Author's Notes
Sorry for the massive delay, guys.
Tfw your waifu Nagato gets a Kai Ni. FeelsGoodMan.
Now we need the other waifus of the Nagato-Class, Takao-Class and Yamato-Class to get their Kai Ni remodels, and only then will the Holy Trinity be complete. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Haruna was standing amidst the members of the Combined Fleet as they stood at the harbor on the 14th of May at 7.30 a.m. in the morning, waiting for the Admiral to arrive and brief them on the specifics of their mission before sending them off.
Since this sortie was projected to last the entire day and night, they had gathered here shortly after eating a sumptuous early breakfast before this, and they were going to receive combat rations in order to feed them during the sortie.
Hiei and Junyou were present since they were members of the original 1st Fleet, and the two of them were understandably worried about the new 1st Fleet going on their first sortie to the edge of the Safety Zone.
She could see that off to the side were the bird carriers, Junyou, Saratoga and Chitose, talking to each other about what drinks they were going to indulge in after coming back from their sortie, Junyou having already warmed up to the former and was close to the latter through their drinking sessions.
Haruna was standing amidst the group of ship girls who were gathered around Shiranui as Kagerou tried her best to comfort her crestfallen sister, Haruna and Hiei listening on with a fair bit of mirth at what the name-ship of the Kagerou-Class was like to tease her sisters in such a way.
"Well, look, Nui-Nui.
I'm sorry about telling everyone that you sniffed the Admiral's used clothes.
When we come back from this sortie, I'll gather the Kagerou-Class destroyers and get them to put these rumors to rest once and for all, alright?"
Shiranui looked up at her sister, a light blush forming on her face as she admitted what Admiral Mako did last night, and how she was unsure of how to respond.
"A-Admiral Mako sent me her underwear in a pink, heart-shaped box with a note that said,
'To help you sleep at night.'
I took a look inside, and immediately closed it when I saw that it was the naughty kind of lingerie, with heart-shaped holes in the translucent fabric."
Everyone was silenced upon hearing this, and Kuroshio was the one to say that even as a rumor which was started as a somewhat-harmless joke, this was going a little too far and had to be stopped as soon as possible.
"Well, I think that it's certainly time to stop.
I think we all had a good laugh over this, but now it's now getting out of hand and has to stop before it goes any further than this."
Shigure nodded as she leaned in to speak her mind, being a ship girl who was smart enough to think things through and was wise beyond her years despite still possessing several childish traits belonging to someone of her age.
"Yes, although I do believe that the alternative could also be an option.
Rumors like these come and go in a naval base full of females.
If we were to go out and try to quash these rumors, it might cause the Streisand Effect and lead others to believe that in our blatant attempts to stop these rumors, there must be a kernel of truth in what Kagerou-san said about Shiranui-san and might instead take these rumors seriously.
We need to see if this rumor will die off and be forgotten if left on its own before making a choice to step in and intervene.
Since we all know that Shiranui-san isn't that kind of girl and that Kagerou may be the kind of ship girl to take things a little too far in her jokes despite meaning well, I don't believe that anyone would think much of this one particular rumor, no?"
But Kagerou scratched her head as she shared with everyone what she saw on that day and causing everyone to cringe at how transparent Kagerou could be with secrets.
"But it's hard to argue that case when I saw Nui-Nui being surrounded by Admiral Mako's clothes and was holding her blazer…"
But Kuroshio smacked Kagerou on the back of the head as she retorted dryly.
"Alright, keep this up in front of everyone, Kagerou-chan, an' Shiranui-chan'll have to either live like a fuckin' hikikomori or scuttle herself out of shame.
She was searching the laundry room for her keys, right?
It's our job as sisters to stick by her, proclaim her innocence and insist that it was a misunderstanding, no matter what.
You're not helping anyone by running your mouth in front of everyone."
Everyone nodded understandingly upon hearing that and seeing how embarrassed Shiranui looked about this entire debacle and just wanted it to be over with.
And although Haruna genuinely felt bad for the pink-haired destroyer's predicament, she was more interested in how Shigure went about the situation maturely and explained her side of the argument in a mature and adult-like manner.
Haruna had experienced her fair share of combat and loss during World War 2 and was thus empathetic to people's internal turmoils, and while she was glad that Shigure was opening up to everyone and wanted to know them better, she felt that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer might have to face her past and come to terms with what happened to those around her.
It would be a difficult path to walk for the little girl, and would include opening several emotional scars and a lot of crying, but if her actions at Battle at Mikura Jima Island were anything to go by, she needed some sort of closure one way or another.
She was interrupted by Hiei speaking up in a subdued voice, and since they were standing on the fringe of the gathered Combined Fleet, they could hold a conversation and get some privacy since everyone's attention was diverted away from them.
"Are you thinking about something, Haruna?"
Haruna nodded, looking over at Hiei as her attention shifted onto the headstrong sister of the Kongou-Class battleships and shared her concerns about Hiei herself, since she knew that her sister had been through quite a lot in this past month.
"Well, I was worrying about Shigure-san and how her past might haunt her for the rest of her life unless she confronted it and got some form of closure.
But now, I'm a little more concerned about you and what's been going on in your life thus far."
Hiei's eyes widened in surprise, but she lowered her head slightly as she looked away and allowed Haruna to express her concerns.
"You got destroyed at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, and even though I'm glad that you've recovered, I can't help that part of the reason why you're sending us off today is because you're worried that we might be attacked by the Flying Dutchman again…"
Hiei nodded silently, and Haruna took that as a cue to continue on as she looked down and spoke her mind about another matter which had her concerned about Hiei.
Namely, her broken heart.
"And something else which I heard Kongou nee-san talk about was her talk with you, and her cordial rejection of your feelings.
I may be poking my nose into things, but I'm worried that you might still be feeling the sting of the rejection of your unrequited love, even after having a heart-to-heart to Kongou nee-san and coming to terms with the outcome, from what I heard."
Hiei considered her sister's words before replying, looking rather understanding of why Haruna would worry about these things.
"Well, I'd like to settle the second matter first, because that's a little more personal and it's something which you would clearly be more worried about, since I know that you're the caring and motherly wallflower of the Kongou Sisters…"
Haruna hummed in agreement and nodded in order to concede the point, and Hiei continued on and reiterated the points which she had discussed with Kongou.
"Like I discussed with Onee-sama, I understand that these unresolved feelings may hold me back, especially since Onee-sama is now in a relationship with Admiral Mako and I may be distracted by thoughts of winning her affection back.
Onee-sama said what she had to say in order to make our position as lovers clear, that it was never going to happen, but she still loved me as a sister anyway.
There was no other way to say it, and I admit, I still feel rather sad about the outcome, but I know that Admiral Mako genuinely loves Onee-sama, and I am happy for them."
Haruna looked down at the floor, thinking about how understanding Hiei was about their sister's romantic relationship with the Admiral, her expression becoming rather morose as she asked quietly.
'B-But, can you truly bury those feelings for Kongou nee-san?
I'm asking as a concerned sister who wants what's best for everyone, and although I know that Kongou nee-san will be happy with Admiral Mako, what about you, Hiei nee-san?"
