Admiral Enfield watched as South Carolina paced back and forth in the command center. The old dreadnought had seemed restless ever since North and the others had left to engage the abyssal fleet several hours before. Even if she hadn't been doing that for as long as she had, the trail of cracked tiles she was starting to leave gave her feelings away.

"You know, if you really want to wear a hole in the ground, I'm sure the boys digging slit trenches for the AAA crews wouldn't mind having a little help." He joked

The light-hearted joke seemed to have the intended effect as South stopped in her tracks, the sound of broken linoleum fragments scraping the ground echoing through the room as she turned to face him. "Sorry," she sheepishly began as she surveyed the damage she had already caused. "I guess I'm just a little worried about North and the others."

Enfield knew that the "little" part of her statement was a severe understatement. Even from the other side of the room, he could see that the dreadnought wore her anxiety about the upcoming battle like it was part of her uniform. Her body shook with both anticipation and worry over the events that were about to unfold, and her eyes were constantly darting between him and the screen that showed the two fleets.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." He said reassuringly. "North's the best treaty battleship the world ever saw, and while they don't always act it on base, those girls with her are some of the best in the fleet."

"I know, it's just that…"

"First day of school." Enfield finished. "I know the feeling."

"I didn't realize that schools were that dangerous now." The aging dreadnought asked. "You sure you don't mean boot camp."

"Neither of mine are old enough for that yet," the admiral said turning back towards the video screen. "And I hope to god they don't follow in my footsteps if those things are still around."

South nodded as she turned back towards the screen herself. The two fleets couldn't have been more different. The abyssal fleet, travelling at a brisk 25 knots now that they were certain no submarines were around, seemed to radiate pure hatred. The guns on the destroyers seemed to be on a constant swivel, looking for anything that might be stupid enough to get within range of them. The battleship and its two escorts in contrast remained as still as statues, as if everything else around them wasn't worthy of their armament.

The force assembled to stop it seemed tiny and under-gunned in comparison, even if both knew that was far from the case. Between their size, the camouflage pattern Navy Working Uniforms each girl was wearing, and the glare off the ocean the evening sun produced, the two almost had an easier time tracking the wakes the various girls made than tracking the girls themselves.

"I've always meant to ask how you discovered that the NWUs worked as great camouflage?" South Carolina asked.

"Kind of what they were designed for." Enfield replied. "We just experimented with them by having the Reapers try to track the destroyers outside of the harbor. Might not stop those things from spotting them on radar, but it sure does seem to play hell with their rangefinders."

"Sure wouldn't have minded that back when I was still sailing in the Atlantic." South said as she placed a wireless headset Enfield had given her on her head.

"How long till contact?" She asked.

"Approximately an hour, given the two groups current position and heading." One of the techs said before switching over to the operations channel. "Command to Showboat. Target approximately 50 away from you at bearing 330. North-northeast. Advise your group break off to intercept."

"Showboat. That's what you call a hostess at a brothel, not a first rate ship the line." South Carolina muttered.

"Um mom, that was my nickname from the war." She heard North say over the headset. She could also see several personnel snickering at her misfortune. "I take it the microphone is voice activated?" she asked a smirking Enfield after she had covered the mic with her hand.

"Possibly." The admiral answered, doing his best to hide the grin on his face from the dreadnoughts glare.

Had he seen the glare USS North Carolina was giving Northampton and Augusta at that moment as she listened to their hoots of laughter, Admiral Enfield's first thought would have been "like mother like daughter". The fast battleship knew they were going to milk that brothel comment for all it was worth when they got back from this, and god knew how much further the Taffys would stretch it after that.

The two groups had just split off from each other to get into position for the ambush, the planned distance between them a mere 30 miles. Sullivans and Kidd, her two escorts, constantly switched between radar and sonar to keep the way clear. In addition, North had both of her Kingfisher scout planes out. One searching for any screening force the Reapers might have missed, while the other kept an eye out for any of its abyssal counterparts that might be trying to spot them. She'd need to pull them in soon though, given the setting sun, otherwise she'd have to try a nighttime retrieval.

Not that she needed them anymore. Given the reports from Pearl, the main body of enemy force would be within range of her and her escort's radar within a half hour, and while her scouts had spotted it many times in the past several hours, the ocean around them had produced no more threats.

As the enemy drew closer, she recalled her floatplanes. The first to land by her side was the advanced scout, her improvised CAP staying up until they were only a few minutes from when radar contact was estimated to occur. While they were risking the plane being spotted on radar, North knew that anything equipped with an air search radar would also have the radar equipment to spot her group around the same time they did.

It wasn't long after when her saw both Sullivan and Kidd straighten, their eyes wide as their radar operators report the enemy fleet's position. Soon her own radar screen comes alive as she spots the blurry dots that represent their adversary appear on her more outdated set. The abyssal craft, just outside the range of her cannons, still sailed in their tightly packed formation. The radar returns from the battleship and the two cruisers almost appearing as one contact while the 4 destroyers circle just barely outside it.

