The sun hung high in the sky as 1400 struck the clocks, and thus far the base had been relatively quiet. With training cancelled, and all expeditions scrubbed, most were getting any amount of sleep or rest that they could. In her room, Jintsuu tossed in her futon trying to get comfortable again. Lights out, and curtains closed, the room was mostly dark, but slightly lit from the cracks of light that shone through the edges of her curtains. She rubbed her face, and looked at the time. She had been asleep for almost a full fourteen hours. She'd never done that before in her entire life. Her muscles still ached from the day prior, but reluctantly she got up out of her futon. This wasn't good, even the most basic tasks became a chore with her muscles in their condition.
Sitting up in her futon, Jintsuu took the time to take a look at what bothered her most, her feet. While no blisters had taken shape yet, they still hurt the most out of everything. She gently rubbed her feet for a few seconds each before letting go and just gazing at the floor in front of her. Combat once again was right around the corner, and occupied her thoughts. She wondered what she would be doing, who she would be with, and if she would do okay. Or if this would be the last time she set sail. These thoughts lingered in her head for several minutes, until she began wondering what the plan might look like, and if Daimlon could really make a decent plan of attack. With a sigh, she resigned herself to her fate, whatever that may be. For Jintsuu, waiting to go into battle was often as tough as the fight itself.
Daimlon rubbed his eyes as he looked over the assignments, his positions, his timing and choices for the fifth time. He had only gotten three hours of sleep, unable to let himself neglect his first real mission. He wanted to be able to attend the next officer's meeting with at least one successful mission, but he was having second thoughts. Eleven ships was skimpy for attacking a base, even if it was a small one, and that's putting it generously. However, after presenting his case so adamantly and convincingly the day before, he couldn't back down now.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed, even though he had gone over it multiple times and came up empty handed for improvements, there were still some gaps in the plan that allowed the Abyssals to take advantage of such a bold move. While Daimlon was typically not one to drink alcohol, he found himself wishing for some to help him calm his nerves. He glanced at the clock, wondering how long it would be until he would give the girls their assignments. It read 1548.
Daimlon wasn't sure what to do with himself, he was finished planning and there was nothing to do until the time came. With Asashio's help yesterday, they managed to clear his schedule of administrative work so he would have more time to plan. But now, he was regretting that choice a little bit.
That's when Regina appeared in his office in a white vapor cloud. "Daimlon, we just received our notice from Grand Admiral Hokama." She stated.
Daimlon perked up, and raised an eyebrow. "Well, where are we headed?" He asked.
"Miyagi Island, Okinawa. That's where the meeting is taking place." She said, adjusting her glasses.
"Makes sense considering Okinawa is in a relatively central location... What kind of time table are we working with? Will we be able to afford the airfield in time?" Daimlon asked.
"You will stay overnight at Okinawa eight days from now... It's possible, but you'll have to send everyone on expeditions every day, and cease all other construction, but I believe we can construct it on time." Regina said confidently. While their bauxite reserves were quite low, eight days would be plenty for a low level airfield, even considering the thirty hour construction time for just the first level.
Daimlon just gave a pleased smile. "Excellent. Send a message back informing him our airfield should be ready on time." Daimlon instructed.
Regina just gave a small salute. "Right away." She said, and immediately dissipated into the all too familiar cloud.
Daimlon glanced back at the clock. 1549. Sometimes he felt like time was standing still just to mock him.
Naganami was lying on her back against the concrete, staring at the sky as she contemplated what it was she was about to embark upon. She was technically well trained and prepared for this, but it still made her feel a little uneasy. Lying back at the end of one of the base's docking arms, legs dangling off the edge, she observed the blazing orange hues visible in the clouds. Unable to see the sunset, she settled for the next best thing.
She hardly noticed a set of footsteps approach from behind. "Rest well?" She heard the voice ask. It belonged to Fubuki.
"Eh, good nuff. How about you?" She replied, not taking her gaze off the clouds and sky.
Fubuki just sat down next to her. "Could've done better." Fubuki said. Glancing up at the sky, she decided to kill the last few minutes before the briefing away from the main group in the Mess Hall.
"So what's up? Didn't peg you for the type to just walk up outta nowhere and strike up a conversation. Somethin' on your mind?" Naganami asked. Under normal circumstances she would take the opportunity to get a friendly jab or two in there, but these were delicate times and everyone was kind of on edge.
"I was actually about to ask the same about you. I didn't think I'd find you of all people out here looking at the clouds like you're deep in thought. Wanted to make sure you were okay." Fubuki replied after a small laugh.
Naganami laughed. "You kiddin'? I can't wait to get going. The sooner we do this thing the sooner it's behind us." She said confidently.
Fubuki just looked at down at her. "So.. You're not scared or worr-" Fubuki started before being cut off.
"What kinda moron do ya think I am? Course I'm nervous... I just won't let it bother me, I can't." Naganami said, starting in a high tone but easing off at the end.
There was a drawn out silence between them. Fubuki promptly broke it. "You know, I just hope everyone comes back. It'll be a good experience for us all." She said.
Naganami just looked at her with slightly widened eyes. "Did you just go there? Oh my god you did. You need to hush right now!" Naganami said a little sternly. Fubuki just looked back at her with a confused look. "You can't go around doing this Fubuki, if this were a movie or a book or some shit that'd be the biggest death flag of all time! Now one of us is screwed. Come on, everyone knows that." Naganami said. It wasn't clear to Fubuki if she was being serious or trying to break the tension by making jokes. "I volunteer you." Naganami remarked with a slight grin. And that settled it, she was just acting like a fool.
Fubuki just smiled a little. "Well, I figured since you weren't that concerned I might as well plant a flag or two. You know, keep it a little interesting" She stated. Upon finishing, Fubuki just lie back against the concrete with Naganami, looking up at the clouds with her.
"Well, plant a flag or two somewhere else, I'm not interested." Naganami jested.
Silence fell between them again, and nothing was said as the clouds continued to roll over the base. Fubuki couldn't help it. 'I just hope... I can see this... One more time.' She thought to herself.
