A Howa Type 89 assault rifle rested horizontally across Kashima's lap as she sat on the bench inside the helicopter, the blades whirling in the wind outside. Her periwinkle-colored eyes were fixed on the ship girl seated across the helicopter from her as she rested her cheek on the palm of her hand and pouted.
"W-What is it?" Murasame asked, unnerved by how Kashima was looking at her. Like the training cruiser, Murasame was also had a weapon, though hers was an MP7 submachine gun that hung from the strap on her shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, sorry," Kashima apologized after she realized she was staring. "It's just that you look so different now. I wish my remodel had made me more beautiful."
"Yeah, your legs got longer and your tits got bigger, Murasame," Sendai grinned from beside her. "But Kashima, I don't think you can get any more beautiful than you already are, so don't worry about it."
"That's nice of you," Kashima smiled. "But even you got a cool new outfit, Sendai. I'm still the same old me…"
"Well, you're stronger, right? You did get remodeled, after all," Murasame reminded her.
"Yeah, but my remodel is a Kai version. It's not as good as the Kai Ni one you guys got," Kashima sighed.
"Hey, they said the difference between Kai and Kai Ni wasn't that big," Sendai brought up. "And not everyone who gets a Kai Ni changes her appearance either. Fubuki got one and she still looks the same."
"That's true, I guess…"
The three ship girls were part of a helicopter convoy that was currently flying over the city of Brisbane, Australia. The remaining helicopters contained the other members of the fleet formerly under the command of Rear Admiral Richard Drake, along with some extra special forces members from the elite division of the Australian Army. Tonight, their objective was to locate and then capture or kill an Abyssal Princess believed to be operating on land in this city. Apparently US sailors had already been killed by this Abyssal, and the first special forces team that had been sent after her had yet to return or report back.
"Still, I can't believe Commander Keats is dead," Sendai then said. "I mean… If the guy who taught us how to use these weapons lost to this Abyssal, can we really beat her?"
"We don't know he's dead yet," Murasame corrected her. "Also, we are ship girls and he's a human, so we're much more durable. Commander Keats may have been more skilled in terms of operations like this, but our bodies make up for that. I think we can definitely pull this off."
"It's a night battle as well, so shouldn't you be happy, Sendai?" Kashima pointed out.
"True!" Sendai immediately perked up. "I'll teach this Abyssal bitch not to mess with a true demon of the night!"
A few minutes later, all the helicopters except for one touched down in a grassy field in the city's Botanical Gardens. The area was deserted and had been cordoned off a few hours ago by local authorities, allowing the ship girls to work unencumbered. INFCOM had decided to act on this matter now because they had received some strong intelligence that the Princess was in this area, and therefore they had flown in Drake's former fleet to deal with the problem. This fleet was chosen because they currently had no commander and because they were the only ship girls trained in land operations, and INFCOM also wanted to test the effectiveness of the new remodels in a smaller-scale engagement before an actual naval battle.
The helicopter that didn't land in the gardens headed off to the north instead, closer to the Brisbane River. A small group of ship girls would be deployed with their rigging in the river to provide naval shelling support if necessary.
The ship girls spilled out of their respective helicopters and gathered up as the Australian spec ops team took charge.
"All right, just to briefly recap, here is the situation," the Australian commander began. "The Abyssal Princess in question is somewhere in this garden complex. We don't truly have the element of surprise anymore since we had to clear the area a few hours ago, but at the very least, the Princess has only had a limited time to prepare for a potential attack. That's why we rushed you girls in here by air instead of by sea. Also, don't expect any help from our armed forces because this is supposed to be a quiet operation and it's going to take place near densely-populated areas. Too many forces could also just scare the Princess off. Our military is only going to step in if things get really bad, but that is the absolute worst case scenario. Aside from that, we're going to proceed as planned."
The Australian special forces team then took point, their weapons raised as they cautiously and silently moved through the dark garden park. They would be leading the ship girls to the target, but once they reached her, they were supposed to shift to a support role instead of engaging the Abyssal directly.
"This place actually looks really pretty," Fubuki said quietly as the group of ship girls began following the Australian special forces.
"Yes, it looks like it could be a nice place to visit during the daytime," Yahagi agreed.
"I read there's even a bonsai garden somewhere inside," Suzuya added.
"You all, don't make any unnecessary noise," Shoukaku turned and said to the chatting ship girls.
"Eeeeh? It's not like it matters. She knows we're here anyway," Suzuya complained.
Shoukaku frowned as she adjusted her grip on her sniper rifle. "Yes, but she doesn't know exactly where we are aside from where the helicopters landed, so we may still be able to surprise her."
"Oi, silver hair, quiet down," one of the Australians hushed.
"S-Sorry," Shoukaku apologized, then glared at the giggling Suzuya.
A little bit further back, some of the destroyers were walking together. Yamakaze glanced nervously at her sister Shigure, who had been remodeled to her Kai Ni form. More importantly, Shigure was now able to function properly again… For the most part, that is.
"Tch. All this walking is getting boring. Why won't that bitch show herself already so I can put a bullet through her damn skull?" Shigure growled.
"U-Um," Yamakaze was about to speak up, but her older sister turned her narrowed blue eyes on her, and she diverted her own gaze and looked down at her MP7 instead.
"Aren't you nervous, Shigure?" Murasame asked cautiously. "I mean… You have less training with firearms than we do, don't you?"
"They taught me the basics in Tokyo to catch up with you guys. It's not that hard," Shigure brushed her off. "Of course, I'd prefer it if I could splatter this Abyssal cunt with my cannons instead, but this will have to do for now."
