Ugh, I've been grinding as of lately. plus this chapter didn't even touch upon Iris given the time constraints. Still. I did forget about a few of Louise's traits. They are as such. I also don't have a proofreader. so minor errors are bound to crop up from time to time.
I am considering a Discord later!
Ace shipgirl:Having seen combat numerous times and having had the achievement of going up against the Royal maids and some of Azur lane's best. Louise can hold her own against even the best Azur lane has to offer. This trait is shared by Iris.
Radicalizes:If i/Little enterprise hangs around her for too long. Louise will cause my views to become more extremist. This effect can be stopped if Louise stops being vengeful or if i know when to consider what she says to me.
An destroyer sat in the water. looking upwards at the sky as she pondered her reason why she had to suffer in agony of having nothing to do while on standby duty, She watched the clouds roll and move overhead. enjoying the breeze against her hair as she wondered if she was going to get better training quality or receive a overhaul for her hull equipment. To another park trail. A bunch of battleships and a young-looking light carrier were chatting among theirselves as a group. making jokes and laughing at the debacle happening in America as they made fun of America's infrastructure and most expensive yet privatized ineffective healthcare and the fear of socialism yet proceeding to bleat for right-wing welfare in the form of pork jobs.
This scene took place in just one of the many roads that made up the Homeland as the air turned warm and the seasons started to grace the smokestacks of everyone, A blonde-haired girl and a young-looking child that could pass for a grade schooler. The blonde was wearing casual clothes with a white sweater and plain white boy's shorts as next to her side. the white-haired child followed her pace. She had a very short red jacket with light-pink, almost white outlines as her hair was tied by twin red ribbons forming a nearly scissor shape. There was a blue gem on her light-pink sleeves with red lines at the center and the bottom. A blue gem on her chest secured by medal-like yellow ribbons in a X shape. while her hands were protected by what looked like gloves that were in reality armored gauntlets.
While they drew attention from time to time, usually the gazes went away as the onlookers figured what they were looking at and went back to their business. Some however kept watching. curious at how the Grey ghost might interact with a rather well-known girl that had once managed to kill a dangerous and high-threat shipgirl at one point. thereby confirming her ace skills and fortitude.
'It might better for her to get used to both my transformed and normal forms.' Being someone who usually was left alone to her own devices unless interacting with Iris or my superiors. I usually spent all my time alone in my room, but that had began changing with my recent behavior shift to hanging around where Yumako and Enko tended to be. and the presence of... Louise had only sped this up. I kept my eyes ahead as we walked in silence. both of us trying to think up of something to say to each other.
"So um." I began shyly and with a fair bit of a stoic tone. "How-...I mean, Do you know Iris at all? did you have anything like... were you in the same flotillas or did you know each other? I'm curious to know!" The blonde's uncertain look turned into a unexpected one. Did they both know each other at all? Odd...
"Oh. well. eh..." She stuttered before retorting. "We used to be in the same fleet, but we were not very close at all if that's what you wanted to know." Of course. Louise was paired up with Soma peries sometimes. but other girls? Rarely.
"So. what brings you here?" Lou asked me. I could tell her that i wanted to specifically find her. but I was worried that might set off the moody part of her personality. We reached a fountain. the shadows of crude oil pumps and other vital infrastructure needed for fighting capability visible in the distance. along with what i thought might be flocks of livestock. There was no coal or oil powerplant around to ruin the air to say the least.
"Well... They considered me super-important since i am the only one of my kind and i was the girl who had her superpowers talked very much after her turning. with lots of speculations." I kept my blank look as we circled the fountain once on this nice weather. "I was the girl with black-boxed technology and who. in her own words. 'fight with everything you have and seize victory'? Only to later turn out to have been actively disobedient and refusing to cooperate?" Her face became perplexed but she quickly put it back under her respectful attitude. I guess when you've spending most of your energy thinking about vengenace or how to be better it does something. Louise carefully took my hand before taking me on a walk into the more commercial-looking areas. even if you can't technically trade with the world.
"I see..." Louise seemed a bit surprised by how far my dissatisfaction had been. She tried to change the topic and i could tell she wanted to talk about something else. "So how's Iris doing?" Sounds like they didn't talk to each other very often at all. and if she was Season 1 Louise in the past. I could see why Iris might have decided to distance herself after she became moody and prone to violent or psychotic outbursts.
