Admiral Mako was together with Musashi while at a gazebo while on the 29th of April, and Musashi, being a Coordinator and one of Admiral Mako's girlfriends, was taking the time to review their plans of Project Psyche, Apocalypse and the plans for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

However, the last thing she expected upon sitting down on a reinforced steel seat with a leaning back rest was for Admiral Mako to sit on her lap, lean back and rest her head in between Musashi's gigantic breasts while threatening the integrity of Musashi's sarashi, looking extremely relaxed with half-lidded eyes, a stoned smile and drool rolling down her jaw.

Musashi sweat-dropped as she looked down at Admiral Mako, who had removed her peaked Admiral cap in order to fit her head in Musashi's cleavage as she asked in a confused tone.

"Admiral?

Why are you sitting on my lap and using my breasts as a head rest?"

Admiral Mako shifted while still seated on Musashi's lap as the Yamato-Class battleship inhaled slowly in order to exercise the utmost of patience with her Admiral girlfriend.

And since Admiral Mako had invited her to an early lunch break in order to take some time off and relax, they were now off-duty and were thus allowed to express their love and be intimate with each other.

Like right now.

Admiral Mako responded lazily,

"Y'know we're taking a break and can relax now, right?

And besides, you can just hold your reports up, around here…"

Gesturing to the space before the two of them as she continued.

"And we can both sit down, lean back and relax while reviewing these reports.

Everybody wins, hmm?"

Musashi was unimpressed as she deadpanned.

"But you're still using my breasts as a head rest."

Admiral Mako's expression and posture melted upon hearing this, her body slouching and relaxing as she blushed, her eyes rolling up in ecstasy as she leaned further back into Musashi's soft mounds and drawled lustfully, Musashi's breasts almost overflowing from the sides in the process.

"Ehehehe...

Oh yeah…

And mommy likes what she's feeling…"

Musashi exhaled patiently as she prepared the reports, but despite witnessing her Admiral's unprofessional behavior when off-duty, as her lover, she accepted her girlfriend's extremely easygoing personality, especially since she understood that her Admiral knew when to get serious as she held up the first report for the both of them to look at before explaining.

"Well, Akio-san reported that the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers have accepted the offer to be test subjects for Project Psyche, and Kousuke, Aoba and our Fairies reassured us that there would be no hiccups in meeting their projected deadline.

Admiral, are you sure…"

But Admiral Mako, having wiped away her drool, composed herself and looked up at the report as she explained herself with a serious tone.

"Musashi, please.

I think that our ship girls, no matter which class they hail from, are mature enough to comprehend matters of life and death, and I think our two Tenryuu-Class cruisers have accepted the possibility of dying for real should we make a mistake.

As World War 2 veterans who were part of the Kaigun, all of you have participated in a war before this, most of you have seen combat, be it heavy or light, and have experienced loss in the process.

Even if it's a destroyer, I'd treat them as I would an adult when it comes to these matters, simply because everyone's been through their fair share of tragedy in the last war you were in.

Every ship girl holds a unique opinion and belief about what we've done in the past, so I have all the reason in the world to believe that each and every single one of you are capable of thinking and behaving in a mature and responsible manner."

Musashi's eyes widened, seeing things from her Admiral's perspective and nodding as she lowered the report, thinking about how even though many ship girls possessed very exuberant and unique personalities, deep down, they were all capable of understanding and discussing matters concerning their mortality after being sunk during or after the war, or even discussing controversial matters concerning the Axis Powers (and even the Allied powers) in order to share their opinions and be provided with a new perspective on things.

Letting her mind wander for a while, Musashi recalled reading the recordings of how the people of other countries had reacted to the then-controversial introduction of the Axis Power ship girls, and the amount of backlash they had received.

Every Japanese, German and even Italian ship girl who came before them had already expressed their unanimously-agreed upon disgust at the past atrocities committed by their respective countries, and made it extremely clear that they wished for everyone to remember these war crimes, closely working with the public in order to make sure that the ship girls never got drunk on their own power.

But it was pretty well-established from the get-go that even though the ship girls wanted to take responsibility for the past actions of their countries, they were not to be treated as a punching bag for the citizens of other countries to blindly hate simply because of their past grievances, because the ship girls wanted to be treated as their own people and not warriors who were forever burdened with carrying the sins of their past regimes.

After all, back then, they were simply warships of steel who were out on the ocean fighting the good fight with the Allied warships, not terrorizing conquered countries by throwing people in concentration camps, forcing them to build railways and go on death marches, amongst others, so the main driving question back in the day was,

Were these ship girls supposed to be held responsible for past atrocities and war crimes which they themselves never instigated, participated in, or in the case of certain ship girls, never even knew about?

And being the saviors of mankind who fought the Abyssals and kept them at bay, it was eventually agreed upon that the Axis-Power ship girls would be allowed take responsibility by practicing a sort of 'self-condemnation' by denouncing and distancing themselves from the brutal regimes which they once fought for, and the other countries would cut them a lot of slack in return.

"Musashi?"

Musashi looked down at a concerned Mako, who was looking up at her while still resting her head on Musashi's bosom, and the Yamato-Class battleship sighed as she explained herself.

"Nothing, Admiral.

I was just reminiscing about our past, and how like you said, every ship girl is capable of behaving and thinking in a mature manner, since we are all war veterans.

It's just that most of us don't have to feel the weight of the sins our country has committed in the past, but while others may see this as a bad thing, I choose to see this as a positive thing."

Mako's dark hair tickled the tanned steel skin of Musashi's breasts as Mako shifted her head in order to look up at Musashi, while the battleship met her gaze as she looked down into her Admiral's eyes before continuing.

"I understand that every single one of us has been taught and fully acknowledge all the innocents who suffered and were even killed under our reign, and while we respect and remember the dead every year, I was glad that we were given a chance to…

To be absolved, in a sense, and be allowed to live as normal girls.

To be something more than simply weapons of war."

Mako gave Musashi a vibrant smile while Musashi allowed herself a break from her professional persona as she removed her glasses in order to look at her Admiral's brown eyes without anything coming between them.

She placed her glasses on the table as she looked down at her girlfriend's beautiful face with 20/20 vision, since her bionic eyes were perfectly fine and the glasses were worn for decorative effect.

Her dark-skinned, gloved hand met Mako's smaller human hand as she relaxed a little and returned Mako's smile before turning to the next report, detailing the situation surrounding Apocalypse.

"After contacting other naval bases around the world and requesting Central for any information and clues about Apocalypse without giving everything away, we found that the response we got sadly didn't shed too much new light on the situation.

We believe this is because the Abyssals have been even more careful and secretive about their classified projects after the Abyssal Princess program was leaked in the past, allowing us enough time to prepare for their arrival.

But something to note is the fact that unlike last time, where we learnt about their Princess program after an inside leak, this time, it seems as if they're trying to string us on by deliberately leaking information which they deem no longer damaging to them should we learn about them at this point in time…"

Mako hummed as she plucked at the ends of her fringe with her free hand, commenting idly.

"Well, that ain't much of a surprise now.

Since we found out that Yuubari and Sakawa were somehow promoted to the Abyssal Commander-in-Chief and Secretary respectively, I think it's become personal for us.

Certainly has been for Akashi, who's been a lot more emo than usual after learning about this, and Nagato was also emotionally affected by the news.

They're certainly playing quite the twisted game with us by giving us a 'sporting chance'."

Musashi continued as she looked at the report and explained what little knowledge they had gleamed from partially cracked encoded Abyssal messages in the past.

"Central revealed that they managed to partially decipher some of the ever-changing Abyssal code which they use to encode their communication signals back in the mid 2000's about new Abyssal types being developed.

