know you are here so calm down" Said in a conceited tone the heavy cruiser as she raised from bellow, the golden ornaments on her head looking ridiculous when contrasting with the grey tripod that raised above her, the dress she wore didn't help either, while it was true that more than one ship girl had wore something that wasn't a variation of a navy uniform, as far as Northampton knew only the Pensacola sisters had 1920's dancer dresses as their normal clouding, it probably had to do whit them been laid down well before the economy went down hell on 1929, but still, Northampton and her sisters had also been laid down before the crash and they didn't look like a movie star, this clouding was always cause of scoffing and jokes from other heavy cruisers from the US and even some from Japan but at least Salt Lake always refuted by saying that the as dress was decent and thatit was fine for her to wore it, completely ignoring the fact that the thing had enough cleavage to make even Iowa blush and that it showed to much leg to be taken seriously.

"So, how are you doing?"Asked salt once she was on deck "Is everything okay?" The question took Northampton out of base; the commander was asking the subordinate if all was okay, when she was supposed to know what was happening!

"I don't know ma'am, you were the one asking for me so I suppose YOU are the one with something to tell me." Salt Lake face was revolted by a disgusting grin that came and when in one second clearly indicating she had not liked the comment, after a moment she composed and before responding she forced a smile.

"Oh well you see, we have news from the admiral at Pearl, he says we are going to be relieved by the light cruisers from TG38.3 and destroyers from Desron 65 that was recently formed from new comers of the Gearing class, any way they are coming in a week and after we report to the flag ship New Jersey (That is coming at some point after this operation) we have orders to get out of here and to sail to Jakarta to support the Dutch at securing the java sea, in respond to that Nagato has order us to stay in the base after this operation to save some resources or something, in any case after tonight we are out of action." She said whit a tone that suggested that what she had said were good news, but for Northampton that couldn't be further from the truth.

"What do you mean we are out of action after this operation is over? We and the girls are supposed to stay here indefinitely, not only that we were supposed to have 3 days of leave OUTSIDE THE BASE not enclosed in the base as if we were prisoners of the japs. Not only that but our task force is the one that have been bomb on, fired upon, push around and spit on since we took back Wake island all that time ago, and you are to tell me that after resisting all of this those nuts of the Cleveland and Gearing classes are going to come here and take part in the final push against this trash fleet? That's nonsense, we are the ones that have taken part in the majority of these operations since we were reborn here and WE should get this done alongside the Japs".

Salt Lake City forced smile transformed into a weird grin and then she responded with something out of left field "Actually one of them is Miss Reno from the Atlanta class."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT AT ALL." Responded Northampton all hysterical, her face red and smoke coming out of her ears "The point is that like in the last war the modern and shiny ships are going to take part in the closing ceremonies while US, the depression era ships that had done so much to make victory possible just get a mention on the history books but none of the glory." What Northampton was saying was one of the hard truths of the United States navy, while it had been the cruisers, destroyers and carriers built in the thirties that had resisted the unstoppable Japanese advance in the first six months of the war and after turning the tide at Midway they had counterattacked at Guadalcanal suffering through another six months of hardship and pain to make the first offensive operation of the war a success, it had been the ships that had come after that took all the glory and fame, not that anyone really a questioned about their battle capabilities or about their contributions in the conflict, but for many it was unfair that ships like San Francisco and Enterprise whit almost two dozen awards got to the scrap yard and ships like Yorktown Junior or Salem became museum ships, there was even more layers to this dispute that keep the topic alive but that didn't matter to Salt Lake when even the basis of this passed over her head, she simply did not care.

"Look, orders are orders and I have all the intention of fulfilling them." Said Salt Lake turning away from Northampton and again entering the interior of the Sailboat, leaving Northampton in a state of total shock, it was impossible for even her to resist such a dunce ship girl, giving up the subject she then focused on the other topic that had her mad.

"Okay so we are going to Indonesia to help De Ruyter, the Java sisters and the other Dutch in there." Began Northampton trying to regain the attention of her commander that at the moment of looking at the crockery of the boat "But why us? And why to bloody Indonesia?! From what I hear the government there barely gives any help, their barracks are crap, the food is awful and all the intelligence has to come from Rotterdam because no one in Jakarta will give it to them"

"Well, you have become spoiled from your experience here in Japan, is time for you to get back to a true military live."

