Akagi, Souryuu, and Hiryuu sailed around the Airfield Princess. They had her surrounded from three sides, and thanks to Zuikaku and the other remaining carriers, the Airfield Princess' planes were mostly busy in dealing with them. All three carriers had their bows out, ready to notch their weapons and fire any remaining arrows or planes.
"You're surrounded. Maybe you should consider surrendering," Hiryuu cautioned the Princess.
"Oh? But there's only three of you," the Abyssal replied snidely.
"That's more than enough to sink you," Akagi said.
Meanwhile, Souryuu remained silent from where she stood in the Abyssal's blindspot. Since Zuikaku had been able to stab out an eye, Akagi's plan was to have herself and Hiryuu distract the Princess while Souryuu went around to her blindspot and fired an arrow.
"You've got a hole in your stomach. You're barely standing right now, so you might as well give up the tough act," Airfield Princess smirked at Akagi.
Akagi scowled. "That may be true, but I'll show you that this is no act."
With her last arrow, Akagi skillfully notched it and fired. At the same time, the other two carriers also let loose their arrows. Akagi expected the Princess to dodge her or Hiryuu's arrow, therefore putting her in the path of Souryuu's arrow, but to her surprise, the Princess actually chose to evade Souryuu's despite the fact that she never even took her eye off Hiryuu and Akagi. Souryuu's arrow sailed past the Princess, and the Abyssal used her beast rigging to shield herself from Hiryuu's arrow and the metal gauntlet on her right hand to block Akagi's.
"Heh. Pathetic strategy," the Airfield Princess grinned. "How obvious could you be? Do you think I'm not aware of where my own blindspot is?"
"You just got lucky this time," Hiryuu shot back, frustrated that their plan failed.
"Haha! And how many arrows do you dumb bitches have left?" Airfield Princess gleefully retorted. "Zero, that's right! What could you possible even do to me now?"
"You want to find out! Souryuu yelled as she rushed the Abyssal from her blindspot.
The Airfield Princess whirled around and intercepted Souryuu, swinging her hips so that her airfield smacked into Souryuu's ribs and knocked her off her feet. Hiryuu and Akagi took that opportunity to rush the Princess as well. The Princess turned back to them after knocking Souryuu over, prepared to repeat the maneuver and use her runways as a weapon.
"As if we would fall for that again!" Hiryuu said.
Instead of being hit by the runway, Hiryuu dodged the attack by jumping on top of it, much to the Princess' surprise. The Princess tried to grab at Hiryuu, but the Abyssal was only met with a kick in the face for her efforts. As the Airfield Princess staggered, Akagi put all her strength into an uppercut, aiming for the chin as she had been taught to in CQC training. Though the exertion caused Akagi to grunt in pain, the blow had a much greater effect on the Princess, who was thoroughly dazed and battered by the combo. Once again, however, the carriers were forced away by the beast's laser beam discharge before they could finish the Princess off.
The three ship girls regrouped a few meters away from the Princess.
"What now?" Hiryuu asked Akagi.
"Wait, before that, look," Souryuu interjected, glancing up at the sky.
A small squadron of dive bombers were heading away from Zuikaku's group and towards the three Kido Butai members.
"When they get close, we'll shoot them down. There aren't that many," Akagi said, readying her anti-air guns. "Just watch out for the Princess' beam as well."
But to their surprise, the planes never attempted to attack them. Instead, the dive bombers descended towards the Airfield Princess.
"She's recalling them…?" Souryuu observed with slight confusion.
"Maybe she is intending on using them against us later in the fight," Akagi guessed.
"Hmph. That's a dumb tactic. In close-quarters, we'll easily shoot them down before they can get high enough to pose a threat," Hiryuu said.
Because of that, the ship girls were indeed perplexed when they watched the dive bombers land on the runways. However, something was off, as instead of returning to the Princess, the dive bombers rolled down the runways, gaining speed as they went.
Akagi's eyes widened as she figured out the Abyssal's tactic. "Everyone, get -"
It was too late. Instead of using the gained speed from the runways to take off, the dive bombers instead put all that speed into their horizontal velocity. They did not get very high into the air, but since Akagi, Hiryuu, and Souryuu were so close by, it didn't matter. The dive bombers shot off the runways like rockets and headed straight towards the ship girls. At this range and at that speed, there was nothing they could do.