With 'Apocalypse' being brought to their attention, and after Woxanne's warning about World War 3 occurring before the end of this year, we have enough reason to believe that alongside the humanoid Abyssals which will be remodeled into land units in order to participate in a land invasion, they may be developing Abyssal…"

Musashi lifted an eyebrow as she looked at the roof of the gazebo in order to find a suitable comparison for what was to come next.

"Princesses, or at least elite units whose strength and firepower will certainly be above the rank-and-file Abyssals and will probably be comparable to the Princesses, but are designed for land or amphibious combat.

But one question is how they wish to recreate the might and firepower of a Princess with her Beast on land without sinking into the ground due to their own weight and armor, since that's one problem which all the existing Princesses and their Beasts face, and prevents them from stepping onto land."

Mako thought about the question as she looked up at the blue sky, building off of that theory about how an elite land unit would function, theorizing.

"Well, I think they probably won't waste their time even attempting that, because the ocean is a unique environment which allows them to create large Beasts for their Princesses.

It's easy for the Princesses to manipulate the buoyancy of their bodies and footwear in order to submerge underwater and safely sail the seven seas or sail on the surface of the ocean in order to fight.

But unlike the ocean, which is a 3-dimensional environment since the ocean consists of depth along with its surface area, a land environment pretty much consists of a flat plane and hard earth underneath.

I think they'd sacrifice firepower in order to heighten mobility so as to get around quickly, although I believe they'd make up for this somehow."

Musashi blinked as she lowered the report and considered Mako's hypothesis, and how this sacrifice of firepower for mobility, in a completely different environment, would make sense from a pragmatic standpoint.

"I think I see your point.

You're theorizing that since the land and ocean are two different playing fields, there are different rules to play by.

These supposed land-assault elite units certainly require heightened mobility in order to traverse great distances quickly and easily, since they can't simply submerge in order to make a quick getaway like their oceanic counterparts can."

Nodding, Mako thought up of a comparison in order to drive the point home.

"Well, if you want to look at things from a World War 2 perspective, for powerful yet slow land machines like the Maus tank, Landkreuzer Ratte or the Schwerer Gustav, sacrificing mobility for firepower while on land just makes you an easy bombardment target.

And on land, overweight machines of doom means you can't cross some bridges, your own weight will bog you down even when on certain asphalt roads, and the constant breakdowns and aerial bombardment means it'd be a repair bucket sink.

Best to adapt your designs to a new environment by sacrificing firepower for increased mobility and evasion."

Musashi, now fully understanding where her Admiral came from, dropped the report on the table in order to pat her Admiral on the crown of her head as she cooed.

"Alright, Mako.

I see your point.

It would also be easier for the Abyssals to delegate the role of leading the front-line Abyssal assault to these elite units, like what they usually do with the Princesses.

To find out what these alternative Princess units might be, I suppose we can sortie the Infiltration Fleet in order to find out more about such things."

Mako nodded as she thought about the availability of the various ship girls who made up the Infiltration Fleet, remarking.

"Well, Goya's out with the other submarines in the Sagami-nada Sea, so I suppose Kuroshio will replace Goya.

The 1st Fleet's sortieing on the 14th of May, right?

What's the phase of the moon on that night?"

Musashi cocked her head and looked away as she quickly checked her information archives for the relevant information before answering.

"It's a waning crescent phase."

Mako then threw up her hands, one of which was still holding Musashi's gloved hand as she exclaimed.

"Then we're in luck!

Notify the two fleets later and tell the Infiltration Fleet that they're to sortie with the 1st Fleet on the 14th of May.

The 1st Fleet is to escort them in the daytime in order to allow the Infiltration Fleet to slip into enemy waters under the cover of night, and it helps when there isn't a full moon shining down on them."

Nodding, Musashi picked up the last report about the preparations for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, and explained the recent developments and updates concerning the various naval bases in the Kanto region.

"We have a few more naval bases joining us, and this brings the number of bases participating in the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea up to seven, including us.

The Kamogawa and Isumi Naval Base express interest in joining us, but they're worried that they won't be able to repair their best ship girls in time to join us, and while we've sent some supplies to help them out, they're temporarily excluded from the final list of participants until further notice.

Add the incoming Abyssal armada into the equation, and that'd be eight navies all fighting in a large-scale battle on our doorstep."

Mako nodded as she gestured at the pictorial graphs on the report, pointing a few things out before moving on to outlining her plan on how their battle plan was going to play out in her mind.

"Well, I've already gotten the help of the JSDF a long time ago, so we will possess air superiority as well as some naval and ground support in this battle.

But I think that in this battle, the Abyssals will likely send out more than five Princesses in order to take us all on."

Musashi gulped upon hearing that, her chest heaving in the process as she exclaimed in slight disbelief at the hypothesized number.

"More than five?

I know that the Abyssals have tons of reserves, but I think that five may be stretching it a little…"

Mako shrugged, caressing the battleship's hand which she held in her grasp as she commented about how the Abyssals certainly wouldn't mind sending several Princesses into the fray.

"Look, the Abyssals know that they're going to face about half a dozen naval bases since they're taking the fight to us in our waters, and they would know that the entirety of the JSDF would quickly respond to their assault.

And in order to give their armada a fighting chance, they'd certainly boost both the quality and quantity of the Abyssals in their large alien ensemble."

"And do you think The Flying Dutchman will appear and back the Abyssal armada up?"

Musashi could see that her Admiral seriously considered the question, mulling it over as she trained her eyes on the picture of the Kanto region and the Sagami-nada Sea, finally answering in a contemplative tone.

"I suppose the Abyssals would want to have their new symbol of power be present at the battle, but only participating as a shelling support.

We possess jet fighters, warships, submarines and missile-launching vehicles on our side, and the battle's in the Safety Zone in broad daylight, so they wouldn't want to risk getting their new toy damaged by us.

But they will still want the Dutchman to be present since its vertical-launch missile system possesses incredible range, and its life-sized cannon shells deal a lot of damage to our girls."

Mako shrugged as she veered off into hypothetical scenarios and possibilities as she theorized about the capabilities of the Flying Dutchman.

"We also can't dismiss the amount of Abyssals it can ferry to the battlefield.

So when it appears, we probably need to prepare for a second bombing phase in order to thin out the reinforcements which the Dutchman brought in order to overwhelm us.

It had 'aviation battleship' emblazoned on its hull, so I've given the JASDF a heads-up about the very real possibility of facing Abyssal aircraft in battle as well as Anti-Air missiles which it can launch at us, since 'Apocalypse' means that they aren't playing by our rules anymore.

I also warned the JMSDF about the Flying Dutchman's unknown capabilities with its missiles and large-caliber cannons, which can potentially one-shot them.

I suppose we'll make preparations, and even get the submarines to lay outlying naval mines in strategic locations in order to slow down the Dutchman, but I believe the spotlight will ultimately be on the Abyssal armada."

Nodding along with her Admiral's explanation, Musashi clarified as she felt a breeze gently blowing in from the ocean, the weather being rather generous today as the sun was blocked by the airborne clouds, the condensed clusters of water droplets lazily coasting along the air currents.

"So what exactly is our plan, if we have the JSDF on our side and the Abyssals have the Flying Dutchman on their side?"

She could see the cogs turning in Admiral Mako's mind, probably trying to reveal some parts of her plan to the Yamato-Class battleship without compromising any sensitive elements, Musashi finally hearing her girlfriend's voice sound out while her head was still comfortably nested in between her breasts.

"Well, the first thing we need to do is to fight them here, slightly beyond the naval mine formation for a while…"

Gesturing to the area before the relatively large highlighted green area on the blue ocean in between Oshima Island and Southwest Chiba, which indicated the formation of naval mines within the Safety Zone.

Mako continued.