"What are you talking about?! The fast battleships make BBQ's every day, the destroyers in Hawaii have a chocolate fountain at their base and the four stackers in the Philippines have a soda machine at their quarters, it is because of your lack of interest that this squadron was the only one that was still receiving Spam rations before we came here." Salt turned to see the raging cruiser to the eyes and with the most condescending tone any ship girl had ever spoken she said.

"If you have a problem whit all of that then you should talk to the admiral." Northampton was livid but then again what was the point of continuing the rant, it was clear as day she was going no were and whatever illness Salt had was to terminal to get anything across to her, so it was better to just give up and get on to something else before she decided to just destroy the sailboat whit Salt in it.

"Whatever you nut, do you need help whit anything?"

"Oh no, the motor of this ship is fine, the sails are in one piece and the hull is intact, you should probably return to the Kunisaki and see what is happening around us." Northampton sighted in relive after hearing this, at least this idiot didn't required any assistance in stealing the ship and she would be spared of having to cooperate whit her in an attempt of been on her good side (Whatever that was) But then she was hit by rather irritating realization.

"So wait, you made me come all the way here just to tell me something you could have tell me at any other time!" she began raging again but a sudden shout from Maury came before another pointless argument could begin.

"Ma'am there are 10 Ro class destroyers and 4 Chi class torpedo cruisers coming our way, they are 3 miles to the south-east and coming fast."

"Okay I am going in one second." Northampton responded and got herself out of the boat and began making headway towards her companion, when she got a couple of feet away from the boat Salt Lake City screamed to her out of nowhere.

"Don't worry about me; I will get this sailboat out of here before they can get me"

"As if I cared you moron" Muttered Northampton without turning back to acknowledge her commander, if anything she was wishing the Abyssal got her so someone more competent was put in charge of their task group.

Sometime latter back at Kunisaki.

"Hey Warrington" talked Honolulu trying to get the attention of the destroyer leader that was standing at the entrance of the ship, Warrington barely heard her but she still turned around and sailed towards the radio were Honolulu was still trying to figure out what was going on.

"What is it?"

"I think we should get out of here before the Abyss gets us." Said Honolulu in a low voice.

"Why? What is happening anyway? Outside it looks like the horizon is on fire or something."Asked Warrington raising an eyebrow.

"This operation is done for, out of the 6 groups of destroyers and cruisers that were supposed to break their lines all are reporting that they are in problems and at least Agano and Abakuma are saying they are done for and that their groups are retreating, the only thing that is keeping them from running is the fire support of the battleships and all three groups are saying that they are low on fuel and ammunition." She paused silently gulping before continuing "It's a matter of time before the order of retreat is given and I suggest we get out of here in anticipation of that." Warrington pondered for a few seconds and then made a confused look.

"That can't be right, the group of Iowa and the other foreign ships I get it they spend a lot of ammunition on nothing, but the groups of Mutsu and Musashi? Those girls are super serious and professional, there is no way they allowed wasteful spending of ammunition."

"That's the problem; there was no wasteful spending of ammunition, for the most part." Honolulu said adding the last part in an embarrassed tone "there are dozens and maybe even hundreds of Abyssal out there, the cruisers and the destroyers had fired their torpedoes and now the only defense left are the battleships, and if that goes down we will have our asses hanging in the air, so I suggest we put the radio in the boat, and get some cover before we join the fishes at the bottom of the sea." Warrington was silent for a moment, she was quickly realizing how bad everything was and how they were more or less doom unless they moved ASAP, but even then she keep calm, not expressing anger or fear in any way, that was one of the weird characteristics of her, whit the exception of the burning desire to join a battle there was almost nothing that could disturb her, that was the reason she served as the executive officer of the task force despite been out rank be Portland and Honolulu.

"Okay, but shouldn't we wait for Northampton to return?"

