Drake sucked in a breath as he dodged the right hook, barely avoiding a black eye. However, he didn't have much time to rest as a kick came rushing towards his chin. He crossed his forearms in an 'X' shape to block it, but the impact from the strike still hurt quite a bit as it reverberated throughout his forearms. Gritting his teeth in pain, the admiral slipped backwards and away from his opponent as he reformed his stance.

Suzuya smirked at him from her position opposite from him, her stance mirroring his.

"Can't just go an' throw us to the ground like ya used to, huh, Admiral?"

"You've gotten better," he acknowledged as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "I think that's enough for today."

The rest of the ship girls who were busy sparring on the sands of the beach also stopped soon after, eager to break for lunch. Since they now had thirteen ships in their fleet, the girls could no longer pair off one-on-one for CQC training, so they either had uneven matchups or they trained on the beach where Drake could be someone's sparring partner. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the ship girls were much more skilled than they used to be at CQC, so Drake could no longer slip past their defenses and toss them around.

The admiral sat on a rock and drained half of a water bottle in two deep gulps. The ship girls filtered out of the beach and made their way towards the interior of the base, leaving Drake alone with the sea breeze and the sound of the waves. It had been about two weeks since their 'party,' and so far, nothing of note had happened. It was now getting towards the end of fall and the temperature was beginning to drop, something Drake actually welcomed since he was not a fan of hot weather. The fleet continued to train as usual, with the addition of Bismarck being the only real change. Speaking of Bismarck, she was still not very well-liked by the other girls, though they were slowly warming up to her now that she wasn't acting prickly towards them. The only people she really got along with were Drake and maybe Kaga, but the admiral hoped that would change soon enough.

Drake took a breath of the salty, crisp air and immediately felt rejuvenated. He finished off the last of the water bottle and stood up, stretching a bit before heading towards the inside of the base as well.

Though the atmosphere in the base was peaceful on the surface, there was a hidden layer of tension underneath. As evidenced by their building of airfields in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the appearance of the Airfield Princess, the Abyssals were becoming more and more active. However, ever since the bombing of the base, they had been suspiciously quiet. Barring the ridiculous idea that the Abyssals had just given up and crawled back into the deep blue, this could only mean one thing: they were gearing up for a large offensive. Drake could see no other reason why the Abyssals were quiet for so long unless they were planning something or stockpiling resources.

Their last two major missions were essentially failures, though… I wonder what they will try next.

Whatever it was, it had to be something that would finally give the Abyssals a victory. The Abyssal Fleet hadn't had a big win since Tangier, and that was years ago. If they operated even remotely similarly to a normal navy, then they would need to boost morale somehow. As it stood right now, the Abyssals were losing… However, that assessment was only superficial. It was like saying someone lost a fight because he got a minor injury and his opponent was unscathed; nothing significant enough had happened yet to truly declare winners and losers.

And that's why the next strike is crucial. Whoever can deliver the next big victory will truly turn the tide of the war in their side's favor.

Drake ate a quick lunch and then headed to the office, realizing that there was something he forgot to do. Even if he wasn't back to the beach in time, his fleet would continue on with their training, so he didn't really need to be there.

When he entered the office, he found that the other two admirals were in, but that was about it. It seemed the ship girls who were normally there were all off on their lunch break or were training.

"Fleet Admiral," Drake greeted in Japanese, stepping up to Miiro's desk. "I've got a question about the ship girls at this base who aren't aside to a fleet. What are they supposed to be doing?"

"Ah… Those girls," Miiro said as he scratched his chin. "Well… They aren't really doing anything. They partake in the base's standard training program in case they are needed, but other than that…"

"Then why aren't we using them?" the American questioned. "They seem kind of useless if they're just going to sit there. If Japan doesn't need them, then…"

"We do need them," Rear Admiral Genji quickly said as he joined the discussion, not willing to give over resources as valuable as ship girls to another country.

"How? Nobody uses them," Drake countered. "They can actually be of use in places like the US, where we only have two ship girls and no destroyers or light cruisers at that."

"Well, they are in reserve here," Miiro added unhelpfully, though he was obviously against the idea of sending them to the US as well.