As the minutes dragged on, eventually it had to be broken. "Five minutes until the briefing for UG begins. Everyone make your way to the briefing room immediately." The loudspeakers across the base boomed, projecting Daimlon's voice.
"Aaand, there it is." Naganami said, sitting up. Without wasting any time, she stood to her feet and gave one last look at the sky.
"Wanna go AWOL?" Fubuki asked, clearly joking.
Naganami just looked down at Fubuki, who was still lying on her back. All around them the base began to show signs of life. "Hell no, the Abyssals aren't gonna sink themselves." Naganami said as confidently as possible, and extended her hand down to Fubuki.
With a smile, Fubuki took it, where Naganami then helped her to her feet. "Thanks." She muttered.
Naganami started walking up the arm. "Come on ya deserter, let's see what happens." She said. Sure enough, Fubuki just fell in behind her, following all the way to the HQ.
...Ten, eleven, twelve. Daimlon thought to himself, counting heads. Everyone was present, except for Yuu, and they were finally ready to get to business. Some idle chatter was audible as they waited for Daimlon to begin, but most were quiet and looking at Daimlon. Clearing his throat before he begun, Daimlon spoke loudly. "Thank you for making it on time today. Did we sleep well? Everyone ready for this?" He asked, hoping for some good responses.
"Hell yeah! Ready to kick some ass here, Daimlon!" Sendai shouted with an eager look on her face.
Asashio followed up behind her. "Yes, Commander. I'm ready as well." She said professionally.
In the same corner she was in yesterday, Akebono just rolled her eyes.
"Good here, Daimlon." Maikaze said, though not sounding quite as chipper as she usually did.
"Ready." Furutaka said, uttering only a single word as she looked on with a determined look.
With no more responses coming out, Daimlon took what he could get from them. "Good. Tonight, the Abyssal base at UG Island ceases to exist. Time off will be 1900 hours, you will be underway for about four hours and are expected to make contact at 2310 hours. As specified before, this will be a night time operation." He announced boldly. With a small remote in his hand, he clicked a button, bringing the projector screen to life while simultaneously dimming the lights in the room. Displayed was a bird's eye view of UG Island, and the base there. "This is UG Island. As you can see, small sections of landmass wrap around a central harbor, similar to our own base. This island is too small for a base of sufficient size, but the Abyssals have made a very compact base capable of repairing and refueling vessels. Our mission is to destroy the facility as it is supplying sorties against a nearby Merchant vessel lane linking Australia and Japan in the Philippine Sea."
Daimlon shifted his stance slightly as he looked at the projector behind him. "This is their most forward position against us, and has been here only a short time. As such, we can only expect Destroyer fleets with the occasional Light Cruiser, however Heavy Cruisers could be in the area. We expect resistance to be anywhere from minimal to moderate, however I'm taking no chances here." Daimlon said, pausing a moment to gather himself. "For this operation, you will split into three separate teams." Pressing a button on his remote, the projector switched to the next slide, planting the numbers '1', '2', and '3' on the edge of the map, where they would be moving in from. He planted his arm up on the projection on the large number '1' and motioned where necessary toward his talking points. "Both team one and two will move in together under radio silence and with all running lights disabled." Pressing the button on his remote again, an arrow now depicted team one and two's movement toward UG, with a smaller arrow pointing in to the harbor itself. The large '1' was located in the harbor, while the large '2' was located at the entrance.
"At the entrance to the harbor, team one will peel off from team two and move into the harbor. Once team one has reached their goal, they will begin destruction of the base as well as any ships currently moored at the harbor. Meanwhile, team two will stay at the entrance to stand guard, ensuring nothing gets in or out and preventing team one from being flanked." Once again, Daimlon pressed the button to his remote. Now a separate arrow, originating from the '3', moved off to the side, further out to sea at a moderate distance. "Team three will take up a position further out to sea, and will serve as both a flanking force as well as a withdrawal screen in case we need to retreat. If team two needs assistance, team three will move in to assist, flanking the enemy. If a withdrawal is necessary, they will move in front of teams one and two while they make their get away, lay down a blanket of torpedoes and then disengage themselves. Any questions so far?" Daimlon said, hoping his plan looked good enough for them.
Sendai just smiled softly, seemed simple enough to her. Team one was responsible for destruction, two for protection, and three for counter attacks and withdrawals. She liked it, it took full advantage of the limited visibility of darkness.
With no one speaking up, Daimlon moved on.
"I will now announce the teams... Team one will be Asashio," He said loudly.
Asashio perked up a bit, giving him a determined looked.
"Akebono," Daimlon continued.
Akebono just squinted her eyes at him. He was seriously going to keep her away from the fight?
"Kisaragi,"
Hearing her name, she didn't have a noticeable reaction. She would be kept away from the majority of the fighting, and felt a little safer.
"And finally Jintsuu." Daimlon concluded in his announcements for team one. Though Jintsuu had previously been taken off of sortie ready status for her tests, he had reinstated her status for this mission.
Jintsuu didn't respond at all, not even a twitch of the eye.
"Asashio!" Daimlon said loudly, demanding a response.
Asashio looked directly at him. "Yes, sir?" She replied quickly.
"You will be flagship for the operation, as well as team leader for team one. Understood?" Daimlon said.
"Yes, sir!" Asashio responded in a determined voice. Being named flagship meant she had control of the entire operation whenever Daimlon did not, serving as acting commander in his absence.
"Team two is.. Furutaka," Daimlon started once again.
Furutaka completely expected being assigned to team two, it was the only sensible place to put her after all.
"Maikaze," He glanced at her for a moment.
She adjusted herself, giving a determined look and puffing her chest out a little. Looks like she would be right in the thick of it.
"Sendai," Daimlon continued.
"Yes!" Sendai shouted, clearly ecstatic to be assigned to team two.
Giving a slight smile, he gave the final name. "And Naganami." He finished.
Naganami simply looked over to Fubuki, and gave her a slight stink eye, visually saying 'Look what you did'. Fubuki just smiled at her.
