Two weeks had passed since the disaster by Midway Atoll. Thankfully, the Abyssals had not made any moves during this time period, and so the Tokyo Bay Base was allowed to rest and recover. All the ship girls who had been injured during the sortie were now more or less healed, and though they still experienced some lingering pains, they were able to participate in training and return to their normal duties.

As for the admirals, things had gone back to normal for them as well. Fleet Admiral Miiro and Rear Admiral Genji had experienced a tongue lashing at Tokyo when they were called in, but apparently they weren't punished too harshly since both of them returned to the base as usual, with the only difference being that Genji was even more grumpy than he normally was. Drake himself had not received any new orders, and things were still going by the 'wait-and-see' basis. With the jarring revelation of the Abyssals' true strength, International Fleet Command was busy trying to come up with possible counters, but as of yet, they had no successes to speak of. The current plan was simply to lay low and wait for the Abyssals to make a move and then react to that. INFCOM decided that it was easier to play defense instead of offense.

Drake contemplated all this as he stared out the window from where he sat at his desk in the main office. It was now relatively late into winter, and the base was covered in a rare soft blanket of white snow. The date was a Saturday, and so Drake usually had the day off, but this morning he had received an angry message from some German at INFCOM demanding a progress report on Bismarck. To be exact, the message had actually been sent to Fleet Admiral Boston four days ago, but he had apparently forgot to send it to Drake in time, and so Drake instead got it this morning and had so scramble to finish it before the Germans got even more pissed off at him.

These fucking fleet admirals… he thought bitterly as he typed the report at his desk, using Kaga's notes on the fleet training sessions as a reference. Though I guess I wouldn't even have Bismarck in the first place if it weren't for Boston, so maybe he deserves some credit…

Drake yawned as he stretched for a bit, then turned back to the report. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say other than, "Yeah, she's performing just as expected of the great German battleship," and he guessed that this 'progress report' was just an excuse to make his life harder because he stole Bismarck away from the Kriegsmarine.

"Bismarck is a great battleship," he typed, "I love her shining blonde hair and her long legs, and her beautiful and harsh gaze makes me hard when she turns it on me."

He smirked as he mentally chuckled at his own dumb humor. I wonder what they would do if I sent this in, ha!

Glancing out the window again, Drake decided that he needed a break if he was coming up with shit like this. He stood up, grabbed his long black coat and gloves, and prepared to head outside for a brief walk, but before he fully left his desk, he quickly turned back around and deleted the sentences on his computer.

Yeah, don't want anyone seeing that, even if it is a joke.

When he finally made it outside, the crisp winter air lightly slapped him in the face, and he inhaled the sharp scent of snow. Snow was probably his favorite form of weather, so in all honesty, coming into work today wasn't that bad. If he hadn't, then he most likely would have just spent the entire day lazing around inside. Drake noticed that the streets of the naval base were actually busier than he thought they would be, as there were many ship girls who were walking around in winter clothing, mesmerized by the sight of snow. He supposed it was understandable, because even if they had seen snow before as warships, they couldn't really interact with it.

Not too far from the entrance of the Administrative Building was a group of destroyers and light cruisers playing around in the snow, most of whom were actually from Drake's fleet. He saw Amatsukaze and Fubuki trying to make what appeared to be an igloo of sorts, and Murasame and Sendai were lined up across from each other, building a wall in front of themselves as they simultaneously stockpiled snowballs. There were a few other destroyers roughhousing in the snow who weren't from Drake's fleet, but if he recalled correctly, they looked to be from the Shiratsuyu class. Yamakaze was also with her sisters, though she was occupied building a snowman off to the side.

Sendai, Yamakaze, and Murasame, being the closest to the main road, glanced up as Drake passed by, and the rear admiral gave them a short wave as he strolled along.

"Admiral!" Sendai shouted. "Do you want to play with us?"

"I think I'll pass, thanks," Drake replied. As a grown man, he thought it would be weird to play in the snow with a group of young girls, even if they were all technically way older than he was.

"Oh? You don't like the snow, sir?" Murasame asked.