Wow, Japan really doesn't want to part with any of them, Drake thought. I'm glad Germany never followed up on the ship girls I was supposed to have promised them in exchange for Bismarck…

"I do think he has a point, though," Genji then said, turning to Miiro. "Why aren't we using them? They're just sitting there."

Miiro frowned unsurely. "Standard doctrine in the Kancolle Program says that an admiral can command twelve ship girls, or two fleets, most efficiently."

"But the admirals at Sasebo command four fleets each," Genji pointed out gruffly. "Are you saying we're only half as good as they are?"

"Hm… No, but… Perhaps there is a reason why Sasebo is the main base."

Genji gave the fleet admiral a look of disbelief, and Drake decided to step in.

"For those of us who want to, how about we each take another fleet's worth?" he suggested. "I'll take five since I already have Bismarck, and Genji can take six. It won't be as many as Sasebo's admirals so it will be less of a workload, and there's no rule saying we absolutely have to use them if we train them, right? At any rate, this is definitely a better option than just having them waste their time on training skills that they aren't using."

Genji nodded in agreement, and Miiro gave his consent, though he still looked unsure.

"All right… Though maybe we should consult Nagato about this."

"What? You're the Fleet Admiral, aren't you?" Genji demanded. "You've given your permission, so that's good enough for me."

Without waiting for a reply, Genji stormed out of the office.

Drake also didn't feel the need to wait, so he went over to his desk and pulled up the list of active ship girls at the Tokyo Bay Naval Base. He scrolled through the names and images and read their profiles, trying to decide which ones would be best for his fleet. Unfortunately, there were no training scores or stat sheets or anything like that which would help him make a decision, so he really didn't know which ones to pick.

Whatever, I'll just draft the ones I like best, I guess.

However, he realized that he didn't actually know any of them, so he couldn't even make a decision based on that. He thought about asking the other destroyers in his fleet which ones he should pick, but he didn't want to start any arguments among them, so in the end he decided to just do it himself.

The American stepped out of the Administrative Building and into the afternoon sun. Most of the girls are probably on lunch break right now, so this might be my only chance to see them all in one place, unless I'm willing to go snooping around the destroyer dorms… Which is probably not a good idea.

Most of the ship girls (especially the numerous destroyers) ate at the main cafeteria, so Drake decided to head there first. Though he'd been living at the base for some months now, he had only been to the cafeteria once or twice, and he had never actually eaten there. The cafeteria itself was a large, open room with dull gray walls and flooring, so there was nothing particularly interesting about it. Rows of tables filled the building, and it appeared that about a third of the room was occupied by sailors while the rest of the tables were taken by the ship girls. The two groups seemed to be completely heterogeneous, not mingling with each other very much.

Drake then realized he had no idea what he was actually doing there. Was he just going to stand in the back and stare at them like some stalker? Or should he go up and announce, "Hey, who wants to join my fleet?" Or would that be too forward?

Gah, I should have just told Kaga or Shoukaku to do this…

He slowly began walking towards the side of the room where the ship girls were. Why do I feel awkward? I'm the Admiral, aren't I?

Something then brushed past his right side, slightly throwing him off balance. He turned around to glare at the offender, but was surprised to be met with an equally harsh glare from a pair of blue eyes, belonging to a ship girl with a short pink ponytail.

"Please excuse me, sir," she said, though her tone didn't match her words.

Drake was about to return to his task, but something about the girl caught his eye. She was obviously a destroyer based on her small size and cute appearance, but her expression was definitely not one he had ever seen before on a teenage girl.

"Hey, you," he called out, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around, clearly annoyed. "What's your name? What fleet are you with?"

"Shiranui of the Kagerou-class destroyers," she responded tersely. "I'm in the reserve fleet."

Oh? How convenient. "The reserves, huh? Must be nice, sitting around at the base while everyone else is out there fighting and risking their lives."

As expected, Shiranui bristled at that. "You have no clue what you're talking about, sir. It's not as if I chose to stay on the reserves."

"Yeah, whatever. Doesn't change the fact that you're basically just taking up space here at the base."

The pink-haired destroyer grit her teeth in anger and her blue eyes flashed with fury, but she evidently realized it wouldn't be in her best interests to pick a fight with an officer, so she begrudgingly turned away and tried to leave.