"Iris?" I replied. Louise silently patted my head. garnering a noise from me as she looked concerned with what was on her mind. My sixth sense wasn't giving me much about what she thought right now.
"You know. the girl you talk often with and who you seem to be taking a bond to." Making an odd look at the 'bond' word. I gave her the answer that she wanted as I looked around. again trying to memorize what architecture they were using for building designs.
"Oh. you mean that Iris?" The blonde nodded as we came to a stop near a tree and I held on to her out of laziness. "Yes." It sounded like both of them had wanted to stay close. but after her head and arm injury plus being ravaged by a unknown shipgirl and having her hull turned into cheese she might not have just had the motivation especially when she was recovering.
"We met when i was just getting myself checked into official documents." I tried to recount how I befriended Iris. "I took a liking to her, we discussed ballistics...something and... Cold war technology and did a bit of roleplaying and... We've been close ever since." Her eyes widened as she made the realization. "Really?" I nodded back to her reply. I decided to go on.
"Yeah. She had her distinctive headphones and jacket on at the time. and we took a shared interest in PGMs and the history of the race between armor and artillery." I smirked. "Funny how a combination of bad AAA defense and a emphasis on airpower led to the idea that airpower had replaced guns... until they met their match in the form of a gradual but steadily evolving gun-missile systems and Fleet Defense air interceptors. And high-powered electronics able to ignore jamming." That made Louise's face turn into an puzzled look before she got it. We sat down on nearby tables with a table for playing Gomoku or chess really.
Louise turned her head toward the residential buildings. looking longingly at them before at the sky. "I see. so Iris's still okay after the last time we spoke." She smiled down at the ground gently. "I think about what she's doing even after we completed our frontline assignments." It was very strange to hear Homura's voice back when the series didn't even exist. Seeing that my Wolkenritter and Tome of the night sky companions were all idling or either sleeping. i decided to press her on the Iris issue.
"You should try and call her. She might be waiting for that." I threw a guess at what was going though her mind right now. "Iris would want you to."
Louise sighed and smiled sadly again. "I don't think i'm ready yet. I am afraid, but... yes. As soon as I have the time and i can gather my thoughts about her I do it." She looked up to eye-level as I was sitting there with a bored and restless look. "Also. Thanks for answering my question."
I nodded. but noticed some... hold on, were these remnants of wounds? I noticed these on her arm and I arched a eye. Louise looked a bit confused to what had got my attention. "Y-your arm. from the battle report about your incident..." This caught her offguard as she assured a more upright pose with a more solemn and respectful look.
"Oh?" Her tone turned defensive and shy. "W-well. I still remember the battle. but maybe you know that already from asking your superiors?" I began to stutter as I didn't want to press her moody buttons right now. The distant sounds of fighter engines could be heard in the distance.
"I...Euh..." I looked away. feeling naked all of a sudden. "I-I'm sorry. I asked something about your history i shouldn't have..." The blonde shook her head and tried to reassure me by patting me on the head to which i grunted. Given the fact i was just a child that response from her shouldn't be surprising.
"It's all right." she nodded. gently running her head though my hair. "Don't worry about it. Say. What about your sisters? Did you like them or... did you hate them?" My eyes widened as I looked at her with a slight amount of shock. Of course she would know that Enterprise was part of the Yorktown class!
"W-Wha?" That got Louise to grin slightly before withdrawing her hand as I pouted. i untangled my long white hair as I played around with a piece that someone had left there. "W-Well. I never loved Yorktown-chan or Hornet that much but...but... at the same time I-i didn't want to leave them. They were sisters and yet... They would have outted me if i wanted to influence them to switch sides."
She looked sullen at the new information about myself I had revealed. and her tone took on a consulting tone. "Do you still think about them?" With a sentimental look on my face. I decided to hit her with another question instead. "...And do you still think of me as a enemy or hate me for what my... sisters did to you from my guess?"
