Chapter 10: Operation SO – 2nd Part
The breeze was freezing cold inside the abandoned semi-submersible ship located somewhere in the area of the Sea of Okhotsk. The group is on their way to recover a piece of a device that has the ability to render communication by disrupting any kinds of radio signals. They must successfully accomplish this mission or another disaster that happened to Ominato might repeat if this device once again falls to the hands of the enemies. The group explored deeper within the structure, not knowing the danger lurking inside.
Eventually, Tenryuu's team manages to locate the device in an old depot area thanks to Yukikaze's incredible luck. But it appears that they were not alone, a mysterious girl wearing a black hooded cape suddenly assaulted. It isn't clear if this girl is a human, a Kanmusu or from the Shinkaisei-kan but one thing they know for sure that this girl was also searching for the device.
The mysterious girl attacked Johnston but Roberts immediately appears and rescue her former teammates. Now Roberts glares at the mysterious girl with her crimson murderous eyes. Johnston remembers her conversation with Roberts at the night before they arrive in Ominato and the thing she could think is that this girl is the one Roberts has been looking for.
"Sammy, do you know this person?" Johnston asked.
"There's no time for talking, this person is far too dangerous… just take the case and leave immediately." Roberts commanded.
"B-but Roberts-chan… you sure you're going to be alright?" Yukikaze worries.
"I'll catch up later; I just need to settle some business with her." Roberts answers.
Johnston nods her head, "I see… good luck Sammy…" then she looks at Yukikaze, "Yukikaze, let's go…"
Yukikaze nods her head, Johnston handed the attaché case to Yukikaze so she can use her knife if ever someone ambushes them along the way, the two girls began to move and leave Roberts alone with the mysterious girl.
The mysterious girl moves and tries to catch up with the two girls but Roberts quickly moves at the girl and swings her blade. The girl pulls her handgun and blocks Roberts attack, the clash of their respective weapons creates another loud spark.
"You're not getting away from me this time!"
Johnston and Yukikaze escapes with the attaché case with them. While they were running away, Johnston accidentally bumps on Tenryuu who was also alerted by the gunshot. The American destroyer falls down at the floor because of the impact.
"Johnston-chan…" Tenryuu immediately pulls Johnston upward, Johnston brushes her clothes, and "was that a gunshot I heard earlier ago?" she asks.
"Yeah, we've been attacked by a mysterious person earlier ago and almost got myself a bullet to the head... but anyway, we already found the device." Johnston reported.
Yukikaze shows the attaché case at Tenryuu, Tenryuu picks up a very strong signal from the case.
"I see… but anyway where the hell is Roberts-chan?"
"She's fighting the mysterious person… she said she will catch up with us later, but first we need to get out of this place before that person catches up with us." Johnston suggested.
"Great idea, I'll call Ryuujou-san as soon as possible."
Then the three girls leave the depot area.
Meanwhile Roberts and the mysterious girl continued fighting each other inside the depot area. Their battle was very fierce but none of them were injured since both fighters seem to have equal strength. The mysterious girl continue to defend herself against Roberts's brute attacks, fighting the destroyer escort wasn't part of her plan while Roberts was very determined to take down the mysterious girl so she doesn't want to let the girl out of her sight as much as possible.
Roberts charges the girl again but the girl steps aside and evaded the incoming attack. Roberts stands in one foot, she quickly pivots and swings her blade horizontally but the girl immediately crouches and evaded the attack again. While she crouches down, she tries to counter Roberts by swinging her foot on the floor, Roberts quickly jumps and tries for an aerial attack. The girl immediately stands up, aims and fires her handgun at Roberts, Roberts swings her blade and blocks the incoming projectiles. Roberts attempts to deliver a powerful kick to ground, the girl steps aside again and evaded the attack before Roberts landed to the ground. But the impact from Roberts's kick caused vibration that somehow staggers the girl, Roberts quickly raises from the floor and charges to girl again in attempt to bring her down.
Roberts swings her blade relentlessly at her opponent but the girl continues dodging and blocking all the attacks Roberts make; sparks were created whenever their weapons clash with each other. The girl jumps backward again and positions herself away from Roberts, she fires her handgun but the destroyer escort sprints quickly and dodges the incoming projectiles. Then Roberts rushes at her opponent again and swings her blade, the girl quickly steps backward to avoid the incoming blade then she raises her arm and point the handgun at Roberts's head, Roberts raises her foot up high and kicks the hand of the girl. The kick made the girl throws her handgun away.
With her opponent's weapon gone, Roberts somehow gains an advantage. The destroyer escort dashes again quickly at the girl and swings her blade, but it seems that Roberts had lowered her guard. The girl grabs her and stops her blade, Roberts was surprised, then the girl tries to punch Roberts to the face but Roberts's sharp instinct allows her to detects the incoming blow quickly and blocks it successfully with her other arm but the impact loses Roberts's tight grip on her weapon. The girl steals her blade and swings the blade at Roberts, Roberts quickly jumps backward and dodges the attack.
