... Every last man shall shake to the core of his soul...
When the world was in need, when shipping lanes were attacked and our conventional weapons couldn't win us this war...
When the last hope seemed to fade away... They emerged.
Souls of ships long dead, old, scuttled or otherwise, souls of new ships, young and now souls of ships once thought naught but Science Fiction.
They all came to our aid against the Leviathan known as the Abyssal Fleet.
She was the first of many to arrive on our isle. The first and definitely one of the most dangerous.
For when Leviathan rises and every man quakes and shakes, the Fleet Girls will answer, as she did with pride unmatched.
Welcome home, welcome to the battlefield,
Welcome to the Kantai Recollection:Code Vermillion
Pacific. Solomon Islands, near Ironbottom Sound. Almost 3 weeks post-Crimson Tide event. 2042.
Nagato knew... She knew why she'd gathered all Fleet-Girls. If situations like the one from Ironbottom Sound were to repeat, the Navy needed new girls to help them fight, girls like Fubuki... Maybe even better. What she didn't expect was how fast the UN would respond to such a threat. The development of the Experimental classes had been going for so very long it almost seemed like she'd just fought her first battle when she heard about them.
Now she heard about a new transfer from the Admiral, who was meeting the other Naval Commanders of the Allied forces to discuss the developments here. She sighed deeply, then shook her head. Introductions first, questioning the new girl later. The Secretary Ship took the podium and looked ahead, at the gathered Pacific fleet girls ahead. She cleared her throat into the microphone, taking everyone's attention toward her and stopping any chit chat that might've been going.
"Ladies. I've got a lot of paperwork to attend to, so I'll make this as quick and concise as possible." She started, scanning her surroundings, then continued calmly, her gaze stern as always "First of all, we are to expect a new vessel to join us today. An experimental girl that we don't have much to talk about, due to the UN not disclosing enough information about her. Second of all, she is a Dreadnought, armed with the most modern and experimental, as of yet untested armaments to date and propelled by strange technology that some assume is abyssal, others that it's another alien species. Due to the event near Ironbottom and the Navy being stretched thin, these 'experimentals' have been popping up across all fleets, Atlantic, Pacific and likewise others, so expect her to be different than most."
She heard a droning noise from afar and she quietened down as all others heard it too. "A battleship-class and her six 'daughters' will be joining us today. The daughters, Frigates based on her, provide escort, while she does the heavy work..." and everyone gazed upon seven silhouettes appearing across the horizon, against clear blue sky and similarly clear water... The lead one's Rig was massive... Even from this big a distance, its armament could be seen. Nagato couldn't help but smirk as the woman came into view, then said "Say hello, Ladies... To the United Nations Seaside Command's Infinity."
All girls gasped as they saw the woman and her six escorts approaching the deck. Clad in an incredible set of highly-advanced heavy armor, painted jet-black and with a blue, large visor, the ship almost seemed to float above the water, her feet lit up blue and with strange symbols going across them. Her escort Frigates seemed similar in form, but smaller in size. Each was wearing a different set of armor much too similar to the Infinity's and each his behind a heavily-tinted visor.
As the seven ship-girls took their first steps onto the dry-docks, their Rigs... just vanished into a hail of blue light... And they began chanting together in English "The eagle born by freedom won, yet held in precarious station, set upon defense and steeled his will to guard and protect his new nation. So he resolved, defiant of all who would challenge his right to be free, with a "swift-sailing vessel and ten carriage guns" to hunt the world's oceans and seas. Born to go into harm's way, come all! Ye hell or high waters be damned! No lightning, no thunder nor hurricane gale can stand in the face of his wrath. Be he beneath his enemy's feet or by cloud where their gaze can not go, when Leviathan rise, every last man shall shake to the core of his soul!"
And the impression was then set as Infinity walked first, toward the girls, arms crossed. She took to the podium while her six escorts straightened up, then formed a line and stood neatly and quietly. Clear military protocol was followed among these girls. Each Ship-Girl present felt goosebumps after the strange speech the girls held(And many knew what all of it meant, thanks to the Kongo sisters). Infinity stood before Nagato, at height a head over the Secretary Ship while she was in full armor. The girl extended her hand toward Nagato, then said in pure Japanese, but quite dull "UNSC Infinity and Escort, ready to be pressed into Combat Service."
"My god..." Kongo whispered, looking at the new Dreadnought with a bit of awe, much like the others. Nagato shook Infinity's hand, then said "Welcome aboard. May I request you do a demonstration of your armament later?" to which the ship-girl nodded and said "No problem at all, ma'am. We'll do our best to prove our worth." before turning about and yelling "Won't we, girls?!"
"HOO-RAH!" The six Strident Frigate girls snapped-to, saluting.
Nagato nodded, then looked out and yelled to the girls "THAT IS ALL! DISMISSED!" before turning about and walking toward Infinity. The Dreadnaught saluted, as did her escorts, before she stepped off the podium. The seven girls moved together out of the place, all lined up neatly. Kongo, Fubuki and Yuudachi met up with the girl and her six escorts, then Fubuki said jovially and respectfully "You guys look so awesome!"
