Hey there everyone got another chapter for you guys
I have not much to say other than the usual so enjoy the chapter
Big thank you goes out to Killroy122496 for his help with this chapter and putting up with a nutjob like me
Respect your enemy less you forget their strength
Chapter 27: The Hunter becomes the Hunted
Akeno spent another five days in Tokyo while she waited for the ship to get ready to set sail and in that time she spent a few days with Tyrone and his friends but she only took part in one race for Tyrone which ended with Akeno winning yet another car.
Akeno didn't really care all that much about the car so she left it for Tyrone as well as the money she won before she disappeared again however she explained Tyrone why she had to leave again or at least an edited version of it.
But today was the day the ship her grandfather had built for her was finally ready to set sail of course Akeno had to form another bond with the ship but that barely took her an hour before she was holding a midnight black Katana with a dark blue handle in her hands "So this is my ship" Akeno mumbled as she stood up from the floor of the bridge while the dock workers got ready to release the ship into the ocean.
There was no grand ceremony as the ship slowly started moving backwards the rail cars supporting it groaning in protest as the massive giant of a ship slowly picked up speed until it entered the water causing a large wave to be pushed away from its aft until the entire ship was in the water.
Akeno felt save onboard the ship as the boilers started up with a vengeance but she waited a bit longer until the ship was well clear of the shipyard and able to turn but when she finally had enough room to maneuver the four massive propellers started pushing the giant battleship forward.
The ship made a simple slow turn to port before it straightened out and started moving faster until it was moving at about thirty nine knots not that that was its maximum speed but Akeno didn't want to burn through too much fuel so she kept it at a more fuel saving speed for now.
But as soon as Japan was no longer visible beyond the horizon Akeno turned on her radio to contact her sisters, Mitsuko and Kishiko answered right away and talked with Akeno briefly about what they were up to but when Akeno tried to raise Shirayuri over radio she had no success there.
So she decided to contact the Graff Spee and with a simple message hailing the Graff Spee, Akeno immediately succeeded "This is Kaida Blackthorn am I speaking with you again Merc?" Kaida asked over the radio but she sounded exhausted "Yes it´s me I tried to contact my boss but she isn't picking up" Akeno replied but it stayed quiet for a while.
Akeno was getting tired of this really fast but before she could start yelling the radio came back to life "We were attacked" was the simple message Kaida spoke "By who and what does it have to do with my boss not answering me?" Akeno asked anger seeping into her voice.
Kaida went into a detailed explanation about how a fleet of over sixty ships attacked the small carrier fleet most of the ships had only taken small damage aside from one battlecruiser that had fallen behind and had been boarded while the rest of the fleet managed to get away thanks to the submarines causing havoc among the enemy force.
Akeno took a very, very deep breath before she picked up the headset again "The Graf Spee as well as the Harekaze will meet up with one of our commanders to head to our base while I handle the situation with my boss" Akeno simply said with barely controlled anger in her voice.
Akeno went back to the bridge to allow her anger to melt away but she didn't bottle it up for later, no she allowed her anger as a focus to commit her mind on this one task at hand "Whoever you are if you believe I will let this go you are sorely mistaken" Akeno growled as her hair returned to ruby red as did her eyes.
Back at the Hidden Islands:
Mitsuko and Kishiko had been busy with convoy escort duty but with most of the fleet lying at anchor in the bay of the massive Island they both immediately noticed what happened as thirty destroyers, twenty light and heavy cruisers, ten Battlecruisers, nine Battleships, eight Carriers as well as ten of their Submarines glowed with a very familiar dark blue glow.
Mitsuko and Kishiko watched as the ships formed up before heading towards the open ocean but as soon as the last ship passed by the last Island something happened as every single one of the ships was slowly engulfed in a massive windless storm of crimson red sakura petals but as the last petal landed on the ocean to disappear beneath the waves there was not a single ship left in sight.