This time, the mysterious girl charges Roberts with the blade gripping tightly on her hand. The girl attempts to thrust the blade at Roberts, the destroyer escort turns her body and steps backward to dodge the first incoming attack. Then the girl swings the blade horizontally but Roberts hops backward and dodges the second attack. The girl launches several attacks at Roberts relentlessly but Roberts managed to evade all the incoming attacks with her agile movements. Roberts sees the handgun from a distance, she tries to get near the weapon while dodging the incoming attacks.
The girl also sees the handgun lying around; both fighters realize that whoever gets the handgun will gain the upper hand in this fight. The two fighters immediately rush towards the handgun but Roberts have already moved before the girl reacted. The destroyer escort picks up the handgun immediately and aims it at her opponent. Roberts fires a shot but the girl swings the blade and deflected the bullet, Roberts tries to fire another shot but it seems that the handgun was already out of bullets.
The girl jumps up and tries to smash the blade at Roberts. Roberts observed that the handgun was able to withstand against the steel of her blade, so she immediately used the handgun to deflect the incoming attack. The attack triggered a powerful spark between their weapons both fighters staggered from the powerful clash, the mysterious girl landed on the floor with her feet several meters away from Roberts.
Both fighters step forward and charge each other respectively; they keep on exchanging with each other blows relentlessly but they both blocked and dodged the incoming attacks respectively. Then after two minutes of intense exchange of powerful blows, the two fighters jump away from each other again and tried to distance each other, the two combatants try to regain the stamina they've lost in the fight. Sweat pours down from their head while facing each other. Despite of the intense close battle they had, none of them took any injuries. Roberts stares at her opponent with her fierce crimson eyes while catching her breath softly, she could also see that her opponent was also catching her breath behind that mask.
After a brief moment of rest, the two resumes their combat. Roberts began to charge her opponent again while her opponent holds the pommel with both hands and stances like a samurai. Roberts recognize the stance and tries to be extra cautious from her movements, she quickly steps aside trying to make any contact with her opponent. The mysterious girl steps forward and chases Roberts. The destroyer escort sprints in a circular pattern while trying to find an opening to launch her attack, she looks at the handgun from her hand, since it has no bullets left, it's only good for deflecting attack but it seems that she had something in mind.
The mysterious girl turns around and tries to catch up with Roberts. Roberts stomps her feet and dashes towards the girl. Then suddenly Roberts throws the handgun at the girl hard and quick. Roberts's action somehow distracted her opponent, she stomps her feet again and move in a zigzag pattern to confuse her enemies. When Roberts was almost near her opponent, she performs a cartwheel at her opponent. Her opponent saw her approach and quickly swings the blade horizontally, Roberts quickly pushes the ground and lifts her body up in the air. Roberts spins through the air and landed gracefully on the floor with her feet in front of the mysterious girl. Before the girl can swing the blade, Roberts quickly kicks the girl's arm and drops the blade. Roberts quickly picks up her weapon on the ground while the girl picks up her handgun. After getting her handgun back, the girl quickly throws a new magazine upward, unloads the empty magazine and successfully loaded the new magazine in just a few seconds before the two fighters point their weapons at each other's faces.
Then there was another brief moment of silence.
"Hmp… seems that I've wasted too much time here."
The mysterious girl speaks, her voice was very cold. Then Roberts was surprised, she didn't notice that the girl managed to pull out a flash bang inside her cape. Roberts jumps backward before the girl could drop the flash bomb. The flash bomb hits the ground and produced a powerful flash and sound that could temporary disables somebody's senses; Roberts quickly covers her ears and closes her eyes to prevent the effect. Moments later, the flash clears out from the entire area, Roberts slowly opens her eyes and scans her surroundings. She noticed that her opponent already disappeared without a trace. The little girl looks quite irritated.
"Tch, I really hate her."
Meanwhile at Ryuujou's team, it seems that they almost reach the platform. They were at a balcony area that has a clear view of the blue horizon. Several flexible tubes were dangling above the ceiling, and the railings were a bit rusty so it is very dangerous to get them. The radio signals inside the structure were very poor so Tenryuu had just recently made her call to Ryuujou, the two Kanmusu are now communicating on their respective radio. Meanwhile the rest of the girls decided to have a short break
"So ye finally had the device with ye but ye had to run away because some weird person is chasin' ye and also afterin' the device, is that what ye wanna sayin'?" said Ryuujou.
"… Uh… yeah?" said Tenryuu on the radio, she sounded a bit confuse.
"Good enough, alright… guess we have to pull out immediately."
"… I don't think we could be able to pull out soon, Roberts-chan is still inside."
"Goddamn it Tenryuu, why did ye let somebody behind!"
"… It was her own choice; she said she'll catch up with us later."
"But we're still coming for ya; just hold the device until we get there, got that?"
"Alright, we'll meet you back at the trawler." then Tenryuu ends her call.
Ryuujou stands up and looks at the girls who were still resting.
"Hey girls, I just receive a call from Ominato, they say that we have to return to base immediately." Ryuujou smiles at them; she still plans to hide the truth from the girls.
"Huh, we just arrived here… and we haven't yet found a single pile of resources in this dump." Akatsuki replies.
"But you know we still have to follow the Admiral's order, am I right?"
Akatsuki and Hibiki nod their heads at Ryuujou timidly.