"But it doesn't have to be that way, you know," Drake then said, stopping her. "No warship would be content just sitting on the sidelines, right?"

Shiranui turned back around, her eyes narrowing. "What are you saying?"

"You should join my fleet."

During WWII, the pride of the IJN was infamous, and their immense confidence in themselves and sheer stubbornness contributed to their eventual defeat. Because of this, Drake knew that the best way to convince Shiranui to join his fleet was to play to her sense of pride. He could tell from their very first interaction that she was not the type of ship girl to lie down and take slander from an American, so he used that fact against her.

"What?" the destroyer asked, slightly confused.

"I need an extra fleet of screening destroyers and maybe a couple light cruisers," Drake elaborated. "Since there are so many of you who aren't part of an actual fleet, I thought I'd come here and see if anyone wanted to join."

Shiranui raised an eyebrow. "So you're just going around asking us? Can't you just draft six girls without bothering to go through that trouble?"

"I could, but that's not as interesting," he replied somewhat truthfully. "So, what's your answer?"

"What happens if I refuse?"

"Are you going to refuse?"

"No."

"See? Then there's no problem," Drake said with a smirk as he patted the destroyer on the head.

Shiranui slapped his hand away with a frown. "Why are you picking me?"

Drake shrugged. "You're the first one I saw."

Based on how Kaga turned out as his Secretary Ship, Drake thought he had a pretty good track record of making decisions in the Kancolle Program based on little to no basis, so he figured there'd be no point in changing how he did things now.

"That's a terrible reason," she replied with a hint of disgust. "Who else do you plan to pick? You said you needed a whole fleet, right?"

"Yeah… I was hoping you could help me with that. I don't really know anything about you ship girls, aside from the ones in my fleet and the more famous ones."

Shiranui gave him a blank stare, obviously not impressed that he came here with no plan whatsoever. "Right… So you're just going to leave that up to me?"

Drake shrugged noncommittally. "I don't know. Don't you have any recommendations or something?"

The pink-haired destroyer looked back in the direction of the ship girls. "How do you know I won't just pick my sisters instead of the best ships?"

"I don't care who you pick as long as they can do what I need them to," Drake replied. "If anyone isn't up to my standards, then I'll kick them out. That's all there is to it… But I would prefer it if you didn't just pick your sisters. That would probably piss off the other destroyers in my fleet who don't get to sortie with their sisters."

Shiranui nodded. "By the way, isn't Amatsukaze in your fleet? I heard she was under the American's command."

"Oh, that's right, she's a Kagerou-class destroyer as well," Drake said, just now remembering that fact. "So you already have a sister in my fleet, don't you?"

"I suppose. The Kagerou class is so large that it's impossible for me to be close with all of them, though, so I don't really know her that well."

"I see. Well then, you got any other destroyers in mind? I was thinking about taking maybe four destroyers and two light cruisers."

Shiranui looked thoughtful. "The sisters I do know best are already part of other fleets, so… What about those two?"

She pointed in the direction of two destroyers sitting together. One had light brown hair tied up in twintails and crimson eyes eyes while the other had dark brown hair and blue eyes, and though they didn't look alike, their identical dark blue uniforms marked them as sisters.

"Who are they?"

"Murasame and Shigure of the Shiratsuyu class," Shiranui informed him. "They always seem fairly competent during training, so they should be good enough. I'm kind of surprised that they aren't already part of a fleet, so this is your chance."

"Works for me," Drake said. "Anyone else?"

"Aside from them, I'm not really -"

"Shiranui, what are you doing? Training resumes right after lunch," another girl said as she came up to the pair. She had long black hair and bright blue eyes, and she wore a white shirt along with a forest green skirt and black thigh high socks.

Shiranui gave the girl a scrutinizing stare, then turned to Drake. "What about her? This is Asashio, the flagship of our destroyer squadron during training."

Drake looked the ship girl over once, causing her to shift uncomfortably. "Sure."

"W-wait, what is this?" Asashio demanded, shifting her gaze from Drake to Shiranui.

"Admiral Drake said he needs more destroyers for his fleet, so he asked me to join," Shiranui answered tonelessly. "I also recommended you just now, so congratulations. We don't have to sit and watch as the others go on sorties anymore."