"After that, I plan for them to lure the Abyssals into the naval mine formation for the next part to work, as the JASDF and USAF jet fighters will fly in from Yokota, Fuchu, Iruma and Kisarazu while our carriers launch their dive bombers."

Pointing to several air bases in Japan, most of which were active JASDF air bases while one of them was a USAF base, and Musashi was slightly surprised at the next step of Mako's plan as her human Admiral explained herself.

"We need to carpet bomb the Abyssals who will be caught in the smokescreen of the ship girls, who will utilize incomplete combustion in order to cover their retreat and several smokescreen grenades we will provide them with.

The JMSDF destroyers and submarines will patrol the area around the Sagami-nada Sea and the Izu Islands in order to respond to the Dutchman's arrival, but will still be close to a port in case they get damaged mid-battle.

The JGSDF will also have several Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile trucks parked at the coast of Southwest Chiba and on Oshima Island..."

Pointing to the Southwest area of Chiba, near the coast which faced the highlighted naval mine formation, Mako explained how the JGSDF was going to help.

"The JGSDF told me that while the Type 88 SSM-1 trucks on the coast of Chiba will fire at the Abyssals while supply routes resupply them, those on Oshima Island will wait for the Flying Dutchman to show itself before firing at the aviation battleship.

Since the Abyssals are the invaders, they know that if they don't push forward in order to try and wipe out the ship girls who will retreat back into the Sagami Bay and the Uraga Channel in order to bombard the incoming Abyssals from a safe distance, they'd never get anywhere while stuck in the Safety Zone, right on our doorstep.

The ship girls from the neighboring Shizuoka and Shimoda Naval Base will flank the Abyssals as we attack them from two fronts, and they can retreat into the nearby Suruga Bay if things go south."

Mako pointed at the two naval bases which were located in the Shizuoka Prefecture as well as Suruga Bay, which was sheltered by said prefecture of Japan.

Musashi noted something as she creased her eyebrows, pointing out the disadvantage they would put themselves in should they retreat into the Sagami Bay and the Uraga Channel, and if the Abyssals dared to call them on their bluff by advancing into their territory.

"Admiral, I'd like to point out that if we were to retreat into the Sagami Bay and the Uraga Channel, we'd be backed up against a wall even if there are naval bases which can accommodate the influx of injured ship girls, since we have nowhere to retreat to should your plan fall apart.

I hope you have a backup plan should the Abyssal armada manage to survive our initial bombardment, since things will likely devolve into a close-quarters combat war-zone, like it always has with small-scale engagements."

Mako shrugged as her tone shifted into one of a light tease, responding to Musashi's concerns as she leaned back further into Musashi's chest, the Yamato-Class battleship feeling her large breasts deform softly as they supported her girlfriend's head.

"Well, I have a secret trump card which hinges on our ship girl bait and the fact that despite getting our carriers to send out bomber planes, I need them to simply drop their bombs onto the area where I want the Abyssals to be, which is above the naval mines."

Musashi creased her eyebrows and inhaled sharply as she felt a strong chill run up her steel spine, shaking it off before asking in a questioning tone, now slightly wary about what was going on in her Admiral's mind as she asked her girlfriend about her choice of words, and how it spooked her.

"Admiral, you do know that the second you said 'I have a secret trump card', all of your Coordinators probably felt a shiver run down their spines since you probably have one hell of a plan hidden from us, right?

And is there a particular reason why we have to bait the Abyssals onto the naval mines?

They're underwater, and even though it serves as a deterrent to prevent the Abyssals from performing an underwater assault, what other use are they going to serve when they only serve as a passive defense?

Can't they just retreat from the naval mine formation and submerge into the water in order to evade the incoming air strike, even when we know that the Abyssals eventually have to advance in order to continue their assault?"

She could almost feel her Admiral give a knowing smirk to no one in particular as she coyly responded with a mysterious non-answer.

"We'll see."


Shigure had slept soundly for two days straight after the battle with the Abyssal Princess, waking up on the 20th and feeling hungry enough to immediately gobble down two breakfast platters in order to ease the pangs of pain in her stomach, replenishing her nutrient and fuel levels as her body recovered from the fatigue accumulated over two night operations.

It was over a week after awaking from her slumber, and breakfast on the 30th was a simple affair, the canteen serving simple tuna sandwiches along with a modest serving of scrambled eggs and refillable coffee.

She had received the Coordinators' message about their sortie with the Infiltration Fleet on the 14th of May, and they were to escort the Infiltration Fleet out of the Safety Zone in order for them to perform their espionage duties.

And the joint sortie got her interested in wanting to know a certain pink-haired destroyer better, for various reasons...

Having entered the canteen with her sisters in order to get some breakfast, Shigure saw Kagerou, Shiranui and Arare standing at the end of the food line, and asked her sisters as to whether they would join the Kagerou-Class and Asashio-Class destroyers during breakfast in order to try and socialize with destroyers outside of their ship class, to which they agreed.

Shigure walked up to and started talking to the silent Kagerou-Class destroyer Shiranui, since Shigure saw her as being brooding and sulky (although Shiranui denied these claims, despite never breaking her 'stone-cold killer' expression), and would likely keep what Shigure was going to discuss with her strictly between them.

Besides, she understood the destroyer well enough after reading her from a distance to know what she was like and what she would agree with, and wanted to talk to her and only her.

When Shigure made small talk by asking for her opinion on the 8th Fleet, Shiranui considered it momentarily before answering coolly, wishing to share her opinion of the 8th Fleet, but had to go off on a slight tangent before this.

"Well, I must first explain about this realization which will affect most ship girls who live long enough to contemplate the true meaning of our lives."

Shiranui looked at Shigure, explaining what might inevitably happen to ship girls who had fought this war for too long and had their spirit broken by a horrifying realization, and an important choice they would face at that point in time.

"You see, our lives are trapped in this endless cycle of life and death, between peaceful civilian life and a soldier in constant peril.

A ship girl, after fighting so many battles and being brought back to life so many times, might eventually start to think that our lives might be ultimately pointless, since we're trapped in this violent cycle until we sink for good."

Shigure nodded solemnly, understanding that this was an uncomfortable truth which might fly over the heads of newly spawned ship girls, and likely sat in a dark corner in the minds of older ship girls who were still bright-eyed and hopeful enough to believe that there was a peaceful life out there for them, outside of the battlefield.

Understandable then, that over the course of the war and after countless battles, they would become disillusioned to this notion, since being revived so many times would blur the line between life and death, souring their outlook on life and wearing down their spirit.

They would be seasoned veterans who likely suffered from PTSD-induced depression by then after fighting two wars in both the past and present, brooding about their ultimate purpose in life before chancing upon a mind-breaking revelation.

The fact that their lives, which would have been plagued with life-threatening battles, losses and major global events which shook their lives and forced them to keep adapting lest they be left behind, and all their painstaking sacrifices likely never meant anything in the grand scheme of things.

The war never seemed to end despite every ship girl around them giving it their all, and likely never will.

They would all die like dogs on the battlefield.

Shiranui continued, her sharp eyes narrowing as she too, understood the depressing weight behind this revelation as she continued.

"When a ship girl breaks down after this inevitable realization, they have a few choices regarding their next course of action.

One, they can retire in order to live a normal civilian life, which they certainly deserve after their long years of service, as their heart would no longer be in the fight, so to speak.

Two, they can commit suicide."

Shigure inhaled sharply as she cringed, but Shiranui's expression softened a little in order to nod dejectedly as she explained.

"It's rare, but it does occur when they are overwhelmed by despair and see no way out of this cycle.

Three, they can be institutionalized in the various state-of-the-art mental institutes across the country, especially those who can't seem to find a way to deal with the pressure and require professional care.

Four, they can ignore the epiphany and be content with their day to day lives, fighting until they fall for good.

