It's no good… It's over for me, Kashima realized as she struggled to remain on her feet.
Her guns had been smashed to pieces by repeated airstrikes, leaving her unable to counterattack. Strafing from the Airfield Princess' fighters had also taken its toll on her, and her body was riddled with bullet holes and was leaking blood into the water. They were minor wounds since she had managed to evade or block all the torpedo and dive bomber attacks, but they were still beginning to add up. She was rapidly losing blood, and the Airfield Princess looked like she still had a good number of planes left.
"What the hell is this?" the Airfield Princess sneered. "What are you even supposed to be? All you've done is take hit after hit without even putting a scratch on me. This is ridiculous. You call yourself a warship?"
Kashima warily regarded the Airfield Princess, her silver hair sticking to her forehead and getting in her eyes. She's right… Even in all our sorties up until now, I've just been playing a supporting role. I'm only a training cruiser who's never made a difference in the battle.
Her guns were nonfunctional, but Kashima faced the Princess with a resolute look nonetheless. But I promised Zuikaku I would hold this Princess off until she returned. Even if I don't have my guns, I've still been trained in CQC. If I can just hold on for a few more minutes…
"Fine. I'll just sink you, then. I don't want to pull my bombers away from the rest of the battle, but if I must… " The Airfield Princess had enough of Kashima taking up her time.
A large force of Abyssal dive bombers swooped down from the sky, surrounding Kashima from the aft, port, and starboard sides, meaning the only way she could go was forward towards the Princess. However, the Princess' beast had its jaw wide open, a red light glowing fiercely inside of it.
Kashima sailed forwards at full speed, determined to reach the Princess before the laser beam could pierce her. That attack needs time to charge. If I can just make it there before that…!
"Hahaha! Sailing straight towards your death?" the Airfield Princess jeered as the dive bomber squadrons enclosed around Kashima.
I may not have contributed greatly to the last few battles, but that doesn't mean I haven't learned from them! This will do it!
Kashima unlatched her destroyed rigging from her body, a technique she learned from reading the reports about the Battle of Okinawa when Bismarck had done it. The rigging fell from her back and began sinking.
Even if I'm not individually strong, I can use the strength and experience of my fleetmates! Kashima smiled to herself. With the weight of my rigging gone, now I'll be able to make it to the Princess before she can fire her weapon!
"Oh? I see," the Princess said out loud, then grinned devilishly. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that won't work. You see, my laser's charging time is only long if I need to fire it at full strength. But for an injured, weak ship girl like you, just this much is enough!"
Kashima's eyes widened in shock. No! I can't get out of the way!
Just as the Airfield Princess fired her laser beam, a sudden object came from behind the Abyssal and knocked her over. The Princess fell face-first onto the ocean's surface, and her laser beam shot into the water instead of at Kashima. The dive bombers enclosing on Kashima flew right past the ship girl as well now that the Airfield Princess' concentration had been broken.
"Too focused on what was in front of you to hear that I was approaching you from behind? Dumb mistake," Iowa smirked as she stood over the Princess, her sixteen-inch guns pointed directly at the Abyssal.
Before Iowa could fire, the Airfield Princess spun around on her vertical axis, swinging her two runways towards Iowa. The American battleship leapt over the attack but was forced away from the Abyssal, now sailing beside Kashima.
"Yo! You all right?" Iowa asked cheerily.
"... Iowa? What are you doing here?" Kashima asked, not expecting to see her of all people.
"Killing Abyssals. What else?" Iowa gave her a thumbs up. "Looks like we got ourselves a tough one here. This is the infamous Airfield Princess, huh?"
The Princess was back on her feet, and the air force that had just done an overhead pass was now flying back towards the battle.
"A battleship-class ship girl? Idiots. How do you hope to beat me without any air power?" the Princess seemed unbothered by Iowa's appearance.
"With superior firepower, of course!" Iowa flexed her well-toned biceps as she flashed the Abyssal a confident grin.
"Good luck with that," the Princess scoffed. "See if you can handle this!"
The Abyssal dive bombers came back, the black, circular, monster-like planes screeching down towards Iowa and the bleeding Kashima.