"Look Warrington, I esteem Nora as much as Miss Enterprise and Miss Hornet CV8 do*, but those aren't friendly shells any more, those are enemy shells and let my make this clear, I will not get sunk waiting for anyone and if you wait in here for her you are going to end up sleeping whit the fishes."

"Okay I get it." Interrupted Warrington finally getting the point "We will get out of here in a moment but first try to contact whit Louisville and our girls at Desrom 17, they were taking part in mess and I want to know if we can randevu whit them…" Before she could finish the sentence there was a loud BANG followed by a BUM and the sound of metal twisting and collapsing upon its self, the entire ship shook and everything that wasn't hold in place flew a couple of feet in all directions, when all the commotion stopped Warrington was on the ground having been hit by a lamp square in the face and Honolulu was hogging the radio trying to prevent it from falling off.

"For the love of God what the hell was that?!" Screamed Warrington as she got back to her feet cleaning her uniform in the process.

"Sorry little one but the wall was in the way and I needed to get in." Said a southern voice that came from where the explosion had happened.

"Jesus Christ Louisville, don't you see the big door that you can use without destroying the entire ship." Protested Honolulu causing the heavy cruiser to giggle wildly like a mad cowboy.

"Well sorry pal but there is no time to be educated; we are taking all the fire in the world out here." Responded Louisville finally entering the hull followed by the members of Desrom 17, four of the eight members of the Bagley class that looked like they had a fight whit a tiger inside a boiler, they were all covered in soot and their uniforms were torn apart in an extreme way, all had damage in their riggings be it missing antennas or bent guns and torpedoes tubes and at least Blue and their commander Jarvis were ankles deep in the water, Louisville was holding a little better but she was clearly wounded and if the weird angle her number three gun had was any indication at least one third of her fire power was gone.

"Let me tell you, out there are like 20 or 30 of those freaks making their way towards the battleships, we were also going that way but before we could reach Mutsu and the Kongou sisters this big group of destroyers overtook us and we had to change course to evade, and well now we are here." Said Louisville breading heavily and bending down a little as if trying to regain some strength. Warrington and Honolulu looked at each for a moment while this was happening, if there was any doubt the situation was beyond salvation now it was a fact written in stone.

"Okay Honolulu, tell Iowa we are going her way, then get that radio on the boat and get ready for combat." Honolulu nodded and began moving dials in the radio in a frantic way, as for Warrington she then turned towards Louisville and the tired destroyers of Desrom 17 and in a commanding but not that harsh tone spoke to them.

"Okay girls I know you are damage and exhausted but we need to get moving in a moment so prepare yourselves as well as you can"

"Can't we just wait here for reinforcements?" Asked Blue in a tired voice.

"No way! If we stay here we are going under." Responded Helm in a panicky voice.

"You two always arguing, I just want to get to the base and talk to Hibiki, unlike you she is actually nice to talk." Protested Bagley in a vacant way.

"All of you shut up and obey Warrington, umm, yes! Get ready to get out of here at moment notice." Ordered the leader of the squadron Jarvis trying to sound like a general.

"Hey look, she thinks she is a destroyer leader again." Mocked Bagley having a little grin on her face.

"No I am not! I AM the leader of destroyer squadron 17 and I am taking as such." Cried out loud Jarvis whit her fist shut and under her chin.

"Just get ready to depart at any minute and shut it already." Ordered Warrington making all the destroyers stand up respond to her whit a simultaneous "Yes ma'am!" That made Louisville chuckle.

"Hey Warrington we have orders from Mutsu, she says we have to hold their advance for a moment while Iowa's group prepares for a final barrage and after that we all pull out." Reported Honolulu screaming over the sound nearby explosions that all the sudden increased in intensity and frequency.

"Hold them back whit what? Most of our force is already engaged or heavily damage, heck, I am the only one whit torpedoes left." Protested Warrington whit her hands on her head.

"Look, that is what she ordered and judging by her voice there is no time to negotiate." Warrington took a deep breath and after a moment she sighted, she was right, the situation was a total loss and no matter how calm and cold headed Mutsu was there was no change she was going to negotiate orders whit a group of loud American ships.

