"Yes, just continue on that path," Drake said into the mic to the Signature-class destroyer squadron leader, then cut the transmission.
Now to check up on the bridge. It would be bad if the Abyssals did any damage to them, Drake decided as he picked up the phone next to the console.
He thought maybe the man from before would answer again, but instead, a woman's voice responded.
"Hello?"
"Admiral Belle?"
"Oh, Rear Admiral. Glad to see you're still alive," Belle said. "Did you see the Abyssals down there? Their main object was the bridge, so I don't know if you noticed."
"Unfortunately I did run into them, but I made it through somehow," Drake replied. "So everything is fine on the bridge then?"
"Yes, thanks to that green-haired girl of yours. She took out two Abyssals by herself," Belle told him, impressed.
"Suzuya, right. Well, that's good, then. But as for the rest of the battle… It's not going well, is it?"
"I'm sure you know the answer to that. Command has issued a general retreat order."
Drake knew that it was coming, but it still hurt to hear it. The Battle for Okinawa was lost, and it had all started because of his fatal mistake at the beginning.
"Has our ship begun to retreat?"
"We were held up by that Abyssal boarding attempt, so not yet. But we will start now."
"Some members of my fleet still haven't returned yet, ma'am," Drake protested. "We need to wait for them."
"You know that's impossible, Rear Admiral. If we don't leave now, we'll all be killed. It's a waste, but we're going to have to write off anyone who hasn't returned yet as losses if they can't catch up on their own."
"What if I can buy us some time?"
"And how are you going to do that?"
"Just leave it to me, ma'am. If the situation becomes too dangerous, then you can retreat at any time. Just please let me know before you do," Drake said to her.
"Fine. The Hawkeyes in the air haven't detected anymore Abyssals in range of us aside from that one squadron, but they'll be approaching soon. If they get within range, we're immediately retreating."
"Understood. I'll be getting to work, then," Drake finished as he hung up the phone.
He then turned back to the console. I couldn't tell her my plan, of course… I'm sorry, but this has to be done.
"Destroyer squadron, change coordinates to forward Sector A," Drake said into the mic.
"Order acknowledged, sir," the destroyer commander replied.
Drake sat back in his chair and sighed. At this time, almost all the ships in the fleet were retreating, but Drake had just ordered those destroyers to advance in front of his ship. This would buy Raw Screams of Liberty some time and allow the remaining ship girls to get back to the carrier, but it meant that the American destroyer squadron would certainly be crushed. Everyone aboard those ships would be killed.
Ship girls are more valuable assets than humans. This is for the greater good, Drake told himself, but that did not take the stinging guilt off his decision. Once again, he was forcing people to sacrifice their lives.
In order to get his mind off that, Drake switched the console to the main channel of his fleet which allowed him to reach all the ship girls under his command.
"This is Rear Admiral Drake," he started, "all ship girls are ordered to retreat immediately. Return to the carrier USS Raw Screams of Liberty at once."
He then stood up, taking an earpiece with him so he could communicate with any of the fleets if necessary. Drake walked out of the situation room and traveled back down to the ship girl holding area, anxious to see when the remainder of his fleet would return.
When he got there, he saw Haruna helping some of the returning escorts out of their equipment and assisting the injured. He arrived in time to catch Yahagi before she stumbled and hit the floor, and the bloodied light cruiser muttered a weak thanks before Kiso came and took her off Drake's hands. He also saw Sendai groaning in pain and rubbing her forehead as she was helped along by Kashima, and he watched Fubuki carry Amatsukaze's burnt, unconscious form on her back. Asashio also passed by, and she saluted even as her face was painted red and black with blood and soot.
Drake returned the salute guiltily. Damn… They had a rough time of it.
He counted all of the escorts and realized that the Shiratsuyu-class destroyers were still missing. Wondering where they were, Drake peeked out towards the sea and saw a few figures sailing back towards the carrier in the distance, which was probably them. With them accounted for, that only left Zuikaku, Bismarck, Akagi, and Kaga as the four ship girls yet to return. Also missing were some of the other carriers who weren't normally part of his fleet.
Drake stepped off to the side and tried to contact Kaga with his earpiece. There was no response, which probably meant that she had her hands full or her earpiece had been destroyed during the battle. He wished he could contact Zuikaku, Akagi, or Bismarck individually too, but since they were not flagships, they did not have their own frequencies. They could contact him by themselves through his channel, but he couldn't reach them specifically.