It's not the best way to deal with things, but when faced with the threat of being broken by the revelation and the tragedies they've been through, it's sometimes better to choose live in ignorance as they fulfill their duty to the end."

Shiranui looked away as the queue moved forward, Shigure noting that Kagerou commanded the attention of Arare, Yuudachi, Samidare, Kawakaze and Murasame in order to pass the time, Kagerou choosing to entertain the small crowd of destroyers with impressions of various ship girls.

She was doing a surprisingly accurate impression of Nagato's stern and authoritarian, yet ultimately charismatic persona, thankfully spared from the battleship's wrath since the capital ship was somewhere else, and everyone else around her was entertained enough to treat it in good fun.

Shigure turned her attention back to the pink-haired Kagerou-Class destroyer as she listened to the last available choice.

"The fifth choice, and perhaps the choice which yields the most unpredictable results, is to essentially have fun."

Shigure blinked before slowly cocking her head in order to look at Shiranui, unsure if she heard the Kagerou-Class destroyer right.

And Shiranui, clearly seeing Shigure's expression of disbelief, shrugged as she tried to explain herself to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Well, you see, our lives take a toll on us, and being modeled after humans, we can't handle this kind of pressure forever.

The fact that we put in all our effort, and sometimes, there's nothing to show for it except dead comrades and lost battles makes it seem as if everything we do is pointless, and there's no point in living."

Shigure then had a sort of epiphany, her eyes widening slightly as she realized the significance of the fifth choice, and the potential pros and cons should the ship girl decide to let loose and 'have fun'.

"But when we let loose, we learn to accept our lives for what they are, and do our best to have fun and be happy in spite of all the depressing things which will happen to us, to carry out these seemingly meaningless tasks and learn to actually enjoy them in the process."

"To fight everyday and try to have fun doing what we do best, lest we be plagued with suicidal depression as the alternative, right?"

Shiranui looked a little surprised at how the destroyer before her understood this unorthodox life choice so quickly, but she nodded and looked away, her expression becoming neutral again as she explained how it worked.

"Well, it's debatable as to whether this last choice changes your life for better or for worse, since we would take to battle with abandon which would endanger our lives, as well as remove any qualms we had about making the Abyssals suffer."

Nodding as she remembered the 8th Fleet's colorful personalities, she continued this discussion with the Kagerou-Class destroyer as the both of them picked up a brown-colored food tray and approached the serving table, which displayed an assortment of foods.

"But what do you personally think of the members of the 8th Fleet, if you don't mind?"

Mutely moving along with the queue in order to get her food whilst pondering the question, Shiranui finally answered with her honest opinion regarding the 8th Fleet.

"The 8th Fleet's members are unique since most of them have chosen the fifth choice in order to deal with the harsh truths of this world, with very… interesting results.

And while I can say that it turns them into lethal killing machines who don't play by the rules or the meta, it has… taken a toll on their psyches."

"Cite an example."

Shiranui thought about it, Shigure noting that she was accessing her memory banks in order to find any relevant information regarding the 8th Fleet before she replied.

"Do you know of Akitsu Maru, the IJA's amphibious assault ship-slash-aircraft carrier?"

Shigure nodded, having met the monochrome ship girl and had seen her in action on the battlefield, but she was interested to learn more about the katana-wielding ship girl as she leaned in to listen.

"I heard from a few ship girls that she traveled to mainland China and various Asian countries in order to understand more about the past of the IJA.

I believe the statement she gave in court was 'to see and understand how those who suffered under us remembered this time period'."

Shigure cringed upon hearing that as she inhaled sharply, and Shiranui nodded at how bad of an idea that was, the both of them remembering the brutal reign of the IJA, where they caused the Nanking Massacre, the Bataan Death March, the construction of the Burma Railway and the Sook Ching Massacre, amongst many others.

It was justified for Akitsu Maru to want to find out more about the dark side to the reign of the Empire of Japan in order to try and understand things from the perspective of the victims.

However, being one of two ship girls of the Imperial Japanese Army, the second being Maru-yu the IJA submarine, it was easy for normally tolerant Asians to hate her guts.

And seeing that political relations between Japan and the rest of Asia were lukewarm at best, because Japan had been building up (technically rebuilding) one of the strongest naval forces in the world out of necessity, things certainly didn't end well for the amphibious assault ship.

Shiranui looked down at the food which was being distributed by the cooks of the naval base, the both of them silently holding out their trays while they moved forward in the queue as she continued.

"Well, as you can expect, she had stones and rotten food thrown at her by the resentful locals as well as receiving a lot of verbal abuse, and she was shunned by everyone there."

"And that was what drove her over the edge?"

Shiranui shook her head sadly as she refuted.

"No.

While over there, she tried her best to help enforce the law and protect innocents, which resulted in a lot of property damage, including destroyed cars when she threw herself in front of cars which were on a collision course with civilians who were crossing the street."

"And was she at least thanked for it?"

"Of course not.

They fined her for property damage and blamed the whole thing on her somehow.

But there was one particularly nasty incident where she tried busting a drug smuggling ring somewhere in the Jiangsu Province.

That's to the East of mainland China and where the Yangtze River is located, where she can sail in from the East China Sea down said river.

Anyway, some of the drug traffickers thought it would be a good idea to try and swap out the white powder which Akitsu Maru used as her makeup with powdered drugs which she would accidentally inhale or taste when she suspected that something was wrong with her 'makeup powder'.

This was done with the intent of getting her addicted to the powerful narcotic drugs which we suspect to be methamphetamine, incapacitate her with the withdrawal symptoms and eventually enslave her.

However, none of them knew that our powerful bodies possessed an enhanced capability of resisting addiction, which led to their downfall."

"Really?

Drugging up a ship girl in a hostile foreign land, expect her to not lose control of herself and pray to god that nothing goes awry with your attempt at capture?"

Shiranui nodded, continuing as she thought back contemplatively.

"Well, she ran straight into their headquarters, armed with her flaming katana and her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun in order to take them on."

Shigure, having collected her breakfast, shuddered at the thought of a drugged-up Akitsu Maru wielding her flaming katana Kagutsuchi and her 12-gauge shotgun, and was trapped in a land full of people who persecuted and resented her because of what she represented.

Not that it was anybody's fault, whether it was the civilian population who had been the victims of Japan at its worst and was understandably still resentful and even fearful of them, or Akitsu Maru, who wanted to understand her own past since she never got to choose her own identity, her own background and whether she wanted to be an IJA ship girl and likely felt alienated from the IJN ship girls, forever ashamed of the actions of the army which she represented.

She nodded slowly as a gesture for Shiranui to continue as they both sat down and helped themselves to their breakfast, Shigure remembering the mental note to talk to the Kagerou-Class destroyer, who was sent out on espionage missions, about her true objective about discovering everything which went on in this base and in this war.

"So what happened?

Did she kill them all?"

Shiranui nodded, slowly chewing the tuna sandwich which was part of her breakfast as she answered Shigure's question.

"Of course.

The drug traffickers, no matter how well-armed they were to fight a gang war, stood no chance against a ship girl who was more or less invulnerable to bullets, and was desensitized to pain due to the drugs which she accidentally ingested.

Reports suggest that she ingested more drugs as she stormed the cartel, likely some sort of psychedelic drug which sent her further over the edge during her rampage, and was eventually put down by the Chinese military and the Beijing Special Police Force, who took her down with superior tactics, numbers and firepower.

It got so bad to the point where the Chinese Army had to send in a battle tank and had to fire at her in the ensuing rampage in order to stop her.

Luckily, even in her drug-induced madness, she never harmed a Chinese civilian (other than the drug traffickers), and never killed any members of the Chinese military or the Beijing Special Police Force, the latter of which is the Chinese equivalent of the Special Weapons And Tactics Units in various countries."

