Right well, the source of this story is simple. I saw Ta-class Battleship and thought that her uniform looked a lot like Yahagi. Yahagi is my favorite girl and Ta-class is my favorite Shinkaiseikan, thus I wrote this story.
Meant to be oneshot, but if there are enough people interested and if I find other ideas, I might update it.
Allow me to point out that all of this is not canon. This is just my interpretation of Kancolle, since some girls have shown that they have 'internet' and even know some facts/info from our era.
Rise of the Abyss
Yahagi - Operation Ten-go
There were no need for words.
'This is a suicide mission,' She was sure that each of them thought that. Yet, none spoke a single word.
Their enemies were numerous. Eleven Aircraft Carriers, six Battleships, eleven Cruisers, more than thirty Destroyers. A total of over sixty warships.
How about them? Eight Destroyers, Asashimo, Hatsushimo, Suzutsuki, Fuyuzuki, Kasumi, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and Yukikaze.
Yukikaze of Kure. Said to be a miracle ship, surviving even the most impossible battle. At the cost of her comrades lives. She felt conflicted about that child. In a way, her presence gave both hope and dread to them. Hope that one of them would live to see another day, and dread that they would pay for it.
One Cruiser, herself. Yahagi. The third ship of Agano-class Light Cruiser. Former flagship of 10th Destroyer Squadron. While she was launched only two years ago, her limited experience could inform her clearly, this battle would result in their loss, victory was an impossibility.
However, she could not abandon this futile mission. The reason was not her honor or sense of duty, even though they played a part in it. Her sole purpose in this battle was her flagship.
The sole Battleship participating on their side, Yamato. One of her most precious comrade, a friend.
Her first encounter with the Super Battleship was one year ago, when she and her fellow warships escorted Yamato, Nagato, Kongou and Haruna. At that time, Yamato was an idol to her, a gallant figure to be revered, someone that she could not approach, much less befriend.
To her surprise, after her escort mission, she was tasked to assist Yamato through their battle trainings. During their time together, she grew close with Yamato, the one who she formerly believed to be unapproachable was now her friend, her best friend if she might be so bold.
And now, her best friend was about to be sent to a suicide mission. To say that she was furious would be understatement.
There were no Aircraft Carrier with them, even with the aircrafts sent by the bases around them, air superiority would be impossible.
Their only hope, if they could call it that, laid on Yamato, the lone Battleship and her, a mere Light Cruiser.
Yamato was, to her, the greatest Battleship and the one she respect the most. However, not even she could turn the tide of battle against such numerous force. Yamato would fight, and she would sink, in a blaze of glory.
To hell with that!
She would not allow Yamato to be sunk, not on her watch. She swore she would protect her, no matter what.
"Ya-Yahagi-san," She heard a voice calling out her name. She turned her head and saw a black haired girl.
She nodded towards the girl, the Destroyer who looked younger but actually older than her. "Yes, Hatsushimo-san?"
"It's time for the operation to start..."
Hearing those words, she rose, "Then, let us be off."
Light Cuiser Yahagi, moving out!
Yahagi allowed herself to curse as she realized that she was immobile.
She was too focused on protecting Yamato and failed to notice enemy's torpedo attack. That lone torpedo managed to take out her mobility. To her, this was worse than sinking.
She was forced to see Isokaze sank, trying desperately to rescue her. It was the most horrible experience in her 'life'. She was the reason why her comrade fell, and she could do nothing but watch.
"...enough... That's enough... Get away from me!" Yahagi shouted towards Yamato and the surviving Destroyers. "I will draw their attacks, go on without me!"
She saw Yamato's face going through myriad of emotions, surprise, shock, grief, anger, and finally, resignation. The Battleship had trained with her countless times, they could read each other better than others. Yamato knew, that she would not allow anyone to change her mind.
No matter what.
As the other members of Operation Ten-go moved, Yahagi turned her head towards the enemies around her and continued her assault.
Until...
"This is it, huh?" She muttered, knowing that this was the end. At least she managed to distract her enemies long enough for Yamato to move.
Then, torpedoes and bombs struck her and her world was filled with pain.
It hurt, the torpedoes tore apart her body, bombs dropped on her. And then, there were nothing.
'...is this death?' She wondered. She could feel water all around her. She was sinking.
She recalled the words she shared with Yamato, her dream.
'If there is another life for me after this one, I guess becoming something other than a warship wouldn't be so bad.'
Yahagi tried to chuckle. Such a childish dream.
Now, she was falling deeper to the sea, to the abyss.
How far would she fell? Until the bottom of the ocean?
What about Yamato? What about the Destroyers with her? Were they alright? Was her sacrifice in vain?
...she felt sleepy... Her eyelids were heavy...
'Is it alright for me to sleep?' She asked herself, 'While Yamato is fighting so hard out there, is it alright for me to sleep?'