"Okay, confirm we received the order and then put the radio on lunch once and for all." Honolulu nodded and then returned to her job, for her part Warrington turned towards the rest of group and putting her hand on her waist said.

"Okay girls you know what to do. Move out know!"

"HAHA, you know little one, if you keep the tough act for a long time maybe you will become a light cruiser or something, but until then try preventing the vain in your forehead from exploding, believe me, if you do that you will live longer than Miss Texas." Joked Louisville as she raced to the entrance of the ship, all the destroyers sighted simultaneously and made their best effort to catch up to the heavy cruiser.

"Listen up kids, let's get out of here so we can go get us some good ice-cream, I don't know about you but I want one very badly." Said Louisville in an attempt to shear up her troop's whit only limited success.

"Whatever Lu just led the way." Said Bagley making Louisville blush at how bad her attempt at humor had failed.

"Just move out!" Screamed Warrington from behind and whit that all of them went again to the open seas and into the heat of the battle. Left behind were Honolulu and Warrington that were finally putting the radio on the boat.

"Why do we carry this around anyway?" Asked Honolulu as she accommodated the thing besides the boat controls.

"Because our radios are older and have a hard time getting the signal from the Japos" Answered Warrington as she cheeked the motor of the thing.

"And because if we lose it the admiral will have our heads on a silver platter." She added as the engine roared back to live, she almost gave the order to go out when she remembered the other ship girl that was still around.

"Hey Portland are you coming or what?"

"Go ahead I catch up to you latter." From all the way back from the room the cruiser responded, Warrington was annoyed by this but if incoming fire was any indication there was no time to protest or argue that much.

"Okay do as you please, but if you get sunk I will not be the one to tell Indianapolis about it." Portland seamed indifferent to the treat and just nodded in response without moving a limp or at least expressing concern, Warrington sighted and controlling the impulse to insist she just moved the throttle of the boat just enough to make the thing move forward.

"Listen up Honolulu, we are going to move this at 30 knots and you and are going to steer this towards our lines, are you read?"

"I am ready let's get going!" Honolulu screamed and faster than it should have been possible the destroyer and the light cruiser were out of there, leaving inside a lot broken lamps, even more broken equipment, Portland and a completely drunken Abyssal. Even considering that the thing had drank 2/3 of the bottle in what probably was her first time whit alcohol it was still impressive how gone she was, she couldn't even sit straight, she was making circles whit her body as she went back and forward mumbling in a tongue that could pass as Martian for many. The Abyssal all the sudden stopped and raised her head to look at the serious face of Portland, she stared at her whit a dopey face for a few seconds and then began collapsing forwards, but before she fell to the ground Portland stopped her by putting her boot on her chest and pushing her back a little, Portland was silent for a few seconds contemplating her opponent as she began making weird noises whit her throat, then she spoke low but dominant.

"So tell me dear enemy, from where did you get this cash?" She demanded displaying the roll of money in front of the Abyssal eyes, getting no response from her. Portland stood up and put her hands on the shoulders of the Abyssal and began shaking the thing really hard.

"Come on where did you get this money?" She insisted only getting sounds in response.

"Speak English! Tell me in English from where you got this money!"

"From a yacht hic" Responded the Abyssal all the sudden making Portland stop the shaking, she lowered herself to see eye to eye whit the Abyssal, the grey daggers drilling into the blue fires of the Abyssal.

"Can you tell me where is that yacht is?" Pressed on Portland getting even closer to the Abyssal.

"It is yacht that many moons ago ran aground on an island called Drummond that is close to china hic" babbledon the Abyssal almost vomiting more than once. Portland thought about that information for a minute, Drummond island, close to China, she had a hunch but she didn't have an extensive knowledge of the area, he needed a bit more of information.

"Is this Drummond island surrounded by other islands that make up a lagoon?"

"Yes, yes, yes hic" Confirmed the Abyssal dragging every word "the yacht was in this lagoon of yours hic and the lagoon is surrounded by even more islands and reefs hic" Completed the Abyssal making an effort to stay conscious, as for Portland that indicated exactly where this yacht was.