The blonde Homura voice-actor girl shook her head and comforted me again by rubbing my head. "I-It's not like that! You shouldn't blame yourself for what your sisters did to me. We've fellow teammates now. right?" I nodded. "You couldn't have stopped them and at the time... I was just another enemy to you. and we didn't even know of each other at the time, so don't feel sad about something that happened a very long time ago. Okay?" I trembled. still wondering if Louise Halevy would ever get a break in parallel worlds.
"H-hey..." she started petting me tentatively. "All right. I forgive you. Come on... Enterprise, when we meet later. you can play some games at my room. okay?" I made a noise of assent. no longer sentimental but still quiet and a bit down. It was like this way for what must have been a minute as the Enterprise portion of me began to stir with its unpleasant memories of the Pacific war and losing Yorktown and Hornet again and again-First from bombs and airborne torpedoes, In my current situation? Having no choice but to leave them behind.
'Did you ever feel this way when Sayaka died?' My inner conscious accused me. 'How about Mami. or Madoka and Precia testarossa along Alicia? What about your cousins and relatives. who you so much dislike and disagree with your cousin for having a material baby even though at the time you wouldn't have known about the Mineral baby or the Haber-bosch process that led to the unnatural carrying capacity you are seeing? And how you once told yourself that if something ever happened to their kid and you were the only one with a residence permit. you were going to just leave them behind to avoid the consumption-per-capita dilemma?'
'How about your idea of just dropping the candy-shell facade for that cousin's kid. even though you once held what must have accounted to incestful feelings as a young boy? How abo-'
'Stop... Just stop!' I told myself as my thoughts were wandering off elsewhere. I tried to do what Louise was trying to get me to do. which was to calm down and try to lift my spirits. Gently I settled into her petting of my head. softly closing my eyes before I opened them to speak up again.
"...I miss Yorktown and Hornet a lot. I still miss them. everyone. I still worry about what they might do." I said quietly. no longer being down, but too out of my spirits to look at her eye-level. Louise relaxed and kept petting me.
"I get it. You had to abandon your sisters. I can only imagine what it does." We sat like this together for a few more minutes before Louise had the presence of mind to reach down and wrap her hand around mine's. I finally looked up at her. still looking sentimental and longing for a time that was gone. Finally. I got myself together and decided to speak up again.
"S-So. how are things between you and Iris-chan?" Letting go of my hand. she returned to her respectful tone and normal pose as we watched the wind blow by. watching nature sway about like a synchronized team of swimmers for a audience of a lone person.
"Well. If you want to really know more about that... She's nice. but she could be a stranger at times." Granted. that had to be in their earlier days. so Iris probably wasn't fully mature!iris at the time.
"Strange... Heh. That's a bit weird. Maybe you two were different back then? You said it was a long time ago." The blonde siren shipgirl in front of me nodded as she went more into the details of what she knew. I heard the laughs of a destroyer in the distance.
"Yes. I was... more spoiled and entitled. Today, though. From what little i see of Iris. she is more kinder and isn't as closed off as she was but... Even back then. she was quite kind and light-hearted." Iris wasn't the onee-san type. that was for sure. Her chest was just that flat and Louise's was on borderline light cruiser territory which was saying something given the amount of fanservice in the game.
"S-so. can we talk about you?" I turned my head to see if i could see any Wildcats or Bf-109s above. before I turned toward her again.
"Sure. why not. It's not everyday I stumble into the famous grey ghost like you. Enterprise." Despite grasping her arm. I could tell she was having some slight doubts. but not overly so. That made me wish that Enko or the other loud ones from earlier were here right now but that might not be a good idea with Louise's personality.
"S-so." I began. looking at her arm again. "What's with that arm of yours?"
"E-Eh." She stammered a bit defensively. "Well. I've told you already. did i? of am i misremembering?" I nodded and kept looking at her arm the entire time. feeling Louise's stare as my purple eyes shined in the sun like the Light of the stars.
"But you never told me much. And the battle report about your incident doesn't give off the same vibe that interviews do... Can you tell me?" I pouted cutely. "Pleeeasseee?~" That made me glare at me. before she sighed. It looks like the injuries to her arm and head still had the same impact her original self.