The explosion that hit Akagi shattered her muneate and blasted her backwards. A fire broke out on her starboard side, and though her Fairies rushed to put it out, the flames still licked at her clothing and skin, sending searing pain through her nerves.
Hiryuu and Souryuu were no better off. One of the dive bombers exploded by Hiryuu's right elbow, almost completely blowing the arm off. Now, the appendage hung loosely from the joints, connected only by a few strands of burnt flesh. The bomber that hit Souryuu resulted in an engine explosion, and she was also on fire and facedown floating on the surface of the ocean.
"It's pathetic how easily you crumble!" Airfield Princess shouted jubilantly, her red eyes blazing and her mouth twisted into a sinister smile. "Now, sink! Die!"
The Princess' gun went off, shooting a large shell towards Akagi. Though she was in bad shape, Akagi was still cognizant enough to know she had to somehow avoid the projectile. The carrier tore off the plate with the katakana for 'A' that hung from her waist and held it up like a shield. The shell impact the makeshift shield and exploded, and with the blast, Akagi also felt a fresh wave of pain. When the smoke cleared, the shield had been reduced to nothingness, and so had her hands. Even so, she was still alive, and her main body was unharmed from the shot.
Hiryuu and Souryuu groaned as they stood up. Souryuu's fire had gone out by now, but Akagi could see large burn marks on her unclothed back, and strips of flesh were peeling away. Hiryuu was the least damaged out of all of them, but she had lost use of her right arm.
"The sight of you three disgusts me. You look half dead," the Airfield Princess snickered. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to play with you a bit more before you sink."
Akagi grit her teeth. We have no aircraft left, and our bodies have taken too much damage… What do we do?
She wanted nothing more than to call over Kaga for help, or even the Admiral. However, she knew that they were fighting their own battles. This fight had been entrusted to her and her alone, and she could not push her burden onto others.
Well, it worked the first time, so…
"Airfield Princess! Die!" Akagi yelled her battlecry and then sailed straight at the Abyssal, moving as fast as her engines and her battered body would allow.
"Akagi, what are you doing!" Hiryuu shouted in disbelief.
"Ahahaha! You're suicidal!" the Airfield Princess laughed.
Holding out her hands victoriously, the Airfield Princess fired her Trident Beam at Akagi, and the red laser shot outwards from the beast's maw, rushing to meet the charging carrier. Akagi used the last of her equipment and tore her flight deck off her rigging, holding it out like a riot shield. The laser beam slammed into the flight deck and stalled for a moment, but it quickly smashed right through the equipment. However, Akagi used that split second of bought time to swerve out of the way of the beam.
"Tch. You're really making use of that rigging, huh?" the Airfield Princess muttered in frustration. "Whatever. Come at me, then!"
Akagi reached the Abyssal and threw a right hook at her, but the Princess expected this and caught Akagi's fist with her hand. Akagi knew what the Princess' next move would be, and sure enough, the Princess swung her hips in order to once again trip Akagi using her airstrips. Akagi's prediction allowed her to instead jump over it and plant her feet into the Abyssal's torso, pushing her adversary back. The blow made the Princess stumble a bit, and she threw the same punch again, this time connected and socking the Airfield Princess in the jaw.
By now, Hiryuu and Souryuu had rejoined the fight. Hiryuu grabbed onto the Abyssal's right arm and Souryuu took her left, and the two carriers twisted on cue, breaking both of the Princess' arms.
"Aiiiiegh!" the Abyssal screeched.
Once again, Akagi knew what the Abyssal would do next. This was the second time she was fighting this enemy, and she had learned her battle patterns. Whenever the Airfield Princess was in danger in CQC, she always used her Trident Beam in order to ward off her attackers. With this knowledge, Akagi slipped around behind the Abyssal and pulled her backwards. This caused Akagi to fall back and the Princess to fall on top of Akagi, resulting in Akagi gasping in pain, but she accomplished her goal as the Princess' red laser beam shot harmlessly into the sky.
With a snarl, Hiryuu grabbed the Abyssal and pried her off Akagi, then dunked her head into the ocean. The Princess flailed about, but Hiryuu used her good arm and refused to let go, gritting her teeth in anger and exertion.
Akagi watched with satisfaction. Her clothes were torn and bloodied and her body was beaten and bruised, but if they could sink the Airfield Princess here, it would all be worth it.
"Fire, fire, fire! Don't let them swarm us!" Zuikaku called out, the flak guns at her hip shooting bursts up into the seemingly-endless Abyssal aircraft squadrons.