With Task Force Roaring Thunder:
Admiral Aito Nagisa Misaki sat in his chair alone on the bridge of the Yonaga today was the first time they managed to strike back at the Rising sun fleet as they had intercepted a small battle fleet but despite the fact that most of the ships escaped with only minor damage they finally captured a commander of the Rising sun fleet.
But even though they managed that Aito was badly shaken when the boarding party brought the girl onboard, the girl looked like his dead sister Akeno but he saw the differences right away for one his sister would never be part of something as vile as the Rising sun fleet.
But that was something to think about at another time as the bridge phone started ringing so he picked up "Admiral are you on the bridge we have a problem" came the report from the radar room if Aito remembered the voice correctly "What's the problem?" Aito asked as he spotted something from the corner of his right eye "We have a small fleet about fifteen kilometers ahead of us we tried hailing them over radio but there is no response and none of the ships have a radar beacon to identify them" the radar operator reported.
Aito thought about this for a moment but then he hung up before dialing another number "Captain what´s going on?" someone asked from the other end "Raise the combat alert we have an unidentifiable fleet ahead of us" Aito simply replied before hanging up again.
Only a second later all ships of the task force had alarms blaring until they shut off about three minutes later "All ships report battle readiness Admiral" Levinia reported as Aito sat down in his chair again "Good have a scout plane with an escort launched from a carrier to identify the unknown fleet" Aito simply ordered and Levinia sent his orders to one of the carriers.
With Akeno on onboard the Hiriyu:
Akeno stood on the flight deck right above the bow of the ship with her eyes closed as she listened closely until a deep rumbling sound came to her ears "There you are find me so I can show you what it truly means to cross us" Akeno whispered to the wind that was full of dark red Sakura petals that kept a massive fleet hidden from the rest of the world.
Akeno watched from a bird's eye view how an old TBF avenger flew towards her decoy fleet with two F4F wildcats escorting the torpedo bomber "You are fools for believing everything you see" Akeno spoke her voice even as she waited a bit longer.
The three aircraft flew onward until they found what they were looking for underneath them was a group of ships but aside from the massive battleship in the middle of the formation there were only ten destroyer and five cruisers so they reported exactly that except what none of them noticed was the fact that the battleship was aiming its rear turret at them.
But a massive explosion ripped apart the air a second later followed by another explosion in the sky but it was too late for the three planes as their pilots tried in vain to escape the hail of deathly metal shrapnel that turned their planes into Swiss cheese.
Back onboard the Yonaga:
Aito looked at Levinia with a calm expression but the report she just gave him was anything but good "So we lost them damn it all" Aito cursed as he looked out of the bridge window but before he could give his next orders one of the lookouts gasped so he turned to look at what had him so shocked.
But Aito froze at the sight as well as right there ahead of his fleet was a massive red wall but on a closer look he saw that it was a storm of red petals and as his ship entered the storm of petals they parted but all ships slowed down to a crawl to avoid collisions due to the limited visibility.
Aito had no idea how long his fleet moved through this crimson storm but then he saw something on the water that he didn't believe his eyes so he took hold of one of the mounted observation binoculars to take a closer look and a moment later he was running down the stairs until he stood on the bow of his ship as his entire fleet came to a standstill.
There on the water stood a young woman dressed in a traditional red black Kimono if that wasn't unusual enough she also had animal ears on top of her head as well as a tail that swayed behind her in the soundless wind.
Aito had no clue what to make of this but the moment the young woman saw him she started walking towards his ship her feet the only thing that caused the silent sea to ripple lightly.
Aito waited until the woman stood only a few meters away from his ship but the look she was giving him set off all kinds of alarms in his head "Are you the Admiral in command of this fleet?" the woman no the girl asked her voice sounding so peaceful yet dangerous at the same time.
Aito had to swallow as he simply nodded his head but then the girl disappeared only to reappear right in front of him causing him to jump back and draw his sidearm out of reflex.
Neither Aito nor the girl moved in the slightest until the girl sighed "I only came to offer you a way out or this" she simply said defensively causing Aito to lower his weapon ever so slightly.
