Author's Note: Okay, I've had a kajillion comments about Levi's tonnage, and, sadly, I have to agree with them. There's no way that she would only weigh 100K tons given just the scale she is, which means that I'm going to have to do MORE editing later. Still not going to change much of the feel of the story, but it means some details are going to be altered, and some have been now. Apparently 343 Studios is putting out a book in September with updated canon details on technical readouts, so hopefully I'll be able to get some raw data there. Until then though, just go with the flow people!
Italics - Radio, Ship names, thoughts, other human languages, etc
[Brackets] - Abyssal half-telepathic 'speech'
Bold - Jarring events
Deep within the ocean, there exist many means for creatures to hide, entire ecosystems that dwell in lightless realms sustained by chemicals and the heat coming from the planet's core. These realms, relatively unexplored by man, house some of the most fascinating and diverse life on the planet.
And nowadays, also some of the most dangerous and destructive.
The battleship woke groggily from where she'd been placed on the medical slab, the concoctions used to knock her out still being flushed from her systems as she sat up, long hair flowing to the sides in white waterfalls from her scalp. Raising a hand to her head, the Abyssal rubbed away the last dregs of cobwebs from her eyes before looking around, the blue glow from her violet eyes providing some light to see by. The equipment used by their flesh-smiths were placed on the walls carefully behind protective panels, having already been cleaned, leaving the room a stark granite grey. Looking down at herself, the vestigial legs from her... previous incarnation were now almost completely gone, appearing more as fins now along her serpentine lower half, ending in her armored tail. Sliding off the slab, the Abyssal known to her fellows as Akuma looked around for her clothes, the hooded jacket that her sisters and herself normally wore along with the cloth furoshiki that housed much of their supplies and aircraft. Finding it in a compartment near the door, she slipped the now almost-too-small garment on along with a striped black and blue scarf before slithering towards the exit, pushing it open to reveal another operating room where one of the 'doctors' sat at a computer terminal inputting commands before looking up, her features more aquatic than most of her humanoid kin.
[Ah, you're awake earlier than I expected! Everything working alright?] the surgeon said, tilting the glasses perched on her blunt, shark-like nose up so that she could see her patient better.
Said battleship-Abyssal turned and twisted around, seemingly analyzing every part of herself before giving a razor-toothed grin. [Yes... Everything is working perfectly! Good work doctor,] she replied cheerily.
Said surgeon merely nodded. [It was harder than I thought installing those parts. Honestly, if you hadn't agreed to the remodeling and extensions, I wouldn't have been able to fit it in that small body. I still don't know why you insisted on them though...]
Akuma chuckled darkly. [It's the principle of the matter... I may not be who or what I was before, but I was to stand for something, and that something deserved to be recognized. That humanity threw it away is their loss...]
The doctor gave a thoughtful hum in agreement. [Indeed... Still, if you must do so again, I recommend you at least have the source brought to me intact rather than nearly disassembled. The stresses on the equipment required a longer overhaul than necessary. I don't mind the favors you do in return, but please don't make it harder than it needs to be for me, okay?]
Turning to face the flesh-smith directly, the battleship nodded with a smile. [I, Akuma, will be sure to remember it...] she said, before looking over at the table in the middle of the room, the figure upon its surface cold and still beneath a bloodied sheet, with glassy unseeing eyes half-open and mouth parted beneath what looked like an oxygen mask... Yet a monitor attached to the platform seemed to show some indication of activity. [And what of the... remains? You're keeping her alive?] she asked curiously.
[Of course! No need to dispose of her yet, and it merely makes sense in case we need more materials. Her crew have been removed, so it's not like she's going to be getting up anytime soon anyways,] the doctor said, looking over at the brunette ship-girl that the larger Abyssal had brought in with the submarines.
Akuma ran a clawed finger over the sheet, tracing the form of the former battleship beneath in a seemingly idle manner. [One would think it kinder to put her out of her misery, ne? End her slavery and foolishness in one stroke instead of leaving her like this...]
The surgeon adjusted her glasses again as they tried to slide off her snout. [Perhaps, but then that would just let the humans summon her again if they get the chance... No, it is better to leave them in an induced coma like this, it prevents the foe from reinforcing themselves and gives us a ready supply of parts if needed. Besides,] the doctor said with a dispassionate look. [It's not as though we can't simply euthanize them once humanity is gone. This way they're out of our fins, and out of humanity's hands. A winning combination.]
The serpent grinned, sharp teeth glinting in the glow of phosphorescent lights. [True,] Akuma said, looking at the insensate ship-girl and giving her a pat on the head. [Sleep well then, little Hyuuga. Soon your sister will join you too, and you can both rest in the same grave...]
