Battle of Lüshunkou
"Fire!"
A loud boom echoed through the forest that covered the south of the Liaodong Peninsula, comprising the Laotieshan Natural Reserve, briefly cutting through the sound of continuous automatic gunfire. A Type 100 tank, accompanied by two Type 99s and a platoon of soldiers, fired its main gun. The soldiers, a mix of army troopers and marines, fire through the trees with assault rifles and light machine guns, supplemented by the heavy machines guns of the tanks.
Several strange creatures bound at them through the trees. They appeared to be cybernetic zombies with the legs and waist of a human but the upper body in the shape of an antiquated artillery piece.
"Kill it!" a soldier shouted, "Concentrate fire!"
One of the creatures crouch slightly and fires its cannon. The shell explodes against the left Type 99. The 54 ton tanks gets pushed a metre back and explosion rips the turret clean off the tank. The right Type 99 turns and fires its cannon. The APFSDS round sliced through the Abyssal with little resistance, bisecting it through the centre. Abyssal creature explodes.
More of the strange Abyssals jump out of the forest, charging at the soldiers.
"Fuck!" commander of the Type 100 cursed, "There's too many of the bastards!"
The tank fires again, taking down another Abyssal. But more charge out of the forest. Being in an undead state, the Abyssals can soak up a huge amount of damage before succumbing to gunfire.
"Fall back," the commander in the tank ordered, "we're abandoning the reserve! Fighters are going to hit this area hard!"
The three tanks reverse, heading back the way they came, followed by the soldiers. The tanks fire smoke grenades into the forest as they retreat, forming a smoke screen. The white phosphorous smoke throws up a screen that not only hides the tanks from visual contact, but from infrared sensors as well. Confused screeches of the Abyssal could be heard.
A flight of six J-40 fighters fly low over the water, afterburners screaming.
"Approaching the target area," the pilot of the lead fighter said, "weapons free."
The six delta winged fighters pull up as they approach the mountain. Their internal weapon bays open, revealing nasty looking 1000lb bombs.
The sound of the jet's engines sounded in the ears of the soldiers.
"You hear that?" exclaimed a soldier, "We're out of here!"
"Jet's inbound!" shouted a marine, "Let's move."
No sooner than they left the vicinity did the bombs come down fast and hard. The warheads exploded above the ground, creating a cloud of metal powder while trailing more to the ground. The glittering silver particles cloud expanded and descended towards the ground slowly.
"Thermobaric weapons!" the commander of the platoon ordered, "Everybody DOWN!"
The infantry immediately dive to the ground. As soon as they hit the deck, the clouds of the particles are ignited. They turn into fireballs the height of five storey buildings, engulfing everything nearby. Trees are uprooted and blown skywards. Even from a hundred metres away, the tanks are jolted by the concussion shockwave. Burning wood showered the area. A few of the Abyssal biped staggered out of the burning forest before collapsing, the more determined ones dying after getting hit by small arms fire.
"Yeah!" the soldiers cheered, "That must have finished them off."
"We're retreating back to the airfield," the commander of the Type 100 said, "hop on boys."
The soldiers jump on top of the tanks, preparing to depart of the airport further inland. As a marine climbed aboard the Type 100, he suddenly turned back.
"What's the matter?" asked the spec ops.
"I saw something move," the marine said, raising his assault rifle.
Indeed, a huge shadowy form shifted among the smoke cloud. All the soldiers jump off the tanks and point their weapons at the shadow. The tank's gunners also aim at the shadow. As the figure stepped out, it was revealed to be a young woman dressed in tattered remains of a loose fitting traditional outfit, though the era and style is unconfirmed. What is confirmed is that the woman is an Abyssal, judging by her white skin and hair and her glowing red eyes. That and her arms are encased in massive gauntlets with cannons mounted on them. Smaller cannons protrude from shoulder and waist mounts.
She looked pissed off, hardly surprising as she just withstood bombardment by Chinese air force jets.
"Such impertinence," she hissed in Chinese, a strange echoing quality in her voice.
"What are you waiting for!" the marine said, "FIRE!"
The tanks and the soldiers open fire. Explosions splashed off a red energy barrier and the bullets bounced. The princess barely flinched as she weathered the damage. Pointing her guns at the Type-100, she opened fire. Even though the tank has advanced reactive armor, multiple direct hits from artillery at near point blank range was more than enough to reduce it into a smouldering heap of scrap metal. The explosions knock several nearby soldiers off their feet.
The remaining combatants continue firing at the new Abyssal, but their weapons seem to have no effect. A burst of gunfire from the Abyssals secondary battery takes out the second Type 099 and a few other soldiers.
"We're getting hammered by an Abyssal woman!" the spec ops soldier shouted, "Need immediate reinforcements at our location!"
The commander of the turretless Type 99 sighed.
