Hello and welcome to another of my Kancolle fanfic. So recently I have gotten another urge to write an OC admiral and his adventures against the Abyssals with his ship girls. But simply I don't want a repetitive of my old incomplete fic, which was filled with sluggish writings and messy characters, so I decided to make a new one. This time, I decided to make a less tragic (so the story would not be dark, but not too comical or light-hearted), rather a more clever and pragmatic character, focusing on his intellectual and philosophical side of him. But I am quite concerned if he will turn out to become perfect and too bland. So if you guys can point that out for me, I would be very appreciated, since I would know where to fix it.
The core of this fic is very much inspired by Timothy Zahn's newest Thrawn novel. I would recommend buying that book if you are a Star Wars fan. There's no relation between the two creations here, but the way it is written inspired me to write this one. I will also not go too realistic in terms of tactics, since I'm no tactical genius. But I'll make sure to consider its logical reasoning when writing one.
Anyway, enjoy the first chapter, and stay tuned for the next one.
Disclaimer: I do not own KC, or any of its material.
Chapter 1: The Old Journal
"Ok, I will be leaving now. Good luck!"
"Thanks for your hard work, Mutsu-san!"
The base's Logistic Officer had a final wave at the second Nagato-class battleship before she disappeared from her sight. Then, the entire office had gone completely silent, with the only indication of sound that existed in the room were the swiveling of pen and pencil, and the light and gentle breeze of inhale and exhale from the young girl. A huge part of the office had gone dark; the machineries and equipment had begun to settle down and be engulfed in the tranquility of the night, resting and preparing for another day of work.
"Alright! Just need to sign the petition for the dorm's maintenance and we're finished."
The lady enthusiastically headed for the Admiral's desk, which was only a few meters away from hers. It was placed neatly right on the desk, as the Admiral knew exactly that she would have to take it for her to sign, so he deliberately left it on a visible spot before leaving the room.
Walking over to the desk, she slipped her fingers underneath the document, and her thumb on top. Lifting the document up with haste, she was about to head back to her workstation when she noticed that she had carelessly knocked over a book from the Admiral's desk. A seemingly old book.
"Ara..." She sighed, as she kneel down to pick up the book
At first, she only intended to pick it up, place it on the desk where it belonged and return to her desk to wrap up her work. However, an unintentional glance over the title of the book sparked her curiosity.
'War Journal'
The urge of finishing the work faded slightly, as the context of the book caught her interest. It was vague, but all too clear for the ones of the generation. It had not been long since the war with the Abyssal in the Pacific had ended. Only four years from now. It was a dark time, a few rare occasions when humanity doubted their mortality in this world, whether they could exist any longer. She had once felt it too: the intensity and desperation of a war of such sizes. But thankfully, because of the fact that she was not trained to be a frontline officer, she did not have to enter direct combat like how most of the other officers and admirals had to. The girl did not know whether or not this was a merit. But therefore, she didn't really have much of an insight over how a battle would feel, or how the strategies and tactics would play out in a fight. She had tried to talk to some of the survivors after the war ended, but their answers were all the same.
"They were horrible. It was terrifying."
She didn't need those generalized answers, but considering how sinful it would be to press on, and remind them about the horrors they never wanted to remember, she couldn't bring herself to. To her, she only lived on with it in mind.
She also hadn't really thought about it, but in spite of the time she had spent working here, she didn't really know her boss, the CO of the base. She had gotten to know many of the ship girls, and some of them had become her new best friends. But strangely, the one who had employed her, had worked with her for nearly a year, she couldn't really tell anything about him. From her perspective, he seemed to be kind of an overly-relaxed man, possibly because of all the horrors that he had to go through with keeping those girls in place. She knew it perfectly well, and because of it, he seemed to really appreciate her presence. But other than that, nothing. When she reminded herself, he was actually the person who had ended all that tension of the war, the admiral who had single-handedly taken the war into his turf and ended it. It didn't look like it, but judging from his background and history, he must have been through a lot…
The base's Logistic Officer decided to be a bit intrusive, sitting down on her work desk with the book in hand. As the cover had been lit open, the unusually beautifully written handwriting appeared to her as if she wasn't actually reading the book herself, but the words were speaking to her, whispering to her the stories that felt so distant, despite being merely years ago. The stories that began with a slightest faint of hope that never would have thought to come through…
Everyone begins their lives with hopes and aspirations. All humans, animals and living creatures. And among these aspirations, is a desire that there will be a straight and unopposed path to those goals. The truth, however, is far from it. The discrepancies between imagination and reality vary differently depending on one's individual, but there will come a time when one's imagination must come face to face with reality, no matter how vast the gap between those two are. And when a mind is too deficient in anticipating that encounter, the resulting gap will result in another set of emotion:
Desperation...