Infinity swiveled about, then looked down at the girl. The woman removed her helmet, revealing a beautiful girl, with long, snow-white hair and bright azure eyes. Infinity gave Fubuki a smile, then said "Thanks, kiddo. Y'all ain't so bad looking yourselves." then she locked eyes with Kongou and said "You're one of the four fast battleships, aren't you? Kongou."
The girl smirked, then nodded and said "Yup. Lemme be the first to welcome ya aboard, Infinity."
Infinity proceeded to give a slight nod. "Thanks."
"There'll be more of You showing up around here, poi?" Yuudachi asked the girls. One of the frigates nodded and said "If you mean more girls similar or just like us, from the UNSC fleet or other such fleets, yes."
"Wait... UNSC..." Something clicked in Kongous brain "N-NANI!? YOU GUYS ARE FROM HALO!" She barked out with a wide grin on her face. The Destroyers gasped in pure, unadulterated and the six UNSC Ships sighed deeply, then laughed good laughs. Infinity nodded, then said "Aye aye. UNSC Infinity. Thought that shit'd be obvious, kiddo. Don't tell ms' Nagato we told ya that though."
"She seems like she'll try to tear us new broadsides if she finds out we blabbered about bein' Sci-Fi ships brought to life." Another one of the Frigates noted, a smirk plastered behind her helmet. Kongou and the Destroyers nodded jovially in response. Infinity nodded her head to the girls and said "We'll talk later. We have to prep for that coordinated weapon demo."
"Oh, one more thing, girls." Nagato said from behind them, scaring and making the girls scramble to line up. She looked slightly confused as the four UNSC ships lined up, then told them "Relating to you being Sci-Fi girls, you may tell everyone... If you can ease them into it, that is... Most of us have... Err..." She thought up good ways to express what she meant. She coughed, then said "We... Play Halo on base, also watch Star Trek and most other Sci-Fi series... Part of me now considers how NONE of our shipgirls recognize-..." She paused, then looked behind a twitching Infinity, to see DesGr 6 and Kongou... The Secretary Ship rolled her eyes, then said "Anyways... We have this set of rules all new Shipgirls are destined to read on their stay here."
She extended the girls a portfolio titled 'The List of things Ship Girls are No Longer Allowed to Do'. It was fucking 3 inches thick.
"W-What the fuck have you lot been doing here?" Infinity asked worriedly, her eyelid twitching. Nagato shook her head slowly, then said "Many, many, many, many weird things. Believe me, I think I partly lost my sanity as a Kanmusu after all of this. Not that our being here as battleship personifcations is weird enough already." sighing deeply as memories of all the strange events that happened at this base came back to her. She shuddered, then nodded to the girls and wished them "Good day..." after turning about and leaving.
Kongou smirked, walking beside them, took the portfolio and said "Ah, yeah, I remember this one..." Pointing at rule 121, section c, subsections d and e. Infinity felt chilled, her eyes wide and her skin as pale as bone as she read it with her girls, all of them feeling the weirdness. "121c. d. Acquiring a non-existential blessing from the Admiral by sexual favors is very unacceptable. 121c. e. No, even if the shipgirls are willing to do 121c. d, it is still not allowed."
"Sweet saintest fucking homes of Virgin Mary, what the fuck did you guys do!?" Infinity barked out, looking to Kongou. The woman smirked, then said "It was a passing phase with a religion way back before the Ironbottom Sound events, when the fleet was still being formed..." And chuckled awkwardly, blushing as she rubbed the back of her neck "I kinda~ offered myself to the Admiral... Which he refused..." She looked a bit confuse... And sad.
"Explains why the fuck that guy leaves whenever possible. Sanity on this base is gone overboard and long drowned." Murmured Infinity to herself. She took the file, slid it under her arm and nodded to the WW2 shipgirls, then said "We're gonna go find our bunks. Talk to y'all later." and walked away with her four Frigates in tow. Kongou crossed her arms and told the destroyers "This is gonna be a fun little trip for all of us. And battles with the abyssals should, from now on, be No Problem Dess~!"
The Infinity felt her gear weigh on her back, as did the armor. The UNSC Ship Girls were told to tread carefully on the sea under the gaze of the Admiral. The man, anonymous as he was to them right now, kept his scopes on them from his command room. The other Ship-Girls had gathered on-site on the sea, but at a safe distance to see the UNSC work their magic. Infinity smirked. She knew too well what she could do, so she'd show them. The group gazed ahead, moving in an Echelon formation, to see their targets.
Training vessels, floating dummy abyssals and low-flying, orange-painted aircraft launched by Kaga and Akagi, of Carrier Group One. Infinity looked to her girls, then yelled "NO FEAR, INSTEAD REPRISAL! MAKE EVERY LAST ONE OF'EM SHAKE TO THEIR SOULS!" and the Frigates cried out "FEEL NO FEAR, KNOW OUR PRIDE, FOR GOD AND TERRA, WE'LL MAKE'EM DIE!"