"Uh, no, it's not that…"

"Ah, so you're scared," Sendai surmised with a nod. "Afraid to get trashed in snowball fight by a couple of girls, huh?"

"Oh, please. Don't underestimate me," Drake said, taking her bait.

Murasame chuckled. "I hope you're not one of those men who are all talk and no action, Admiral…"

Drake frowned. "As much as I'd love to prove you wrong, I'm not a kid anymore. I can't be getting into -"

His sentence was interrupted as a snowball hit him squarely in the chest, dusting his coat with white flakes. He turned in shock to Sendai, who quickly yelped and ducked under her wall after throwing the snowball.

"Okay… You've done it now," he stated as he crouched and formed a snowball. "Unfortunately for you, I was the ace pitcher for my high school's baseball team. Prepare yourselves!"

The American maneuvered so that he could get Sendai in his line of sight even as she hid behind her wall. He then went into a pitching windup and threw the snowball with all the force he could muster, mentally thanking himself for stretching out of boredom beforehand in the office. Sendai dove straight into her own wall as she tried to avoid the incoming projectile, but the fast snowball managed to hit her right in the ass anyway, causing her to cry out in surprise.

"Heh, exactly. How do you like that, Send -"

Drake was interrupted once again as another snowball hit him, this time in the back of the head. Luckily it wasn't thrown very hard, but it caused him to jump and glare at the offender nonetheless.

"Sorry, I was aiming for your back," Murasame apologized sheepishly.

"Apology not accepted. You're next!"

Drake threw a blazing snowball at the twintailed destroyer, and her eyes widened as she ducked behind her wall. The snowball smashed against the relatively flimsy structure, almost knocking it over. Murasame gingerly peeked her head out from above her snow wall.

"You're not holding back, are you…"

"Nope. Your armor can take it, though," Drake replied before sidestepping a third snowball. "Not this time!"

Drake prepared another snowball as he aimed to nail Sendai again, but apparently the light cruiser decided that a moving target was harder to hit than a stationary one, and she began running across the snowy field.

"Fool! Did you really think you could run?!"

The rear admiral took aim, tracking the ship girl with his trained eyes. He went into his windup again and fired, though he made sure to lead his shot this time since Sendai was on the run. However, he realized too late that Sendai was running towards Yamakaze, and that he had thrown his snowball straight at the green-haired destroyer. Drake watched with a grimace as his snowball flew right into the back of Yamakaze's head, bursting open and flinging snow onto her lustrous locks. Yamakaze shrieked in surprise and held the back of her head in pain. She turned around to see who threw it, and her turquoise eyes widened as they met with Drake's brown ones.

"Admiral… Why…" she muttered, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Shit! Drake thought, but before he could apologize or say it was a mistake, Sendai took this opportunity to get her revenge, smacking him in the face with a well-placed shot. Though the ship girls weren't throwing nearly as hard as they could, the unexpectedness of the hit sent him to the ground, the snowball momentarily blinding him as it broke open across his face.

Drake sighed as he lay on the ground and wiped the snow from his eyes. I guess I deserved that one…

"I want to marry the Admiral!" Sendai yelled into Drake's ear as she draped herself over the back of his chair where he sat. "He's so rich!"

"Er, no. Buying the three of you drinks does not mean I'm rich," Drake corrected with an annoyed frown.

Drake, Sendai, Murasame, and Yamakaze were currently at the Starbucks located in the lobby of the Administrative Building, sitting at one of the counters by the window and facing the snow outside. As an apology for pegging her with a snowball, Drake offered to buy Yamakaze a warm drink, but since Sendai and Murasame were nearby, they of course wanted to come as well. Drake didn't really mind, especially since Yamakaze looked like she was about to refuse until her sister also asked to come, so now the four of them sat in the mostly-empty lobby, slowly sipping their drinks with the winter scenery as a side dish.

"Oh, you're not?" Sendai replied disappointedly.

"No. Now please get off me."