Hiei shrugged as she looked up to the sky, contemplating their capacity to love and the sheer number of possible candidates for them to be attracted to.
"Well, we're created to be bisexual, so we can like a person of either gender.
There's more than seven billion people on Earth, so I think there should be more than enough humans whom I can be attracted to, and Onee-sama is certainly not the only person whom I'm capable of loving romantically."
Haruna nodded in an accepting manner upon hearing her sister's train of logic, and Hiei moved onto Haruna's next concern as she looked out at the ocean and wondered about what was in store for them out there, waiting to ambush and sink them without a second thought.
"And regarding the first point about my concern regarding your first sortie, you're not wrong there.
Everyone, especially the seniors in this base, can feel that things are sliding out of control, and the Flying Dutchman is just the first of many strange occurrences which point to something much larger behind the scenes.
The land assault training session which came out of nowhere, the Flying Dutchman, the strange occurrences around the world which has got everyone talking in hushed tones…
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but when something as large as the Flying Dutchman can sail around without much interference and surface wherever it wishes in order to devastate whomever it has in its sights…
I don't want you to go through any of that.
I shudder to think what else lies out there in wait, waiting for some kind of signal from whoever commands them, before unleashing their might upon the entire world."
Haruna looked away, understanding that Hiei fought for her life at Mikura Jima Island, and had a rough understanding of just how intense the battle was, Haruna hearing everything from missiles to life-sized large-caliber cannons and spawning Abyssal hordes…
It was all horrifying, and Haruna understood that Hiei, as a protective sister who also wanted what was best for her, didn't want her to risk sinking in an engagement with some new Abyssal weapon or Beast, but…
Haruna inhaled deeply before looking at her sister, rebutting Hiei's point as she knew she had the right to do so, since she was a Kongou-Class battleship just like Hiei.
"I'd like to debate that point, Hiei nee-san.
While I understand that you're concerned about me as a sister, I am a Kongou-Class battleship just like you, and I am no pushover.
I've been through my fair share of battles and experienced losses, so I like to believe that despite being, well, the 'caring and motherly wallflower' of the Kongou Sisters, I can hold my own in a fight.
Despite my best attempts to not repeat this phrase too many times, I want to tell you that I, Haruna, will be alright."
Hiei looked a little surprised at how assertive Haruna could be when pushed, and Haruna wanted her sister to know that she, like every other ship girl, had been through one war and was fighting in another, and her soft and amiable personality did not translate to weakness on the battlefield.
Eventually, Hiei nodded as her expression relaxed into one of relief, and Haruna now saw how Hiei had grown as a ship girl and as a woman since these experiences, although they took their toll on her sister, helped Hiei to become stronger as the disastrous Battle at Mikura Jima Island only served to push her on to become stronger.
Kongou's rejection of Hiei's feelings helped to firmly establish their sisterly relationship with one another and allowed her to mature as she had Kongou help her deal with rejection by talking her through the process and why they couldn't be together.
Admiral Mako then chose to arrive on the scene, bringing Nagato with her as she hailed everyone and excused their bows in her direction before getting down to business with the Combined Fleet.
"Well, good day, girls.
I suppose you all had your breakfast, because this sortie's going to take all day and night, which is why I had Mamiya and the supply Fairies prepare combat rations for you all to carry into battle.
For this sortie, the Infiltration Fleet is going to search Aogashima Island, which has been quickly abandoned in the exodus early on in the Abyssal War, where we had to evacuate citizens who lived on isolated islands like Guam and Ogasawara Island."
Nagato stepped up to the plate as Admiral Mako handed over the role of explaining the situation to a ship girl who easily commanded their attention and was experienced in giving them briefings regarding their mission objective.
"We've received some photos via satellite surveillance which shows that they've been using it recently as a testing ground for some new weapons, which is likely the result of their Five-Year Plans.
Even though we've scared them off the island with the South's last push into the Pacific several weeks ago, we're still certain that the Abyssals still have some valuable intel left on that island for when they come back to reclaim the island for their use.
In case you're wondering why the Abyssals haven't immediately reclaimed the island, it lies in a no man's land of sorts between the Safety Zone and the Abyssal frontier, where any Abyssal activity on that island can be easily dispelled since fleets can be rerouted from the still-populated Hachijou Island and be within attacking distance of Aogashima Island.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the abandoned Ogasawara and Palau Islands as well as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, since they're located further into the Pacific Ocean and are currently untouchable.
It's a new moon night coupled with good weather for these few days according to the weather forecast, so there shouldn't be any complications in your sortie."
Haruna nodded, understanding that the governments of the world were faced with a dilemma early on in the war where they had to either ignore the lives of the citizens who lived on islands located beyond the Safety Zone, or help them immigrate to either the mainland or an island located near the mainland in order to provide them protection, at the cost of maintaining complete secrecy regarding the existence of ship girls by any means, at least until the time was right.
Guam was a little tougher to vacate, since it was difficult for the Americans to transport more than a hundred thousand American civilians across the Pacific by 'cruise ships' and transport aircraft runs over a period of several years, the former of which required the grudging assistance of Japanese ship girls to ensure the safety of their citizens across the perilous ocean.
Islands within the Safety Zone were protected since they could be reached in time, but for these outlying islands, it was an entirely different matter as disruptions to their livelihood would affect them adversely, and the world governments couldn't simply leave them to their fate as it would present a major PR problem later.
Hey, not the best reason to save people, but they did save hundreds of thousands of lives so that they didn't have to perform any massive cover-up or try to justify the deaths of these citizens when they revealed the ship girls to the world.
Hawaii and Okinawa were amongst the very few islands who were exempted, not just because of their population size, but because they were large enough to allow naval bases to be stationed there, being self-sustaining to the point where they only required the occasional supply ship to replenish their resources, and could hold off an assault long enough for reinforcements to arrive, as evidenced several times in the past.
Nagato continued, Haruna noting an incoming torrent request from the Nagato-Class battleship and accepting it to find a map of the Izu Islands on her HUD, several mapped-out paths to Aogashima Island as well as the recorded routes of Abyssal patrol fleets.
"Sailing to Aogashima Island is projected to take about twelve and a half hours, ten hours to Hachijou Island and another two and a half to Aogashima Island.
But since we don't want to tip our hand too early and allow them to know our destination before we reach it, we're going to have to take several detours before reaching Aogashima Island in order to buy more time for the Infiltration Fleet.
This way, the estimated time of arrival is increased to sixteen hours, and you'll reach Aogashima Island in the dead of night if you sortie at around 8."
Nodding, Admiral Mako looked every one of them in the eye as she explained the plan to them and how they planned to reach the island without having the entire Abyssal armada on their tail.
"Look, we've plotted out most of the Abyssal patrol routes, and they're marked out in red on your map.
If you encounter them, you can either defeat or evade them, and you can update the map to see what other routes you can take to either engage or evade approaching Abyssal patrol fleets.
When night comes, the 1st Fleet will patrol the area and distract the Abyssals with hit-and-run tactics while the Infiltration Fleet searches the island for intelligence."
Admiral Mako then shared with them another part of the plan which was an unexpected surprise to the Combined Fleet, but certainly not an unpleasant one.