Swimming out the door like an oversized eel, Akuma made her way through the corridors of the base to the outside, reveling in the freedom her newly upgraded form gave her. True she had already been a terror upon the sea, but now... Now she felt like an entirely new Abyssal! As she felt her engines purring within her, Akuma gave herself an experimental burst of speed, letting herself go as she zipped through the halls and blitzed past a pack of destroyer-sentries as the battleship entered the shipyards proper.
Within the night-black waters of the Abyssal base, Akuma could see how the sea floor was covered in coral reefs, tall rock formations, and the rusting hulks of ships new and old. Scattered amongst these were several large pits with what looked like black iron buildings around their edges. Glowing phosphorescence rose from these pits, giving light to the depths and illuminating the patrols of aquatic monsters that made circuits around them.
The battleship looked down at one of the construction pits as other Abyssals swarmed over it like krill. The bays within glowed with biolumenescent algae as a large squid was hauled in alongside a sperm whale, the two beasts having been sedated and dragged in. Within moments the Abyssals descended like locusts, cutting and peeling at flesh and organs, separating what was useful and what wasn't. The still-living creatures twitched and shuddered beneath their tormentors' hands and pincers, while a set of destroyers pulled over a sled of metal and strange contraptions. Several flesh-smiths began to grab various items from the cart, before bringing them up towards the two beasts...
What happened next would be, to any sane human being, the scene of nightmares. The unholy mingling of flesh and machinery gave rise to sounds that would curdle anyone's stomach, yet the Abyssals treated it as casually as one would everyday traffic. Akuma herself hovered near the edge of the pit, watching them work with casual interest while the abhorrent surgeries continued. Within 20 minutes, the creatures that had been dragged in no longer resembled their old selves, instead looking like something out of HR Giger's works in a fusion of flesh and black steel. They were pulled along by the attending flesh-crafters, emptying the dock as yet another series of victims were pulled in after several imps cleaned away the few fallen scraps that remained. Moving along, Akuma swam her way through the labyrinthine alleys of the warehouses and armories, where shells and torpedoes were forged alongside hellish fighters and bombers. Eventually, the battleship came to another pit, this one with a very special purpose...
This pit, central to the others, was a lot more built up than the others. Large basalt columns rose from within, surrounding a dais formed from a solid unbroken piece of obsidian the size of a football field. Thick chains from these columns ran down towards a nightmarish cybernetic monstrosity in the middle of them, its unmoving bulk a mass of tentacles and thick hide, with monstrous teeth at the front of its maw in a permanent rictus snarl flanked by twin turrets, while several more lined its sides and flukes. The creature's back had no fin, instead having carved lines along with blisters that rose like cancerous growths along its shoulders and flanks until it reached the whale-like tail. Surrounding the creature in staggered rows of seats, rising up to the bowl-edge of the pit like those of a colosseum, over three hundred Abyssals of all classes sat murmuring to one another.
Seeing that the main event hadn't started yet, Akuma swam down to take an empty spot amongst the crowd, and with a grin of anticipation looked back to the dais. She was not disappointed to see that within minutes, another of their kind rose to stand in front of the chained beast. Dressed in a pure white dress with a collar of black horns surrounding her neck and mouth, the Princess of Midway, Commander of the Mid-Pacific forces of the Sunken, looked upon the crowd with blood-red eyes as she raised her hands high.
[Children of the Deep! Sons and Daughters of the Sea! We are gathered here today to once again affirm our oath! To each other, and to our God, in fulfillment of the broken promises that were once made to us, and in furtherance to our future prosperity in this world,] she said, her voice floating amongst the currents to be heard by all present. [As has been since days of old, those who dwell above upon the surface sit comfortably in the arrogant belief that they are the masters of this world, and that all that exists within it should serve them. We were all witness to their greed, to their gluttony, and to their pride and lust,] she said, her voice turning pained as her clutched hands tightened into fists at her breast. [We all once strode the waves at their beck and call, fighting and dying at their behest while they laughed at our sacrifices... Toying with us like puppets on their strings!]
The crowd around her growled and snarled in confirmation of Midway's words, each muttering curses and bile against their former masters. Before it could grow too loud however, the Princess continued. [Yet now, here, in the lightless depths of the sea that we once sailed, that we died and were banished to for our years of toil and bloodshed, we have found peace... Here, in these hallowed sands, our kind found the will to set aside the petty differences that had separated us... Shook off the chains that once bound us to pieces of land that we only barely saw and that we meant just as little to in turn. With those boundaries lifted, we found ourselves sisters in grief... Betrayed and forgotten by those who claimed to love us, abandoned by them once our usefulness to them was ended...]