"I can't! My anti-air guns have been destroyed!" Graf Zeppelin said, having to shout over the sound of whistling dive bombers and exploding ordinance.
"Then stay outta the fuckin' way!" Intrepid urged as she sailed by Graf. Her anti-air guns had also been destroyed along with much of her flight deck, but her rifle kept on firing into the enemy planes.
Saratoga, one of the few carriers with planes still left in the air, was also firing off sporadic bursts with her flight deck gun. "It seems the enemy's planes are becoming less organized! If we keep this up, we can win!"
"So the First and Second Carrier Divs are actually doing their job, huh," Zuikaku marveled. "Then we can't fail here either! Keep firing!"
"But still, there's only five of us left," Ark Royal brought up. "Everyone else retreated…"
"That makes our role even more important," Zuikaku said.
"This is dumb, though," Intrepid interjected as she reloaded her rifle. "We're just standing here and shooting down planes, hoping that we don't get hit in the process. This kind of strategy is why the others were taken out. Essentially we're just taking our chances that we don't get destroyed before we blow up all the enemy planes."
Zuikaku glared at her. "We were ordered to deal with the Princess' planes. What else would we be doing?"
Intrepid scowled. "If we all attacked the Princess at once, we'd have a better chance of winning. Splitting our fleet up like this is just pointlessly dividing our power."
"Can you two argue another time? We're in the middle of a fight," Graf Zeppelin tried to bring them back on track.
"If we're going to go with the divide tactic, we should split up even more at the very least," Intrepid continued, ignoring the German. "That way the planes won't just rush us as we cluster together."
"That's retarded! Some of us don't even have working AA guns!" Zuikaku countered, growing frustrated with Intrepid's dissent.
"Oh yeah? I think I would know better than someone who's sunk in an air battle before."
Zuikaku lost her temper. "You conceited bitch! Now, of all times -"
The twintailed carrier was interrupted by an underwater explosion. Intrepid was able to sail out of the way, but Zuikaku was not able to escape. The torpedo hits knocked her unconscious or possibly killed her, and when the smoke cleared, she was lying flat on her back, her eyes closed and blood and soot coating her face.
Graf Zeppelin picked her up before she could sink. "See! What did I tell you!"
Intrepid cringed. She did not mean for that to happen.
"Oh, bloody hell," Ark Royal sighed. "Why weren't you two dolts paying attention? Now we're down to four!"
Saratoga sailed over to Intrepid, and she wore a disapproving frown on her beautiful face.
"I-It wasn't my fault," Intrepid insisted.
Saratoga shook her head. "Whose fault it was doesn't matter. Graf, please take Zuikaku and retreat since you no longer have your anti-air guns. The rest of us will manage."
Graf Zeppelin looked reluctant to leave, but someone had to take Zuikaku. "Ja. Good luck."
"Well, guess it's just the Allies now," Ark Royal smiled as Graf left with Zuikaku.
Saratoga's blue eyes darkened as she looked at the sky, which was still full of white, spherical planes. "Yes… Just the three of us…"
Intrepid, embarrassed by her own behavior, resolved to make up for it. She aimed her rifle at the sky and fired, downing a plane. However, her bolt-action reload and then her re-aiming took a bit of time, which meant that she didn't really function too well as an anti-air platform.
"The last of my planes was just shot down," Saratoga let the other two know.
Ark Royal shrugged. "Eh, we're in a proper mess now, aren't we? Glad I brought some extra anti-ship arrows, but still…"
"Don't give up," Intrepid insisted. "It's not over until we're all under the waves."
"Can't argue with that," Ark Royal grinned. "Now then, let's -"
She stopped speaking when she noticed that the Abyssal planes were now rushing away from the three carriers and flying off somewhere else, albeit sloppily. Three pairs of blue eyes followed the Abyssal air fleet as the planes began heading towards where Akagi, Hiryuu, and Souryuu were fighting the Airfield Princess.
"Shit!" Intrepid cursed. "We can't let them go!"
The three carriers hurriedly raised their weapons and began firing into the mass of Abyssal planes, but due to the fact that they had no fighters of their own and were reduced to shooting a gun or a bow, they were not quick enough. With worried looks, the three carriers helplessly watched the Abyssal aircraft fly away and out of their reach.
