Nagato blinked, eyes wide. "Excuse me?" she breathed.
"Hoppo-chan is currently in the repair docks," Akashi repeated, lips drawn in a grim line. "I'm fairly certain she fought someone - and lost. Badly."
The team's return to Yokosuka should have been triumphant, at least a little, no matter how premature it might have been. They'd clobbered the enemy with no damage taken and retrieved the Soul Gem, but being met by a grim-faced Akashi at the pier when they arrived a couple days afterward was enough to kill the good mood.
Being told that Hoppo-chan was in the repair docks recovering from a rather serious beating? That did more than kill the good mood. It killed it, then exhumed the body, raised it, killed it again, and then mutilated the body in grotesque and interesting ways for good measure.
Hearing the words repeated prompted Nagato to jerk towards the repair docks, muscles tensing. "Easy," Tenryuu said, holding a hand on the battleship's shoulder so she couldn't - or rather, given the horsepower disparity, wouldn't - just pull a runner. "I know. I know. Go to her. But she's going to be fine, and you won't help anyone by being overwrought."
Nagato turned a wild-eyed look on Tenryuu. The light cruiser stared back, her expression hard but somehow understanding at the same time. That was enough for the battleship to relax a little.
"I… thank you, Tenryuu," she said, eyes downcast. "Don't let me keep you from the debriefing. Kongo can handle my part in the battle."
"Nope!" Kongo chirped. "We're going with you! Hoppo-chan's our friend, too, and besides, we're probably all going to get a crack at whoever did this."
"I guess I'll get the gem to the Yuubaris, nanodesu," Inazuma sighed.
Plan set, Sendai handed over the Soul Gem, and as Inazuma vanished from sight the rest of the team followed Akashi towards the docks, Nagato fidgeting and trying to hide it at the same time. Despite her nerves, though, the battleship felt… lighter, than when she had heard the news. Oh, she was still worried, but the support of her fleetmates helped tremendously.
Then they actually got to the docks, and it was back to rock bottom.
Nagato fell to her knees next to the tub, taking in the sight of her ward. The little Abyssal was nude in the bath, as was the custom, displaying a patchwork of livid bruises and contusions and even a few small deformations. She was also unconscious and almost deathly still, only the rise and fall of her chest indicating that she was still alive.
The rest of the team, Inazuma just rejoined, stayed standing, various shades of anger written on their faces.
"Do we know who did this? And how?" Ashigara asked, her fists clenched at her side.
"No," Akashi sighed. "Haguro found her, right where the Yuubaris reported one of those objects-"
"Soul Gems," Kongo interjected.
"Uh, right…" Akashi skeptically replied. "Haguro found her near the last known location of one, thoroughly worked over. And the, uh, Soul Gem was gone."
"Define 'thoroughly worked over'," Kiso growled. "Is this medically induced unconsciousness, or-?"
"As in, she'd been physically beaten into unconsciousness. I'll save you the list of internal injuries."
Everyone silently digested that. The list of things that could do that to Hoppo-chan, an Installation-type Abyssal and thus one of the strongest things on the sea, was a short one. Very short. And all but the Director herself were accounted for, while the mysterious redhead was highly unlikely to do… well, anything mission-like herself.
Everyone included Nagato, had been listening with half an ear while she simply watched Hoppo-chan in the tub, having stroked the hair out of her closed eyes. Whatever it was that had done this, it would not stand against her. She would rip it to pieces, and-!
She flinched, quashing the anger. Yes, she loved Hoppo-chan, but using the Super Nagamon in anger… No. She couldn't do that.
[Nnh…]
"Hoppo-chan!" Nagato exclaimed. She was awake!
The little Abyssal shifted again, and then opened her eyes up at Nagato. [Nagato-mama…?]
"You're alright!" Nagato wailed, grabbing her ward into a hug. "I was so worried, I-!"
POW!
[That hurts!] Hoppo snapped as Nagato flopped onto her back, a smoking bruise on her jaw and her eyes spinning.
The whole scene finally allowed the tension to drain out of the room, several of the shipgirls in the room descending into giggles. Giggles that only intensified when Akashi, with all seriousness, kneeled down to inspect Nagato.
After a few minutes, she stood and said, "Nice punch. She'll be out for a while."
"Which makes this easier," Ashigara said, stepping up. "What happened out there, Hoppo-chan? Who did this?"
The little Abyssal grimaced, but she still started telling her story…
~o~
Hoppo hummed a pop song she'd heard recently as she skipped along the waves. With Nagato gone, she could actually go out on the water without having to deal with all the fuss negotiating the battleship down on layers and safety equipment. Hoppo-chan loved her mama, but she could be just a tad overbearing sometimes.
