Sitting in the dimly-lit room with his feet on the table and his hands folded behind his head, Fleet Admiral Wei waited for the meeting to begin. At the table with him were Fleet Admirals Boston and Van Dyke, and the former was currently fiddling with a touch screen tablet that was resting on the table. After a few seconds, the screen flickered to life, revealing the visage of the gray-haired Fleet Admiral Cassius.
"All right, should be working now," Boston marveled at his handiwork. "Can ya hear us?"
"Yes, everything is fine on my end," Cassius replied. "Shall we get started, then?"
Everyone then turned to face Van Dyke, who cleared his throat before speaking.
"As you may expect, the Citizen's Council is not happy," the bearded admiral started. "And as you also probably know, the average citizen isn't happy either. The stock market tumbled like hell in the past few days, and people have no idea what's going on with the Abyssals."
"That's no surprise. This was probably the worst defeat since our navy was created," Boston said.
"Yes. And the fact that it was an international operation only made things worse," Van Dyke added. "People are thinking that if all the world's strongest nations together can't beat the Abyssals, then what hope does humanity have? People are going to lose confidence in us, and when that happens, then humanity is truly defeated."
"Aren't they right, though?" Wei chimed in. "Why should they be confident in us anymore?"
"... Regardless, we have to do something," Cassius cut in. "What does the Citizen Council have to say?"
Van Dyke pulled out a cigarette and took a moment to light it. "They didn't say anything specifically. They were just incredibly annoyed that this happened."
"So… What, they're letting us off?" Boston asked with disbelief.
"Of course not," Van Dyke grunted. "Someone needs to be blamed in this situation. If it's not someone from the Navy, then the people are going to blame the Citizen's Council, and they're going to get serious about ousting them from power."
"And who is that someone who will take the blame?" Wei wondered.
"What about Rear Admiral Drake?" Cassius suggested.
"That guy?" Boston scratched his beard. "Is it seriously his fault, though?"
"Well, he was the one who submitted the plan for our Kancolle carrier forces, and that was ultimately the reason why we lost all our air power," Cassius said. "But all the high admirals, including myself, looked over and approved the plan. He bears a lot of the blame, but there were plenty other mistakes that were made in that battle aside from just the carriers."
"Then why don't you take the blame, Cassius?" Wei parried. "You were the one who was technically in charge of the American fleet there, including Rear Admiral Drake, right?"
Cassius' face remained neutral. "I only suggested Drake because he is replaceable. If the three of you and the Citizen's Council believe that I instead can be replaced, then I will step down without an argument."
"Hold up," Boston interrupted, "I thought you were the one who selected Drake to lead the Kancolle forces in the first place, Cassius. Now you want him removed?"
"Me? I never selected him; he was merely in my fleet beforehand. Admiral Van Dyke is the one who chose him for that position."
The three admirals turned to Van Dyke again, who was taking a drag from his cigarette.
"Judging from the after-action report, it looks like Rear Admiral Drake's fleet sunk another two Princesses. That credits him with three Princess kills, which is three more than anyone else alive right now," Van Dyke stated, puffing out smoke from his mouth. "... Tell you what. I will handle Rear Admiral Drake. I'll also handle the Citizen's Council, so leave that to me, I suppose."
"Okay… So about Okinawa, then," Boston changed the subject to the other matter they were supposed to be discussing at the meeting.
"Yes. Unfortunately it has fallen to the Abyssals," Cassius said. "Satellite imagery shows that the Abyssals have taken over the docks there and are building some sort of facility on the coast. They are working very quickly."
"Are they going ashore?" Wei asked.
"We presume so," Cassius answered in a grave tone.
"There were still people on Okinawa, right?" Boston brought up. "So they're all fucked, then?"
"Well… I can't imagine anything good is going to happen to them," Cassius frowned.
Wei sighed. "Is there anything we can do? I guess they're on their own."
"Unfortunately. There isn't any hope of rescuing them," Cassius confirmed.
Van Dyke put out his cigarette. "And furthermore, we can't even attack Okinawa with long-range missiles or anything like that because the Abyssals will likely use some of the civilians as hostages. The majority of Okinawa's population did escape to the mainland, but many of them have family that were stranded on Okinawa and didn't manage to escape. The international fallout would be terrible if we tried to bomb Okinawa with those civilians still on it, and Japan itself would never allow it."