"… Ryuujou-san… I think it's about time you tell us about the whole truth about this operation." Amatsukaze suggested, "it's about that American device, am I right?"
The two girls turn their heads at Amatsukaze; meanwhile Ryuujou was a bit surprised.
"Amatsukaze-chan, what do you mean about the 'whole truth about this operation'?" Akatsuki asks.
"… Hmm, seems that ye really had it all figured it out, that's right we are here to recover a certain device hidden within this abandoned structure…" she explains at the two girls then she looks back at Amatsukaze "… just wonderin' Amatsukaze, where did ye learn about our true primary objective?" Ryuujou stares conspicuously at girl.
"I prefer not to answer." Amatsukaze responds.
"Um, Ryuujou-san... I just want to know something about this device, what made it very special?" Akatsuki asked.
"Oh, it's a device that can disrupt any kind of radio signal and it was possibly the one used in the attack in Ominato, we need to get this from the enemy before they could use it again on another naval base." Ryuujou answered.
"I see… but how can we able to look for it inside this big place?"
"Don't worry, Tenryuu already had the device, but it seems that some weird guy is chasin' them around, they still don't know if the person is from the enemy but it also wanted the device."
"Then we must help them quickly!" Akatsuki suggested.
"But how are we going to help them if we don't know where they are?" Amatsukaze asks.
"Don't worry; just leave it to the great Ryuujou-sama."
Ryuujou boasts while Amatsukaze stares at her with a flat gaze, then the light carrier pulls an equipment card inside her clothes, it seems that it was a duplicate of the American Radar they received yesterday. Ryuujou was the one who accepted the equipment card from the Admiral; Ryuujou decided that she'll need an extra if ever things would go wrong, so she have requested to the fairies in Ominato to duplicate the equipment card for her before then she handed the original card to Tenryuu, though the replication process wasn't a hundred successful since Ryuujou cannot equipped the card. Ryuujou began to chant and summon an equipment fairy from the card. After a moment of concentration, Ryuujou successfully summons one little fairy.
There are two ways to use an equipment card, one is to equip them and the other is for summoning an equipment fairy. Equipment fairies were tiny creatures that live within equipment cards, some said that these creatures were the soul that possess the equipment. Summoning an equipment fairy requires years of experience for being a Kanmusu, they must also successfully chant a special spell to be able to summon them from the equipment card; usually the carrier-types Kanmusu are the one that can summon these fairies. Once a fairy has been summoned, the fairy operates the specific type of equipment and allows it to become fully automatic, it can also boost the equipment capabilities. Also, the fairies do not speak but capable of understanding human language and uses their body language to communicate with the humans.
Ryuujou summons a fairy that wears the standard United States Navy uniform and green hard helmet. The fairy looks at Ryuujou and immediately salutes at the light carrier
"Since I cannot equip the card, I just let the fairy point the way for us." Ryuujou said.
Then Ryuujou looks at fairy, she clears her throat.
"Ahem… Miss Fairy, please buring us to the ishtrong shignal."
Since the equipment fairy came from an equipment card from the Americans, Ryuujou must speak the appropriate language so that the fairy could understand her. Ryuujou learned how to speak English from a friend, though she wasn't that good but it surely was effective. The fairy nods at her then it began pointing the way for the girls. The girls look at each other and nod their heads. Then Ryuujou's group proceeds to the direction where the fairy is pointing.
Meanwhile back to Tenryuu's group, they were still looking for their way out inside the structure before the mysterious girl can catch up with them. They return in the flooded area with many concrete pillars; the room was still dark as always so Tenryuu had to use the flashlight to navigate. Yukikaze still has the case with her while Johnston runs besides her.
"Right, now that we're here… we just need to look for our way out." said Tenryuu while looking around in the area.
While they were walking, Yukikaze suddenly sensed something very unusual around her. She concentrated carefully and detected that there were bombs planted on each pillars.
"Johnston-chan, Tenryuu-san, there are bombs inside this place!" Yukikaze shouted.
"WHAT?!" the two girls shouted in chorus.
Then suddenly one bomb exploded and a pillar goes down on the floor, Yukikaze immediately jumps for Johnston to save her friend but Tenryuu got separated from the explosion. Yukikaze detected more bombs inside, she immediately pulls Johnston arm and grabs her friend away from this area. Then more bombs explode and wreck the place. The two girls managed to get out from the area but they weren't sure if Tenryuu made it out.
"Johnston-chan, are you alright?" Yukikaze asks while catching her breath.
"G-guess so… that mysterious person must have set up those bombs, it is a good thing we made it out there." Johnston replied.
"But Tenryuu-san might be still inside the place, I don't think someone can survive to that explosion." Yukikaze worries.
"I'll try contacting her…" Johnston tries to contact Tenryuu through her radio but it seems that she's not receiving any transmission.
"Tch, no good seems that the explosion must have rendered our communication line." Johnston replied.
"Um… I'm really worried about Tenryuu-san." Yukikaze's voice was a bit shaky.
"I'm sure that Big Sis is going to be alright, I don't think some flashy explosion can bring her down that easily." Johnston smiles while trying to cheer-up Yukikaze.
Yukikaze nods at Johnston timidly.