"We'll do our best to send out another fleet in a few hours to back you up at night.
They'll take the expressway towards Aogashima Island with no stops, so don't worry too much about backup since the Abyssals will be convinced that they're dealing with two fleets initially, then one fleet when the Infiltration Fleet goes on the island, and then boom!
They find themselves facing three fleets all of a sudden.
We did our best to try and predict where the Abyssal fleets would go when you engage more and more enemies, and we'll do our best to map a new course which will allow you to encounter as little Abyssals as possible while keeping your true destination vague.
When the Infiltration Fleet's done, pack up, regroup with the backup fleet and run home."
Kuroshio raised her hand, curious about why they couldn't simply use planes to fly them over to Aogashima Island and make their job a lot easier.
"I'd like to ask.
Why can't we be flown over the island in a transport plane and parachute down onto Aogashima Island in order to finish the mission sooner?
It'd help us save on fuel and time taken to arrive at the destination, so what's stoppin' us from hopping on a Hercules transport aircraft and jumping out near the island?"
Admiral Mako considered the question, before lifting her hand and holding out her palm in order to answer bluntly regarding the loss of a certain airplane last year.
"I'll answer that question with another question.
Do you think anyone dares to risk flying another plane over an open ocean after Flight MH370?"
Everyone's spirits sank after hearing that, and Admiral Mako tried to console the crestfallen Kuroshio while reminding everyone that the Abyssals were capable of anything.
"It's not a bad idea, Kuroshio.
But you gotta understand, ever since the loss of that Malaysian airplane, everyone's been blaming the Abyssals for it and are hella paranoid about losing another plane over the oceans since then.
And since the military can't guarantee that the Abyssals won't shoot their airplanes down while they fly over the Pacific Ocean, they won't sanction any flights beyond the Safety Zone, and even then, it's under very specific circumstances and if the odds look favorable."
Nagato intervened in order to speak up for Admiral Mako, and how they did their best to persuade the JASDF to help provide an airlift with little success, due to one particular enemy vessel which made one hell of an entrance.
"While we're on the topic, The Flying Dutchman is a wildcard whose capabilities we're not entirely certain of, since we believe it hasn't shown all of its tricks yet.
Even though Admiral Mako argued that the Dutchman would be preparing for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea and wouldn't be patrolling the seas to sink one measly airplane with its missiles, the JASDF were adamant about not risking it since we have no concrete evidence to back her guess up."
Reaching out in order to ruffle Kuroshio's hair, Admiral Mako commented on how she appreciated the Kagerou-Class destroyer thinking up of ideas to circumvent the enemy fleets entirely in order to keep everyone safe.
"Well, I personally don't think the big bad boat is going to come and terrorize you all; It's got better things to do than sail around aimlessly for fleets to terrorize, and don't think of that as an insult to your abilities, there're simply far more important battles it has to prepare for.
Thanks for the suggestion though, I appreciate you looking out for everyone by exploring every possibility."
Admiral Mako then stood up straight in order to address them all as she said some parting words.
"Just be sure you watch out for each other and come back alive, because I'm not entirely sure if we can push our luck with these kinds of sorties.
The thing is that if we haven't found much regarding their activities for the past ten years, I'm afraid they may lure us into a trap by making us think that we're on a roll as we learn more and more, and we may stumble into a trap when we try to stick our necks out too far out of curiosity.
So be doubly cautious this time, and don't be afraid to retreat if things spiral out of control."
Everyone nodded grimly, understanding that this sortie was a big deal, and had to be handled with the utmost care while other fleets were out doing their own thing, and the Admiral wanted them all to come back alive in order to prepare for what came next.
Haruna was out on the ocean, equipped with her rigging and several day's worth of combat rations, steel and fuel on her body, courtesy of Mamiya who had packed these rations in a tactical combat vest and thigh utility pouches to be worn by whoever was tasked with carrying combat rations into battle.
Haruna was tasked with this responsibility since she was a fast battleship and flagship, and since being a battleship meant that your cannons did the bulk of the fighting, she was the ideal candidate to carry the bulk of the Combined Fleet's rations as the vest and pouches would hinder everyone else, who was of differing ship classes and relied on mobility to function in combat.
The Fairies were able to downsize an entire meal's worth of nutrients down to chocolate-bar sized combat rations to allow a ship girl to feed an entire fleet with rations which could be fitted into combat vests and thigh pouches, and the Fairies' specialization at miniaturization prevented them from having to haul a burlap sack full of food around to achieve the same end.
Inside her pockets were several cans of fuel which were to be used during emergencies, because even though the Admiral had allowed them to drink two days' worth of fuel before this in order to complete the sortie, she couldn't factor in every possible scenario which could occur to them.
Nobody wanted to run out of fuel during their retreat back to Yokosuka after unexpected battles caused them to burn more fuel than usual, so Haruna and Sendai, being the flagships of the two fleets, were responsible for carrying fuel cans for dire emergencies.
Haruna had previously accepted the combat ration Fairy into her rigging upon wearing the combat ration vest, a female Fairy who possessed dusty army-green hair tied up in a ponytail with a pink scrunchie, and a white gown covered her body as the food supply Fairy had rolled up her sleeves before this while she held a tied-up container full of rice.
She held a rice paddle in her minuscule hand in order to distribute the rice to other Fairies for them to eat, although Haruna wasn't exactly sure how their tiny bodies would be able to process the food within them, even if the rice grains were shrunk down in order to fit into their small mouths.
Right now, they were sailing towards Aogashima Island without any detours so far, since they had left the Yokosuka harbor a few hours ago and were headed towards Hachijou Island, whereupon they would attempt to run circles around the Abyssals, or as Admiral Mako suggested, to avoid them altogether.
Even though the 1st Fleet had trained for more than a week on how to engage hordes of Abyssal, in war, discretion truly was the better part of valor, and even stronger fleets sometimes chose to take a detour and circumvent a powerful secondary Abyssal fleet in order to deal with their primary target.
They hadn't engaged in battle with any Abyssal fleets so far, but if they had to do so, the subsequent enemy fleets would certainly be prepared for their arrival, and detours would have to be made.
To pass the time, Haruna was talking to her teammates while keeping an eye on her sonar and radar, and she had to thank her Fairies for helping to share the burden by watching her environment for any movement, allowing her to focus more on Shigure's question about her.
"I heard that when the Kongou Sisters went their separate ways, you chose to focus on being a healer.
Did you train under Akashi-san?"
Haruna shivered upon recalling the repair ship, and she shook her head vigorously in vehement denial as she explained how she got her training from the hospital orderlies instead.
"Oh goodness, no.
I was reluctant to train under Akashi-san because we suspected that our personalities, perspectives and standards would clash, which eventually came true as Akashi-san was unrelenting in her training and demanded perfection in learning first-aid skills, having written me off as too 'soft' to be a surgeon.
I eventually had to receive training from the human orderlies in the hospital, who were admittedly less proficient than Akashi-san, but were entirely capable of teaching me first-aid, which was all I needed to stabilize the conditions of those who are wounded on the field."
Nodding in understanding, Shigure looked up at Haruna as she asked in a genuinely curious tone, wishing to know more about the Kongou-Class battleship.
