It was a light at the end of the tunnel. Japan had developed something that could finally push back even the hated Abyssals, but Japan refused to deal with the Russian and Chinese navies.
That didn't stop either of them.
Disclaimer: The Kantai Collection franchise is owned by Kadokawa Games and by DMM. com
Chapter One: Historic Moments
Lin Jingfei awoke from a fitful dream.
She fumbled around for her medicines before finally slapping down on bottle of pills.
She'd only just gotten to sleep as well. What a shame.
The treatment methods that the navy were now handing out to its PTSD-ridden sailors weren't nice. The pills that she was taking would make her more prone to those ugly reactionary sensations. Those feelings that normally would be hard to be susceptible to, unless you were in serious shit. It would make her more prone to irrationality, hate, fury and frustration.
It was like the modern-day rum. Meant to keep the military in a constant state of intoxication of some description all the damn time. And it was guaranteed get recruits and veterans alike back into the fight, no matter how traumatised and damaged they were. Or would be.
At least it could be another option to juicing yourself up on that slew of various substance addictions.
Taking these drugs now, Jingfei could feel the ever-present guilt of surviving being overridden by her instincts to harm something.
Good. That was very good.
She put on her duty uniform and checked that she looked presentable.
Jingfei then reported to the bridge.
…
"Jingfei, you're shift is not on until the sun goes down."
Jingfei always had trouble sleeping on hot nights. Yet she could sleep perfectly fine on the following hot days. It shouldn't have mattered in the temperature-controlled climes of their destroyer anyway. But it did.
The captain looked askance at the sleepy-eyed but reasonably well-dressed woman.
"I'll give you points for enthusiasm, but you'll hear this again from me - and for the rest of this trip probably (grumble) – that you're of no use to anyone without your health."
The Lieutenant would have almost been able to keep up the professional appearance. If she hadn't looked like an officer candidate who went without slept for exam week, she might have been able to pull it off.
"I don't feel tired," she said primly.
"We both know that's not true."
Pairs of dark eyes stared down each other.
"Just find something for me to do," she eventually said, "Anything will do."
"I won't let the chance that a needless mistake be made because one of my subordinates were not at their best."
"Please," she growled out.
"Just go get some shuteye. That's an order."
…
"Fuck," she put her fist through the mirror.
Being on a destroyer, living conditions were better for the crew than, let's say, a patrol boat.
The officer quarters were as modern as the ship they were attached to. Destroyers were cutting-edge modern ships after all. And it didn't hurt that the crew felt comfortable when they travelled large distances.
Of course these pleasant room renovations were lost to the bathroom mirror.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. That little tripe tells me not to help.".
Punch. Smash. Punch. Shatter.
"Just a little more time," muttered Lieutenant Commander Jingfei.
Those reassurances weren't for herself.
…
The Type 052C destroyer, also known the Luyang II or Lanzhou class, was chasing down people smuggling operations in the Asian region. It and its frigate escorts, a mix of the newer Type 54's and numerous and reliable Type 53's, were running their engines for a leisurely 25 knots.
The ships they were running down like cavalry, were small and nimble pleasure yachts. However, ton-for-ton, the naval ships could more efficiently shift their vessels in pursuit of their prey.
Having almost passed by Taiwan, if the fleeing illegals and cargo were allowed to reach Philippine waters, they would have to call of the hunt. They would lose custody of these criminals. The coast guard probably had a better idea than the surface fleet how many times these runners had made these trips and bribed the authorities.
"This is the captain to all ships," the captain had consulted the positions of all the ships relative to each other, "proceed to herd and box the enemy in."
Two of the frigates in front, half the escorts in total, drew parallel to the escapees. Jingfei knew there was a good chance with this enemy and situation, that they could get the criminals to surrender.
But the Philippines would raise hell if they drew much closer, so they had precious little room to manoeuve.
It seemed they had failed, because the frigates moved to overtake the yachts.
It was as the pursuit force drew around their prey, that their scanners pinged the arrival of Abyssals arriving from somewhere in the Pacific.
…
Suddenly the people smugglers became very cooperative.
"Highest alert. Everyone is to get to their duty stations. Get the authorities to evacuate the area."
"Sir," Jingfei's desired night shift had arrived after too damn long, "We can tell them to seek refuge in Hong Kong. Convince them it is further away from the enemy."
Twenty-two Abyssal vessels. There were two fast battleships and eight cruisers.
Jingfei looked at the representations of both forces on the displays around her. As second-in-command, she had to notice what the CO didn't. She found herself snarling at the enemy.
"Let's clear out," said the captain, "the Abyssals are not after us."
The Abyssals were not moving towards them. They seemed to be prioritising some helpless fishing trawlers.
"We should engage right now, sir," but Jingfei hated and knew they couldn't throw around that much weapons fire around Philippines-held waters. That would be a breach of international trust.
…
The crew on the fishing trawlers couldn't believe their good fortune.
They had heard about how the Abyssals were balling around in the Pacific and being a serious problem. It was why convoys traversing the Pacific didn't do so unless in the watchful company of friendly battle groups.
They had heard about the Abyssals' arrival quite late, due to the lowly civilian radar they used. But there were friendly warships just there. They could handle this. Right?
…
The crews on the most powerful warships conceived and built by Chinese hands gracefully, majestically even, began their first move.
They punched into their navigation consoles a course approximately 180 degrees different to their current heading.
In the spirit of international cooperation, they ran the fuck away from the Abyssals along with the prey they had been hunting earlier.