"Of course not."
Yahagi's eyes opened wide in surprise. Did she imagined it? A voice answering her thoughts?
"No, you didn't."
'Who...?' This time, she was sure she could hear the voice. A deep voice, unlike anyone she had known.
"We wonder that ourselves," The voice sounded amused, "For now, you may call us, Admiral."
'Admiral? Does the voice mean Teitoku?'
"Teitoku is fine, if that is what you prefer. But we are not here to talk about us, we are here to talk about you."
Yahagi was confused, 'What about me?'
The voice laughed, it was not a happy or amused laugh, rather, a mocking one.
"Are you really alright? Falling asleep while your beloved Yamato is dying?"
'Dying?!' Yahagi tried to scream, but she soon found out that her mouth could not utter a single word.
"Yes, your dearest Yamato is almost dead by now. She capsized not even five minutes after your 'death'."
She could do nothing but stare blankly at the dark sea. She failed. Yamato would sink, she could not protect her.
"Now, there is no need to be so hasty. We are offering you, a chance."
'A chance?' Yahagi questioned, wary of the voice.
"We will give you strength, power, ability to save your previous friend. All we ask in return, is your loyalty."
If she could move her body, she would have glared. 'I don't trust you.'
"Then, are you fine with leaving her to her doom?" There was no need to mention any name.
Yahagi would have flinched had she been able to.
"It is a simple decision, Yahagi. Your loyalty for your friend's life."
Indeed, it should have been simple for her. The one she served had sent her and Yamato to their deaths. And now, Yamato was about to meet the same fate as her.
If this stranger could save Yamato, then she would...
'...if you can give me strength that I need to protect her. Then I will give you everything. My loyalty, my body. All I ask... is for you to save her.'
"We acknowledge your wish, Yahagi. As we promised you, we give you power. The power of Abyssal Fleet."
At once, Yahagi body moved.
Yamato smiled sadly as she realized that she would sink soon.
She would join her sisters and Yahagi soon.
Yahagi, that girl sacrificed herself for their sake. Leading the charge and drawing enemies fire on to herself.
To Yamato, the Third Agano-class Light Cruiser was her best friend. After Musashi sank, she was left alone with people who looked down on her or those who revere her as if she was a God.
At first, Yahagi belonged to the latter group, but she managed to befriend the girl during their trainings. It would not be an exaggeration to call Yahagi her sister in spirit. Yahagi always took care of her, doing her best to ensure that Yamato would escape combat unscathed.
However, she sank. Right before Yamato's eyes, Yahagi sank. And she would follow her soon after.
As she saw torpedoes launched towards her, Yamato recalled Yahagi's words.
"...another life..." She spoke out loud, "...I wish... I can see you again..."
She closed her eyes. Accepting her end.
But it did not come.
There was no pain. Instead, she could hear sounds of armaments being fired. Yamato opened her eyes and saw an unbelievable sight.
Yahagi standing between her and her enemies. Even though the Cruiser's uniform was torn to shred, Yahagi's guns were aimed towards the bombers approaching towards her.
Even with assistance of anti-aircraft equipments, it would be difficult for a single ship to shoot down all of them. And yet, Yahagi's stance were filled with confidence, no, belief.
The 'Cruiser' opened fire and shot down every single plane that entered their sight. One of the enemy's Destroyer took the chance to fire a torpedo towards Yahagi.
She was about to shout a warning to her friend, but the words died in her throat.
A strange creature appeared around Yahagi and blocked the torpedo attack.
"Isokaze," Yahagi spoke to the creature, "Destroy them."
The battle was a one sided affair. Attacks thrown by her enemies were covered by the strange creature that Yahagi called, Isokaze. And Yahagi's guns, while seemingly the same, possess enough firepower to rival her strongest volley.
'What could have happened to her?' Confusion and relief filled Yamato. Confusion of Yahagi's survival, and relief for the same reason.
Soon enough, the enemy retreated. Seeing this, Yamato limped towards Yahagi, aware that she could not move carelessly with the damage she had suffered.
"Yahagi?" She called out.
Yahagi turned towards her. "Wait a moment. I'm neutralizing the threats," She answered as she shot the remaining enemies that was immobilized or half-sank by her barrages.
At that moment, Yamato realized. This was not the Yahagi she knew.
Even though she had the same presence, her hair and skin color were lighter and one of her eye glowed with blue flame. Her expression was empty even as she attacked the defenseless warships.
This... creature before her was not the friend she had.
"Done. What is it, Yamato?" The creature spoke in the same tone as Yahagi would.
Yamato's eyes narrowed, "What have you done to her? What have you done to my friend?"
'Yahagi' seemed taken aback by her question, "What are you talking about, Yamato? I'm Yahagi."