"Furutaka! You will be team leader for team two. Got it?" Daimlon commanded.
Furutaka gave a nod. "Yes." She replied.
Giving no pause, Daimlon kept going. "Team three will be Yahagi,"
She just gave him a blank look, with her arms crossed.
"Shigure," He said.
Shigure audibly gave a slight sigh, absolutely relieved she would be further away from the combat.
"And Fubuki." Daimlon finished.
Fubuki was somewhat pleased, but also nervous. She wouldn't be directly fighting, but she also wouldn't be directly helping everyone else either.
"Yahagi, you will be team leader for team three." Daimlon announced. Yahagi gave no response at all, which immediately made Daimlon momentarily question his choice to make her the team leader.
"What about Yuu and Lilly?" Maikaze asked, raising her hand.
Daimlon gave a slight smile. "Yuu has her own orders and is already underway to UG. She will serve as another pair of eyes, and will prevent us from being flanked ourselves. Lilly will attach herself to team three, but will not engage under any circumstances and will remain as far back as possible unless someone is in need of help." He said proudly, hoping they would be impressed with the care he was taking to keep them safe.
"Now, each team has a set of smaller responsibilities." Daimlon said. It was time for the details of each team's mission. "Team one!" He said loudly, looking directly at Asashio. "Your primary objective is the destruction of this base, however it will be lightly defended by a couple coastal guns, ships and other defenses. These coastal guns are destroyer caliber guns, and shouldn't pose too much of a threat. However, you will eliminate all defenses within the harbor before you begin destroying the base. Understood?"
"Yes, Commander." Asashio replied. Since it was her team, she was primarily responsible for all the details of their mission. She was determined to prove herself, and refused to allow herself to let Daimlon down. She also knew what was coming next.
"You also have a secondary objective. We have identified a High Value Target in the form of an Abyssal Battleship currently moored at UG." Daimlon said, pressing the button on his remote to reveal the recon photo gathered by Sendai, showing the Battleship. Several sets of eyes lit up with concern. "Take note of its position. When you begin the operation, you will shine all available lights at this location, and fire every torpedo you have at this Battleship. Do not even give it a chance of surviving, and eliminate it before you do anything else, understood?" Daimlon finished.
"Yes, sir." Asashio responded once again. It was like a check list, Battleship first, then harbor defenses and ships, and then the base itself. They were really going to leave nothing behind in this operation.
"You're seriously banking everything on a salvo of torpedoes? If that thing lives, it will demolish us all!" Akebono spat, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. He actually thought about sending just four light ships against a Battleship?
Daimlon glared at her, daring her to continue to question him. "Which is why you are firing every single torpedo you have." He shot back at her.
"And what if this Battleship has torpedo nets surrounding it, did ya check that in yer little photo? You wouldn't even be able to see it!" Akebono shouted, it was clear to everyone in the room she had a serious issue with the plan. And also a valid point.
Daimlon kicked himself mentally. He never thought about a torpedo net, how could he miss something so crucial? He hesitated for a second, unsure of what to say. Akebono immediately took advantage.
"What now? Are you still going to send us on this little suicide run because you're too prideful to admit you failed to plan well? Admit it, you drew up this plan in all of five minutes, it screams the work of an amateur!" She shouted, refusing to allow Daimlon to defend himself.
The eyes of the room fell to Daimlon, most of them curious to see what Daimlon's reply would be. Daimlon was cursing Akebono in his mind. "Hey princess!" Sendai shouted, getting her attention. "Why don't ya shut the fuck up and let the Admiral admiral?" Sendai said, trying to get her to back off. To Sendai, they couldn't afford to have someone throwing around seeds of mistrust and disloyalty. "Besides, torpedo nets can be cut ya moron. Just need to use a torpedo tipped with a sharp edge. Send it through first, the rest get through no problem. It's called a torpedo net cutter, imagine that!" Sendai said in a harsh, lecturing tone, crossing her arms and turning her body away from Akebono as she finished.
Daimlon just gave an inaudible sigh of relief, he'd been saved. Sendai was getting the next medal.
"Oh yeah, and do we even have any of these net cutters!?" Akebono shouted back, refusing to let up.
Sendai just looked over to Daimlon, allowing him to speak for himself. Daimlon wordlessly reached into his coat, and withdrew his tablet. He paged Nonna.
Nonna showed her face almost immediately. "Hey Daimlon." She said, glad to offer her help.
"Do we have any torpedo net cutters available?" He asked her.
Nonna knew right off the top of her head. "Nope." She said.
Before Daimlon could even say anything, Akebono spoke up. "See!? I told you he didn't plan this at all!" She shouted.
"You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?" Sendai asked, nearing the end of her patience. "You can use any sharp object and just tape it to the frickin' torpedo, it's not rocket science. For fuck's sake." Sendai said in a horridly irritated tone.
The room was silent for a few moments before Akebono came back. "Oh sure, just tape a pair of kid's scissors to the end of the torpedo and it'll be fine!" She shouted sarcastically.
There was an extended silence as Sendai had finally reached the very end of her patience. A special kind of hell awaited Akebono as she just turned her head to the girl.
"She's right. On one operation I went on... We just welded kitchen knife blades to the end of a torpedo in like a V shape... And it worked." Jintsuu said somewhat meekly, chiming in. No one could believe their ears when they heard her speak up in the briefing room like that. However, to Jintsuu, she was only backing up her sister. As well as preventing Akebono's imminent demise. She didn't like Akebono, even when she first met her after fishing her out of the water, all she did was complain. However, she was still a member of the team.
Akebono could feel the entire room frown upon her behavior, and realized she was getting nowhere with this. Finally, she relented and gave up on her attempt to slander Daimlon and his plan.
"That all you needed me for?" Nonna asked Daimlon.
"Yeah. Go ahead and fit a torpedo with anything sharp we have on hand. We need to be ready to cut through a torpedo net. And put the torpedo in with Asashio's loadout." He instructed her.
