"Dear Lord. Let your holy angel be with us. That the evil foe may have no power over us. Amen." Ryan silently prayed as he was standing on the port bridgewing of the Milius. As he placed his cap back on his head, he felt vibration running through the hull as the turbines began running and the destroyer moved away from the pier backwards.

The other ships of Task Force 99 left their mooring sites as well and the destroyers formed a defensive circle around the Abraham Lincoln and the two cruisers in the bay. Once the formation came together, the fleet headed out toward the open sea.

Meanwhile the shipgirls, both Americans and Japanese equipped themselves with their armament and set sail too. The Americans joined the task force while their Japanese allies went on their own way.

"Good luck and fair seas Ryan!" a familiar voice shouted from down below. As Ryan looked down at the waves, he saw Kirishima sailing beside the Milius, waving to him.

"You too Kirishima, have a good hunt!" shouted back Ryan with a salute.

"And keep calm, trust me, you'll be fine." assured him the battleship.

"Thank you very much. I have a feeling that it's not going to be like the movies, but I'll try my best."

"May I come to see you once this is over?" asked Kirishima.

"You read my mind, I wanted to ask the same. Sure, I'll not rest until I don't know you're alright." replied Ryan, and Kirishima knew that if it wasn't for the cool sea wind that was blowing her face, she definitely would have blushed.

"Kirishima! We have to go now!" Kongo yelled from the distance.

"See you later Ryan!" waved Kirishima with a kind smile once again.

"See you afterwards Kirishima!" waved back Ryan and watched as the young Japanese woman sailed back to her sisters and comrades. "Be sure to come back..." he whispered after her.

"You've made a knew friend as I see Mr. Grazzini." Captain Reed said from behind him, sitting in his command chair. "Who would the young lady be?"

"She's battleship Kirishima Sir. I was lucky to get to know her, she's very nice."

"Don't get me wrong Grazzini but are you sure it's a good idea?" asked Reed.

"How do you mean Sir?"

"It's risky to get close to anyone in our job. We all know the risk we are taking; we can never be sure that we'll see the next day dawning. If our days end early in battle, we leave behind pain in the hearts of our friends. That's why it's better to keep everyone at a distance from us."

"Captain. You know that if there's someone who knows how it feels to lose our loved ones, that's me."

"True... I'm sorry Grazzini, I didn't want to bring that up." nodded Reed. He was a bit ashamed of himself, he knew very well what Ryan went through.

"Like you said Sir, my sister knew the risk she was taking. Trust me, her death was the most terrible thing that happened to me in my entire life. But the possibility to lose the people around us doesn't mean that we must be cold and lonely. If I get to know so great persons like Mr. Mitchells or Kirishima, then I say that for me it worth the risk. We shall get the best out of our days during our time in this world. We can never know when our days end."

"That's something I can't argue with."

"But put sentimentalism aside for now Captain, it's not the good time for that."

"Indeed Grazzini, we shall stand by. But tell me one more thing."

"Yes Sir?"

"How much exactly do you like her?"

"Ah. You're actually not the first one, who's asking me this question Sir.."

"Then other people have the same feeling that I have."

"What would it be?" asked Ryan.

"You like her more than a simple friend, don't you?"

Now this was a bit awkward for Ryan, he never really talked about such things before. But he was certain about one thing: Reed was totally right. Kirishima was more than just a friend for him. "Yes. Yes, I do Sir."

"Well then. Let her know about that." said Reed.

"I'll be on that Captain." replied Ryan. "If only it would be so easy..." What should he say to her? How should he tell it to her? And in the first place; does she feel the same way at all? He really wished she does. But the small voice in the back of his head quickly considered the idea impossible.

How could she think about him like that? He must be only a comrade and a close friend to her, with whom she can spend good time with. Not to mention that she must have a little bit of revulsion against him, due to her memories from the world war. How could she ever think about him like that? Impossible. Just impossible. Ryan let out a small, mental sigh. He wanted to tell her so many things, yet he thought that she'll probably reject him. And the thought of being rejected by her and losing her company saddened him very much.

But in this moment he decided to shoo these tantalizing thoughts away for now, he was in standby as the first officer of a warship after all.

