Bismarck slowly sailed to a stop and put her hands on her knees, taking a moment to breathe. A few wet coughs wracked her throat as her tired blue eyes regarded the European Princess, who had also stopped a fair distance away.
"You are wasting my time," the European Princess said to the ship girl, a disappointed frown on her face.
Bismarck didn't bother responding to that. There was nothing she could say that would convince the Abyssal not to kill her, so no point in wasting energy on words.
"You still alive, Bismarck?"
The German's spirits lifted when Drake finally responded again. Normally she would berate herself for such a pathetic feeling, but she was past the point of caring by now.
"Admiral? Are you there?" she immediately latched on.
"Don't worry, I won't leave you again. We're going to win this fight."
Admiral… "Y-yes… But how? I am still -"
"Leave that part to me. What is the Princess doing right now?"
Bismarck glanced back over at the Abyssal, who was staring at Bismarck curiously, probably wondering why she was speaking into thin air.
"She's just standing there right now, but…"
"Okay… Well, since one of your arms is damaged and the Abyssal still has her beast and her tail, CQC is out of the question. We're going to settle this from long range."
"All right, but I haven't been able to hit her much so far, and my ammunition isn't unlimited," Bismarck cautioned worriedly.
"Yeah, I get it. Just follow my instructions."
Her admiral was silent for a bit before he resumed communications.
"How many shots do you have left?"
"Three."
"That's it?"
"Yes, I was shelling the enemy fleet before I was dragged into this fight with the Princess. Is three not enough?" Bismarck said, slightly panicked.
"Eh, it'll do. Secondary ammunition?"
"I've got some of that, but it's not going to do anything against her armor…"
"I'm aware of that, obviously. For now, our basic strategy is going to be to keep her away from you. Fire your main cannons at her, and if she gets close, open up with your secondary batteries."
Bismarck frowned. "And then what?"
"Don't use your final shot. Just fire at her once right now."
The German battleship was skeptical that this plan would actually work, but she had no choice but to trust her admiral. Aiming her working main guns at the European Princess, Bismarck fired. The resounding report cracked through the air as the shells hurtled towards the Abyssal, but predictably, the Princess easily dodged the attack from this distance. The European Princess then came rushing towards Bismarck, her engines emitting a soft hum as the Abyssal sliced through the water.
Following orders, Bismarck used her secondary armament to pelt her enemy with smaller shells, but as he expected, the move didn't have any effect. Earlier in the fight, the Abyssal had managed to tank shots from Bismarck's main cannons and still keep moving, so this was no surprise.
"Keep her at a distance," Drake cautioned, though he could not actually see what was going on. "Sail away from her if you have to."
Damn it, I can't use that much fuel! Bismarck clenched her teeth as she nevertheless complied with the command.
The European Princess' tail curled around and shot at Bismarck, but Bismarck was also able to evade, which came as a surprise to her. The Abyssal was relatively close to her now and Bismarck was tired and slower than usual, so she thought she would definitely be hit or at least grazed.
Wait, is it my secondaries? Bismarck realized. Though the shots from the secondary guns weren't doing much damage, it did make sense. If someone were to pelt you in the face with tiny pebbles, they may not hurt, but they will probably disorient you a bit. In Bismarck's current state, that little reduction in the Abyssal's accuracy was literally life-saving. It seemed like such an obvious thing now that Bismarck had seen it in action, but when faced with the overwhelming firepower and armor of an Abyssal Princess, she did not stop to think about how her superficially useless secondaries could be put to another use. It also didn't help that she was in the middle of the fight and could not pause to formulate a plan.
However, a strategy like this couldn't last forever. Unlike the main guns, the secondaries were able to fire almost continuously, which was good for throwing off the Abyssal's aim but also meant that the ammunition would run out more quickly. Furthermore, Bismarck was only getting more exhausted as time went on, and soon enough, she would be unable to dodge even with the assistance of her secondaries. She said as much to Drake.
"I know. I'm trying to buy time right now because I need to find your exact location," her admiral told her. "It shouldn't take too long since I have you on radio comms and Haruna told me around where you were, so just hold on for now… Actually, wait. Is the Princess still chasing you?"
"Yes, and she's closing in."
"Stop moving and hard turn to starboard. Brace for impact."
