"Natori-san! can you see the rest of the fleet!?"
"No, but I can see several abyssals!"
"Die demons!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
"AH!"
"Sister!"
"Fuyo-san! Yuzuki-san! Sanae-san needs help!"
"On it!"
"I'm coming sister!"
"Karukaya-san! Ayanami-san! Intercept those abyssal destroyers off our port side!"
"But my sister!"
"Come on Karukaya-san! If we don't sink those destroyers they'll tear us apart with torpedoes!"
"B-But..."
"Karukaya-san! You can help your sister by sinking these destroyers!"
"Alright! Lead the way!"
"These abyssals shall taste my blade!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Ayanami raced toward the abyssals while Karukaya stayed back and provided support with her guns. Ayanami sliced one abyssal in half and cut another one's arm off. Karukaya finished it off with multiple salvos of high explosive shells. She turned her guns on the next target when she saw a glimpse of movement. She turned and saw a blade coming straight for her. She jumped away to avoid it but it cut deep into her mid-section. It came at her again and she ducked to avoid it but was kicked hard in the head which staggered her.
CLASH!
Ayanami managed to deflect the next attack and drove the abyssal back ever so slightly.
"Karukaya-san, are you alright."
"I'm fine don't worry.
"Alright. Sink those other two abyssals I'll deal with this."
"Alright, be careful," the sound of her guns is swallowed up by the roar of thunder and the crack of lightning.
"Hm, maybe you'll actually be worth my time."
Ayanami shot forward leaving a rooster tail in her wake.
"This is... not good."
Natori hissed as another salvo of high explosive shells slammed into her. She fired back at the offending destroyer and destroyed one of its guns. The fire spread to its magazine and the explosion was swallowed up by the sound of thunder. She has been unable to contact Ise, Kaga, or Hiryu despite her best attempts. To make matters worse her radar is disabled so if more abyssals are on the way she wouldn't know until they are right on top of her.
"Ise-san do you copy!? What is your location!?"
"-an-Natori-copy-"
"Ise-san what is your location!?"
"-ah-r-me-ver-"
"Son of a bitch!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Sanae had fallen back behind her. Fuyo and Yuzuki had activated their smoke generators to try and cover their retreat but the wind suddenly kicked up and blew it away.
"Fuyo-san! Keep up!"
"I'm trying!"
"LOOK OUT!"
An abyssal leapt out of the fog, and sliced open Fuyo's neck before she had a chance to react. She held her throat and fell into the ocean. She started to sink shortly after.
"YOU FUCKER!"
"Yuzuki-san! Get back! Get back!"
"RAGH!"
She rushed the abyssal with reckless abandon. It backed away from her wild swings and lashed out with its blade. Yuzuki recoiled back and held the bloody stump that was her hand. She glared at the abyssal with rage-filled eyes and charged again.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
It blocked the shells fired at it and leapt away. Yuzuki followed the trajectory of the shells and her eyes landed on Sanae.
"Yuzuki-san! We're falling back!"
"NO! I'm killing that bitch!"
"You'll be killed!"
"It killed your sister! Do you not want revenge!?"
"Don't you dare! She wouldn't want me to throw my life away and she wouldn't want you to throw yours away either!"
"RAGH!" Yuzuki launched a spread of six torpedoes and fell back. She aimed them at that abyssal and it easily avoided them but an abyssal behind it is hit and it quickly sinks. Sanae launched a spread of torpedoes and fell back with Natori.
"Karukaya-san! We're falling back!"
"Understood! I'll- AHH!"
"Karukaya-san!"
"I'm okay. That was way too close. Ayanami-san we're falling back!"
CLASH!
"Understood!"
"Aww. Running already?"
CLASH!
"Is my sister okay?"
"Sanae-san is fine. Fuyo-san is... she was killed."
"...What," Karukaya squeaked out.
"An abyssal ambushed her. We couldn't do anything... I'm sorry."
"Onee-chan, no."
"Karukaya-san we have to go."
"I-I know b-but..."
"Awwww, isn't this just... pathetic."
Ayanami spun around and deflected the abyssal's blade. She forced it back and glared at it, her eyes full of disgust.
"Karukaya-san, fall back with Natori-san."
"But, what about you?"
"I'll be fine. Trust me."
"O-okay." She turned around and raced to join up with Natori, Sanae, and Yuzuki.