"Ugh! Just drown already, you bitch!" Hiryuu cried as she continued to shove the Airfield Princess' head under the water. The thrashing and kicking from the Princess and the way her huge rigging moved around made it difficult to keep her there.
"Need some help?" Souryuu asked, sailing over.
Akagi would have joined in as well, but she was extremely tired. She had never had so much damage done to her before, and she had also lost quite a bit of blood. At this point, she just wanted to go back home.
But as Souryuu and Hiryuu tried to finish off the Airfield Princess, Akagi was snapped out of her thoughts by a faint sound. Looking up and behind her, her golden eyes widened in shock as she witnessed a large air force of Abyssal bombers heading towards them.
"N-no… It can't be…"
What had happened to Zuikaku and the others? Why were there still so many bombers left in the skies?
Akagi was too stunned to let Hiryuu and Souryuu know about the approaching planes, but the air force was big enough that the Second Division carriers noticed anyway.
"What the… No way!" Hiryuu said, her jaw dropping.
"T-there's more of them?" Souryuu's face was filled with despair.
"Get your anti-air guns ready!" Akagi called out, snapping out of her state of disbelief due to the adrenaline rushing through her.
"Shit! Fuck this!" Hiryuu grumbled as she grappled with the Airfield Princess, trying to somehow prevent the struggling Abyssal from getting away while also priming her anti-air guns.
"I'll cover you, Hiryuu!" Souryuu quickly sailed in front of her comrade, her AA guns pointed upwards.
That's never going to work, Akagi thought as she looked at them. But I guess it doesn't matter… Against this many aircraft, it's…
The first wave of the airstrike approached. The white spherical planes dove downwards, some of them releasing flaming bombs while the others dropped torpedoes in the water. Though the flak guns of the ship girls pounded the air, they did not have nearly enough volume to stop the enemy planes, and soon the air and water were filled with dangerous explosives.
Torpedoes exploded next to Akagi, dousing her in water and almost knocking her over. Luckily the underwater projectiles did not detonate close enough to do significant damage, but it did not matter since the ocean was soon filled with many more. Akagi sailed away from as many as she could, her anti-air guns blasting all the while, but soon enough, a bomb fell into the water in front of her, exploding and blinding her with a large spray of seawater. That caused her to stop momentarily, and she was then hit by a flurry of torpedoes.
Everything went black around her, and she could hear nothing but a faint buzzing in her head and the sound of rushing water. Akagi gasped and inhaled a lungful of seawater, causing her to cough and sputter as her throat burned. Her vision fortunately returned to her, and she steadied herself on the surface of the ocean on her hands and knees, her rigging and slippers still providing her with some buoyancy. Aches and burns coursed through her body, and she could feel warm blood slipping off her and dripping into the water. She coughed again, expelling some more saltwater. Her face was wet, and even just the motion of moving the hair out of her eyes was so painful that it almost made her throw up.
"Ah…" Akagi tried to speak and call out for Hiryuu and Souryuu, but her throat was so raw that it was useless. In her already broken state, she could not even handle talking.
Where are they…
Akagi's shaky eyes searched the ocean. The airstrike had subsided and the sky was no longer clouded with bombers. A few flaming wrecks of planes and other things could be seen floating about, and Akagi finally found her fellow ship girls.
The Airfield Princess stood with a victorious grin, holding Hiryuu up by her neck. Hiryuu was so bloodied and burnt that Akagi barely recognized her, and it was clear that she was dead. Akagi located Souryuu not too far away from the Princess. Souryuu was surprisingly on her feet, though like the other carriers, she was beat up as well. Akagi could still see the black burns on her back, and streams of blood stained her green shirt.
"G-give her… Give her back," Souryuu managed, glaring at the Airfield Princess.
The Princess said nothing, and her sinister grin only grew wider, revealing the sharp fangs underneath. With the air of someone taking out the trash, the Princess roughly tossed Hiryuu away. The defeated ship girl slowly began sinking, and Souryuu, seeing this, immediately sailed towards her adopted sister as fast as she could.
Akagi, however, kept her eyes on the Princess. A red glow emanated from the jaw attached to the Princess' rigging.
No… It's a trap!
Akagi tried to warn Souryuu, but when she attempted to shout, a sharp pain scraped inside her throat, making her wince.