"I know Akashi-san well enough to know that she's pretty demanding in her lessons.
But may I ask of you to humor me and explain what part of her teachings caused you to stop learning things from her?"
"Hmm...
The reason why stopped my sessions with Akashi-san was because even though she was an effective teacher, she would say certain things without any tact, and most of the time, they'd make sense.
Like how surgeons need to be perfectly fine with inflicting temporary pain on someone, cut them up without feeling emotionally attached to their suffering in order to promote recovery, and after some thinking, I'd eventually see where she was coming from, but still…"
Shigure nodded sagely, looking as if she understood where Haruna was coming from as she remarked.
"But you couldn't bring yourself to think the way she does, to think of the patient as a slab of meat to cut up and stitch back without empathizing with it?"
Haruna sweat-dropped as she answered in in response to Shigure's comparison,
"Well, the thing is that I believe Akashi-san wouldn't disagree with that comparison, that the dead and dying who are put on the table to be operated on are no different than a butcher with a carcass.
But unlike a butcher who kills and dissects, a surgeon is to heal the patient with her cuts and stitches.
You must steel your heart in order to accomplish this, and although I may be able to do many things for the sake of winning this war, cutting up my teammates is not one of them."
Shigure cocked her head, looking rather curious as to what the reason was behind Haruna's reluctance to hold the operating knife and perform the cut.
"Is this reluctance because of your disdain for the bloody and 'icky' stuff in operations?
I understand if you might have some reservations, since gore isn't for everyone…"
But Haruna gently shook her head, feeling an ocean breeze tickle her hair and cool her sweaty skin as a result of the stuffy combat vest which she wore, feeling the need to correct Shigure's assumption.
"Not exactly.
I don't have much of a problem with blood and guts, because I've seen my fair share in my life as a ship girl.
But I just can't bring myself to cut a teammate up, and Akashi and I both know that I empathize with others too easily to be able to operate on anyone.
I eventually became more and more unnerved by how coldly Akashi-san saw everything and everyone, to the point where I was uncomfortable with learning anything from her."
Shigure now looked rather down, looking rather understanding of Haruna's plight as she shared with her how she had seen the 8th Fleet fight up close, and how it changed how Shigure saw her counselor and friend.
"Well, I can empathize with that.
To see how Akashi-san is capable of such violence…
I think she uses her medical and anatomical knowledge to heal allies and hurt enemies, and even though I'm appalled at how casually she treats murder…"
Haruna breathed out a little harder in an attempt at a smile as she retorted about how little the killing of Abyssals mattered to them.
"Well, technically, we're all somehow alright with killing Abyssals without question, so perhaps murder comes easily to us all, and there only lies one difference between ship girls like Akitsu Maru and Akashi-san, and us."
Shigure lifted an eyebrow and conceded the point, surprising Haruna a little as she expressed a fair bit of knowledge about what would eventually happen to every ship girl.
"Enjoying what we do.
Unlike them, who let themselves go and don't pretend that they're anything other than bloodthirsty dogs of war on the battlefield who serve any purpose greater than satisfying themselves, we exercise restraint and convince ourselves that we're doing this, all for the greater good.
It's sad to see them as they are, but I don't regret being their friend in order to help them out in any way I can."
Haruna lifted an eyebrow and looked at the all-encompassing ocean as she continued, thinking about the repair ship and her fleet of deplorable ship girls who were absolutely terrifying, yet somehow pitiable in their own way.
"I want to help ship girls in ways other than the battleship's way of simply destroying everything which can hurt my teammates, because if one of you gets injured in battle, I at least know what to do when the time comes rather than stand by uselessly and watch you die.
But…"
Haruna cringed as she remembered how callously Akashi-san treated everyone's lives despite claiming to 'care about them in her own special way', and decided to spare Shigure most of the details regarding the repair ship's misanthropy and pessimism as she continued.
"But I don't want to learn from someone who uses the medical knowledge she knows for nefarious purposes, I personally feel that it defeats the point when you cross that line.
Am I too naive and idealistic to think like that, Shigure-san?"
And strangely enough, despite believing that the analytical Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer would shoot her views down as being too unrealistic or impractical for a soldier, Shigure managed to somehow agree with her in some sense but also allowed herself to view things from another perspective, answering a very curious Haruna.
"I agree with you in terms of morality, that doctors who use their medical knowledge to kill are worse than murderers, but I think we should try to see things from another point of view.
I've talked to the 8th Fleet, and they say that because of their lack of natural fighting talent, they have to resort to the lowest of lows in order to stay relevant in battles, instead of being a burden to everyone outside of their respective fields of expertise.
They said that ship girls like me, who are gifted not with talent but with potential, don't have to worry about such things, especially since we have Kai Ni remodels and can become far more than anything they can hope to accomplish.
Despite being who they are, I suppose they want to matter as much as we do, and to see the lengths which they're willing to go to in order to accomplish that should be seen as proof of their conviction."
Haruna blinked, shifting the combat ration vest which rested on her torso as she thought of Shigure's words, and how the ship girls of the 8th Fleet were struggling in their own way.
True, she had thought of things what way, understanding that the 8th Fleet, for all of their flaws, were able to become one of, if not the highest-performing auxiliary fleet in the world, and the amount of effort they must put into maintaining that standard in spite of their less-than-stellar stats must be staggering.
And the fact that a lot of them had been through rough periods in their lives would have almost had Haruna agreeing with Shigure, but still…
She looked down at the destroyer and expressed her views on the 8th Fleet, and how their modus operandi came into conflict with her world view that ship girls shouldn't find pleasure in taking the lives of even their enemies, as it was a slippery slope down into the darkness which was depravity and even full-blown madness.
"I'm sorry.
But even though I can respect the amount of effort they put in, it's the way they operate which truly disgusts me, because even though we ship girls are imbued with a somewhat apathetic attitude towards killing Abyssals, it's a far cry from the 8th Fleet, most of whom take pleasure in killing Abyssals and possess a cavalier attitude towards everything, even their own lives.
They joke about killing themselves so often and so easily, I often feel uncomfortable around them as I believe many other ship girls do.
And the things I hear about them…"
Haruna shook her head, knowing herself to be above sharing unconfirmed rumors as they might strain relationships regardless of whether they were true or not, and Haruna kept it to a simple discussion on the modus operandi of the 8th Fleet as she concluded this topic of conversation.
"That's all I'll say about them.
I shan't talk about the rumors surrounding them, because I respect them enough as soldiers to not attack or compromise their reputations with unconfirmed rumors."
Shigure nodded, moving the conversation back on track with the next question as she asked about something which Haruna never expected.
"I'd like to ask you about something else in order to shift the focus of this conversation back to you.
Why is it that people often regard Hiei-san as the Emperor's battleship, but not you?
To my knowledge, you once served as the Emperor's Special Ship, ferrying him across all of Japan several times, no?
Is there a reason why you relinquished that title to Hiei-san?"
To say that Haruna was surprised was a bit of an understatement; she was floored by a question which few people, even her sisters, thought to ask.
She hurriedly looked away and stared at the shifting ocean as she considered the question at hand, thinking about why she was content to allow Hiei to take the title of 'The Emperor's Battleship' without putting up a fight, especially when she had a fair chance of usurping that title when she was once crowned as the Emperor's Special Ship and had also carried His Majesty across the ocean a few times.