With an approving nod, Nonna just dissipated and got to work on his instruction.
"Anyway, as you were saying, Daimlon?" Sendai asked. Daimlon just looked at her, silently thanking her for her help in dealing with Akebono and getting the discussion back on track. Sendai gave him a wink with a slight smile.
"Right. Team two." Daimlon started, demanding the attention of Furutaka "Your job is to standby and defend until team one's objectives are complete. However, when you give the signal team three will move in to assist. This signal will come in the form of one single use flare, both to illuminate the enemy and signal to team three you need assistance. You should not hesitate to launch this flare if you need it." Daimlon finished.
"Got it." Furutaka replied. Her job seemed pretty simple to her.
"Team three, upon seeing the flare you will move in hard and fast to support team two, however you are prohibited from using your torpedoes until it's time to retreat. Understood?" Daimlon said, shifting his attention to Yahagi, who had yet to say anything, or even move for that matter.
"Yeah." She said simply.
"Whether you successfully destroy the base or are forced to turn home, all teams will regroup with each other and immediately RTB. Is everyone understanding what they need to do? Any questions, voice them now." Daimlon said, finally finished giving the briefing.
Silence. Daimlon looked around the room for a few moments, inspecting their faces. He saw it all; fear, dread, excitement, anticipation, and determination. All balled up into a single facial expression found on several of the girls.
With no replies, he gave one last instruction. "Alright, meet up in your teams for formation specifics and other mission details from your team leader. At 1845 head to the Staging Area for deployment. Good luck everyone." He announced. Within moments of him finishing, Asashio stood up at the front.
"Team leaders, on me!" Asashio said in a raised voice. She was given a position of authority as flagship, and she intended to use it to the best of her abilities.
Daimlon stood at the top of the Staging Area, his arms crossed as the sound of power drills, welders and other commotion filled the air. Behind the railing, he was watching as the first group of his girls were being equipped. With the first group off, the second group stepped up to begin donning their equipment. "Oh, this is just so exciting!" Sendai said, barely able to contain herself at this point. Her first night action, she just couldn't wait to show everyone what she could do.
Most others were fairly tense, and didn't give any response, including Daimlon. "I wish I could have your kind of attitude, Sendai." Naganami said, standing on the concrete behind her.
"Get good at night combat and you just might!" Sendai said encouragingly. And with that, she felt one of the fairies pat her on the shoulder, the indication she was ready to go. With the lights of the Staging Area illuminating everything indoors, she could barely make out anything in front of her as the darkness of the night consumed the harbor.
Naganami just stepped up, the last groups turn to be armed. "Well until then, I think i'll just park myself behind you. Hope you don't mind." Naganami said with a smile.
Sendai just laughed, turning around to look at Naganami as she responded. However, Daimlon caught her eye, an unusually serious look on his face. "Yo!" She shouted.
Daimlon perked up, and looked at Sendai.
"You see this cannon, Daimlon? It's gonna win the war, baby!" She shouted optimistically, a wide smile plastered on her face.
It didn't take long for Naganami to finish, striding past her slightly as she boasted. However, she and several other girls were smiling slightly at her raw optimism. With the last group finished, everyone was ready to go. Asashio adjusted one of her AA guns a little, waiting patiently for everyone to wrap up just outside the Staging Area. Furutaka tested her searchlight, ensuring it functioned normally, and Jintsuu nervously twiddled her thumbs.
"Give 'em hell, ladies." Daimlon said, confident they would bring him victory.
Sendai started cruising out of the Staging Area. "Alright, let's go girls! Get in the fight!" She shouted bombastically, still wearing her smile. Daimlon looked around the everyone he could still see, and saw that their mood had lifted noticeably. While Sendai was usually finding ways to be irritating in down time, she was definitely turning out to be a wonder for morale when it came to operations. Daimlon couldn't help but smirk himself, his own spirits lifted a bit.
Daimlon watched everyone group up into their respective teams, turn off any light sources and make their way out of the harbor. The further away they got, the harder it became to see them. They weren't even out of the harbor before he lost track of them in the crescent moon night.
With a sigh, Daimlon turned back to the HQ. Maybe he could catch at least a couple hours of sleep before the operation began in earnest...
[2300 hours - 10 minutes to expected contact]
Daimlon stood in the Battle Room by himself. He looked at the clock, urgently waiting for a message to come through. Finally, the Personal Battle Map came to life. The screen remained off, but a single page began printing itself and working its way out a slot off to his side. When it finished, he tore the small page from its slot and began reading it.
'Direct from Fairy Comms HQ at - 22:58 hours - 18th July
Received from: Submarine U-511 - Location: 12km from UG Island
In position, UG in state of normal alert. No visible patrols. Will continue to monitor for activity.'
That was what Daimlon was waiting for. Until Marie arrived with the rest of the Task Force, the only way Yuu could communicate with him was by sending encrypted messages to the base, which would then be passed along to him. This is also how communications would be made when not actively connected by the Personal Battle Map.
Daimlon cracked a slight smile, looks like they had no clue what was coming. He set the paper off to the side, and continued waiting for his task force to reach their destination. Only a couple minutes later, the screen lit up on his Battle Map with a message prompt.
'Marie wishes to establish a link. Accept?'
He tapped the yes button, and eagerly waited as a spinning circle took shape in the center of the screen.
"-as arrived at their position." He heard one of the team leaders say, their voice cutting in as the connection was established mid-sentence. It was recognizably the voice of Yahagi.
Upon glancing at his map, he could see that team 3 was in position while teams 1 and 2 were still on the way. four dots waiting out at sea, with eight moving in. Their name and then their respective ship class abbreviation above their name, all of which was hovering over their indicators.
Daimlon took a deep breath, readying himself for the battle ahead. With any luck, this base wouldn't stand a chance. He knew he couldn't start talking until the operation began, otherwise he'd be violating the very radio silence order he issued.
While Asashio couldn't reply to Yahagi since they were under radio silence, she looked back to the rest of the task force. Sendai had dropped her over zealous behavior, and calmed down a bit. Visibility was quite poor, with little moon light illuminating the area. The Abyssal base itself had very poor lighting, but enough to navigate the area without being seen themselves.
