"It's a fine breeze today. Khorosho," Gangut grinned, her dark silver hair swaying behind her in the wind.
"Is now really the time to be saying something like that?" Akatsuki asked, giving the Russian battleship a flat look.
"Ahahaha, of course it is!" Gangut spread her arms out wide. "We could all very well die today, my small, purple-haired comrade! Why not enjoy the time we have left to the fullest? Isn't that right, Verniy?"
"Khorosho," the white-haired destroyer replied in her usual toneless voice.
"The Russians really corrupted Hibiki," Ikazuchi muttered.
"That's not true. She's still the same as she was before she left. She just has a different outfit, nanodesu," Inazuma said.
The former Destroyer Division Eight stood upon the water along with Gangut, not too far away from the shores of the Tokyo Bay Naval Base. As they gently went up and down with the small swells, they waited around for any communication from the scout planes and ships that had been sent ahead to judge the distance of the three Abyssal Princesses that were currently sailing towards the base.
A figure appeared in the distance, sailing straight for the four ship girls.
"Ah, it's Tashkent. She's back," Gangut observed.
Sure enough, the auburn-haired Russian destroyer's figure grew bigger as she sailed closer to the group.
"Greetings, comrades! I've returned to make my report," Tashkent said. Just like Gangut, her tone was far too chipper for the situation. "The Princesses should be within visual range soon. Our scout planes have already gotten a lock on their position, but it seems the Lycoris Princess will begin releasing her own fighters now, so we may have trouble maintaining air superiority."
Gangut nodded. "That won't be a problem. It's better to settle things with these guns of ours anyway! I can't wait to pound my shells into their pretty bodies!"
"If you're not careful, it may be your pretty body that gets smashed to bits, comrade," Verniy cautioned her, frowning at Gangut's enthusiasm.
"You're saying I have a pretty body? You're a good kid, Verniy!" Gangut grinned as she took off Verniy's hat to pat her head, much to the destroyer's chagrin.
"Why did we have to get stuck with the Russian weirdos?" Ikazuchi whispered to Inazuma.
"They're Hibiki's friends, so just deal with it," Inazuma whispered back.
"Attention all ship girls," Rear Admiral Genji's voice came through the radio communications. "The three Abyssal Princess have begun their assault on our base, and it seems they have split up and are going in different directions. Lycoris Princess has released her air squadrons, and at the moment, they seem to primarily consist of bombers with the intention of doing as much damage to the base and our ship girls as possible regardless of how many aircraft losses she takes. Because of how large this air group is, we have decided to split our forces as follows: Task Force Alpha will move to intercept the Northern Water Princess, Task Force Beta will focus on anti-air defense and will prevent the Lycoris Princess from getting too close to the base, and Task Force Charlie will deal with the Battleship Princess."
The radio was silent for a few seconds as Rear Admiral Genji thought how to best divide the ship girls.
"All right, pay attention. Here are the task force assignments. Task Force Alpha: Kumano, Atago, Takao, I-19, Verniy, Akatsuki, Inazuma, Ikazuchi, Gangut, and Tashkent. Task Force Beta: Yuudachi, Kawakaze, Hiyou, Junyou, Ryuujou, Agano, Sakawa, Noshiro, Jintsuu, Naka, Hyuuga, and I-8. Task Force Charlie: Nagato, Mutsu, Ise, Kirishima, Hiei, Kongou, Abukuma, I-168, Iowa, and Musashi. I will send you the coordinates where each task force should gather, so make your way over there as soon as possible. That is all for now."
When Genji sent over the coordinates, DesDiv8 and the Russians found that they were already in the right place, so they didn't bother moving.
"Hm… So it's the Northern Water Princess that we're facing, huh?" Gangut mused. "I don't really know who she is, but she's chosen the wrong ship girls to fight. Verniy, Tashkent! We will show this foolish enemy where the true power of the North lies!"
"Uraaaa!" the three Russian ship girls cheered at once. Even Verniy, who was normally quiet and demure, lent her loudest voice to this battle cry.