As she skipped along the waves, something suddenly intruded upon her consciousness. Something… odd. Like she knew where her socks were without owning a sock in her life. Frowning slightly, she changed course, heading towards where the awareness was leading her.
Her course ended at a small object somehow floating along the waves, sunlight glinting off its surface. Reaching down, Hoppo-chan picked it up, examining it. It reminded her of a jewel, in a pretty bluish-purple color. And staring into its depths, she could feel the gravity of the object. Not that her still-young mind particularly cared. It was pretty and shiny, and so she would be taking it home.
She had just pocketed it when another awareness made itself known, this one far more familiar. Danger, and close. Eyes intended to see to the horizon scanned the seas, and Hoppo-chan's body fell into neglected but still familiar combat readiness. She didn't have to wait long. Whatever it was that had set off her danger senses quickly crested the horizon, and prompted her to unwillingly flinch.
It wasn't its appearance that caused that, though the blood-red eyes and smoky black blob body were certainly unsettling. Instead, it was a diametric feeling of familiarity and wrongness. It was like an Abyssal, and yet not, and yet still close enough to be creepy as hell.
And then it vanished from sight.
Hoppo's eyes widened, and a smell of sulfur and cheap cough syrup was the only warning she had before something smacked her upside the head and right below the shoulder blades. Unprepared for the blows, she hit the waves in what was basically a belly flop, one that naturally threw up a lot of water. The black blob didn't waste any time, darting for the splash, but Hoppo had immediately thrown herself to her feet, and with it charging straight at her she was able to catch the limbs that lashed out.
They turned out to be two black tentacles, seemingly made of the same shadow-stuff as the main body that controlled them. They felt solid, though, and when Hoppo-chan headbutted the thing, the main body felt solid, too. It even recoiled as if in pain.
Heartened, Hoppo transferred the tentacles to one hand, and then yanked it closer so she could start punching. The Abyssal rained down blows on the blob, each causing it to flinch. She reared back her fist for yet another punch - and then had the wind knocked out of her when a third tentacle, this one much thicker with some sort of knob at the end, sprouted straight out of the bottom of the blob and slammed into her gut.
Hoppo slumped over the tentacle, wheezing in a vain attempt to get air into her lungs. Worse, the two tentacles fell out of her suddenly slack fingers; both lashed out with whiplike strikes to her head and shoulders. When she recovered enough to raise her arms to try and ward off the blows, the knobbed tentacle slipped below the guard and slammed into her jaw. Stunned, dazed, and without any footing, Hoppo could do nothing as that same tentacle reared back and then slammed into her torso again in a whip maneuver.
Once again, she went skidding on the waves, but this time it was deliberate. For all the punishment she had taken, Hoppo-chan was an Installation. It would take far more than that to bring her down, and she needed the space if she was going to counterattack.
She didn't expect it to pounce on her even faster. She didn't expect it to use that moment of surprise to truss her up. And she most certainly didn't expect it to be stronger than her. Hoppo could do nothing while it simply whaled on her, and eventually, after much punishment, she slumped in the blob's tentacles, unconscious.
The blob paused, almost seeming disbelieving, and then unceremoniously dumped Hoppo-chan onto the water, prodding her body from a distance. Eventually, it seemed satisfied that its foe was down for good, and quickly retrieved the Soul Gem from her pocket before leaving.
Haguro would arrive not ten minutes later.
~o~
[Kinda spitballing on that last bit,] Hoppo said. [I know I picked up that gem, but Haguro and Akashi said I didn't have it.] Her story done, the little Abyssal groaned and slumped deeper into the tub. [Can I please go back to soaking now? I'm still really sore. Ow.]
"We'll leave you to it, Hoppo-chan," Ashigara kindly said. "Inazuma, could you wake-"
"HOPPO-CHAN!"
"Never mind," the heavy cruiser muttered as Nagato shot up, and then scrambled over to Hoppo-chan's tub. "We'll just get out of your hair, Akashi."
The repair ship nodded. "I recommend you go talk to the Yuubaris, then," she said. "We all know they sometimes have a bad habit of not being… forthcoming when they get a breakthrough."
All present shuddered. So much wax… But those shudders were followed by two growling stomachs, and embarrassed blushes from Inazuma and Yuudachi.
"I think we should all get some food and a good night's sleep before we talk to them!" Kongo cheerfully suggested. "And not just because Inazuma and Yuudachi are starving. Even the Yuubaris need time to get results."