Murasame shared a concerned look with Yamakaze before the two fell silent again. Ever since her remodel, Shigure had become more aggressive and harsher than her usual self. She still cared about her sisters and comrades, but whenever the Abyssals were brought up, her once-soft blue eyes turned into icy daggers of steel, and her mouth twisted into an enraged scowl.
"You sound pretty cocky. Even though we're remodeled now, this is still a Princess we're going up against," Shiranui reminded Shigure.
Shigure smirked. "Oh, you're mistaken. I plan on not holding back during this fight, and I'll use every last bit of my bloodlust to tear her into scrap metal. I know it won't be an easy fight, but as always, I will leave the battlefield alive. Only this time, I'll make sure that the enemy is reduced to a fine red paste before I do."
I don't think she really listened to me, Shiranui thought, but made no further comment. This new Shigure didn't seem like someone you wanted to mess around with.
"U-Um, Shigure, let's do our best together during this fight!" Asashio shakily said, trying to defuse the harsh atmosphere. She had been remodeled to Kai Ni as well, but like the others, she was still nervous around Shigure.
"Huh? Yeah," Shigure gave a half-hearted reply as her killer gaze scanned the shadows of the gardens. Many of the lights had been turned off specifically for today, so it was unusually dark.
"You in position yet, guys?" Zuikaku's voice sounded through their earpieces, speaking to the whole fleet.
"Not yet," Shoukaku replied over comms. "What about you?"
"Yeah. All good here."
Zuikaku, Yura, and Amatsukaze were the ships who were currently sailing atop the Brisbane River and would be providing fire support.
"You can go ahead and launch the recon," the Australian commander cut in. "We're close enough to the designated point."
"Roger."
"So we're going to wait for Zuikaku's night recon first. See if she finds anything," Murasame restated, hoping that Shigure wouldn't just go charging off if she got annoyed by the waiting.
Predictably, Shigure wasn't a fan of the plan. "The Abyssal scum is definitely going to sense a ship girl's recon plane from this close. This is stupid."
"S-She already knows we're here, so it shouldn't be a problem," Yamakaze timidly said. Since Shigure was her sister, she felt like it was her duty to calm her down too. "If the Abyssal destroys our recon, she won't necessarily know our location, just the location of the plane…"
Shigure looked unsatisfied at that, but she didn't say anything more and just impatiently tapped her submachine gun against her thigh.
The fleet took cover behind a large section of bushy plants and began waiting for Zuikaku's report. After a few minutes, something came in from the radio.
"Found her. She's in the tropical dome," Zuikaku told them. "However, there are other hostiles nearby that we didn't expect. There's about ten of them."
"Really? Other Abyssals?" Shoukaku asked for confirmation. That certainly wasn't in the mission briefing.
"I don't know. I guess so. My plane was shot down before I could confirm, but there were definitely other radar signatures nearby."
"What do we do about them?" Shoukaku turned to the Australians.
"That depends. Can you girls handle ten extra enemies?" the commander asked.
Shoukaku thought it over. All of the ship girls had been remodeled, and the ten extra enemies were no doubt regular Abyssals rather than Princess-class, so they should be easier to take down than the Princess herself.
"Yes. We can defeat them," Shoukaku confidently stated.
The commander nodded. "All right, then. Let's get moving."
The group headed in the direction of the tropical dome, ever the more cautious now that it was revealed that there were ten more enemies they would have to face. They crept through the shrubbery, slowly encroaching upon the large dome that contained the Abyssal. However, as they approached, five figures suddenly sprung up from the darkness.
Shoukaku pulled out her sidearm and pointed it at the shadows and she heard the others raise their own weapons, but then a voice called out something in English.
"Don't shoot!"
That gave everyone a moment of pause, and the shadowy figures did not attack either. When another few seconds passed and nothing happened, the Australian commander lowered his weapon.
"Who are you cunts? You don't look like Abyssals," he demanded to know.
The figures moved closer, and the Australians raised their weapons again. However, now that the figures were closer, Shoukaku could make them out. Her golden eyes widened in surprise.
"Commander Keats?" she said, dumbfounded.
"Yo. Long time no see," the blond man said with a grin. His four SEAL teammates were behind him, apparently unharmed as well.
"The Americans?" the Australian commander realized with visible confusion. "What the hell…?"
"Yeah, about that… It's a long story," Keats sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Either way, don't we have more important matters to deal with right now? There are five Abyssals in that dome, you know."
"Wait. How did you get here?" Shoukaku asked the Americans.
"I told you, it's a long story," Keats repeated. "I mean, we could sit here and chat about it, but I have a feeling the Abyssals are eventually just going to come out and murder us while we're telling stories. Always focus on the mission at hand, right?"
"We were told you were dead," Akagi interjected.
Keats sighed as he put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, makes sense. We haven't contacted command for a while now. Still, we can explain, but not now. Like I said, there are Abyssals right in there."
"What's taking so long?" Zuikaku's voice suddenly broke in through the radio.
As Shoukaku moved away to answer her sister, Haruna went over to the Australians.
"What do we do now? Is it all right to continue the mission?" she asked.
"Hn… I suppose so," the commander grunted. "You Americans have got some explaining to do later, but for now, I assume we can count on your help?"
Keats smiled. "That's why we're here, chief. Let's get started!"
"Fine. You're on point," the Australian gestured with his gun.
Now with the SEALs leading, the group moved towards the entrance of the dome. They pushed open the doors and were greeted with the sight of a plethora of different trees and plants all enclosed by the round, transparent, webbed ceiling of the dome. There was a small pond in the middle of the dome, but aside from that, there were no Abyssals to be found.