Hopefully they're all right… We can't wait here for too long.
The Shiratsuyu-class destroyers then arrived, and their expressions were haggard. Yamakaze was shaking like she had seen a ghost, and though she had Murasame's arm slung around her shoulder and was helping her along, the green-haired destroyer looked like she was about to collapse at any moment. Since Haruna was off helping the other ship girls, Drake took Murasame from Yamakaze and carried the brown-haired destroyer in his arms instead.
It was then that he noticed that Shigure had the disembodied heads of Yuudachi and Kawakaze in her hands, which made him do a double-take. Shigure herself looked completely beaten, and her cerulean eyes were blank. She stood there, unmoving. Yamakaze came up to Drake and latched onto him immediately, still trembling.
"Um, sorry, sir. We kind of ran into some extra trouble," Murasame tried to explain.
Drake wasn't really sure what to say. "Okay. Let's go back to the repair area where they can help your sisters."
He walked up to the repair area with Murasame in his arms and Yamakaze clutching onto him. Shigure wordlessly followed.
Drake opened the door to see the ship's medics rushing around, trying to prioritize fixing up the most damaged ship girls. The Fairies inside the ship girls' bodies would also assist with the medical operations, but Drake himself was not sure how any of that really worked.
Nagato greeted them. "Ah… Is that Yuudachi and Kawakaze? What happened to them…"
A medic hurriedly came over and took the heads from Shigure, who looked to still be in a state of shock. It was obvious that they wouldn't be able to reconstruct their bodies here on the ship, but they could at least prevent them from permanently dying by sending oxygen to their brains.
"By the way, sir, while the medics were coordinating with the other ships, I heard that Zuikaku was aboard the German carrier Brunhild," Nagato informed Drake. "She is part of your fleet, right?"
"Yeah. Do you know about the other ship girls?" Drake asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know about many others. At this point… It will be difficult to get an accurate count because some of them may not be floating anymore. All we can do is retreat and hope that they return in time."
That did not make Drake feel any better. He excused himself and went back down to the holding area, impatiently waiting for the last of his ship girls to return. For some time he just sat glumly on the white sofa, staring out at the sea. Each passing minute made him more tense, and the sounds of explosions in the distance ate away at him. Eventually, though, he spotted two individuals sailing towards the carrier. He immediately stood up and walked over to the open bay door to greet them.
The figures got closer, and Drake could make out both Ark Royal and Bismarck as the ones standing. In Bismarck's arms was Akagi, who was dead by the looks of things but still whole. Ark Royal was towing back two other ship girls, and when they got closer, Drake saw that it was the grisly remains of the two American carriers.
"You're finally back," Drake said in relief when Bismarck disembarked. "Where's Kaga…?
Bismarck remained silent. Her cap covered her eyes.
Nobody spoke, and Ark Royal tried to detach Saratoga and Intrepid as carefully as she could without interrupting.
"... You should go up to the repair room," Drake finally said.
"Right," Bismarck replied in a low voice.
It sounded like she wanted to say more, but she didn't. She and Ark Royal took the bodies upstairs, and though Drake knew he should probably be helping them since they were both injured as well, he instead just sat back down on the sofa and looked out at the water again. In the distance, the sun was beginning to set.
How did it come to this? He wondered. He was at a loss. He was slightly nervous before this battle began, but he never thought it would end up like this. He felt sick.
Oh, right, I need to tell Admiral Belle that we can get moving…
Drake stood up and began walking back up to the situation room. The whole time, he felt like he was in a daze. He arrived at the situation room and picked up the phone.
"Yes, hello?" that male voice from earlier replied.
"Tell Admiral Belle we can get the ship moving now," Drake said as evenly as he could.
"About time."
The man then hung up, and Drake left the phone dangling and walked over to the windows that looked out onto the sea. The ship began moving, and the other officers in the room looked supremely relieved at that. With his hands in his pockets, Drake watched the waves move past the battlefield. Trails of smoke could be seen coiling up in the distance.
"Uh, Rear Admiral, sir," one of the ensigns nervously approached him. "Before you came in, we just received word that the destroyers you sent out have been sunk…"
"All right," was all he said in reply.
A numbness settled into his mind. Suddenly, he felt very constricted, standing there in that room and watching the seas roll past. What if she's still out there? What if there was a mistake?
But Drake knew the truth. Bismarck and Akagi would have never returned if Kaga were still alive.