"But…" Asashio turned her blue eyes back to Drake and gulped, as if she were gathering the courage to speak to him. "You're the American, correct?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

"N-no…"

"That's 'no sir' to you."

"No sir!"

Drake smirked at the girl's rapid correction. He didn't actually care about being called 'sir' all the time, but these destroyers were just so cute that he couldn't help but tease them.

"All right, now we have four," he said, "you got another recommendation, Shiranui?"

"I don't know. Murasame and Shigure were really the only ones that stood out to me, and I just picked Asashio since she's here," Shiranui admitted. "Just pick a random girl if you don't care."

Drake's phone then buzzed, and he briefly glanced at it before turning back to the Kagerou-class destroyer.

"Looks like I've got work to do… I'll be in contact later about the rest of the details," he said. "And I'll also figure out the light cruisers later, I guess. That all right with you?"

Shiranui saluted stiffly. "Understood."

Drake then left the cafeteria, picking up his pace and heading back towards the Administrative Building. He really didn't know how much use these new destroyers would be, but it didn't really hurt to have more ship girls. They would most likely just serve as a reserve fleet right now, but even then, reserves were important.

After all, if somebody in his fleet were to die, she would need to be replaced.

An arrow flew through the air, cutting between the sea breeze and striking a floating target in the distance. Kaga lowered her bow after the arrow struck, her blank expression unchanging even after her shot hit the dead center of the target.

"Is the Admiral back yet?" Shoukaku asked from her position a few meters away from Kaga. She glanced back at the beach but didn't see her commander.

"Looks like he's not coming," Zuikaku assumed as she closed one eye and aimed her bow towards the targets.

Akagi loosed an arrow at the targets as well. "He probably has some paperwork he never finished. He's done this before, hasn't he?"

Zuikaku snorted. "Lazy ass. Seriously, why does he let it pile up like that?"

"You shouldn't talk about him like that, Zuikaku," Shoukaku mildly scolded.

"Yeah, yeah," the twintailed carrier lazily replied, then scowled as her arrow clipped the side of the target.

Zuikaku reached for another arrow, but her gaze was drawn to a figure in the distance. Bismarck zipped through the base's obstacle course, her golden hair flying behind her as she swerved and and fired her guns at the targets on the course.

"She is quite hard-working, isn't she?" Shoukaku said, noticing Zuikaku's staring.

"Hmph. I guess. Probably to make up for her humiliating defeat on her first day here."

"Oh? Are you saying you would have fared better?" Kaga asked as she fired another arrow.

Zuikaku frowned. "Yeah, I am. Got a problem with that?"

"I'd like to see you prove it."

"Now, now, you two shouldn't fight," Shoukaku interrupted, trying to prevent another argument from breaking out. "Let's just focus on our training like the Admiral told us to."

"The hell is the point of this training anyway? We haven't sortied in forever," Zuikaku then complained.

"That's not so bad, is it? At least things are peaceful," Shoukaku replied.

"Oh, please. We're warships. We're only truly alive when we're fighting, and you know it."

Shoukaku wore a downcast expression. "I suppose…"

Feeling slightly guilty that the former Fifth Carrier Division hadn't had a chance to sortie in a long while, Kaga tried to disperse the melancholy atmosphere.

"Well, the Abyssals have not made any significant moves for quite some time, so I expect them to do something big soon," she spoke up. "You two better be in top shape when that happens. You will both be essential parts of the air operations, so failure is not an option."

"Of course we will," Zuikaku proudly stated with a haughty smirk, "and that's when I'll prove that I'm better than you as well! So make sure you don't slack off either!"

She's a brat as always, but it's better she be like this than depressed or angry, Kaga figured as she ignored Zuikaku's declaration and notched her bow again.

"Hey! Secretary!" Sendai shouted as she and the destroyers sailed over to the carriers. "Can we have a night battle practice today?"

"No," Kaga curtly replied. "Are you finished with your individual training?"

"Yeah! So what do you say?"

"I already said no. You will have to ask the Admiral."

Sendai pouted. "But he'll say 'no' too…"

The rest of the fleet gathered around a few seconds later, ready to move onto the fleet maneuvers portion of training.

"Is the Admiral absent?" Haruna asked, glancing back towards the beach.