"What the…" Keats started. "Shit, where are they? They were just here a minute ago…"
"Could they be submerged in that pond?" Shoukaku suggested.
Keats' eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah, I forgot that they could do that. Uh, so I hate to do this, but could you girls go up and check it out? I'd help, but you're probably more durable on the front lines."
"That's fine. Leave it to us," Shoukaku nodded.
"All right. Show me you haven't forgotten what I taught you!" Keats grinned. He then turned to the Australians. "What do you say we go over there behind those plants and provide some cover?"
The Australians complied and went with the SEALs, and Shoukaku led the ship girl fleet forward and towards the pond.
"Are they really hiding in there? It looks pretty shallow," Sendai remarked.
"Where else could they be?" Yahagi replied. "But keep your guard up. They're probably waiting to fire once we get close."
"Yes. Be on your guard and be prepared to take cover," Shoukaku advised, her handgun pointed towards the pond as she slowly advanced upon it.
"Damn, if I'd brought my cannons, I could just blast them out," Shigure lamented with a deep scowl.
The group of ship girls were moving very slowly and carefully, and they gradually got closer to the pond. However, the water gave away no signs of movement, and it did look fairly shallow.
"Maybe they're not here after all. Could they have left the dome while we were talking to the Americans?" Kashima wondered.
"Wait, what's that?" Yamakaze pointed to something large and shiny resting half in the water. It appeared to be made of metal, and it was almost camouflaged in the darkness.
Shoukaku squinted at the object. It doesn't look like an Abyssal, but…
"Shit, there's something in the river!" Zuikaku interrupted forcefully through the comms, causing a few of the ship girls to jump in alarm. Cannon reports could be heard in the background of Zuikaku's transmission. "Guh, it's her fucking beast! She left her beast in the river, damn it!"
It took a moment for that to fully process for Shoukaku, but as soon as it did, a loud beep went off and a wave of heat slammed into her. She then found herself sent flying, and she smashed right through the glass of the dome and landed painfully on her back on the dirt outside, bouncing a few times before she came to a stop. As she lay there on the rocky soil, her vision swimming, shards of glass and other material rained down all around her. A large hole had been smashed in the dome, and a trail of fire and smoke emerged from it.
An explosion… She slowly regained her senses. That metal object in the pool must have been a bomb.
Pain coursed through her body, and she examined her injuries. Her shirt had been blown off from just below her breasts, and her skirt was torn in numerous places, leaving her left leg completely bare. However, aside from a few deep burns and pieces of shrapnel that were lodged inside her, she was mostly functional. Her legs still worked, as did her arms and her eyes and ears. The armor upgrade from her remodel had definitely helped, and she could still fight.
The only problem was that she had nothing to fight with. Her pistol was gone, lost somewhere in the explosion, and the sniper rifle that had been on her back was banged up pretty badly and she didn't know if it could fire properly anymore.
Suddenly, Shoukaku felt an intense sting on the back of her right arm, and she hurriedly turned around to see a Wo-class Abyssal standing behind her. The Wo-class was not wearing the large cap that they usually launched their planes from, but she did have what appeared to be a weapon in her hand. It was a strange-looking object that was similar to a pistol or a submachine gun in shape, but it was more round and curved and was glowing in certain spots with cyan energy. Nevertheless, it was clear from the pain in her arm that the Abyssal had shot her with the weapon.
Shoukaku stepped back and put up her guard. She briefly stole a glance at her wound and saw that the shot had burned through her skin and armor, revealing the steel bones underneath. It didn't appear that the weapon could burn through the steel skeleton and get to the organs within with just one shot, and Shoukaku didn't plan on finding out if more than one could do it.
She rushed at the Wo-class, who quickly fired off another shot in response. This time Shoukaku got a glimpse of the ammo it fired, and it looked to be a sort of energy weapon as it was shooting cyan blue bullets. Just before the Abyssal fired, Shoukaku had dropped to the ground and into a combat roll to avoid it. The Wo-class pointed her gun at Shoukaku again and reacquired her target. Shoukaku ducked behind a small plant with spiky leaves, and the Abyssal's bullet burned right through the leaves of the plant but missed the ship girl.
Using her carrier strength, Shoukaku tore the plant out of the ground with its roots and all and hurled it at the Wo-class. Surprised, the Wo-class barely sidestepped it, but she was not able to avoid Shoukaku's shoulder slam, which knocked her to the ground. Shoukaku then jumped on top of the Abyssal and used her new, remodeled power to smash the Wo-class' face in with a devastating punch.
That kind of hurt my first, she thought as she wrung out her hand. Well, good thing this Wo-class was relatively weak. It seems the regular Abyssals here aren't that strong, thankfully.
She bent over and picked up the Abyssal's gun, studying it curiously. She aimed it at a nearby tree and prepared to fire a test shot, but then she felt the gun heating up severely and noticed it was glowing a bright blue. Realizing what was about to happen, Shoukaku tossed the weapon far away and watched as it exploded in a burst of cyan.
So they blow up if they are used by anyone other than an Abyssal?
Regardless, Shoukaku had to get back to the rest of the fleet. Sadly, Commander Keats and the Australians had definitely died or were gravely injured in that explosion, but the ship girls were most likely all alive thanks to their remodels. However, if the Abyssals were here, then the ship girls were probably being attacked by the Princess. Shoukaku was also worried about Zuikaku, but she didn't want to interrupt her over the comms in case she was busy. Also, it was three ship girls versus one Abyssal beast out there on the river, so she doubted that Zuikaku would lose. It did mean that she wouldn't be able to count on Zuikaku, Yura, or Amatsukaze for support in this fight, though.