If only I had helped her… But instead, I was with Bismarck. What a waste…
As soon as he thought that, Drake immediately felt disgusted with himself. It wasn't Bismarck's fault that any of this happened; it was his and his alone. Besides, Kaga was the one who told him to help Bismarck in the first place, and he knew that she would be disappointed in him if he regretted that decision.
It was all because of him. He was too incompetent to be trusted with her life. Now, she was gone, and yet here he stood. Once again, others paid with their lives while Drake walked off the battlefield unscathed. Why was he allowed to leave alive? Wasn't it his fault that Hiryuu, Souryuu, and Kaga were sunk? Wasn't he the one who sent all those sailors in those destroyers to their deaths? Wasn't he the one who came up with the strategy that wiped out his own fleet's airpower? So why was he being rewarded with the chance to go on living?
Ever since that day at Tangier, it was a question that Drake couldn't answer. After this battle, his quest to find that answer only grew more complicated. Despite all that the world had given him, he had given the world nothing.
Kaga… I'm sorry.
The worst part was that Drake knew that Kaga would never blame him. Even in her final moments, he knew that she wouldn't curse him or hate him. If anything, she probably went down with dignity, proud that she could fight for her country and her admiral.
Now Drake felt that he really would throw up. He rushed out of the room and into the passageway. Panting, he leaned against the bulkhead and tried to still his pounding heart. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Why… Fuck! Why! This wasn't supposed to happen!
As he stood in the passageway, writhing in silent agony, Drake realized that it was at times like this when he most needed Kaga. She was the only one he had told about his fears of the Abyssals, and she was always there to steady him. Though he was supposed to be the strong, stoic commander that all the ship girls could look up to, that image was impossible for him to maintain without some help… And now that Kaga was gone, what could he do?
He felt like he had been stranded at sea and someone had shot out his compass.
Rear Admiral Genji of the IJN stood by in the ship girl repair area of the carrier 47 Ronin, cringing as he watched a group of engineers rush over to Kongou. The British-born battleship was currently bent over on the ground, throwing up blood on the metal floor. All around Genji were other engineers and doctors, each of them moving with a sense of urgency to try and take in and stabilize the damaged ship girls who kept on coming in.
"Looks like we're just in the way," Fleet Admiral Miiro told Genji. "Perhaps we should head back to the bridge."
Genji clenched his fists, but nodded and followed Miiro out. There was nothing more he could do here.
"The light carrier fleet has been recalled as well," Miiro said as they walked. "I heard from Zuihou that they made it to the Brunhild."
Genji merely grunted in acknowledgement. Perhaps he was being rude to his superior, but he was in no mood to watch his manners. Miiro, having worked with Genji for a while now, was not too offended by this and made no comment.
"... Is there any good news?" Genji finally asked.
"Ah… Well, we will probably be able to retreat with our lives, no?"
Genji scowled. "With our lives, yes, but at the price of our dignity. What a farce this whole thing was."
The pair made it back to the bridge, where a junior officer was waiting for them.
"Admirals! Urgent message from Fleet Admiral Umi!"
Though Miiro was technically higher ranked, Genji was the one who had done most of the actual commanding on the ship, and so he walked over to the communications console and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Rear Admiral Genji?"
"Yes, ma'am. What is it?"
"Heh. You seem as grumpy as ever."
"This is no time for jokes, ma'am," Genji gruffly replied.
"Haha! You got that right. Well, what a mess, huh? I really screwed this one up."
Fleet Admiral Umi's voice fell into a glum depression towards the end of her sentence, which surprised the normally unflappable Genji. He had never heard Umi being so serious or downcast, and she was always the one who tried to inject hope and optimism into the situation, no matter how bad things were. He felt an uncharacteristic sympathy for her.
"Many of us failed today. It wasn't just you, ma'am," Genji said.
"Oho? Did I hear correctly? The frowny Genji is actually feeling bad for me? Haha!"
Genji immediately regretted his words and blushed heavily. "I -"
"Thank you," she interrupted him, her tone earnest. "I know you never appreciated my easygoing attitude or my drunken antics, but I am glad that you still see me as a comrade. If we can still look out for each other even in times like these, then we won't lose to the Abyssals in the end. I just know it."
Umi's shift in tone had again surprised Genji, and he didn't know what to say to that.
