"The way is open! All ships, attack!"
Yahagi sped up, with Myokou and Haguro following close behind. After Suzukaze and Sazanami's torpedoes finally broke through the Abyssal screen, the opportunity to end the battle was finally in sight. The Ancient Princess, her dress torn up and rippling in the raging gale of battle, clashed with two destroyers in a brutal melee - but once other Abyssal escort ships got dispersed, she alone could not do anything to prevent the breakthrough from happening.
Nagato and Hiei advanced slowly behind the cruisers, their guns lighting up deepening twilight. Each thunderclap was followed by an explosion, reducing another Abyssal vessel to a mangled pile of scrap and torn flesh. Cold as an iceberg, Nagato made sure her baptism of fire was a memorable one. At the formation's very rear, Kaga and Akagi followed, fishing out fairies who had to bail out during combat and collecting damaged planes for future repairs.
The last regular Abyssal ship - a single light carrier - tried protecting the flagship with its own body - in vain. Rapid salvos from Yahagi's 6 inch guns, followed by Myokous' 8 inch shells, cracked its carapace open. An inhuman screech shook the seas, as the carrier - weak and frail without its protective shell - succumbed to the waves.
Seeing this, the Ancient Princess broke the engagement and fled, chased by geysers blown up by Suzukaze and Sazanami's fire. With that, the only Abyssal left on the battlefield was the flagship itself.
Floating inside her own broken rigging, the creature looked helpless and pitiful. Red eyes darted between the approaching shipgirls, filled with panic and terror. She kicked her legs, trying to propel the makeshift raft away from the impending doom - with little result.
Yahagi was first to approach, overtaking the shell and stopping it with her boot. The Escort Princess yelped in fear, watching in despair as other two cruisers took position to her sides. Guns locked onto her head; servomotors' whirr was the only sound audible, apart from splashing water and the Princess' quick, shallow breath.
"P-please... don't" her weak, distorted voice was right at the bottom of the uncanny valley between human speech and Abyssal shrieks. "I beg you!"
Only silence answered her plea. Even Haguro's usually caring and gentle face looked down upon the broken Abyssal, features frozen in a form of an indifferent, disgusted mask.
More guns clicked into position, all pointed towards the Princess. The tiny figure, barely larger than a destroyer, broke into tears. Her alien voice only added to the disturbingly semi-human aura she had.
"It will soon be over" said Nagato slowly, each word like a beat of drum.
Hiei nodded, unsure whether the other battleship referred to the Abyssal's fate or the whole operation they took part in.
Finally, the flagship joined the assembly.
The first thing that struck Kaga was how... different the Princess looked, compared to the demons they had fought. She never saw the Cruiser Princess Nachi and Ashigara slew a few days ago - but photos taken by Souryuu's planes were more then enough to realize that being was only superficially human. So was their nemesis from the times of operation Hikari - the Carrier Princess. She also was completely alien, despite her relatively more human appearance.
That... kid was just different.
Not to mention she was the first crying Abyssal Kaga had seen so far.
"Please..." the Princess wept sheepishly, no hope left in her voice. She locked eyes with Kaga...
...and in a sudden flash of realization, the carrier saw something she would have never expected to see at such place and time.
"Your orders, Kaga-san?" Nagato turned her head towards the flagship "The admiral's briefing did not include a scenario where we capture a Princess intact"
Kaga hesitated only for a second. They all were tense, with fingers still gripping triggers. If anyone slips, if she waits a while too long...
She dropped her bow and used the freed hand to rip a sleeve off her shirt. She then kneeled next to the grotesque cradle, bandaging worst looking wounds on the frail, pale arm. A fearful, terrified scream escaped the Princess' throat - but it died abruptly, extinguished by surprise when the seemingly inevitable pain did not come.
"KAGA-SAN!?"
Nagato grabbed the flagship's arm and pulled up, tearing Kaga away from the suffering child. "What in the name of-"
"I am taking her prisoner" came a calm response. "She led the Kurile strike force, she might know the whereabouts of other enemy fleets. We just heard she can communicate, the admiral would gladly oversee the interrogation"
She released her arm, leaving the baffled Nagato behind, and resumed applying first aid. A loud murmur came across the fleet - but the girls one by one lowered their guns, complying with the flagship's command. By the time Kaga ran out of her makeshift bandage, the atmosphere relaxed as the realization finally made it the shipgirls' minds.
The battle was over. And they won.
The construction pool with its attached facilities were Akashi's personal sanctuary. Very few shipgirls had any kind of access there - and even those with appropriate clearance disturbed the place as rarely as possible. Not even admiral Okada trespassed on those grounds without a good reason. As easygoing and nice as Akashi was, the eerie aura of the place where shipgirls came to be was... uneasy to stand.
Today, however, a crowd of three people leaned against the railing separating the surrounding catwalk from the pool's immediate vicinity; Kaga, her eyes static and fixed on the brightly lit tank of repair liquid below. Akagi, her attention divided between Kaga's concentrated face and Akashi's actions. And finally the admiral himself, curiously observing the whole situation. He would have never questioned Kaga's decision - all in all, that was why he chose her to be the fleet's flagship. But such unexpected decisions were always... worthy of observation.