"It appears so," Kaga replied. "We should continue as planned, though. We don't need him here to carry out formations practice."

"Wait," Bismarck interjected, "isn't that him right there?"

The girls all turned back towards the beach, and sure enough, the admiral had returned. The fleet sailed back to shore to receive orders for the formation exercises.

"Admiral," Kaga greeted, "your orders?"

"Change of plans," he replied, crossing his arms. "We're going to America."

Kaga blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"A large Abyssal fleet has been spotted off the coast of California, uncomfortably close to the major American city of Los Angeles," Drake explained. "I was recalled there to assist in case of an attack."

"A sortie?" Zuikaku asked, surprised and slightly caught off guard that she was receiving her wish so soon.

"Yeah. Don't know if we'll actually see combat, but I don't see any other reason why the Abyssals would be marshalling their forces in that region."

"Why are we going?" Bismarck then asked. "Can't the Americans handle it themselves? I thought this base was under control of the IJN."

"I'm still a member of the USLN, so I have to go," Drake responded. "And since you're all under my command, you're going to have to come with me. The Kancolle Program is an international force, remember? And the Tokyo Base is responsible for that part of the Pacific anyway, so…"

"I'm surprised the Imperial Government agreed to this," Kaga said. "It seems Japanese-American relations really have improved."

Drake looked away. "Well… They haven't exactly approved of this yet. My superiors at INFCOM are still trying to convince them to allow twelve of their ship girls to sortie to America."

"Uh, so is this like, illegal, then?" Suzuya wondered with an unsure expression.

"I'm sure everything will work out in the end," Drake replied dismissively. "Either way, we don't have time to waste with all that bureaucratic bullshit. Some transport plane from the USLAF is supposed to come over tonight to pick us up, so we're going to have to cut training short for today."

"A night battle!" Sendai cheered, much to everyone's annoyance.

"But how is it supposed to land here if you haven't received clearance yet?" Akagi pointed out.

"What's the base going to do, shoot it down? Like I said, I'm sure the US can secure approval from the Empire eventually, but we don't have the time to wait around for that."

"This is going to blow up in our faces," Zuikaku concluded, suddenly not so enthusiastic about the upcoming sortie now that she knew just how convoluted the situation was.

"Better it blow up in our faces than the Abyssals blow up Los Angeles," Drake countered. "Anyway, it's not like I can disobey this order even I wanted to. They'd probably court-martial me if I don't show up for this battle. So, prepare to leave tonight when I give the signal. Make sure you bring your equipment as well."

"What signal?" Kaga asked.

"Uh… I don't know. Do you guys have cellphones or something?"

"The base issued each of us one, but we don't carry them around with us," the Secretary Ship provided.

"Fine, that will have to do. Kaga, get your phone and meet me at my office. Make sure you get everyone else's numbers as well, and I'll just text you all when it's time to leave. Also, this should be obvious, but don't tell anybody about this."

"Wait," Amatsukaze broke in, "how the hell are we supposed to keep this a secret? Do you honestly think nobody's going to notice us getting on an American plane that lands unauthorized at the base?"

"It's not so much that I don't want them to notice, but that I don't want them to know in advance. That way, they won't be prepared to stop us beforehand. Anyway, that's all I can say for now. I'll explain more on the plane, but I've got things I need to do right now."

With that, the admiral hurried off back towards the Administrative Building, leaving his fleet dumbfounded on the shore.

"Uh… So what are we supposed to do?" Zuikaku asked, still confused.

"Follow the Admiral's orders," Kaga answered simply. "There's nothing more we can do anyway."

"So you're okay with this, Kaga?" Akagi asked. "We're technically disobeying our government…"

"The Admiral said that the Americans would sort that out eventually, and it isn't as if we are being sent off to fight against Japan or Japanese interests. Our one and only enemy remains the Abyssals, so it would actually be detrimental to Japan if we did not take this opportunity to crush them."

Zuikaku smirked. "Wow, you're really bending over backwards to find new ways to suck the Admiral's dick."

"Zuikaku," Shoukaku warned with a disapproving glare, stepping in before the situation could escalate. She then turned to the rest of the fleet. "I agree with Kaga. We should follow the Admiral's orders until told otherwise. Does anyone disagree?"