"In addition to that, it's possible that Bethlehem may just shoot our missiles down again," Cassius said. "Our nuclear missile attack was easily stopped during the battle."
Boston shook his head. "Damn. Anyway, not to bring up even more bad news, but we recently lost communications with the SEAL contingent that had been sent to Australia to investigate the possible Princess sighting there."
"Great to hear," Wei groaned in defeat.
"We have to worry about that later. The Abyssals in the ocean are the more pressing threat right now," Cassius decided.
"All right. Now what?" Boston questioned, frustrated by their inability to do anything about the situation.
"Now we play a defensive battle of containment," Van Dyke said. "All we can do at this point is watch the Abyssals and make sure that they don't try and expand their reach. Let them have Okinawa since that may keep them busy for a while. It will give us time to recover."
"That's it? That's no different from our usual strategy, and look where that's got us," Boston pointed out.
Van Dyke smirked. "There are other factors at work here, but for now, that's classified, even for you. I'll let you all know if there are any updates."
With that, Fleet Admiral Van Dyke stood up and left the dimly-lit room.
Rear Admiral Richard Drake sat silently in his private office. The sun was setting, painting the room with a deep red glow and casting long shadows over everything. The wall-mounted television was on, the only source of light in the room.
"Early reports say that lives lost in the recent Battle of Okinawa are somewhere in the 50,000 area, with preliminary casualty reports detailing even greater numbers," the news anchor was saying. "Many are calling this the worst defeat in naval history for any nation, let alone a coalition of multiple countries. As of now, communications with Okinawa itself have been cut off, but satellite recordings have shown increased Abyssal activity around and on the island's shores. The fates of the 300,000 people still remaining on Okinawa are unknown."
Drake watched the news program with tired eyes. He was alone in the room because most of the members of his fleet were still in the hospital. Even the huge INFCOM fleet had split apart, with some ships sailing to different bases in Japan, China, or South Korea so that they could be repaired without overwhelming the docks of any one base in particular. Any ship that was still mostly seaworthy immediately returned back to its home nation. The humiliation and shock of the defeat was so strong that Drake himself never even received any new orders, and so he was just back at the base like usual, except everything had changed.
The chair next to him was empty, and his brown eyes lingered over the spot for a bit. By now, everyone knew about all those who had died during the operation. Miraculously, the ship girl force had only a small number of ships sunk in combat, though since there were so few of them to begin with, even one lost ship girl was a huge blow to morale and fighting strength.
The rear admiral stared down at the paperwork on his desk. Like any operation, there were still ammo, bauxite, steel, and fuel costs that needed to be calculated and restocked. There was nobody to help him with it this time, though, but he almost didn't mind. Ever since the fleet had returned to Tokyo Bay Base a day ago, he had not talked much to anyone, whether it was a ship girl or another human. The most he had done was go through formalities and see Admiral Belle off and then call his parents to let them know that he was still alive. Truth be told, he wanted to be by himself right now.
However, each time he tried to get back to work, his mind wandered off to the day of the battle. What did he do wrong? What could he have done better? Would he be able to do better next time? Would there even be a next time?
Damn it! Intense frustration welled up inside him. The anger, doubt, and guilt that he had felt since Tangier gripped him even more strongly, and the one who had helped him break free of those feelings was no longer there. Her absence, which was his fault, only served as fuel to those dark emotions.
A knock sounded on this door. Drake looked up with a scowl. He really did not want to be disturbed right now.
"What is it." he called out flatly.
The door slowly opened and Bismarck cautiously stepped inside. "Sir. Are you busy?"
Yes, I'm busy drowning in my sorrows, Drake thought angrily. "Yeah, I am. What do you want?"
"Uh, well, I thought you might need some help with that paperwork," she said.
Drake looked her over. Surprisingly, Bismarck had not spent much time in the hospital and was out after one day. Still, her arms were covered in bandages and her left arm was even in a brace. She also appeared to be lacking her full mobility. The sight of her only reminded him even more of his failure to help Kaga…
"There's no need for that. I'm fine by myself," Drake brushed her off.
Bismarck's blue eyes were firm. "Pardon me, sir, but you don't look fine."