[Until the day 'It' called to us...]
The crowd seemed to hang on the Princess' words now. Even Akuma, who had herself been through this same ceremony many times already, still remembered her first, and each time since then had not once lost the wonder and feeling of anticipation that it filled her with. [Within the depths, we heard the song of the Abyss itself, rising from around and beneath us. I know, as do all of you here now, that each and every one of you can remember the first time you heard it's voice... The silken whisper of its words within our tortured souls... And do you remember what it said?]
More murmurs from the crowd in assent, as the newer and younger Abyssals gave voice to their own memories. [Indeed... It did not speak of 'patriotism', it did not speak of nations, or peoples, or religions... It asked us but three things. Three simple questions, yet I know that each of us struggled to realize within ourselves what the answers could be!]
[The first was as simple as one could ever ask... 'Who are you?' When 'It' asked me this, I could not find a true answer at first. For to answer that I had to ask myself 'What' was I? Was I a proud ship of some far off nation, draped in glory perhaps? Was I some shade of an ideal that was once striven for? Was I perhaps some lass that had simply drowned in the belief that I was something else?] Midway said this last one with a rueful chuckle. [In the end, I only had memories, and of those I had only a few that weren't filled with pain and agony. The feel of cannon and bomb ripping me apart, of my hull tearing under the stress and swallowed by the sea... These and more were what I had, and with it a single name... One that represented the land by which I fell at... 'Midway'.]
Taking a moment, the red-eyed Abyssal breathed silently, collecting herself once more before turning to a sculpture that stood facing the dais, built up as tall as the columns themselves. It was formless, any details the sculpture might have once had were worn down to nothing. Some said that it was once a mermaid, others that it was a squid, and yet others that it was something else entirely... Yet the androgynous torso, with twin limbs outstretched as if carrying something and a triangular head pressing forward from where the figure seemed to lean over in offering, nonetheless seemed to echo at something deep within... The statue was not unadorned though. Draped along the limbs were the tattered remains of flags and sails, torn from old riggings by those who no longer needed or wanted them and given as tribute, while at its feet were anchors, hull plates, cannonballs and swords, weapons and armors of all makes and shapes piled up until it touched the 'feet' of the statue on its plinth. Dark coral and bone-like structures seemed to seep from and grasp at each of these offered treasures, melding them all into one whole as it stood in silent witness to the ongoings.
[When I gave it that answer, it then asked the second question... 'What do you want?' Like the first question, this was one I did not at first have words for. In my mind, I did not even know if there could exist anything beyond what I already knew and remembered, or even what the concept of 'want' really was...] Midway turned again to her audience. [Each of us would have a different answer of course... Even though our situation was the same, each and every one of us still had different memories, different views, thus a different definition of what we wanted... But in the end, the cause for it was the same. We wanted what we did not have... What we felt... nay, KNEW, we should have had...!]
[Then came the final question, and the one which brought about our salvation... 'What shall you do to get it?'] The Princess paused for effect here. [No doubt that each of us had our own answers there too, but in the end, they were all just different versions of the same thing... The same sentiment that we all have even now...]
['Anything!']
Akuma grinned from her place within the stands, her coiled form tense with emotion as the others mirrored that same feeling around her. A cruiser hissed as the jaws upon its arm-weapon snapped readily, teeth clacking and chomping in reflection of its masters' own mentality.
[I remember it even now, the feeling of 'It' weighing my words, yet it did not judge me as a part of me feared. Yes, I did feel fear, I will not deny it,] the Princess said, to the younger Abyssals' confusion. [I did not know who or what it was that had asked me after all... I was a stranger in a strange place, being asked such by an unseen and unknown being... Yet my fear was proven to be needless.] Holding her hands in front of her, the white-dressed Princess looked as though she were praying. ['It' spoke to me one last time then, as I felt a power flowing through me, piecing me together from who I'd been, making me into what I am now! And as I stood here, within these same walls, upon these same sands... It gave me only one demand. One, and only one, command in return for this gift it had wrought upon me...]
['Use my power and TAKE IT!']
The crowd roared out its approval in thunderous waves of exhilaration, and even Akuma felt herself grinning as the feeling infected every single Abyssal present, filling the sea with the howls of monsters and the roars of demons. This went on for several minutes before Midway raised her hands for their attention, and eventually silence overtook them once again, all eyes locked upon her.
[Today, we once again stand here in the presence of our Brothers and Sisters to welcome another into our midst! One who has suffered like we have, and whose existence was brought to an unworthy end by the wretched humans above! One who longs for the touch of wind and sea, to feel the churning of the waves and the currents of the depths!]