"Showboat to Command. I have radar contact with an abyssal fleet 22 miles out north east of me. I will be in range in 60 seconds. Requesting assistance from Reaper UAV's for fire correction."

"Request approved Showboat." Admiral Enfield replied. "Be advised, both Arclight flight and the Northamptons are in position waiting for you to begin the attack."

"Roger." He heard over the radio.

South Carolina looked at him as she moved to get a better view of the screen, her face now a mask that hid even the slightest hint of emotion. Even though she was hundreds of miles away from the action, the dreadnought acted like she was right on the firing line with her daughter.

"Decrease the zoom a little on the video feed on the right." She said. Immediately the camera tracking the abyssal fleet panned out, the ships becoming smaller as thousands of yards of open ocean was exposed. "Everything's ready on our end North. You may fire when ready."

"Understood. Firing in 3...2...1." On the right screen a black cloud swallowed up North as all 9 of her cannons let loose. For over an agonizing minute, neither screen showed anything else before a series of geysers appeared behind the abyssal formation on their port side.

"Adjust aim, 2000 yards down and 600 yards starboard-cancel that, 600 yards port." South said adjusting her commands as the battleship and its escorts started a hard left turn. She watched as the destroyers and light cruisers sped up, either trying to gain some distance from the likely target or organizing themselves into an impromptu screening force.

Either way, it was a bad move on their part as North's second salvo, either by luck or design on South's part, landed square in their formation. One slammed into one of the light cruisers bow between the number 1 and 2 turrets. The shell, designed to punch through twice the armor thickness of its targets belt, easily burrowed itself into the forward magazine.

Enfield couldn't help but notice the grin that spread across South's face as the pieces of her daughter's first victim slowly returned to the abyss they came from. She wasn't the only one though, as across the room cheers and high fives were exchanged between the other base personnel.

"Good hit North. You just killed yourself a cruiser." She said. "Now shift fire 600 yards back."

"Understood" North said as she started grinning from ear to ear. While not anywhere near as blood thirsty as the cruisers, she was still glad to be fighting the good fight like she had wanted ever since they had begun the attempt to bring her back into action at Wilmington.

Shells splashed in front of her as the enemy let loose with yet another salvo, a vain but futile effort. While not as powerful as her Iowa cousins, she was still one of the most advanced battleships of the last war. Between her radar and fire control directors, a long-range fight like this was hers to lose.

She could see the enemy ships on radar. The battleship still sat 30,000 yards, trying to keep her at arm's length. Its escorts though were steaming towards her at an angle inside of 25,000 yards in an attempt at crossing her formation's T. "Augusta, how long until you guys hit those escorts?"

"About that…" The cruiser replied, more than a hint of frustration in her voice. "We weren't expecting them to move on you like that. We're trying to run them down now but the bastards are running at full speed."

North bit her lip. She knew that the Northamptons, being a full 4 knots slower than the light cruiser, weren't going to be able to catch up with them until they slowed down to fire at her. She looked at Sully and Kidd. She could see that they were waiting for her to give the order to attack. That was suicide though, with the two destroyers having little chance of even getting within range of the group before the light cruiser and its escort tore them apart. "Understood."

North put one last salvo towards the battleship before the ocean around her turned into a sea of foam as the cruiser opened fire on her. It was like being in front of a machinegun as 6-inch shells fell around her and her escorts. Every so often she'd feel a sting as a shell found its mark, only to bounce off her armor.

She was still trading fire with the battleship when she heard a yelp in front of her. Looking forward, she could see Kidd holding her left hand close to her body, the turret it normally held nowhere to be found. Sullivan moved next to her, trying to wrap the mangled appendage with a gauze roll when she fell backwards with a similar shout of pain, a stream of blackish red liquid flowing down her face from a gash on her scalp.

"Get out of here!" North ordered without a second thought.

The two destroyers looked at each other. "But-" Kidd began when North cut her off with a glare.

"You heard me." She began, seething with anger. "I can survive this. You can't."

Both damaged destroyers broke off from North, glances of regret staring back at the battleship. Still, the shells from the cruiser, now added to by the destroyers' 5-inch guns, continued falling. "Augusta, you almost in position?"

"Give us a few more minutes." Was the hurried response over the radio.

"I don't have a few more minutes." North shouted. "Sully and Kidd already had to pull out due to damage and-AAAAA!" Her response was cut off as the enemy battleship finally found its mark. A shell slammed into the port side secondary battery of her rigging, tearing apart the turrets and setting off the shells inside them. North crumpled over as her crews worked to put out the fires and repair any damage they could.

"North," she heard her mother call out over the radio. "Are you al-" At that moment a shell from the cruiser struck her bridge, taking out both her radar and radio. Clutching the gash on her head, North looked over at where she hoped her cruisers were. "Whatever you guys are planning," she whispered. "Do it fast."