The girl nodded at that before she spoke her next words "Right now there are two choices I can offer you. The first is simple hand over the girl you captured and no one will get hurt" the girl spoke with the same peaceful voice and expression as before but Aito gripped his pistol a lot tighter.
The girl seemed to have noticed as well as she took a deep breath "Do not misunderstand me I am simply a messenger for someone who wants to sink this entire fleet for what you've done but she allowed me to speak with you first so I may find a way out of this without anyone dying" the girl tried to explain but Aito aimed his gun at her again.
This time Aito was the one who spoke "You are part of the Rising sun fleet aren't you?" he growled but the girl simply nodded at that "As a sign of goodwill she picked these men up after they crashed into the ocean" the girl spoke as a simple yellow circle of light appeared behind her only to disappear a moment later.
Aito saw a group of five pilots sitting on the deck wet to the bone but still alive "What is your answer Admiral we wish to avoid conflict but we will fight this war if that is what you chose" the girl spoke again only for a crewmen behind Aito to shot at the girl with a rifle.
Aito´s shock turned to confusion in a heartbeat as the girl opened her clenched fist dropping the bullet that was just fired at her "So you answer is like this is it?" the girl asked sadness clear in her voice "Then may you find peace with that decision" the girl added before jumping into the air thus vanishing in a tornado of petals.
Aito wanted to curse at what had just happened but before he could even turn around to berate the crewmen he heard an ominous humming and as he looked up he saw the sky blackened by the mass of aircraft that were about to attack his fleet.
With Akeno back onboard her flagship:
Akeno sighed deeply she had hoped that the commander of the fleet was a man of reason but as they saying went "The die has been cast" as the task force fleet was pummeled by bomb as well as rocket attacks by the massive air fleet Akeno had sent.
But Akeno had to give credit where it was due the fleet didn't take very long to start moving again and open fire on her planes not that it mattered all that much as most of them had already dropped their ordinance on their targets but now was the perfect chance for Akeno to attack from a different angle.
Yonaga Bridge after the air raid:
Aito was pissed as reports of wounded and damage to almost all ships of the fleet began pouring in but just as it slowed down for a moment a massive explosion ripped apart the air causing Aito to run to the bridge window.
What Aito saw was a horrifying sight as one of the Baltimore heavy cruisers that had been ahead of his ship had two massive holes blown into its side "Admiral we are under submarine attack" Levinia reported in slight panic.
Aito wasted no time "All ships anti submarine formation have all destroyers begin Anti submarine warfare launch all available aircraft we to assist them" Aito hollered just as another mighty explosion ripped a destroyer that was only slightly ahead of the Yonaga in two.
The fleet managed to coordinate quickly and soon was starting to hunt the submarines but their hunt proved rather poor results as the submarines dived deeper than normal submarines were supposed to be able to dive and several of them were actually able to escape the destroyers pursuing them as they were faster.
Aito had to groan at that as not a single one of the submarines had been sunk by his fleet and they soon lost contact with all of them as well "What is the location of the enemy surface fleet?" Aito asked as he looked at a map of the area.
Levinia joined him a moment later at the table and provided the information he had asked for "Have the ships unable for combat fall back sent a few escorts with them as well while the rest of us will chase down those bastards" Aito growled as he started giving orders over the radio.
The fleet changed formation to a diamond formation while all of badly damaged ships started to fall back with a few escort destroyers during the initial air attack the fleet had lost six destroyers as well as one heavy and one light cruiser but the worst of the attack had been concentrated on their five carriers with the Shoukaku and one of the Implacables having received heavy damage as the flight decks were out of commission until they could be repaired in port.
But for some reason none of the battleships nor the five modern escort frigates had been attacked even after the submarine attack had caused another heavy cruiser to almost get sunk while another four destroyers were beyond repair miraculously none of the sunk ships had any dead to report as the safety measures worked as intended allowing the crews to abandon ship before they had started sinking.