"Okay! Let's see who hits first!" Iowa challenged, her anti-air guns firing automatically. She put her actual focus into aiming her main guns at the Princess, and she fired a full broadside with a loud boom.
Iowa's shells crashed towards the Princess, the Abyssal not having much time to dodge at such a close range, especially because she was also busy commanding her planes. The shells rained down upon her, one of them smashing a hole straight through her runway while another exploded atop her gun, completely destroying it.
"Gah! Those guns…" The Airfield Princess was taken off-guard by the strength of Iowa's shells.
Unfortunately, the close range also meant that Iowa and Kashima didn't have an opportunity to dodge either.
"Get ready!" Iowa warned Kashima as the first dive bomber rocketed downwards.
Iowa held out her right forearm in front of her body as the black plane smashed into it, exploding. Iowa winced a bit at the hit, but did not look too damaged. However, more planes were coming.
Kashima felt ashamed as she crouched behind Iowa, unable to even help the American battleship shoot down planes because she had already ditched her entire rigging.
I'm useless again… Kashima clenched her fists, staring down at the dark ocean underneath her.
The Airfield Princess' expression twisted in annoyance as she watched Iowa simply tank hits from her dive bombers. "Fine, then! See if you can survive this!"
The black dive bombers suddenly stopped their runs and circled up in the air instead, forming a ring with Iowa at the center. The maneuver gave Iowa a moment's respite, but the battleship's eyes narrowed when she realized what was coming next.
"Shit! Kashima, right? Stay underneath me!" Iowa warned, prepping her AA guns.
All my rigging is gone… Why are you bothering to protect me? Kashima looked up at Iowa with a mix of admiration and frustration. Sorry, Iowa. But I won't let you do that.
As the dive bombers finally screamed down towards the ship girls, Kashima tugged on Iowa's arm, putting the unsuspecting battleship off-balance and causing her to trip backwards. Before Iowa had a chance to realize what was happening, Kashima leapt on top of her, covering Iowa with her body. The Abyssal dive bombers smashed down onto Kashima, blowing up in a series of explosions. Iowa cringed at the impact, which she still felt even beneath Kashima, and the heat from the explosions licked at her as well. All Iowa could do was try and cover Kashima's head with one hand.
When the exploding ceased, Iowa slid out from underneath Kashima's limp body, almost afraid to look at the damage. Kashima's entire backside had been charred and burned off, and huge chunks of flesh were completely missing. Iowa's left hand, the one she had used to cover Kashima's head, had been entirely blown off. If she had not placed her hand there in time, Kashima would surely be dead for good.
"Really… Who asked you to do that," Iowa muttered as she stood back up, holding Kashima's body in her arms bridal-style. "But thanks anyway. Even a battleship like me wouldn't be feeling too well if I had to take those hits."
The Airfield Princess did not appear amused. "Wow, how touching. Now, I'd like to see how you fight while carrying her, idiot."
Iowa's eyes flashed in anger. "Shut the hell up. You're the bitch that sunk those Japanese carriers, aren't you? I don't usually say this, but I'm going to enjoy putting an end to your pathetic life, Abyssal trash."
"Oho, someone's mad now," the Airfield Princess clapped her hands. "Now lets see if you can live up to those words!"
More Abyssal planes descended from the sky, having made their way over while they were talking. Sleek black fighters mixed in with some circular white ones began firing their machine guns as they screeched towards Iowa, buying time before the main force of dive bombers could arrive.
In response, Iowa stood her ground and aimed her big guns towards the Princess. "Taste my shells, bitch!"
In a series of loud blasts, Iowa fired her main guns at the Airfield Princess. Now having put some distance between them, the Airfield Princess had ample time to evade. However, she was forced to stop in her tracks when a Japanese Zero suddenly rushed at full speed towards where she was about to sail, firing at her with its guns and going in for a kamikaze attack.
"Wha -? I thought I eliminated them all!" the Princess cried as she was forced to alter her course.