Meanwhile the fleet left the strait behind and entered the high seas. Task Force 99 and the American shipgirls took a left turn and headed directly to the south while the Japanese shipgirls were heading southwestwards.

As the two fleets parted ways, one certain Japanese ship girl turned back once more to look at one certain American destroyer steaming away.

"Oi Kirishima! Don't fall behind!" waved Kongo from the formation.

"I'm coming Onee-sama!" replied Kirishima and she took her position in the formation.

"I'm sure he'll be alright." said Haruna to Kirishima in a reassuring way.

"Hope you'll be right Haruna. I really hope so..." Though she tried to hide it, it was clear that Kirishima was worried and troubled. That would have been understandable, they were about to go into battle. However, this time she wasn't worried for her sisters, her friends or herself, but for someone else.

Haruna looked around. Hiei was far away, she couldn't hear them. "I'd like to ask something from you. But I guess you already know what it is." said the third ship of the Kongo-class.

"You want to ask me if I like him like that, don't you?" asked Kirishima.

"Do you?" asked Haruna.

"I..."

"The destroyer screen reports Chi-class abyssal torpedo cruisers at 2-5-0!" shouted suddenly Jintsu after getting messages from the radio.

And so, before the sister battleships could continue their conversation, they changed course together with the rest of the fleet and headed to engage the enemy. Kirishima though knew the answer for Haruna's question. She knew it very well.

It didn't take long, and the Abyssal fleet appeared far away on the horizon. Some cannons were already thundering, the destroyers of the two sides were in battle with each other.

"Cruisers, engage the enemy! Battleships and carriers, stay behind and support us!" ordered Mogami, the flagship of the fleet.

And so, Kirishima pulled back together with the rest of the battleships, preparing to support the cruisers and destroyers from behind. She looked down at her equipment, where all the little fairies were fussing around, making the guns ready. Finally, one of them signaled Kirishima that everything was ready for battle.

"Thank you all. Fire!" Her eight main guns opened fire and the shells hit the ocean around one of the enemy cruisers. Kirishima – being the brainy woman she was, a person of numbers – immediately adjusted the angle of her cannons and fired them again. This time she scored two direct hits on the Abyssal ship that slowed down due to the damages she received, making her an easy target; and Kirishima soon finished her off together with other ships.

"Torpedoes!" yelled Sendai. The Abyssals took a hard turn and retreated to evade the bombardment, but before that, they launched a massive number of torpedoes to cover themselves.

Kirishima could barely evade them, she thought she even felt one of them grazing her feet. Kaga on the other hand was not so lucky, she'd been hit by a torpedo and got severely damaged. Her condition was so bad that she had to be sent back to the base for repair. This was bad news for the fleet, one of their strongest carriers fell out of the fight at the beginning of the battle, and with that their chances to gain air superiority depleted.

However, she soon noticed something strange. There was essentially no need to gain air superiority, for they encountered merely a handful of enemy planes they could easily shoot down. The shipgirls saw no Abyssal carriers near and far, which was odd, compared to the size of the enemy fleet according to the previous reports.

A so big Abyssal strike force went into action without a single carrier? Unusual for sure. And this fact troubled Kirishima and her friends, they suspected that something was not right.

But before they could think for anything else, the enemy's battleships appeared on the scene, and with that Kirishima and her sisters had yet another work to do. They lined up and sailing parallel with their opponents they began their duel with the monstrous battleships.

"Ryan. I hope you are safe." Kirishima wished as her thoughts were diverted from the ongoing engagement. This was when an Abyssal shell suddenly hit her on her shoulder, that she grabbed with a painful cry.

"Kirishima! Are you alright?!" asked Hiei worriedly from the front of the line of battle.

"Yes. Yes, it's nothing. Don't worry." nodded Kirishima, getting over the first shock, regaining her strength.

The damage was indeed minor, but Kirishima gave herself a mental slap. "Concentrate!" She had to focus, yet she couldn't help but wonder if everything was going well with him.

In mean time the hours were melting away as the battle raged on with unchanged intensity. The cannons were still flashing as the Sun slowly started to sink below the horizon.

X

"My Lord. I thank thee for having created me. For having made me a catholic. For having let me to see the end of this day. Watch over me while I sleep. Watch over all my loved ones and keep the harms and dangers away from them. Amen." finished Ryan the short prayer, kissing the rosary in his hand. It was one of his dearest belongings, his grandfather gave it to him, when he was a child.