To no one's surprise Aito and his brother Kaito were angry not at their crews but they were angry at the ones who caused this as the fleet continued onwards now only with twenty destroyers, nine heavy cruisers, seven light cruisers, three aircraft carriers, four battleships as well as four escort frigates.
It took the fleet another two hours to get sight of the small enemy fleet but even as he ordered the carriers to strike first Aito still had a bad feeling about this for some reason as the aircraft took off one after the other to head towards the enemy.
In total over two hundred aircraft rose into the sky but as they turned towards the enemy fleet their radios suddenly started transmitting the sounds of a gentle flute of course this confused all of them until something very fast dove by the very front of the formation of aircrafts "Brave pilots this message is sent to you as well as the rest of your fleet as your last warning. Admiral hand over the girl you captured and we can peacefully go on our own ways" the voice of the girl spoke as a futuristic jet aircraft rose into the sky circling the mass of attack aircraft.
Aito had to make a decision soon as his aircrafts were getting ever closer to the point of no return but before he could reply the voice of one of the Blue Mermaids came over the radio "You claim to want peace yet all you have done is cause death and destruction wherever you went. So our answer is this. We will hunt you and your fleet down even if it is the last thing we do" the woman yelled into the radio.
But Aito knew that now there was no turning back anymore "Truly regretful to hear this but if that is your decision I shall respond in kind" the girl spoke before the flute was once again heard but the melody sounded a lot more sad and aggressive this time.
Only seconds later the attack aircraft came under attack by old Japanese Zero style fighters but even though the fighter escort did their best they were no match for the more maneuverable fighters and only thirty minutes later Aito got a report he had been dreading as not a single aircraft returned to their carriers.
Aito had slumped down in his chair after he heard the report but then he remembered something "Levinia was there any report of carriers among the enemy surface fleet?" he asked but his deputy understood what he was worried about "There was not a single sighting of a carrier amongst the enemy fleet" Levinia answer confirming Aito´s suspicions.
As an Admiral he had still a lot to learn it would seem as yet another Storm of petals appeared about fifteen kilometers starboard from his fleet but what this storm revealed caused Aito´s blood to freeze.
There on the sea sailed a fleet of twenty destroyers, fourteen light and heavy cruisers, eight Battlecruisers and eight battleships but the moment Aito saw them split up into two groups he knew what was about to be unleashed as the enemy fleet split in two right down the middle before executing a turn forming a half crescent formation, Aito cursed to high heaven as he ordered all ships to brace for impact and return fire when they were able to as the world drowned in fire and explosions.
Akeno watched from the bridge of her battleship as she opened fire on the international Blue Mermaid fleet the first salvo resulted in several hits on the enemy fleet as the battleships and frigates were the main target of the attack of her battleships and Battlecruisers while the destroyers focused their fire on the cruisers and enemy destroyers with assistance from the light and heavy cruisers.
After the third volley the enemy fleet started to return ineffective fire as most of their shots landed either short or went way off target all together but that was the moment Akeno saw the telltale smoke trails from the fleet as the remaining three frigates and three of the battleships fired their missiles at her fleet "You fought well but this isn't going to change anything" Akeno whispered as all of the Battlecruisers of her fleet started glowing with a white blue light.
Aito was watching as the missile and torpedo barrage from the frigates closed in on the enemy fleet only for a strange blue white pulse to erupt towards his fleet "What just happened?" Aito asked confused but as he looked towards the enemy fleet he saw the sky filled with exploding warheads before they even came close to striking the enemy fleet.
Aito was stunned into utter silence only for the entire ship to start shaking violently "Captain rear turrets have been badly hit they are out of action" came the report a moment later as the fleet was getting shelled to high heaven "Get the destroyers to start a smoke screen and get us out of here" Aito yelled as one of the Iowa´s was hit near the front causing the front turret to get blown to pieces with two of the three gun barrels getting thrown out of their mountings until they fell into the sea.