"By the way, thank you for saving me back there, your instinct is really sharp to be able to detect those bombs inside, caused if you don't; I've already been minced meat." Johnston grins at Yukikaze.
"Um... I'm just very lucky, I guess…" Yukikaze replies, her voice was soft and meek.
"Oh cheer up already Yukikaze; I know everything will be alright, I promised to you that I won't ever leave your side."
Yukikaze saw Johnston's smiles; it somehow brightens her mood to see her friend's positive attitude. She also responds with her own smile.
"Right, thank you very much, Johnston-chan…" Yukikaze nods at Johnston.
"Whew… now that our way out has taken out, I guess we have to find another way around."
Yukikaze nods her head. The two girls began to move but suddenly the mysterious girl appears behind them. The two girls were alerted from the presence of the girl so they quickly turn around. Johnston draws her combat knife from her pouch and points it at the mysterious girl while Yukikaze holds the attaché case tightly, she's very determined not to let go the case from her grasp.
"What happened to Sammy?!" Johnston asks in her loud voice.
"Don't worry, your friend is in a good condition, now give me the case and no one is going to get hurt." the mysterious girl speaks.
"Said the person who pointed a gun at my head." said Johnston furiously.
"I see… if that's what you want you had me no choice."
The mysterious girl charges Johnston while Johnston grips her knife tightly and also made her own charge. Johnston swings her knife horizontally but the mysterious girl able to steps backward quickly and dodges the first attack. Then Johnston swings her knife again vertically but the girl steps aside and dodges the second attack. Johnston pulls her knife and attempts to thrust her opponent but the mysterious girl parries Johnston arm with her own hand and nullify the attack. Johnston keeps on hacking and slashing her knife in the air but her opponent just evaded all her attacks effortlessly.
Johnston had lost most of her stamina from her relentless attacks but she still didn't stop, her movements starting to slow down because of exhaustion. The mysterious girl considers this as an opportunity to counter. Johnston swings her knife again but her opponent dodged her attack easily, the girl quickly counters with a knee to Johnston's diaphragm, the destroyer staggers but she was still on her feet. The mysterious girl charges Johnston, the girl delivers a powerful punch that connects to her face but Johnston was still on her feet. Johnston tries to counter with her knife but her opponent was able to block her attack using bare hands. The mysterious girl counters another punch that landed on Johnston's shoulder, then follows up with another that landed on her stomach.
Johnston winced, she leans forward and grabs her stomach tightly to ease the pain, then the mysterious girl stands in front, Johnston raises her head and looks at the mysterious. She can feel the ominous presence from this girl, she realizes that Roberts was right, this person is way too powerful for her.
"You should realize now that you have no choice but to accept defeat."
Johnston spits her some of her blood from her mouth. Then she immediately stands back while her hand was still on her stomach; she tries to make another attack against the mysterious girl. But before she could able to reach her opponent, the mysterious girl swings her leg and landed a powerful kick on Johnston's head, Johnston was thrown several meters before landing on the floor. Johnston was totally pinned to the floor but her conscious wasn't out. The mysterious girl approaches Johnston again, but Yukikaze quickly stand besides Johnston and tries to protect the destroyer from the mysterious man.
"Y-Yukikaze… y-you should just run… our main priority is to recover the device" Johnston tries to call her friend.
"No, I'm tired of running away; this time I'll be the one who is going to protect someone!" Yukikaze declares.
"D-don't be so stupid, just hurry up and run damn it!" Johnston hollers, she tries to stands up but her aching muscles won't allow her.
Yukikaze didn't listen to Johnston's suggestion and remained standing. The mysterious girl slowly approaches Yukikaze, but Yukikaze didn't faze but instead she glares at her opponent with her brave eyes. The girl stands in front of her, she stretches her arm at Yukikaze and suddenly the mysterious girl flicks Yukikaze's noise with her finger that leave a red bruise, Yukikaze shuts her eyes then the girl immediately steals the case. Yukikaze holds her aching nose.
"Idiot, what are you doing?!" Johnston hollers.
"Huh?"
"The case, she got the case from us!"
Yukikaze realizes that the case was stolen; the mysterious girl turns her back from the two since she already got what she wanted.
But all of a sudden, Roberts came out from above the ceiling, which she destroyed, and attacks the girl with her blade from above. The clash was very intense that had every scattered pipe around them blown away. The mysterious girl staggers from the attack. Roberts quickly steals the attaché case from the girl by hooking her blade at the handle. Then she quickly approaches the two girls and returns the stolen case.
"Uh, thanks Roberts-chan." Yukikaze bows her head at Roberts.
Roberts gestured that the two of them should get out quickly, Yukikaze immediately responds with a nod. She approaches Johnston and tries to lift up the destroyer. Then the two girls escape again, the mysterious girl tries to catch up with the two but she didn't notice that Roberts already began her move. Roberts rushes her opponent and breaks the walls. The two fighters arrived inside the flooded area with concrete pillars but unlike earlier, the place was slightly a bit bright because of the large holes that were created by several explosions earlier ago.
"How did you manage to find me?"
"Don't underestimate an American Radar."
Roberts knew that her target will always chase the attaché case, and since the case reacts on American radar, she was able to pinpoint her target's next move.