Shoukaku reentered the tropical dome and paused to catch her breath.
It seems that explosion did more damage to me than I thought. She wheezed as the sounds of gunfire and lasers emanated from her right, off behind some foliage. She had been the one closest to the explosion, so she had probably taken the brunt of the damage.
Hearing footsteps, Shoukaku looked to the left to see Commander Keats.
"Made it back, huh?" he said, a lazy smile still on his face despite what had happened.
"Commander Keats? How are you…"
He tapped something hard on his back. "Blast shields. Glad I brought them with us. Unfortunately, our Australian friends didn't make it."
Shoukaku felt a bit of relief that their allies were not all dead, but that quickly turned into suspicion.
Wait, something isn't right here. Commander Keats and the SEALs showed up out of nowhere even though they had been out of contact with us for months. They also were somehow able to remain alive despite being in presence of the Abyssal Princess before we got here. Furthermore, they are the ones who led us into the tropical dome and to the pond specifically, and they are the only ones who survived that explosion unscathed.
"Commander Keats, I'd like to know how and why you got here tonight," Shoukaku asked him, her eyes hard.
Keats looked bewildered. "Right now? Do you realize we're in the middle of a firefight?"
"Yes. I want to hear it right now. All of it," she firmly refused to back down.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Keats smiled again. "You know what, you're not as dumb as you look."
So it's like that after all… "Why did you betray us? How can you work with the Abyssals? They want to kill all of us, including you!"
"The Abyssal over there fighting your fleet is called the Central Princess," Keats told her. "I'm sure you know this already, but Abyssals are born from the negative emotions of war. The Central Princess in particular was born from the events at Pearl Harbor."
Pearl Harbor? Of course, Shoukaku did remember that day, though she did not understand why Keats was bringing that up now.
"You're one of the carriers who participated in that raid, right?" Keats asked rhetorically. "As is that other carrier, Akagi. Your sister did too, but I guess she's not in attendance today. Do you even know what happened to the men who died that day, while you were hanging back in the ocean and launching plane after plane?"
Shoukaku thought she saw Keats' eyes glow a dull red color.
"They were slaughtered." His tone grew darker but the friendly grin remained on his face, providing for a stark contrast. "They died in the dark, trapped in enclosed spaces as their lungs filled with water slick with the black oil from the ships that you sunk. Some of them were trapped for days underwater, begging their comrades to come and save them, but nothing could be done. Days after the attack, the docks were haunted all day and night by the screams and desperate cries of the sailors still buried within their overturned ships, unable to be rescued and condemned to stay trapped until they died of thirst. That is the legacy you left behind."
Shoukaku knew that the Pearl Harbor attack had undoubtedly caused immense damage and pain, but to hear it spelled out like that was horrifying. Nevertheless, people died in war all the time, and she was just a warship back then with no conscious mind of her own.
"So that's why you betrayed us? For revenge?" Shoukaku said in disbelief. "There's no way that's true. If that's the case, then why did you help us back at the base? Why didn't you show any signs of animosity then? No, it's clear that something changed you once you got here, and that something must have been the Abyssal Princess. What did she say to you?"
Keats' smile curled up into a smirk. "She didn't say anything. All I needed was to be in her presence to understand the terrible nature of war and why all you ship girls need to be exterminated. In fact, the human race as a whole should be destroyed. We won't have to suffer anymore then, will we?"
This is a different man from the laid-back SEAL operative I first met all those months ago, Shoukaku thought. I don't know what capabilities this Central Princess has, but she has poisoned his mind. It's no use communicating with him.
"Listen, ship girl. Your life ends here," Keats pointed to her. "You may be good at naval combat, and I may have taught you how to fight with a weapon, but there's one thing you can't beat me in."
Keats pulled out a combat knife. "I'll carve your heart out myself."
Shoukaku dropped into the CQC stance that her admiral had taught her, prepared to defeat Keats even if she was at a disadvantage.
"That's the Liberation Close Quarters Combat stance…!" Keats said in shock. "Where'd you learn that from? It's only taught to members of the US military!"
"That doesn't matter. All you need to know is that you will die if you face me," Shoukaku fought back at him with equally harsh words. "Surrender or I will take your life."
"Hmph. You may know the stance, but can you fight like a SEAL?" Keats flipped the knife in his hand stylishly. "Both ship girls and Abyssals still have weak spots like their eyes or the insides of their mouths or things like that up close. This is the wrong type of fight for you, girl."
I'm done talking. Shoukaku approached Keats, who readied his own identical stance with his combat knife. Remember what the Admiral said… Don't rush a skilled enemy. I have to look for an opening first.
Keats jabbed at her, and Shoukaku blocked it with her forearm, barely getting a scratch. And this is the one advantage that I do have. He can't hurt me unless he throws, stuns, or chokes me. That knife is useless unless it hits me in specific spots.
The SEAL then tried a combo of punches and kicks. He was a fast fighter and better than Drake or any other CQC combatant Shoukaku had ever fought against, so she was forced to only block the few hits that would have actually done damage for her. The rest she was forced to take, and though they did hurt, they did not make her lose her balance or anything dangerous like that.
Keats backed off a bit. "I wonder how long this strategy of your will work."
In a flash, he flicked his wrist, sending his knife slicing through the air in a skilled throw. The knife shot past Shoukaku's left eye, cutting it open.
"Ggh!" Shoukaku grit her teeth as waves of agony burned into her skull.