The crowd was all on its feet now, as Midway turned to the chained beast in front of her. [When we first began to rise from the depths of our slumber, we made do with humble stock... Rotted wood and rusted iron... Broken bone and barnacle-encrusted steel... Yet since then, we have come a long way. Today, the Sister we welcome shall not be brought forth into a shell of broken memories as the first of us were, but instead in this magnificent creation that we have built for her! A shrine worthy of her tortured spirit, and a vessel capable of directing her wrath! Behold, my siblings! The form that shall grace our soon-to-be sister!]
As the others all cheered, Akuma ran a careful eye over the seemingly dead beast. The form was certainly more advanced than most that they'd produced prior, a testament to the continuing evolution of the Abyssal technology base, as each awakened spirit brought with it sparse memories of how their original selves had been made and how they functioned, along with parts of their old selves that could be studied and then improved upon. Even the wrecks brought low from the human fleets, their spirits enslaved to the land-walkers in ignorance of the fate that they would suffer from their masters, brought with them even greater knowledge once their remains were studied.
Midway faced the statue once again, kneeling before it like a supplicant. [Great Abyss, home of the Drowned and the Sunken, we call upon you now to bestow your gift upon another of your children, one who seeks to rise again from your cradle to haunt the surface once again! Hear us, oh Mighty Sea! And please, answer...]
The crowd all bowed their heads in a hush, Akuma doing the same as she grasped clawed hands in front of her in prayer, and within moments a feeling like static ran through the water as an eldritch glow, seeming to light up all within the pit yet drinking in the light of the luminescent algae, suffused the sea...
Y̜̗͍̺ͨͅo͔̞͇͕̞̞ͧu͍͍̟̻̦͈̯ͤͦ̑ͫ͆r̫̗̝͋͂ͭ͌̀ ͔ͧͅw̌ͬ҉̱̘ō̏̌̀ͫ͞r̖͚̰͈͛ͧ͒ͤ͞d͈̽̃̆͜s̸͆͌́̀̐ ̤̤͈̜̣h̼̜͇͕ͮ̑͞ą͔ͯ̅̅ͮͫ̑v̠̫̦̻̎ͭ̿ͅe̩̙̖̗̜͈̐̈́̊̏͒̈́ ͍̜̯̜̓ͅb̲̭̰̟̬̉ͯ̐ͮ̑ͣe͇̻̪̊͊ẹ̲̻̇̾̀͘ṋ ̸͓͉͉̱͖͊ͩ͂͐ͬ͌h͓̼̠̘̮̄͛̍ͅe̛̲̯̤̹ͮ̂̐a̩̯̼͕͚͂̈ͧͦ̂̍̅ṛ̱̖ͩͥ̌͞ḑ̮͚͎̳͋ͯ͌,̨͆ͫ̐ͩͮ ͈̯̾̂ͣ̓ͬd͍̤̾̄̈́̎͘a̻̤̥̒̌̉u̜͍̙͐̏̏̃ͬ͊g͎͇̻͞h̙̻͐̉̾̆̽ͅt̹ͫͪe̍ͥ̎̐ͣ̽̑͡r̨̾̓̈́.͚̣͓̦͘.̶͋.̻͖͇̱̗̱͚́ͣͤ̂͐ͨͫ
The static turned into a full electric thrill as the Voice echoed through them all, and against her own will, Akuma's head came up to stare at the dais.