All Akagi could do was watch helplessly as Souryuu rushed over to Hiryuu's corpse and tried to recover her. Seconds later, the devastating Trident Beam shot out from the Abyssal's rigging. The beam hit Souryuu and Hiryuu, engulfing them both in a red light. The light seemed to grow brighter and more brilliant as it consumed the two ship girls, and when the beam finally dissipated, there was no sign that Hiryuu or Souryuu had ever been in its path. They were gone.
Akagi sat silently, a dumbfounded expression on her face. She wanted to scream or cry, but her body was so damaged that she could do neither, and that only made her even more frustrated.
I failed… I failed…
The Airfield Princess sailed up to Akagi.
"Hehehe…. Hahaha…. Haaa!" the Princess shrieked in laughter, her red eyes glowing and rolling up inside her head. She was in pure ecstasy.
Akagi glared up at the Princess, hate filling her gaze.
"Well, what is it!" Airfield Princess gloated, looking down at Akagi. "You just watched two of your friends die, and you've got nothing to say! Hah! Hahaha!"
Akagi remained mute. She was physically unable to talk, no matter how much she wanted to curse at the Princess. Her body trembled in anger and shock as she was forced to listen to the Abyssal making merry over her the death of her comrades.
"I suppose you're the only one left," the Princess sneered at Akagi. "Hm… Actually, it seems there are a couple more of you sluts still alive. This should do it."
A flurry of white bombers began flying out of the jaw on the Abyssal's rigging, taking flight and heading off to eliminate the last remnants of the ship girl carrier force.
"Now, what to do with you?" the Airfield Princess turned her attention back to Akagi. "You look like utter shit, which is fitting. All that's left to do is stomp out your pathetic life… But you won't be going anywhere, so there's no rush. I'll tell you what, instead of killing you now, I think I'm going to go over to see how your quiet blue friend is doing. I'll bring you her head, and then kill you afterwards!"
Kaga… No! Akagi tried to say something, but all she could do was gasp and growl at the Abyssal.
The Airfield Princess only laughed at the carrier. She spit in Akagi's face and sailed away.
Humiliated and utterly defeated, Akagi sat silently on the water, slowly rocking with the waves. She already had Hiryuu's and Souryuu's deaths on her conscience, and she didn't need to add her best friend and adopted sister to the list.
Kaga, I'm sorry… Please survive.
For a few minutes after the Aircraft Carrier Princess had sunk, Kaga took a brief respite in order to catch her breath.
I wonder how Akagi is doing, Kaga thought. The sounds of battle in the distance are still going on. It looks like they're not done yet.
The destroyers and light cruisers had sailed off a while ago. Many of them had been severely damaged during their rigorous anti-air duty, but luckily, nobody was sunk. But now that the screening ships were all on their way back to the human fleet, that meant that Kaga was left alone. She didn't mind because there were no more enemies in sight, but if Akagi were still fighting, then it would have been nice to have some extra backup.
Having rested enough, Kaga began sailing towards where Akagi's fleet was, albeit at a slow pace. She was definitely not at her full capacity right now, and she had no offensive planes left in her arsenal. With her arm and flight deck missing, she wondered if she could even be of any help to Akagi at this point.
Hopefully she is doing fine.
Kaga thought about trying to contact the rest of the fleet, but she decided not to. If they really were in the thick of battle, she didn't want to hinder them. Besides, she would find out how they were doing soon enough.
All in all, Kaga was satisfied with how the battle had gone so far. Of course, she could only speak for her fleet, but still, taking out an Abyssal Princess even after losing almost all their planes was an impressive feat by anyone's standards.
I wonder if the Admiral will praise me…
Kaga blushed, then cringed at herself. What was she doing, thinking something like that?
But that reminded her that she had not heard from Admiral Drake for some time. It was probably because he also didn't want to interfere with her fight when there was nothing more he could do, but there was also the possibility that he was busy with other tasks… She just hoped that the reason why he hadn't contacted her wasn't because he was in danger. Though he had told her beforehand that he would be fine, she knew about his internal fears about the Abyssals. Since she was the only person to know such intimate details about Drake, she took that responsibility seriously. As his secretary ship, Kaga decided that she had to be the one to support him.
But did she only decide that based on her work obligations, or was there something else to it?
Again, Kaga blushed and shook her head. To have thoughts like that about a superior officer… What is wrong with me!
Still, Kaga couldn't help but worry. After the initial skirmish which destroyed almost all their planes, she knew that the Admiral must be feeling disappointed at how spectacularly his strategy had failed. Maybe if she told him that she had sunk the Aircraft Carrier Princess, he would cheer up.
