A/N: I meant to post Part 6 earlier this week on Wednesday but didn't have enough time, therefore it's being released alongside Part 7 (also letting this story catch up to my original SpaceBattles thread a bit faster-we're getting close-ish now) These two fragments basically wrap up the conflict between the JMSDF and the Abyssals, at least for now.

Personally, I consider Part 6 to be more of a side-story addition to the story rather than a continuation of it, though there is plot advancement here.


"Admiral Goto," Sergeant Fuyumichi breathed heavily as they stared at the unresponsive officer sprawled out on Mikasa's deck, "will she be alright?"

The admiral studied the young woman carefully, before catching note of the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"She's out like a light. I have no doubt Mikasa will be fine."

"So sorry…" Fuyumichi mumbled. "I didn't know…"

"Your error is forgivable, Sergeant. Most kanmusu tend to have a more…explicit arrival," he replied, the memory of a young brunette dashing into the fray with guns blazing to save his ship the JDS Kongō from certain destruction entering his mind.

"If she is a kanmusu, then where was her rigging?" Satake demanded, folding his arms as he approached them. "Besides, she was able to turn and fire the ship's cannons in spite of the fact they've been completely gutted. I thought kanmusu were entirely independent from their old hulls."

"I cannot answer that," Goto sighed. "There is no doubt in my mind that Mikasa has returned to us, but her arrival has left me with more questions than answers. However," he turned to Satake and Sergeant Fuyumichi, "now is not the time for such musings. Help me take her to the Naval Hospital; at present they have the only accommodations available in Yokosuka."

"I didn't sign up to lift several thousand ton women," Satake remarked as the three of them began to carry the senseless battleship to the awaiting car.

Goto raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "As an admiral of kanmusu, I believe I can state with authority that she is remarkably light for a spirit. Even the Akatsuki-class destroyers are heavier than she is."

"I agree, she's as light as a pillow. Not that I'm complaining," Fuyumichi chimed in quickly, fearfully eyeing their charge as if it she might murder them at the subject of their conversation.

Goto's aide opened the back doors as the trio neared their destination.

"Goto and I will take it from here," he called to the soldiers. "You troopers deserve some rest."

After gracefully laying her in the back seat, Fuyumichi and his men waved goodbye, and the car sped away.


Katsuragi turned around as she heard the sound of whistling and cheering in the distance. Destroyer Squadron 15 was still firing and launching missiles, but many of its sailors had gathered on the ships' decks as the crews hugged and waved at each other.

"They're retreating!" the captain of the Curtis Wilbur reported excitedly. "I don't know how or why, but the abyssals seem to be calling off the attack!"

"With so many aircraft left?" Ōyodo asked suspiciously. "They have ample reserves to have another go at Tokyo…"

Katsuragi turned to her sister. "Amagi, I don't hear Mikasa firing anymore. What's going on?"

"The Park's fine! The JSDF repelled the abyssals, and the battleship's intact! What about my planes?"

"I haven't seen anything," she grumbled in annoyance. "And I thought I had a good lead, too…"

"Well, I'm going to snag some abyssals then," Amagi stated, elevating her flight deck to relaunch her fighters.

"Amagi, Katsuragi, look!" Unryū pointed at a large group of hellfighters that furtively snuck away from the rest of the horde, "I think they're taking a shortcut back to the carriers!"

"On it! Don't let them escape!"


Tap. Tap.

[Hm?] she glanced quizzingly at the little girl.

"Order your bombers to swing around and give the kanmusu a drop. Admiral's Orders."

[But didn't she just order us to recall our aircraft?]

"Do you want to tell her you're disobeying her commands or should I?"

[U-u-understood.]


Akebono's ears perked up.

"Hang on, I'm hearing something-"

"ENEMY PLANES! OVERHEAD! DIVE-BOMBING!"

"Where did they come from?"

"Amagi and Katsuragi, bring over your Zeroes, NOW!"

"They're too far away, take evasive action!"

"Hard to starboard!"

"Too late!"

"Sister!"

"Why is it always me?" Yamashiro wailed as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


"What the bloody hell do you THINK YOU ARE DOING?" She grabbed the unfortunate carrier by the throat.

[T-T-Third said you ordered me to do so.] The abyssal whimpered.