"The Paracel Islands." She whispered; the archipelago was a group of forgotten islands a hundred couple miles south of China, aside from a naval battle regarding the ownership of the islands in 1974* nothing really interesting had happened in there, until that moment.

"I saw as the yacht beached after we chase her." Continued the Abyssal "Onboard was a fat guy and a lot of people helping him get to a boat, I thing he was what humans call… a millionaire or a fat cat or something like that… they got off the yacht just to be eaten by our destroyers and after that some of us got into the thing. There were some things of value, some coins, some fabrics hic and this giant metal box that was full whit this decorated papers, they were beautiful you know? They had this person drawn in them, the number, and the words they had written in them… Negara Brunei or something like that…" The rambling stopped all the sudden and she began making circles again.

"Do you know how much money there is?" Asked Portland again getting no response, she began shaking the Abyssal again making the eyes of it roll on her skull. "How much cash there is?!"

" 21" Was the only thing the Abyss said, Portland stopped and again looked the Abyssal in the eyes, making sure even someone so gone knew she meant business "21 what?" The Abyssal moved her hands over her head and then began mumbling before she screamed all the sudden "Million" collapsing over herself immediately after that, folding in the most comical way. As for Portland she had her eyes as open as plates, if what this Abyssal was telling her was true (And considering how intelligent she appeared to be and how gone she was Portland had little reason to believe she was wrong or lying) there were 21 million Bruneian dollars sitting on an abandon yacht on the Paracel islands, that was to good to be left behind, granted there were dollars from a country called Brunei and chances were they weren't as valuable as actual dollars but such a quantity surely had to amount to something, whit all of that in mind there was only one doubt on her mind.

"Are there any of your forces in that island?" Inquired Portland raising her voice, the Abyssal only responded by grunting, Portland slapped her in the face whit a tremendous force and then shock the Abyssal even more violently than before, the Abyssal began grunting louder and lauder until she sounded like a motor, then all the sudden she raised her hands and took Portland by her wrist forcing the cruiser to stop the assault, they just stared at each other for a few seconds before the Abyssal began smiling and said "Two light cruiser princes and one battleship princes are in there." She then rubbed Portland's face whit her right hand. Portland released the Abyssal and stepped back stopping just in time to see the Abyssal collapse to her left and face plant into the water.

"I guess I have to thank you miss" Said Portland to herself as she contemplated the body of her prisoner lying there inert "You gave me tons of valuable information about something wonderful." She finished griming, whatever the Abyssal did to her before or after was now secondary to what this one specifically told her, because that information was very live changing, more than a wound, more than a live lesson, more than almost anything.

Some were else at more or less the same time.

The 3 cruisers and 4 four destroyers of the American task force were sweating it out trying to hold the hordes of Abyssal that were bearing down on them. The poor destroyers of Destroyer division 17 were maneuvering like hell trying to not get hit again since they were in not condition to take more damage, Louisville was firing from the back of the formation only using her guns when she had a clear target in sight, contrasting whit Honolulu that was blazing away at everything that moved and didn't look like a fleet girl, her amazing battery of 15 guns illuminating the night like it was 4 of July before impelling an enemy when their shells impacted, as for Warrington she had gone ahead and launched a torpedo attack against a battleship that blew out of the water as the fishes impacted her and then had moved all around, her 8 guns blazing away at the infinite amount of targets that were all around; Honolulu had lost sight of her as the destroyer leader had continued whit her mad dash deep between the enemy formation, be it as a compensation of seen little combat on her previous live or because destroyers leader had a warrior like attitude Warrington was always the first to enter combat and the last to leave it and be some sort of miracle that would make even the girls of taffy 3 blush she always came out in one piece. All of this was not in Honolulu mind however as she just poured salvo after salvo into the incoming enemy, that's why she was taken by surprised when all the sudden Northampton, Maury, and even Warrington appeared on her left, booth Northampton and Maury looked like they had passed through a shooting gallery, their guns glowing red and their uniforms all torn apart, and even Warrington appeared to have suffered a hit square in the face as it was covered by a thick layer of soot.

"Hey Northampton glad to see you alive!" Cheered Honolulu seen her friend by her side "But you look like a coal miner." Northampton nodded whit a little smile on her face.