"Fine." She replied with a cool tone. giving none of the image of a crying recruit who had just saw their NCO be killed by Sensor-fused weapons. but a composed woman as she fiddled with a piece on the table. "So..." She paused. likely searching for my name in a brief moment of forgetfulness before resuming.
"Some of what i can remember is blurry. but i tell you what i know." I put on a straight tone as she began. I needed to keep Louise's side of her story for later. "I was deployed as part of a Surface response force." I nodded and listened. "On that day. we were supposed to be protecting and escorting shipgirls who would raid or either interdict and delay enemy fleets by harassing them. Back then. we were more... naive for lack of a better word and ignorant. Many of my friends were in that fleet. and we had done this many times before." She smiled fondly but went back to a monotone look. "We even had a few shipgirls destroyed when we managed to catch them offguard. But it all changed on that day..."
"What happened on that day?" I asked. Louise looked sullen and down before she continued. this time with a heavy tone.
"On that day... my fleet was surrounded and ambushed by numerous fleets. We were led into a ambush." Her eyes narrowed. "It turned out that the shipgirl we were supposed to escort had been followed by numerous battleships and carriers. And we were the target. I can only think it's because we were such big deals on the frontlines that we became more than just a thorn in their side." I was waiting for her description of when things got bloody. "We were outmatched battleship for every battleship. and there were several carriers with hundreds of bombers and fighters. I can only remember parts of it as explosions and screams of pain. but..." She looked away before putting her hand under her chin as if saddened. "Just as I saw one of our carriers explode. I was struck with pain that I have no way to describe... turns out, There were also the Sakura destroyers as well. and i had been torpedoed by one of them. When I got my bearings together..."
"...How did it go for your fleet mates?" I quietly looked. her hands began to tremble as I could tell it was haunting her just to recall what she could.
"They were all rushing to defend everyone while we tried to withdraw... even though we had been surrounded. and I tried to protect the withdrawing destroyers and carriers the best i was able to... But I became the main focus of their shelling at some point. One of these battleships straddled me before I was bracketed and then struck by several of these... and it then all exploded into pain as I felt one go off near my eyes." She rubbed at her head. "Then I was chased by what i believed to be... Prinz eugen." She continued with a angry tone. "If it wasn't for my luck. I would have nearly died given I was on fire and i was flooding. But not before they literally tried to cripple my eyes and arms with bombers. Around me..."
Hands shaking ever so slightly as she responded. I wondered if there was anything i could do to help her. "My friends were all dying. some fought, some tried to retreat... but they just killed everyone... Their screams on the radio... I remember someone dragging me away as whoever she was. She and I were only the few survivors of that several tens of strong fleet while they took very light damage in contrast. We all ran away without looking back while requesting for SOS and backup."
"Azur lane and their shipgirls were killing everyone like pigs... I watched my friends die like pigs and I even saw a battleship's turret exploding from multiple torpedoes followed by what I think was Colorado's salvo at the time." She snorted as her eyes kept looking down at the table.
"So... What happened once you got back. Louise?" The blonde Homura-voice actor merely just raised her head again to look at me eye level. before she cleared herself and continued.
"I began experiencing headaches. Migraines. nightmares so bad they woke me up. all of them something to do with that 'day'. In one of them. I saw myself being beaten down by a destroyer before begging for death. she simply just stepped on my eyes and nothing more. In another. I was alone and surrounded from all directions. As for the headaches, They began and came now and then. And they began growing steadily worse. I was treated many times to figure out what was wrong with me. but they couldn't determine as to why." She put one hand on her temple as if thinking about it.
"How long did they go on? Is there anything i can do?" I replied. Louise laughed a bit before continuing.
"Haha. No..." She spoke melancholic. "It's been going on ever since that battle. From time to time they happen. And at one point it got so bad I screamed out bloody murder before they began having me go on treatment... But i disliked the medication. so i stopped taking them all-together." She watched the greenery of nature as she fiddled with another piece like it was a game of Tic-tac-toe. "And i don't know when. but I began having psychosis episodes... At some point I nearly attacked someone because in my... delusions..." The blonde hesitated before going on. "I... I thought they were Prinz or Prince of wales... and at that point they were simply at a loss for words as to far how my symptoms had progressed."