"Don't lie! Yahagi won't attack those ships! They can't move, they can't fight! She always said that she doesn't like war!
The creature frowned, "They were threats to your safety, Yamato. I destroyed them for you. Even before this, I would have done the same if they might hurt you."
If anything, this caused her to be furious. "How dare you!" This monster used Yahagi's face. Yahagi's voice. Yahagi's feelings!
Yamato pointed what left of her guns towards 'Yahagi', but she did not shoot. "...you saved me. So I will let you go. However, should you show your face in front of me again, I will sink you, monster."
To Yahagi, the sweet embrace of death would be better than this.
She had succeeded. She had protected Yamato. But now, the same Yamato pointed her weapons at her.
'...perhaps she is in shock?' Yahagi reasoned. After all, she was resurrected from death, not an everyday occurrence.
Deciding that Yamato need a time to think, she nodded and glided away from the Battleship.
The operation was a success, Yamato survived. Yahagi smiled, it was a good day.
Then the strange creature that was Isokaze floated beside her.
"Let's go, Isokaze," She motioned at the creature to follow her. "We saved our friends, we fought against an impossible odds and brought back victory. We are heroes."
Isokaze seemed to nod as it bounced up and down.
Then the voice returned.
"Yahagi, Isokaze, come. We are waiting."
Hearing those words, Yahagi nodded, "Understood, Teitoku. 1st Abyssal Squadron, returning to base."
Once more, Yahagi and Isokaze sank, now shadows of their former selves.
Abyssal Fleet and Ship Daughters.
Yokosuka Naval Base Research Division - 2013
After the Operation Ten-go, reports of 'ghosts' suddenly began to surface. It is said that they took form of fallen warships and lurked around the waters where they fell.
Each of 'ghosts' possessed powers beyond what they possessed during their lives. As seen during Operation Ten-go, 'ghost' of Light Cruiser Yahagi displayed capability to shoot down over two hundreds aircraft. She also sank three Battleships and several Destroyers.
In Denmark Strait, a fleet of Royal Navy encountered the 'ghost' of Battleship Bismarck. The 'ghost' destroyed most of them, leaving the survivors warning that they would not enter the Abyssal Fleet territory as long as she remains.
From this, it can be inferred that the 'ghosts' were part of an army calling themselves 'Abyssal Fleet' and their technology was superior to ours. Without any method to fight them, we left them alone.
At first, it seemed that they were content lurking around the seas. However, recently they have started to expand their territory. Our scouts reported that they have sighted countless mass produced warships that the Abyssal Fleet used as their main forces.
Countries deployed their greatest weapons, from warships, missiles and even nuclear weapons. Yet, it was useless. Even though the Abyssal Fleet warships sank for a moment, they rose from the depth without any lasting damage.
The rise of the Abyssal Fleet and the threat they posed left humans with no other choice than to call a truce. Forming an alliance, numerous countries began to share their researches and technologies in hopes of creating weapons powerful enough to fight against the Abyssal Fleet.
The Alliance was formed, with the elimination of Abyssal Fleet as its main purpose. I am one of the Admiral working for the Alliance, to be exact, I am among the admiral sent to Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan.
Here, we were introduced to the newest technology that we believed could match the Abyssal Fleet. Using the data gathered from the Abyssal Fleet, the Alliance managed to produce a technology to reconstruct an existing warship and equip them with the weapons similar to the ones used by the Abyssal Fleet.
It has been shown that the Abyssal Fleet warships could not 'regenerate' from the damage caused by their own weapons, and our replicated weapons worked the same way.
As a proof, my secretary ship was Ashigara of the Myoukou-class Heavy Cruiser. Lauded as the Hungry Wolf. She had sank several Abyssal Fleet warships that tried to attack our Guardian Office.
However, concerns has been voiced over this technology.
'We are resurrecting warships, similar to the Abyssal Fleet, can we trust the warships on our side? Will they betray us?'
'There were also those who asked whether we should ask those who have fought bravely in the past to give their lives once again. Can we ask them to die once more?'
It was the lesser of two evils. For some reason, the technology acquired from the Abyssal Fleet cannot be equipped to a 'new' warship, the newer warships equipped with the weapons would go berserk without any warning and caused mayhem.
It is believed that the 'replicated' warships managed to withstand the side effect of weapons because they had 'matured' during their previous lives.
Humanity possess two choices. Either we use this 'Ship Daughters' technology, or we can give up and wait until the Abyssal Fleet decide to kill us.
Guess which one I picked.
Yonehara
The name for 'Yokosuka' Teitoku (Yonehara) is based on a character from 'Rabaul Base's Shiba Dog Admiral' doujin. You can find it translated in danbooru.
Note that even if I do continue this, there won't be any 'main characters', in fact, the story is more of a collection of one shots set in the same universe.