"Well we had to make our way through a fleet worth of enemies so is no wonder we don't look like lady liberty." She said whit a little chuckle accompanying the comment, but immediately returned to her usual seriousness and began speaking like the commander she was.

"So what are our standing orders?" She demanded.

"We have to hold position until the battleships under Iowa's command are ready to erase these bastards out of existence whit their last salvos, then we all pull out." Replayed Warrington over the sound of another salvo from the enemy.

"Good, at least the only one that gets over run is Salt Lake"

"Where's she anyway?" Asked Honolulu, Northampton grunted and screamed the respond.

"She is salvaging a sailboat!"

"A sailboat!" Responded Warrington and Honolulu simultaneously in utter shock.

"Yes a sailboat" repeated Northampton annoyed "At least the idiot is not bothering us. "

"O my God that gal is out of mind." Muttered Warrington remaining Northampton of another member of the group that was also a little nut's.

"Where's Portland?" She demanded making Warrington shrug.

"She is still inside the Kunisaki." Responded the destroyer.

"Why is she still inside the ship!?"

"We told her we were going but she is just crazy." Screamed Honolulu losing her composure as all the sudden enemy salvos came in whit increased frequency, the little group dispersed in response and all the girls began pouring shells at the enemy formation that was getting closer and closer by the second, as the rumble of the guns keep its loud omnipresence all around the ship girls it was only challenged by the almost as powerful voice of Northampton.

"Message Iowa, tell her to give me 10 minutes so I can go get Portland, if by the time the barrage ends we are no were to be seen you get your souls out of here, don't worry about us if that happens because either we are just a little late or already on David Jones looker, is it clear?"

Booth Honolulu and Warrington nodded and the second one began making headway towards to boat were the radio was and soon after Northampton herself moving in the direction of the enemy. During their previous lives the cruisers of the Northampton class had a tendency of engaging in frantic and destructive night battles, Houston at Sunda strait, Louisville at Surigao strait and Northampton herself at the battle of Tassafaronga, now after been reborn and having pass through a lot more operations than in WW2 Northampton found herself in another night brawl that only an American ship could have found comfortable, everything on her rigging that was capable of firing was doing so at enemies that were no more than a couple of feet away from her, she took many hits in quick succession but she returned them whit interest costing a lot of Abyssal their lives and making their attempts at stopping her in vain. After a dash that felt like took an hour but in reality took more or less 4 minutes Northampton found herself in a poked whit no enemies that in the middle of it had what she was looking for, Kunisaki in all its decrepit and rusted glory was standing there, clearly illuminated under the curtain of tracers that filled in the sky, right there and then Northampton could have celebrated the fact that she had managed to come this far, but there was no time for that, her radar was gone but just the sound of big caliber guns been fired very close told her whatever was coming was big, powerful, ugly and not that far.

She got herself into the big door that led to the dark interior of the landing ship and without waiting a second she barked.

"Portland! Where are you hiding you crazy cruiser?!" Out in the distance in what sounded like the deepest part of the cavern came a calm response.

"I am over here."

"You have done this time Portland, this position is about to be overrun by all the Abyssal in the world and you here doing God knows what as if this was your private office." Began ranting Northampton fiercely"What on earth is taking you so long?"

"I am getting ready to carry this Abyssal prisoner to the base." Responded Portland in a very nonchalant way while accommodating the last pieces of her rigging, at the same time Northampton got close to her.

"Just shoot her so we can go." Demanded the heavy cruiser getting impatient.

"If I shoot her we won't get the money" Rebutted Portland getting Northampton to raise an eyebrow, predicting the following question Portland continued.

"There are 21 million Bruneian dollars in a yacht in the Paracel Islands and I have all the intentions of getting them." Northampton sighted angrily; she was clearly divided about that plan but before she could begin arguing the distinctive sound of someone's 16 inch guns broke through the night, followed by an orchestra of 15 inchers that sounded so similar and different at the same time.

"God dammed Iowa I told you 10 minutes!" Ranted Northampton throwing her fist up in the air, then she pulled herself together and in a blink was by the right side of the Abyssal trying to get the creature up.