"I'm sure he's richer than us, at least," Murasame said. "We ship girls don't really make any money…"

"Yeah, but that would mean that you're just poor, not that I'm rich," Drake countered. While it was true that rear admirals in the US Liberation Navy made decent money nowadays, it wasn't enough for him to really feel like he was rich.

"Hey, you control our salaries, don't you?" Sendai pointed out. "Give us more!"

Drake shook his head. "INFCOM gives me a certain amount of money to be used for a variety of things, only one of which is the salaries of the ship girls. Part of my job and the job of the secretary ship is to figure out how best to distribute that money, so I can't just 'give you more' without taking away funding for something else."

"Eeeehhh? Are you saying our salaries aren't important?" Sendai demanded to know with a pout.

"Uh, maybe…" Drake said unsurely. "You girls already have your housing and everything paid for you, so the only thing you really use your salaries for is food, right? The amount you're given should be enough."

"But what if I wanted to buy some new nail polish? Or a shirt or something?" Murasame asked.

"Yeah! Or a cool battle knife!" Sendai added.

"You'll have to save up, then," Drake simply responded with a smirk. "Any further complaints should be directed to Kaga, okay?"

"But she won't caaaaare!" Sendai whined, grabbing Drake's shoulders.

"That's the point," the admiral said, slowly pushing Sendai away.

Sendai pouted again, then turned to Yamakaze. "Hey! Yamakaze! What do you think about this?"

Yamakaze jumped slightly as her name was called. "U-um… I…"

"Ah, never mind..." Sendai deflated and sat back down as she realized that the green-haired destroyer wouldn't be of any help.

"But actually, I did have a new idea about the salaries," Drake then said. "I was thinking of giving the MVP of each sortie a one-time bonus in her salary. Currently, there's no reward for being an outstanding performer, so I wanted to change that."

"Oh! Good idea, sir!" Sendai agreed. "So, who was the MVP last sortie? It was me, right?"

"Uh… I don't think so. Maybe Yahagi? She took down a Ru-class battleship and managed to hold off the Re-class by herself until reinforcements arrived."

"Eeeh?! It wasn't me? Then… What about the sortie before that? Are we going to count that one?"

Drake nodded. "Yeah. It wouldn't be fair to ignore the accomplishments of the ships in previous battles, so I'll probably retroactively give a bonus to them as well. But I would say that the MVPs for the first and second sorties were Haruna and Kaga, not you."

"What?! So I've been a failure this whole time!?" Sendai cried out.

"Not being the MVP doesn't automatically make you a failure…" Drake said, but he doubted the easily-excited light cruiser even heard him as she made her next announcement.

"Fine! Then Sendai will be the MVP of the next sortie! I guarantee it!" she proudly declared with a shout.

Thankfully the lobby was empty save for the receptionist and the few Starbucks employees, so not many people were there to witness the scene Sendai was making.

"My, my. Actions speak louder than words, Sendai," Murasame said in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, I know! We've just haven't had a night battle yet, so none of you have been able to witness my true strength!"

Just then, the doors to the Administrative Building opened, and Kiso, one of Drake's new light cruisers, entered. She headed over to where Drake and the three ship girls sat, a gray winter coat over her usual outfit and a confident smirk on her face.

"Finally, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Drake looked at the three ship girls next to him before he realized Kiso was speaking to him. "Wait, are you talking to me?"

Kiso grinned. "Fool! Are there any other admirals present? I challenge you to a duel!"

The American blinked in confusion. "Uh… What?"

"Hmph. I can sense the fear in your tone," Kiso said, closing her eye and nodding with approval at herself. "I said, I challenge you to a duel for the position of Admiral! Prepare yourself!"

"... You want to be the admiral? Not the secretary ship?" Drake repeated, still unsure of what was going on.

"Yes!"

Drake briefly glanced at the three other ship girls. Murasame and Sendai were watching the whole ordeal with amusement, while Yamakaze merely shrunk down in her seat.

"You do realize I can't fight you? I'm not a ship girl. You'd win easily."

Kiso frowned. "Surely you jest. It have only been a part of your training sessions for a few days, but my body still aches from the intense regimen you put us through during fleet practice. Since you are the admiral, I assume this training must be child's play for you, correct?"