"I don't remember ever asking for your opinion," he snapped.
"I know. But as your subordinate, I am obligated to give it anyway if I think it will help you," Bismarck pushed back.
"Well, it's not helping me, so you can shove it," Drake growled, growing more annoyed.
"But -"
"Would you just get out already!" Drake interrupted her. "I don't want to see anyone right now, especially not you!"
Bismarck's expression faltered for a bit, and her look betrayed a wave of sadness. Nevertheless, she quickly recovered and saluted before turning around and exiting.
After she left, Drake rubbed his eyes with a tired sigh. What the fuck is wrong with me? Why did I say that?
It seemed like he and Bismarck had been doing this ever since they had met. One of them would always get angry at the other, and then they would both feel bad about it.
Looks like I'm going to have to apologize to her again, he thought with another sigh. The fact that Bismarck had lived while Kaga hadn't was not Bismarck's fault. If anyone were to blame, it would be Drake himself.
He stood up. It isn't good for me to be holed up in here all day anyway… But first things first, I should visit the hospital. I haven't even checked up on any of my fleet yet.
Drake left the Administrative Building and headed out into the quiet streets of the base. Darkness was spreading over Tokyo Bay as the sun continued to sink beyond the horizon, and as the American walked towards the hospital, he couldn't help but notice the silence that hung over the area. Perhaps it was especially noticeable because just prior the operation the base had been packed full of sailors, but even compared to normal, it was too calm. Usually there would be ship girls or the occasional IJN dock worker or sailor out and about, but this evening, there was no one save for Drake himself.
The hospital, on the other hand, was the opposite. As he expected, Drake found it full of nurses, doctors, engineers, ship girls, and others. Most of the humans being treated on the lower levels had only minor injuries, but there were still a fair number of them. Drake brushed past them and headed up the stairs to where the more badly injured ship girls were. He entered the main room and saw that all the beds were filled with various ship girls, most of them attached to a breathing apparatus or some other machinery. A few other girls sat around the beds, probably sister ships of the injured.
Drake himself headed over to Shoukaku and Zuikaku, who were resting on adjacent beds. Both carriers were hooked up to an assortment of machines, and it was evident that they had been badly injured during the battle. Zuikaku was still unconscious, but Shoukaku was awake, and her hazel eyes drifted towards Drake when she noticed him enter. An oxygen mask covered her mouth, so she was unable to talk. Drake pulled over a nearby chair and sat down beside her bed.
But now that he was there, he didn't know what to say. Should he apologize for everything that happened? No, he felt like that was the last thing she needed to hear from her admiral. Could he comfort her somehow? He was never good at doing that.
I wonder if anyone has told her…
"Uh, so it looks like you and Zuikaku will be fine eventually," he started a bit awkwardly. "Everybody else in our fleet should recover in time too… Except… Kaga will not be coming back."
Shoukaku's gaze remained on him. Perhaps it was because she was wearing a breathing mask or because she had already found out somehow, but her face did not undergo any visible change.
Drake really didn't know what to say after that. "I, uh… Okinawa has also fallen, as you probably already knew, but… Yeah. You should be out sometime soon, so we can talk more then, okay?"
Hiding his eyes under the brim of his hat, Drake stood up and turned out of the room. He wondered what Shoukaku was thinking. Did she hate him for the way the battle turned out and what happened to her, Zuikaku, and Kaga? Could he even blame her if she did?
Before Drake left that floor of the hospital and headed back downstairs, he noticed that the beds in the room across the hallway were also filled. The severity of the battle clearly had a huge effect on the ship girls of this base, and not in a good way. Though Drake did not find any solace when he went to see Shoukaku, he decided that he might as well go in and see if there were any other girls from his fleet who were awake now.
When he entered, he saw a couple familiar faces at the far end of the room. Yamakaze and Murasame were sitting by a bed, and resting in that bed was Shigure. Her beautiful cerulean eyes had been dulled to a pale blue, and they stared up at the ceiling blankly. Her skin was pale, and her face was expressionless.