But as soon as she moved to dodge the plane, the familiar whistle of an arrow sounded in her ears, and she was again forced to retreat, this time back to her original position. The arrow and plane both missed her, but Iowa's shells had finally come down from their arc, and though the Princess tried to dodge again, it was too late. Most of the shells still missed, but one landed on right on top of her beast, smashing into the massive jaw and exploding. The beast let out an inhuman roar, and red energy spilled out from its maw.
"Yeah! We got her!" Zuikaku fistpumped as she returned to the scene. "Good teamwork, Iowa! Wait… Kashima, is she…"
"She's dead for now. We'll need to repair her," Iowa confirmed.
"Then you need to get her back to the ship! I'll stay here and -"
"No," Iowa interrupted. "Look over there."
Zuikaku turned to the Airfield Princess, who had a panicked look on her face. Her beast was thrashing about wildly even though it was confined to her rigging, and cracks appeared in its black exterior, more red energy leaking out.
"Woah, looks like it's about to burst," Zuikaku observed. "Are you saying that she's finished? But she can detach her beast if she really needs to. Trust me, I've fought a disembodied beast before…"
Iowa shook her head. "It doesn't matter; she's going to be forced to retreat anyway. You escorted the boats like I asked you to, right, Zuikaku?"
"Yeah, they should be here soon, though I don't really get it," Zuikaku replied.
"Don't worry. All you have to do is follow my lead," Iowa said as she began sailing backwards.
"Bis… Bismarck?" Shigure muttered, almost unable to believe her eyes.
Bismarck stuck out her chest proudly. "Yes, it is I, Germany's greatest battleship... You, Abyssal Princess. Now that you know who you are facing, perhaps you want to surrender?"
The Destroyer Princess looked confused. "Surrender? Are you out of your mind? Do you think one ship girl can change the course of this fight? It doesn't matter one bit if you're a battleship."
"Hmph. I am a fast battleship, to be exact," Bismarck told her. "Don't think you can outspeed me just because you're a destroyer."
"Oh? You're a fool to think our speeds are anywhere near comparable," the Abyssal scowled.
To prove her point, the Abyssal rushed at Bismarck, expecting Bismarck to try and dodge or to fire her guns at her. But to her surprise, Bismarck stood still, and instead launched the torpedoes on her rigging that the Princess had failed to notice.
A battleship-class ship girl with torpedoes? The Destroyer Princess thought in disbelief. Damn it! I'm going too fast to avoid them now!
The torpedoes detonated underwater as they passed beneath the Princess' position, blasting through her lower rigging and tipping her over.
"Shigure, get out of here as fast as you can," Bismarck ordered the destroyer as she trained her guns on the struggling Princess.
Realizing that she had received the opportunity she needed, Shigure nodded and sailed off towards Hachijo, dragging her sisters' corpses along. Hachijo had managed to recover Yamakaze's body after Bismarck had arrived, and Shigure took the towing cable from the shaken destroyer escort and sailed away with her.
Bismarck then fired at the Princess, but the Abyssal propelled herself away using her rigging even though she was not fully upright yet. The Destroyer Princess righted herself after dodging the shot.
"You got a lucky hit with those torpedoes, but I won't fall for that again. You won't be able to hit me anymore," the Destroyer Princess boasted.
Bismarck, however, looked unperturbed. "I don't need to. Look behind you."
The Princess turned briefly to see a fleet of small watercraft sailing towards the battle, originating from the direction Shigure had fled in. In the distance, she could also see a human-made heavy cruiser looming, its guns and missiles undoubtedly pointed towards the battlefield.
"What the hell is that? A fleet of lifeboats on autopilot?" the Princess surmised. "How is that supposed to help you?"
"Look closer," Bismarck told her, sailing away from the Princess and back towards the encroaching fleet of lifeboats. "These boats are loaded with ammunition and explosives."
Now behind the long line of lifeboats and continuing to sail even further backwards, Bismarck pulled out a short, black, stick-like object from her coat pocket. "If I push a button on this detonator, or if any of these boats are hit by enough shots, they will explode."
As if to emphasize her point, one of the boats in the distance blew up, sending a huge fireball and a large column of water into the air.
"What the hell?" the Princess frowned.