Keats' boot then collided with her stomach, and she gasped as she fell to the ground. She then felt two strong, gloved hands wrap themselves around her throat, constricting her windpipe. Tears of blood poured out of her damaged left eye, and she struggled to maintain her vision even with her one working eye. She reached up her arms to remove him, but he quickly rolled off her before she could grab onto him. She sat up, but she was unable to get to her feet as Keats launched a roundhouse kick at her head which sent her mind spinning again.
He's trying to reach his knife, she realized even in her dazed state. If he did, that could mean the end for her.
She then realized something. Since the sniper on her back had been sitting there for the entire mission, Shoukaku almost forgot she even had it. It was damaged beyond all repair by now, but she slung it off her back anyway and pointed its barrel at Keats, who had picked up his knife.
"Aaargh!" she yelled incoherently as she charged at Keats, the barrel of her M24 sticking out like a cavalry lance.
Before Keats could react, she used her immense strength to skewer him with the gun, jamming the crooked barrel inside his stomach. Keats made a gurgling sound as blood erupted from his mouth, and he vainly clutched at the sniper rifle embedded inside him. Moments later, he stumbled and fell to the ground, dead.
Bullets and shots from the Abyssals' plasma weapons flew around the tropical dome, shredding many of the plants along with the infrastructure of the dome itself. The ship girls were currently hiding behind the cover of some leafy plants, the lot of them scattered about the area so that the Abyssals would have to spread out their fire.
"Ugh, we're pinned down here," Murasame noted from her position behind an exotic-looking tree trunk.
Shigure popped out from behind her cover to spray at the enemy with her MP7 machine gun, though it didn't appear to have much effect on armored enemies from this range. With a curse, the blue-eyed destroyer ducked back behind the plant.
"We should have been equipped with grenades or something," Shiranui complained bitterly as she lay prone, trying to fire at the Abyssals without them being able to shoot back at her.
"We need to break this stalemate," Kiso decided. She then stood up and unsheathed the new anti-armor sword that she got with her remodel and pointed it in the direction of the enemy. "All units, charge! We will destroy them in a head-on attack!"
"What the hell are you doing!" Shiranui hissed at her.
A few of the plasma bullets came flying at Kiso, but she managed to slide behind cover in time. "Tch, the enemy are cowards. Why won't they face me!"
Just then, a stream of slick, black oil came spurting out from the direction of the Abyssals and shot towards the ship girls. It didn't hit any of them, but it did manage to splash into a tree, and when it did, the plant immediately disintegrated in a hiss of steam.
"That's the biggest problem. It wouldn't be good to be hit by that oil stream that the Princess spews," Yahagi grimaced as she watched the tree disappear.
"The other three Abyssals are protecting the Princess so that she can use that move," Haruna observed. "If we can destroy them, then we can surround the Princess."
A few smaller explosions sounded, causing the ship girls to look over to their right where the other half of their group was located.
"What was that?" Yamakaze asked as she clutched her weapon.
Sendai came running out from the foliage and slid over to the other ship girls. "Hey. Anybody seen Shoukaku?"
The other ship girls shook their heads.
"Ah, fuck," Sendai groaned. "I guess she was sent flying by the explosion since she was in front. She probably went through that hole in the ceiling."
"Do you think she's all right?" Haruna asked with worry.
"As long as that explosion didn't outright kill her, then yeah," Sendai nodded. "I don't know if you noticed, but there are only three Abyssals in addition to the Princess. That means that the fourth one is missing, and I'm guessing she went to finish off Shoukaku. Considering that this fourth Abyssal hasn't come back, then Shoukaku probably killed her."
"But Shoukaku hasn't come back either…" Yamakaze pointed out.
"Oh, right… Well, nothing we can do about that right now," Sendai shrugged as a few more explosions punctured the air. "Those explosions are from a grenade launcher of some sort. Those SEAL bastards betrayed us and are fighting with the Abyssals."
"What?!" Murasame cried out.
"Hm. Actually, now that I think about it, it was kind of obvious," Shiranui nodded. "The reason why we couldn't make the connection when we first saw them was because it's unfathomable for a human to work with an Abyssal for any reason whatsoever, but it looks like that isn't true in this case."
Shigure smirked. "How stupid of them to pick the losing side. Well, I'll enjoy filling them with bullet holes too, then."
"Okay, but we're going to have to break through their lines first," Sendai replied, unamused by Shigure's bloodlust. "Some of us had already had our armor damaged by that explosion, and a direct hit from a grenade launcher could be bad. It probably won't kill us, but if we're disabled or stranded, that Princess sure can. We need to exercise caution."
"Oh? I didn't expect to hear that from you of all people," Shiranui said, impressed by Sendai's prudence.
"Hey, night battles are my specialty, whether it's on land or water," Sendai proudly stated. "This isn't Guadalcanal, so we can't just win with an all-out brawl. We have to isolate and destroy the enemy one by one."
"Then maybe we should link back up again. We can overwhelm them with numbers," Haruna offered.
Sendai nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same. Let's try it."
The other ship girls followed Sendai as she led them to the part of the dome where the remaining part of the fleet was fighting. As they headed over, Sendai fired off a few silenced shots of her rifle in the direction of the Abyssals as covering fire.
"Sendai! Did you find Shoukaku?" Fubuki asked as the light cruiser returned.
"No. We're going to attack without her," Sendai said.
"Are we assaulting the enemy?" Akagi asked. She had her sniper rifle resting on one knee as she looked through the scope towards the Abyssals.
"Yeah, I'll take some of us towards them while the rest of us stay back and provide longer-range support," Sendai informed her. "I think the submachine guns are supposed to be used for close-range attacks, right? Then I'll take the destroyers."