"I did no such thing," she snarled. "and I will not be replacing your aircraft that you so foolishly lost in this moment," she added, watching the kanmusu shoot down the remaining planes.

"I did, commander."

"You?" She stared in disbelief at the little girl. "But why?"

"Admiral," she pulled her bright hair behind her ears, "don't you think it's time to see them suffer? To realize the futility in protecting them?"

"They are already suffering. I made them suffer. Anything additional attempts like you just tried would just give the enemy more hints on our location. Now please Third, do not contradict my orders again."


"Hoses broken. Pumps are shot. Engine is down. I'm done for," Yamashiro wept. She felt herself feel more and more unsteady as she began to list. It would be a painful way to go down, with her legs heavy from flooding while her entire head was in flames from the bomber's incendiary weaponry.

"Not yet," came a low growl. She felt herself get shoved violently as something pulled up alongside her.

"Come along you shitty battleship, you're not dying on me," Akebono grumbled, her fairies frantically hosing down the dreadnought's head and superstructure as they attached cables to her broadside.

"Akebono," Ōyodo warned, "you're just a destroyer, let one of us-"

"I've got this under control, thank you very much," she snapped. "I can do something right for once, you know."

"It's a good distance to the coast…" Fusō said worriedly.

"It's just another kilometer. No problem."

"Too far…a…long way…can't go on…" Yamashiro panted, fading into and out of consciousness.

"Akebono, we can make room for her on of our Arleigh-Burkes. Head towards us; it's her best chance!"

"She's about to pass out; you won't be able to carry her aboard in this state since she'll nearly weigh as much as her original displacement. I have to make it to the shore."

"Your best hope is beaching her and letting her sink in shallow water. There's a chance she won't die in that scenario."

"A chance is not a guarantee. With my shitty luck we'd lose her!"

"Then what do you plan to do, Akebono?"


The Pacific, 1944

"We'll be approaching their position shortly, commander. The convoy will be just ahead."

The captain remained quiet, his lips smashed together in a thin line.

"Let us hope that things will go as planned, ensign."

Akebono silently agreed, refusing to utter a sound that would alert the men to her presence. She felt incredibly guilty for the sailors' misfortune, even though the navy would never acknowledge her as being at fault.

She should have said no to her sister's request back at the Coral Sea. It was Ushio who was supposed to escort Shōkaku, not her. Unfortunately, before she could decide, the sailors in the radio room had decoded the destroyer's message and, mistaking it for the captain's own, immediately agreed to her demand.

And they had paid for it. A court martial, a reassignment, and murmurs of bad luck followed her crew wherever they went.

But what would blaming her sister do? She should be glad that she still had-

BOOM.

A massive geyser buried Sazanami, who had been steaming just ahead of her, in a spray of water and smoke.

"SAZANAMI!"

"No way," an officer hissed as the bridge watched the leading destroyer groaned and began to list. "An attack en route to Truk…"

"Make way to approach the Sazanami. We'll need to rescue survivors," the captain sighed, his face emotionless.

"But the tanker convoy!"

"They can wait. It would dishonorable to leave our own men to their fate, especially with us so close."

"Akebono…" Her eyes twitched as she heard Sazanami's cracked voice croak feebly through the radio. "It was…it was a submarine…tell…tell your officers…run for it…protect the convoy…don't worry about…us."

"And let that shitty monster get away with this? I'll kill her for this!"

"…you know…" her voice trailed off.

"Sazanami?"

"SAZANAMI?"

She watched as something resurface in the distance, taking in the carnage unfolding around it.

"You…!" Before Akebono could stop herself, she began unloading depth charge after depth charge into the awaiting projectors where her crew tossed them into the sea, furiously attempting to engage their unseen enemy.

That day, she paid for letting her emotions get the better of her.

Not only did she lose her sister, but the bulk of the convoy she was supposed to escort as well.

The submarine was never found, even though more than fifty-nine depth charges had been discharged.

If only she had listened to her sister…

No…

NO…


This time was different.

"I'm going to run for it."

"Run for it?"

Come on come on, how far is one kilometer?

Nine hundred meters.

Eight hundred meters.

Seven hundred meters.

Six hundred meters.

"Akebono, take them," Yamashiro whispered as her crew began to abandon ship, jumping onto the destroyer's shoulders.

"We can make it."

Five hundred meters.

Four hundred meters.

"I've accepted my fate," Yamashiro moaned, bowing over in an attempt to remain upright.