It is the case for humanity during these years. With the sudden and unanticipated appearance of an unknown species colloquially known as the Abyssals. Their powerful weaponry beyond anything mankind has ever seen before, combining with the element of surprises, has delivered perhaps one of the most crippling blow to human society, ever since World War II happened. Humanity, once again, had the opportunity to experience such emotions again. The feeling of helplessness and the desperation from destruction…
But such feelings doesn't necessarily mean the end. Many times, it is from this set of emotions that the humankind are able to form into a set of unity. And more often, revolutionary ideas and projects were given birth. In this case, there are two. The first...is the reverse engineering of the Abyssals, resulting in the creation of what is known as kanmusus, or ship girls, with equalized power level to those of the enemy, but in lesser number. And the next one is…myself. It is less likely to be revolutionary, but it is not a common protocol in the navy. But survival alone demands that
The memory was vivid: all the commanding officers in the naval base sat on their chairs, as I stood under their gazes. Their were doubts in their eyes, but the decisions had been made clearly, via all manners of communication.
Reassignment of post. To Asuka's Naval Base. Where the first but also the last base of operation for these girls are located. Where the true hell of the enemy be unleashed upon. The responsibility of an entire nation rests on my shoulder.
Automatically, at the designated time, I am escorted away. To where I would either return a triumphant hero, or a lifeless corpse. Which path I would take, I cannot say…
"Sir?"
The corporal lightly addressed his superior, a man in his late twenties, who were sitting right in front of him, the opposite of his seat. His hands were holding firmly a pencil and a small book, writing on it. His eyes were deep blue and silent, his irises never once moved from the note pages. But as the whisper of the soldier reached his mind, the man slowly closed the book, as he turned to look at the corporal, his gaze conveyed for him the words he needed to speak.
"We're about to arrive."
The corporal said, as he looked outside the window, towards the island ahead of the boat as it travelled with optimal pace for it. The man whom this Corporal regarded as a superior, also gazed outside, as he answered his subordinate. His voice had a deep baritone, slow, chilly but very clear.
"Thank you corporal."
"Your belongings have been transported there in advance. In addition, I believe that there will be a ship girl there to assist you to your post, sir. I apologize for all the inconvenience, but this is the frontline, so…there's nothing else we can do."
His voice hinted a bit of shame, and a little sorrow of anxiety. His pupils slightly reduced in size. The man, who was wearing the officer naval uniform of the Japan's Defence Force, simply replied back, as he slowly inclined his head.
"Logical, yes. I think we both can comprehend such difficulties. Thank you again for the update corporal."
The corporal said nothing in return, as he looked away, forward. His pupils shrank again, the anxiety grew. It wasn't difficult to understand. This man before him, a few months ago, were merely a trainee officer, undergoing an extensive officer training course. But the current pace of the war could not allow waiting for him to finish his training. Even with the new technology that was given birth using the foundation of the Abyssals, it was not enough to stop their path. The cost of manufacture one was simply too much for an economically exhausted country, torn by the war with these shark-skinned creatures, and as the senior admirals and officers gradually giving their lives to these beasts, the nation's hope now lied on the next generation, and particularly this man. One of the top geniuses at the military academy, it wasn't particularly desperately unreasonable for the high command to make such decisions, but the thing that mattered to many was the fact that he had little command experience, something many people tended to judge on.
The ship soon arrived, docked at the port, where this man took a first glimpse of the place, the place that would either be his new home, or his eternal resting place. The island, from a standalone point of view, would be a very fitting vacation site, with a seemingly endless line of palm tree and a beautiful coastline. But the sky weren't in the favor of painting for the onlookers a beautiful scenery, as layers and layers of black clouds thickened the sky, blocking the sun completely. The sea were also unusually furious. An untrained eye may see it as merely bad weather, but for this young commander, it was an alert, a signal of something big, something terrifying coming his way.