Shigure lowered her gaze as she commented, now starting to see her monochrome comrade in a new light.

As to whether it was positive or negative, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer wasn't sure.

"The fallout of such an event must've been immense, seeing that a ship girl committed mass murder on foreign soil despite being under the influence of drugs, and in a country which still holds a grudge against us."

"Indeed.

There was a lot of international debate on whether to try her as a criminal and either incarcerate or scrap her, or allow her to enter rehabilitation in order to prevent her from getting addicted to the various narcotics which she ingested.

Like I said, our ship girl bodies are designed to resist addiction to narcotic substances to some extent, so even if we were to abuse any drugs or alcohol, our bodies would do its best to make sure that the withdrawal symptoms wouldn't cripple us like it normally would for a human."

"And seeing how Akitsu Maru-san is still here, did they incarcerate her?"

"Yes, and because our government and Admiral Mako pleaded leniency, she got a reduced sentence of three months after being charged with several accounts of manslaughter.

And when she came back, she was purported to have… changed."

"Must've been hard to convince the Japanese government to allow Akitsu Maru-san back into Japan, much less allow her to sortie after having a criminal record, even if it was manslaughter."

Shiranui only nodded in response, and Shigure continued the conversation.

"So the drug high and the prison experience changed her?"

"It's likely that she came across the revelation while she was under the effects of the drugs, likely brought on by despair after learning about the army which she represented, and after facing the overwhelming hatred from the locals.

It seemed as if she chose the fifth choice, to 'be happy' in spite of how she saw herself."

Shiranui used her index and middle fingers on both hands to air-quote 'be happy' before looking down and lowering her hands, using her right hand to wrap around the handle of her coffee cup.

It was an unremarkable white cup which had a few superficial cracks on it, but that didn't compromise the cup's ability to hold its contents without leaking as far as Shigure could tell, Shiranui bringing the cup up to her lips.

The coffee within the cup was steaming as a small plume of smoke was wafting from its surface, indicating its high temperature.

"She's a little… quieter now, having weaned off the drugs after a 'cold turkey' treatment in prison, and she's nice to other ship girls.

But the reason why you likely haven't seen her around is because there are several rumors about her being a shady drug dealer when off-duty.

She also hangs around and bunks with Bismarck, since they both see the similarities between them, and one of them is being the embodiment of terrible regimes."

Shigure nodded in agreement, thinking more about how Akitsu Maru might have changed for the worse since she was imprisoned by the Chinese authorities after killing the 'bad guys' while in the midst of the ship girl equivalent of a midlife crisis.

It might have been tempting for her to choose to live a free and happy life despite that traumatizing fiasco, and since Shigure hadn't seen her around despite being on the active fleet roster, it meant that she, like Aoba, was likely somewhat of a recluse when not ordered to sortie.

Shigure nodded, although she looked at Shiranui inquisitively as she asked the Kagerou-Class destroyer a question in order to get to know her better.

"But between you and me, assuming you've lived for far longer than you already have, which would you choose when your time comes?"

Shiranui thought about the question as with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, before letting Shigure know about what she would hypothetically choose in that scenario.

"Well…

I would certainly try my best to live with that revelation, because I have to keep believing that my work, now matter how insignificant it may seem, is making a difference in everyone's lives."

Nodding, Shigure noticed that Kagerou managed to elicit a bout of laughter from the surrounding destroyers with her impressive impression of Kongou, Yuudachi and Kawakaze laughing heartily while Arare, a stoic destroyer much like Shiranui, was barely suppressing her growing smile, and Samidare covered her mouth as she giggled elegantly at Kagerou's impression.

Now that the table's attention was distracted by the name-ship of the Kagerou-Class destroyer, Shigure's eyes twinkled as she leaned in to ask a secret question.

"And I'd like to ask about something else, and this is the main reason why I want to talk to you.

I'd like to ask if you were interested in finding out whatever secret project Admiral Mako's been working on with Akashi and Aoba?"

No reaction.

Shiranui looked back at her with her hardened gaze and poker-face, considering her words as ship girls chatted and ate their breakfast around them, going about their merry business while Shigure waited for a reaction or an answer of sorts.

Finally, long after Shigure looked away and admitted defeat in the little stare-down with Shiranui, the Kagerou-Class destroyer picked up her cup of coffee again as she noted.

"You understand that this is grounds for treason, no?

Spying on our own Admiral?"

Shigure shrugged as she explained herself to Shiranui in a hushed tone, knowing that the she had a good chance of convincing the Kagerou-Class destroyer to form an alliance with her in order to uncover the Admiral's secret plans, elaborating.

"Well, it's not as if we're trying to uncover information in order to sell out our Admiral or our country, we're simply trying to find out what's going on behind the scenes in order to better understand the situation.

You understand that things are starting to spiral out of control with the advent of the Flying Dutchman and various signs of the Abyssals stepping up their game.

I believe you're familiar with 'Apocalypse'?"

Shiranui's eyes snapped towards her direction as her attention was drawn to 'Apocalypse', and Shigure now knew that she commanded Shiranui's full attention upon namedropping 'Apocalypse' in order to let the Kagerou-Class destroyer know that she knew more than she let on, continuing.

"Look, as a sister ship who's protective of her sisters, I think you understand me when I say that we need to take some risks in order to find out as much as we can about what goes on in this base and make sure that they don't compromise the safety of our comrades or our sisters.

Surely you can at least understand that sentiment?"

Gulping, Shigure waited as Shiranui considered her proposal with another sip of her coffee, understanding the risks of asking someone else to help spy on the Admiral in order to learn about confidential projects, especially if Shiranui could simply pay lip service and agree with her here, and report her to the Admiral in order to stop her before she had even begun.

But despite having never talked to her before, she trusted the pink-haired destroyer before her.

She knew that Shiranui loved her sisters and seemed like the kind of ship girl to do anything for them as a well-intentioned extremist, and as a member of the Infiltration Fleet which was often sent out in order to find out more about what the Abyssals were up to, she could count on Shiranui to provide her with information so long as she did the same with anything she uncovered.

One way which she could accomplish this with someone like Shiranui was to be completely honest with her, point out the situation at hand and fear-monger a little before appealing to the destroyer's protective instincts, and the best possible outcome was for her to get the destroyer's cooperation and secure herself a source of information.

The worse outcome was that she would face a court martial and be punished by a senior ship girl, probably either Akashi or Nagato, neither ship girl being more preferable over the other.

But hey, like she said, how was she going to learn more about enemy activity if she never took any risks in order to take the first step in establishing trust with other ship girls?

And Shiranui seemed to echo this thought as she asked, although it was phrased more like a question asked in order to sate her idle curiosity instead of a question which would influence her final decision, asking.

"What's stopping me from betraying you and reporting you to the Coordinators?

From what I understand, you seem like a smart ship girl, if a little reckless in your attempts to get stronger…"

Shigure lifted an eyebrow in order to concede the point as Shiranui continued.

"You do not possess any leverage over me, and you also look unwilling to resort to force in order to extract the information out of me…

Was your plan to point things out in a way which would accentuate the negative, appeal to my protective instincts and better nature and pray that everything goes your way?"

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer froze up from the Kagerou-Class's eerily accurate description of her plans, and she could feel the sweat start to line her forehead while Shiranui now had a deadpan expression as she lightly karate-chopped her forehead, causing Shigure to tear up as she clutched at her head, whimpering.

"What was that for?"

Shiranui, now picking up her utensils in order to dig into her breakfast, chided Shigure for possessing the foresight to predict how this conversation could go, yet doing nothing to at least try and avoid the worst possible outcome from coming true.