"So far. My mind's been stable as of lately... But I do still get migraines and my hands are especially still shaky when i am stressed. And sometimes I still see things in the corner of my eyes. All of this doesn't make sense..." Her tone took on a dark one, "I can't forgive Prinz Wugen or her other lapdogs who wouldn't be far from covering up any of Azur lane's dirty actions. Like their invasion of Yugoslavia or their scandals and their DOD job pork just to keep the public ignorant and in the dark."
"...I am sorry for what happened to you. I.. I didn't know as to how far your... health was. Can i check up on you sometime?" Her melancholy disappeared as she looked at me with a slightly puzzled look.
"H-huh? Why? I understand if you are worried for me. but my condition isn't as bad as it used to be in the past and I can handle myself." I shook my head and got up. trying to encourage a more relaxed tone.
"I mean... I am just worried if you get a migraine or if you begin to hallucinate... It's better if you have someone to take care of you and help you calm down." She reached out to pat me on the head lightly as she followed my actions.
"Thanks for the offer. Sometimes. it feels like you're what I used to be in the past. You've just too sweet and kind-hearted for this world. Little Enterprise." Making a noise toward her words. I decided to ask her name. Would her last name be Halevy and thus all but confirm she was the shipgirl version of her anime self?
"H-hey. Lou. I forget to ask. My name is Little enterprise. part of the Yorktown-class. But I forget to ask your full name... What was it again. Louise?" I spoke with the regular Little enty tone as she opened her mouth. preparing to give me her answer.
"O-Oh. Right. well. Little enterprise. My name is Louise...Loui..." Her voice was cut off as she began to pant as if in pain. My eyes widened in concern. Louise began to grab and clutch the sides of her head tightly as her pupils constricted. "U...Ugh...kagh...!" Her legs trembled and jittered before she began to sit down on the ground in severe apparent pain. It looked like her headaches were back. and of all things they had to strike when she was able to say it out loud.
"What's wrong!?" I sat down next to her while looking for any pockets to reach inside. but then I remembered she mentioned that she stopped taking her medication at some point. All I got from her was more whimpers and restrained cries of pain as she began to reach for something in her pockets. Why was this happeing? She was calm but saddened when telling me her story and I didn't even set her off into a panic attack! Why now of all this things!?
Looking at her hands. I noticed it was a piece of cloth that she held to her forehead in a attempt to calm down her migraine. I tried grabbing her hand... Only for her to twitch and whimper more in pain before smacking me in the stomach with her arm. Given her body size related to mine and without my Barrier jacket, It still hurt as I was knocked away!
'Mistress!?' I heard Vita's shocked voice as she suddenly broke out of her nap to see what had just hurt me. Gaugh. she must have felt the blow as well!
"It's Louise!" I replied. not even bothering to reply telepathically. "Her migraines are... She's having a bad migraine!"
'Loui-se...?' Vita tried to say her name. before I got the sensation of her quickly knowing what I had been talking to the blonde just several minutes ago. 'Her headaches. Is she suffering from one!?'
"She is!" I wouldn't have any of that. I got up. wincing in pain as I stood up, I watched a few shipgirls that had their attention grabbed by the commotion. I tried searching though my skills for anything that might alleviate her migraine attack.
"Vita. Do you know of any healing spells!? I need one now!"
'Give me a moment. Master!' Impatiently waiting on the spot. Vita rammed the framework and knowledge of the basic healing spell i knew into my consciousness. "Healing...Power!" I called out the name as I took a couple of steps toward her and sat down. putting a hand to her head gently before activating the skill.
It was a basic healing spell. Quick to use and cheap. However, with my current skill and effort invested into it. It was a fairly weak healing ability that could repair some damage and a low level of injuries. which would have made it unsuitable if i wanted to pull off a Yoshika miracle. But Louise's migraine didn't count as one of these. and since from what she said. her headaches weren't as bad as they used to be. so that also meant I likely wouldn't need to keep casting it over and over.
"Shhh... I am here. Lou. I am here." Casting the skill. I felt a slight drain on my magic as her pain began to slowly but steadily subside. I tried to calm her down and show that I was there to offer support. I felt my hand being squeezed in a tight grip and she kept shaking as I enveloped her in a hug.