That's not how it works… Drake thought, but he knew that Kiso wouldn't give up so easily even if he told her that.

"The admiral doesn't fight like a ship girl does, and therefore I have no reason to accept your duel," he started. "The admiral's job mostly revolves around logistical things and grand strategy and tactics. So if you still want the job of the admiral, then you must defeat me the way an admiral would. How about war games?"

"Ah, I understand," Kiso replied, her confidence unshaken. "Very well, then. A war game it is."

"Okay… Well, we don't really have much to work with here, so this will have to do."

Drake grabbed a nearby napkin and pulled out a pen from his pocket which he took from his office, then started writing on the napkin. When he finished, he slid it over so that Kiso could see. Written on it were ten circles in total, with five of them lined up on one side of the napkin and the other five lined up across the napkin.

"We'll just use a relatively basic scenario," Drake told her. "These five circles are my fleet, and those five are yours. Assume we each have three destroyers, one battleship, and one aircraft carrier. I'll let you have the first move. What do you do?"

Kiso furrowed her brow in concentration as if she thought this was some sort of trick question. "Hm… I charge ahead, of course! I will send out my destroyers and battleship as the vanguard, and the carrier will provide air support with its entire airstrike."

"All right… What's your formation?"

Kiso blinked, not expecting to have to give that much detail. "Uh… I'll put the destroyers in front of the battleship like a barrier. The carrier will be all the way in the back, I suppose."

"Okay, then I'll leave my destroyers where they are for now, and move my carrier and battleship like this," Drake said as he drew arrows on the napkin. "My carrier will flank you from the left, and my battleship from the right. Now what do you do? You can send your airstrike to intercept my battleship, but that will leave your entire fleet open to air attack from my carrier. Or you could send your airstrike to attack my carrier, but then you'll be flanked by my battleship. Also, no matter what choice you choose, I'll send my destroyers to attack your front once the battle starts since they're fast and can get there quickly."

"Uh…" Kiso stared at the napkin, trying to figure something out.

"Well? Hurry up. The enemy won't give you the time you need to think."

"I'll attack your battleship!" Kiso finally blurted out. "Send my airstrike there!"

"Okay, so now you've sunk my battleship. But guess what? While you were doing that, my carrier launched its airforce and destroyed your entire defenseless fleet. You lost."

"N-no I didn't!" the light cruiser immediately denied. "This is rigged!"

"Oh? Tell me what was wrong in what I said."

Kiso opened her mouth to speak, but slowly closed it as she realized she had no argument.

"Eh? Is that it?" Sendai asked with a frown. "Great job, Kiso. You lost your entire fleet within minutes."

"How disappointing," Murasame agreed with a shake of her head, playing along with Sendai's teasing.

"W-wait, this can't be right!" Kiso continued to argue.

Drake sighed. "Why did you send your entire airstrike after my battleship? You could have split it so that the bombers went for my battleship while your fighters hung back so you could then take out my battleship and then also defend your fleet from my carrier's airstrike."

Kiso blinked in surprise. "But… But you told me I could only send my entire airstrike!"

"When did I say that? I gave you two options, yes, but those weren't the only options you had. Are you unable to think for yourself? If you can't even do that and just take whatever's handed to you by the enemy, then you're not deserving of the position of admiral."

The Kuma-class light cruiser sat down at the counter, a deep frown on her face. "I…"

"Also, just so you know, I never took you seriously from the very start," Drake said. "My own strategy was actually pretty retarded if you think about it, but I knew that you still wouldn't be able to overcome it, especially if I manipulated you. That's another important aspect of strategy: always know your enemy."

"Fine, Admiral. I accept this defeat," Kiso finally said, standing up. "But don't think that I'll forget this humiliation!"

"What humiliation?" Drake asked. "You're not the admiral, and you never will be. You're not the secretary ship either, so there's no reason for you to consider losing at strategy to be a 'humiliation.' As a ship girl, your primary purpose is to fight, and in the few days that I've known you, I think you've done a fine job. Despite being injured, you were able to get through that harsh training without complaining. That's impressive for someone who just came off such a bitter defeat on her first sortie."

