Admiral Goto POV
Date 03/29/15
Its been two months since the 'Battle of Nemuro' as the press coined it and surprisingly Rear Admiral Jojima wasn't replaced I guarantee Fleet Admiral Jakuchu had something to do with it but I don't know for certain. News on the world scale isn't good the entire South-Pacific has fallen save for Australia which is holding on do to the heroic efforts from British and Australian ship girls stationed there but they need reinforcements, reinforcements no one can provide. The Americans have lost Wake and Midway islands and are fighting tooth and nail to hold Hawaii with their fleets also covering the East and West coasts, they're in no position to provide support. The British and German fleets are concentrated in the North and Norwegian seas trying to prevent Norway from falling leaving the French navy to defend the Atlantic where abyssal sightings and attacks have risen dramatically in the past few weeks. To make matters worse Gibraltar and North Africa have fallen trapping the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and they've been pushed to the brink in the defense of Italy.
News closer to home isn't great either with Taiwan falling a week ago the abyssals are poised to strike at Okinawa and early scouting reports suggest a large abyssal fleet is already on the way. A force consisting of two battleships, eight cruisers, twenty-six destroyers, and eight submarines is gathered at Sasebo Naval base to defend Okinawa. The plan is for this force to split into two task forces and engage any abyssal forces in the area once we have naval dominance a convoy consisting of troop and supply ships will offload troops, armor, food, and medical supplies for the defenders so they can resist any invasion attempts; Vice Admiral Takeaki is in overall command of the operation.
Ise POV
First impressions of Sasebo it's practically identical to Yokosuka and rivals it in size. Currently, it's host to the largest collection of ship girls in the war and we all have one destination: Okinawa.
"So what are your thoughts about the new girls," Kako asked.
Ah right once we arrived at Sasebo our taskforce was reinforced, unfortunately, I haven't had the time to speak with them.
"I haven't gotten to speak with them, have you?"
"No, I was opening you'd be able to tell me a little bit about them."
"I can't tell you anything about the new girls in our force but I can tell you a bit about Fuso."
Fuso, from what she has told me, was summoned right after the 'Battle of Nemuro' and his this deep feeling of dishonor you could call it. She firmly believes if she had been summoned sooner she could have prevented the attack on Nemuro and saved thousands of lives. That may be true but she was summoned after the battle so there was nothing she could do a fact I've tried to explain to her multiple times.
"I haven't had a chance to talk to her what's she like?"
"She serious and believes in honor which explains why she feels responsible for Nemuro."
"She feels responsible?"
I nodded, "No matter how I tell it she doesn't believe me thinks if she assists in the defense of Okinawa it will 'remove the stain on my honor,' I quoted.
"Huh. Well its not her fault even if she does believe it is."
"All ship girls assigned to the third fleet report to the briefing room."
The Third fleet combined taskforces fifty-two, fifty-five and a destroyer squadron for the defensive of Okinawa I'm not sure if it will be permanent or if it will be disbanded after the mission
"Sounds like we're getting ready to move out."
"It does come on let's not keep them waiting."
Hatsuyuki POV
Scouting is what destroyers do but sometimes listening to lectures can be more interesting. Four of us are on patrol around Okinawa: Shirayuki, Isonami, Shirakumo, and my self. Shirayuki and Isonami patrol the west side while Shirakumo and I patrol the east side and there has been no sign of the abyssals, at least for now. The weather is calm so spotting them won't be difficult, hopefully, we see them first.
"I'm glad to be out of that stuffy base I wish I brought my bathing suit though," Shirakumo pouted.
"When this is over we'll spend a day here at the beach, sound good?"
She smiled, "That sounds wonderful maybe get Ise and a few girls to come with us."
"You just want to ogle Ise's breasts again don't you," I teased.
"I didn't 'ogle' at her breasts."
"Really, then what do you call staring directly at her chest?"
"Its not my fault I'm short or that her breasts are perfect," She froze when she realized what she said and turned to hide her blush.
"Shut up."
"I'm not saying anything, besides she does have a great chest," her face to turn ruby red.
"Hatsuyuki," she wined.
I chuckled, "Alright, alright I'll stop."
Just then our radios crackled to life, "Heads up you two we spotted abyssals."
"How many?"
"Five destroyers it appears to be a forward scout force."
"Should we engage," Shirakumo asked.
"No, you two keep searching for the main abyssal force Shirayuki and I will distract them and allow you to slip by."
"Understood be careful you two."
"Same for you we'll see you back at base."
I could hear the cracking of guns as we slipped away from the island continuing our search for the abyssal force and we didn't have to search long. Silhouettes appeared on the horizon and we needed to be quick so I focused on the large silhouettes while Shirakumo focused on the smaller ones and after sixty seconds we gathered the intel we needed and quickly broke away.