"It is simple," Bismarck smiled, still sailing backwards and towards the heavy cruiser. "The moment you pass through the line of these lifeboats, I will push the button for several of them in this vicinity, and they will explode, taking you along with them. If that doesn't kill you, it will at least leave you crippled enough for us to finish you off - you already looked damaged as it is. We ship girls can pass through this explosive lifeboat barrier, but any Abyssals will be blown up by us if they try it. It's a moving minefield of sorts."
The Destroyer Princess noticed that the battlefield in general was beginning to calm down, and that more and more ship girls were sailing past the lifeboats and going back towards Japan. Most of them were busy with anti-air fire as they sailed back, throwing off any enemy planes that tried to tail them.
"To make things worse for you, reinforcements from the West and from Sasebo have also arrived," Bismarck continued. "You've lost this battle. Your only option now is to retreat back into the open ocean."
The Destroyer Princess wanted to retort, but she could not disagree with Bismarck's words. She saw on her radar that many of her comrades had been sunk.
"I would get moving if I were you. The lifeboats are only getting closer," Bismarck had to yell to the Destroyer Princess now that they were a fair distance apart. "And watch out for missiles! Now that the ship girl and Abyssal fleets are separated, the humans will have no problem firing everything they have into you!"
The Destroyer Princess clenched her teeth, unwilling to back down. However, her wounds were beginning to ache now, and she would not be able to remain afloat after taking many more hits, especially from a battleship.
Damn it… To think that those Shiratsuyu-class bitches could hold me off for so long…
Though the Abyssals had not lost many ships outside of fodder that could be rebuilt, the Destroyer Princess still felt like this was a big defeat. A fleet containing two Princesses had been unable to break through the supposedly demoralized ship girl defense; she was sure that the rest of the Princesses would be having a good laugh at her expense in the near future.
The Destroyer Princess shot Bismarck a final glare before turning and sailing away from the ship girls and the approaching lifeboats. She opened a private connection to the Airfield Princess.
"Henderson… How are things on your end?" the Destroyer Princess asked.
"Urgh, what do you think, dumbass? Can't you see the state of our fleet from the radar!" came the Airfield Princess' disgruntled reply.
"Heh, knowing that you got your ass beat makes me feel slightly better," the Destroyer Princess smirked to herself.
"Shut up! H-Hey…! Fuck!" the Airfield Princess sounded like she was struggling with something. "They managed to heavily damage my beast and now it looks like it's going to fucking explode. I'm going to have to detach it from my rigging… Do you know how hard it was to train this thing? Damn it!"
"It's sort of your fault for storing so many lamentations in it. If you put that much negative energy into your beast, it's bound to be volatile," the Destroyer Princess chided her partner. "Well, whatever. Let's just get the fuck out of here."
Drake wore a rare smile as he watched the radar update in real time from the strategy room of the USS Manifest Destiny.
"They're retreating!" Colorado cheered, looking at the same screen.
"Yep. We won," Drake nodded approvingly. "So, what did you think of my strategy, Colorado? You were sent here to observe, right?"
"Y-Yes, but I was sent to observe the general air of an Abyssal battle rather than critique your strategy, sir!" Colorado hurriedly cleared up. "But your plan worked, so it had to be good, right? We haven't received any reports of friendly ship sinkings either."
Drake crossed his arms as he continued to watch the radar. "I suppose that's true. But still, there was a good amount of risk in this plan. If the enemy airpower had focused on destroying all of our lifeboats from afar, then we wouldn't have an answer. I didn't know the ship girl airpower was so depleted until we actually reached the battlefield, which is why I didn't take that into account… Luckily Iowa managed to draw in most of the Airfield Princess' airpower like I asked her to, but she's only one battleship. If the battle had dragged on, it would have ended badly for her."
"Ah, you worry too much, sir," Iowa grinned as she entered the situation room.
"Iowa!" Drake and Colorado both said at the same time.
"You made it back safely, good," Drake continued. "Wait, what happened to your hand? Shouldn't you be in the repair bay?"