Understanding what her admiral's intentions were, Bismarck suddenly halted her course and turned so that her portside guns were directly perpendicular to the rushing European Princess. Since the European Princess had already proven that she was good at moving rapidly in linear directions but bad at turning or stopping, the Abyssal was unable to avoid a collision. The European Princess slammed into Bismarck's portside guns, completely crumpling them. The guns were bent out of shape anyway, so it was no big loss for the German. The Abyssal was also not prepared for a collision like Bismarck was, so the sudden impact momentarily stunned her.
"If you got her, fire!" Drake ordered over the radio, but Bismarck didn't need to be told that. She aimed her starboard guns at the Abyssal and let loose her second volley at devastatingly close range.
The shots smashed into the Abyssal and exploded, enveloping her in smoke. Bismarck took the chance to sail out of the Princess' reach, her blue eyes fixed on the Abyssal's location, hoping to see some good damage on her enemy. When the smoke cleared, the Princess was still standing, but cyan blood was pouring out of a few holes that had been created in the Abyssal's armor. The European Princess' eyes burned dangerously, and her pale face disguised fury behind its stony facade.
"She's still standing, Admiral," Bismarck reported, disappointment evident in her tone. "Also, I only have one shot left now."
"But hopefully that slowed her down," Drake said. "Looks like the information that Haruna gave me about her movement patterns was useful… Are you all right, though?"
Bismarck was sore from the hit, but compared to all the other damage she had taken, it was just one more injury to add to the list. "I'm fine, for now at least. But I can't take another hit like that, sir."
Meanwhile, the European Princess was getting ready to aim another shot at Bismarck with both her main guns and her tail cannons. Her stingray beasts buzzed angrily around her, sparking with cyan energy.
This is bad… She can fire at me with her main guns and then just hit me right after that with her tail guns if I dodge, Bismarck thought. Any more significant damage could be the end for her.
"Admiral, she's getting ready to fire," Bismarck said as she watched the Abyssal intently. "I have to use my final shot now to distract her."
"Uh, that's a negative, I need you to conserve that shot. Dodge her main cannons, but keep your eyes on the tail. She'll probably not even try and hit you with her first shots and will be mainly focusing on her tail fire."
Yes, I know that much! Bismarck thought, frustrated that her admiral didn't give her any more advice than that. Still, she knew there was only so much he could do; she was a battleship with no ammo, and she couldn't even get in close because of the Abyssal's stingrays.
"Fire your flak guns as hard as fast as you can," Drake suddenly added.
With no time left to question the order, Bismarck dodged the Abyssal's first volley and then began shooting off her anti-air guns, flak bursts exploding in the sky aimlessly. For a split-second, Bismarck wondered why her admiral had made her waste valuable time doing that, but then she understood. As her flak bursts went up in the air, the European Princess took her icy eyes off Bismarck for a brief moment in order to see what the ship girl was shooting at. Though the Abyssal was only distracted for a very short period of time, that pause was enough to allow Bismarck to discern the tail's trajectory and dodge the shots that followed.
Hm… So that is his strategy, Bismarck figured out. Both the European Princess and I are World War II battleships, and when we face another battleship in a duel, we know that our main guns are the only thing that can truly damage the other. But the Admiral is different. He is viewing this fight as ship girl versus ship girl, and that is why he is making use of normally useless things like the secondary armament and the flak guns. It has taken the enemy off-guard…
The European Princess was on her own with no admiral to guide her during the fight, but Bismarck had Drake's orders. Two minds were better than one, especially if one of those minds was thinking outside the box.
"Bismarck?"
"I managed to avoid her shots, sir. Danke," she replied.
"Okay. Unfortunately I doubt any of the tricks I've used so far are going to work on her again."
"Yes. So what do we do now?" Bismarck asked, keeping an eye on the Abyssal, who still wore a nonplussed look. "If I can just get one good shot at her -"
"That's going to be difficult," Drake cut her off. "You said yourself that she is faster than you. Also, I don't know if your final volley can actually sink her, given that you only have half your guns."
"Then… It's impossible after all?"
"No. I told you that I'll take care of it. Right now, I want you to focus on avoiding her shots. Don't worry about how you're supposed to kill her. Leave that part to me, all right?"
"Yes, sir."