"You knew that I could betray you and tell on you as soon as you revealed your wish to spy on the Admiral and uncover whatever she's been planning.

And your plan was to count on the power of friendship to protect you from a court martial and from the likes of Nagato and the Coordinators?

I'm actually considering accepting your proposal simply out of pity for your sheer naivete."

Shigure pouted as she, too, started to dig into her breakfast in order to feed her body with the necessary amount of nutrients and fuel before attending her training session with the Infiltration Fleet, answering.

"Well, I didn't want to rely on such concepts like luck or friendship due to their unpredictability and thus unreliability, but you're a fellow ship girl.

I think it would speak volumes about my faith in my fellow comrades if I was unable to extend my offer to you without any bribes, threats or try to maneuver myself into a favorable position before this conversation.

It's best that I offer you this secret alliance on equal grounds as an act of good faith, and even though I perfectly understand the need to use tricks and dirty moves in order to get what you want, but I'd only use them on the enemy.

The only situation where I'd use these tactics against you is if our system is a cutthroat one, and we have to treat everyone, even our supposed allies as enemies, and I think you wouldn't want this, right?"

Shiranui hummed, thinking about things as she ate her serving of scrambled eggs, swallowing them before answering gratefully after realizing that a ship girl who had never talked to her before trusted her to such an extent.

"Well, being a cynical ship girl who's lived a fair bit of my life dealing with the Abyssals while hiding in the shadows, I suppose I felt a little surprised that someone whom I've never met before would trust me to such an extent.

But then again, I think that a bit of trust in your allies goes a long way.

And I'm grateful that ship girls can still trust one another like this, although whether this is a good or bad thing is still up for debate…"

Sighing in defeat, Shiranui looked towards Shigure as she accepted Shigure's offer for an alliance to both spy on the Admiral and share confidential information with each other, answering.

"In the interest of finding out everything which goes on behind the scenes in order to stay updated on the bigger picture, I suppose sharing whatever information we uncover about the Abyssals with one another isn't out of the question.

And spying on Admiral Mako may be quite the deplorable thing to do, but I will take the bullet for the sake of protecting my sisters and teammates.

Besides, I understand your potential, but you certainly need someone to guide you on the ways of this world; I certainly wouldn't want to see you die because of it."

Shigure nodded thankfully as she started on her tuna sandwich, noticing that Kagerou was now imitating the Shokaku-Class carrier Zuikaku and was displaying the traits of the 'tsundere' with Kaga as the target of her affections.

And she was oblivious to the fact that a livid Zuikaku was standing behind her as she performed her impression, the mother of all false smiles plastered on Zuikaku's face as several veins bulged from her temples and her neck along with a threatening aura emanating from her very pores, but these were ignored by the Kagerou-Class destroyer, who faced away from her.

Everyone at the table other than Shigure and Shiranui were trying their best not to laugh at Kagerou's accurate portrayal of the Shoukaku-Class carrier's blatant crush on Kaga while in the presence of said carrier, and were desperately trying their best to signal to Kagerou in order to get her to stop, but their signals weren't getting through.

And Zuikaku finally made her presence known by bringing up her palm in order to slam it down on the crown of the Kagerou-Class destroyer's head, Kagerou freezing up before breaking out into a cold sweat.

Sweat-dropping at the sight of an irritated Zuikaku leading a defeated Kagerou out by grasping one of her twin-tails, Shigure leaned in as she noted Shiranui visibly fighting the urge to leave her seat and stand up to Zuikaku for daring to harm a hair on Kagerou, sharing what she knew with Shiranui in part to distract her from the scene before them, whispering in a hushed tone.

"Well, in a conversation between Admiral Mako, Aoba and Akashi which I overheard, they were talking about how the Abyssals were developing a railgun which could warp the landscape with each shot, and how the Abyssals destroyed the island which they used for the test in order to cover their tracks.

Admiral, Aoba and Akashi cited the possibility of it being related to 'Apocalypse'."

Shigure continued as she explained herself to Shiranui, feeling a little relieved that she had someone to open up to about the downwards spiral towards disaster which she had the dubious honor of witnessing firsthand.

"I fought the Southern War Princess a while ago, and before she committed mental suicide, she revealed that 'Apocalypse was the production of new Abyssal units and weapons in order to launch another land assault, but doing it right this time.

One example is said railgun likely being mounted on a tank destroyer chassis in order to create the mother of all tank destroyers.

They wish to drag the entire world into another World War, and when the last ship girls fall and what remains of mankind is at the mercy of the Abyssals, they…"

Shigure swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat as she revealed their plans to exterminate mankind and wipe them all from the face of the Earth.

"They plan to reenact The Final Solution on all of mankind.

They likely plan to leave nothing behind which would indicate the prior existence of mankind or ship girls before their reign."

Shiranui silently considered the situation as she finished her breakfast, downing the last of her tuna sandwich and wiping her gloved hands together on a tissue with a grave expression on her face before answering honestly about what she had uncovered on her last infiltration operation, and what she thought about the situation.

"When we infiltrated an abandoned Abyssal base, we uncovered the receipts for 'Apocalypse'.

The amount of resources which they had transported, likely via underwater transport routes, was like nothing we'd ever seen before.

So I understand the 'Apocalypse' part of the discussion, but the railgun and the plans for a land assault are new to me.

We'll have to step up our game from here on out."

Shigure nodded grimly as she explained the need to find out what was going on behind the scenes in order to get the full picture of the entire war, and to find out any plans to combat the Abyssals, explaining herself.

"Look, if you remember, I said that there was a secret project between Aoba, Admiral Mako and Akashi named Project Psyche.

I haven't uncovered the details, but Aoba-san was called out of her copper-plated room in order to work with the human engineers, the Fairies and Akashi instead of working on the project from inside her room, so it's something very important if Admiral Mako, being the caring woman she is, had to get Aoba out of her room in order to work on Project Psyche.

Admiral Mako likely recruited her because of her research into the ship girl mind which almost killed her."

Shiranui nodded as she saw the logic in Shigure's theory, but warned her since as the name of the operation implied, they were likely delving into uncharted territory.

"Yes, but as the name 'Psyche' suggests, they might be researching into what the soul consists of, although it's a just a hypothesis based on the project name.

Even though I expect Admiral Mako to do everything by the book by respecting our rights and assessing the risks before making a decision, it's best to assume that the reason for its secrecy is because they don't want the Abyssals to find out about this, and the participants are possibly at risk of dying for real."

Shigure nodded grimly as she took a sip of the coffee in her hand before she asked a question which she had been contemplating, and narrated her thought process.

"But who would Admiral Mako choose to participate in this project, anyway?

I would understand if she had to choose a ship girl who's skilled, but wouldn't affect the base too much should the project go south…"

Shiranui then deadpanned, pointing out the announcement about the conspicuous reassignment of new ship girls to the 1st Fleet despite three of her four teammates recovering fast enough in order to attend training.

"Well, the member composition of your fleet's been rearranged despite the fact that everyone save for Junyou has recovered enough to attend training.

Do you think any one of your teammates might be involved?"

Shigure's eyebrows furrowed as she considered the question, and thought about how Junyou, Hiei and Tatsuta were still hospitalized.

But while the light carrier still had some trouble with her recovering eyesight, Hiei and Tatsuta had recovered enough to the point where they were able to attend yesterday's lightweight training session, where Tone had toned down its intensity in order to make sure that they didn't overexert themselves.

Tenryuu was training with Abukuma whenever she wasn't visiting the 1st Fleet, but could any one of them have volunteered for Project Psyche?

"I don't know," Shigure began.

"Hiei's training with the battleships while Tenryuu's attending training sessions with the stronger torpedo cruisers and Kai Ni light cruisers.