"Hahaha, that's adorable. You're going to die here you know. And I'll make sure to tell her every bloody detail about your death."
Ayanami spun her blade, "You talk too much." She rushed forward and their blades collided sending sparks flying. For thirty seconds they pressed each other trying to break the other's defense. Their blades are sliver and black blurs with how fast they are attacking. They lock blades and stare into each other's eyes. Ayanami breaks the lock and the abyssal parries her attack. She follows that up with her own attack that Ayanami parries. She brings her blade down on the abyssal's neck only for it to block the attack and their blades lock once again.
The abyssal breaks the lock and jumps away. Ayanami is about to attack but she snaps her blade around and deflects shells fired at her back toward the destroyer that fired them. She turns to her opponent and readies herself.
"Heh, you're actually worth my time. Unfortunately, I can't play with you any longer." It leaps back into the fog quickly followed by the remaining abyssals. Ayanami sheaths her blade and enters the fog.
Natori, Karukaya, Sanae, and Yuzuki have escaped the storm, unfortunately, the situation outside the storm is dire. The abyssals outnumber taskforce 52 two to one maybe even three to one. They're stunned at the abyssal force as before the storm they had been evenly matched.
"Ise-san, do you copy!?"
"Natori-san, it's good to hear from you. What's your status?"
"We're still combat-capable. We're behind the abyssal force and are going to launch a flanking attack."
"Understood."
"...Ise-san..."
"What is it?"
"...Fuyo-san is dead."
"...Understood... Once this battle is over, we will honor her and Aoi-san."
Ise cut the transmission and Natori closed her eyes silently offering a pray to Fuyo-san and Aoi-san. Karukaya, Sanae, and Yuzuki did so as well.
"...Let's go."
...
...
A squadron of Zeros fly overhead dodging flack fire from both sides as they move to intercept incoming torpedo bombers. Their escorts intercept the squadron but a second squadron manages to sneak past. They attack the enemy formation from the front and shoot down five bombers. They come back around for another attack run but are forced to break off when abyssal fighters dive on them.
The squadron continues on and soon comes under long-range fire from taskforce fifty-two. They dive to the deck and line up on their targets. The 25 mm guns open fire and 13 mm machineguns follow soon after filling the sky with tracers. Three torpedo bombers target Furutaka but Shikinami puts herself in their line of attack. One slams into her bridge and a second one crashes into her port side starting a fire that is fueled by aviation fuel. One of the torpedos detonates but since it was an air-dropped torpedo it doesn't cause severe damage. The third bomber is shot down by Furutaka's AA guns.
"Shikinami-san, are you alright!?"
"It burns! Make it stop, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
"AH!"
Furutaka sighted the offending light cruiser and fired. Her shells tore through the lightly armored cruiser and caused heavy damage. Despite this, it kept its focus on Shikinami and crippled her in a short amount of time. Multiple fires rage across her hull, her fire-control directors are destroyed, and her engines are damaged crippling her speed. She could still fight back though and fired a spread of torpedos toward the cruiser. This forced the abyssal to turn away which put it in the path of Furutaka's torpedos. All of them found their mark and the cruiser sank in a few minutes. Shikinami activated her smoke generator and slowly fell back while Furutaka and Tenryu warded off any abyssal trying to finish her off.
The remaining six torpedo bombers targeted Ise and just like Shikinami had done Murakumo put herself between the bombers and Ise. Two of the bombers dropped their torpedoes early which she avoided and her AA guns shot one down. Ise's AA guns shot down a second but the remaining two dropped their torpedoes. Ise avoided both of them and managed to shoot down one of the retreating bombers.
"Fuso-san, how is your engagement going?"
"They abyssals have reinforced but we're holding. Unfortunately, I can't provide any support until they are dealt with. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Sink those abyssals first."
"They will be at the bottom in ten minutes, out."
Ise smiled, "I know."
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
"Contacts at our six!"
Ise turned around and trained her guns on two very smug-looking abyssals. One was a battleship while the other was a destroyer and their glowing eyes and rigging give away the fact that they are demons. They're uninterested in the battle raging in front of them but the battleship looking at Ise with contempt.
"So, you're the one who defeated B-13. Honestly, I expected more."
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Twelve 35cm armor-piercing shells slammed into the abyssal. When the smoke cleared it was unharmed and looked a bit annoyed.