"Somehow I feel out of place here…" Akatsuki said to her two brown-haired sisters.
"I'm telling you, it's like I said. The Russians corrupted Hibiki," Ikazuchi shook her head, though she couldn't help but smile at Verniy's drive.
"Hey! Task Force Alpha, listen up!" a rough, accented voice barked through the radio. "This is Admiral Borodin of the Second Soviet Navy. Since Admirals Miiro and Genji are busy with Task Force Beta and Charlie, I will be leading this task force! Prepare yourself for a brutal battle, because this will not be easy! And do not even think of retreating, or I'll order the shore batteries to shoot you before you can return to base!"
"Oho, looks like Admiral Borodin is fired up as well!" Gangut smiled with excitement.
"We will win this victory for the Motherland! Uraaa!" Tashkent pumped her fist.
"These guys need to lay off the vodka," Ikazuchi groaned.
Verniy turned to her sisters. "This will be a dangerous mission. Let's work together to get out of this alive, okay?"
"O-Of course! A real lady would never sink in a battle like this!" Akatsuki declared.
"We'll do our best, Hibiki!" Inazuma assured her.
Verniy nodded. "Don't let Gangut and Tashkent fool you. They are reliable in battle, so you can count on them to do their part."
The rest of Task Force Alpha sailed in shortly afterwards, and Gangut, the assumed flagship of the task force, alerted Admiral Borodin that they were ready for battle.
"Khorosho! Keep in mind that our enemy is a battleship-class unit," Admiral Borodin started. Unfortunately we could not spare airpower for this task force since Task Force Beta needs it the most, so this battle will be fought and won on the surface… Er, except for you, I-19. But for the rest of you, you will be going head-to-head with an enemy whose armor is harder than the Siberian ice and whose guns can grind you into powder finer than snow! Prepare yourselves for the fight of your life, hahaha!"
"He sounds too happy about this…" Kumano noted with apprehension.
"And why not?" Gangut grinned. "Come on, you Japs! This is the battle of a lifetime! Aren't your ship girl souls calling out for you to etch your names into history once more? Let's sink this Princess together!"
"Hm, three heavy cruisers, one battleship, one submarine and five destroyers against an Abyssal Princess. Is that enough?" Takao wondered nervously.
"I'm sure it will be fine~" Atago gave her sister an easy smile.
"Iku is ready to go!" the submarine cheered, popping her head out from underwater.
"Comrades! Here is the initial strategy," Borodin began. "We will attack like the Russian winter! First comes the frost, cold but not harsh enough to make the enemy turn away… Next comes the snowfall, which halts their advance and starts to worry them. Finally, the freezing hand of death reaches out, petrifying everything within its grasp! That is how our strategy will work!"
"Da, very good!" Gangut nodded.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," Kumano frowned.
"This guy is ridiculous," Takao muttered under her breath about Admiral Borodin.
"We will attack in waves," Borodin elaborated. "First, I-19 and the destroyers will approach the enemy, using their torpedoes to keep our foe on guard. You do not have to try and sink her, but just make sure you do not get hit! The next phase will commence once I give the order. The destroyers and submarine are to break off, and the heavy cruisers will begin their shelling. You are to sail towards the Princess and shoot at her at the same time, and this will open up the final phase of the attack: a hammer-like blow from our battleship, Gangut! The plan must proceed in this order, for that will prevent the enemy from establishing a rhythm and will also soften her up for the decisive blow. Any questions?"
"No, sir!" Gangut enthusiastically declared, not giving any of the other girls in her fleet a chance to respond.
"Khorosho! Then move out!" Borodin ordered.
"Eeeeeh? But what exactly are we supposed to do?" Akatsuki said, still confused.
"Just go with it for now…" Verniy offered unhelpfully.
"Come, my friends! The Blue Cruiser shall lead the charge!" Tashkent stated boldly. She turned to DesDiv8. "You are Verniy's sisters, no? Verniy spoke a lot about you three when she was training in Russia with us! I am excited to see your strength, comrades!"