It was funny; only a few months ago, Bismarck would have thought it ridiculous to rely so heavily on someone else, especially an American. But now, when she said those words, she actually meant it. Maybe it was out of desperation, but ever since Drake started issuing commands to her in this fight, the hope that she could get out of this alive began growing with every passing minute. Bismarck was not one to deny reality or pine for unrealistic outcomes, but her admiral had not failed her so far.
"Sail in a circle around her," Drake told Bismarck. "Go fast, but don't tire yourself out. If this Abyssal is capable of making rapid linear movements but can't turn around quickly, then this pattern should make you harder to hit."
Bismarck executed the order and began circling around the Abyssal, training her guns on the Princess all the while. The Abyssal followed Bismarck with her eyes, wondering what the ship girl was up to.
Though the Princess didn't turn to face Bismarck when the German circled around to her back, the tail did. It was much more flexible than the Abyssal's main body, and so it maintained a rough lock on Bismarck's position. The stingrays also followed, but they were too far away to pose any danger to Bismarck. The ship girl thought about firing at the Abyssal when her back was turned, but she knew that the sound of her cannons firing would alert the Abyssal, and then the European Princess could just sail as fast as she could in a straight line, causing the shots to fall short. Essentially, the two combatants were in a stalemate, with neither side willing to make the first move.
Another strategy to buy time, Bismarck thought, and the European Princess was fine with that. That made sense for the Abyssal because Bismarck was the one who would collapse from exhaustion first, but Bismarck was not sure why her admiral was making her waste time like this.
He said he was trying to locate my position, so perhaps he is sending reinforcements? But I heard that the enemy carrier forces eliminated our airpower, so surely the other girls must not be in any shape to help, if they are even still alive…
"Make sure never to get directly in front of her or else she could rush you," Drake cautioned as Bismarck continued to circle around. "Don't just go in the same pattern. She's probably watching you and looking for that opportunity."
Following that advice, Bismarck stopped for a moment and then reversed course, which caused the Abyssal to to blink in confusion.
I must look so stupid right now from her point of view, Bismarck grumbled in her mind, but if looking dumb was the price she had to pay to stay alive, then she supposed she didn't mind.
"So what's she doing?" Drake asked after a short period of silence.
"Nothing, just watching me again," Bismarck answered.
The standoff continued. At this point it was really just her admiral fighting the European Princess through proxy, and Bismarck could tell that both of them were trying to figure out their opponent's next move.
Suddenly, the Princess erupted forwards and sailed at Bismarck at maximum speed, her stingrays buzzing angrily around her as they glued themselves to the Abyssal's rigging.
"She's coming, sir!" Bismarck quickly alerted Drake. Since she had been avoiding getting the Abyssal's direct path, she had some time to maneuver, but not much.
"Don't bother moving. Aim your anti-air guns and shoot down those stingrays."
That was a difficult order to follow when an Abyssal Princess was rushing straight at you, but Bismarck held her position nonetheless. Her azure eyes burned with concentration as she toggled her Flakvierling to fix on the stingrays.
Although the Princess continued to get closer, Bismarck was not worried. This was the same strategy the Princess had used earlier; the Abyssal would feint a ramming attack and would instead use it as an opportunity to hit Bismarck with the stingrays and immobilize her for a coup de grace with the main cannons. Evidently her admiral had also realized this, and that was why he told her not to dodge. Since Bismarck was not even in the Abyssal's direct path, it would be nearly impossible for the European Princess to ram her at that speed, so there was no need to dodge. Instead of attempting to evade, Bismarck could use that time to properly aim her anti-air guns at the small beasts that hovered around the Princess.
Sure enough, as the Princess sped past Bismarck, the stingrays came darting out. This time the ship girl was ready. Though the stingrays converged on her position, her AA guns shot their flak bursts and blew up the stingrays before they could reach her. Shocked, the European Princess turned around, her eyes wide at the failed attack. With a snarl, the Princess aimed all of her guns at Bismarck and released a full volley.
Bismarck was of course expecting this, and so she sailed out of the way fairly easily. Unfortunately for her, the Princess then rushed at her again, which she was not expecting. Given the European Princess' bad maneuverability, the charge missed, but the sudden rush almost threw Bismarck off her feet. Panting with exertion, Bismarck refocused her attention on the Princess, who sailed straight at her for the third time in quick succession.