The Abyssals…
The welcoming committee for the day turned out to be a young lady, tall and had an orange parasol placed on her shoulder. An oddity for the day. Her expressions were mesmerizing, her long auburn hair were ornamented with small cherry blossoms, tied into a long ponytail, as it fluttered with the strong wind. As the young commander could not help but pay attention to her, she exchanged a few words with the young corporal before approaching him.
"Commander. I am Battleship Yamato of Asuka's Naval Base, at your service!"
She saluted, as her newly assigned commander raised his hand to at ease her. He was slightly disrupted, but soon, his professionalism took place.
"Thank you for the introduction, Yamato." He replied, as she bowed slightly. Her expression emitted the same anxiety as the soldier, but her manners were not. "Is it perhaps you who are assigned to provide me with assistance after my arrival?"
"Yes sir. I will give you a quick tour of the base and information about the operational kanmusus here." She replied
"It is hardly necessary though." The commander said. "Especially when the Abyssals are coming. I can feel their presence. Instead, I would prefer you to take me to my post immediately."
"Your office sir?" Yamato was mildly surprised, but logically speaking, he was right.
"Yes. Where else?" He replied, his voice slow.
"Hai. Please follow me."
"The enemy destroyers are what concerns me the most. The I-Class and the Ha-Class. They aren't very tough, but they come in huge huge numbers. And they intend to steamroll us with them, while their carriers and battleships remain behind, pummeling us from afar." The first of the Nagato-class battleship, Nagato, said, as her red eyes, filled with all sort of anxiety, glanced across the map, again and again, focusing mostly on the two spots: the island, where she and her comrade were stationed at, and the far end of the map, where laid dozens of miniatures, posing as the Abyssals.
"I would expect no less." Her companion, and sister, Mutsu said. "They are willing to sacrifices a bunch of small and disposable destroyers so that they can keep us at bay, as fishes in barrels."
"Our dive bombers can deal with the tight swarm." The 1st Carrier Division leader, Akagi, who had her bow and arrows in check, strapped behind her, said. Her words carried confidence, but not confidence of an upperhanded combatant. "If we can muster enough of course. Most of the light carriers are still operational, we can borrow some from them."
"Joutto!" Representing the light carriers, Hiyou, spoke out in surprise and frustration. "You can't take away our dive bombers! What will we be able to combat with?! Our fighters are downed to only several dozens! And we don't have enough torpedo bombers for even an attack run!"
She said, as she held out a cracked, nearly broken arrow, representing one of the squadron. Akagi's expressions downed drastically. Not because she was angry, but because there was nothing she could do to back herself, but she could not speak why she could not let this slide either.
"Please comprehend." She begged. "If you don't lend us the planes, we are nothing…"
"If we lend you, we are nothing!" Hiyou retaliated, her anger refusing to be kept under control.
"Enough of this!" The head of Myoukou's Heavy Cruiser line, Myoukou, slammed the table in frustration with the two carriers. "This isn't about glory or achievement. We are talking about life and death here. There are thousands, no millions! Of innocent people behind us! If our stronghold here fails to withstand their might, then we would nothing but fail our only purpose of living."
The speech did not silence the two of them, but the entire room as well, as the gloom atmosphere descended upon them, like how they did countless times before.
This was a total crisis. The previous admiral in charge of the girls had given his life in combat at Honolulu, and now the command structure of the entire base was going amok. Decisions that were based upon the unity of the whole base were now untied, like an electric wire. It was going nowhere…
"A decision needed to be made." Nagato said, her voice strict and commanding
As the room occupants began to struggle in the making, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Nagato said loudly.
"It's Yamato. I've brought the new admiral."
The voice replied cohesively, as the girls inside the room soaked in this new information with a degree of variety. Nagato, Mutsu knew all of this, but did not expect him to arrive this early. Some had already heard the rumor, but some were completely caught by surprise. But they were not given the time to prepare, as Nagato answered back to Yamato.
"Come in!"
The door swung open gently, and Yamato stood aside, leaving a clear vision of the base's new commanding officer. His attire was the normal officer one, worn by some of the previous one in charge. But that was where the normal part about him ended. He was in his late-twenties, but his face told a slightly different story. His irises were dark blue, deep and hollowed. His jet-black hair was incredibly neat, while his face whispered with youth, yet contained something within it. Something enigmatic...