"Hey, take me too! I've got this!" Suzuya waved her Model 870 shotgun.
Kiso unsheathed her sword with a toothy grin. "I'm going too! I've been waiting for this!"
"Okay. Akagi, you, Haruna, and Kashima should stay back here."
"Roger that," Akagi replied as she continued looking through her scope. "Watch out for that Princess, though. She's been emitting black and red liquid through some pores in her body throughout the battle, so you might not want to get too close to her."
"Got it," Sendai acknowledged. "All right, everyone. Let's move!"
The group rushed forward in the direction of the enemy, advancing behind the cover of the foliage whenever they could. Eventually they came upon a Ri-class, who looked startled at their sudden appearance.
"Fucking die!" Shigure yelled at the Abyssal as she squeezed her trigger and unloaded her clip on the heavy cruiser.
The other destroyers joined in, but their bullets bounced harmlessly off the Ri-class' armor and barely served to annoy her. The Ri-class retaliated with a shot from the sleek, black rifle she held, and a cyan stream of energy lasered out and hit Asashio in the leg.
"Wha- !" she cried out in alarm as the laser sheared off skin and muscle alike, cutting her open all the way to her steel femur. She dropped to one knee and winced in pain.
"Get outta the way!" Suzuya cautioned as she pumped her shotgun at the Ri-class.
The shotgun seemed to do more damage to the Ri-class, and the Abyssal staggered a bit as she was hit.
"Prepare yourself!" Kiso loudly exclaimed as she took that opportunity to rush in with her cutlass.
With a dynamic flair, she swung her sword upwards towards the Abyssal's neck, cutting it open and sending cyan blood flying into the air and splattering the leaves of a nearby plant. The Ri-class gagged and fell backwards, more bright blood continuing to spill out of her neck as it pooled atop the dark soil.
"Onwards, comrades!" Kiso grinned victoriously, pointing her cutlass forward as she put her boot atop the dead Abyssal's chest.
"What a showoff," Shiranui muttered.
"Yeah! I'm fired up now!" Suzuya cheered, slapping her shotgun.
Shigure scowled angrily as she loaded a new clip into her MP7 from the ammo pouches on her waist. "These shits don't go down easily, huh?"
"D-Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get another chance," Yamakaze tried to reassure her sister, not liking the deadly look on Shigure's face.
Shigure smiled savagely. "Yeah. I'm going to take that Princess' head."
Sendai glanced at Asashio. "Are you all right to move, Asashio?"
"Yes, I'm fine. It only hurts a little, but I can still move at this pace," Asashio dutifully replied. The group wasn't moving very quickly anyway because of the enclosed space and copious amounts of cover available.
"I'm going to go around the back and try to flank them," Sendai said to the group next. "You guys should go forward and push on towards the Princess. Just be sure to stay in cover when you can."
Sendai split off from the group as they went on. This time, they ran into two masked Chi-class torpedo cruisers who were taking cover behind some tree trunks as they fired at the ship girls with the same plasma weapon that the Ri-class had been using. The ship girls took cover as well behind a pair of rocks.
"We should probably try getting closer to them," Murasame suggested as she reloaded her weapon.
"Yeah, but they've got us pinned down again," Suzuya said. "Maybe I can blast right through those tree trunks with this shotgun…"
"Worth a try," Murasame shrugged. "Here, I'll cover you."
The newly-remodeled destroyer's right eye glowed a red color as she aimed down her sights at the Abyssal positions and squeezed off a few bursts. Suzuya stood up to assault their position, but before she could act, she watched as Sendai suddenly appeared behind the Abyssal on the left and slit her throat with a knife made from the same material as Kiso's cutlass. Cyan blood seeped out from the wound as the Abyssal clutched at her throat, and Sendai ended the Chi-class with a quick stab to the back of the head.
As Sendai was finishing up, a loud shot rang out through the dome, and the second Chi-class on the right's mask shattered into pieces as Akagi's sniper bullet struck her in the face. Unfortunately the shot didn't outright kill the Abyssal, but it did stun her and cause her to wobble dizzily. Suzuya was about to take that chance and rush the vulnerable Chi-class, but then she noticed the Princess looking their way from where she stood in the back.
"Sendai! Get out of there!" Suzuya yelled.
The light cruiser didn't know what Suzuya was talking about, but she nevertheless heeded her comrade's warning and somersaulted away from the Abyssal corpse and into some foliage on the side. Moments later, a wave of black oil spewed forth from the Princess and swallowed up the area. The obsidian liquid hissed as it made contact with the soil and trees, and it moved as if it had a mind of its own, seeking out the two Abyssals. The corpse and the still-living Abyssal were both consumed by the black oil, and the hissing grew more intense as they disappeared within the blackness. The oil then began evaporating.
"Damn, fuck that shit," Suzuya wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Yeah, let's not get anywhere near that," Murasame agreed.
"Nevertheless, we must advance!" Kiso shouted with her sword out for what felt like the millionth time tonight. "Push forward and spill the Princess' blood!"
"Yeah, thanks, boss," Suzuya rolled her eyes at the torpedo cruiser. "Let's go, people! She's waiting for us!"
The ship girls surged forward with their own battlecries. A lone Wo-class stood in between the Princess and the fleet, but she was knocked over almost immediately by a shot to the head from Suzuya's weapon. A few of the other destroyers then went up to the Wo-class' prone body and beat her with their guns just to make sure that she wouldn't get back up again.
That left only the Princess herself. The Central Princess was an unassuming figure with a lithe frame and white skin, and she had two small horns poking out from beneath her snowy hair. Black tears of oil dripped from her crimson eyes, and her body was lined with perforations and holes inside of which pulsating red energy could be seen. Unlike her subordinates, she carried no weapons.