Eventually, she turned back to look back at Shigure as she gave her answer, and how because of her personality, she was content to take a back seat and allow her sisters to take the spotlight.
"Perhaps…
Perhaps it's because of my wallflower personality, which makes me reluctant to take up such a pompous title which means little in this day and age.
But I also wish for Hiei to bask in the limelight as 'The Emperor's Battleship', because I'm worried that if I'm to take that title from her, she might not have much left to her name save for her love towards Kongou nee-san.
And even that's…"
Haruna sighed, not having expected such a tough question from Shigure, but then again, the little destroyer was rather thoughtful and introspective, and Haruna surmised that she had done a fair bit of research on their history and wanted to ask her this after knowing that Hiei was more renowned for being the Emperor's Battleship instead of Haruna, who had received an official title as the Emperor's Special Ship.
She continued her explanation about her unconscious choice to not compete for a title and potentially strain their sisterly relationship in the ensuing fallout.
"I'm the polite, caring and empathetic one amongst my sisters, so when I was faced with the choice of being acknowledged as the Emperor's Battleship in lieu of Hiei nee-san, I didn't want to take that aspect of my sister's legacy and reputation away from her.
Back then, what Hiei had going for her was her love for Kongou nee-san, her headstrong attitude and her reputation as the Emperor's Battleship.
I wanted to allow her to use this title, which is admittedly a thing of the past, and build her confidence off of it in the present.
And while I understand that she's outgrown the need for mere titles, I just couldn't bring myself to contest with her for the title of the Emperor's Battleship."
Shigure nodded, taking up a thoughtful look as she considered the team dynamic between the Kongou Sisters, and how Haruna was concerned about Hiei's ego as the most empathetic one amongst them in contrast to the leader Kongou, the headstrong and loyal Hiei and the analytical Kirishima.
"So you didn't want to cause a rift to tear you two apart due to the conflict caused by a contest over a title which doesn't really do much for you all save for allowing you some bragging rights about something which is no longer a thing.
An interesting answer."
Haruna nodded, looking away as she explained how she saw their relationship and how perhaps separating the Kongou Sisters was for the best.
"I admit, it was sad when Kongou decided that the Kongou Sisters had to disband in order to make a name for ourselves, and I was aghast at the mere thought of it.
But I suppose it was for the best, because back then, we only knew how to build off of each other's personalities and develop a sisterly dynamic to the point where we wouldn't be seen separated from each other, increasing our dependence on our sisters' company.
And that was the problem which Kongou nee-san saw, that we had to grow into our own and not just be respectable battleships in our own right, but also elegant women or 'ladies' who could stand on our own two feet.
Right now, we're doing our best to become stronger and specialize in different areas of expertise, like how Kirishima nee-san is working as a Coordinator, I'm working as a part-time medic while Kongou sails with the hard-hitting 7th Fleet and Hiei sails with the 1st Fleet.
Although I'm standing in for Hiei nee-san, she's taking the time to train herself up in order jump back into the fray, and she is extremely driven to protect you all.
So please allow yourself to depend more on your teammates, Shigure-san.
They're just as dedicated as you are when it comes to protecting everyone."
Shigure looked a little surprised at the conviction behind Hiei, and perhaps even Haruna's desire to protect her, and she looked down with a small, tired nod as she admitted how she wasn't the only ship girl who wanted to protect everyone.
"I think I understand.
Everyone wants to protect their teammates, so I suppose that we sometimes need to split up in order to pursue different paths to strength, and when we regroup as a team, we'll have become stronger in unique ways.
Tenryuu and Tatsuta are off somewhere getting stronger,and so are Hiei and Junyou as they train with battleships and carriers respectively…
I suppose… I can try to place some faith in their abilities."
Haruna nodded as she was glad that they had come to an understanding, but was then interrupted by a red blip showing up on her radar as her Fairies warned her about a possible enemy confrontation.
Both she and Chitose tensed up and prepared for combat as she warned the Combined Fleet about the incoming threat of an approaching Abyssal fleet, and how they should go about this battle since Admiral Mako had taken this Abyssal fleet's patrol route into account and had given them two courses, to either engage or circumvent them.
"Everyone, an Abyssal fleet is approaching us.
A quick vote on whether we should fight or flee?
While I'm certain we can take them, they don't seem to have noticed us yet since none of the Abyssals are carriers, so rerouting our current course to preserve the element of stealth is still a possibility."
Sendai's hands hovered over her torpedo launchers in preparation for combat as she expressed how they might have to fight their way through in order to draw their attention.
"Well, we're carrying spare ammunition, so ammo shortage isn't exactly a major problem right now.
And even if we're to run into complications before nighttime, our backup fleet can simply lend us more ammo and steel patches in order to reload and recover respectively.
We can also try to lead them on as the Abyssals would actively search us out, after which we'll split up at night in order to distract them for a longer period of time."
And Shigure pointed out something regarding how Sendai could talk about confronting them so easily when she wasn't tasked with the tougher job.
"I'd like to point out that we're the ones tasked with distracting the Abyssals while you're the ones who get to go on Aogashima Island.
So you might feel that attracting their attention wouldn't be all bad, but I respectfully disagree, since we're the ones who will come under fire at night, even though we're going to receive reinforcements later in the night."
Sendai simply raised an eyebrow in order to concede the point, and Jintsuu cast her vote in favor of being discrete, since it would allow them to preserve the element of surprise for a little longer.
"I think that it's best for us not to engage this Abyssal fleet, because the subsequent Abyssal fleets which we engage might discern our true abilities, the more we attempt to engage them in battle.
If we keep to ourselves for a little while longer, they have to work with rough estimates of our capabilities based on our previous sorties, and we would be able to surprise them with our true capabilities based off of our teamwork.
If they learn that we can take out an Abyssal fleet which possesses an intermediate-level threat to us, they would reroute weaker Abyssal fleets and only send high-level Abyssal fleets to deal with us."
And Saratoga asked about her statement as she flicked the safety switch on her Thompson sub-machine gun, getting ready for a possible firefight.
"And how accurate are their predictions of our capabilities?"
Haruna answered that as she mentally ordered her Fairies to be on standby in the meantime, preparing herself for the worst-case scenario which was a possible firefight with the Abyssals, as did all ship girls with their respective class weapons.
"Well, from what I heard, the Abyssals maintain a mental network to make sure that even if we defeat this fleet, they would send a recording of this battle with their dying breath to their superiors in order to determine our threat level, and they'd divert fleets who're too weak to even slow us down away from us.
Of course, this process is carried out extremely slowly since the ocean is just that large, and there're too many fleets being sent out every day for them to make these decisions quickly and precisely, so it'll take a while for these orders to be received and carried out.
But we do catch whispers in the air for weaker Abyssal fleets to keep track of our movements the further we sail into the Pacific, because even though the Abyssals like throwing numbers at their problems, they aren't so stupid as to send out low-ranking Abyssals to be slaughtered senselessly.
They prefer to let the stronger Abyssals have their chance to try to take us out, and if that fails, they'll have already gathered enough Abyssal mooks to make a difference and push us back, if not sink us outright through sheer numbers."