Akeno watched as the enemy destroyers started laying a smokescreen to cover the retreat of the fleet "As if I would allow you to do that" Akeno hissed as she ordered her submarines to split up the enemy fleet to isolate the flagship.
Aito was visibly exhausted by the lengthy battle but just as he started to hope they got away he got another report "Submarines dead ahead of us torpedoes in the water" was the simple message but with almost all of their destroyers busy covering their retreat they had almost no way of fighting back.
Due to the massive torpedo attack by the submarines Aito ordered free maneuvering to avoid losing any more ships to the enemy but that in turn caused the Yonaga to get separated from the rest of the fleet as several submarines started to relentlessly hunt down the ship.
Aito knew what this meant as the pursuing fleet cut him off from the rest of his own fleet but not a single shot was fired at the Yonaga despite the fact the ship was on its own with half of its main armament unable to fire "Just what is going on?" Aito asked as they were suddenly unable to reach anyone over radio but then something happened to the sea ahead of them.
At first there seemed to be a white blue glow that started to get brighter and brighter until something massive breached the surface causing Aito and everyone else on the bridge to gasp at what they saw in total there were sixteen ships that seemed to have appeared from the depths of the sea itself.
But if that wasn't enough the ship at the tip of the spear formation was built out of a snow white metal with blue markings running all over the ship however the gun barrels were made out of a golden material on either side of the battleship were a battlecruiser, a cruiser and five destroyers.
Aito stared at the battleship as it moved towards him but so far none of the sixteen ships had opened fire on the Yonaga except [why didn't they fire on us?] Aito asked himself as suddenly the battleship was right next to the Yonaga but neither ship fired a single shot.
Aito slowly stood up from his chair to walk out to the observation area surrounding the bridge from there he got a clear view towards the battleship and the young woman from before was standing on the roof of the bridge but a moment later an older woman with raven black hair walked up to the girl.
The girl fell down to one knee with her head bowed but the look the older woman was giving Aito was not one of kindness but of pure anger "Deal with this and if you fail you know what happens" the woman spoke to the girl but for some reason Aito understood her even over the wind and rain while the girl nodded frantically at that as the woman disappeared into the ship again.
Aito watched as the girl got up and a moment later she jumped towards the Yonaga shocking Aito as he thought she would fall but for whatever reason she did not and landed right in front of Aito.
However as she got up from her crouched position Aito saw some sort of black mark around the girls neck "I truly wish this could have gone another way but the time for regrets is now over" the girl spoke sadness clear in her voice "Will you release the girl you captured? If you do not remember that not only will she sink your entire fleet but then my own life will be forfeited as well" the girl was no longer asking she was pleading with them.
Aito carefully weighed his options "What will happen if we hand the girl over?" he asked getting a small sigh of relief from the girl "If you do and she is not harmed we will return all of those who were captured in today's battle as well as grant you a grace period of five months that we will completely withdraw from the sea" the girl explained surprising Aito a bit.
Aito knew all too well that at this moment he would never be able to defeat this enemy but this enemy was still offering him the only way out of this "Fine we have a deal how will this transfer happen?" he asked as the girl smiled at him "We have the prisoners onboard one of our carriers the ship carrying the girl as well as another ship to pick up your pilots will meet with me and the prison carrier at this location" the girl explained as she handed Aito a rolled up map.
Aito nodded as he took the map from her hands and a moment later the girl was back onboard the white blue battleship that started moving away at an unnatural speed with the rest of the small fleet following suit.
Aito knew he had made the right decision but how would the politicians take the news of his failure as those were the things plaguing his mind as he contacted his brother Kaito to take the Implacable and his own ship to meet with the enemy for a prisoner exchange.
Kaito understood why his brother had made the decision to release the girl as their fleet was just not strong enough to even fight the enemy to a standstill and hey at least the shot down airmen would return home and not to become Prisoners of war or something like that.
The Yamato and the Implacable headed towards the location Aito had told them about but what waited for them was still a surprise as the white blue battleship was a terrifying yet beautiful sight to see.