"In case you've all forgotten, we've got a brand new enemy that eats Installations for breakfast and five more of these things scattered all over the damn Pacific!" Kiso snapped. "I think we can take the time to learn a little more before we-!"
"Darling, you're home!"
That was Hokaze, who'd rocketed out of nowhere and latched onto Kiso. Everyone else took the opportunity to sneak out, leaving Kiso to try and pry off the destroyer.
"Get off!"
"But honey, I was so lonely!"
She wasn't have much luck.
~o~
The team re-gathered outside the Yuubaris' lab the next morning, bright-eyed and well-rested and - for now, at least - missing Kiso and Nagato. Ashigara and Kongo were discussing the latter's absence, in fact.
"You know here better than I do, Kongo," Ashigara said quietly to the battleship. "Do you think she'll decide to stay behind?"
"It wouldn't surprise me," Kongo replied. "But it also wouldn't surprise me if she does show up. As much as she'll want to protect Hoppo-chan, she also knows that the best defense is to go out and end the threat as soon as possible. Plus, I have no doubt that Hoppo-chan will try and convince her to sortie with us."
Ashigara nodded. "We'll wait, then." An eager grin spread over her face. "Anyway, did you hear about what Akashi had to treat the other day?"
"I know! I wonder who it was…?"
As for the others, Sendai was keeping quiet, and Tenryuu was keeping an eye on Inazuma and Yuudachi and their whispered conversation.
"Should we listen? 'Cause I wanna listen, poi."
"Of course I want to listen, nanodesu! But you remember what happened the last time Kagero did it!"
"Kagero is… well, y'know, poi."
"I'm going to let that pass because it's true, nanodesu. But this is still a bad idea."
"But I'm so curious, poi!"
Oh well. As long as they were arguing instead of listening…
In any case, Tenryuu's attention was promptly occupied by Kiso arriving, and the light cruiser was not only disheveled, but hunched over with thin bags under her eyes.
"Up all night having fun, huh?" she drawled, adding in a knowing waggle of her eyebrows.
In response, Kiso flipped her the bird. "Get bent, Tenryuu. You're the last person I want to hear that from. Now, what the fuck are we waiting for?"
Several small explosions, three electric whines, one shouted swear word, and two metallic grinding noises sounded out from the lab, all in the span of about ten seconds.
"Never mind."
Inazuma and Yuudachi, naturally, retreated, warily eyeing the door to the lab. Everyone else tensed up a bit, waiting.
Sure enough, about a minute later one of the Yuubaris opened the door, dressed not in their usual sailor outfit but an orange work jumpsuit and tank top. Soot liberally decorated her face, arms, and shoulders, and she looked surprised to see them.
"Shoot," she muttered. "How long have you guys been waiting here?"
"About twenty minutes," Ashigara answered.
Yuubari muttered something probably obscene under her breath, and then leaned back into the lab. "HEY, WRAP IT UP! WE'VE GOT OFFICIAL BUSINESS!"
The gathered combat team couldn't hear the reply, but they did see Yuubari's face twist into a scowl.
"YEAH, WELL, WE KNEW THEY WERE COMING, AND NOW LOOK WHERE WE ARE! CONSIDER THIS OUR IDIOT TAX FOR THE MONTH!"
Another unheard reply, and Yuubari leaned forward again. "Okay, give us… five minutes to do some cleanup, and then you can come in."
The door closed, and Inazuma and Yuudachi immediately scrambled for the door. Or would have, had Tenryuu not snagged their collars.
"Noooo, we wanna listen, poi/nanodesu!" they wailed as they were dragged back.
"And they'd been doing so well, too…" Tenryuu muttered, ignoring their pleas.
Sure enough, five minutes later, the door opened, Yuubari looking much cleaner this time.
"Come in," she said. "And don't touch anything."
Everyone shot Yuudachi a look at that, prompting the destroyer to protest, "Why're you all looking at me, poi?!" as they trailed into the lab.
The answer was found in… well, everything they were currently threading around. Sharp-edge scrap steel and parts, a bewildering variety of machine tools, and completed and half-completed devices lay scattered around, obstructing floor space. The devices especially were to be avoided. They were just as likely to be some sort of disintegration device as to be a super-fancy light switch.
"Sorry about the mess," Yuubari said as they walked. "It's always like this before our weekly lab-cleaning."
'Weekly?' everyone thought, glancing around at the mess again.