He emerged from his kneeling position from before the icon on the wall and headed for his bed. It was already late in the night, and his duty was over for that day.

Just like Kirishima, he found the situation strange, though he had different reasons for that. Task Force 99 encountered literally no enemy ships during the whole day.

The crews and ships were in constant standby ever since they raised the anchors and let the harbor behind, but their first battle kept them waiting and waiting.

Ryan was now lying in his bed in his cabin, but he had difficulties with falling asleep. On one hand he knew that the enemy could be anywhere around them, and they can get under attack anytime. On the other he heard that the Japanese shipgirls had a much more exciting day. And he hoped and prayed that one particular Japanese shipgirl was doing well.

Then another thought hit his mind. He couldn't remember the last time when he was so worried for someone. He didn't have to search for an explanation for this feeling though. Oh, he realized it by now. He just needed to tell it to her somehow. The one and biggest question was: how?

As he was trying to figure it out, the exhaustion took over him. Ryan finally closed his eyes and a minute later he was sleeping.

When morning came, he got up early as he always did. He dressed up in his uniform and headed for the cantina where he met James.

"How was your night?" asked James as they sat down at one of the tables with bacon, eggs, toasts and coffee on their trays.

"Let's say that I slept well." replied Ryan to his best friend. "What about you?"

"Same here. I don't really know if I should be thankful or annoyed that nothing happened so far. This waiting is nerve wrecking."

"Be patient my friend. If that Abyssal fleet is really that big, then they'll surely find us."

"I'd personally like to find them first, that seems to be better than being surprised." said James, taking a sip from his coffee. "How do you think the jap girls are doing?"

"They are strong and talented, I'm sure they can handle the situation. You don't have to worry for her." replied Ryan.

"What do you mean?" furrowed James his eyebrow.

"A little bird told me that a Japanese shipgirl by the name of Hiei really impressed you."

James put down his cup and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "You win."

"I only have one question: What do you like about her so much? I mean okay, I admit that she's very attractive, but come on man. She wants to see you in the depths of hell." said Ryan.

"I couldn't tell you pal, 'cause I've never felt like this before in my life. Somehow... there's a fire in her that I cannot forget and leaves me in awe. That's the best answer I can give."

"I see..."

"Can you explain why you like Kirishima so much? Okay she's kind, clever and pretty but what makes her so special for you?" asked James.

But Ryan couldn't tell. He couldn't explain it by words. He just felt it. He felt that Kirishima was special. "Okay you got me now."

"There you go."

The next moment the loud sound of a naval whistle filled the air, followed by the Milius' sirens.

"General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations!" the voice of the boatswain sounded from the loudspeakers.

"You wished for it. Here it is." said Ryan as the two officers jumped up from the table. "Good luck man!"

"Good luck to you!" James – as the gunnery officer – headed to the combat information center, while Ryan ran up to the bridge.

"What happened Sir?"

"Most of their carriers are right ahead of us along with destroyers." replied Captain Reed to his first officer.

Ryan took his binoculars and looked out to the sea. In the distance he noticed the Abyssal ships as they were launching warplane after warplane.

"Damn it..." This was bad, they didn't expect to encounter so many carriers at once. Task Force 99 only had Saratoga and the Abraham Lincoln to counter the aerial threat. Other than that, they only had their rockets and guns.

The shipgirls already opened fire and they provided quite an effective anti-air defense, but there were too many Abyssal planes and some of them managed to evade their grenades and get close to the ships.

It didn't take long and a squadron of five Abyssal bombers got through the ring of shipgirls and targeted the O'Kane, the destroyer on the starboard side of the Milius.

But the destroyers had something, called Phalanx close-in weapon systems. The radar-guided weapons automatically locked themselves on the incoming planes and a moment later their deafening roar sounded as each 20-millimeter Vulcan cannon fired a hundred rounds per second.

In the blink of an eye all that remained from the five bombers were smoking wrecks, falling into the ocean.

"Enemy torpedo bomber to port!" a lookout suddenly shouted.

All the officers looked in the said direction and they saw the Abyssal plane flying low, just above the waves, ready to drop its two torpedoes. And it caught the Milius completely off guard.