Inhaling deeply after reciting something which she learnt from her lessons, she understood that Saratoga was new here and might not know how the Abyssals worked, requiring a quick lesson from her before making an informed decision.
Naka became the voice of reason as she broke up the discussion by addressing her sister and explaining how it was better for them to be discrete for as long as they could.
"Well, Sendai.
Even though we trained together for a while, the new 1st Fleet isn't very experienced compared to other fleets who are occupied either with training or sorties of their own, so I think it's best for us to lay low for now.
That way, we can make less mistakes compared to when we engage every single Abyssal fleet in sight and become fatigued, leading to more mistakes."
Sendai muttered an understanding,
"Fine, fine, I understand.
I'm itching for a fight, but I suppose not everyone can last through the day and night if we're to take everyone on."
Haruna exhaled slowly, the tension diffusing somewhat as Haruna spoke to everyone while she consulted the map on her HUD.
"Well, the Admiral and the Coordinators expected us to meet this fleet, and since we're choosing to not engage them in battle…"
She saw the HUD change to point in a direction adjacent to their original course, which allowed them to sail past the Abyssal fleet without getting within firing distance and allowing the Abyssals to open fire on them, everyone changing their course in order to sail in the direction of the pointer which directed them to a GPS checkpoint marked out by latitude and longitude.
However, everyone's tense posture and the fact that their hands were now much closer to their weapons in order to quick-draw them didn't escape Haruna's notice, understanding that everyone was on edge and knew that in this sortie, an unavoidable battle was to occur eventually.
No amount of stealth was going to keep them safe and undetected for long the further they sailed to the edge of the Safety Zone, beyond which was an ocean infested by Abyssals who wouldn't hesitate to sink them and halt their progress, and everyone was understandably wary of every single Abyssal in their vicinity as they would either serve to warn others of their presence or hunt them down, warranting their paranoia and fear in order to simply stay alive.
Haruna and company had been sailing for a few more hours now, and it was currently 3.12 p.m. as they approached one of the most important checkpoints in their meandering and ever-changing course towards Aogashima Island.
Before them was the silhouette of Mikura Jima Island.
Haruna was holding Shigure's hand in order to comfort the distressed destroyer as they sailed towards the place which had traumatized the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.
But despite her best assurances that Haruna would be alright, she had heard from Hiei that her own doppelganger from the Miura Naval Base was devastated in this battle, so wearing the same face and possessing the same behavior (they were doppelgangers, after all) might diminish the effectiveness of her assurances.
Cue mental sigh.
Her combat ration vest felt a wee bit lighter, since everyone had already taken their lunch by swallowing half of a chocolate-bar-sized ration, and her Fairies were now working a little harder after ingesting a filling meal supplied by the food supply Fairy.
The sky was becoming a little more cloudy than they would have preferred, but it served as a bit of relief from the summer sunshine as they sailed forth, Haruna suddenly detecting a new Abyssal presence in their area.
And it was headed straight for them.
Her cannons bristled in anticipation as she tensed up again in preparation for combat, this time feeling that a battle was unavoidable as Chitose warned everyone about the incoming threat.
"Girls.
I sense another Abyssal fleet making a beeline for us.
And right now, I can identify three Ri-Class heavy cruisers, one Wo-Class carrier, two Ho-Class light cruisers and four Abyssal destroyers.
They seem to know we're here, and seem determined to stop us."
Sendai sighed as she pulled out a torpedo from a launcher which was strapped to her hips, leaning forward in anticipation while her face morphed into her dead-serious game face as she remarked.
"Well, it's been a good run, but it would be foolish of us to think that we could finish the entire journey through stealth alone.
I personally think that for a fleet as big as ours, to go without fighting a single Abyssal fleet all the way up to Mikura Jima Island is rather impressive, but it's time to whip out the torpedoes and the cannons, because I feel that we can't run from this one."
Everyone was uncoupling their cannons from their riggings in order to prepare for battle, and Haruna tightened the straps on her thigh utility pouches while understanding that in addition to being a battleship, she was carrying their combat rations and had to keep herself safe, lest a cannon shell fly in her direction and spoil their rations, leaving them hungry for the rest of the day.
The fact that she was carrying several cans of fuel in her pockets turned her into a walking safety hazard which could be lit aflame should a torpedo or shell hit her in the right spot, and the only silver lining was that she was a fast battleship and thus possessed decent armor and speed in order to handle anything which was thrown her way.
The destroyers and light cruisers in the Combined Fleet unleashed a devastating torpedo salvo as the aiming reticles of her 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannons all focused on the Abyssals in the distance, yelling out her command in part to warn her teammates of the discharge of such powerful cannons.
"Fire!"
She was thankful that her ears possessed mufflers in order to help mute the volume of the cannon blast which shook the very air around her, something which she was accustomed to as did every battleship worth their salt, waving away the plumes of smoke in order to watch out for enemy attacks.
The Abyssals responded in kind by sending out two Abyssal Dive Bombers and a Mark II Torpedo Bomber in order to intercept Chitose and Saratoga's Ryuusei and Dauntless Bombers, everyone scattering without a word as enemy shells rained down upon them, the Abyssals squeezing off several shots before being devastated either by the torpedoes, the bombers' dropped payloads or the hail of shells which landed in their general area.
She sailed forward in order to shield Shigure and Kuroshio with her body, holding up her arms in an 'X' shape before her vest as small and medium-caliber shells harmlessly bounced off of her skin and rigging and throwing up sparks in the case of the latter, letting out an involuntary,
"Tsk!"
After feeling the sting of the mostly harmless shells as they stung her arms and face not unlike bee stings, understanding that while her rigging and skin armor was tough, she was not invulnerable and could be worn down if she took too many shells while deluding herself into thinking that these shells couldn't do anything to her.
She smacked away the minuscule smoke plumes which wafted from her arms as the small steel pellets were crushed against her skin, some even punching holes into her miko uniform, although since she was a battleship, there was no blood being drawn as her skin armor did its job well.
Haruna could hear the shock of the destroyers behind her stemming from seeing a battleship protect them when she was carrying valuable cargo, Kuroshio exclaiming as the shells which came into contact with Haruna's skin and rigging hit the ocean like dead flies dropping dead upon hitting a bug zapper racket.
"H-Haruna-san?!
You should stand behind us, you're-"
Haruna turned around and remarked hastily, sparing no time for niceties in the heat of battle as she kept an eye out for incoming torpedoes while revving her boat slippers.
"Please don't treat me like an invalid just because I'm carrying precious cargo!
I'm a Kongou-Class battleship, and even though these shells may hurt you, they are as harmless as bug bites to my armor!
Haruna is alright, please continue!"
Kuroshio's eyes widened at the slight aggression which had seeped into Haruna's voice, but her gaze eventually settled into a determined one as she teased.
"Alright.
Follow us through the torpedoes, feel free to tell us to slow down if you can't keep up while carrying those."
While pointing to Haruna's weighty combat ration vest, or for all she knew, the Kagerou-Class might also be pointing at her sizable chest in order to lighten up the mood, sailing away with a cheeky smile plastered on her face while Shigure stepped up and thanked Haruna.