This attack also missed, but Bismarck's heart was starting to beat faster and the brushes with the Abyssal were getting much closer. I see… Although she cannot hurt me anymore with those rush attacks because she has lost her beasts, she can still easily tire me out. And that is what she has realized.
"Bismarck, what happened?"
"Admiral, it looks like she has decided to turn this into a close-range fight. Though your strategy allowed me to destroy her beasts, it also allowed her to close the distance."
"Yeah, I thought that might happen. How much longer can you engage in evasive maneuvers for?"
Bismarck barely sailed past another one of the Abyssal's blitzes. "Not much longer!"
To her surprise and annoyance, Drake merely laughed at that.
"Admiral?! Please tell me what is so funny!" she shouted into her earpiece, exasperated.
"You've done a good job so far, Bismarck. Fire your cannons at that Abyssal bitch."
"But I'll miss," Bismarck replied, glad that she could finally fight back, but also wondering why she would shoot now of all times.
"Just fire. Your goal is to get some distance between you two."
That made sense since CQC was ending badly for Bismarck right now, but after that, then what? If she fired the last of her ammo, then even in a long-range battle, she would still lose. Nevertheless, she had no other course but to follow orders, and so she aimed her main starboard guns at the European Princess, causing the Abyssal to flinch and redirect herself to evade the shot.
The moment before Bismarck fired, she thought she heard a faint hissing sound, but that was quickly drowned out by the report of her guns. But, as expected, the European Princess was able to slide to the side and sail past the shells, and Bismarck's final volley of armor-piercing shells fell harmlessly into the water in the distance.
"Get rid of your rigging and get the hell out of there, Bismarck," Drake then ordered before Bismarck could even ask for new instructions.
"W-what?" Bismarck said out loud, but her admiral sounded serious, so she complied and detached her main guns and most of her rigging, which quickly fell into the water and began sinking below the waves.
Now left with just her sailing shoes, Bismarck turned away from the Abyssal and sped off in the opposite direction, not knowing where she was going or even why she was sailing away in the first place. But the hissing noise that she had heard right before she fired had gotten louder and more distinct, and Bismarck looked up to see what appeared to be seven missiles rapidly descending from the sky like arrows sent from the heavens. Understanding why Drake had told her to escape and glad that she had gotten rid of her heavy guns, Bismarck picked up the pace and gathered up the dregs of her stamina in order to flee the blast zone.
Still, she couldn't help but turn her head in order to see what the European Princess was doing. Though the missiles were coming down fast and the Princess was thrown off-balance by Bismarck's shot, the Abyssal somehow managed to right herself enough to shoot down two of the missiles. However, because of the close proximity of the missiles to the Abyssal, the Princess' efforts were in vain as she was swallowed up by the explosions she created. Shortly after that, the other five missiles slammed into the Abyssal in quick succession, and the European Princess was engulfed in an enormous fireball.
Though Bismarck was rushing out as fast as she could, she was still close enough to feel the heat of the explosion on her back, and the blastwave knocked her off her feet and sent her flying a few meters. Moaning in pain but alive, Bismarck stood up and glanced back towards where the Abyssal was. The area was smoldering and the waves were churning tumultuously, but there was no more trace of the European Princess.
"Admiral… I think she has been sunk," Bismarck's breathless voice informed Drake through his comms.
Drake let out a sigh of relief. "All right. Good work, Bismarck."
"Nein, it is you who deserves the praise," Bismarck replied gratefully.
Drake was surprised to hear Bismarck actually complimenting him outright like that and in such a sincere tone. Despite all the failures of the day so far, he actually smiled a bit. I'm glad I could save her, at least.
"So I presume those ships I see on the horizon were the ones who fired those missiles?" Bismarck then asked.
"Yeah, they're American destroyers. How are you feeling?"
"M-Me? I'm fine for now, I think…"
"Then I'm sorry to do this to you, but I need you to go over to these coordinates I'm going to give you. Kaga is also fighting an Abyssal Princess by herself, and I know you're tired, but I think she could use any help she can get."
"Roger that. I will go," Bismarck said, undaunted.
Drake then gave her the coordinates and told her to follow the same path that the destroyers had used to get there since there were no Abyssals on that route. It would take a while for Bismarck to get to Kaga, but Drake hoped that Kaga could finish things before then.