"Prepare for evasive maneuvers!" ordered Reed.

However just before the bomber dropped its payload, it was blown into bits by an AIM-9 Sidewinder rocket that came out of nowhere. Then an F/A-18 Super Hornet emerged from the smoke and with a hard turn it went back to fight after destroying its target, and though its pilot didn't know, it received a huge ovation from the Milius' crew for saving them.

Ryan was the only one who noticed the painting on the side of the fighter's hull; a golden eagle framed by a laurel wreath. He knew it very well. In the cockpit of that Super Hornet was none other than Lucia. "I owe you one cuisine!" he waved his cap.

By this time the blue sky practically disappeared behind the black clouds of smoke, made by the hundreds of exploded anti-aircraft shells. Despite of that, the waves of enemy planes kept coming.

Finally, the shipgirls sank all the Abyssal destroyers and so their carriers became vulnerable. Washington – who already shot down countless bombers and sent two destroyers to the bottom of the ocean – as soon as she noticed a Nu-class ship, opened fire and soon reduced the carrier into a burning wreck.

"Just like the old days, don't you think Sis?" she proudly asked.

"Just don't let the nostalgy lower your guard." warned North Carolina her younger sister, pointing behind her.

Washington turned around and noticed the sunken carrier's last squadron of bombers speeding towards her. "You think so?" She fired again but they were now too close and most of them got through her, heading right to the Milius.

Once again, the Phalanx's Vulcan canon roared up but some of the planes managed to evade the rain of bullets.

"Deck gun, open fire!" commanded Captain Reed.

Down in the combat information center, under the command of James the crew entered the parameters into the computer and the 127-millimeter gun fired, then again and again, making the water to erupt around the attacking aircrafts.

James was standing with crossed arms, waiting for a reported hit, listening to the sounds of the Phalanx and the deck gun. Then he heard something else: machine guns. The enemy planes were now so close that the crew had to fire the mounted Browning and Bushmaster machine guns. He didn't know, but some crewmembers even stood out to the deck and fired at the bombers with their M16 rifles.

Up on the deck Ryan felt a drop of sweat flowing down on the back of his neck. "Come on guys, come on!"

That's it, only five planes left. Only four. Three. Two. One... That last one evaded all shells and bullets until it was on the Milius.

"Get down! Prepare for impact!" shouted Reed and everyone quickly lay on the floor. The captain however – being already in his 60s – was slower and couldn't get out of his command chair in time.

Lying on his stomach, Ryan looked up. His captain was on his feet when he suddenly heard a metallic bump as one of the bombs of the Abyssal plane hit the superstructure just below the bridge and exploded without penetrating the armor. The detonation broke out all the frontal windows, filling the bridge with pieces of glass and shrapnel, damaging multiple equipment.

When the flames and the smoke cleared away everyone stood up and they went back to their stations. Almost everyone.

"Medics to the bridge!" commanded Ryan. To the young man's horror, he saw the captain lying motionlessly on his back, his face and chest covered with blood and wounds. He knelt down to him and shook his shoulders. "Captain! Can you hear me? Captain!"

"... co... m... nd..."

"Sir?" Ryan leaned his head to Reed's mouth to hear him better.

"Take... command Grazzini..." groaned Reed, gasping for air, and with hazy eyes.

The ship's medics rushed to the bridge, and they took the bleeding captain on a stretcher.

Ryan was left there together with other crewmembers, some of whom were also lightly injured. Luckily his only wound was a bleeding eyebrow.

He was only in his first battle, and from one moment to the next, from second in command he became first in command. And as he looked around, he saw all the sailors and officers looking at him with questioning eyes.

Even he didn't really know how he got over the sudden pressure and shock, but he quickly went back to firm and serious. He couldn't afford himself to show weakness.

"Bring me a damage report! Take the wounded to the medical room! And get back to your battle stations, defend the Abe!" gave Ryan his orders.

This battle was not yet over. And he was determined to perform his duty and take his crew home in safe. And to see one Japanese shipgirl again.

Hey everyone! I wish you all a happy new year!

Here's Chapter 7, hope you liked it!

Thanks to: "Xeno6804", thanks for the Follow!

As always, if you like what you read, feel free to leave a Follow, a Favorite and a Review.