"Hey, you didn't tell her anything weird, did you?" Ikazuchi asked Verniy with concern.
The silver-haired destroyer merely shrugged.
"Okay! Iku's ready to go!" I-19 cheered.
"Khorosho! I like your spirit, comrade submarine!" Tashkent fistpumped.
Takao sighed. "You all seem a bit too excited… Remember that we're going into battle against an Abyssal Princess."
"We should really get moving, though. Let's go," Verniy said, taking the initiative by sailing forwards.
"Hey, I said I was leading the charge!" Tashkent sailed after her.
The rest of the Akatsuki-class had no choice but to follow, and I-19 kept pace with them from beneath the waves.
"Good luck, comrades! We will be here to back you up!" Gangut waved to them.
Tashkent sailed at the forefront of the destroyer formation. Verniy caught up to her, glancing curiously at Tashkent's rigging.
"Boilers?" Verniy asked.
"Da, I had extra ones installed a few weeks ago," Tashkent confirmed. "I can go much faster than this, but I don't want to break formation. Still, it may be of use when fighting the Princess in close-quarters."
Verniy hummed in acknowledgement, then turned to her sisters. "Remember what Admiral Borodin said. We are just supposed to distract the Princess for a while and keep her on her guard, so make sure you don't do anything too risky."
"O-Of course we won't! You don't need to tell us that!" Akatsuki tried to assure her.
"Comrades! There!"
Tashkent interrupted them to point into the distance, where they saw a tall, white figure standing atop the waves. She was completely still, moving only when the waves below her did.
"She has a nice hat, eh?" Tashkent observed.
"Ugh, she looks creepy. And what's with those weird hands?" Ikazuchi crinkled her nose in disgust.
Two pairs of large, black, metallic hands stretched out from underneath the Princess' big white coat. Smaller gray hands were also present, visible as they wriggled around the Princess' body.
"Those must be part of her beast…" Inazuma gulped, not looking forward to facing her.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that if those big hands manage to grab you, you'll be crushed to death in no time," Tashkent said with a grin.
"... Let's stay out of her reach, then," Verniy frowned.
"How's it going, comrades? See her yet?" Gangut asked through the comms.
"Enemy in visual range," Verniy answered calmly. "Are we cleared to fire?"
"Indeed you are! Give her a taste for what's to come!"
Verniy turned to look at her sisters. "We're launching our torpedoes now. Don't send all of them out at this distance; save some for when we get closer."
Tashkent, also listening in on the communications, fired her torpedoes first. The rest of the destroyers formed up in a semicircle shape, spreading themselves out in order to cover the biggest area. The torpedoes shot through the water and dispersed as they approached the Northern Water Princess, and the ship girls who launched them sailed closely behind.
For her part, the Northern Water Princess didn't move. As the ship girls got closer and closer to her, they could see the forlorn expression on her face and the lonely, bitter look in her icy blue eyes.
"The torpedoes are getting closer, but she hasn't even moved a centimeter," Ikazuchi scratched her head in confusion.
"Maybe she didn't notice them?" Inazuma hoped.
The group stopped moving and instead stood in place to observe as the torpedoes enclosed upon the Northern Water Princess from all directions. To their shock, the Princess still made no attempt to move out of the way… But just as the torpedoes were about to reach her and explode, the large hands attached to her rigging suddenly swept outwards, smashing into the torpedoes and detonating them. When the spray cleared, the large, metallic hands appeared completely unharmed, and the Princess herself was without a scratch.
"Those are some strong hands…" Ikazuchi noted.
"All right, that didn't work," Tashkent sighed. "We didn't achieve our objective of catching her off-guard and forcing her to adjust to us. She didn't even move!"
Verniy put her hands on her hips, her cool blue eyes scanning the Princess for any sign of weakness. "Those large arms of hers provide her with a 360 degree defense and can move independently of her. Though her beast doesn't look like much, it's clearly effective at eliminating threats close to her body."