The fleet was silent, though that was mostly due to the fact that they were so confused.

"Um," Fubuki finally spoke up, "what are we supposed to do if the Fleet Admiral or the base or someone orders us not to go when we're boarding the plane? Do we obey them or our own admiral?"

Shoukaku glanced at Kaga, unsure of how to answer the question. "Um… Well…"

Bismarck then stepped back out onto the water, turning away from the rest of the fleet.

"Bismarck, where are you going?" Shoukaku asked unsurely, still slightly uncomfortable around the prickly German.

"I'm going to return my equipment and package it for transport," she answered curtly. "I'm done standing around here. If you all want to squabble among yourselves about who you're going to take orders from, then go ahead. But I am going to prepare for a real fight, just like a true warship was built to."

The blonde battleship sailed off in the direction of the big, armored equipment building, leaving the Japanese ship girls behind.

"Tch, the nerve…" Zuikaku muttered, but then stepped out onto the water herself. "Well, I'm going to pack my equipment too, Shoukaku. See ya."

The twintailed carrier sailed away as well, and soon after, the remaining ship girls began trickling out after her.

"So I guess that settles it…" Shoukaku said as all the girls except for her, Akagi, and Kaga had left.

"Yes. Who knew we would be going back to America? We haven't been there since Pearl Harbor," Akagi mused. "We probably shouldn't bring that up, though…"

Kaga stepped onto the water as well, staring out towards the horizon with a determined look. The events of her last sortie to sink the Abyssal Princess weighed heavily on her mind, and she was determined not to let the same thing happened again.

This time… The Abyssals will not escape me.

Drake stood just outside the base's main runway, waiting for the scheduled flight to arrive. He pulled out his phone and saw that it was just past 2000 hours, so the plane should be here at any moment. He had already told the rest of the fleet to meet him at the airfield, so he hoped that the plane would be on time so that they wouldn't all just be suspiciously standing around the runway. So far, no one had questioned him about the night flight, so he assumed that his fleet didn't tell anyone about it and that the base hadn't heard from their own government yet.

A pair of footsteps sounded from behind him, and Drake turned around, expecting to see someone from his fleet. Instead, he was met with the sight of Nagato. The tall, black-haired battleship crossed her arms as she fixed him with her red stare.

"Going somewhere, Admiral Drake?"

Shit… Drake froze momentarily, then decided to just come clean. It wasn't as if he could hide it at this point.

"I was ordered to take my fleet back to America in case of an Abyssal attack off the coast of California. I can't disobey orders, so if you have a problem with that, take it up with US command."

Nagato said nothing, then smirked. "Hah! The look on your face when I got here was priceless. I didn't think I'd ever get to see that expression on you."

"Uh… What?" Drake asked, confused.

"I already know about your mission," she explained. "Naval Command sent over a message ordering the base not to fire on any American planes that would land here. The Fleet Admiral sent me here in case there are any issues."

"I see," Drake simply replied, now feeling a bit embarrassed that he got so defensive. "So the Empire approved America's request?"

"The message said the approval was still pending, though I suppose our government couldn't risk angering your country by outright denying your flight. Things have really changed since the War," Nagato said a bit wistfully as she walked up beside Drake and waited for the plane.

The pair stood in silence for some time, with nothing but a few lingering seagulls and the distant sound of the rolling waves for company. Drake stole a glance at Nagato. She really was tall, almost as tall as he was, and she was amazingly beautiful as well. Her long black hair swam lightly in the coastal breeze, and her eyes shone like rubies. She turned her head when she noticed his gaze, and Drake quickly averted his eyes, realizing he was staring.

Glad I could make such a fool of myself tonight, he thought bitterly.

"Admiral," she suddenly spoke up, "do they still make those bombs? The nuclear weapons?"

Drake thought the question was incredibly random until he remembered how Nagato was actually sunk by one of them. Still, he decided to ask her about it.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

She frowned. "No particular reason, I suppose."

"You know how humans are. We're always looking for better ways to kill each other."

"Good thing you have the Abyssals to do that for you instead now, right?" Nagato said with a smile. "... Sorry, I shouldn't joke about that."

"Well, you're not wrong, I guess. But speaking of the Abyssals… Do you believe we can win this war?"