"...Well, that was rude."
Ise narrowed her eyes, "I hoped that would sink you."
"And why would you want to sink me? I haven't done anything threatening to you. I just want to have a nice, civil conversation."
"Forgive me for not trusting an abyssal. Most of you shoot first and never talk."
"Hmm. Alright, I will give you that."
SLASH!
"AH! You little bitch!"
Claws grew from the abyssal's hand as it spun around and slashed at Ayanami. She jumped away but was put on the defensive by its rapid and ferocious attacks. The other abyssal looked over her shoulder.
"Hmm, it seems you're more capable than I thought."
Ise unsheathed her katana and aimed for the abyssal's neck. To her shock, it caught it without looking. It turned to look at her and she wrenched the blade out of its hand. She leapt backward and avoided a swing by its razor-sharp claws. Its claws retracted and it pulled a katana seemingly from its body.
"This is going to be, fun."
...
...
Natori, Karukaya, Sanae, and Yuzuki are sneaking up behind the abyssal fleet. Since their torpedos would be chasing the fleet they had to get much closer then they liked. If they are spotted they would be sunk within minutes, however, with the abyssals focused on taskforce fifty-two and Kaga and Hiryu engaging the abyssal fighters they have stayed undetected.
They fire a wide spread of torpedoes aiming to maximize the chance of a hit. Natori watches the wake trails of the torpedos as they slowly got closer. Every second that ticked by felt like hours and it seemed as though the torpedos are never getting closer. Slowly they closed in and the abyssals are none the wiser. The first abyssal to be hit is a heavy cruiser type. Two torpedos impact its starboard side and it immediately begins to list. A few seconds later three torpedoes impact a battleship and it turns hard to port in response. A second battleship is hit twice while a light cruiser is hit three times and it quickly sinks.
By this point, the abyssals have realized the threat to their rear and start taking evasive action. Two more cruisers and a battleship are hit along with an unfortunate destroyer that sinks almost instantly. Their attack not only sunk and damaged multiple abyssals it also broke up their formation which gave taskforce fifty-two a chance to launch further torpedo attacks. With their attack complete Natori, Karukaya, Sanae, and Yuzuki fell back.
...
...
Ise locked blades with the abyssal demon once again. It has been on the defensive ever since their duel began but it had purposely been on defensive and Ise has yet to break through its defense. It also has a look of disinterest on its face, like it's not paying attention to the duel. Multiple times Ise had seen it look past her at the battle behind her. Despite its attention being split for a few seconds it still blocks her attacks with ease and its insulting. This abyssal should be focusing on her! She is the threat, not the battle going on behind her!
A low growl escaped her throat and her eyes started to burn. Suddenly, the abyssal demon is focusing on her and it seems intrigued.
"Now that is interesting." It adopted a stance and went on the offensive for the first time. Ise went on the defensive parring the abyssal's attacks. Each time their blades collided sparks formed at the point of contact. Ise parried two quick attacks and the abyssal's blade was off slightly giving her a small window to attack. With a series of quick attacks she put the abyssal on the defensive, at least for the moment. It parried attack after attack and Ise put more force behind each one trying to crack its defense. It parried her next attack and counter-attacked forcing Ise on the defensive.
Ise parried its attacks in such a way that the least amount of energy was transferred to her katana which would intern transfer it to her arms. This went on for sixty seconds with Ise looking for an opening to go on the offensive but the abyssal wouldn't give her one so she launched a counter-attack as the abyssal brought its blade around. Their blades locked and they tried to overpower each other. Ise slowly let the abyssal overpower her and them she quickly broke the lock putting the abyssal off balance. Her blade lashed out and left a deep wound on its citadel. It dodged her next attack and counter-attacked leaving an equally deep wound on her port side.
They attacked again within seconds dodging and parring each other's attacks as they tried to gain an advantage over each other. Their blades are but streaks of silver and black to the naked eye. Suddenly, the abyssal breaks away. Instead of going on the offensive, Ise adopts a defensive stance. There is something different about the abyssal's posture but Ise can't figure out what it is. It pulls the handle of its katana and one blade becomes two thinner blades. Ise's grip on her katana tightens.
"Let's see just how good you are."