"Fine, then, if close-range attacks won't work…" Tashkent grinned as she fixed her guns at the Northern Water Princess. "She can eat this instead! Uraaaa!"
The large destroyer fired her guns, 130mm shells cutting through the air and rapidly arcing down towards the Abyssal. Once again, the Princess made no move to dodge the attack, but right at the last moment before the shells would impact her, her metallic hands rose up and covered her body, acting as a shield as Tashkent's shells exploded harmlessly against them. When the Princess lowered her arms, the ship girls could see that she was again unharmed.
"No way! That defense is too strong, nanodesu!" Inazuma cried out.
I-19 popped her head out from underwater right next to Inazuma, startling the destroyer.
"Hm… I sent out my torpedoes earlier when you all did, but she blocked them along with yours," I-19 said.
"Heeey, are you all done yet?" Atago asked through the comms. "I think it's time for the heavy cruisers to move in!"
"Our apologies, comrades! We haven't been able to break her defense at all!" Tashkent responded. "She has an extra pair of metallic arms which act as a shield for her. Neither our torpedoes nor our shells could penetrate it!"
"All right. Let's see if she can stand up to heavy cruiser-caliber shells, then!" Takao replied.
Moments later, the faint whistle of incoming shells could be heard in the salty sea air, and the destroyers and I-19 looked up to see several large shells sailing downwards towards the Northern Water Princess. Though the destroyers watched with anticipation, they were ultimately unsurprised when the Princess merely lifted her hands up and blocked the shells from hitting her main body again.
"It didn't work, huh…" Kumano noted.
The three heavy cruisers were now coming within visual range of the Princess, and the destroyers could see them sailing closer in the distance.
Tashkent looked perplexed. "Maybe we need Gangut's firepower…"
Verniy shook her head. "I think that those hands of hers are made to withstand the firepower from any class of ship girl. Even if all of us were to attack her at the same time, I don't know if we could put a dent in her."
"There has to be something we can do," Akatsuki frowned.
Verniy looked up at the sky. "If we had airpower, this might have been easier. Our only hope of victory is to get an attack of ours to hit her main body before she can bring her hands up to defend."
"I think it's our turn to defend now, nanodesu!" Inazuma warned.
The turrets on the Northern Water Princess' rigging swiveled to aim directly at the group of destroyers. Blue flames began leaking from the Princess' rigging, and her eyes burned with a cold bitterness.
"It's cold… Down in the depths of the ocean…" the Northern Water Princess said, her voice carrying a wispy chill with it. "... I'm going to send you there."
Verniy hardened her own icy eyes. "Everyone, get ready!"
Nagato crossed her arms as she stood atop the gentle waves, her red eyes fixed intently on the horizon.
"Are you nervous?"
Jumping at the sudden sound, Nagato whirled around to find her sister smirking at her.
"I think your reaction just now answers my question," Mutsu giggled.
Nagato glared at her. "No, I am not nervous. You simply startled me by sneaking up on me like that, that's all."
"Whatever you say," Mutsu rolled her eyes.
Task Force Charlie had stopped for the moment, now just waiting for their target to come to them. At the head of the formation and ahead of Nagato and Mutsu were Iowa and Musashi, and behind the Nagato-class battleships were the rest of the group, mostly consisting of battleships save for Abukuma and I-168.
"This is a lot of ships to face one enemy…" Mutsu noted, glancing back behind her to look over the group.
"Hopefully it's enough," Nagato replied gruffly.
"We have Musashi and Iowa with us, so we should be fine," Mutsu smiled.
"Are you forgetting that this is the very same enemy who sank Yamato?" Nagato frowned at Mutsu, making sure that Musashi wasn't overhearing them. "And judging from what all the admirals are saying, the Abyssals' capture of Okinawa has made them even more powerful, so the Battleship Princess we face today is probably even stronger than the version that defeated Yamato!"