I remained like that for a while. my arms around her. one trying to soothe her by rubbing her back. whispering "Lou-onee..." once in a while. Soon after she started to calm down. with no idea of if it was my Healing power or my embrace. She began processing what had happened. All I got from her was that she began to sob in my friend embrace.
"Vita..." I called to my companion mentally.
'Enterprise...?' She didn't call me mistress this time. It looks like the suddenness of what just happened had got her somewhat.
"Can we put more time into defensive and healing abilities? Anything that could help with her?"
'Doable. mistress... If she's...' She paused. 'Sorry. I didn't know she was a acquaintance of yours until now.'
'It's okay. Vita-chan.'
"Enterprise. What's wrong?"
"What just happened?"
Looking at the few shipgirls around me. I opened my mouth to speak up with a steeled tone. "It's Louise. Her headache just struck her and she's suffering from a panic attack!" Despite my childish voice. The blonde's crying meant I was not joking. "She needs to get treatment! Can you help me!?" They all gave me looks that said they could do so as they helped the migraine-prone girl to her feet before we were taken for medical treatment.
What happened on that day was exhausting enough and had took up the rest of my time by checking on her. both to pester and care for her to the point the day ended. I made a note to myself to consider Project Fate as a possible solution for her issues... Like what was inside her medication. But I wondered if she could even handle the process without suffering a mental breakdown. Still. I began to feel concern and worry for her as i promised to myself to find out what exactly who my former friends were on that day like she said.
All i can only hope is that she doesn't eventually go crazy at some point.
The battle had been a disaster. That was all that ran though Bismarck's mind.
It had been just another mission intent on knocking out one of the Siren fleets with a task force. Where Saratoga and their comrades were joking around. trying to lighten just how dangerous this war was when they had found their prey. Numerous carriers and battleships and other screening assets. but one that still was severely under-quality and lacked experience. Saratoga achieved air superiority and they began a battle that soon had the Siren fleet suffering heavy damage. Naturally. It should have been a victory.
That was until the Grey ghost came in.
Ever since she had defected. There had been rumors that she was assisting them behind the scenes but refusing to release her technology black boxes. which was fortunate seeing that if the Sirens had got their hands on such things. Then they would already be losing the war at a catastrophic pace with no way to even detect of fight their enemies. just wait for them to die from a laser-guided bomb or a swarm of anti-ship missiles. Or either be attacked by B-52s. who knows.
The fact that none of any signs had been detected so far meant that quite likely. Enterprise was refusing to simply release access to her technology. but they had reports that the quality and equipment of the Sirens had been beginning to improve. which pointed toward the Magic that Enterprise possessed.
Magical girls. and Magic. Hah. If only that were a fantasy. And if she didn't apparently have two more consciousnesses stuck inside her who if their claims were to be believed were artificial assistants who wanted a body but weren't able to control Enterprise. so they were letting her command them until they could find suitable bodies. Then the traitorous carrier could have been dealt with.
At first. She didn't seem threatening. She was just one carrier of her own till she started launching her fighter-bombers and anti-ship missiles along with shooting down all of Saratoga's aircraft from air-launched missiles. even though the Siren fleet was taking heavy casualties. She began cutting down Ironblood and Union destroyers. jumping and flying around like Ubermensch in the most deluded of german fantasies. or Superman.
Some of their destroyers and cruisers had been cut down and nearly killed in just a few minutes. And despite focusing their firepower on her. firing hundreds. thousands of AAA rounds and even trying to aim at a flying target with main gun batteries. She still deflected of absorbed most of them with some kind of shield! 406mm guns of no. They simply didn't even have the power to fracture her shielding. No. What they needed were even more powerful guns or something that might match her.
And the Eagle union cruiser she taunted? Her turrets and citadel spaces had been gutted so badly that even Graf zeppelin was stunned at the extent of the damage caused by the lightsaber-like blade of Enterprise's sword let alone the iron spheres that appeared in her fingers as Birmingham tried to recall. before the carrier tossed them out and struck them with her sword without even slicing though. Then they simply penetrated her armor like they it was paper before detonating. nearly causing a ammunition fire but the worst damage had been to her main guns and decks. glowing white-hot as if they had been attacked by Directed energy weapons of some kind.