"Nah, it's fine," Iowa waved her hastily-bandaged stump dismissively. "It's not life-threatening, and I'll get it reconstructed soon enough. Kashima was the one who really needed treatment… But anyway, just thought I'd stop by first to let you know I was here. This place is pretty empty, isn't it? It's just the two of you."
"When it comes to these sailors, the fewer around you, the better," Drake simply said. "Most of the officers are up on the bridge with Eliot. I didn't really need any support down here since the IJN is handling everything else already."
Zuikaku then walked into the room, saluting when she entered. "Admiral! How are Shoukaku and Akagi?"
"The medical staff managed to stabilize them, so they should be fine eventually," Drake told her, glad that they had picked up a few extra Japanese crew members at Tateyama.
"Ah, that's good to hear," Zuikaku breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, Colorado, come with me to the infirmary. Afterwards I'll tell you about the battle," Iowa said to her fellow American.
"Really? Okay!" Colorado wore a bright smile as she followed Iowa out of the room.
That left Zuikaku and Drake alone together. They shared an awkward silence before Zuikaku cleared her throat.
"Um, sorry I just kind of came in here and dumped Akagi and Shoukaku on you, sir," she sheepishly apologized. "I had to get back out there quickly, so you know…"
"Oh, yeah, it's not a problem," Drake said, stepping towards her. "You're not damaged yourself, are you? Just in case, maybe you should -"
Drake was interrupted when Zuikaku suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace. The rear admiral blinked in surprise, but then put his arms around the green-haired carrier as he heard her sniffle into his chest.
"Admiral… I… The Airfield Princess… We still can't beat her…" Zuikaku moaned, trying her best to hold back tears.
Drake held her close. "That's all right. The next time that bitch shows up, we'll face her together, okay? She won't get away again."
They stayed in that position for another fifteen seconds before Zuikaku pulled away, her face flushed in embarrassment. "S-Sorry, sir."
"Don't worry about it. But more importantly, I'm glad you're all safe. I'm sorry I couldn't be here when you needed me," Drake replied, his tone dropping as he went on.
Zuikaku wiped at her eyes, then smiled at him. "You're here now, and that's what matters. It's good to have you back, Admiral."
Drake found himself blushing as well now. He turned his face towards the monitor again and changed the subject. "So, uh, according to our radar and communications, all the other ship girls are safe and accounted for, though not all of them are aboard a ship yet. Some of them took heavy damage, but luckily no one sank. The Abyssals are also retreating, so it looks like this operation was a success."
"Mm, yeah, if you put it that way, I guess so," Zuikaku assented, though she was still disappointed at having failed to exact revenge on the Airfield Princess.
"Hey, the objective of this mission was to defend Tokyo, which we definitely did," Drake pointed out. "The Abyssals tried to strike when they perceived weakness in our fleet, and they were repulsed. This is a huge victory for us, especially after the disaster at Okinawa. You can bet that the media is going to be talking about this nonstop too."
"The return of the International Fleet, huh?" Zuikaku realized how they could spin it. "That would be good, I think. Having our navies working together again is the only way to win this war."
"I see you've matured, Zuikaku. So you don't hold a grudge against Intrepid anymore?" Drake asked.
"Ugh, I'm just happy you brought Iowa instead of her," Zuikaku replied, recoiling at the very mention of the American carrier's name.
Drake sighed. "Guess I spoke too soon… Anyway, now that the battle's over, let's go up to the bridge and coordinate with the rest of the fleet."
They then headed up to the bridge, with Drake making sure to keep Zuikaku close by him; he didn't need one of Manifest Destiny's sailors making a ribald comment to her and then inevitably ending up in the hospital or worse.
"Just in time," Captain Eliot smiled wryly as Drake and Zuikaku arrived at the bridge.
"There's a Japanese admiral who wants to speak to the commander of this ship," Ehrhard filled Drake in. "Since this is an American vessel, that would be you."
Drake went over to the main console, pressing a button beside the microphone that was attached to it. "Hello? This is Rear Admiral Richard Drake of the United States Liberation Navy."
"Rear Admiral Drake? I have heard that name before," a gruff voice Drake did not recognize answered from the other end. "Ah, yes, the American who put up that pathetic display in that shogi match we had."