"I see… but it seems that I also had some with me."
The mysterious girl points her handgun at Roberts; the destroyer escort quickly moves on her feet and stays behind a concrete pillar to shield her against the bullets. When the gunfire stops, Roberts quickly came out from her position and rushes her opponent again. Roberts swings her blade but the mysterious girl blocks it with her handgun again. Roberts swings her blade again and their weapons clash with each other none stop. The clash of their blade echoes through the entire area while sparks brightens their surroundings.
The two fighters jump backward again and try to regain some stamina. The mysterious girl points her handgun at Roberts and fires at the destroyer escort. Roberts quickly rolls over and hides behind a concrete pillar. The mysterious girl quickly turns her back and jumps on the debris, she uses the debris as a pedestal to reach the top.
Roberts notice that her opponent again is escaping, she quickly follows her but she realize that her opponent planted bombs on the floor. She quickly jumps backward as far as she can before the bombs were triggered. The large explosions destroyed the floor, it will now impossible for Roberts to chase her opponent from this side. Roberts truly despises her target she turns around trying to find another way to chase the mysterious girl.
Meanwhile Johnston and Yukikaze were still running trying to find their way out from the structure. The two girls arrived in an open hallway area where they could see the blue horizon. The two girls stops for a while and take some rest from all the running they have done to get away from the mysterious girl. Johnston and Yukikaze sit on the corner.
"Whew… glad we made it out there…" Johnston wheezes.
"I'm glad too, but I'm still worry about Roberts-chan, that person we meet earlier is not an ordinary human." Yukikaze worries.
"Oh, don't worry about Sammy, she can take care of herself… in fact, maybe I should share something about her, but this will be just between you and me." Johnston replies, Yukikaze nods her head.
"Well, you see… Sammy was a member of a special undercover elite force called the USN Black Squadron; it's like the Navy SEALs but with Ship Girls, these were elite ship girls that had been assigned with the primary duty of eradicating not just the threat of the Abyssal Fleet but also high-profile military criminals on their list, they were specialized in espionage, sabotage, and even assassinations."
"The thing that bothers when I met her back at the cargo ship is she's not of a type that would accept missions all of sudden, it really made me wonder why is she participating in an expeditionary mission that I don't think would gain her something, I just want to ask her directly but she doesn't speaks to me that much until that night when she told me that I should stay away from her target… it had me thought deeply and eventually made a guess that an informant might have told her the location of her target was spotted here in Ominato so she had herself assigned on a mission in Ominato immediately."
"So she knows about the device from the very start?" Yukikaze asks.
"I doubt it; she just came here to settle to capture her target."
"And that person, the girl with the cape… is her target, right?"
"Probably so, there's only one reason Sammy would suddenly act like that."
"But why would Roberts-chan join a dangerous team such as that, she looks like a very sweet child."
"Like I've mentioned before, we're both from the same team, and she had extremely high combat potential, she also had the ability to kill her emotions that allows her to exceed her thoughts in the battlefield. I remember once she told me that our duty is to eliminate all Abyssal threats at any means necessary."
"I see…" Yukikaze lowers her head.
"… But she's not bad; though she's very dedicated to her duties… she doesn't disregard any of her teammates, she even save my ass many times from now." Johnston smiles at Yukikaze.
Johnston stands up from her position, "alright I think break time is over, it's time for us to move." she suggested.
"Are you sure? You still look a bit terrible from your injuries."
"Hah, this is nothing…" Johnston lowers her body and offers Yukikaze her hand; "You don't have to worry about me, let's go Yukikaze." she smiles brightly at her friend.
Yukikaze nods her head; "y-yes…" she grabs Johnston hands and the two girls proceed.
Moments later, the two girls discovered another staircase leading upward, they immediately take the stare case and arrive inside another hallway; the entire hallway was made from concrete while the left walls are full of glass windows. The whole area was very covered in dust, the walls were already decaying and there were several cracks on the ceiling with water dripping from it. Johnston and Yukikaze proceed through this hallway.
"Hey Johnston-chan, do you think we finally lost that person?" Yukikaze ask while running.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't stop here just to find out." Johnston replied.
Then suddenly the right side wall explodes in front of them, Johnston immediately stands in front of Yukikaze, she shielded the Japanese destroyer and draws her knife. From the smoke, the mysterious girl quickly emerges and rushes Johnston, the destroyer successfully blocks the incoming attack with her knife.
"Goddamn it, when will you give up on us?!" hollered Johnston while fighting the mysterious girl.
The mysterious girl jumps backward away from Johnston and sees Yukikaze, Yukikaze holds tightly the attaché case again determine not to let it go. Johnston immediately jumps in front of Yukikaze and guards the Japanese destroyer.
Yukikaze observes the whole area; she can see a huge crack at the ceiling with water dripping from the crack, then she saw several rocks from the debris on the floor. Her instinct tells her that the ceiling wasn't strong enough to hold the water above. Yukikaze kneels down and grabs a rock that has the size of a fist then she tries to call Johnston's attention.
"Johnston-chan, toss this rock at the crack in the ceiling as hard as you can." Yukikaze whispers, she gave the rock to Johnston.