"How many?"
"Eighteen destroyers and ten cruisers. Capital ships?"
"One battleship and two possible battlecruisers. Its not as large as I expected."
"Just makes it easier for the fleet we'll report back when we're a safe distance from Okinawa."
"Sounds good."
Ise POV
"Alright listen up. A few minutes ago we received a scouting report from Hatsuyuki the enemy fleet consists of a battleship, two possible battlecruisers, ten cruisers, and eighteen destroyers. Further reports from Okinawa also show that the abyssals have split their fleet to bombard the island from both sides. Force A on the west side of the island consists of a battleship, five cruisers, and nine destroyers while force B on the East side consists of the two battlecruisers along with the remaining cruisers and destroyers. The plan is to divide and conquer taskforce fifty-two will engage force A while taskforce fifty-five engages force B simultaneously once the abyssals are dealt with troop and supply ships will reinforce the garrison," Takeaki explained. "Any questions?"
"Do the abyssals have reinforcements standing by?"
"Not that we know of but be ready in case they do show up any more questions?"
No one asked, "Alright you depart in ten."
"Ready Ise?"
"Let's do this."
Ten minutes later we sortied toward Okinawa and we finally got a chance to talk with some of the new girls.
"So I'm Kako what's your name?" She startled the cruiser next to her causing her to snicker.
"I'm Isuzu and this is my sister Natori."
"Are you two Nagara's sisters because you look exactly like her."
"Yeah she's our oldest sister," Natori said.
"How is she? We haven't had a chance to talk to her."
"She was fine last time I spoke with her I bet she would love to hear that her sisters have been summoned."
"We planned to call her after the mission and I would love to hear what she has been up to," Isuzu said.
"Hey, don't forget about us," three annoyed destroyers poked out behind Natori and glared at Isuzu. Calling their look a glare is generous its more like an annoyed pout. Why must destroyers be so adorable!?
"She WAS going to interduce you three," Natori pointedly said sending a proper glare to the destroyers causing all of them to try and hide behind Kako which made her laugh.
"Well, since you three are using me as a shield could you interduce yourselves so I know who I'm protecting."
One of the destroyers jumped away and proclaimed, "My name is Miyuki and I do not need protecting unlike these two."
"Hey! Just because we're not as crazy as you doesn't mean we need protecting! I'm Ayanami by the way."
"And I'm Shikinami all three of us are proud members of the Fubuki-class destroyer!"
"Well, it's lovely to meet the five of you. You already know my name this is Ise and my sister Furutaka; Karukaya, Fuyo, Sanse, Aoi, and Hishi are our resident destroyers."
I nodded to them, "It's nice to meet you."
Miyuki zipped up to me, "You're a battleship!?"
I leaned back and looked toward Kako for help she just shrugged and smiled at me.
Before I could answer she'd already turned her attention to Karukaya who quickly hid behind me to get away from her, then she zipped off to bother her sisters.
"Is she always like this?"
"Yes, she is extremely hyper even for a destroyer."
"Great, just great a destroyer that's permanently hyped up on caffeine just what we need," Furutaka sarcastically said.
I looked down at Karukaya, "Are you going to let go of me?"
She shook her head, "You're warm," she mumbled into my side.
I smirked and kissed her on the head, her face turned bright red and she buried her head deeper into my side. Adorable.
Okinawa
Corporal Shoko POV
The consistent bombardment is like an earthquake except it never ends and I fell on my ass from the force of the explosions. Waiting for the worst of it to pass I shakily stood up and leaned against a wall just as the bombardment continued this time I managed to keep my balance.
"Fucking hell when is it going to end," Private Suzu asked. He had long since given up on standing and just sat at the back of the dugout.
"They'll probably keep it up for a couple more hours at least."
"Great, fan-fucking-tastic. You ever see an abyssal up close Shoko?"
"No, and if I had it my way I never would but with how things are going I'm pretty sure everyone will get a close up look at the abyssals."
"I heard they're fucking invincible how the hell are supposed to kill them?"
"Don't worry we won't be fighting the abyssals shelling us just their ground forces and they're tough but not invincible. If you go for their head they go down pretty quick and you can also take them down by going for their legs forget about center mass you'll just be wasting ammo."
"How do you know that?"
"My NCO told the whole platoon about it they'll probably call a meeting later and tell the whole garrison about it soon."
Another explosion rocked the earth and I grabbed a pillar to steady myself another shell landed in the trench right at the dugout's entrance and blew me onto my back. I raised my head and gave Suzu a thumbs up to let him know I'm okay, this is gonna be a long day.