"All right, all right. They're coming over," Mutsu warned, her eyes shifting towards Musashi and Iowa, who had begun to sail back to Nagato and Mutsu.
"We've been ordered to stop here and wait for the Battleship Princess to come within visual range," Musashi informed them when she came over, though Nagato had already figured as much.
"That Ganji guy said that we have to face the Princess as a full fleet and not let ourselves get into one-on-one confrontations, so that's probably why," Iowa added.
"That's Rear Admiral Genji to you," Nagato corrected with a sharp frown. "Regardless, that is a sound plan."
Musashi scoffed at that. "It's ridiculous. There's no point to this if half the fleet gangs up on her and sinks her."
"Huh? Isn't the point to sink her? So why does it matter how many of us it takes?" Iowa asked densely.
Nagato gave Iowa a look which was supposed to convey to her to drop the subject, but instead, the blonde's eyes only lit up in realization.
"Oh! You wanted revenge for Yamato," Iowa stated, causing Nagato's jaw to drop.
Surprisingly, Musashi's expression remained the same. "Of course. Not that you would understand, but this is important to me personally. Frankly, I don't want the rest of you to be here and you're only in the way."
"Eeeh? That's so mean," Mutsu said.
"Say what you will. It won't change the fact that I would much prefer it if I could kill this Abyssal bitch without having to worry about babysitting the rest of you," Musashi insisted.
"Come on, now you're just being ridiculous," Nagato stepped in, offended. "You're not here to 'babysit' us; we're supposed to be helping you sink the Battleship Princess. Furthermore, you're completely mistaken if you think you're the only one troubled by Yamato's passing. She was the flagship of the entire IJN and the symbol of Japan's ship girl fleet! The entirety of the country mourned for her when she was sunk, and those of us here today are no exception. The least you could do is allow us to fight for her sake now."
A glimpse of anger flashed across Musashi's crimson eyes. "You just don't get it, do you? Yeah, I'm well aware of what Yamato meant to Japan and the Japanese people. I know she was a source of strength to them, and that she was the pillar of our fleet. But what you and the rest of Japan don't know or care about is that Yamato was a person too… As her sister, I know just how much she struggled with the responsibilities of living up to her title, and how badly she didn't want to let our country down. And yet… And yet, in her first battle against an Abyssal Princess, she was killed without accomplishing anything! Do you know how disappointed she must have felt in that moment!? Do you know how bad she must have felt to have failed her country and her people!? None of you know anything! You didn't fucking know her like I did! I don't give a shit that she was the symbol of Japan or the leader of the ship girl fleet or whatever! She was my sister, and that's all that matters to me!"
Nagato, Mutsu, and Iowa stood in stunned silence at the conclusion of Musashi's outburst. Musashi herself took a breath, then turned away from the trio.
"Whatever. I can't stop you from participating in this fight, so do as you please. Just know that I'm going to be the one to kill this bitch today."
With that, Musashi sailed back to the front of the formation, waiting alone for the enemy to appear on the horizon.
"Er, uh, yeah…" was all Iowa managed before she too sailed back to join up with Musashi.
"I didn't mean to…" Nagato was crestfallen.
"It's not your fault," Mutsu put a reassuring hand on her sister's shoulder. "Musashi has had a lot to deal with lately, especially now that she's been assigned Yamato's former position as flagship of the IJN. She's probably had those emotions bottled up for a while now, and it just so happened that you were the one she decided to unleash them on. At the very least, you helped her vent for a bit, and I don't think you said anything wrong anyway."
Nagato gave her a small smile. "Thank you… Still, I was ignorant. I should have been more considerate."
"Maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that we need to support Musashi as much as we can in this coming fight regardless of what she just said," Mutsu stated.