A few seconds later, she regained her normal jovial sound. "Anyway! I called you because I wanted you to accept some extra cargo I sent over a while ago. A small motorboat containing Fleet Admiral Kaigan is heading towards your position, so please be on the lookout for that."
"What? Why are you sending him over?" Genji asked in confusion.
"Hehe… Well, you see, Bushido has taken heavy damage from an enemy battleship's barrage, and it doesn't look like she's going to be afloat for much longer. All our screening ships have sunk, so you'll have to take him instead."
"All right… But what about you?"
"There's only a few of us left alive here, and we've all made the decision to stay back and cover the fleet's retreat. Actually, Fleet Admiral Kaigan wanted to stay too, but we forced him off. He threw quite a tantrum, haha!"
"So you're…"
"... Yeah. Someone has to take responsibility for this, and as the overall commander, it's fitting that I do it," Umi said, her voice growing quiet. "But that's why I was glad to hear your words, Genji. If my own soldiers still care for me, then I can die in peace. Take care of the fleet for me, and don't let this loss keep us down. Never give up the fight!"
"Yes, ma'am," Genji responded firmly. The connection then ended.
The rear admiral then gave orders to the bridge staff to prepare for the reception of Fleet Admiral Kaigan, and personnel began rushing down to the ship girl holding area to receive the motorboat from there.
"That was Fleet Admiral Umi, no?" Miiro asked Genji afterwards.
"Yes," Genji curtly answered.
Miiro smiled. "I see… Rear Admiral Genji. I know I am not as smart as you or Fleet Admiral Umi, and I know I am not a skilled commander. I know that I was only given this position because my father was one of those who helped bring the new empress to power."
Genji blinked in astonishment. Though he knew all those things already, he did not realize that the aloof Fleet Admiral Miiro was so self-aware.
"I didn't want this position, and I know I am not very good at it," Miiro continued. "But if this nation still has people like you and Fleet Admiral Umi fighting for it, then I want to try my best too. I hope that one day I can show the same strength that she did."
"R-Right, sir," Genji simply said, not knowing what to make of that. Despite his usual arrogance towards Miiro, he did not expect to hear his superior speaking like that to him. "We will all have to do our best from now on. But for now, let's go down and welcome Fleet Admiral Kaigan."
"Rear Admiral Richard Drake, reporting for duty," Drake saluted when he entered the bridge of his carrier, which was still making her way out of the battlefield.
Admiral Belle turned to greet him. "Ah, you're here."
"Yo, what's up, sir!" Suzuya waved and grinned, speaking in Japanese. "Woah. Sorry, but you look like shit."
"You're still here, Suzuya?"
"We asked her to stay just in case any more Abyssals tried to attack the bridge," Belle filled in. "Anyway, the rest of the fleet is also retreating now. Our plan is to head back around to Tokyo Bay, but rearguard forces from Sasebo have been deployed in order to hold the line at the Japanese mainland."
"So Okinawa is lost, then," Drake stated.
"Unfortunately. Luckily for us, though, the Abyssal fleet doesn't seem to be pursuing us too heavily. They probably want to regroup as well and then make sure they really do have a hold over Okinawa instead of chasing after us stragglers."
Drake and Belle paused momentarily to look out the bridge windows and watch the large battleship CRS Great White North of the New Canadian Republic pass extremely close by to them. Her pearly white railguns and finish were coated with black streaks, and she was on fire towards her stern, but automatic systems and personnel could be seen rushing to put it out.
"Fuckin' Canucks, why're they sailing so close to us?" a nearby vice admiral complained. Judging by his voice, he was the one Drake spoke to on the phone.
Belle turned back to Drake. "It's too early to count total losses right now, but I'd assume they are heavy. Overall, this mission was a huge failure. Probably the worst in the history of our navy."
Drake just stood there. Is she going to reprimand me now? He didn't have the willpower or desire to defend himself at the moment.
Belle instead changed the subject. "Well, actually, we still have one last option. Fleet Admiral Cassius has ordered the execution of Operation Judgement."
"Uh… I'm not sure I understand, ma'am…"
"Oh, right, you weren't there," Belle recalled. "Remember when we went for that strategy meeting on the Bushido and I stayed behind for a bit? We were talking about it then. Did you notice the submarines?"
Drake thought for a moment. "The ones in the back?"
"Yes. They are a group of our Holy Book-class nuclear subs. Their purpose is to launch a massive nuclear strike against the Abyssal fleet."