Personally, I can see Tenryuu accepting this offer in order to get stronger and overcome her weakness of being the nameship of a mediocre light cruiser class.

But I can't say for certain unless I meet them again…"

Shiranui then stopped her, pointing out the fact that they were now playing guessing games, which was a major time-waster, stating bluntly.

"Then I'll stop you there and tell you that you're now attempting to guess which ship girl's part of the project, which is a wild goose chase at this point in time when we don't have enough information to start narrowing the list down.

And at this point in time, whoever's been chosen to participate in this project is of secondary importance right now because,

One, we have a sortie coming up soon and we can't distract ourselves with these 'maybes' with so many ship girls in Yokosuka.

Two, finding out what this project entails and what it aims to do is more important than trying to figure out who's in on the project, although finding out their identities will be important when we wish to learn of their progress behind their backs."

Shigure nodded solemnly, thankful that she had a senior here who had a good head on her shoulders, reminding her of their priorities since she had likely dealt with a few tough intelligence gathering scenarios on the field for a while now.

She looked back at Shiranui, asking the Kagerou-Class destroyer as she too, finished her cup of coffee in order to revitalize herself before facing the day.

"I realize that compared to everyone, I'm rather weak since I was recently constructed.

If you don't mind, may I ask you for guidance on how to improve myself and become a better destroyer?"

Shiranui lifted an eyebrow as she noted wryly, highlighting her recent sorties and the amount of danger she had encountered thus far, either by choice or otherwise.

"Well, after taking into account the sheer amount of life-and-death situations you've been in for the, well…

To my knowledge, it's been barely a month after you've been constructed, and even as a fellow comrade, it's worrying to think that you're this unprepared…

Please do not be misled by my stoic demeanor, and believe me when I say that deep down, I'm fearing for your future."

Shigure sweat-dropped as she flinched upon hearing the Kagerou-Class destroyer's honest opinion of her and how she was a magnet for trouble, but Shiranui's gaze softened somewhat as she met Shigure's gaze and continued.

"But I understand that you've been through a lot, both in the past and the present.

And it's clear from what we've learnt so far that things will get even worse for us from now on.

Seeing that you constantly get dragged into these life threatening situations and your luck allows you to walk out of them like it was a simple breeze…"

Shigure lifted an eyebrow as she conceded the point, and understood the fact that the pink-haired destroyer didn't mince her words when she pointed things out, politely listening to Shiranui's assessment of her.

" ...I understand if you wish to improve yourself in order to perform better instead of relying on your luck all the time.

Things are changing, and whatever's coming, it might be too much of me to expect that you won't be in the eye of the storm."

Shiranui blew on the surface of her coffee cup before taking another sip of coffee while her gloved hands tightened on the cup's handle, looking at Shigure with a mysterious, contemplative look in her eyes.

"I will teach you what I know.

We have a training session after this, and I can try to teach you a few things there in order to help you avoid making too many rookie mistakes, some of which can still be committed by ship girls who've been around for a while."

Shigure graciously accepted the offer, raising her palms in a placating gesture as she remarked, expressing her gratefulness for the destroyer's willingness to help her become stronger in order to protect her sisters and her teammates.

"I understand.

I just want the both of us to help each other out, and if you have something to teach me about battle techniques and tactics, then I'll be in your care, Shiranui-san."


[Wahhh! Yu-chan!

We've been exposed!]

Sakawa was hiding underneath a table, with her knees brought up to her chest as the Flying Dutchman sailed on deep beneath the ocean, the bridge being partially illuminated by the internal lighting and the light emanating from the various LED panels which surrounded the four Abyssals on the bridge.

Yuubari was sitting on her throne-like seat while facing the large projector screen, which lit up the room for the most part, and Woxanne had a nonplussed look on her face as she stood beside the Abyssal Commander-in-Chief whilst speaking to the Secretary.

The last Abyssal in the room was a pale-skinned woman, who was as tall and well-endowed as a Nagato-Class battleship as she wore a black form-fitting nightgown which had thin straps securing the dress to her shoulders, while the hem of the dark dress ended above her thighs, barely covering her nether region and whatever she wore underneath.

She possessed long, silky black hair which reached down to her calves along with two small, black-tipped horns on her forehead, and she possessed a dark metal choker with an arrowhead extension pointing down towards her cleavage.

Being the Abyssal Battleship Princess, she had four winglike tattoos on the area of skin in between her collarbone and her breasts, and had eyes with blood-red pupils which stood in stark contrast to her dark hair and pale, beautiful face, and she wore steel bands on her wrists and thighs as fashion accessories and black steel high-heels.

She stood silently behind her superiors in order to wait for them to continue addressing the plans for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

The four of them were listening to a report made by Woxanne, and upon learning that their code-names 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac' had been compromised, Sakawa clearly interpreted it as if she were embroiled in some great scandal.

[We can't show our faces in public anymore!]

To which Woxanne deadpanned, pointing out the flaws in her statement as she leaned down.

[But Sakawa-sama, you've never shown your face in public after your sinking and Abyssalization.

And while they know who you are, it's unlikely that they know anything more than that since their intelligence gathering capabilities are beneath ours.]

Sakawa sniffed as she looked up at Woxanne's stoic expression, rubbing away the tears which formed at the corner of her eyes as she asked meekly.

[Really?]

[Really really.]

That was the best reassurance you could get from the normally-stoic and expressionless Abyssal carrier, and Woxanne looked back up at the large screen as the Battleship Princess coughed into her fist, asking a bemused Yuubari.

[Ma'am, the plans?]

Yuubari cocked her head while she supported her chin and cheek with her left arm on the arm rest as she scrolled through the plans on the touch-pad, her movements reflected on the large screen which was reflected on the drawn metal shutters as she remarked.

[Ahh, Dyson-chan, yes.

Like what we've discussed so far, you're to lead an assault on the Kanto region, and the projected battlefield is to be the Sagami-nada Sea since it's what connects the Pacific Ocean to the Uraga Channel and both the Sagami and Tokyo Bay.

Your objective in this battle is to inflict as many casualties as possible, and to do whatever you deem necessary in order to destroy their bases which protect the Tokyo Bay.]

Nodding, Dyson walked forwards as her high heels clacked on the surface of the bridge and resounded throughout the room, reaching the steel shutters and touching the screen in order to point at the series of red lines which were drawn beforehand in order to highlight the position of the enemy's naval mines, inquiring.

[Well, we also have reports of naval mines being laid down in a large area in between Oshima Island and Southwest of Chiba prefecture.

Not to say that we don't have the numbers in order to pull it off, far from it, but are we still going with a full-frontal assault?

After all, the naval mines prevent us from submerging, and to sail above them is to enter no-man's land.

We'd either have to either advance or retreat in order to safely submerge.]

Yuubari considered the question as she listened to the tidbit of information which Sakawa let them in on, the Agano-Class cruiser highlighting the Shimoda and Shizuoka Naval Base on her own touch-pad and drawing an arrow leading from Shimoda towards Oshima Island as she commented.

[From what we've been able to decipher while listening in on their encrypted wireless communications, we were able to determine that the Shimoda and Shizuoka Naval Base are likely going to flank and attack us before retreating into Suruga Bay as an escape route.

We're also pretty certain that for a large-scale battle like this, they'd get all the human support they can gather in order to increase their odds of winning.

We estimate a 87.64% chance that the JSDF will sortie jet fighters, destroyers and submarines for this battle, and especially for us, the Flying Dutchman.]

Lifting her left hand in order to gesture to the seated Abyssal secretary, Dyson lifted an eyebrow as she met Yuubari's glowing green gaze and wordlessly communicated her,

'You see what I have to deal with?'

Expression to her superiors.