The squad of eight girls approached the entrance, and Asashio just held up her hand flat, and then pointed at her feet. Furutaka understood this as a hand sign to stay put, and motioned to her squad to take up a defensive formation, turning around to face anything incoming from the outside.
Asashio and her team continued on, slowing their speed to reduce any visible wakes from their motion. As they rolled into what was definitely Abyssal territory, she could see buildings and small defensive gun emplacements dimly lit up by the base's lighting. One would guess Abyssals had no need for lights, but that was never the case. However, it didn't illuminate the moorings to the harbor, and any ships that were present were an unknown to them, though Asashio could make out shapes here and there, counting at least five destroyers on one side.
At last, they had reached their position, and Asashio faced where the Battleship would be located. With her small spotlight, she aimed it right ahead of her, and flipped it on. Their spotlight only revealed a narrow stretch in front of them, but was all they had available. It was immediately followed by the other three turning on their spotlights as well, shining it in the same direction.
However, it revealed just an empty mooring.
"Wh- where i-" Kisaragi started, before being cut off.
Initially, Asashio hesitated for a moment. Their intel was wrong, and was taken aback by it slightly. "Open fire!" Asashio shouted, turning her small spotlight toward the base, quickly scanning for coastal targets and ships. She ran a quick sweep over the moorings, and counted twelve destroyers in total. Within half a second, she had selected her first target and pulled the trigger, the rest of her squad quickly following up behind her. The muzzle flashes from cannon fire soon lit up the entire base in brief momentary flashes of light.
An alarm quickly sounded on the Abyssal base, and the coastal guns activated. The very first shot pelted Asashio right in the stomach, which started to bleed. Only minor damage. Akebono noticed the first coastal gun emplacement and lobbed a few shells at its location.
Jintsuu was the next to be hit, receiving a hit to her left shoulder. They were at such a close range the coastal guns could easily see them and hit them with their muzzle flashes and small spotlights, but they were quickly destroyed the moment they fired their first shot. Deciding the coastal guns were barely a threat, Jintsuu moved on and started targeting their Destroyers one by one. With her seven 14 centimeter guns, she was able to make short work of most of them. However, not before four of them activated and moved out to engage Asashio's squad.
"All ships of team one, eliminate those Destroyers immediately, we can't have anyone getting hit by a torpedo." Daimlon instructed as he watched several red dots move up to his squad to engage them in close combat.
"Kisaragi, keep your focus on those coastal guns. Everyone else, focus on their Destroyers!" Asashio shouted, shining her small spotlight in the direction of the incoming Destroyers. Already several minutes of the battle had elapsed, and they hadn't even started on the base yet. They needed to move quickly before they recalled some patrols or sortied fleets to defend.
Akebono managed to land a shot on a Destroyer's torpedo tubes, detonating them and immediately causing a massive explosion, leaving a burning wreck that illuminated most of the harbor. That's when Akebono saw it, a torpedo coming in, aimed directly at her. She moved out of the way just in time to watch it cruise past her, and collide with the terrain behind her.
Listening to the loud cannon fire erupting just a short distance away, Furutaka couldn't help but wonder how it was going. The alarm raised by the Abyssals still drilled into her ears as muzzle flashes illuminated even terrain near them, though they did not have direct line of sight on the battle itself. "Stay sharp... Anything could be coming our way." Furutaka stated.
That's when Sendai saw them. A small fleet of unidentified ships moving in from their left, the expected direction a fleet would come from. While she couldn't make out what they were, she knew they had to be Abyssal.
In his office, Daimlon saw only several grey question marks moving in toward team 2. Then a few more, and now there were seven in total.
"Incoming, left side, one eight seven on the compass!" Sendai shouted, a smirk forming on her face. Four kanmusu against seven abyssals would be a landslide of a fight.
Furutaka turned her attention to one eight seven on the compass, and then activated her searchlight. It illuminated a large swath before them clear as day, revealing six destroyers and one light cruiser. Furutaka and her squad had prepped for this, and immediately knew what to do. Furutaka trained her guns on the light cruiser while everyone else trained theirs on the destroyers.
The others managed to fire before Furutaka, and several tracers streaked downrange directly impacting the two frontal destroyers, one knocked out and the other severely crippled. The Abyssals obviously had no clue the group was lying in wait there, as they panicked and broke formation, scrambling everywhere. Furutaka finally took her shot, firing all six barrels at the light cruiser.
While the destruction wasn't a spectacle, it was obvious the light cruiser was finished as it fell on its side, a dark liquid pouring out of its open wounds and into the ocean. "Watch for torpedoes." Furutaka stated. However, it wasn't long before another salvo rang out from Naganami, Sendai and Maikaze, condemning another two destroyers to the bottom of the sea.
Finally, the remaining destroyers began returning fire at the only thing they could see - Furutaka. Only one shell landed square on her chest. It merely bounced back, quickly flipping end over end in a steaming heap off her thicker skin, tumbling into the water. After firing their return shots, the Abyssals turned and began to fall back. Furutaka's group managed to sink one more before the others got away. "No chasing, stay put." Furutaka instructed. She swiped at the scuff mark on her top left by the shell that hit her, trying to clean it. She got a little lucky, they hit the thickest part of her armor, anywhere else it probably would have punched through and damaged her.
Furutaka switched off her searchlight as silence fell among them once again, save for the continued cannon fire from within the harbor. "All base defenses elminated, moving on to base destruction." Furutaka heard Asashio announce on the radio.
With only team leaders having radios, Furutaka took the time to fill in everyone else. "Team one's moved on to the base." She announced. Just as she finished that sentence, a massive explosion erupted from within the base, setting the sky ablaze behind them in a column of fire. Obviously, someone had taken the liberty of lighting the powderkeg that was their fuel and ammo storage facility.
"You don't say?" Sendai asked, merely joking. With the column of fire reaching above the terrain, it illuminated the surrounding area quite well.