Shogi…? Drake was slowly beginning to recall now. This must be Fleet Admiral Kaigan.
"This is Fleet Admiral Kaigan of the Sasebo Naval Base, in case you don't remember," he clarified regardless. "My forces have arrived just as yours did, and it appears we have driven back the Abyssals. I presume you Americans came up with that lifeboat strategy?"
"Yes, Fleet Admiral, it was me."
"Hm… It is an interesting strategy, I will admit, but you got lucky that the Sasebo Fleet arrived in time. Our anti-air destroyers and other ships managed to thin out the enemy air force, or else they could have remotely destroyed your lifeboats, potentially killing our own forces instead of the enemy."
"I realize that. I didn't have a lot of information to work with before I arrived at the battle, so I did the best I could. As you can see, it worked," Drake replied, slightly annoyed.
"Do not get defensive, Rear Admiral. I am still new to these ship girls myself, so do not take this as a lecture - I am merely pointing out things that I noticed for my own personal learning. In truth, Admiral Hayama is doing the bulk of the work when it comes to ship girls. As much as I hate to admit it, he is more experienced than I am in that regard."
Now that was a name that Drake did recognize. Hayama was the kid who somehow became an admiral in the IJN. He remembered being partnered with him and Bremerhaven for the war games exercise before the Battle of Okinawa.
"The Sasebo Fleet will sweep forwards, making sure the Abyssals do not return," Fleet Admiral Kaigan continued. "We will then return to Sasebo since we still have plenty of fuel and none of our units are damaged. I assume you will be returning to the Tokyo Bay Base?"
"Yes, that's right," Drake confirmed.
"Fine, then. You may want to get in contact with Rear Admiral Genji aboard the Guadalcanal," Kaigan finished before ending his transmission.
Genji, eh? It sure has been a while, Drake thought when he heard that name.
"Wait, we're receiving another transmission," Captain Eliot then said. "Seems to be American."
Drake answered it, taking a look at the radar and the output screens beside it to see who was contacting them. From the looks of it, there appeared to be multiple planes flying towards them, human-made if their size was anything to go by.
"This is the Manifest Destiny," Drake greeted, narrowing his eyes at one of the screens which said that he was currently speaking to a B-1C Lancer bomber.
"Roger, this is Freebird 1," a man's voice replied from the other end. "We, uh, received orders to come and assist the fleet battle taking place here. Where is the enemy? Our radar output can't see them."
"The Abyssals? They're gone. The Sasebo Fleet is advancing outwards to make sure that they don't come back," Drake informed the Lancer squadron. "What base are you from?"
"Base? We're from Liberation," the pilot answered.
"Liberation…?" Drake repeated. "You mean the aircraft carrier? Where is she right now?"
"We were sailing through the Taiwan Strait and giving a couple Chinese officers a tour on board when Fleet Admiral Van Dyke called in and ordered our squadrons to sortie. Looks like we missed the battle, though…"
Drake was a bit surprised. Last he heard, USS Liberation, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, was still in San Diego for repairs. Apparently he had not been informed on its movements, because it was now nearby. It was also possible that the Navy had just chosen not to inform anyone except for only those who needed to know in order to avoid any unwanted leaks.
"Yeah, the battle is over. You can provide air support for the Sasebo Fleet if you want, but just be sure to let them know who you are and what you're doing," Drake said.
"Roger that, sir."
"They brought the big guns to this fight, huh?" Eliot noted. "Maybe they were afraid you couldn't do it on your own, Admiral Drake."
"Then they were afraid for nothing. But more likely is that they sent backup just in case because they knew your sorry ass isn't competent enough to help me," Drake shot back. "Anyway, we should do as the Japanese admiral suggested and contact Genji. Get to it, Eliot."
A few seconds later, Captain Eliot got into contact with the Guadalcanal. Genji's voice answered in English from the other end.
"Manifest Destiny, thank you for the assistance. This is Rear Admiral Genji from the IJN."
"Genji. It's Rear Admiral Drake. How are things on your end? Any unfinished business before we return to base?"