"Your time is up, scum!" Kiso declared, brandishing her sword. "Any final words?"
The Central Princess tilted her head curiously. "So… These are the ship girls…"
"Stay away from her. The oil inside her body could leak out if you get too close," Sendai cautioned.
"Then how are we supposed to kill her?" Shigure asked with a frustrated frown. "I doubt weapons are going to do anything. Look."
Before anyone could stop her, Shigure unloaded her clip into the Central Princess. The bullets bounced harmlessly off her armor, and the Princess' sorrowful expression didn't change at all even as she was pelted with the projectiles.
"If that won't work, then try this!" Kiso shouted, lunging at the Abyssal and driving the point of her sword forward.
To everyone's surprise, the Princess didn't even try to dodge and just let the cutlass impale her. However, the Princess' face again did not change, and when Kiso pulled her sword back out, she found that the part that had been inside the Princess had melted away.
"Aw, not my cutlass!" Kiso whined.
"Calm down, they'll make you a new one," Suzuya shook her head. "Either way, it doesn't look like our traditional weapons are going to work on this bitch. Maybe we need a naval cannon after all?"
Sendai rubbed her chin. "Maybe. Can we contact Zuikaku?"
As the ship girls debated the best course of action, the Central Princess merely stared at them, her black tears continuing to flow. "So lively… The ship girls."
"Sorry I'm late," a familiar voice then called out, and the ship girls turned to see Shoukaku arrive. She looked banged up, but she was still on her feet, which was good.
"Shoukaku!" Murasame smiled in relief.
Shoukaku gave a nod of greeting to the destroyer before fixing her hard stare towards the Abyssal. "So you're the Central Princess."
The Princess let out a moan of despair. "Tell me, do you not hear them?"
"... What?" Kashima asked as she, Akagi, and Yahagi also rejoined the main group.
"The screams and wails of the dead and dying," the Princess continued. "If you were sunk in battle during the War… Then you know how they sound. Tell me, do you not hear them?"
Before any of the ship girls could respond, they heard a hissing noise followed by a burst of light. A projectile came shooting towards them at great speed, landing in the midst of their pack and then exploding.
"Argh! It's one of those fucking rocket launchers!" Sendai cried out as she dove into the dirt. Her nimbleness and night vision allowed her to get the jump on the RPG attack.
"It's those SEAL bastards," Shigure snarled from where she lay next to Sendai. Evidently she had also been able to avoid the blow. "Don't think I forgot your scent…"
Shoukaku groaned as she sat up, her head aching. "Not another explosion…"
"Incoming!" someone called out, and another RPG shot flew towards the ship girls.
They dove to avoid it again, but just then, the Princess opened her mouth and her pores flapped open as well. Black liquid came spilling out of all the holes, and the tears of oil leaking from her eyes turned into black streams.
"Damn! Avoid the oil!" Shiranui warned, firing with her MP7 at where she thought the RPG shots were coming from as she sprinted away from the oil's path.
The other ship girls also jumped into the foliage in order to dodge the dangerous oil river as it moved over to the Wo-class corpse and consumed it as it did to the two Chi-classes.
"Sendai, hold off the Princess, but leave some for me when I get back," Shigure said, stepping out of the plants once the oil had passed their position.
"Wait, Shigure!" Sendai called out, but the destroyer was already off.
I can smell their stench. Shigure's blue eyes narrowed dangerously as she bared her fangs in another scowl. She completely ran past the Central Princess and went over to the far end of the dome, where she saw the four other SEALs. One of them was busy handing another rocket to the one holding the RPG, but the other two saw Shigure and raised their weapons.
"Die traitors!" Shigure yelled as she raised her own submachine gun and squeezed the trigger.
The bullets from the SEALs tore into Shigure's new uniform and poked some holes in it, but aside from some bleeding, it didn't affect Shigure herself much. Her shots, however, hit the SEAL square on, making him dance like a marionette before he fell to the ground, dead. The other SEAL who had been shooting at Shigure evidently realized that her weapon couldn't hurt the ship girl, so she combat rolled into plant and took cover.
"Eat this, Jap bitch!" the SEAL who had been helping reload the RPG said as he tossed a flashbang in Shigure's direction.
The grenade went off and stunned Shigure, whitening her vision and making her head and ears ring as if she had been hit with a hammer.
But I've still got your scent…
To the SEAL's surprise, Shigure leapt towards him anyway, pushing him onto the ground. She lifted her SMG and tried to fire, but it clicked empty. Shigure tossed her gun away and glared at the man as her vision returned. Her wide, rage-filled blue eyes even gave the trained SEAL pause, and he didn't have much time to recover. With a feral growl, Shigure bit into the SEAL's throat and tore out a chunk of flesh, cutting open his jugular and spraying blood all over herself. She spit out the flesh and then turned to the SEAL with the RPG, only her bright blue eyes and white teeth visible on her face stained dark red with blood.
She leapt at him too, but before she could get her claws on him, something hard hit her in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She fell back onto the dirt and managed to glimpse the female SEAL holding a grenade launcher emerging from her hiding spot.
"Hurry up and reload that thing!" the female SEAL called out to the male one.
Spitting out some blood, Shigure got to her feet. Her ribs felt sore and every breath drew a bit of pain along with it, but she wasn't about to lose here.
"Anyone who sides with the Abyssals… Deserves nothing but death!" Shigure seethed.