Murasame and Yamakaze stood up and saluted as Drake approached. He dutifully returned their salute, then glanced at Shigure.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Um, well…" Murasame started. "She kinda just stopped responding when we got back to base. The doctors said she's in shock…"
"She's in shock?" Drake repeated in disbelief. "But she wasn't hurt during the battle if I remember correctly…"
"Yeah, I think maybe seeing our sisters' disembodied heads and the Destroyer Princess again just got to her," Murasame said.
Drake looked at Shigure. How lucky for you that you get the luxury of just shutting all this away…
"Well, there's nothing I can do here, then. Let me know if she wakes up," Drake said, turning and leaving the hospital for good this time.
He found himself back on the nighttime streets of the Tokyo Bay Base. The cool air of the night chilled him a bit as a temporary breeze sailed through the air. Right… Now to find Bismarck.
However, Drake had no idea where she could be. She was by the docks the last time this sort of thing happened, but Drake was in the docks area right now and did not see her. He guessed that maybe she was back in her dorm, but he didn't know if he was supposed to be in there.
Eh, I've walked into the baths before, so whatever.
The rear admiral began heading back in the direction of the ship girl dorms, but as he walked, he decided to make a brief stop on the way. He went off the main road and strolled through the grass beside the road, moving towards a hill that overlooked the beach and sea below.
From his position above the sea, Drake put his hands in his pockets and stared out at the black waters as the gentle wind slowly danced with his black hair.
Is she down there somewhere? Alone?
The sea had always held an air of wonderful mystery to him. The vastness of it, its beauty, and its status as home and caretaker to a whole host of sea life… But it could also be harsh and unforgiving. Though it provides sustenance and protection, it also locks away and buries. Drake shut his eyes as the night chill ran through him.
Why is it that others always pay for my mistakes? He asked. Has anything really changed since Tangier? I said I would get revenge on the Abyssals, but every time I take one step forward, they push me two steps back. How many more people are going die by the end of this futile journey? If I'm not going to win in the end, then why I am I wasting people's lives in this fight?
With a quiet sigh, Drake looked away from the sea and went back onto the main road. A part of him said that he was wasting his time and only causing more damage by staying in the navy and fighting the Abyssals, but the other side of him only grew more hungry for vengeance with every defeat he suffered. He felt like he was trapped in a never-ending cycle of destruction.
Well, if that is my horrible role in this farce, then the least I could do is not cause pain to my comrades when we're not in battle, he thought as he arrived in front of the battleship dorms.
The building itself didn't look too impressive, which was true for all of the ship girl dorms. It was a simple structure painted a deep, wood brown color, but it was made of tough stone and concrete that was meant to withstand enemy air attacks, though evidently that didn't work out so well if the Airfield Princess' raid was anything to go by.
Drake opened the big wooden doors to the dorm building and entered the main lobby. It was rather plain with everything sharing that same classical brown aesthetic, though it did have a small lounge area with a wall-mounted flat-screen television on one side of the room. The lobby was completely empty save for one person, who turned her head curiously when she heard the American enter.
"Oh! It's Admiral Drake, desu!" Kongou greeted cheerily. "What are you doing here, sir? I never knew you visited our dorms!"
"I don't, actually. I'm just looking for someone," Drake told her. "So I see you're out of the hospital?"
"Yep! I'm ready to go at anytime!" she declared, standing up and patting her bicep. Then she deflated a bit. "Hiei and Kirishima are still there, though…"
"Yeah… So, is Bismarck here?"
Kongou's eyes grew wide. "Admiral Drake… Don't tell me… You have that kind of relationship with her?!"
"No," he frowned.
"But why else could you be visiting her in her room, desu!" she shouted.
He sighed. "Is she here or not?"
"Hm… I think I saw her come in," Kongou replied, tapping her chin. "Her room is on the second floor on the far end of the hallway."
"Thanks," Drake tipped his hat and then went up the stairs.
The second floor pretty much consisted of just a hallway lined with rooms.
I see the Imperial Navy spared no expense with these dorms, Drake thought sarcastically as he walked over to the final room.
He was about to knock, but then hesitated. Was it really all right for him to come into her room like this? If Drake were back on a regular ship with regular sailors under his command, then this would be no big deal, but like many things, this felt strange when it came to ship girls. Would he ever go through this much trouble to apologize to a regular sailor? Would he ever even be emotional enough to hurt them in the first place?
Well, I'm already here, he decided, and he rapped his gloved fist against the wooden door.