"What can we do against her..." She mused. Currently she was just a single girl. but if allowed to continue, her assistance could become a serious threat and there was no telling what might happens if the Sirens figured out how to replicate her powers in someone else.
She sobered as the implications could be truly terrifying. They may not possess the strength of the white-haired carrier. but that wouldn't stop their potential abilities from being just as deadly. And even without her modern equipment. The ability to fly. react inhumanely fast with a sixth sense precognition of some kind. and generate energy shields to defend theirselves along with other indirect ways to attack by means of a disguise. of simply assassinating the entire High command and the admirals?
Then there was that barrier that she had created... It was massive and blocked out all forms of communications in addition to darkening out the sky. such things should be impossible even with conspiracy theories like Aerosols or space lasers. And yet she managed it somehow. It also prevented the fleet from trying to retreat.
Hatsuharu had been with the fleet when Enterprise demonstrated some kind of special attack that they had never seen before. She had fired at the sky as if not aiming at anything. only for the arrow to explode in the sky and form a magic circle of some kind that rained down hell and destruction with thousands of arrows that seemed to seek out their very targets. The damage was severe. Her torpedo launchers had detonated when a arrow struck the fuel section and started a fire that led to a explosion. Her boilers and turbines were broken and in places even her hull had been punctured from the top all to the bottom. resulting in signifinact flooding. So far she was recovering, but she was looking at the sky every and then. as if expecting Enterprise's special attack to judge her. this time to end her for good.
"Ironblood's technology... against magic and technology combined." Bismarck muttered. looking at her desk and the folders that documented what they could gather of Enterprise before she went out of control and broke out.
Despite the follyness of trying to penetrate the escorting screen and reach the vital enemy capital ships alone. That didn't deter Enterprise from doing so as evidenced with Saratoga. Having had sunk several ships but she had found herself the target of the grey ghost's flaming blade. She had fought admirably. but at the end even it wasn't enough as she began overpowering her before being pummeled. then simply cutting her flight deck apart before subjecting her to the same bombardment from above that simply perforated her deck like foam before causing internal fires. She had gotten away. but her opinion was that it was just as damaging as armor-piercing bombs. and since Enterprise was moving faster. reacting and had new powers. She believed that Enterprise was starting to change.
Then there was U-556. The loyal bluenette knight had been one of the several submarines involved in the battle. mainly trying to break up the enemy fleet into portions that could be more easily chased down and destroyed. At some point she had spotted Enterprise. but she was under depth charge attack at the time and so was unable to. that title going to U-101 instead.
Being underwater didn't meant it spared her from the same rain of death above. Even after they missed. The arrows apparently still were guiding theirselves onto enemies. from what U-101 was able to piece together and her description of what was going. The arrows looked like they were no longer as dangerous. only for that to be proven wrong as they began guiding theirselves toward the submarines. If one touched. it struck on like glue and began to eat its way though the hull until it caused a breach like some sort of caustic weapon. evidenced by the flooding and melted pumps. the very steel browned as if rusted. and the list went on.
U-101... She was the one who launched a torpedo attack on Enterprise. and had paid the price for doing so. When Enterprise evaded. The grey ghost had spotted where the submarine's torpedoes had came from and launched glide-bomb-like rockets of some kind that flew toward where the Ironblood submarine was. upon reaching that point. The nose split open to eject some form of torpedo with a parachute as it crashed into the sea just a minute later. The torpedo. upon splashing down began moving on its own in a search pattern of some kind. which later turned out to be its homing system that was now chasing the submarine.
U-101 began to frantically dive. but by then it was too late, She had asked for information at some point. And it turned out that it was the 'Ikara' system. which was an Australian-made that launched an acoustic torpedo via rocket as a means of fast reaction attack against submarines. the much shorter engagement times meant that the target. in this case U-101 had a much shorter period of time to react. And since it was designed for deep-diving. fast and quiet submarines. The ironblood shipgirl simply didn't stand a chance. Why an Australian system would be carried by a Eagle union shipgirl was a question. but that didn't matter at this stage.