Oh, right, I should probably ask and see if there's anything I can do for her, Drake thought, deciding to contact Kaga in spite of the fact that she may be in mid-battle.
But before he could reach for the console, the sound of sirens suddenly blared through the situation room, startling everyone.
"AIR RAID IMMINENT. STANDBY FOR AIR DEFENSE PROTOCOL."
Drake frowned nervously after hearing the robotic female voice call out the programmed response over the loudspeakers.
"So they've penetrated this far into our fleet too…" Lieutenant Commander Longfellow noted with a tense expression.
This situation was not entirely unexpected to Drake, but he had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. The moment he sent the screening destroyers away to help Bismarck was also the moment when the Abyssals attacking those destroyers could now break through and attack the carrier directly.
"ACTIVATING LASER DEFENSE. LAUNCHING SEA SPARROW… SEA SPARROW FAILED. LASER DEFENSE FAILED. ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT."
Almost before the program had even finished speaking, the ship rocked with a rolling bounce, tossing a few officers to the ground. Drake clutched onto the console and barely maintained his balance.
Shit… This is bad, Drake realized. But we can't sink now. Not if Kaga is still out there fighting!
Rushing over to the telephone, Drake picked it up and waited as the phone automatically connected to the bridge.
"Yes, hello?" a masculine voice said from the other end, which indicated that it was some other officer and not Admiral Belle.
"We're under air attack. Get those planes in the sky," Drake told him. He was unsure if he should really be using such an authoritative tone given that the person on the other end could very well be a vice admiral or something, but with the situation as it was, it probably didn't matter that much.
"Yes, it's blatantly obvious that we're under air attack, thank you," the other officer snorted. "Our squadrons are already in the air, but they are unlikely to hold the Abyssals off for very long. Therefore, Admiral Belle is taking our ship out of this area."
"But the ship girls haven't come back yet!" Drake protested.
"What? We're going to die if we stay here. Get a grip, sailor," the voice admonished before hanging up.
Drake grit his teeth and slammed the phone back into its receiver. "Fuck you too."
"What do we do now?" Longfellow asked worriedly.
"Well, we can at least -"
"Enemy submarines off starboard!" one frightened ensign suddenly yelled out from his position by the window which looked out onto the ocean.
The situation room erupted in muttering and angry exclamations for a few seconds before another explosion hit. This one was much worse than the first, and it almost felt like someone had lifted the whole ship out of the water and then slammed it back down on the waves. Drake fell back against the bulkhead, and he got hit from the front too as Longfellow was tossed into his stomach by the explosion.
"Urgh… Oh, no! I'm sorry, sir!" Longfellow quickly apologized, her freckled face heating up in embarrassment.
"Christ," Drake muttered as he slowly stood back up. He scanned the room and saw many of the other officers also getting to their feet, so it appeared that at least in this area of the ship, no one was seriously injured.
"Fuck this. I have to see what's going on myself," Drake decided, heading off towards the bridge.
Longfellow followed him out like a scared puppy. Normally it would be bad for the second-in-command to leave along with the commander, but it was clear that this was her first taste of actual combat, and Drake kind of felt bad for her.
Drake stormed through the passageways and into the one that led to the stairs up to the bridge, but he was stopped short when he saw a figure blocking his path. A tall, pale-skinned Ne-class Abyssal stood in front of him, her only visible blue eye burning with Abyssalized energy. The heavy cruiser did not have her rigging, but she still struck a fearsome image with her black half face mask and her dark, steel armored leggings.
Longfellow gasped at the sight, and Drake froze in fear. Once again, he was face-to-face with an Abyssal.
Kaga slid past the spread of an enterprising torpedo bomber, her sailing shoes slicing across the ocean and throwing up a spray as she backpedaled. She managed to avoid being blown up, but just barely. To make matters worse, the Airfield Princess still had a handful of planes up in the air that were prepared to attack at any moment.
"Still fighting even when you're missing an arm?" the Airfield Princess grinned savagely. "You look like you could fall over and sink at any moment."
"I could say the same to you," Kaga countered.
"Haha! I guess we both are sitting on the edge right now, huh?" the Abyssal admitted. "But unlike you, I still have planes. What use is an aircraft carrier without her air wing?"