Johnston began to charge the mysterious girl but she immediately stops, then she throws the rock upward and struck the crack on the ceiling. The crack breaks and water bursts from the hole. The powerful torrent above pinned the mysterious person to floor which allows the two girls to escape. They immediately run towards the other side of the hallway.
Several minutes later the girls arrive in an area which is a series of staircases, they can now clearly see the light from above so these staircases must be leading them above the platform. The two girls immediately climb the series of staircases. It was a very long and tiring climb, sweats flows heavily from their heads as they climb their way to the top. Johnston already let out her tongue from exhaustion. Their feet are already getting numb but they must endure it for the sake of their mission. The life of a Kanmusu is surely tough.
After fifteen minutes of long and brutal climbing, the two girls finally reach the top. They can feel the cool breeze of the Sea of Okhotsk surrounding them. They sit down and rest for a while, their body was covered in sweat and they were heavily panting from exhaustion because of all the climbing they've done.
"J-Johnston-chan… w-we finally made it to the top." said Yukikaze while heavily breathing.
"Men, I don't want to see another series of stairs for the rest of my life…" Johnston commented while trying to regain some stamina.
Then suddenly the floor not too far from the two girls explodes, they guess that it was the mysterious girl again. The girl removes her cape since it was already soaking wet. They notice that the girl was wearing a black sleeveless hooded vest with several pockets, black sleeveless bodysuit underneath her vest, and a black tight cycling shorts under her skirt, she also wears an Eyepatch on her right eye. She still wears her mask and had her hood covers her head but she removed her goggles. The girl's arms were quite skinny. Johnston stares at the mysterious girl with her tired looking eyes.
"You don't know when to give up; can you just let us rest for a second, and how the hell those damn staircases didn't bother you?!"
Johnston asks but the mysterious girl points her gun at Johnston. Then suddenly, the lid from a nearby manhole launched from the air; the girls saw Tenryuu came out from the manhole while her clothes were covered in seaweed. Her face looks irritated probably because of all the climbing she had also done to get to the top.
"Tenryuu-san, thank goodness." Yukikaze smiles despite of their current situation.
"Yo, Big Sister, I'm glad to see you alive!" Johnston hollers with joy.
Suddenly the mysterious girl grabs the attaché case on Yukikaze's arms forcefully; Tenryuu and Johnston were surprised by her action. Johnston immediately stands up from her position despite of exhaustion and charges the mysterious girl; the girl immediately dodges the attack and kicks Johnston at the back dropping down the destroyer to the ground. Meanwhile Tenryuu climbs up from the manhole and draws her sword. Tenryuu charges the girl and swings her blade, the mysterious girl blocks Tenryuu's blade with her handgun while holding the attaché case.
Tenryuu and the mysterious girl keeps on exchanging attacks, but during the combat Yukikaze sneak behind and tackles the mysterious girl. The mysterious girl drops attaché case on the floor; Johnston immediately picks it up and tries to escape from the battlefield. The mysterious girl pushes Yukikaze away then blocks Tenryuu's attack then she began to chase Johnston again, Johnston tries to protect the attaché case away from her opponent. Johnston looks back and sees that the girl is gaining on her. Then she notice Yukikaze was also running behind the mysterious person.
"Yukikaze, catch this!"
Johnston throws the attaché case before the mysterious girl could grab her and falls on the ground; Yukikaze successfully catches the case and run to the other side. It seems that Johnston somehow outsmarted the girl, the girl immediately stands up but she notice that Tenryuu launched another attack; the girl quickly blocks Tenryuu's attack and sprints toward Yukikaze.
The mysterious girl runs faster, she sees Johnston was also sprinting towards Yukikaze. Yukikaze throws the case to Johnston but the girl immediately draws her gun and shot the attaché case on the air. The case was bulletproof so the shot didn't do any damage, the bullet just made the case bounce away from Johnston. The mysterious girl increases her speed; she jumps upward and steals the attaché case from the girls.
Then suddenly a small shed nearby explodes and from the smokes, Roberts appears and tackles the girl. Roberts quickly grabs the attaché case with her nimble fingers and tosses it towards to Johnston. Johnston immediately catches the case. The mysterious girl and Roberts exchange their respective attacks again. The mysterious girl steps backward but sees Tenryuu from behind she quickly spins and aims her handgun at Tenryuu, Tenryuu immediately rolls on the floor and evaded the incoming bullet. The girl detects Roberts's approach; she spins behind and blocks the attack with her handgun. The girl flees from the two girls.
Tenryuu and Roberts stare at the girl with their fierce eyes. The girl found herself in a very rough situation since she has to fight two seasoned warriors at the same time. She knows that her chance of winning against them is closed to zero; she brings out a grenade inside her vest and throws at the two girls. The two girls were surprised; the girl pulls the pin and throws it at the two girls. Tenryuu and Roberts made their respective jump before the grenade explodes, the two evaded the explosion.
The smokes from the explosion slowly disperse. Then they see that the girl disappeared from their sight again. Tenryuu slaps her face with her hand.
"Damn I had it with bombs in one day."