"Rear Admiral Drake…? You're back already." A hint of surprise colored Genji's normally serious tone. "I shouldn't have expected anything less, I suppose… But no, everything appears to be in order. Right now we are sending a few ships forward to collect the remaining ship girls, and some should also be sailing towards your ship as well. Let's use the joint interface to keep track, then return to base when we have recovered everyone."
"Roger that," Drake agreed, then shut down the communications for now.
Genji's still as professional as ever, I see, he thought, though it was comforting to know that some things remained the same even in his absence.
The next hour or so was spent recovering the ship girls and coordinating the conclusion of the battle with the Japanese ground forces. Manifest Destiny had received clearance to dock at the Tokyo Bay Base, and apparently Liberation was on its way there as well, meaning Japan was about to have a strong American presence for a while.
Many of the ship girls had sailed to Drake's heavy cruiser since it was close by, meaning that the repair bay on the ship was basically at maximum capacity. The ship girls who weren't that badly injured had been sent to the situation room since Drake wanted them to interact as little as possible with the sailors. He had placed Bismarck in charge of watching over the situation room while he went through the repair bay, taking stock of the more injured ships and trying to help wherever he could.
"Will you be staying at the base permanently, Admiral Drake?" Nagato asked him, wincing as he crouched down next to her and tightened the gauze around her abdomen.
"I don't know. I haven't received any further orders yet," Drake replied, standing up and wiping his hands on a nearby towel. "So, how has the base been? I see you got a new outfit."
"Oh, this? Some of our remodels came with new attire," Nagato tugged at her long, black coat, though it was now in tatters. "The base has been fine. This was our first real engagement since Okinawa, so…"
"I see. Didn't go so well for you, huh? You could barely walk when you sailed in here," Drake commented.
Nagato looked down at the floor. "... I know. I am truly pathetic…"
"Well, uh, it's just one battle," Drake said with a frown, not expecting Nagato to take his comment that harshly. "You'll get another chance, I'm sure."
"Yes," Nagato replied, though with an audible sigh attached to it. "Admiral… We were only in this position to begin with because some of our ships got overzealous. Lately it feels like some of us are losing our senses and are devoting all our energy to rage and hatred instead. Normally that would be a bad thing, of course, but… Could it be that those feelings actually make one stronger? The Abyssals share that same sentiment, and at first I disagreed with it, but I… You hate them, right? I still remember your rage-filled eyes that time when we met them back at Hachijo-jima. Is your anger the source of your strength?"
"I don't know for sure," Drake admitted, also slightly embarrassed that Nagato had not forgotten his outburst that day. "I've definitely had a strong hatred for the Abyssals… They've beaten me too many times and taken too much from me for me to ever forgive them. That's a big reason why I still have the motivation to fight against them. But even so…"
His career against the Abyssals was clearly borne out of hatred, hatred for himself for having to make decisions like the one at Tangier, as well as hatred for the enemy for putting him in that position in the first place. However, those feelings of anger did not get him far enough, and he remembered how he stalled multiple times, such as during the first air raid on the base and after that summit with the Abyssals Nagato mentioned… It was only because Kaga was there to help him that he was able to continue on. And when he lost Kaga at Okinawa, his momentum against the Abyssals slowed down once again, and he had only been able to recover it thanks to Bismarck's promise to him. So, after all that, could he really say that hatred was the thing that had carried him this far?
"Hatred can make you stronger. I won't lie about that," he continued after a brief silence. "But it can't win the war for you. If you let your rage consume you and you still fail to defeat the enemy, then what's left of you? You'll turn into a soulless husk, incapable of fighting at all. That's why I think you need more than just hatred alone, because you're not always going to triumph over your enemy. In times of defeat, you need things that can pull you out of your slump. Hatred can fuel you when you're moving forward, but it has no way of helping you if you take a step back."
"That… Maybe you are right, sir," Nagato muttered. She then clenched her fists. "Yes, you are surely correct. I refuse to accept anything else. Also, since you are here, have you spoken to Shigure yet?"
"Shigure?" Drake followed Nagato's eyes to see the dark-haired destroyer sitting in a corner of the room, watching over the broken bodies of her sisters that had been laid out on the beds. "Is she all right now? Last time I was here, she was completely unresponsive. I guess the Kai Ni remodel fixed her?"