"No. You won't die," she growled. "I saw that too many times back then, and I'm not seeing it now!"

Three hundred meters.

Two hundred meters. She felt their movement slow to a crawl as the water shallowed.

No no no no.

One hundred and fifty meters.

"Remaining crew, abandon your posts!"

"No! To your positions! Just a little longer!"

One hundred meters.

Ninety meters.

Eighty meters.

Seventy meters.

Sixty meters. Akebono found her left shoulder nearly touching the water as Yamashiro began to become submerged.

"Please…just a little more power to the engines…"

Fifty meters.

Forty meters.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

Ten meters.

Thump.

"You shitty battleship, we made it!"

Both of them stumbled over a rocky outcrop and fell to the solid ground below them. Yamashiro sobbed in relief, clinging to it for dear life.

"For once…we are fortunate," she sniffed.

"Well done, Akebono," Ōyodo radioed in congratulations. "Now, if only we can find the abyssals…"

"Don't need to tell me twice," muttered Katsuragi.


Goto glanced at the back of the vehicle as he heard a jangling sound. It was her "dog tag."

The admiral inspected it before loudly smacking his face.

"A problem, Admiral?" the sailor inquired.

"That Fuyumichi," he groaned. "I can't decide if he's a blockhead or not. 'Gasa Jin.' When arranged according to English nomenclature, it translates into 'Jin Gasa'. Jingasa. War Hat. Now factor in her purported rank, Third Lieutenant. Three War Hats."

"I don't fully follow," his driver apologized.

"You probably don't think about it too much since it's mainly a mountain, but 'mikasa' can also refer archaically to 'three bamboo hats'. Three bamboo hats, three war hats. It's basically the equivalent of Kongō pretending to be someone else by calling herself Bongo."

The sailor laughed. "Well commander, at the very least you can be assured that Mikasa is a bad liar."


"Admiral, there are reports that the kanmusu are attempting to identify our position," Second warned. "My scout planes have detected Seiran and Zuiun from the west and a group of Suisei/Tenzans from the north."

"Then it is time to put on our disappearing act," she clasped her hands together in glee.


"Come on, come on," Katsuragi hissed as her pilots scoured the surrounding waters for any trace of the attackers.

Attempting to follow the hellfighters back had been pointless; it didn't take long for the abyssals to catch on to her plans and send them all about on a wild good chase. Amagi and Unryū spent all afternoon chasing the bombers into Sagami Bay before finally accepting the futility of further pursuit.

Now night was fast approaching, and they still had no idea who they were facing nor where they had concealed themselves for so long.

"I think I've found something!" one of the pilots chirped excitedly. "Four o'clock, eight masses in the west!"

"Investigate," she pressed him.

There was a sigh of annoyance from the pilot's radio.

"It's not them," he answered crestfallenly.

"Katsuragi, 'sup? Did we make it in time~?"

"Um, I-401 here, is Yokosuka still standing?"

"Katsuragi, what is it?" Unryū asked tiredly as she saw her sister's face turn red with rage.

"Damn Kure reinforcements," she slapped her leg furiously.

"If that's the case, then the enemy must have retreated," Ōyodo sighed. "Otherwise, our aircraft wouldn't have been able to make contact so soon."

"Then let's turn back," Yūbari replied gloomily, steaming towards the naval base. "Maybe Tōgō's still down there…" Wordlessly, the destroyers, Amagi, and Unryū followed suit.

"How unfortunate," Fusō sighed at the experimental cruiser's dejected form, "that we were unable to at least identify our attackers. We almost lost Yamashiro and Tōgō's as good as dead."

"Indeed," Ōyodo nodded in agreement. "It's best that we report to Goto now. Who knows what the situation on base is since the attack."

"He hasn't communicated with you at all?" Fusō gasped in surprise.

"No, the last transmission I heard was that he was heading to Mikasa Park." She slowed her pace to look glance back at the unmoving silhouette of Katsuragi.

"I'll be coming in a minute," she called out to their retreating forms, "I'm going to make another round and give Suzuya and Shioi a piece of my mind."

"It's not their fault," Ōyodo chided her, "but stay safe. Don't linger too long now, okay?"

"Not if I can't help it."


A/N: Yes, Mikasa can mean "three bamboo hats" if divided into "mi" and "kasa".