Meanwhile Johnston and Yukikaze were both running away with the case while trying to look for a way to get them back to the trawler. Then unexpectedly, the mysterious girl gets ahead of her, she steals attaché case from Johnston and trips the destroyer to the ground. The mysterious girl detected another attack; she hears a gunshot nearby, she quickly blocks the bullet by covering herself with the attaché case. From a distance, Yukikaze and Johnston see Ryuujou with the rest of the girls. Ryuujou fires her Nambu gun again at the girl, the girl uses the attaché case again, and then she fires back with her own gun. Ryuujou rolls and evaded the attack.
"All of you protect the case, and I want this person to be captured immediately!" Ryuujou commanded.
Everybody acknowledge, Amatsukaze immediately approaches Yukikaze and assists her friend while Akatsuki and Hibiki try to find a safe way to hide while they think for a way to contribute in the fight. Ryuujou fires her gun again but the girl jumps backward and evaded the attack. The mysterious girl fires back at Ryuujou with her gun but Ryuujou moves quickly and dodges the incoming bullet.
Meanwhile Johnston crawls down and grabs the mysterious person by the legs. The mysterious person drops the attaché case again, Yukikaze steals it this time. Yukikaze and Amatsukaze try to escape from the fight with the case. Johnston holds the girl's legs tightly, the girl kicks Johnston's face and somehow loosens her grip, the girl immediately escapes and chases the two girls, Johnston immediately stands up and chase the girl, Ryuujou also began to move and chase them.
While the chase was still ongoing, Akatsuki and Hibiki were hiding behind the wooden crates. They were observing the surrounding and thinking for a way how can they contribute in the fight.
"Hey Hibiki-chan, we should help them." Akatsuki suggested.
"But what help are we going to contribute; we're not very good fighters." Hibiki replied.
"Hmm, maybe there's something around that could distract that person."
Akatsuki carefully observes her surroundings. Then several meters away from her she sees an abandoned watchtower with a large searchlight. She also notices that the sky was becoming a bit dark because of the converging clouds above them. Akatsuki came out with an idea.
"Hey Hibiki-chan, I know already what are we are going to do!" Akatsuki declares.
"We're going to use the searchlight over there," Akatsuki points at the old watchtower, "and use the light to distract the enemy." she suggested.
"But how can we do that, it's still daylight?" Hibiki asks.
Akatsuki pumps her chests and smiles at Hibiki haughtily, "trust me, you find the power switch while I go at the searchlight, call me through the radio once you've already switched on the power."
Hibiki nods, then the two girls began their respective move.
Meanwhile the chase is becoming more intense. Johnston, Yukikaze and Amatsukaze would throw the case at each other to distract the girl while Ryuujou attacks the girl with her gun. Tenryuu and Roberts rejoined the battle which made the whole match extremely difficult for the mysterious girl.
Amatsukaze catches the attaché case from Yukikaze, now the girl was running towards Amatsukaze while fighting Roberts. The girl fires her gun at Roberts so that the destroyer escort wouldn't get near her. Tenryuu also tries to attack the girl but the girl aims her handgun at Tenryuu that made the light cruiser withdraws from her position to evade the bullets. Ryuujou also fires her own pistol at the mysterious girl but the girl has nimble feet that allow her to evade the attacks. The girl was already gaining towards Amatsukaze, Amatsukaze sees Johnston running besides her, she immediately throws the attaché case at Johnston, the girl fires her handgun at the attaché case again and flung it to the air, but before the girl could have it, Ryuujou fires her gun and struck the attaché case, and flung it even higher. Johnston jumps up high and successfully catches the case. The girl aims her handgun at Johnston and fires another shot, Johnston blocks the incoming bullet with the case.
Meanwhile Tenryuu jumps from behind the girl with her sword, the girl steps aside and dodges Tenryuu then this time Roberts was the one who charge, the girl uses her handgun and blocks Roberts's attack. Then the girl jumps backward away from the two girls. The girl sprints and continues to chase Johnston.
While the intense battle was still ongoing, Hibiki discovers the electric power generator of the structure; she immediately enters. Hibiki decided to check the generator first if it has the appropriate amount of fuel; it seems that the fuel gauge seems at normal level. Then Hibiki began to search for the main power switch, after moments of searching she was able to locate the switch. The switch was slightly big and is quite rusty that she wouldn't able to pull it alone.
Then she sees several oil canisters lying around. She approach on and see that there's oil in it, Hibiki decided to soak her handkerchief in the oil canister, then she approaches the big powers switch. She wipes the switch with her handkerchief soaked in oil. Hibiki grabs the switch and pulls it easily. The generator began to generate electricity and restored the power in the entire structure. Hibiki calls Akatsuki from the radio.
"Akatsuki-chan, I already restored the power." she reported.
"Good, I'm still on my way to the watchtower." Akatsuki replies.
"Roger I'll catch up with you." Hibiki immediately leaves the power generator area.
Meanwhile at Akatsuki's situation, Akatsuki was already climbing the rusty ladder of the watchtower. The tower was quite high and the condition of the ladder was a bit dangerous, but still she continues to climb upward while she tries avoid looking down so she won't be scared.
