They thought Suez was devastated by the Abyssal occupation. They thought ivory-white constructs left along the port's shoreline and completely annihilated cityscape were the worst that could have happened. They thought signs of mass panic, population's desperate exodus and subsequent massacre of those unable to flee were the most horrifying thing they would see during the whole campaign in the west.
Once they crossed the canal and reached Port Said at its northern mouth, they realized how wrong they have been.
Standing on the command ship's bridge, admiral Okada watched the razed city with fearful awe. Not a single building remained intact. Streets, shoreline, breakwaters - all was covered with sticky ichor, slowly dissolving in scorching heat. Deeper into the land fires burned, spitting thickets of black smoke. The worst thing however were the survivors. Crawling out from devastated cellars, climbing up piles of rubble, they were more rat- than humanlike. Starving. Sick. Crippled. Some bore signs of Abyssal infestation - black carbuncles of infected tissue and white, bony implants. Their eyes were empty, devoid of hope. The putrid stench of death and decay overpowered every other, creeping down the lungs, suffocating with every breath.
Not even Kaga could have kept her calm seeing the scene. Eyes wide and hands trembling, she watched the dreadful landscape on both sides of the canal. Her knuckles turned snow white from the force she used to grip the railing with. Somebody was sobbing on lower decks, the voice clearly audible in deadly silence surrounding them.
"Absolutely disgusting" admiral Stein turned towards Okada, his face a tight mask. "Port Said. Alexandria. Beirut. All the same. The Abyssals fought for those cities like rabid dogs. You had it light in the south. That princess decided to meet you in the field"
"What is the survivor rate?" Okada barely managed to spit those words, fighting against a knot tying his throat.
"Fifteen percent alive. No fucking idea how many will survive infestation. Unlike your Taiyou or our Scharnhorst, we can't just dose regular people in repair liquid"
"What exactly happened?" asked Kaga, her voice just barely louder than a whisper.
"There were two princesses in the area. One in Alexandria and second one here. Once we engaged the first line of defence, they both retreated into their respective cities with more mobile Abyssals tagging along. Ta-class. Ri-class. Plunderer-class. Some other types we only now obtained fragments for analysis. Once we had broken through their fleet and cleared the basin of mines, we realized the ugly part was still in front of us"
He paused for a minute, examining the landscape. Finally, he pointed towards a gaping hole in the cityscape, where a towering pillar of smoke and flames reached towards the skies. Even with surrounding inferno, that particular spot seemed unsettingly hellish.
"You see that point? That's where we finally got her. I tried calling in dive bombers. Orlov proposed lending us nuke-carrying Tupolevs. Hell, even I heard talks about procuring a permission from the UN to deploy a Nova. Some higher-ups decided all those remaining in the cities are lost souls. Fucking. disgusting"
"But ultimately you managed to pin her down?" Okada asked.
"Yeah. Took half a division of heavy land equipment and two cruisers, but we did it. I just hope Nurnberg and Scheer did not suffer in their last moments"
"You... lost two shipgirls?"
"Yes, frau Kaga. Actually, it was Scheer who detonated her ammo stash, finally taking the injured bitch down. Told you it wasn't pretty"
They left the port's harbour, heading towards the allied fleet anchored in the vicinity. Throughout the whole rest of the cruise, nobody spoke a word - except for a short exchange between Stein and Scharnhorst when the latter climbed up the bridge with some report to present. Okada and Kaga kept their thoughts to themselves, pondering on the images of descruction and carnage they just witnessed. The aura of pain and suffering emanating from Port Said was substantial, almost literally tainting their hearts and souls. Their recent battle for Seuz, as brutal and ruthless at it seemed, paled in comparison.
And to their west, just beyond the horizon, Okada could have sworn that the air pulsated in an irregular rhythm, a reddish haze of Abyssal influence beating like a deformed, eldritch heart. What horrors lied there, beyond the narrow patch of sea where his fleet finally met up with their European allies? If Stein reacted to Port Said's obliteration with such relative calm... what atrocities did he saw on his way here? Could Odessa, Varna and Istanbul be in similar shape?
His thoughts were interrupted by a small motorboat bumping into the command ship's side. Two European shipgirls he could not recognize accompanied the boat as escorts.
"Looks like it's time for me to return" Stein said slowly, shaking some stray thoughts off his head. "Talk to you on Fleetcord. And mark my words - we're not even halfway there. This whole thing will be ugly like nothing we've seen yet"
"Yeah..." was all Okada could have mustered, as his German counterpart descended a ladder to rejoin his fleet.