…
Following the crippling loss of support and resolve from being smacked around by the Abyssals for the last few months, the United States pushed for a huge offensive on the Abyssals. A showy and glorious international operation, with all their allies and guest nations invited, would legitimise the image of stability to the world.
Of course their political enemies weren't invited.
And that was how China completely missed out on the catastrophe that befell those participating nations.
…
When the war had been declared, the arms races began.
A sneaky-beaky thermos flask full of mysterious green complex, a tiny toy-like floatplane, a serving of the best goddamn ice cream sundae as attested to by both weapons development and connoisseurs alike.
These were some of the prizes that China had to show from the espionage brawls that developed nations were now undertaking in what was unmistakeably the next world war.
No new technology stays that way for long. Especially if it is successful, others rush in the hope that they may borrow its success.
It would take many years before they were ready.
…
"Now let's set the record straight. There's no argument over the choice between peace and war, but there's only one guaranteed way you can have peace—and you can have it in the next second—surrender.
Admittedly, there's a risk in any course we follow other than this, but every lesson of history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face—that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight or surrender.
If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand—the ultimatum.
And what then—when Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be?
He has told them that we're retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the final ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary, because by that time we will have been weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically.
He believes this because from our side he's heard voices pleading for "peace at any price" or "better Red than dead," or as one commentator put it, he'd rather "live on his knees than die on his feet." And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don't speak for the rest of us.
You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery.
If nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin—just in the face of this enemy?
Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs?
Should Christ have refused the cross?
Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard 'round the world'?
The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honoured dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn't die in vain.
Where, then, is the road to peace? Well it's a simple answer after all.
You and I… have the courage to say to our enemies, "There is a price we will not pay." and "There is a point beyond which they must not advance."
Winston Churchill once said, "The destiny of man is not measured by material computations. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we're spirits—not animals." And he said, "There's something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty."
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.
We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."
-Ronald Reagan-
...
Before witnessing history being made, a short video conference was in order.
Rear Admiral Xian Chengli, glanced at the conference room's clock as he sat at the head of a stupendously large horse-shoe shaped table. Usually meant to seat dozens of important officials and then some, the room was only booked for one man right now.
The panoramic screen that dominated the opposite end of the room switched from displaying the pre-loader to a friendly and familiar face.
"How are you Borya?"
Xian's Russian counterpart, Boris Corschkov acknowledged him with a grim nod.
"Considering what we are about to do, I reckon I could compare it to a Chinese adaption of a South Korean TV drama about Japanese history."
"A good adaption?" asked Xian.
"Seeing as we've effectively stolen... the naval personnel summoning ritual without the consent and more importantly advice and reassurances of the original developers is never comforting."
"Well it's really too late for that now."
"T-That is... true."
The two admirals were silent as they offered a quick prayer to the divine.
…
Xian spoke up again.
"Who are you summoning?"
The reply was immediate.
"The list of candidates that was compiled has put our most modern warships as the priority."
"That are dead," stated Xian.
"Reincarnations of naval personnel with the best specs will be the targets of our initial attempts."
"I'm sure you have plenty modern ships to reincarnate. Although maybe some will look askance to their recent deaths, especially if it was traumatic involving our current enemy."
"Well if their personalities don't match up with our agenda, we can always scrap them. And I've heard unwilling warships can refuse the summoning."
"Really? What happens to the resources?"
Boris paused.
"Unknown."
"Well," Xian said somewhat wearily, "if this succeeds, we may not have to suffer so many casualties. Not whole crews, not whole cities."
"Not whole crews? You consider them a cheaper... expenditure."
Xian reconsidered his wording.
"We send a warship out to battle. It is the most logistically complicated, expensive and maintenance heavy military hardware that we are sending into the fray. Precious and sometimes irreplaceable assets with crews, officers and the hopes of war effort riding with them, into contested waters where literally anything can happen. The enemy is simply too unpredictable."
"It just seemed... as if you were ready to hide behind them."
"So sensitive Borya! Running and fighting with these "naval personnel" will be take a lesser burden on our countries. Less resources, less lives. That's all I meant."
...
The two men were winding their meeting to a close.
"So the People's Liberation Army Navy also plans to resurrect Sovremenny Class destroyers?"
"Why not? They seem like ideal candidates to figure out the specifics of the summoning. Russia constructed and exported those destroyers. We'll have an opportunity to see how we can call to action resurrected ships that aren't native. Test their loyalties. Puzzle it out. Heck you could build one and we'll see if we can build their ship sister. And those destoyers are pretty formidable"
Boris was nodding as Xian spoke.
"I suppose we'll have to see. I don't know when I can call you again like this but I'll certainly tell you what happens."
"Sure thing"
...
Xian left the room. A call from his cell startled him. He laughed.
I'm so nervous.
He answered the call, his expression become more and more unsettled as he listened to the speaker on the end.
He hung up without replying when the speaker stopped. He bolted off.
"I swear I need a secretary to handle these things!" to no one in particular as he ran down the empty hallways.
Well it can't really be helped with all the shortages in manpower, but still. (grumble)
...
Boris left his office after having that somewhat calming conversation.
Xian was an excitable man. A military man bored stiff with all the machinations of China's growing war machine and having to cope with political shenanigans that could grate on the steel nerves of even the staunchest combat veterans.
Xian deserved this posting. He would be remembered and respected regardless if the process succeeded or failed. It was a good opportunity.
"Oh yeah I was signed up to a black op that only the highest echelons were aware of," could do strange things to anyone's career.