"Driver," he said, "aim for the Abyssal and hit the gas. We'll crush that bitch under our tracks. Or hold her off long enough for the troops to get away."
"Yes sir," the driver nodded as he pushes the accelerator.
With its turret gone, the tank is light and faster. It lurched forward before quickly slamming into the Abyssal. The Abyssal hissed as her energy barrier shimmered and flared under the renewed attack. The tank continued to push, but the Abyssal is pushing back against the 1400 horsepower engine.
"Now go!" the commander ordered the soldiers, "Fall back! We'll hold this bitch off for as long as we can!"
"Sorry sir," the spec op said, "we'll be leaving you behind. Let's go, men."
The soldiers turn back and run, leaving the tank crew to their fate.
The Japanese shipgirls are fight in the waters of Bohai Bay, off the coast of Lüshunkou. They were ambushed by a dozen PT imps. But unlike PT imps known to the Japanese, these are slow, sluggish and did not pose much of a threat. Even the Type 022 missile boats and the Type 058 destroyer sunk them easily, the former using rotary cannons and the latter using lasers. For the first time in history, conventional naval forces are winning against Abyssals, though they did have the help of shipgirls.
As the shipgirls dispatched the last of them, they turn to look at the Chinese ships. No damage sustained.
"That was the easiest fight I have ever had," Fubuki said, "those PT imps are so slow."
"Nothing like the ones we have seen before," Kirishima smirked, "those were fast and nasty. These were sitting ducks."
A flight of Chinese fighter jets speed over them, heading towards the high ground of Lüshunkou.
"What now?" asked Haruna.
"Sit here and wait for the Chinese to finish building their defences," Yuubari said, "it might take a few days though. This fight is nothing like our last one."
Sendai flinched at the comment before looking down at her feet.
"Oh," Yuubari said, "I am sorry. I-"
"It's okay," Sendai nods at her fellow light cruiser, "Naka died a heroic death. Jinstuu would be proud. As Tenryuu and Tatsuta kept on saying, it is our pride as shipgirls to fight and die, as long as the death was not in vain. But…so many Chinese died in that battle and many more were injured. We had to retreat too. Did we defend this stretch of water successfully? Naka's death was heroic, but was it in vain?"
Akagi hugged Sendai from behind, "Were it not for us, the casualties would have been much higher."
She smiles, "Don't worry, I bet Naka would come back soon. She holds the record for the ship which reappeared the most. HMAS Sydney even made a parody of an Australian song."
"Ah," Sendai said, cheering up slightly, "I know it. Instead of 'The cat came back', Syndey changed it to 'Naka came back'."
"Yeah," Kirishima said, "as the song went, 'But Naka came back, on the very next day'. Though last time, it took months."
"That kid," Haruna said, "one of the ships come back after been sunk repeatedly. It depends on how much that ship was loved throughout her existence as a ship and a shipgirl. Naka wasn't revered in the same way as Yamato as a ship. But as a shipgirl, people around the world loved her. And until that changes, she'll keep coming back."
Massive explosions distract them from their conversation. Turning to face the sound, the shipgirls are shocked by the sheer size of the fireballs that erupted from the hills. The fighters speed away, heading back to the military airfield near Tianjin.
"What was that about?" frowned Yuubari.
"Why are they bombing the hills?" asked Haruna.
"Don't tell me that there are Abyssals far inland," gulped Fubuki, "Abyssals never go on land, right?"
Akagi growled as she takes out an arrow and aims her bow. She releases her grip, launching an arrow. The arrow bursts into flames and transforms into a flight of dive bomber. Akagi wondered whether the pilots can target Abyssals through foliage, but at least she would know if there really are Abyssals on land. She must find out. The implications of land based Abyssals are serious. They already have the oceans under control and the shipgirls are having a hard time just holding the coastline. Should the Abyssals move onto land, they'd be beyond the reach of shipgirls.
"Come on," Kirishima said, steaming towards the Peninsula, "we gotta help. Even if Abyssals are on land, we can bombard them with our cannons."
Fubuki tilted her head and rested her hand on it, listening to what had to be an incoming radio message. She paled visibly after her arm dropped.
"What is it?" asked Yuubari, feeling the tension.
"Admiral Kadawa sent a message," Fubuki replied, her voice shaky, "Abyssals are spotted throughout the reserve and have either eliminated the Chinese scouting parties or forced them to retreat. Kadawa said based on the descriptions, they sounded like artillery imps."
"Okay," Akagi snorted as she launched another wave, "we can deal with those."
"Yeah," Haruna said, "come on, let's lend the army a hand."
"A-and," Fubuki said, "Kadawa said…"
"Come on," Sendai said, "spit it out."
What Fubuki said made all their blood run cold.
Ooh, more cliff hangers. Aren't you just loving those? Sorry for the highly irregular uploads, but some days I get ideas that flow into my head non-stop and other days I get full on writers block