"Are you gonna help me or what?" Asked Northampton in a tone that said It's your problem you jackass and sure enough Portland positioned herself on the left side of the Abyssal and both of them began pulling the drunken enemy out of the hull and into the open seas. The Abyssal moved uncomfortably in a vain attempt to get free, failing to do so but making the work of Northampton and Portland three times as hard as the Abyssal kicked, pulled and even slapped in her attempts of freedom that only served to enrage Northampton, but before she could reply whit all her fury the group was thrown out a couple of feet away by a giant blast that came from behind, Northampton and Portland stud up and turned just in time to see a giant flash impale Kunisaki that in a second became a ball of fire and twisted metal.

"That's why you pull out faster you nut." Scolded Northampton to Portland as the ship keep on exploding in the distance, but then the sound of destruction was interrupted by a bunch of roars that seemed to eco and float around the sky, indicating the worst was yet to come.

"Destroyers incoming prepare to fire high explosive." Said Portland without losing her cool as her 3 turrets (2 to the side and over her shoulders and one on the right side of her waist like a revolver) turned and elevated themselves to fire at the incoming enemies.

"Where?! I can't see anything because my radar was shoot off while trying to rescue someone." Responded Northampton in a mix of irony and rage only she could produce.

"They are 1000 yards away in a group so tight there is no way you can miss it." Responded Portland a little annoyed but still way less hysterical than Northampton was.

"In that you are right you nut" Responded Northampton as her battered turrets turned slowly and elevated giving the same menacing a gangster would load a Tommy gun.

"FIRE!" Shouted the ship girls as their guns boomed simultaneously throwing high explosive at range. The first two salvos passed over the Kunisaki and exploded in the distance whit a big roar accompanying the detonation, but by the third salvo their targets became visible, their terrifying forms were silhouetted by the raging fires, the cruisers readjusted their guns and continued their volleys for a while dispatching many destroyers and even a few cruisers that tried advancing against them and got punished as a result, adding to such carnage the fire from the battleships (That now was precise) that also was tearing apart any Abyssal that were in the vicinity, the happy massacre grew and grew until there was a condensed mass of Abyssal been crushed by a rain of incoming shells that seemed almost constant.

"I would like to stay here but we don't have that much time remaining." Said Northampton as another salvo was dispatched from her guns, Portland nodded in agreement.

"Okay let's pick up this thing and let's get out." Said Portland as she turned to see the Abyssal that was their prisoner lying on the ocean, moving erratically in the water as if an invisible hand was padding her all across her body, to make the picture even more pathetic she was making weird noises again and her mound and nose were making bubbles in the process. The cruisers tried to move her and whit some success they got moving but before they could move a couple of feet away another giant blast threw them away even further than the first time. When they got up and turned to see what had hit them they saw it, a massive, powerful looking Abyssal that could only be an elite battleship of the Ta class was standing there, her eyes looking like windows to hell and her impressive looking rigging had her guns pointing directly at Portland and Northampton.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE SHE GETS US." Screamed Northampton whit a tone that was rude even for her, she then got one final salvo out turned about and ran away at flank speed, Portland while a little unorthodox was not an idiot, she also got a last salvo against the group of destroyers and then began running away.

More shells came their way and only mad dogging and speed prevented them from receiving a direct hit that would have ended any of them right then and there, they got shaken by near misses more than once and at least Northampton began taking fire from enemies in front of her, not having the time to find another route she just began shutting at everything that moved, delivering way more damage than she took. Portland was a little luckier, finding little resistance that she dispatched easily, this allowed her to glance and see what had happened to the drunken Abyssal, she had gotten herself up and now was sailing all erratically waiving her hands in the air as if saluting the Abyssal ships that were moving closer to her, it would have been funny if the situation wasn't that bad, the crazy moving Abyssal got the attention of the Ta class battleship, she just stopped aiming at the two escaping Americans and concentrated on her pathetic comrade, she just stared at her for a moment, then another, and just as Portland was about to stop looking the battleship aimed and fired, the drunken and former prisoner was erased out of existence by catastrophic direct hit, she was just swallowed by a massive ball of fire and steam that once it settled down left no evidence of the thing that had been impacted, after that Portland stopped looking and just focused herself on getting out of there.