"W-well, of course!" Kiso replied, blushing slightly. "That defeat was simply a minor bump in my road to ultimate victory! I would never sulk over something like that."

"But you will sulk over being beaten by your admiral in a war games session?" Drake countered. "That doesn't make sense to me. There's no reason to consider this loss as anything significant, so just continue to keep up the good work. I'll be counting on you on the next sortie."

Kiso grinned and shot Drake a confident salute. "All right! Leave it to me, sir!"

Drake nodded to the light cruiser as she left, then turned back to his drink and gave a sigh of relief. "Jesus…"

"You handled that surprisingly well, sir," Sendai observed. "Kiso sure is a handful, huh?"

"Look who's talking," Drake shot back, though Sendai did have a point. Perhaps he should have paid more attention to which light cruisers would be in his third fleet instead of just leaving it up to Shiranui.

The rear admiral took his phone out of his pocket in order to check the time, then frowned. As usual, he had wasted far too much time procrastinating, and his report wasn't even close to complete yet. He stood up from his seat and tossed his mostly-empty cup into a nearby trash can.

"Well, I've got work to do, so I'm heading upstairs," he said to the three ship girls. "See ya."

"Wait, where're you going?" Sendai asked. "I thought we were going to night battle tonight?"

"Uh… What?" Drake asked. There were a couple ways he could take that sentence.

"You know, another snowball fight?!"

"No way. You already beat me once. Aren't you satisfied with that?"

"Agh! You're no fun, Admiral!" she whined.

"Sendai…" Murasame shot the light cruiser a disapproving glance, then smiled at Drake. "Thank you for buying us drinks, sir."

Yamakaze nodded from behind her sister. "Th… Th…"

"You're very welcome," Drake replied, patting both of them on the head. "All right then, I've -"

Drake then saw Nagato and Kaga standing in the lobby of the building, and he raised an eyebrow as he noticed them looking at him. Since he was going upstairs anyway, he walked over to where they were standing.

"Sir," Nagato briefly saluted. She was dressed in long black winter coat similar to Drake's own, her beautiful red eyes contrasting with her dark outfit. "There is something we must discuss with you, if you don't mind."

Drake glanced at Kaga, who was also had a coat on, though hers was dark blue in color. She wore her usual blank expression.

"Sure, go ahead, I guess."

Nagato nodded. "Yesterday, an Abyssal fleet was spotted off the coast of Hachijo-jima in the Izu Archipelago. Japan's air reconnaissance couldn't get close enough to determine the exact composition of the fleet, but it doesn't appear to be a particularly large one. However, with Hachijo-jima being inhabited and so close to the mainland, the government is understandably worried. International Fleet Command has ordered the Tokyo Bay Base to deal with them since we are closest."

Drake crossed his arms as he took in the information. This was the first he was hearing of this. "... What if it's the fleet of fourteen Princesses?"

"That's unlikely. Satellite imagery and long-range radar scans have indicated a handful of Abyssals sailing around the vicinity of Bethlehem, so we're assuming that those few signatures belong to the Princesses, and therefore, they wouldn't be on this sortie," Nagato explained. "Though again, we couldn't get close enough to confirm this, so we are not one-hundred percent sure. It's possible that there may be a Princess on this sortie, but it's unlikely that they sent an entire fleet, especially when Bethlehem is still relatively vulnerable. But on the small chance that the enemy fleet is composed of more than two Princesses, Fleet Command has authorized you to retreat and give up the island."

"I see… So is my fleet going to sortie for this mission, then?"

"Yes, sir. All three of your fleets are cleared to sortie as soon as you are ready."

"What about the Fleet Admiral and Admiral Genji?" Drake asked. "Were they already informed of this? Are they not going?"

"Ah, those two are in Sapporo at the moment and probably won't be back for a few more days," Nagato informed him.

"Sapporo? What are they doing up there?"

"Apparently the Empress is holding a winter ball there, so they had to go whether they liked it or not," the black-haired battleship answered.