They all stiffened. They would not expect a person this young to be their admiral. An admiral's job was no nonsense. Not a place for inexperienced rookies. That was what everyone would say
It was almost common sense to assume that youth equals inexperiences. And that was true for the most part. But somewhere in that sense of insecurity, bore a new sense. A sense different from almost everything they had felt. A man this young, being assigned the toughest job on Earth this very moment. The contrast between two factors had sparked that emotion.
As they all looked his way, their new superior, walked into the room, gradually with his hands placed behind his back. In his march, he had an incomprehensible air around him. Confidence, calculative, ingenious, and a temperament that had never seemingly broken its boiling point.
"Good day admiral. We have been expecting you, sir." Nagato gave the command, as the girls began standing firmly in line. Their face still hinted doubts.
"It's commander, to be exact." He said, with his deep baritone voice. "I have yet to reach their expertise."
"A-Ah, yes. Commander." She said, as her superior inclined his head lightly.
"Yes. Now, it would be a great pleasure to get to know each and everyone of you, as you, more or less, would be working with and for me starting at this moment, but-" He said, as he approached the map where the pawns and pieces were placed. "We have a mission to take care of."
"Yes sir." They all complied. Their sense of doubt slightly disappear, but not entirely.
"For basics." He asked. "What forces do we have?"
"We have a total of 161 ship girls. Twelve battleships, twelve aircraft carriers, seven light carriers, eighteen heavy cruisers, twenty four light cruisers, seven submarines, seventy-five destroyers, two food supply ships, one fleet oiler and one repair ship."
Nagato informed him, as the commander took note of the numbers, inclining his head for every statistics.
"Very good. And how many are operational at the moment?"
"Well…" She looked down, her eyes feeling shameful, embarrassed yet sad all at the same time. "Only a quarter of that."
His hand stopped moving instantly, as he looked up towards Nagato. His blue eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in deep thoughts.
"Forty three to be exact." Mutsu added.
"And how many does the Abyssal have?" The commander asked.
"Over two hundred."
His expressions were unreadable. That was an odd of five to one. It was as if he had stiffened in surprise, but his eyes, lips, facial gesture did not show much hints.
"Well that changes things." He said, his voice bearing a hint of anxiety, as he placed the note and the pen down, as he looked over to the tactical map. "Composition?"
"Three battleships, three aircraft carriers, five light carriers, five heavy cruisers, seven light cruisers and twenty destroyers sir."
"Three battleships?" The commander asked, as he glanced the map, along with each and every pieces of the units. If there were indeed only three operational battleships left, then they were all present in this room.
"We are their primary target." Yamato said, standing behind Akagi and Mutsu. "We are considerably stronger and more durable, so…"
The man nodded with understanding, without her need to finish her line.
"So where are the rest of the battleships? Sunk?"
"No, just heavily damaged, and are under repairs."
That was a call sign.
The base's commander then stood up, emphasizing, in front of Yamato and the others.
"Tell them to come out early. We need those battleships."
"But sir." Mutsu objected, as she coughed lightly, trying not to offend him. "With all due respect, how do you expect them to fight? Sure, they have most of the cannons active, but their engines are damaged, and their rudders broken. They'll be sitting ducks."
"No engines, no rudders." He noted. "But they can move, yes?"
"What do you mean sir? Without the rudders-" Akagi asked
"I mean that the rudders are basically a part of their equipment, is it correct?" He said. "I've been given the generalized information regarding your ability, overall detail of the equipment and weaponry before I arrived. It is not your body that moves you, it's the costume and other equipment you have. Remove them, then you are basically human. Am I correct?"
The girls in the room suddenly found themselves silenced, in acknowledgement and realization. That he was correct.
The concept was very simple if researched to a certain point and simplified. It was actually the gadget and equipment that did most of the work. The girls were represented as the reincarnations of the ships of the Second World War, but their body's function were drastically different. It all started with the idea of a mobile suit that could allow the user to travel quickly on the surface of water, while had the battle capability of a warship. It was the guns on their back, their shoulders, the bow, arrows and the runway pad, and their specially designed boots to slide on the surface of the water that were previewed and demonstrated. However, the equipment had a very huge mass, and could not be carried by any mortals. So what the engineers and scientists had decided, instead of making the equipment lighter, they had decided to create independent users for them as well, strong enough to carry them. To reduce the cost of training, they also decided to implement radar analysis system into their central processing unit, and also advanced trajectory calculation. But aside from that, they were basically human, with independent characteristics and personality.