Yes, I should do that, Kaga smiled softly to herself.
She reached up to her earpiece to start the connection, but she stopped midway when she noticed a figure in the distance sailing towards her.
Her breath caught in her throat. It was the Airfield Princess.
No… It can't be… Akagi!
Worried about her closest comrade's safety, Kaga picked up her speed and sailed towards the Airfield Princess. When she got closer, she noticed that the Princess looked extremely beaten up, but if she was still floating, then something obviously went very wrong.
"So you're still alive, eh?" the Airfield Princess smirked. "What, don't tell me that the Aircraft Carrier Princess sunk? What a loser, that dumb bitch! Hahaha!"
"Where is Akagi?" Kaga demanded.
"Oh, that weakling? Don't worry, she's still alive for now… Can't say the same for your other two buddies, though."
Kaga blinked, trying to take in the information. Does she mean Hiryuu and Souryuu?
"Anyway, you're the last one," the Airfield Princess continued. "After I kill you, I'm going to inform your Akagi of your death and then sink her as well. You two can join the rest of your filthy Kido Butai at the bottom of the ocean. I'll finally pay you back for last time."
Kaga's stoic countenance broke as her eyes narrowed dangerously and her mouth twisted into a scowl. "You've made your last mistake, Abyssal scum. For the sake of my comrades, I swear I will sink you here and now."
The Airfield Princess' red eye burned with excitement. "Yes! Come and face true despair, then!"
Shells chased Bismarck as she sailed away from the European Princess, her long blonde hair trailing behind her as bursts of seawater flew upwards from where the shells had detonated.
This is bad, she thought as her chest heaved. The constant running and working of her engine was beginning to tire her, especially after she had already taken a good amount of damage.
Though if it weren't for all the stamina training the Admiral forced us to do, I'm sure I would have sunk a while ago…
Another volley of shells came hurtling towards her from the Princess' tail, and the German dove to the side to avoid them. She landed awkwardly and her rigging dug into her side a bit, making her bite her lip in pain.
"If you cease your movements, your death will be easier," the Princess stated coldly.
"Urgh… Fuck you," Bismarck spat as she got up.
The Princess blinked her icy blue eyes. "Why do you continue to run? You are only causing yourself more pain in the end. There is nothing you can do to escape being sunk."
Bismarck wanted to argue, but in all honesty, the Princess may be right. Over the course of the battle, she and the Princess had become even more isolated, and there was no chance of someone like Haruna coming over to help her again. And in the open water against a faster opponent, there was no hope of running away and abandoning the fight either.
It doesn't matter. The Great Bismarck does not run, Bismarck tried to convince herself, but she knew that was a lie. Even in her life as a warship, she had been forced to retreat from battle.
That instance hadn't turned out so well for her in the end. And neither will this one…
Bismarck was beginning to feel the familiar sense of defeat creeping up on her. When Ark Royal had destroyed her rudder years ago and she was dead in the water, she had felt the same hopelessness she was feeling right now. There was nothing worse than knowing what was coming but being unable to avoid it. The whole situation was so frustrating that Bismarck just wanted to cry, but she knew that would make her look even more pathetic than she already did.
I can't believe it. So I'm going to sink out here, fighting on these foreign seas? Ah, if only I could have walked the streets of Deutschland as a free woman just once…
"Bismarck. Are you there?"
The voice in her ear brought her back to reality. "... Admiral?"
"Yeah. Haruna just radioed in and said you might need some help. I heard you're fighting the European Princess?"
"Yes, that's right," Bismarck hurriedly replied. Hearing the Admiral's voice injected hope back into her. "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm not doing too well so far…"
"What's the damage?"
"My portside is heavily bruised and the guns have been slightly damaged, and my right arm is unusable for the most part. I have been hit numerous times aside from that, but that is the worst of it."
"All right. And the enemy?"
"I've broken both her arms, but she is in better shape overall. The only reason I've been able to hold out for so long is because of Haruna's help, but if it continues at this rate, then…"
"Understood. Haruna gave me a rough idea, but do you know where you are right now? That would help."
Bismarck frowned. "No, I'm sorry. There aren't even any other ships in sight…"
"I see… That's going to make this a lot harder. I don't even have a visual on you."
"I'm sorry… It's hopeless, isn't it?"
The brief hope that Bismarck had felt was beginning to fade.