Nagato smirked at him again. "It's not very encouraging to hear the Admiral ask something like that…"

"Hey, I never said we couldn't," he defended. "I just wanted to hear your opinion since you're one of the more experienced ship girls at this base."

Nagato was silent for a moment as she contemplated the question. "I would like to say yes, but… I can't shake the feeling that the Abyssals are hiding their true strength from us. They have not struck with the same fury they did at the Battle of Tangier for quite some time now, even though we know they are capable of it. I feel the worst is yet to come, and because of that, I cannot make a proper judgement right now."

"That answer doesn't seem very optimistic," Drake observed.

"Maybe not, but still, that is no excuse to slack off," the battleship replied firmly. "If we do, then we will be destroyed for sure. The only alternative is to fight, and I will do so until my last breath."

"Agreed," the American said as he clenched his fists. The horrors and humiliation he experienced at Tangier were as fresh in his mind as ever, and he would make sure that the Abyssals paid their fair share.

A few dots of light then became visible in the night sky, and Drake realized that they must belong to the plane. As the aircraft approached, Drake's fleet also began to arrive.

"Admiral! It's night battle time!" Sendai greeted enthusiastically as she lugged her guns behind her in a package made specifically for transporting the weapons. "So, what - Eh?!"

The light cruiser stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed Nagato.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to stop you," Nagato simply said.

"Um… Okay," Sendai nervously replied, and the rest of the ship girls who arrived shortly after Sendai also gave Nagato cautious looks.

The plane then landed, barreling down the runway and reducing its speed before taxiing back towards the fleet.

"Wow, what type of plane is that?" Akagi asked with eyes filled with wonder.

"Don't know. It's some type of cargo plane or something," Drake answered unhelpfully.

"The planes in this era have really changed," Shoukaku remarked. "I think it will be a great experience to fly on it!"

However, aside from the carriers, the remainder of the fleet did not seem very enthusiastic about boarding the plane.

"T-that thing is perfectly safe, right?" Amatsukaze asked shakily.

"It's so big… How is it supposed to fly?" Kashima wondered as she gave the plane a worried glance.

"Airplanes can get a lot bigger than this, trust me," Drake said. "And yes, it's very safe, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Admiral! I don't want to go!" Yamakaze suddenly protested as she clutched his sleeve tightly.

Drake sighed. "It's not as scary as it looks, okay? I'll be right beside you the whole time."

"Yeah, but you being there isn't going to make the flight any safer, is it?" Zuikaku added unnecessarily.

The admiral shot her a glare before turning to the rest of the fleet. "Look, the carriers are perfectly fine with this, so there's nothing to worry about, all right?"

"Are you Rear Admiral Drake?"

Drake turned around to see that two men had stepped out of the plane. They wore dark green slacks and appeared to be USLAF personnel.

"Yeah, that would be me," he said, unsure of why they were asking him that since he was the only guy dressed in an American Navy uniform on the base. "Are we ready to leave?"

"Fuel should be good, so yeah. I'm Captain Brackett, by the way," the man lazily introduced before glancing at the ship girls. "They need any help getting their equipment inside?"

"They're fine," Drake replied. Ship girls were many times stronger than a regular human. "Can we board, then?"

"Yeah, go ahead. We're just going to do a few quick checks and then we'll take off."

The loading dock on the back of the plane opened, and the ship girls began filing inside with their equipment, albeit a bit reluctantly.

"Damn, some of them look really… Vibrant," the USLAF airman noted as Yamakaze and her bright green hair walked by. "Oh, hey, is that Bismarck?"

Bismarck stopped as she heard her name called. She glared at Brackett. "What?"

"Yeah, it is you! Still got that same Nazi uniform, I see," he said as he chuckled. "I was in the plane that dropped you off at this base, remember? You looked like you were one second away from throwing up for the entire trip. Hah!"

The German flushed red in embarrassment. "T-that isn't true!"

She then huffed off into the cargo hold, not giving Brackett any chance to reply.

"Haha! Make sure she doesn't get it on your uniform, Admiral," Brackett joked as he went over to the front of the plane where the other airman was conducting checks.

"Well then, good luck," Nagato said before Drake boarded the plane.

"Thanks. I'll bring everyone back safely," he assured her.

I hope.