"Oh, a ball? How come I wasn't invited?"

"U-um… Perhaps your invitation was lost in the mail…?" Nagato feebly tried to provide.

Drake smirked. "It was a joke. Anyway, since they won't be here, I guess I'm all by myself, huh?"

"You have your three fleets, sir," Kaga said, taking his statement a little too literally.

"Of course." He turned back to Nagato. "So then can we leave at any time? I assume we should deal with this sooner rather than later."

Nagato nodded. "As soon as you give the word, I can order the crew of the Espiritu Santo to begin preparations for departure. I believe you will be able to leave by nightfall at the earliest."

"All right, then you do that. I'll head out tonight."

"Understood. I have already explained most of the details to Kaga, so she can inform you of them whenever it is most convenient for you, though there aren't many to begin with. I will also provide you with a map of the surrounding ocean before you depart."

"Okay, thanks."

Nagato then left, and Drake turned back to the area of the lobby where the Starbucks was, Kaga following him. Murasame, Yamakaze, and Sendai were still there, evidently having stayed behind so they could eavesdrop on Drake's conversation.

"Change of plans," he started as he addressed them, "we're sortieing tonight."

"Yes! Finally, a night battle!" Sendai cheered.

"The battle itself will probably be in the early morning, actually," Drake said, immediately crushing her enthusiasm. "But do be prepared to leave tonight. Also, I need the three of you to find the rest of the fleet and tell them that there's a sortie tonight."

The starry winter night sky greeted Bismarck as she stepped out onto the deck of the Espiritu Santo. Drake and Kaga were by the bow, and the two were talking about something as Drake pointed to various spots on a piece of paper he held. They turned their heads as they noticed Bismarck approach.

"Bismarck? You're not asleep?" Drake asked.

She shook her head. "I slept in today, so I am not tired. Are you discussing plans for the battle tomorrow?"

"Yeah, though there isn't really much to talk about right now since we don't know the enemy formation. We're mostly just looking at the map."

Drake handed the map to Bismarck, who looked over it with furrowed eyebrows. "It's quite a small island. Are we to defend it?"

"We're supposed to do enough damage to the Abyssal fleet so that they leave the Izu Islands," Drake said. "Though if there's a Princess in that fleet, it's going to be easier said than done…"

Bismarck's blue eyes grew hard. "Is that a likely possibility?"

The admiral shrugged. "I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but yeah, it could happen. If the Abyssals could gain a stronghold this close to Tokyo, they'd be in a very good position. I'm not sure how long they could hold the island if they took it, though… But either way, it wouldn't surprise me if they sent one considering how successful the Princesses proved to be in that last sortie."

"I see. So what are we going to do if we do encounter one?"

"I wonder," Drake replied, smirking as he turned to face the water.

"Do not worry. We will have a plan by then," Kaga told Bismarck, filling in for Drake's non-answer.

The door to the deck opened again, and another figure stepped out into the cold sea air. This time it was Shigure, one of the destroyers from Drake's new fleet. Her injuries had healed enough for her and the rest of her fleet to join the sortie, though Drake still placed them all on reserve just to be safe. However, he was still prepared to use them if necessary, and if there actually was a Princess in the enemy fleet, it would certainly be necessary.

"U-um, I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" Shigure asked, evidently surprised to see them gathered on the deck.

"No, we're not really doing anything important," Drake said. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, uh, no, I just couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd get some air," Shigure answered a bit uncertainly. "I can go back inside if…"

"It's fine," Drake assured her. "You can stay here for a while, but make sure to try and get some rest later, okay? You might have to be up early tomorrow."

Shigure nodded, but then jumped in fright as the door behind her slammed open again, revealing an IJN sailor.

"Admiral Drake! An urgent message has arrived!" he yelled in Japanese, holding up a few sheets of paper and waving them frantically before hurrying over to Drake.

Drake took the papers and flipped through them, surveying their contents. He noticed Bismarck and Kaga leaning over curiously, and even Shigure was drawn in by the arrival of the papers, though she was too short to look at them without being conspicuous.