Just then, several ships rounded the corner from behind the island, the same direction the last retaliation was from. "Heads up!" Naganami said loudly, taking note of the enemy formation. Already fifteen ships inbound, but that number soon rose to twenty.
"Holy shit, it's a flotilla!" Sendai shouted. Her smirk was gone by this point. They were now in legitimate danger, but still stood a great chance of being victorious.
"Heads up, we've got a flotilla on our hands." Furutaka announced on the radio. She spoke much bolder and louder than she ever had before.
Back in his office, Daimlon just stood there in awe at the group of ships descending on his small squad. Sixteen destroyers and four light cruisers. He was about to issue his first command, but was beaten to the punch.
"I'm sending Kisaragi out to assist." Asashio announced, sending her only undamaged teammate to help repel the attackers.
He was about to issue that same order.
"Thanks. Firing torpedoes. Gonna thin their numbers a bit." Furutaka said aloud. Daimlon was struck with disbelief. He was going to issue that order too. This was likely the vast majority of their forces, and their only true hope at destroying them, and it was looking like an even fight for the most part.
Just as the Abyssals got into firing range of Furutaka's guns, Kisaragi showed up and integrated herself into team 2.
Kisaragi could see them clearly, even as the column of fire had lessened in intensity from just moments ago. Furutaka fired her first salvo, eliminating one of the light cruisers. "Loose torpedoes!" Furutaka ordered, and within moments everyone had fired their torpedoes, hoping to hit anything in the mass of oncoming ships. For a moment, Furutaka thought about throwing the signal, but she had confidence that they could do this without casualties.
The Abyssals opened up in a stream of fire as they entered gun range, Furutaka's squad returning the favor immediately. In the opening salvo, Maikaze, Sendai and Furutaka were all hit with minor damage. The Abyssals suffered several hits, but only one destroyer started to list and sink.
The following salvo found their mark on Furutaka, Sendai and Kisaragi, again with only minor damage. Tracers screamed toward the Abyssal formation barreling in, knocking out one more destroyer and damaging several other ships.
"We're in it now, ya happy Sendai!?" Naganami shouted, teasing Sendai's overly ecstatic behavior from before.
With blood flowing down her cheek from a minor hit to the face, she just laughed. "Oh yeah, I could almost get off like this!" Sendai shouted back.
Firing her guns at the formation again, Naganami just looked at her for a moment. "You've got some sick fetishes!" She said.
Finally their torpedo salvo connected, seven hits in total on six different ships, all of which were either heavily damaged or now sinking.
The tide had been decisively turned in their favor. Another barrage came in from the Abyssals, striking Kisaragi with moderate damage, and Sendai with light damage. They were getting closer, and more destructive as a result.
Just then, another group of ships came into vision. Everyone's heart plummeted as they saw another twenty four ships round the corner, still from the same direction as the rest. There was no way this was just a coincidence.
"It's another whole flotilla!" Maikaze screamed, fear prevalent in her voice.
"Throwing the signal!" Furutaka shouted.
Daimlon, staring at his map, was speechless. Every order he was about to give, every instruction he had, someone beat him to it. Was he even necessary in this? Was he really half as good as the academy let him think he was? He decided to do something at least, and ask Asashio how long it would be.
"Talk to me Asashio, how long until you're done having fun!?" Furutaka asked, in a much more grizzly tone. It was apparent things were getting tougher and tougher as more hits were being sustained.
Daimlon couldn't believe it. Could they read his thoughts?
"Another three minutes and it's done." Asashio replied calmly.
Aiming at the sky, Furutaka let the flare fly high into the sky, illuminating the entire enemy formation. The first group of Abyssals linked up with the second group, creating one massive formation that started to make their way ever closer to the small group of girls, the odds now twenty seven against five.
A small number of Abyssal torpedoes came streaming in, but they were all well aimed and grouped. Naganami faced the largest number of incoming torpedoes and made her best attempt to dodge them. Just then, several shots came screaming in from Abyssal destroyers, and hit Naganami three times. Slightly disoriented, she ended up taking one torpedo to the left leg. With a massive explosion, her left leg was torn clean off, and Naganami immediately toppled over.
"Naganami's been struck! Where the hell is team three!?" Maikaze shouted in a panic.
Furutaka took several more shots from the Abyssals, and turned her searchlight on, hoping to draw their fire away from everyone else. Too late, a To-class light cruiser aimed its guns at Kisaragi and fired, almost all shells impacting directly on her face. While the actual damage was only moderate, her eyes were destroyed.
"Oh my god, I'm blind! I can't see!" Kisaragi shouted, panic consuming her once delicate voice.
Furutaka only had one choice. "Yahagi, get Lilly up here, now!" Furutaka shouted on the radio. With that, she started advancing on her own toward the Abyssal formation, placing herself well in front of her lighter comrades. Her small number of three inch secondary guns now in range, they opened up and augmented her already impressive firepower. "Kisaragi, grab Naganami and get out of here!" She instructed.
Maikaze was then hit a couple times, and a fire ignited on her right shoulder. "Ah! Ah Ah! Fire! I'm on fire!" She shouted, trying frantically to put the fire out by swatting at her shoulder.
Furutaka was struck in the eye containing her searchlight, disabling it. Blood streamed down her face and uniform from the many small caliber hits she'd received so far.
"Kisaragi, she's right in front of you. Grab her and go!" Sendai shouted.
"Right... Here.." Naganami said in a low voice, barely conscious. Her situation was dire, flooding quickly and now useless as a combat vessel. She didn't have long before she lost consciousness and started sinking. She had to recover now. Untying the ribbon in her hair, she wrapped it around her leg as quickly as possible, and made a make-shift tourniquet, tying it off tightly. It did an awful job, but it was all she had on hand.
Naganami managed to reach out and touch Kisaragi, and then grab onto her arm. Kisaragi took off at a much slower speed than before now that she had Naganami in tow.
With a sigh, Yahagi just watched the muzzle flashes from afar, waiting for a signal of some sort to be seen.