No one voiced the logical follow-on thought, for it was seconds after that they moved around another mound of junk to arrive at their destination. The other Yuubari twin was sitting at some sort of switchboard, a dot of oil still on her nose. But everyone's eyes were drawn to the massive flatscreen monitor hanging on the wall.
"We're here," the Yuubari leading them announced. The Yuubari at the switchboard thing merely grunted, which drew a sigh from her twin. "And I guess I'm doing the talking. So, we completed analysis of those Soul Gems, and I gotta thank Nagato for that name, because it's a very appropriate one."
Everyone stood a little straighter at that. "What do you mean?" Sendai very carefully asked.
"Because as far as I can tell, this is a crystallized ship's soul."
Eyes widened, blood left faces, and everyone looked all-around horrified at that. "Our soul…?" Inazuma squeaked.
"Not a whole soul," Yuubari hastily reassured them. "Just part of it. I think if we made one ourselves, it would simply take their shipgirl abilities and leave them a normal human." A manic grin started to spread over her face. "And despite those limitations, what a result! They're a power source of unprecedented strength! You could power metropolitan Tokyo with one of these for a year, and it still wouldn't run out! Why-!"
"You're not doing that," Kongo and Ashigara chorused.
Yuubari froze, her hands up in the classic ham pose. After a few seconds, she hastily brought them down and coughed, embarrassed. "Right. We're not doing that. Anyway, the final point, and why these things are dangerous: you could probably use these to dramatically strengthen a shipgirl or Abyssal. Shipgirl souls interacting with each other, is the idea."
"So we still need to hunt these things down," Tenryuu stated, slamming her fists together.
"Exactly. And to help with that…" Yuubari turned to the monitor, pulled a remote out of her pocket, and pressed a button. Immediately, a map of the Pacific Rim with a grid overlaid on it sprang to life. Immediately catching the eye were several bright dots: one in the Kanto region, one well west of Hawaii up the seamount chain, two in Singapore, one near the Seattle/Vancouver area, and two inhabiting barren stretches of ocean.
"We call this the Big Board," the light cruiser continued. "As you can see, resolution's not great, but since Nagato can sense these things for some reason, getting to the general area should be enough to find them. And those enemy-held ones should be even easier. Just follow the path of most resistance."
Everyone nodded, examining the board. What to retrieve first…?
"Well, we can't let the Midway Princess or Harbor Princess figure out how to use these things," Kiso stated. "Then they'll be even more difficult to dislodge."
"Yes, but-"
"Which one was moving?"
Everyone blinked in surprise as Nagato stalked up to them, a look of grim determination on her face.
"Oh, hey Nagato," Sendai remarked. "I'm gonna guess that you're joining us in the search?"
"I am," the battleship tersely replied. "Hoppo-chan and I had a… conversation."
~o~
"I have to keep you safe!" Nagato shouted, hoping, pleading for her adopted daughter to understand. "I can't lose you!" Who knew she'd object so strenuously to Nagato declaring she'd stay behind to protect her?
Hoppo, for her part, pursed her lips, brows scrunching together. A giggling bout of Nagamon-ism threatened to bubble up, but Nagato shoved it down. Not the time.
[Alright,] Hoppo sighed. [If that's how you feel… well, I'll just say this. I think the best way to protect me right now is to make sure that thing is in no condition to come after me, or anyone else.] A pause. [By which I mean, go out and kill that damn thing already. Best way to keep me safe.]
~o~
"Moving?" Yuubari queried, drawing Nagato out of her thoughts.
The grim determination became even grimmer. "That… thing that hurt Hoppo-chan has one of the gems," she growled. "And it's moving. I know it. So, the gem that's moving is being held by it."
Yuubari nodded, and pressed another button on the remote. One of the ocean-based glowing dots flashed, the one sandwiched between Hawaii and the Aleutians. Nagato's fists clenched.
"That's the one we're going after next, then. If any preparations need to be made-"
"Belay that, Nagato."
Everyone jumped, not expecting the voice over their radios. "Admiral?" Nagato protested. "We need to stop this thing now, or-!"
"Perhaps. But I will remind you that the Harbor Princess has two, and actual scientific resources backing her. More importantly, something - or someone - is approaching the last ocean-based gem. We believe they're from the Director. Frankly, that creature can wait, regardless of your understandable vendetta."
Fists clenched and teeth ground together, but Nagato couldn't refute Admiral Goto's points. "Yes, sir," she sullenly replied.
"In that case, we should speed things up," Sendai chimed in. "Admiral, permission to take myself and Yuudachi to infiltrate Singapore?"