" … Thank you for that.
But please, watch out for yourself."
And Haruna took the time to turn the phrase back on her, narrowing her eyes and looking Shigure dead in the eye as she remarked.
"And you watch out for yourself as well.
Please, there is nothing for you to prove, since you've given your all the last time you were here."
Shigure flinched, and she knew that she was spot-on with her assumption of what Shigure was thinking about as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer gave a small, yet respectful bow before turning away and sailing off into the distance.
Haruna tailed her, ready to catch the destroyer should she fall in battle and watching on as white-hot steel flew past them with varying accuracy, knowing that the chaos of war would throw off any ship girl or Abyssal's aim, and only a handful of ship girls could hit every shot fired from their handheld cannons after years of persistent training to become dead-eye marks-women.
Watching the silent yet deadly torpedoes sail by her without detonating, Haruna released a breath which she didn't know she held as she then heard the buzz of an oh-so-familiar bomber plane approaching her, and she looked up to find an Abyssal Dive Bomber performing a bombing run and targeting either her or Shigure.
In a break from her polite persona, she cussed mentally upon facing her repressed fear of bomber planes or any aerial threats after the Bombing of Kure, thinking,
'Why, oh why, did it have to be bomber planes?
Motherf-'
Before she abruptly ended that train of thought and caught the back of Shigure's collar, scanning their surroundings for a safe area of undisturbed ocean before using her battleship strength to toss her out of the projected radius of the explosion, jamming her left boat slipper into the ocean in order to come to a stop as the payload dropped from the sky like a bird's dropping falling from the heavens in order to devastate whoever was beneath it.
Her rigging shielded her from the brunt of the explosion, hunching and bringing her shoulders in to keep the combat rations on her vest dry as she pushed off of her left feet in order to propel herself backwards, feeling the drops of water become pseudo-bullets as they scattered and hit her at velocities which could injure a human.
The volume of the explosion was also nothing to sneeze at, understanding that a human who took her place on the battlefield would either be killed ten times over, or be deafened and injured by the shock-wave of the blast as she wiped the seawater from her sleeves, readying her cannons as she looked around for Shigure.
Sure enough, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer looked like a drowning cat despite appearing rather thankful for Haruna preventing her from sustaining potentially lethal damage, and they regrouped while the others had gone on ahead as Haruna felt the need to apologize, but Shigure must've seen her remorseful expression as she idly waved off her concerns and casually stole Haruna's line.
"I… I'm alright.
Shigure is alright.
Please… continue."
Haruna nodded grimly as she turned back to the battle at hand, watching Sendai fling a torpedo into the Ho-Class's helmet as though it were an explosive kunai and ducking as the armed torpedo detonated at point-blank range, engulfing the Abyssal's body with a roaring whoosh of fuel-fueled fire as it burst into flames from the top down.
Fat drops of blazing oil erupted and poured down its neck and non-existent head alongside blood and other unidentified liquids as its arms scrambled in its death throes, refusing to die as it clung to its last vestiges of life before collapsing onto the ocean like a puppet which had its strings cut.
Haruna fired at a Ri-Class cruiser in order to distract it from Kagerou and Shiranui, who were peppering the increasingly annoyed Abyssal with their paltry handheld 12 Cm Single Gun Cannons, allowing a nearby Jintsuu to perform a drive-by shooting by dumping her torpedoes into the water and sailing off while looking away from the explosion which swallowed the Ri-Class whole and gave the two Kagerou-Class destroyers some breathing room.
Haruna could only hear Kuroshio shouting,
"Hell yeah!
Cool ship girls don't look back at ex-"
Before Haruna was distracted by a shell whizzing past her head, inferring that Kuroshio meant to finish the sentence with 'explosions'.
Right then, she felt an ominous shudder shake her entire world as a sharp pang of pain radiated from the back of her skull, throwing her head forward as her mind buzzed and tingled from what she assumed was a shell hitting her in the back of the head.
It was likely a destroyer's shell, since a cruiser's shell was capable of sending her into a mild coma while a battleship's shell, well…
If not for the fact that she was a fast battleship, Haruna was sadly confident that whoever took her place might be sent back to the base in a body bag.
'If that's the case, better me than them.'
Haruna thought grimly as she attempted to balance herself by holding out her arms, and she vigorously shook her head in order to clear the massive headache which was plaguing her mind after being shot in the bloody head.
God, all these combat rations, and not a single aspirin pill?
She could feel a hand grabbing her arm, and Haruna could hear a light cruiser, judging by the tone of the voice, shout into her ear as she was led away.
"Come on!
You need to retreat to a safe area, you're currently not in your right mind to fight this battle!"
Another ship girl pushed against her rigging as she heard and felt another dropped payload detonate about ten meters to her left, flinching as she activated her boat slippers to sail away while her mind cleared enough to see a wobbly sight of Naka pulling her away from the heat of the action.
But she gently pried Naka's fingers from her arm as she cleared her mind with a shake of the head, looking down as she attempted to tune out the ringing noise which still plagued her mind and the slight double vision of the Sendai-Class light cruiser as she responded darkly.
"Haruna… is alright.
Turn me back, we can finish this fight."
Kagerou sailed up behind her, having done her best to push Haruna out of the line of fire despite her status as a destroyer, and it was commendable of her to attempt it despite its futility as the name-ship commented on her injuries.
"You sure about that?
You got shot in the head, and even though it was a destroyer's shell…"
Ah, so that's what it was, an Abyssal destroyer sneaking up from the ocean and shooting her in the back of the head.
Sure, the skin armor on the back of her head wasn't exactly the toughest, but that weakness was compensated by the reinforcement of their steel skull in order to protect their head and brains as previously demonstrated, Haruna reaching up to check the severity of the wound.
A chill was sent down her spine as another wave of pain radiated from the epicenter of the affected area, and she winced in pain while Naka and Kagerou mirrored her expression, Haruna bringing her hand forward to see a sizable stain of crimson fluids smeared on her palm along with some strands of hair stuck to the viscous blood.
Wiping it on her large miko sleeve, her mind came into focus thanks to the rush of adrenaline in her body, looking down at the duo with an intense stare which bore into their concerned eyes as she kept her combat-ready expression as neutral as possible while she remarked.
"I. Am. Alright.
We need to back everyone up, and I suggest that you two cover your ears for this next part."
They did as they were told, and Haruna fired as soon as her mental firing module locked onto and calculated a 65.2% of hitting a meandering destroyer who was lurking on the ocean surface, the sheer proximity to the discharge of a large-caliber cannon almost blowing Kagerou her off her feet.
The shell flew true as it didn't even slow down while it punched straight through the I-Class Abyssal, the fish-like destroyer being forced into the ocean by the momentum of the shell before being eviscerated by a glorious explosion from within.
Haruna's skin tingled while another shiver ran throughout her entire body from the excitement of scoring such a devastating direct hit, looking down at the two members of the Combined Fleet as she reassured them.
"As you can see, I'm still combat-ready.
Now, shall we?"
They both nodded, still looking a little shaken by the reverberating shock wave which no doubt shook their bodies and souls to the very core, Haruna taking the lead with her cannons blazing while Kagerou and Naka took up the flank and fired their torpedoes at whomever they could target.