"Attention Task Force Charlie," Rear Admiral Genji started, "the Battleship Princess will appear within visual range in five minutes. Our battle plan is simple: surround her from all directions and pump her full of holes. Based on previous data, we know she is proficient in close-quarters combat, in large part due to the beast that makes up her rigging. Therefore, make sure to keep the radius of the formation a fair distance away from her, meaning out of arm's reach at the very minimum. At a distance, the main things you need to worry about are her cannons and the red laser that she can fire from her beast's mouth. One shot from her cannon won't sink you if you have battleship-class armor, but a direct hit from a fully-charged up laser beam will kill you, so make sure to watch out for that. Aside from that, this battle will rely on your own skills and your ability to work together as a fleet. You cannot allow yourselves to face her in small groups or individually. Keep that in mind as you fight, and I will contact you again if there are any major changes that need to be made to our formation. Good luck."
The communication ended, and Nagato noticed the rest of the ships in Task Force Charlie begin to sail up closer.
Rear Admiral Genji must be busy with the other two fronts of the battlefield, not to mention that this all may be a diversion and that the main battle may be taking place elsewhere. It's no wonder that he can't afford to micromanage us here, Nagato thought.
Nagato had been appointed joint flagship of Task Force Charlie along with Musashi, so it was her responsibility to make sure the fleet stayed coordinated. From what Musashi had just said, it was clear that the superbattleship would make no effort in regards to her flagship role. Genji had probably known that beforehand, which is why he had appointed Nagato to the position as well.
"Um… Should I really be here?" Abukuma asked nervously, sailing up beside Nagato. "I mean… Everyone else is a battleship or a submarine…"
Nagato gave her a steady smile. "You'll be fine. We aren't equipped with torpedoes, so yours could come in handy and do a good job of throwing the enemy off when she least expects them. Like we discussed earlier, just make sure to stay behind one of us when you're not firing."
"Hey, hey! Did you forget that someone here actually does have torpedoes?" Kongou cut in with a grin. "But seriously… I've been waiting for this rematch for a while now, desu! Kirishima, Hiei! Today we're going to show this entire fleet and that Battleship Princess cunt the power of the Kongou-class!"
"Hell yeah! I'll follow your lead, sister!" Hiei cheered.
Kirishima smirked. "Indeed. We'll have to fight with extra vigor to make up for Haruna's absence."
"Man, you guys are lucky, having your sisters here fighting beside you," Ise sighed. "Can you believe they put Hyuuga on anti-air duty? I'm sure she'd rather be here slugging it out with her guns!"
"Hyuuga's not the type to complain about those things, but I bet you would have. If they had to split you up, they certainly made the right decision by putting you in this fleet and Hyuuga in the anti-air defense fleet," Mutsu pointed out.
Kongou nodded. "It's the price you guys have to pay for getting those cool planes, desu. I wish I could use those! I could drop my burning love from the skies too, then!"
"But in all seriousness, your planes are appreciated, Ise. I'm glad we get at least some air cover," Nagato said.
Ise sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll do my best."
Nagato then noticed a flying object far up above her, but quickly relaxed as she realized it was merely a drone.
One of the admirals back on base must have sent that to watch over this portion of the battlefield, she guessed.
I-168 swam up from under the waves. "Enemy approaching, guys."
The ship girls all turned to the horizon, where they saw a lone woman clad in all black approaching. Even from this distance, the fearsome beast in her rigging was clearly visible, its bulging muscles and glowing maw striking an imposing figure.
Wait… Glowing?
"Everyone, move to the side!" Nagato shouted a warning.
Seconds later, the deadly red laser blasted out from the beast's mouth in the distance, rapidly tearing through the air. The ship girls heeded their flagship's command and managed to dodge, but even as the beam passed by them harmlessly, they could feel the immense heat and power radiating from it. The red laser eventually dissipated before it could reach the shoreline.
At this distance, it was expected that we would dodge it. I suppose she is trying to rattle us, Nagato thought.
"Form up!" Nagato called out. "We will form a semicircle and sail towards the Princess, then close the circle once we can trap her inside! Move to your assigned positions!"