Somehow Portland reached the position of the rest of the American formation just before they left the area, they were still alive and while the Gridley sisters were no were to be seen they at least knew that they were also still alive and kicking helping the retreating Japanese girls some were to the north, whit some convincing Portland got the girls to wait until Northampton appeared out of the enemy lines, heavily damage but still firing at her opponent, Warrington got close to help her and Louisville, Honolulu and Portland provided fire support as the two ship girls got to the relatively safety of the formation, after that all of them made flank speed in the opposite direction as battleship shell keep falling down for a while until the enemy formation was dissolved and then stopped in its tracks, this was until the shells ceased their assault, their absence marking the end of the operation. The enemy took no time to regroup and to prepare to renew their assault, but by the time they were ready to keep on attacking the ship girls were long gone.

For all intentions and purposes the operation had been an almost complete failure, the preemptive fire from the battleships had been more or less ineffective, the light cruisers and destroyers had been completely repelled and the enemy counterattack had forced them out of the area whit their tails between their legs, the only real comfort was that no one had been sunk and many of the enemies had been sunk and chances were they were in no shape to detour another attack by a similar force but what to do whit all of that information was for the superiors to decide, all what Portland was thinking after they were under way to the base was all the information she had learned from her guest, the place, quantity, and even the forces defending a booty that sounded as the most promising thing that had come to her attention in this new live, even before Northampton told her about what their stupid commander was up to and about their transfer to Jakarta Portland was very interested in getting the money, and after receiving that information it became something written in stone, she was going TO TAKE THAT MONEY and noting in this world was going to change that.

Historical References.

*On November 14 1943 while transporting president Roosevelt to the Tehran conference, the protecting ships made some maneuvers to delight the president that was sailing onboard USS Iowa, while doing the maneuvers the destroyers made a simulated torpedo attack using Iowa as a target, one of this destroyers was the William D. Porter, that while doing the simulated attack accidently launched an armed torpedo against Iowa, the battleship maneuvered and the torpedo passed behind her, all the while Roosevelt was on deck watching the whole thing. After such a blonder the destroyer was expelled from the convoy and returned to base were some sources say all the crew was arrested. (By the way if you want a good laugh search more about this destroyer, her service record reads like a war movie made by the guys responsible for the movie Airplane)

*Maya was sunk by a submarine on October 22 1944, making her miss the majority of the operations that took place during the battle of Leyte Gulf, the biggest naval battle in modern history.

*Goldplaters was the nickname given to the new destroyers built in the 1930's by the US navy, the name coming from the fact that the ship had better capabilities and crew accommodation than the older four stackers that were built shortly after the Great War.

*Great White Fleet was the nickname given to the squadron of American battleships that sailed around the world between charismas 1907 and winter 1909, the name came from the fact that many of the ships involved in this had their hulls painted white and their superstructures in golden yellow.

*Northampton was involved in many operations whit Enterprise and Hornet during 1942, from the raids against Japanese bases in February, to protecting both of them during the Doolittle raids and at Midway, finally she escorted Hornet during the battle of Santa Cruz on October, trying to tow her once she became immobilized but having to desist once the Japanese launched another attack. So in short, if these carriers were around, Northampton was near.

*The battle of the Paracel Island occured on the 19 of Jenuary 1974 when a flotilla of South Vietnamese ships attempted to gain control of the archipelago by landing troops on moust of the islands. This operation was oppoused by Chanese forces that were compused by four minesweepers and two submarine chasers. The battle turned out to be a dissater for the South Vietnamese as they lost one corvette and were forced out of the area, on the other hand the Chanese lost no ships and to this day retain control of the islands.

Kancolle Reference

*I am talking about the squadron that appears on the manga Kancolle 4 Koma Fubuki Ganbariamasu chapter 53.

AN: And that would be all for this chapter, it was very fun to write and I hope it is as fun to read, so please review or comment and take of your selves and see you soon.