She sailed straight for the Wo-Class carrier, since she knew that Chitose and Saratoga could shut down any other Abyssals if not for the ever-present threat of the Wo-Class's Abyssal Fighters, and she aimed her cannons at the Wo-Class as the Abyssal stood at a distance and away from the main battle, her aiming reticles lining up slowly on her figure.
The Wo-Class eventually noticed her approach and evaded in order to throw off her aim, since the direction where the slow-as-molasses cannons were pointing at were a good indicator of where their shells were going to fly, and unlike small and medium-caliber cannons, Haruna couldn't manually aim her cannons and had to depend on her rigging to do the job.
Their aiming reticles were unlike those of other ship classes, and were most similar to those on grenade launchers in First-Person Shooter games, where the cross-hairs pointed to the North, East and West as per usual.
But to the South of the reticle were several lines of diminishing length in order to allow the Fairies and ship girl to gauge the distance to target, take into account shell velocity and the projected bullet drop in order to estimate the odds of hitting a target after locking onto them.
It would almost be impossible for the chances of hitting the target to be 100% (save for a point blank attack) since factors like the instability of the shifting battlefield that was the ocean, wind velocity and the evasive capabilities of every Abyssal would affect the chances of a hit or miss.
She chanced it with a 26.3% chance of hitting the target, her cannons resounding throughout the battlefield as the shell barreled on and hit the ocean as the Wo-Class twisted out of the way and safely evaded the shot.
But while Haruna was disappointed at the outcome, she saw her chance to press the attack as the Wo-Class was thrown onto the ocean surface by the rough waves caused by her shells hitting the water, and she sailed forth with her game-face on and showing no intent to hold back.
Now, ship girls and Abyssals alike were seasoned fighters, and Haruna knew that in training, part of the 'curriculum' was to condition the fear out of each and every one of them as it would cause them to freeze up on the battlefield instead of doing something to save their skin.
But there was nothing quite like seeing a battleship, even if it was a Kongou-Class battleship, charging you with all her cannons reloading and ready to fire again, while knowing that your pathetic cannons weren't going to even dent her armor…
She banked on the fact that the Wo-Class would freeze up and not move, and her expectations were subverted yet again as the lying Wo-Class scrambled back from the advancing battleship, and eventually got to her feet as Haruna got within about two meters from the retreating carrier, and saw something blur from the peripheral of her vision.
Catching it in time with her left hand to discover that it was the Wo-Class's conducting cane used as an improvised weapon, she ducked just as the Wo-Class resorted to Plan B and fired her pod cannons, barely missing her cheek by a millimeter as it tickled her skin and threw up her hair.
Unleashing a bestial growl through clenched teeth, Haruna lifted her right hand and sliced down at the conducting cane, shattering it in two with her formidable battleship strength focused onto the blade that was her right hand just as the Wo-Class tried everything from hair-pulling to kicking at her legs in order to bring her down.
Dropping the remnants of the conducting cane into the ocean, she dealt a harsh left hook to the Wo-Class with her freed-up left hand and caused the Wo-Class to fly back and release Haruna's hair, Haruna having felt the resounding crack of something, likely the Abyssal's jaw, either fracturing or dislocating, neither of which was a pleasant experience.
She leapt forward in order to deliver a vicious flying knee to the downed-but-not-dead Wo-Class in the face, further driving the Wo-Class back as she slammed her kneecap into the nose of the injured Wo-Class with the speed and strength of a fast battleship, being rewarded with an ominous crack of a shattered nose as she was notified that her cannons were reloaded.
Angling her body downwards in order to allow her cannons to point at the downed Abyssal, she stared into the eyes of the Wo-Class, seeing that the stoic Abyssal was expressing the most amount of emotion she could muster in the face of death, taking in everything from the blood which seeped out of her nose due to her flying knee strike to the saliva dripping from her fractured jaw due to her left hook.
All of that was gone the instant she fired at the Wo-Class at point-blank range, knowing that such a devastating cannon salvo at such a close range would be akin to a magic trick, wherein the dissipating smoke would reveal the disappearance of the Abyssal in question.
Yep.
The Abyssal was devastated by eight large-caliber shells at point-blank range and was set aflame by the holes which were torn into her body as she was missing her shoulders, left hip and leg, her head and right breast.
Haruna could have watched the smoldering wreck sink back into the ocean depths, but she had already turned away in order to face the remaining Abyssals.
One Ri-Class and a Ho-Class light cruiser was left, and Jintsuu was dealing with the latter as she fired her handheld 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon into the Ho-Class's helmet, grazing and cracking the helmet in order to allow Naka to do the same.
The aspiring idol had more success in that regard, because the cracks caused by Jintsuu's shell allowed Naka's shell to pierce the armored helmet and caused the Abyssal's head to fall apart as her shell forced shards of the shattered helmet into its skull, guaranteeing death as blood, cerebrospinal fluid and brain matter was scattered everywhere like a popped water balloon unleashing its disemboweled contents everywhere.
Saratoga skidded on the ocean as she performed a sliding tackle in order to trip up the lone Ri-Class, allowing Chitose's Type 99 Dive Bomber to streak down and drop its payload on the prone Abyssal the instant Saratoga scrambled out of range, pulling up at the last second as its engine whirred from the exertion while a fireball enveloped the doomed Ri-Class.
Haruna could see the Japanese rising sun imprinted on the Type 99's silver hull and wings, barely noting the 'EII-206' imprinted on its vertical stabilizer in a red font, and the '報國-52' on the aft of its hull with her eyes' powerful zoom function before it flew out of sight.
The Ri-Class barely survived the Type 99's bombardment as it emerged from the smoke, roasted flesh slipping off of steel bones as her eyes were dulled from the searing heat, fire consuming the glowing Abyssal from within as fuel reserves went up in flames and repair systems failed.
Second and third-degree burns plagued her body from head to toe, and her arms were nothing more than bloody stumps after Haruna assumed that her arm cannons blew up from the explosion igniting the gunpowder stored within them, causing one hell of an explosion which took off her arms and left them as bleeding stumps which blood and flaming fuel free-flowed out of.
And after three seconds of stumbling around blindly (likely literally), she exhaled her last breath of smoke before her eyes rolled up as she expired and collapsed onto the ocean, and Haruna sighed in relief after they had defeated all the Abyssals near Mikura Jima Island.
Looking at the sinking Abyssals around them, she heard Sendai remark on hard-earned victory at the expense of losing the element of surprise and stealth.
"Well, looks like we've made a mess of ourselves here.
If they didn't know we were here before, they certainly do now.
I suppose we should start sailing away from here and start re-routing our course from here on out, hmm?"
Haruna nodded as she patted her combat ration vest down, understanding that she had to keep these rations safe in order to feed her teammates, and they still had a long way to go before allowing the Infiltration Fleet to land on Aogashima Island without the Abyssals hounding them.
After that, she had to fend off Abyssal attacks until reinforcements arrived, whereupon they would turn the tables on the Abyssals by regrouping with the Infiltration Fleet when they were done and make a break for Yokosuka before tomorrow night.
No pressure.