"How do you think it's going?" Shigure asked no one in particular.
Fubuki just looked at her. "I'm sure they're fine." She said reassuringly.
"Talk to me Asashio, how long until you're done having fun!?" Yahagi's radio screeched with Furutaka's voice.
"Another three minutes and it's done." This time, it was Asashio's voice.
Several seconds later, the sky was lit ablaze with a single flare. Yahagi just looked at it for a few seconds. Two whole flotillas and the signal was only just now being thrown?
"Flare just went up. East, North-east." Shigure noted. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
Yahagi adjusted her gear one last time. "Alright, in formation. Lilly, move in behind team two and start looking for people in critical condition and get em outta there. Got it?" Yahagi instructed decisively.
Lilly just gave one single nod, and started making her way toward her allies position. With that, Yahagi and her team set off in formation at flank speed, heading directly toward the enemy's position. "Get in there to knife fight ranges and take the pressure off of them." She said.
"Right." Fubuki said boldly.
As they approached closer and closer, they were finally able to make out the situation. "Everyone, loose your torpedoes now, aim directly at zero seven six. Keep a tight spread." Yahagi instructed.
The two girls in formation with her just paused and looked at her. "But Admira-" Shigure started before being cut off.
"Do you want someone to die tonight?" Yahagi asked demandingly.
There was no response.
"Then listen to what I tell you." Yahagi said.
Several moments elapsed, and they were quickly nearing the battle. Since they were coming in from utter darkness, the Abyssals likely wouldn't see them until they were almost on top of them.
Yahagi made some final adjustments and then gave her command. "Loose, zero seven seven." Upon her instruction, the girls all simultaneously fired every torpedo they had, and began moving in their wake behind them. She could see yet another group moving in, counting sixteen in this formation, about to roll around the corner to begin engaging her allies.
Furutaka had taken multiple hits in just the past few seconds and she knew she couldn't take too much more concentrated fire like this. Just then, she saw torpedo wakes coming in off to the side of the Abyssals, striking fourteen targets sixteen times. Almost every torpedo found a target in the Abyssal's tightly concentrated formation. Moments later, Yahagi, Shigure and Fubuki rolled in almost on top of them, and began firing away at the remaining ships not hit.
As they did, Furutaka could see another formation round the corner of the island, sixteen ships started making their way towards them.
"Done, get ready to leave!" Asashio shouted over the radio.
However, Daimlon finally chimed in over the radio. "Yahagi! I told you to hold your torpedoes!" He shouted, obviously not very happy with the fact that she had disobeyed him. There was no response by Yahagi as she continued to hammer away at remaining Abyssal forces. After mopping up the rest of the fleet directly endangering team two, she and her squad fell back to form up with everyone else, preparing to withdraw.
"Thanks." Furutaka said gratefully as Yahagi drew close.
Furutaka turned around to see Maikaze had gotten her fire under control and Asashio's team coming out of the harbor. "We've got more inbound and Yahagi just used her torps." Furutaka said as Asashio closed the distance.
Asashio hardly cared. She saw that Kisaragi and Naganami were absent, and saw the massive number of Abyssal wrecks now destined for the bottom, as well as the new formation closing in. They needed to leave. "Whatever, let's get outta here. All ships, loose torpedoes and fall back!" Asashio instructed.
The missing Battleship ended up being a blessing, as Asashio and her team still had their torpedoes, and launched them at the incoming formation. They immediately turned to retreat, quickly finding themselves consumed by the darkness of night as the light from the burning base became too dim. The Abyssals gave chase after evading, but lost track of them shortly after and fell back.
The action lasted a whopping twenty two minutes from the time Asashio's team fired the first shell to the time Abyssal forces gave up chasing them. They were all exhausted. After their withdrawal they regrouped into a single large formation with their lights on to assess the damage before continuing on.
Naganami was in bad shape. She was unconscious but being towed by Lilly. Kisaragi clung to the back of Sendai's shirt as her guide home. Everyone was bloody, but to varying degrees. Maikaze's shoulder was covered in third degree burns.
"Is she going to make it?" Fubuki asked, referring to Naganami.
Lilly spoke up, hoping to quell everyone's fears. "I think so. She's not flooding anymore, so unless she gets hit again she should be okay." Lilly said somewhat confidently.
Marie, who had now terminated the link with Daimlon, spoke up. "I agree with Lilly, she's barely clinging on, but she's safe now." She said, hoping to lift spirits a little. Sure, they just torched an entire abyssal base and destroyed several dozen enemy ships, but the mood was downright pitiful among the group.
[Five hours later]
Daimlon watched the group roll into harbor. Naganami was immediately taken to the repair docks, as was Kisaragi. Everyone else, while damaged, was okay. He looked out his window at the faint smudges of orange on the horizon, sunrise fast approaching. And he still hadn't slept. He was waiting for a final report from Nonna on the mission's results. He was still greatly disturbed by what happened. He contributed just about nothing to the operation, his own team leaders had proven to be more effective than he was.
Cutting into his train of thought, Nonna appeared in the room quietly, waiting for Daimlon to acknowledge her.
"Well?" He asked in a simple tone.
"Yuu confirmed the destruction of UG, the operation was successful and also reported surviving Abyssals are falling back. I told her to head home, I hope that's okay." Nonna said, just starting her report to Daimlon.
"That's fine." He said, still looking out the window.
Nonna paused for a moment. Daimlon was completely different ever since the operation took place, and she wasn't sure why. It had gone just about as well as one could hope. "We have also confirmed thirty seven Abyssal ships were sunk, thirteen critically damaged and the rest damaged to varying degrees or unharmed." She said.
"What about Naganami? And why were there so many?" Daimlon asked, finally turning to face her. He wanted to know exactly why there were so many Abyssal ships, and why they came at him one fleet at a time instead of together, as well as a number of things.
Nonna hesitated slightly, but pulled out her clipboard and looked it over as she listed the casualties. Instead of telling him, she wanted to show him. She transferred the document to his tablet. "Check your tablet, I've sent a full damage report to you." She advised.