"We're going to nuke them!?" Suzuya burst in incredulously, then clapped her hands over her mouth.
"Will that work?" Drake asked.
"Who knows," Belle shook her head. "This was obviously meant to be a last resort, but I think we've reached that point now. Admiral Cassius should be ordering the attack once we've all sailed out of range, which should be at any moment."
Sure enough, an incoming transmission came in from Fleet Admiral Cassius. Drake listened in along with the rest of the bridge staff.
"Attention all INFCOM commanders. Operation Judgement is now going into effect. I repeat, Operation Judgement is now going into effect. All ships, clear the blast zone."
"Fireworks should be starting soon," the vice admiral said as he looked out the bridge windows with a binocular.
Drake followed his gaze and saw a hailstorm of missiles suddenly come shooting out of the ocean. He was able to momentarily glimpse the submarines that launched them as they were illuminated by the glow of the nukes, but the missiles quickly shot up into the air and disappeared out of sight. Nervously, Drake and the rest of the bridge held their breath and waited.
After a few minutes, there was some confusion. Surely the missiles couldn't take that long to reach their targets? And if the Abyssals had somehow shot nuclear missiles out of the air, then there should be an explosion regardless.
"The hell?" the vice admiral put down his binoculars.
Suzuya ran over to the windows, staring outside curiously. "Nothing's happening…"
"Did something go wrong?" Admiral Belle wondered. She moved over to the console to contact Fleet Admiral Cassius.
"Hello?"
"Sir, it's Admiral Belle. Was the strike successful?"
"About that… Trackers on the missiles showed that they were shot out of the air. They were essentially disabled and then fell harmlessly down into the ocean without hitting anything."
"But that's impossible. No Abyssal has that power," Belle replied, stunned.
"It wasn't an Abyssal. We're still trying to figure out exactly what happened, but satellite monitoring is saying it came from Bethlehem."
Bethlehem? That Abyssal tower? Drake recalled.
"That structure is not even close to this location, sir," Belle said.
"Yes, we're aware of that. Like I said, we're still trying to figure out the specifics, but it looks like that structure's anti-air capabilities are far greater than we thought. Focus on retreating for now. There's nothing more we can do here."
The transmission ended.
Bismarck sat down on a spare chair in the corner of the large repair area, exhausted both physically and mentally. Though she was still fairly beat up from her long duel with the European Princess, there were a lot of ship girls with injuries far worse than hers, and so they were prioritized first. The worst hurt were Yuudachi and Kawakaze, who were nothing but a pair of disembodied heads now. The repair staff couldn't do anything but put them on ice for now and hope to rebuild them back at the base.
"You look tired. Care for one?"
Bismarck looked up to see Nagato standing over her, holding out a can of iced coffee.
"Danke," Bismarck said, taking the can and cracking it open. She had never really spoken to Nagato before.
"Where were you, by the way? I didn't see you retreat with the other Germans," Nagato then asked.
Bismarck froze. With everything that happened, she almost forgot about Prinz Eugen and the destroyers. "Wait, what happened to them?"
"Calm down, they are fine," Nagato smirked. "I heard that they made it to the German carrier Brunhild. Your Graf Zeppelin is there as well."
Bismarck sighed in relief. "Glad they made it at least…"
"You never answered my question, though," Nagato reminded her.
"Oh, right. I got separated from the fleet and was stuck fighting the European Princess."
"By yourself?" Nagato was shocked. "How did you even manage to escape?"
"I didn't. She was sunk," Bismarck said, almost causing Nagato's jaw to drop. "Er, but I did have help. Haruna was there at one point, and the Admiral guided me through the rest of the fight and sent some destroyer ships to assist."
"I see. That makes more sense, but it is still impressive," Nagato said. "Now that you mention it, I do remember Haruna and Admiral Drake talking about you earlier."
Haruna, who was walking nearby with a bloody towel in her hand, turned around when she heard her name. Her eyes then grew wide when she saw Bismarck, and she immediately rushed over.
"Bismarck! I didn't know you were here," she greeted with a smile.
"Yeah, you were busy helping some of the destroyers when I came in, so I didn't want to disturb you," Bismarck told her.
"Oh… But I'm glad you're all right!" Haruna smiled again. "Is Kaga here too, then? I think the Admiral said you went to help her."
Bismarck's gaze fell. Her blue eyes stared solemnly at the can she held in her hands.