It through one of its blades at Ise and she blocked it. She was going to attack but the abyssal had disappeared. She spared a glance as the battle behind her. Taskforce fifty-five and taskforce Lighting are assisting her taskforce in the destruction of the abyssal fleet. Her radar wasn't picking up any hostile air contacts so Kaga and Hiryu have air superiority and from the number of dive and torpedo bombers flying overhead, they're going after the abyssal carriers next.
Ise scanned the ocean but she couldn't find where the abyssal demon had gone. It couldn't be hiding anywhere the storm clouds are three kilometers behind her and if it was heading for Miyako-jima she would have spotted it long before it got there. The clashing of blades drew her attention to Ayanami. She's holding her own against the other demon but she has pretty severe damage. The abyssal has taken damage as well but Ayanami is differently in worse condition. Ise wants to help her but without knowing the location of her opponent she would put herself in great risk, but with her opponent hiding she has to draw it out somehow and helping Ayanami looks to be the best way to do so.
Keeping a close watch on her radar she fires.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
The destroyer breaks off its attack on Ayanami and slices her shells in half causing them to explode. This blinds it for a second and Ayanami attacks putting the abyssal on the defensive. Despite Ise directing her attention elsewhere, her opponent doesn't show its self. She prepares to fire again when her radar picks up a target directly behind her. She spins around ready to defend but there's only the open ocean. Again her radar picks up a contact and this time Ise hears a blade being drawn. She turns and blocks but a second blade is going for her neck. She spins her katana and parries it then jumps out of their reach but they're on her again in seconds. She parries one attack and dodges another but that's all she can do. With two blades Ise is constantly on the defensive and the abyssal's attacks seem to get faster and faster.
Her defense started to crack so Ise decided to go on the offensive. Instead of parring the next attack she met it head-on and knocked the blade away. She tried to roundhouse kick the abyssal but it leaned back and avoided it. She came around with her katana and left a deep cut on the abyssal's face from its eye down to its mouth. She cut its throat open and then aimed to decapitate it but it leapt away. It rubbed its throat and the wound healed quickly followed by the one on its face.
The blades dissolved and its hands transformed into razor-sharp claws. It charged Ise. She didn't bother parring its attacks she just focused on staying out of its reach. It stepped forward and Ise dodged its attack but it was too close for her to dodge the next attack. It slashed her stomach leaving three deep gashes. Ise gripped her stomach and her hand is immediately covered in blood and oil. On its next attack Ise countered and cut its forearm off. She rolled away from the next attack and slashed at its other arm hoping to cut it off as well.
She turned and blocked an attack from its newly regrown hand. It grabbed her katana and pulled and pain exploded in Ise's right arm. She let go and kicked the abyssal hard in the flank. She jumped backward and water exploded upward from where its clawed hand had slammed down. Ise rolled under a charging slash and picked up her katana. She spun around to attack, but the abyssal was gone.
She stayed on her guard but after sixty seconds she slowly relaxed. She sheathed her katana and starched her right arm which caused the pain to flare up again.
"Your opponent disappear as well Ise?"
"...Y-Yeah." She turned toward Ayanami and saw her eyes go wide. "Don't worry-"
"Don't worry?! That thing cut your stomach open!"
"It tried to cut my stomach open." Ise hissed and tightened her grip on her stomach.
"Ise-"
"I'm fine. I'm not in danger of sinking and my crew is repairing the damage as we speak." Tring to repair the damage.
Ayanami looked like she was going to argue but stopped, "...Alright."
"Kaga-san, Hiryu-san, have you spotted the abyssal fleet?"
"They are off the coast of Miyako-jima."
"No, they're not. They just... disappeared."
Ise and Ayanami turned and there was no sign of the abyssal fleet. Even the storm clouds had disappeared.
"Kaga-san, Hiryu-san recall your attack wings. Send out scouts to search for the abyssal force. Report back anything your pilots find."
"Understood."
"Kirishima-san, Fuso-san reform the defensive formation around the west and south-west side of Miyako-jima. Send any ship girls with heavy damage to the rear of the formation."
"Understood."
"Loud and clear Ise-san!"
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to rejoin my taskforce."
"WHAT!?"
"They need their leader Ayanami-san."
"Ise-san, you are in no condition to fight! Furutaka-san can lead the task force!"
"I'm not in danger of sinking, I can still fight," Ise said ignoring the complaints from her damage control parties and the pain that spiked through her body.
"...Fine, but I'm staying with you."