The torpedo carried was extremely nasty just by itself against such an trivial enemy that it was overkill-designed to do so. and U-101. or anyone for that matter had no experience with enemy self-homing torpedoes designed to kill far more sophisticated enemies. The explosion had knocked out one of her battery units and thrashed her propulsion about. causing localized but serious flooding and rupturing more including damage to her dewatering pumps. If Enterprise had decided to bombard her last known position rather than just fire a single shot. it was likely U-101 wouldn't have survived. even with the massive durability of shipgirls related to their real-world counterparts.
She was scheduled to have a meeting for how the war was going. and the question of Enterprise as an enemy asset now. with the North carolinas set to reinforce this basing site while the Yorktowns were still mourning and brooding over what happened. Especially Akagi.
The carrier was never the same after losing her sister early on to Enterprise in what was apparently a surgical strike mission. From what they were able to get out of her depression-wracked and emotional interview. It appeared the grey ghost herself was able to completely dominate them. toying with them like they she was preparing them before proceeding to kill Kaga with a massive energy beam that didn't leave any traces of her. The kitsune at that point tried to resume fighting. but was then incapacitated by the grey ghost and too would have died along with her sister. If it wasn't for the girl's decision. for whatever reason to spare her and leave her be.
Nobody could blame her. given her sister was especially just murdered in cold blood. And while all of them were eager to pay back the sirens. They were much more unsure when it came to the Lucky E's intentions. some believed she had been this way even before she seemingly was summoned into such a abnormal. child-like state. while others believed that the experiments and treatment going on behind them had alienated and angered Enterprise so much that she defected and broke out. killing nearly everyone there involved along with destroying their research data.
Public relations and diplomats had done their best to cover up the incident until a later date, at which point it was revealed. The worldwide reaction was shock and questions at why she would betray them like that. and there were calls for the results of their internal investigation boards to be released. which would only stoke further questions especially when the part about the Grey ghost's talking and mumbled threats with asking them to stop or else force her to do something drastic. and that she could kill 90% of the American population by targeting the electric grid. then letting its society collapse into chaos without food. water. electricity and supplies with looters and rambos rampant. And that she could easily do this to Germany. Britain or Japan by using her aircraft on one-way missions or simply disappearing into the population and proceeding to sabotage and launch terror attacks on the infrastructure.
"Like what you did at Yugoslavia with the act of destroying their infrastructure irreparably by bombing it out. and even developing bombs made to do the job for targeting power stations all to dismantle it and replace it with a Kosovo base for smuggling arms to the Middle east to fund proxy groups and make way for the Washington neoliberal consensus to all of the world without another country to threaten that hegemony." she said at one point.
War was one thing. but angering the only person-and the only shipgirl-with confirmed superpowers. And of the Magical girl nature to the point of betraying you was another thing.
She wrote down her report. a resolved but a slight hint of fear stirring in her eyes. If they were to go all-out at the sirens with no gloves. What was to stop them from proceeding to clone Enterprise's powers and technology and deploy it en-masse. Leading to a race of conventional technology against physics-breaking technology they couldn't simply win?
Hearing a phone call. She picked it up. "Yes?"
"Sir." The other person on the end began. "Bismarck. I thought that you would want to be informed on what we cracked with what data we had on Enterprise's bizarre magical abilities and her technology. We've ran further analysis and tests and I believe we may have found something big. The Priority ship project staff and anyone with the necessary security clearances are going crazy over this along with a few. They believe we may have just found a critical way to solve one of the major problems with the Project and devise a means for supernatural-like abilities like what Enterprise uses. although as of present we still can't accurately replicate magic. or anything like it."
"...Very well. I will be going."
"Yes. Sir..."
End Chapter Report:
Darkness Level:3-5% "Your Field generator crystals remain a sparkling blue, You're pure!"/"Your crystals are blue, but when you look very closely. they don't look as blue and glimmering as they seemed to be."
Little/Tiny Enterprise has started to consider defensive and healing skills as more important.
Louise can be recruited at a renown cost to be part of the squadron unit.
Iris will be touched on next chapter followed by the Grunts. The day has ended.
Do you want the chapter to go to Iris or do you want the focus to be also on Yumako. Enko and the grunts? Should the story be expanded on more and do the results of tech-sharing begin showing? Leave it in the reviews!