Yuubari was silent as she sat on her throne, her cloak covering her figure and the darkness of the bridge preventing Dyson from seeing Yuubari's face despite the fact that her seat was illuminated by softly glowing neon blue wires and the two incandescent sapphire orbs which were at the end of both her arm rests.

Dyson was only able to make out Yuubari's glowing gaze lowering as she looked down at her touch-pad, a pale finger swiping on it as Dyson looked back at the projected screen while Yuubari highlighted a position on the ocean which was a fair distance from the Sagami-nada Sea and marking it out with a simple, hand drawn boat symbol, remarking coolly.

[I'll sortie the Flying Dutchman to provide cover fire, and should they retreat into the Sagami Bay or the Uraga Channel, we can still bombard them with our vertical-launch missile system, which is capable of launching Tomahawk missiles over long distances.

As for the jet fighters, we can dock the Flying Dutchman at the next Abyssal port in order to arm ourselves to the teeth with Anti-Aircraft missiles in order to give the humans pilots a good workout.

Sakawa-chan, what other weapons do we have which we can attach to the Dutchman?]

Sakawa looked down at her touch-pad and started searching through their inventory, and since she was the secretary, it wasn't long before she brought up a list of all available weapons which were developed as part of 'Apocalypse', answering.

[Well, we have several RIM-67 Standard ER, RIM-66 Standard MR, RIM-7 Sea Sparrow and RIM-116 RAM missile launchers, and the last two missile launchers can also double as our defense against anti-ship missiles which the JSDF will no doubt fire at us.

And to that end, I suggest arming this ship with more Phalanx or Goalkeeper CIWS turrets and perhaps even the experimental XN-1 LaWS in order to protect us, should our missiles fail to intercept and destroy any Anti-Ship missiles.

And these weapons are, of course, developed as part of 'Apocalypse' in order to aid us in our land invasion in the future.]

Bringing up several pictures of the JMSDF Kongou-Class, Atago-Class, Akizuki-Class and Murasame-Class destroyers, amongst others, Sakawa noted as she gestured to the screen.

[It would also be folly to ignore the JMSDF destroyers and submarines, so I suggest arming the Dutchman with several RGM-84 Harpoon and Type 90 Ship-to-Ship Missile Launchers, as well as carrying some RIM-174 ERAM Missiles in our vertical-launch system in order to crush those destroyers.]

Bringing up the Souryuu-Class JMSDF attack submarines Unryuu, Souryuu and Hakuryuu, Sakawa continued.

[Carrying several Anti-Submarine RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles which can be loaded into our vertical-launch missile system and arming the deck with several Anti-Submarine RUR-5 ASROC Missile Launchers in order to crush any submarines which stray too close would also be a good idea.

Wouldn't want a repeat case of Kongou the battleship, who was sunk by USS Sealion.

So which one of these weapons do you wish to prepare at the next dock in order to immediately begin refitting when we arrive?]

Everyone could almost hear the smirk in Yuubari's voice as she dryly replied.

[All of them.]

Everyone turned to her as she noted, her face partially shrouded in darkness as she explained herself.

[There's no more need for us to hide our capabilities.

We're taking the fight to them, and in order to do that, we need to play every hand we have in order to combat both the ship girls and the humans in their own comfort zone, and show them how screwed they are ever since they allowed us to finish developing 'Apocalypse'.

Sakawa, how many more Abyssals can we ferry without slowing down to a pace where even a swimming turtle can overtake us?]

Sakawa calculated the space available on the Dutchman and the aviation battleship's maximum capacity before answering.

[Probably about a hundred more in order to boost our crew count, which is around 1800 strong.

But why?]

Dyson theorized as she looked at the silhouettes of the Yuubari-Class and Agano-Class light cruisers, politely drawing their attention as she spoke up.

[Well, if I'm not wrong, these Abyssals are probably the reinforcements you would bring to the battlefield, am I right?

After all, another function of the Flying Dutchman is to ferry Abyssals in order to allow them to storm the battlefield and boost our numbers, yes?]

Yuubari nodded before looking back down at the touch-pad, highlighting the plan which they were to follow.

[We'll surface a fair distance away from the naval mine formation, and as we approach, we'll have our Princesses and the Dutchman soften the ship girls up with an opening salvo of cannon-fire, bomber planes and missiles.

They'll likely retreat and you'll advance, and the entirety of the JSDF will come down on the Dutchman by this point in time with their destroyers, submarines and jet fighters.

I'll have the Dutchman draw their fire with our missiles and cannons in order to make things easier for your invasion force.]

Yuubari's glowing eyes shifting to look at Woxanne, who was standing at attention beside her as she ordered her Abyssal spokesperson to notify the next Abyssal base to get their weapons ready.

[Woxanne, use the high-speed underwater jet ski in order to sail to Abyssal Base #102F3G-Delta in order to get all the weapons we've discussed here ready to be fitted onto the Dutchman.

This order is priority 'Alpha', so you're free to expend any amount of resources you deem necessary in order to make this possible before we arrive...]

Woxanne finished the sentence for her as Yuubari trailed off mid-sentence, answering monotonously.

[A week from now, Ma'am.]

Nodding, Yuubari gestured with her hand as she got the Wo-Class carrier to leave the room, answering thankfully.

[Yes, thanks.

Now get going, we have a busy schedule ahead of us.]

Woxanne bowed reverently with closed eyes as she retreated from the room, Yuubari continuing her explanation of the plan to a patient Dyson and a sitting Sakawa.

[We'll play all the cards we have in order to pile on the pressure.

We'll arm our railgun attachments to be fired at the JMSDF destroyers, and let's activate our arsenal of Abyssal-customized and upgraded F-35 C Lightning ll, F/A-18 E Super Hornet and Shenyang J-15 jet fighters to be launched from the flight decks of the Flying Dutchman when the time comes.

They won't even know what hit them.]

Dyson lifted an eyebrow as she noted how her superiors were pushing so hard to win this battle, remarking bemusedly.

[Well, are we going in loud?

To even go so far as to send out your aviation battleship-based, modified jet planes in order to tussle with the JASDF even before 'Apocalypse' has truly begun...]

Yuubari shrugged as she highlighted the predicted flight path of the incoming JASDF fighter aircraft and explained herself.

[If we're to strike at the Combined Fleet, which likely consists of six or more naval bases uniting their ship girls in order to oppose us, we have to crush them all with everything we've got.

We'll distract the humans and provide cover fire whenever possible, but the priority for this sortie is to deal maximum damage to them while in their Safety Zone.

And when the battle is in full swing, I delegate all the decision-making responsibilities to you, Dyson, as the flagship.]

Yuubari then requested of Sakawa,

[Tap into the human communications and send out reconnaissance submarines to spy on them, and determine exactly how many JMSDF destroyers and submarines they're sending out to greet us.

Do your best to map out their patrol routes, and we'll position ourselves strategically before the shelling phase.

Should they retreat, we'll advance, but note that Admiral Mako, who's in charge of this large-scale battle, will likely have several curve-balls thrown our way, so be sure to keep your radio on at all times, Dyson-chan.]

Dyson lowered her eyes as she nodded respectfully, while Sakawa cheerily replied.

[You got it, Pyon!]

And as Dyson lifted her gaze to look at her superior, she asked one last question about what they should do if they were to come across any injured enemy ship girls, and how they should treat them.

[Yuubari-sama.

How are we to treat the ship girls or humans whom we capture?]

A slight chuckle was all she got in return, and Dyson could almost feel the Abyssal Commander-in-Chief smiling maniacally as she responded with a fair bit of mirth in her tone, responding to her question with a chilling answer.

[Capture?

Oh no, Dyson-chan.

Like I told you, we're to deal maximum damage to them in this battle.

To that end, we're going to sortie ten Princesses.

We will give no quarter in this battle.

Everyone will die.]