"I am not merely an aircraft carrier anymore," Kaga said. "And that is something that you Abyssals cannot seem to understand. You are so hung up on past failures and tragedies that it has made you blind to the future. That is why your companion was sunk."
The Airfield Princess scoffed at that. "Yeah, right. She was sunk because she was weak! Just like in all wars, the weak suffer!"
Kaga shook her head. "No. The only ones who suffer are the weak-minded, and you Abyssals are the perfect example of that. You claim your hatred makes you strong, and yet can you say that you are happy right now? You are tortured on the inside, all of you. Any victory you achieve on the battlefield will be hollow, because you can never defeat the demons that plague your conscience."
"Nice psychoanalysis, but none of the bullshit you just spewed is going to save you from having your limbs strewn about these waters when I'm done with you," Airfield Princess growled.
The white Abyssal bombers hovered threateningly overhead, and Kaga was all too aware of the fact that she was in no shape to fight against them right now. At least her anti-aircraft guns still worked.
The first dive bomber came rushing down at her. Kaga aimed her hip-level AA guns and shot it down, but another came screaming after her immediately following that. Taking out her last arrow which contained the surveillance plane, Kaga used the projectile as a weapon and smashed the tip of the arrow into the dive bomber, causing it to blow up prematurely. The explosion sent her sprawling back, but the plane did not get to release its full explosive power, and so Kaga was relatively unharmed from the blast.
The Airfield Princess looked frustrated that her attacks kept failing.
"Why won't you just die already? All your comrades have been defeated, and I am sure your little human friends are being annihilated as we speak. You have nothing left to fight for."
Kaga smirked at her. "Again you underestimate us. You think that killing a few of us will make us lose our resolve? You say you understand the dark nature of humans, but you are completely blind to their true strengths. Back during the War, my country fought until their backs broke, and then they fought some more after that. You're a fool if you think that one defeat, no matter how major it is, can ever stop us from resisting you."
"I'll shut that mouth of yours for good!" the Airfield Princess declared in anger, sending her final four planes to attack.
This is it. If I can stop these four aircraft, then she will no longer have the advantage over me, Kaga thought. Her entire body ached and the cauterized hole where her arm used to be burned with pain, but she knew that she had to finish the fight. She promised her admiral that she would win, after all.
As the first white bombers came towards her with their flaming mouths, Kaga stood her ground and aimed her AA guns up. The Airfield Princess manually controlled the bombers to avoid the flak bursts this time, and they swerved past the white bursts in the sky. Frowning at the missed shots, Kaga sailed backwards as the planes descended. They appeared to be one dive bomber and one torpedo bomber, which meant that Kaga would have to watch from both above and below. Simultaneously, the torpedo bomber dipped low to drop its spread while the dive bomber hurtled towards her.
Instead of trying to avoid the hits, which would be impossible, Kaga leapt forwards, over the torpedo spread, and delivered a midair roundhouse kick to the dive bomber, once again causing it to explode prematurely. However, since this time she struck with her own body instead of an arrow, she felt the explosion much more acutely, and she fell back on the water's surface with a grunt of pain. The explosion had ripped off her thigh-high sock as well as some of the skin on her leg, but the last of her adrenaline allowed her to stand back up and face the last two bombers.
The pair of white Abyssal planes approached, and Kaga's golden eyes watched them tear through the air and rush towards her. Years of dogfighting experience and her time spent in the archery range allowed her to track the planes despite their fast speed, and the aircraft carrier prepared herself for the final test. Before the first bomber could reach her, Kaga turned hard to port. Naturally, the plane followed her, and the second plane followed them both. Kaga then stopped and immediately turned to starboard, abruptly changing her direction. The first plane stopped as well and tried to change direction, but the sudden stopping caused the second plane to ram right into the first plane, which made them both explode in mid-air.
Debris rained down from above, and Kaga watched the fireworks with satisfaction. The hard turning was bad for both her knees and her equipment, but it had to be done. It was clear that the Airfield Princess was in a rush to kill her, probably because the Abyssal herself was on the brink of exhaustion. However, that meant that the Princess would be paying more attention to speed rather than maneuverability, and Kaga took advantage of that in order to destroy both planes. As an aircraft carrier herself, Kaga knew it was difficult to accurately control multiple planes at the same time, especially if you were tired. That proved to be true for the Airfield Princess as well, apparently.