The droning noise of engines sounded off overhead as the first wave of twenty Fighter/Bombers and dive-bombers from Akagi and Kaga dived. Infinity smirked, then barked out "MAIN BATTERIES, CIWS PHALANXES, ACTIVATE!" and two small gatling towers emerged from the sides of her rig. They revved and spun up as a targeting display appeared on the Infinity's armor HUD. The three-beat tone of lock-on sounded off... She smirked, then yelled out "PHALANX, FIRE!"
A long burp sounded off and tracers lit up the sky like a beam of scarlet lightning. The twenty aircraft were sheared out of the air by the bursts of highly-accurate fire, shattering, burning or simply falling, torn in half, into the sea. The splashes trailed quickly behind the seven ships as they sped past. The dummies seemed to come ever closer as Infinity made a hand signal, showing the girls to break and reform, this time into a Phalanx with her at the lead. Sixteen Abyssal dummies stood before them, allowing the girl enough targets for her and her girls' MAC cannons. She knew what she had to do though.
"All quinary batteries and 7cm guns, aim at elevation 20, 0 degrees traverse!" She barked through radios. The smaller guns on her four-pronged rig spun about, aiming. She watched lock-on signals pop up all across her screen, so, raising her hand, she barked out "ALL POINT-DEFENSE, FIRE!" as the cannons on her rig and the other girls' rigs too erupted in long blades of fire. The detonations of the small batteries, although similar in shape to the other Shipgirls', screamed advancement into their ears as each shell landed true, detonating onto target with incredible accuracy.
"INFINITY SQUADRON, LOCK ONTO THE ENEMY AND PREPARE TO RECEIVE MASS ACCELERATOR FIRING SOLUTION!" The woman ordered, curling her fingers into fists. The girls didn't respond, but she saw spikes of energy on her Scanners. She nodded, then raised her hand "MAC POWER DIVERTED FROM PROPULSION!" diverting necessary propulsion energy to her MAC Guns. The four MACs on her rig began to heat, from black, to dull orange and to burning hot white within seconds. She lowered her hand "QUARTER-POWER MAC ROUNDS! TRANSMITTING SOLUTION!"
The magnetic coils hoisted water droplets, a curtain of them, up into the air as they charged. The light began to burn as girls were unable to look at it. Infinity's own visor polarized... then she barked out "MAC, FIRE!" and the detonation ROARED... The water fell like rain as the superheated charged rounds burst from their barrels and into their targets. They burned through the seas, creating a corridor of water as they passed over them, a wave of SIXTEEN High-powered MAC rounds shattered their targetted dummies and the sonic boom sent ripples and shockwaves through the sea and base, leaving naught but a fiery mess in their stead.
Even Nagato herself was shook at the sheer power of the Mass Accelerator batteries on the Infinity and her girls. She looked to everyone, to see an awed silence having settled onto the entire fleet present at Ironbottom Sound. Even the Abyssal fleet probably felt that far away... She saw Fubuki step up to the deck, between the girls... She was smiling... She pumped a fist up into the air, then yelled out to the UNSC Ships, her voice powerful, joyful and respectful "THAT WAS AMAZING!"
Following her, an upheaval of cheers sounded off from the entire fleet. Swearing, colorful language, but all of it cheerful and happy, not insults. Fists raised, battle cries and instead of shocked insults, complements made with awe. Beside Nagato, Mutsu herself whistled and yelled "EXPERIMENTAL NAVY, HOO'RAH!" pridefully. Nagato allowed herself a smile as she looked ahead, to see Infinity saluting proudly, while the other girls waved at them, gave thumbs up or hell, even posed.
As the UNSC ships quickly returned to the ground, they were assaulted by questions about their rigs and such, which most of them were proud to answer. Nagato looked back, however, to see the Admiral resting at his window. The enigmatic, shadowy man all girls had met at least once, but never got to really know, nodded, then closed his shades. Nagato sighed deeply, then walked up to the crowed and said "Alright, girls, alright! Allow them to breathe a little! Admiral's orders are that they go rest now!"
A few protests, but not much to worry about... Infinity sighed deeply as she and her girls walked out from among the other Ship-Girls. She nodded to Nagato, said a quiet 'Thank you' as they passed her and walked away. Nagato nodded and crossed her arms. She watched the ships step off as Yamato walked beside her and Mutsu. The Dreadnaught crossed her arms and pushed her ponytail over her shoulder, before saying "If this is what the Experimentals are all like... This may all work out for us." and adding a smile.
"I foresee us winning this war, as the Allies in World War 2 said, by Next Christmas." Mutsu said with a smile. Nagato shook her head and said "Let's not get too hopeful. This is a war after all. The Heavens only know what kind of new weapons they have." to which Kongou yelled out "Booo~! Why do you have to be such a downer, Nagato-chan!" before receiving a glare from the secretary ship, making her immediately back off.
"Least she ain't a Commissar ship." Whispered Hiei from behind. Nagato sighed and rolled her eyes.