The two carriers moved closer to each other until they were close enough to allow the captured airmen to move over gangways onboard the Implacable until no one was left onboard the other carrier that disconnected from the Implacable without any warning before turning away but with that part over the white blue battleship started to approach the Yamato to retrieve the girl they captured.
Kaito´s nerves lay blank as the white blue battleship stopped about twenty meters in front of the Yamato and someone jumped onboard the Yamato so Kaito decided to greet the girl.
Kaito took a few minutes to get to the bow of his ship where the red haired girl patiently waited even though several armed crewmen were watching her every move "You must be the captain of this vessel. I do wish we could have met under different circumstances" the girl spoke clear regret in her voice.
Kaito nodded at that as he talked to someone over radio and a group of five medics walked onto the deck with a stretcher "You kept your end of the deal" Kaito was however interrupted by a gunshot that hit the girl right in the chest causing her to collapse on the deck.
Kaito stared at the crewmen who fired but a moment later another was standing by the stretcher with a blade in hand "We will kill this girl if you don't surrender right now" the guy yelled but what was about to happen would scar them for life.
The girl that had been shot dissolved into red Sakura petals that fell into the water and the white blue ship changed color instead of white and blue the entire ship was now a sinister black blue with orange symbols that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat as all of its guns turned in an instant towards the Yamato.
With Akeno onboard the flagship:
Akeno felt it as one of her paper Shinigami was destroyed but the last thing she heard through it caused her heart to almost stop "After all this you think I will allow you to walk away with what you've done" Akeno hissed as Asuramarus blade appeared on her back as she walked to the hangar of the ship.
Akeno tried her hardest to calm down but it was futile the moment she saw a crewmen put a knife to her sister´s neck "Let Ashes and Blood flow as life and flesh burns in my flames. My Duty has yet to come to an end. I shall rise as many times as I am called by the contractor. Therefore I swear upon my oath. I shall bring an end to all things" Akeno chanted as the sky was covered in storm clouds once again with red lightning crashing down into the sea around the two battleships.
Akeno welcomed the dark cloud as she felt her clothes change to the black skintight bodysuit with the red coat settling over her shoulders and the red skirt wrapping around her waist before the cloud dispersed Akeno took hold of Asuramarus blade that turned a sinister crimson red instead of the usual neon green.
Akeno took a deep breath as her skin turned ash grey once again as two black wing with red feathers unfolded from her back before catching fire at the lower edges "You will pay" Akeno whispered as her wings beat once launching her high into the sky before she was diving towards the Yamato.
Kaito Akemi Misaki had no idea why but every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run as a massive black bird dive bombed towards his ship but a moment later he felt the rush of air and a second later he heard a scream.
Kaito turned around but as soon as he did he regretted it as there over the heavily bleeding body of the crewmen stood a being he had only heard about in legends of the old ages.
The second thing he noticed was the fact that the girl on the stretcher was gone but none of the medics had been injured when this being attacked the crewmen that had threatened to kill the captured girl "Mark my words the next time you try to do something like this" however she was interrupted by a bullet hitting the deck about two meters away from her.
The being looked up at the crewmen who fired before swinging the crimson red blade from the left side of her body to the right with a small beam of light marking the way but as she rested the blade at her side again the massive turret the crewmen was standing on seemed to slowly melt until suddenly that just stopped.
The being slowly started hovering towards the crewmen who was shaking in his boots "Try something like that again and I will sink that entire fleet of yours while watching as every single one of you burns alive at my hands" the thing warned as she raised her blade again before delivering two slashes at insane speed over the guys chest leaving a simple cross mark behind.
Kaito was trying to decide whether he should fight or run as the being approached him next "We will honor our deal even if with one of you doing something like this" the being spoke its voice lacking any trace of human emotions as it spoke "But should you try and pull something like this again we will see each other again in the afterlife" she warned before flying back towards the other battleship that was already moving away from the Yamato and as soon as the being landed on the ship the ship was engulfed in a storm of crimson sakura petals that disappeared along with the ship.