"A lady must be brave, I… I must help them…"
Akatsuki looks up and continues climbing the ladder till she gets to the watchtower. Moments later she arrives at the top, she could clearly see the battle above the platform. Akatsuki did not waste time and quickly approaches the searchlight. She decided to switch the blinds before turning it on. Then she properly aims the searchlight at their opponent.
Akatsuki must be very careful in aiming searchlight before releasing the blinds since it would alert the girl and the distraction plan will fail. Akatsuki uses her memories from her previous life to be able to utilize the searchlight to its full potential. As much as possible Akatsuki doesn't wants to recall those memories but if situation calls for it, she must do it without hesitation. Using her technical knowledge about searchlight, Akatsuki adjusted the rays of the light. Akatsuki calculated the movements of everyone below including the perfect spot she will aim the light of the searchlight.
Johnston throws the case and Yukikaze immediately catches it, the mysterious girl looks at Yukikaze and chases her. Yukikaze grabs the case tightly and sprints at the center of the platform, meanwhile Ryuujou, Tenryuu and Roberts were charging at the same time. The mysterious person is at the position near the watchtower.
Akatsuki finally able to find the perfect timing and spot to light the searchlight, she quickly opens the blinds and lights it at the girl. The light from the searchlight distracts the girl and stops her movements temporarily. With the slightly dim environment created by the clouds and the powerful light coming from the searchlight Akatsuki's plans becomes quite effective. Akatsuki switches blinds and flickers the light at the girl, the girl staggers then Akatsuki switches off the searchlight immediately. All of a sudden, Ryuujou points her pistol at the girl's head while Tenryuu and Roberts had their blades pointed at the girl's neck respectively. The girl was totally cornered by the three girls and one wrong move will immediately result to her doom.
"Don't make any sudden movement or I'll blow yer head off…" Ryuujou threatens with intimidation.
Everybody was tired because of all the running, tossing and catching they have done. Hibiki immediately proceeds to the area and sees that the mysterious girl finally put to stop.
"Men, you really are one big pain in the ass…" Tenryuu commented while pointing her blade at the girl's neck.
"Johnston-chan, Amatsukaze-chan, it looks like… it's finally over…" said Yukikaze while catching her breath.
"Y-yeah, looks like we all did… a pretty good job…" Johnston grins while panting.
"Seriously… she's really one tough opponent… fighting us all at once." Amatsukaze commented.
Meanwhile Akatsuki was jumping and dancing for joy above the watchtower, she wiggles her body while swinging her arms upward like an adorable little child.
"No matter how you think about it, Akatsuki's the best~!"
Akatsuki continues her joyful hollers. Meanwhile Ryuujou still had her gun pointed at the mysterious girl.
"Who are you, what do you want with the device, who the hell sent you here?!"
Ryuujou bombarded the girl with questions but she didn't answers. Ryuujou grabs the vest of the girl and lifts her up, the light carrier stares at the girl with murderous eyes.
"Answer me goddamn it!"
Ryuujou hollers at the girl angrily but she still didn't answer. Then suddenly the girls began to hear ominous clanking sounds beneath the platform. The floor suddenly vibrates, Akatsuki who was still from the top almost lost her balance and had to grab on the searchlight, her celebration was change into terror. The vibration becomes more intense and the clanking sound becomes louder and louder. Then suddenly, there was a brief moment of silence, everybody stayed quiet and remained on their position.
And in a few seconds, the floor explodes violently; all the girls quickly stay away from the explosion. The watchtower shakes violently by the explosion and throws Akatsuki, Tenryuu immediately sees Akatsuki falling from above but she was too far to rescue the destroyer.
"What the… Akatsuki-chan!" shouted Tenryuu.
Then suddenly Johnston was able to move below the watchtower and quickly catches Akatsuki before she falls from the floor. Johnston suffered damage from the impact but it was nothing for her just to see the little destroyer safe.
"Whew… that was close…"
"Ah, t-thank you… Johnston-chan…"
Tenryuu sighs in relief but then she has to focus on the huge explosion earlier ago. The smokes are slowly fading; they can see a huge silhouette within the smoke. Then suddenly everybody was surprise to see the thing that caused the devastating explosion. They see a huge monster with gigantic teeth, jet black skin, huge overly muscled arms, and most parts of its body was covered by black armor. The monster was armed with two gigantic triple sixteen inch cannons. Smokes came out from its large jaw while the monsters turns at the girls with murderous intent.
"Shit, what the hell is this one doing here?!" worried Tenryuu.
For some of the girls, this is probably their first time encountering this monster. But it seems that Ryuujou and Tenryuu recognized the huge beast as fear entangles their bodies. According to the legends, this beast have murdered countless of Kanmusus, and encountering one in the open seas is probably the worst thing that can happen. There's no doubt that this monster is…
"The battleship symbiotic hime…"
It was the battleship symbiotic hime but without its female host.
Author's Note:
Chapter 10 here, sorry for several huge walls of texts since everything were mostly fighting scenes in this chapter. Anyway, any guess who our mysterious girl? I wouldn't tell, just figure it out on your own (winks). And we have the battleship symbiotic princess made her debut, but only the monster of course, it will be too much for them if we include the princess herself. But anyway thank you for reading; I hope you enjoy this chapter. And I want to write better fight scenes in the future so suggestions are welcome.