Daimlon did so, and opened up the document.
'Damage report for action at UG Island:
No Damage: Lilly, U-511
Minor Damage: Shigure, Jintsuu
Light Damage: Asashio, Fubuki, Akebono
Moderate Damage: Yahagi, Sendai, Furutaka
Heavy damage: Kisaragi, Maikaze
Critical Damage: Naganami
Sunk: None
End report'
Looking at the report, he saw nothing too surprising, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was supposed to go much smoother than it did.
"Furthermore, thanks to Yuu's reports, we've deduced that several Abyssal fleets were heading back to rearm and refuel from sorties against merchant fleets at the time you arrived. It was simply dumb luck they stumbled across you when they did. They were low on fuel and ammunition, and most had already used their torpedoes..." Nonna said.
Everyone had been in a somewhat poor mood since they got back. Not as bad as directly after the operation from what she gathered from Marie, but the mood cheered up dramatically the moment it was confirmed that Naganami was going to be fine. She didn't understand why Daimlon couldn't express even the slightest amount of satisfaction. "What's wrong? This was an astounding victory, I mean you destroyed an entire base and sank thirty seven ships, and didn't lose anyone. Sure, they were basic Abyssal ships that rely on swarm tactics, but that's still impressive. You should be very proud of each of them, and yourself too." She said, almost pleading with him to tell her why he wasn't remotely happy.
In the short time Daimlon had known her, he grew to trust Nonna and really liked how she made talking about his own feelings easy. There was a knock on the door before Daimlon could start speaking. "Come in." He announced.
Asashio walked through the door, bandaged but with faint smears of blood still on her from the operation. As her damage was relatively light and there only a limited number of repair bays, her repairs had been delayed. In stark contrast to injuries sustained outside their kanmusu form, injuries sustained in their kanmusu form would not heal on their own and had to be repaired in a repair bay. As such, they suffered no negative side effects since they did not recover at all.
"Asashio? Shouldn't you be in bed right now?" Daimlon asked, concerned. Everyone who wasn't busy being repaired was sleeping, and naturally was a little surprised to see her up.
Asashio just walked toward the center of the room, door clattering shut behind her. "I couldn't sleep." She said. Both Daimlon and Nonna picked up on how she was acting a little different. She was much less formal than she normally was, and her posture wasn't as sharp either. "I just couldn't stop thinking.." She explained.
"Well, I'm giving you an order to sleep until you're called for repairs." Daimlon instructed. He wanted everyone back in top shape by tomorrow so they could resume normal operation.
"Right... I'm sorry, Admiral.." She said, in a shockingly meek tone.
Daimlon just looked at her, dumbfounded by this new side of Asashio he was seeing. "..For what? You did good." He said reassuringly.
But that just wasn't true as far as Asashio was concerned. "We didn't sink the Battleship. I failed to complete an objective you assigned." She said, looking at the floor. Deep down she knew it wasn't her fault, but she didn't want Daimlon to be disappointed with her or her performance. She felt an apology was necessary, even though she knew Daimlon wasn't upset with her. She couldn't understand why she felt the need to apologize, she just did.
Daimlon gave a sigh. "That was also a secondary objective, which are exactly that - Secondary. You did great Asashio, I have no complaints about you or your team. Unlike a certain individual in team three." He said, hoping to offer her some consolation.
"Speaking of which, did you want me to send in Yahagi when her repairs finish?" Nonna said abruptly.
"Yeah, and the rest of her team as well. Disobeying direct orders is not acceptable." Daimlon said in a surprisingly simple tone.
Asashio, clearly exhausted, just decided to follow the order Daimlon gave her. "Very well. I'll be heading to bed as you commanded, then." Asashio announced, still talking unusually quietly.
"Alright Asashio. Goodnight, and try not to be too hard on yourself, okay?" Daimlon suggested.
"Goodnight Asashio, I'll call you when its time for your repairs." Nonna said. She found it odd they were saying good night considering it was almost dawn.
Asashio walked toward the door and opened it. "Thank you, see you tomorrow." She said, walking out the door and closing it behind her.
After a brief moment of silence fell between them, Nonna continued her report from before. "Yuu should be back by 1200 hours. All repairs should be finished within twelve hours. Should I send all relevant data to High Command?" Nonna asked.
Daimlon gave it a thought. "..Nah. I'll write up my own After Action Report, and send that along with everything else." Daimlon said.
"Very well... So, are you going to tell me why you're not happy with the results?" Nonna inquired.
Daimlon took a seat in his chair and sighed once again. He was utterly exhausted. "I'm very happy with the results... Just, wish it could've gone better." Daimlon said. He wasn't lying, but what bothered him more than anything was that his inputs were completely unnecessary, the entire operation went off without him saying hardly a word.
"Aside from Naganami, I'd say it went just about as well as it could have." Nonna said, crossing her arms. She almost had him spilling it before Asashio walked in.
Daimlon thought for a few moments. "Just tired, is all. Haven't slept for quite a while now." He said dismissively.
Normally, Nonna would press him like a defiant stamp, but given the circumstances she decided to relent. With an audible sigh, she decided to just float closer to him and offer him a smile. "Alright, but listen, if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here, okay?" Nonna said. It was painfully obvious to her that he was more than just tired, he was always some sort of sleep deprived, and he never acted like that. In most cases, you could hardly tell.
"Thanks Nonna, but I'm fine." He said, trying to convince himself of that as much as he was her.
"Good. Now get yourself some sleep. You've earned that much." She said cheerfully, broadening her smile a little before dissipating into the fairies' signature vapor cloud.
With a sigh, Daimlon leaned back in his chair. He already made up his mind, he would not sleep. Standing from his seat, he walked back over to the Battle Room, and up to his Personal Battle Map. All combats were recorded in the local system, and could be replayed for analysis. Over the next several hours, he played it over and over again, digging for anything he could have done to make the operation go better. He found a few kinks and ways to optimize, but ultimately he came to a single conclusion.
His team leaders made the best possible choices for him.