Haruna looked lost. "Um, I…. But how? Kaga was so strong…"
Nobody had an answer to that.
"We'll avenge her one day," Nagato resolutely stated.
"Um… Does the Admiral…" Haruna started, afraid to finish.
"Y-Yeah," Bismarck answered softly.
"Is he… All right?" the Kongou-class battleship then asked worriedly.
Bismarck shook her head. "I don't know. He didn't seem to be that affected when I told him, but…"
"Yes. Those two were close," Nagato nodded. "How about Akagi, does she know? And Houshou? Zuikaku?"
"Apart from Akagi, I don't think the others know," Bismarck said. "They will find out eventually, though…"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the repair area, a pink-haired destroyer was sitting down on the ground with a bandage in her hand, trying to tie it around a gash in her knee. Shiranui unfurled the white bandage and tried to wrap it around her wound, but her hands were shaking too much. Frustrated, she narrowed her icy eyes.
Why won't my hands work! Damn it! She tried it again, but it was too difficult when it felt like the wrapping would fly out of her hands at any moment.
"Um, do you need help?" Asashio asked, kneeling down next to Shiranui.
Shiranui glared at her. "I'm fine."
"Uh… You don't really look fine."
"Neither do you," Shiranui shot back. True enough, Asashio was also covered in bandages and gauze, and her uniform was coated in soot.
"But I'm not the one struggling to put on a bandage… Well, I guess you could wait for one of the engineers to help you out, but -"
"I don't need anybody's help!" Shiranui snapped.
Asashio flinched a bit. "But…"
Shiranui took a breath. "Hmph. Whatever. It's just a small cut. I don't even need a bandage."
"Why are you shaking so much, though? Are you hurt somewhere else? If so, you should let the repair staff -"
"Tch. I'm not hurt anywhere," Shiranui said. "It's just that…"
"What?" Asashio pressed.
Shiranui shot her a glance. "Aren't you worried too?"
Asashio looked confused. "About what? About the state of the operation? Yes, things went badly, but I have confidence that the Admiral and the other officers -"
"Not that. Your sisters," Shiranui interrupted her.
"My sisters…?" Asashio repeated.
"Yeah. Aren't you worried that they might have died out there?"
"Oh. I…"
Shiranui sighed. It was clear Asashio hadn't thought about this. "Well, you better be prepared for that possibility, because this operation obviously didn't go well. A lot of people died."
Asashio blinked. "I didn't think…"
"Yeah, that's obvious," Shiranui scoffed.
"B-But I'm sure they will be fine," Asashio nodded to herself. "They're strong, right?"
"Why are you asking me? And the Abyssals are strong as well," Shiranui pointed out.
Asashio sat down next to Shiranui. "Oh…"
Shiranui felt slightly bad now. "W-Well, they could still be alive, I guess. We don't know for sure."
Asashio immediately perked back up. "Yes! We cannot lose hope!"
"Right…" Shiranui sighed. It felt wrong to shake Asashio's firm belief in the strength of her comrades.
Still, Shiranui couldn't help but worry about her sisters. Was Kagerou all right? What about Kuroshio? If the rest of the battle was as bad as the enemies she fought, then maybe it was possible that they had sunk after all…
But this is how it's supposed to be, isn't it? Shiranui convinced herself. This was a war they were fighting, and despite her girly appearance and bright pink hair, she was a veteran who was well-acquainted with the destruction and despair that goes hand in hand with conflict. Nevertheless, when she was reborn as a ship girl and thrust into this new war with the Abyssals, she somehow thought things would be different.
It wasn't a thought. It was a hope. Shiranui closed her eyes. What a fool I am. Hope will only bring you down during war.
She stared down at the bandage in her hands. Hmph. Someone who still has hope will be afraid to lose that hope, and then they become weak. I can't even apply this bandage properly.
"But, you know," Asashio suddenly said after being quiet for a bit, "even if our sisters did sink, we know they did their best, right? We'll have to fight on in honor of their memory. It's these attachments that make us strong, even when we lose them."
Shiranui thought that over.
… I suppose she's right. Did I fight so hard today to protect myself, or was it to protect the rest of the fleet and my sisters?
"Yeah. Let's hope they survived, but if they didn't, then I'm not going to sit her and cry about it," Shiranui agreed. "All we can do is get stronger for next time, whether it's with our sisters or with their memory."
Slowly, Shiranui wrapped the bandage around her wound.