The destroyer rushed at the female SEAL, who got down on a knee and carefully aimed the grenade launcher, tracking Shigure's trajectory with trained precision. Fueled by pure hatred, Shigure ignored it and sprinted towards the SEAL. A bead of sweat trailed down the SEAL's forehead as she tried to concentrate on her aim in spite of the fact that a blood-soaked hellhound in the shape of a young girl was rushing towards her, but at the last moment, Shigure suddenly made a sharp turn, diverting course.
Instead of launching herself at the female SEAL, Shigure turned to the one with the RPG. The male SEAL had finished reloading by now and already had his RPG prepped to fire, but Shigure's sudden switch of targets from his partner to him made him falter, and in a reflex, he fired the RPG at Shigure. However, Shigure anticipated this and juked to the side. The shot from the rocket launcher continued onwards and exploded behind Shigure's old position, the danger-close impact stunning the female SEAL and throwing her backwards.
With the SEAL with the grenade launcher temporarily out of the way and the RPG having fired its shot, Shigure leapt at the male SEAL with a wild grin. Fear flashed across his face as Shigure pushed him to the ground and crashed her forehead into his. As he lay there in a daze, Shigure smashed her fist through his chestplate and into his body cavity, painting herself red with even more blood.
Wasting no time, Shigure immediately got off the dead man and ran over to the last SEAL, who was still trying to get to her feet following the RPG explosion. With a sadistic smile, Shigure undid her red necktie and walked up behind the SEAL. She wrapped her tie around the SEAL's neck, using it as a garrote. The SEAL gasped for air and blindly tried to reach for Shigure, but the destroyer's strength was too much for her.
"Yes… Let me hear your dying gasps," Shigure hissed gleefully into the SEAL's ear. "Listen well, you cunt. The Abyssals are my enemy, and you have pissed me off for making me have to waste time killing you before I can get to them. You're lucky I'm in a hurry right now, or else your death would be much harder."
Soon enough, the SEAL's body slackened and Shigure let go of the necktie. Just to make sure, she crushed the human's windpipe with her foot before moving off to return to the rest of the ship girls who were fighting the Central Princess.
"Oi, Abyssal bitch," Shigure called out from behind the Princess.
The Central Princess was still leaking oil and emitting a red glow, looking to appear unharmed even as the fleet continued to fire on her with their small arms. The Abyssal turned slightly as Shigure approached.
"Your SEAL pawns are dead," Shigure smirked at her. "You're next, so prepare yourself."
"Oh… They're dead…" the Princess muttered. "It… Doesn't matter. The experiment is complete."
The red glow surrounding the Princess suddenly grew in size and temperature, and it expanded outwards with the sound of a thunderclap. Even Shigure was thrown to the ground by this, and when she recovered and stood back up, the Central Princess had disappeared. A ghostly image of a demonic-looking figure wearing a mask and holding a traditional Japanese fan with skeleton-like hands flashed before the fleet before it too faded.
"What the - she ran away?!" Shigure said bitterly. And what was that image just now…?
"All right, I can provide that support you requested for now," Zuikaku spoke through the comms. "That annoying beast finally stopped harassing us, but it's going to take us a few minutes to get in position."
"Negative, Zuikaku. It's not necessary anymore. The Princess has fled," Shoukaku informed her sister.
"What? Did we win?"
"Urgh!" Shigure grunted in frustration as she kicked the dirt angrily. At the very least, Shigure's answer to that question was obvious.
"Well… We did take out the Abyssals and the SEALs who betrayed us, so we at least accomplished something," Shoukaku replied. "We also gained some valuable information on the Central Princess and her abilities. I think it's time we called in for exfil."
"Roger that. Then we'll leave the river too," Zuikaku acknowledged.
Since their Australian coordinators were dead, Shoukaku had to contact their mission command herself and explain the situation. The staff back at headquarters in Sydney were more than a little shocked at the developments, but they were still professionals, and they quickly and efficiently dispatched the helicopters to carry the fleet back. They also said that they would be sending a team down to deal with the aftermath of the situation, as the citizens of Brisbane had inevitably heard or seen the explosions coming from the Botanical Gardens or the river itself.
After she finished with her call, Shoukaku surveyed the fleet. They were all busy chatting with each other about the mission, and it appeared that no one was seriously hurt. They were a few of them (like herself) who had burns and scrapes and cuts, but those injuries could be stemmed by their internal Fairies and would be completely healed once they received actual medical treatment. All in all, the fleet did not suffer any significant casualties, which was a relief.
Shoukaku glanced up at the night sky. The skyline of Brisbane emitted light pollution that obscured some of the wintertime stars, but it was still a beautiful sight nonetheless.
This was our first mission without the Admiral, she realized. It had been almost five months since Rear Admiral Drake left the naval base, and she hadn't heard from him since. She still had his number on her phone, but he never contacted her or anyone else in the fleet, and so she didn't know if they were even allowed to communicate anymore, especially given the fact that only a few people were even involved in the Kancolle program in the first place.
He had promised that he would come back and fight with them again, but with every day that passed, her doubt grew. At this point it seemed very unlikely, and maybe it was even possible that Admiral Drake was no longer in the navy. She knew that he had a rough career in terms of the things he saw and the things he lost, and she almost couldn't blame him for wanting to quit… 'Almost' being the key word. Every time she thought about him, a small spike of anger flared up in the back of her mind, even though she tried to repress it. Although she understood why he would want to quit, she also felt like accusing him: "Don't you have unfinished business here?"
Regardless, there was nothing she could do about that now. All that mattered in the present was that the fleet had (more or less) successfully completed their first mission since the failure of the Battle of Okinawa.
Even if they no longer had Admiral Drake, they could still win.