"Which proves my point." The commander continued, as he glanced down at the map. "The battleships can still move. Specifically to my point is that they can still move on land, with their bare feet."
"Yes, sir. But they may not be maneuverable." Mutsu said.
"That's enough for us." He replied. "We may not have the advantage, but such losses have given us something else. Something…" He paused to find the right word, his tone still slow. "…unexpected."
The Abyssals wouldn't be able to predict that their enemy would have so many big guns pointed at them.
"They have a lot of destroyers, haven't they?" He noted the number of destroyer's pieces on the field.
"Yes. That's how they are going to attack us. But if we implement your plan Adm- I mean Commander." Nagato said, with her hands clasped upon the other. "We may be able to deal with their tight formation."
"Precisely. Once you have them ready, position it like this." He then turned to point at the map.
"One group here." He pointed at the coastline near the base. "Another one here." Then a bit further away from the original position. "Another one, on this cliff face." Then to a specific position on the opposite side of the map "And another one here." And finally another place, not far away from it."
To put it simply, it was multiple mass of ship's coastal artilleries. Battleship's artilleries. And their job was really simple.
The girls looked at each other, as they nodded, in concurrence, recognizing the soundness of the plan presented to them. But in some of their faces, the probability of the plan wasn't entirely enough to sooth their tension and worries.
And he didn't miss it.
"Permit me to ask." The commander continued, addressing Mutsu's big sister. "You say earlier that the Abyssal employs tight formations. Is it correct?"
The said battleship nodded.
"Do they employ that frequently?"
"It's probably the most common one out there. Out of ten battles, I can say almost ten they employ such tactics. Their destroyers would cover larger ships, giving them really good protections against our cannons. Since they are easily replaceable, they simply deploy them like that."
That frequent?
That must have meant that tactic came with an impeccable result and trustworthy efficiency. A confidence that could be achieved only in continuous victories. And there was little doubt that they would do the same for this one.
"I'm still concerned over the battleship's ability to reverse the situation. I don't know about you sir, but I-" Akagi noted, but stopped as he gazed at her. She was having difficulties reading him.
"Practically speaking, you are not wrong." The commander looked down again.
If the entire might of the battleships were unable to deal with them in battle, then it was very doubtful that they could actually deal with them now, especially when they were weakened.
The commander needed something more than that.
"For base defense, what exactly do you ladies have?"
"For that..." Nagato dictated the details using her memories, as the man acknowledged it with a nod for every single one of them.
"Then perhaps it is not that worrisome." He simply stated, as Nagato finished.
"I assume you have a plan, sir?" Yamato asked, as the young commander inclined his head, his fingers laid resting on his chin, as he explained to the maidens his intended plan.
"But sir." Mutsu said after hearing it. "To initiate it, we must have abled submarines ready for sorties. But all of them are down and under repairs."
The admiral looked thoughtfully for a moment.
"Then call them out early." But then he replied with a completely straight face.
"What?!-...A-Ahem, I mean no disrespect sir, but they are all in serious conditions. Not just physically, but mentally! I don't know about you commander, but they just aren't ready for this." Hiyou said, initially shocked, trying to be as solemn as possible.
The admiral glanced at her. His gazes were sharp, perceptive.
"I would have to agree with her on this one. If I were you, I would not push the girls that hard and risk it." Mutsu backed her up, as she also looked at him with concerns.
"I would not as well, if I were you. But unfortunately, I am not you."
"You can't be se-"
"This..." He cut her off, strictly. "...is a matter of survival. Not only for us, but for our mainland as well. If you allow your emotions or concerns for a few single individuals to bypass your logics, YOU are going to lose."
That silenced them effectively.
"...Yes sir."
"Good." He replied.
"I will deliver them your orders, but I won't be certain that they would have the mentality to go along with it."
It was plausible to assume, after all that they have been through.
"Then I will find us a solution to that. Myself." He said, solemnly