In front of them, Akashi worked frantically, manipulating the artificial environment created within the pool. A hexagonal, waist-deep depression in the floor was filled with teal repair liquid. Streams of additives trickled in to maintain the unstable properties required by the ongoing process. Several engineering fairies flew around, making sure all the valves were set in the right positions, tools were always within Akashi's reach and that the chief engineer was always up to date with all the readouts and parameters involved.
Small cranes lowered packets of bauxite, steel and other materials directly into the fluid, where they dissolved with a silent hiss, accompanied by puffs of smoke and vapour. The stinging aroma reached all the way to the catwalk, forcing Akagi to cover her face and making eyes water. Kaga just stood and watched, firm and unmoving like a statue.
Face hidden under a protective mask, Akashi turned towards the guests. Her baggy overalls bore colourful stains, quite possibly mixing every single chemical to be found within the workshop. The operation has entered its third hour - and for the first time since its beginning, an expression of relief appeared on Akashi's face once she lifted the visor.
"I think I managed to stabilize her state" she pointed to the frail body, half-submerged within the pool behind her. "It's damn hard to dissolve abyssal tissue without harming the rest. What kind of devil even gave you that idea, Kaga?"
"My own"
"Whatever you say, I'm not your designer you know" Akashi shrugged, the gesture awkward in the worksuit "Just lemme know in advance before you haul a Ru or any other Princess in here, OK? I just hope the buckets I used up for this one here won't be the ones lacking when any of us gets hurt"
"Don't worry" admiral Okada hid a silent chuckle. "Better tell us how much longer it might take"
"Actually..." Akashi looked at the floating Princess "...the first phase should end in a few minutes. Once the pool gets dried up we can inspect the results and decide how to go on from there"
"Splendid!" Okada gave the chief engineer thumbs up.
The pool got emptied a while later, the liquid gradually pumped out with a sickening sucking sound. The Princess' body rested at the bottom. Horns and knars of tainting her skin got more or less dissolved, leaving behind only stumps and dark, bruise-like patches. Pinkish hue replaced necrotic paleness on the face. Tiny chest rose up and down, the breathing slow - but most of all, finally calm and relaxed.
"I think-" Akashi started, but Kaga did not bother to listen. Jumping over the railing, she dropped all the way to ground level and sped towards the pool. Akagi followed suit, albeit picking a slower, safer path down the stairs. Okada also descended, but instead of following the carriers, he put his hand on the chief engineer's arm.
"I just remembered… I'd like to discuss one thing about our next attempt at project Great Phoenix"
"Admiral…? But... leaving the Abyssal unsupervised, even at her current state…"
"You said she is stable?"
"Yeah, but..." Akashi paused, not sure what the admiral's point was.
"If you mean our safety, I am absolutely confident about the First Carrier Division's capabilities" Okada smiled, pulling Akashi towards the exit.
Behind them, Kaga jumped to the pool's bottom, kneeling next to the girl. She examined her bruised face, gently inspected her wet skin, still sticky from a thin film of resident fluid. Lazily evaporating puddles around them smelled of metal, oil and acetone.
Up to this point she could not have understood the impulse that made her react that way back on the battlefield. Under the mask of confidence, she had no idea why she didn't give the order to finish off the Abyssal flagship, as Nagato-san expected. Making up that lie about interrogation meant risking the admiral's anger and potential complications, should anything go awry once the Princess reached the base. But now, looking down upon the innocent kid below, the pieces finally came together.
She couldn't have seen the crying, broken Abyssal as a monster. Instead, she saw a tiny, lost soul, torn out from her cradle and forced into a role she was neither prepared, nor truly willing to fulfill. Just like a certain battleship, several decades ago. True, that battleship did not have to witness her world crumble all around her, her foes triumphant and comrades dead. She had friends who supported her in times of need. But still, that transformation was nonetheless a difficult and painful one to live through.
Which only made that ex-battleship pity the child even more. Once Kaga saw her own reflection - her own self even - in those red eyes, she knew she at least had to make an attempt.
The helpless ex-Abyssal stirred and coughed, opening her eyes. No longer bloodshot and crimson, a pair of hazel irises met Kaga's gaze once more. The flagship's sight got blurry, a tight knot suddenly grasping her chest.
"Thank… you…" no longer distorted and alien, the girl's weak voice was soft and... familiar.
Akagi kneeled next to them, giving the girl a radiant smile.
"Welcome to your new home"
Careful, Kaga picked the rescued soul up, hugging her gently, as if the girl was a fragile hatchling. Akagi wrapped them both in a wide embrace, cheek touching Kaga's cheek and hand stroking the girl's soaked hair.
"Thank you" the kid repeated, her words finally breaking the dam holding Kaga's feelings at bay. Tiny hands grabbed her shirt, pulling them even closer together. A single, steaming hot tear trickled down Kaga's cheek, splashing to the metal floor below.
Quietly at first, two voices started sobbing, their sound echoing and interweaving, turning into a strange song - a tale both sad and happy. A story of fear, but at the same time of relief. One cry belonging to a seasoned warrior, the other to a child. Each telling a story so different, yet so similar they understood each other with ease.
"Welcome home" Kaga whispered to the little one's ear, as the shaking body slowly calmed down, cradled to the first truly peaceful sleep of her life.