"That's the issue. Though she can now function as a ship girl again, her personality has… Changed," Nagato said in a low voice. "She seems obsessed with killing Abyssals now, and she outright refuses to listen to orders that contradict her dark desires. She's nothing like the shy, kind girl she used to be."
"That does sound strange," Drake agreed. "I'm not sure if I can do anything right now, but at the very least, I'll go and talk to her a bit."
Apprehensively, Drake made his way over to the sulking destroyer. Shigure was seated on a chair facing the beds her sisters were on. The heavily-damaged Shiratsuyu-class destroyers were covered in bandages and had tubes going into their veins and throats, all in an effort to stabilize them until the ship reached land and they could be treated in a proper hospital.
As Drake approached, Shigure turned, her blue eyes widening in surprise, apparently not having noticed him even though he had been in the room for a few minutes now. "Admiral…? What are you… Hm. I suppose this is an American ship, and it makes sense that you're the one they sent, especially since Bismarck is here too."
"Yeah. I see you've managed to recover as well… Though you don't really look that good right now. Are you sure you're fine with just bandages?" Drake asked, noting the missing hand and numerous other injuries the destroyer had suffered.
"I'm fine," Shigure simply replied, turning her hard gaze back onto the bodies of her sisters.
Drake couldn't help but stare at the corpses too. Murasame's and Yamakze's bloodied and burnt bodies stood out in particular to him, and he cringed. He regretted showing up to the battle so late and not being there to help earlier.
"So, uh, how have you been doing since your remodel?" Drake then questioned awkwardly, trying to find a way to bring up the subject indirectly.
"Hmph. So you heard from Nagato," Shigure said bluntly. "Whatever it is you're trying to do, don't bother. I'm going take revenge for today, and I'm going to do it by killing every single piece of shit Abyssal in my way. That's all there is to it."
Damn… Is this really Shigure? Drake wondered. "That sounds cool and all, but from the looks of things, you got your ass kicked today. Doesn't seem like you're off to a good start."
Shigure turned to glare at him. "And so what? You've lost plenty of battles too, sir."
"You're out of line, Shigure," Drake frowned, that comment having ticked him off. "You're just one destroyer. You'll never accomplish anything if you can't work together with your commanding officers and the rest of your fleet. One avenger on a crusade never ends well in the real world."
"Aren't you the one who told me to never forget the pain the Abyssals have caused me? To never forget the blood they've made me shed? I'm just following your advice!" Shigure growled.
"And I also told you to work together with your fleetmates," Drake pointed out.
"Yes, you did. And look how that turned out," Shigure spat, turning back to her sisters. "Love, family… These ties… All they do is hold us back."
Drake couldn't believe he was hearing this from her. "Don't be stupid - those feelings are literally the core of a ship girl's strength. If you abandon all of that, then what is left to fight for?"
"You don't understand. It's to protect those very things that you must throw them away," Shigure said, a hint of sadness in her cold voice. "My sisters were hurt today because they came to my aid even when I told them not to. Yes, refusing love is painful… But there is a liberating freedom that comes with fighting without worrying that someone you love will be sad if you die. I don't want to think about my friends or my family when I'm fighting. All I need is a hard, unrelenting desire to destroy the enemy in front of me. The rest has no place on the battlefield."
Drake was about to respond, but then the ship's PA system called for him.
"Rear Admiral Drake, please come up to the bridge."
"... We'll finish this later, Shigure," Drake simply told her as he left.
Walking up to the bridge, Drake couldn't help but think about Shigure's words. Maybe it was true that letting go of personal attachments made you more 'free'... But was that really a benefit? If he didn't have things to force him to care about this world and this life, where would he be right now? Would he have even bothered to fight the Abyssals in the first place?
I guess time will tell who's right, Drake figured. Will the Abyssals, who run on negative emotions, be able to defeat the ship girls, who are centered around positive ones?
He recalled his conversation with Nagato a few minutes ago. I know which emotions won out inside myself, at least… Now it's just time to show the rest of the world the same thing.