"So you destroyed them too, huh," the Airfield Princess noted, surprisingly not as angrily as Kaga thought.
The Princess herself had nothing left with which to hit Kaga with. Both her arms were clearly broken, and the cannon atop her beast was bent out of shape as well. Her planes appeared to be depleted, and the only weapon that remained to her was her Trident Beam, which had no hope of connecting due to its long charge time.
The two combatants stared at each other, unmoving. Both of them looked ready to collapse, and both had also already killed today. Nevertheless, resolution burned in their eyes, and it was evident that neither was willing to walk away from the battlefield.
The Airfield Princess' usual sinister expression broke for a moment. "... I wonder how it is."
Kaga blinked. "What?"
"Being a ship girl," the Abyssal continued. "The immense joy that I get from sinking my opponents… Is it possible to feel that joy from other things too?"
The faint sound of planes could be heard overhead, and the noise grew closer with every passing second. With a shock, Kaga turned to see two Abyssal planes heading towards her and the Princess.
Impossible! If she had more bombers, she would have used them by now! But either way, even if she did have more bombers, Kaga was confident that she possessed the strength to destroy them like she did to the others.
However, the planes that were approaching actually seemed to be fighters, and they were carrying an object in each of their mouths. To Kaga's surprise, the Abyssal fighters brought with them Intrepid's rifle and Saratoga's tommy gun, and the spherical planes descended with the weapons and placed them within reach of the Airfield Princess, who took the guns into her hands. The fighters then floated underneath the Princess' arms and began ascending, making the Princess raise her arms into firing position despite the fact that her bones had been broken. The Airfield Princess' face contorted in agony at the maneuver, but the determination in her eyes did not fade.
"Hehehe… Maybe in a different life, no?" the Princess managed as she smirked at Kaga. Then, she fired.
Four streams of anti-ship bullets sliced through the air and shot towards Kaga. The guns from the fighter planes were relatively weak, but Intrepid's and Saratoga's guns were made for damaging Abyssals, and so they would do a fair amount of damage to Kaga too.
Damn it, my anti-air guns are useless here! Kaga cursed as she tried to sail away from the bullets. The Airfield Princess herself could still move, though, and she turned her body in order to follow Kaga and keep the four bullet streams trained on the ship girl.
Kaga had no defensive or offensive abilities remaining. A bullet ripped through her side, causing her to wince in pain as a burst of blood erupted from the hit. She was then peppered by fighter fire before some of the tommy guns' shots tore into her, stinging a line into her back.
I'm dead at this rate, Kaga realized. I have to get in close… It's dangerous, but it is the only way out now.
Kaga turned around and charged at the Abyssal, zigzagging her movement in order to avoid the guns. But approaching the Princess also ensured that the Abyssal's aim got better, and the Airfield Princess adjusted her plane underneath the arm that held the Springfield in order to take a shot at Kaga's already injured leg. The bullet hit and disabled Kaga's kneecap, sending the carrier sputtering onto the ocean's surface.
With a sense of mortal urgency, Kaga tried to get back up, but one of her legs had been almost completely destroyed now. Even so, she forced herself to stand even as the Abyssal continued firing. Blood poured out of the numerous holes that had been punched into her, but Kaga fixed her gaze on her enemy again and prepared to end this.
But instead, what she saw was a red glow shooting straight towards her.
Kaga could not even move to avoid it now. So she knew that I would try and stand up again, huh… If I just stayed down, the laser might have just shot over my head.
Before she could even finish that thought, Kaga was pierced by the Trident Beam, and the red beam of Abyssal energy tore a hole through her stomach before dissipating. The attack was clearly not as powerful as a fully-charged Trident Beam, but given Kaga's current state, it was more than enough.
Miraculously, Kaga remained on her feet even as her vision dimmed. But… I promised…
A final shot rang out from the anti-ship rifle, and the bullet entered Kaga's chest and exited through her back. The ship girl fell and slipped beneath the waves.
Darkness enclosed Kaga as the cold ocean swallowed her. The light from the surface grew farther and farther away, and her golden eyes remained fixed on those last vestiges of sunlight that only shone for those on the world above.
Akagi… Admiral Drake… I'm so… Sorry…
And Kaga sunk, slowly dragged down into the depths.