Bismarck opened the door and looked surprised to see him there. "A-Admiral? What are you doing here?"
"Uh, well, I just happened to be nearby, and I… I'm sorry for what I said today," he finished, slightly embarrassed now.
"Oh, that…" Bismarck's face fell, but then she hurriedly stepped aside. "Um, you can come inside if you like."
Drake went inside the room. It was pretty small, and it reminded him of his dorm back at college, though it was cleaner and only had one occupant. There wasn't much in the way of furniture, and the room was simply stocked with a desk, a bed, and some drawers and a closet. At least there was a window and a small adjacent bathroom.
Most of the time Bismarck acted professionally and seriously, fitting in perfectly with the German stereotype. For that reason, Drake wasn't surprised to see that she didn't have any personal belongings strewn about the room. However, she did have a small photograph of her with the rest of the beautiful German ship girls, and they were all smiling happily like some sort of ideal family straight out of one of Hitler's Aryan delusions. Even though Bismarck had invited him inside, Drake felt like he was trespassing. Most of the girls in his fleet had been inside his own house, but they didn't go into his bedroom or anything.
"Is this your first time inside one of the dorms, sir?" Bismarck asked, evidently noticing that he was looking around.
"Yeah. It seems kind of plain. No offense, though."
"I didn't bring much besides my guns when I came from Germany, so yes," Bismarck replied. "All I have is that picture, but I think all of them have safely returned to Germany with Admiral Helmholtz by now…"
"I see…"
Drake wondered why he was even in here in the first place. He had already apologized, but Bismarck didn't seem angry at him. She sounded like she had something more to talk about when she invited him in, so he decided to just ask her.
"So, then. Did you want something else from me?"
"Well, I…" Bismarck averted her gaze. "I… I actually wanted to apologize."
"For what?" Drake raised an eyebrow, confused.
Bismarck continued to avoid his eyes. "Admiral. You were busy helping me when Kaga was sunk. I know that much."
Drake blinked. He didn't recall ever telling her or anybody else that.
"The timing of the events was what gave it away," she explained. "So I know that you blame me for it, and maybe you are right, so -"
"That's enough," he cut her off. "Don't say anymore. I don't blame you, and the only reason I even said that stuff to you was because I was angry at myself."
Drake scowled at himself as he looked at the ground. "I'm the one who should be blamed…"
"But it's not your fault that I couldn't defeat that Princess by myself," Bismarck insisted.
"Heh. And whose fault was it that you even had to fight that Princess in the first place with no air support?" Drake countered bitterly. "Whose fault was it that Kaga had to fight the Airfield Princess when she didn't even have any planes left? It's my fault that you two were even put in that situation to begin with. There's no excuse for it."
"You could have still chosen to help her over me…" Bismarck said in a small voice.
"Yeah, but… She said she could handle it on her own and told me to help you instead," Drake replied in a pained manner.
"You didn't have to listen to her," Bismarck pushed.
"Yes I did!" Drake retorted, more forcefully than he expected to. "She… She told me to trust her. And if I regret helping you over her, then that means that I regret ever trusting Kaga too… How could I ever say that?"
Drake screwed his eyes shut. Damn. This isn't what I came here to do…
He felt a touch on his arm. He opened his eyes to see Bismarck close to him.
"It's all right, Admiral."
"... I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize anymore," Bismarck assured him, her voice soft but strong. "You can't let the Abyssals control your emotions. Yes, this last operation may have been a massive loss, but you have beat the Abyssals before. You saved my life, and I believe in you… And I know if Kaga were here, she would say the same thing."
"... Yeah. I guess you're right."
Drake was always the type of person who kept his fears and sorrows bottled up inside, but when he met Kaga, he finally felt like he had someone he could share those burdens with. But now she was gone, and he was alone again. He could either let those feelings boil over and destroy himself, or he could use them as fuel to eliminate every last Abyssal on the face of the Earth.
"I'm sorry I caused trouble for you, Bismarck," he stated, regaining his calm. "It won't happen again. Thanks for everything."
Bismarck sighed as the door closed and her admiral walked out. She hoped she had been able to help him, but she still felt like there were things he wasn't telling her.