Everyone, including Musashi and Iowa, did so, sailing to position themselves in the correct way. Musashi, Iowa, Nagato, and Mutsu formed the apex of the semicircle, while Kongou and Hiei brought up the right side of the semicircle and Ise and Kirishima the left. I-168 proceeded underwater, and Abukuma sailed directly behind Nagato.
"Forwards!" Nagato commanded as she began sailing straight at the Princess. "Watch the mouth of her beast! If you see a red glow, scatter! Return to formation once the beam dissipates, and make sure to dodge any cannon fire!"
The formation proceeded towards the Battleship Princess, with both the Princess and the ship girls trading shots. The ship girls tried to stagger their shots so that there was always someone firing at the Princess, but the Abyssal caught on quickly and began firing at the next girl up to shoot so that the sequence was disrupted. Regardless, at this distance, none of the shots were undodgeable, so there were no hits scored.
Eventually the fleet came within striking distance of the Abyssal.
"My, what a large welcoming party," the Battleship Princess greeted with a smirk. "Hm… What's this? Another Yamato-class? Come to join your sister on the seafloor, eh?"
Nagato worried that Musashi would break formation and go berserk at that, but the superbattleship held her ground.
"Quiet, scum. I will soon erase your presence from this world," Musashi scowled.
"Hey there! I'm Iowa, and I can't wait to turn you into a flaming wreck today!" Iowa greeted the Princess with a big grin and a wave.
The Battleship Princess frowned. "Yes, I'm aware of who you are, American. But instead of being here, shouldn't you be at your Admiral Drake's side? I heard he had quite the incident recently."
Iowa's blue eyes darkened. "Captain Drake's doing just fine, and I'm sure he'll feel even better once I bring him your head."
"Don't forget about me, desu!" Kongou interrupted. "I'm gonna get my revenge for last time!"
"Last time?" Battleship Princess gave Kongou a quizzical look. "Ah, at 'Bethlehem.' I didn't think you were even worth killing back then, but I suppose I'll finish the job this time. You are annoying."
"A-Annoying?!" Kongou stammered.
"How dare you call her annoying! You're finished, Abyssal trash!" Hiei shouted angrily.
"Right, right. But before that, this formation… You are planning to surround me, are you not? Then why don't you get to it? I'll even stay still for you," the Abyssal said.
Nagato blinked. Was this a trap? No, that wouldn't even make sense. Maybe she thinks it makes no difference if we surround her?
"Do it," Nagato ordered, keeping her red eyes trained on the enemy.
The ship girl fleet spaced itself out into a circle, trapping the Battleship Princess inside. Seven pairs of battleship guns were trained directly on the Abyssal, and yet she did not flinch.
"It looks like you're keeping your distance from me. Are you really that afraid of this thing?" Battleship Princess smiled as she stroked her beast's arm.
The beast gave an inhuman bellow, its thunderous voice causing the ship girls to cringe.
So she seems to understand our battle plan already, Nagato realized. It doesn't matter. There's nothing she can do about it.
The red glow fired up once again from within the beast's mouth, and the Princess grinned dangerously.
"Fire at will!" Nagato ordered, fixing her own guns at the Princess.
With a chorus of booms, the battleships all fired their main guns at the Princess.
The Battleship Princess leapt into the air, an impressive feat considering how large her rigging was.
Nagato narrowed her eyes. Does she seriously think she can avoid our shots like that? She won't get high enough into the air.
But as she reached the top of her jump, the Battleship Princess suddenly angled herself downwards, turning her main guns and rigging down towards the surface of the sea. The beast fired its laser a split-second before the ship girls' shells converged on the Princess' position, the red beam shooting downwards into the water and tearing a hole through the surface of the waves.
The recoil from the blast sent the Princess flying up into the air, high enough so that she avoided all of the ship girls' shots. Then, the Abyssal acrobatically righted herself, angling her guns directly at Nagato.
Nagato only managed to take in the Princess' smirk with wide eyes before hearing the resounding clap of the Abyssal's cannons. Searing pain enveloped her, then blackness.