"The enemy formation…?" he asked. It was actually surprising how close the UAV had managed to get, as the shapes of the Abyssals were clearly visible even in the dark.

"Yes, sir," the sailor confirmed. "We just received the pictures now. They seem to be hanging around Hachijo-jima, but haven't attacked yet."

Drake continued to study the pictures. "Seems like a relatively small fleet… Some Na-class destroyers, a few Tsu-class light cruisers, two Ne-class heavy cruisers, two Wo-classes, a Ru-class, and another Re-class… Small but powerful, I guess."

The rear admiral wore a very uncomfortable look as he glanced at the images, something that everyone seemed to be aware of and definitely didn't make them feel any better about the upcoming sortie.

"We will crush them all the same," Kaga said tonelessly, though she was obviously attempting to reassure Drake.

"Yeah… What about the Princess, though?" Drake asked, confused. "Did they not send one again?"

Another sailor then rushed out onto the deck, but this time, he was holding a handheld radio. "Admiral! Incoming transmission!"

"From who?" Drake asked as he was handed the radio. "... Hello?"

The other side was silent for a bit before a raspy feminine voice spoke up.

"Ah… Hello?"

She spoke in Japanese, so Drake switched back to that. "Hello? Who is this?"

"..."

"Hello…?" Drake asked again.

"Ahaha… Hello? I see we can hear each other."

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Ah, excuse my rudeness. This is the Battleship Princess speaking."

Piercing red eyes and a bloodstained smile flashed through Drake's mind, and he froze momentarily, forgetting where he was. However, he quickly snapped back to reality as he felt Kaga's breath by his neck as she drew closer to him and the radio.

"... What do you want?" he managed, barely trusting himself to speak coherently.

"I introduced myself, now I expect you to do the same," she simply said, ignoring his question.

Drake briefly glanced at the two sailors and the ship girls, but they just looked back with clueless expressions. Drake himself also didn't know what the protocol was in a situation like this, so he just decided to tell the truth.

"This is Rear Admiral Richard Maximilian Drake of the United States Liberation Navy."

"... Oh? An American?" the Abyssal replied in English, a hint of surprise in her tone. "I thought this was the Japanese fleet?"

"It is, but the commander is American," Drake answered, also now speaking in English. "Again, what do you want? Why are you contacting us?"

"I was curious, I suppose. After your last sortie ended so badly, I wondered whether you would be out here again after all…"

"I wasn't in charge of that sortie. I was in Los Angeles at the time, killing some of your friends," Drake responded coldly, regaining his confidence as he realized that the Princess wasn't anywhere close to them at the moment.

"You mean the small distraction fleet we sent? Congratulations! You defeated a force that was never meant to win in the first place. Ahaha!"

Drake frowned angrily. "Don't get so cocky. I'll destroy your fleet this time as well."

"... Even when facing a Princess, you can still make such claims? Did you learn nothing from your base's last sortie?"

"My fleet almost sunk your Airfield Princess before, so yeah, I'm not just making stuff up," Drake countered. "Or did you already forget that?"

"Ah… So you were the commander on that sortie as well," the Battleship Princess realized, her tone growing more serious. "Well, then I suppose we will see how you do this time."

"Yes. Will I have the pleasure of facing you this time? I didn't see you in the pictures our UAV took. In fact, I didn't see any Princesses…"

"Hmm… No, I unfortunately will not be fighting, but I will be commanding our forces. As for the Princess… She is there, Admiral Drake. Not all ships swim on the surface, do they?"

"... A submarine."

"Yes, so prepare accordingly, if you can. I look forward to seeing who survives."

With that, the transmission cut off, leaving only the sound of static on the radio. Drake handed it back to the sailor. The IJN sailors and the ship girls all wore looks of worried uncertainty, so Drake turned to them.

"They only sent one Princess, which was a fatal mistake. We will be victorious," he stated confidently, his fear replaced by a burning resentment of the Battleship Princess' arrogance.

Tangier… It was her fleet that caused all that. This time, I'm going to be one who's giving out the pain.