"Me, poi?!" Yuudachi yelped, pointing to herself.
"You can be perfectly stealthy when you want to be," Sendai replied. "And that's only been enhanced by your battle aura."
"Authorized," Admiral Goto replied. "As long as this remains a stealth mission. If you can't do it quietly, simply reconnoiter and then pull back."
"Yes, sir!" both shipgirls barked.
"In that case, nanodesu, permission to make a smash and grab on the Midway Princess?" Inazuma asked.
Tenryuu started at that. "Inazuma-!"
"I'll be fine," the destroyer assured her momboat. "She's huddled in fear and doesn't have anything fast enough to catch me. I'll be in and out, nanodesu."
"You'd better," Tenryuu growled, kneeling down to look Inazuma in her eye. "Promise me that if you run into any serious resistance, you bail. Okay?"
"Yes, mom," Inazuma deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. This earned her a chop to the head.
"Cheeky brat," Tenryuu said affectionately as she stood. "So, anything to add, Admiral?"
"Nope." A hint of annoyance leaked into his voice. "So, unless anyone has anything to add…?"
"Then I guess the five of us will handle whoever the Director sent," Nagato summarized, looking over Kongo, Ashigara, Tenryuu, and Kiso. "We'll move out immediately."
"Excellent. Good hunting, all of you."
~o~
It crept along the seas, searching for… well, the rudimentary intelligence of the shadow creature wasn't sure. Only that it would know it when it saw it. The Soul Gem was a prize, certainly, thrumming with power, but it had none of the spark the creature was also searching for. And where there was intelligence on this world, there was power, power that it sensed and shied away from.
But its senses and instincts had found something else. Something with the spark, and yet isolated and… easy. Yes. It would do nicely, and in fact that beast had been steadily stalking its target for some days now. It's course had become increasingly erratic over the last several hours, and it felt that now was the time to strike.
The creature surged forward, not with tentacles but with its whole body poised to strike. Its target, its prey, let out a gasp and frantically tried to evade, but their leg gave out, sending them sprawling to the water. Easy.
And as the darkness enveloped Aso, she desperately tried to claw it off, and then when that didn't work attempted to merely get free. That, too, proved futile, and soon only her face, contorted in fear, and one arm remained free.
"Kasagi…" she breathed, tears dripping from her eyes. "I'm sorry… I guess I'm not coming back after all…"
And then, she was gone. All that was left was a black blob sitting on the waves, the "smokiness" gone. And then, it stood, the darkness peeling back to reveal a human figure. Aso's already dark hair was now midnight black, her skin white and eyes black with yellow irises. Abyssal. Her cloak had vanished, replaced by a sleeveless kimono of a style similar to her fellow Unryu-class. The being that was once Aso raised a hand and examined it, a cruel smile spreading over her face.
[Oh, such a nice vessel,] it purred. [Such rage, such hate… and such shame and regret, as she tries to put that behind her. Let's see…] Crossing its arms, the thing that was once Aso drew upon a deep well of power. Power that poured out of her in a blinding white aura and lifted her off the water.
[AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!]
And with one almighty roar of exertion, she shunted that power out in a massive burst that threw up waves all around her. On her face was a look of ecstasy.
[Perfect.]
~o~
Hundreds of miles to the south, Lee fought the urge to sigh as Truxtun babbled on. He could respect the other man's strength, but good lord he just would not stop talking. And it wasn't even anything interesting, just a stream of consciousness spilling from his mouth. Lee had had to learn how to tune it out fast, lest he go insane on the long journey.
Luckily, they were close enough to the Soul Gem that he had an excuse to shut Truxtun up.
"Shut up," he said, holding up a hand. "I need to concentrate to find the gem."
Amazingly, Truxtun did, and without any acrimony. Slowly, Lee glanced around, and his eyes quickly fell on a glint on the water, a glint that was fairly radiating power. He glided over to the spot, and picked up the gem, holding it up to his eye. Flawless, blue-purple, deep to impossible levels. No doubt about it: this was their prize.
"Oh, pretty," Truxtun said from over Lee's shoulder. "So, what do they do, exactly? Gotta be important, if everyone's scrambling around to grab them."
"I think…" Lee frowned as he probed the gem. "Power. Lots of it, and in an easily-accessible package."
Truxtun nodded - and then suddenly turned to the west without saying anything.
"Looks like we're going to fight after all," he said almost eagerly.
Turning his senses outward, Lee nodded; the power approaching at high speed was plainly obvious. A grin broke out on his face.
"Excellent."