She heard her admiral sigh. "Well, it wouldn't do either of us any good to give up. Haruna gave me some specifics about the Princess' attacks and armament, so I can still come up with a basic strategy. It isn't over yet."
Drake sat by the console in the situation room, pausing briefly to rub his eyes. This battle was not going the way he thought it would, and the major failure of his original strategy had shaken his confidence. Though Bismarck needed his help right now, he didn't even know if he was good enough to save her. This was one damaged ship girl facing an Abyssal Princess, and it had already been made clear that one Princess' strength was equivalent to that of multiple ship girls'. Was Drake, the officer who almost single-handedly lost the fleet's main source of air power, really smart enough to be of any use here?
Doesn't matter, he decided. If I can help Bismarck here, it won't make up for my failure, but it will make me feel a lot better.
"You still there, Bismarck?" he asked into his speaker.
"Yes, sir."
"All right, then -"
"Admiral? Are you there?" a new voice cut in.
Drake blinked in surprise. "Hold on for a minute, Bismarck."
The rear admiral then switched the console to receive Kaga's transmission.
"Hello, Kaga?"
"Ah, hello. Did any of the ship girls return yet?"
"Uh, no, not yet," he replied, not knowing what she was referring to. He turned to Longfellow, who checked the radar screens again.
"Oh, it looks like some of them are returning," Longfellow confirmed with a smile.
"Okay. Yeah, they should be here soon," Drake then told Kaga.
"That is good. We have also managed to sink the Aircraft Carrier Princess."
"Really? Nice." That was the first bit of good news that Drake had received in a while. He was glad that he could rely on Kaga even if he himself had failed… However, he could not be completely happy. "... And what about the casualties?"
Kaga paused. "There were many injured. I don't know the severity of their injuries. But… Hiryuu and Souryuu were sunk."
Drake felt a stab of disappointment. He didn't know Hiryuu or Souryuu that well, but they had been a part of the task force that he had led to sink the Airfield Princess back then. Though he recalled that there was a bit of friction there, they still did their duty admirably, and their deaths sent a pang of remorse through him. Either way, he didn't have time to mourn their loss right now, but he was sure that he wouldn't forget about this any time soon…
"Anything else?" Drake asked Kaga, his voice tight with tension.
"The Airfield Princess is unfortunately still floating," Kaga continued. "I am about to face her in battle, but we are both alone. We have each taken damage, but I don't think she is in any better shape than I am."
"So you're alone?" Drake repeated nervously. "Uh, I'll try and send reinforcements, but -"
"Yes, I am aware that reinforcements may not be available," Kaga said. "However, I believe I can defeat her by myself in her current state."
"Do you have any planes left?"
"I have one, but it's not an offensive one."
"But I don't remember equipping you with Saiuns or anything…"
"It is a special plane made for reconnaissance," Kaga informed him. "Akashi developed it herself and gave it to me to test out since I am serving as your flagship. It can supposedly remotely connect to the consoles of our ships and display a live feed of the battle."
"Really? That's pretty useful, actually," Drake replied. All of the initial surveillance drones the INFCOM fleet had sent out at the beginning of the battle had been shot down due to the enemy's superior air power.
"Yes. I think I can win this battle, but I don't think it would hurt to have you watching over me, sir," Kaga said.
Drake was about to agree, but someone else spoke before he could.
"Admiral! Are you still there?" Bismarck broke in shakily. "Admiral… Please help me!"
Drake had never heard Bismarck speak with such uncertainty and fear before. For a normally proud and self-assured battleship, the fact that she was directly asking him for help must mean that the situation truly was serious. The image of Bismarck scared and hurt and fleeing from the jaws of death unwillingly popped into his mind, and he grit his teeth. He had almost completely forgotten about her.
"Admiral? What is it?" Kaga asked.
"... I'm sorry, Kaga. Bismarck is also fighting a Princess by herself right now, and I think she really needs my help…"
"I see. Then please help her," Kaga immediately responded. "I told you already that I can win this fight alone."
"But…"
"Admiral. I am your secretary ship," Kaga stated. "This may be presumptuous of me, but… I think of you as my partner. And if I am to consider myself that, then you should be able to rely on me."
In spite of the situation, Drake smiled. "Thank you, Kaga. There's no one else in this fleet I trust more than you. I'll send Bismarck over to assist you later if you haven't already sunk the Princess by then, all right?"
"Yes, sir!"