I'm no good at this after all, she lamented as she sat down on her bed. Is Kaga really the only one who could understand him?
Bismarck recalled her first meeting with the quiet aircraft carrier. With a bit of embarrassment, she remembered how she had immediately challenged her to a duel for the flagship position and was then promptly defeated. That dealt a massive blow to her pride, and initially, she hated Kaga following the match. However, as time went on, she began to realize that Kaga had never held any animosity towards her, and that she treated her just like any other member of the fleet even though Bismarck was a foreigner whose first interaction with Kaga was hostile. Slowly, Bismarck began to accept Kaga's position as flagship, even though she still didn't like being led by some old Japanese carrier.
Kaga's sinking came as a shock to Bismarck. Bismarck knew of Kaga's strength since her very first day on the naval base, and the aircraft carrier never once gave off an impression of weakness or uncertainty. But in the end, Kaga sunk despite all that. Though Bismarck only knew Kaga for a short time, she had begun to rely on her wisdom and calm demeanor during battles, but that was violently ripped away when Kaga sunk. Finding out from Akagi that Kaga was no longer alive was a terrible feeling for Bismarck.
And that was why she didn't want the same thing to happen to her admiral. Kaga and the Admiral were remarkably similar, and perhaps that was why they got along so well. Both of them helped keep the fleet strong and confident with their reliable record of sound strategy, and they both acted as pillars of strength that the fleet could look to for comfort. But now one of those pillars was gone, and the remaining pillar was left to bear the full weight of the house. If even that pillar was destroyed, then everything would collapse. There would no longer be any fleet.
As an officer, Drake had a better chance of surviving a battle than a ship girl fighting on the frontlines did, but death in battle was not why Bismarck was worried about him. Drake and Kaga always seemed to be together. Bismarck first noticed it back in Los Angeles, but it was made abundantly clear to her when they went to London. Now that Kaga was gone, she feared that her admiral might break under the burden of shouldering her loss along with the responsibilities of the fleet, and based on how Drake had been acting since they came back from Okinawa, she was right. Even just now, his words pretty much confirmed her suspicions.
I wish I could help him…
There was no doubt that her admiral's intervention during the fight against the European Princess had saved Bismarck's life, and she wanted to repay Drake for that somehow. If Kaga couldn't be there to support Drake any longer, than Bismarck would do it instead. But Drake did not see Bismarck in the same way he saw Kaga. She was doubting that it would even work.
Bismarck fell back on her bed, idly rubbing a lock of blonde hair between her fingers. Maybe there was something more between those two than just commander and subordinate. Maybe even beyond just being comrades, maybe there was something else…
Given Kaga's and Drake's personalities, it would have been very difficult to discern how deep their relationship went just from the way they acted; that was probably only known to Kaga and Drake themselves. Or perhaps even they didn't realize how much they relied on each other.
Would the Admiral ever see me the way he saw Kaga? Bismarck smirked to herself. What was the point of that question? She didn't even like Drake that way. But still, there was a point when Bismarck would have been disgusted by the mere thought of serving under an American mutt like him, and now here she was, worrying about him.
What happened to me…
Ever since she had been born again as a ship girl, Bismarck had noticed that she was changing. Back during the War, she fervently believed in the cause of Nazi Germany and thought that the Fuhrer could do no wrong. But when she had returned to life and found herself taken in by the Fourth Reich's Kriegsmarine, they made her read about the rest of World War II, and she was shocked to find out all the atrocities that her country had committed. After that, she understood why the first officers she met in this new age cringed when she greeted them with the standard Nazi salute.
She had been fighting in the Atlantic for almost her entire lifespan in World War II, so she did not pay much attention to anything else that Germany was doing. Now that she had a chance to work with Americans like Drake, Japanese like Haruna and Kaga, and even some of the British ship girls, she recognized that her whole world view had been wrong (though if she were being honest, she still didn't like the Brits). Being a blonde, blue-eyed German didn't automatically make you better than anybody else, and that was literally beat into her by Kaga too. Now, she still saw herself as the greatest battleship, but she knew that her power was best utilized when it was used to fight alongside others, no matter their race or nationality.
Bismarck took off her cap and idly turned it over in her hands. She thought of Drake again. But this time I'm going to need a different type of strength. My cannons alone won't be able to solve this…