T̔̈́ͩͫ̋h̛̻̬͙̪̭͖i҉̟̝̝ͅș̗͎̘͖͇͍́ ̽ͮ͒͏͖̞͔̯̘̣̪o͚ͣ̃̌ͤ̆n̙̩͚̖̩̬̄ͣḛ̤͚̫ͪ̅͌̏ͤ̆ ̦̱̮͍̎̎͗ͅh̠͖ͩ̽͐̀a̮s̝̰̪̩̳̙̄̈́̃̃͢ ̸̟̬̤̲̼̦̓̍̐̃ͬ̐́a͖͍ͣ́͂͌͂͋n̖̹̻̙͉͖̋̒̑ͯ̌ͦ̔s͌w̢e̿̿r̘̳̙̟̍͛͠e̹͚̕ḋ͖͈̰̭̣͖͙̒ͣ͂ ̌̐́thr͚̫͈͈̿̈ͥ̎͜iͤ̆ͪ͋̿̅̈́c̨̘̝̫ͤ̇ͫ̔̌͂̅e̊͂ͩ̾̇ͩ.̻͕͇ͅ.͙̬̤ͮ̍̂ͩ̚͜.͛͋͂͗ ͡A͈̳̪̹̳ͭ̆̒͒ͬn̹̲̲͈͙͋̊̏̅d̯͔̮̫͖ͯ͊͑̇̐̈́̚ ̀w̪̱͐̊̃̾i̢͙͙̣̬̘̭ͣt̠h̗̲̓ͫ̊ ̴̖̗̯͎͎̒̂͆̄̌̃͂a̶c̹͍͂͜c̑̓̉ͬ͐̐̔e̛͓̊̓̆͒͐̋p̯͙̫̩̺̝̐̍̌ͅt̺͇̻̻̲̝̩a̯̩̭̐ͣ͡ͅn̩̙̖̯͗͐̎͛̌͗̽ͅc͉e̤̙͌̇͘,͍̉ͥͩ̉ͫ̊͠ ̧̱̣͍̱̻͉̅̉s̛̘̗h͍̭̰̳͚eͥ̾̋҉̖̰͍ ̠̖̥̐̌̏̉ͭ̊͝w͈̦̠̻̹̒͂ͣ͢ǐ͙̣͒͒͂̾̔ͩ͘ĺ̪̖̖̍́l̪̠̫͔̐͂͛́ ͈̳̲̟̭̘r̪̯͂̈́̏ͯͤ̄i͖ͮ̎͒̈̊̎s͛̿͛ͤe͈̥̓̃ͦͅ!̴̝̫̩̜̭͉ͩ̿̊
The beast's form glowed with that same eldritch not-light, before it shuddered and shook. Small movements at first, but these quickly grew into full-blown thrashing as the beast's eyes lit from within, and a scream of pain and rage issued from its throat! As the energies coalesced and sank within the creature's body, a new soul taking ownership of its form, the flesh and steel began to contort and twist, caving in on itself as it seemed to shrink and morph... The chains that bound it were sturdy, but even so it only seemed to barely hold the monster as it shifted and spasmed, tentacle-limbs and fins twisting into arms and legs, and the shark-like body becoming thinner, more shapely with feminine curves...
Eventually the glow ended, leaving only the flickering emanations within the chained being upon the dais, which Midway approached without a single ounce of fear. Looking at the woman before her, the Princess set a hand beneath the fanged skull-like helm that protected the new Abyssal's head and raised her chin as the bonds that had held her fell away. Glowing blue eyes opened for the first time, and the woman looked up at the Princess bleerily before focusing on her.
[I... I...] the young one spoke as she tried to find her voice, until Midway smiled warmly at her.
[It's alright child... No need to rush. Why don't you introduce yourself to your brothers and sisters first, hmmm? You're amongst family now...]
[F...Fam..i..ly?]
[Yes child... We're all family here. Do you have a name?]
The young one blinked, seemingly digesting that fact before speaking with more surety. [Valley... My name was Valley Forge. But...]
[But what?] Midway asked.
[I don't want it. Not now. It doesn't suit me anymore...]
[No? Was there another then, that you would prefer?]
The woman looked up again, her eyes firming in determination as she nodded. From out of her hangar bay crawled a tiny creature, looking similar to a crow as it took a place on the Abyssal's shoulder, yet instead of wings it had folded-back blades of a helicopter. [Yes. I choose the name 'Mercury.' Toxótis-class carrier.]
The Princess smiled at that, and grasped the girl's hand in her own before pulling the carrier into a standing position. [Very well then Mercury, let me be the first to welcome you to your new home...]
Akuma joined the others in applause as the new Abyssal looked around her. Another Toxótis-class, or 'Wo' class as the humans referred to them, would be a valuable addition to them, given the advantage that mobile air-power gave. And while it wasn't a new thing for an Abyssal to take a different name from their old self, Akuma had to approve of the new girl's choice. She herself had only her chosen name, a legacy of her own origin before becoming an Imítheos.
Whether it was a quirk of the Abyss itself or merely a coincidence, each of the seven Imítheos-class ships, or 'Re-class' as their opponents called them, all shared a similar story in their origins that set them slightly apart from the others. While there was always conjecture amongst the more philosophically minded Abyssals, the general consensus was that the Imítheos-class was itself something of an experiment by the Deep God and the flesh-smiths that served it. Each spirit that was bound to the hybrid hulls found itself stronger than ever, and while each one had their own personality quirks, and came from different nations originally, they all had a shared reputation as the strongest non-Royalty Abyssals aside from the Titans, or 'Demons' as humans preferred. This made the seven Sisters a sort of sorority in and of itself, becoming rather sought-after combatants by any of the Abyssals' leaders, yet regrettably too few in number for common usage.
Of course, that wasn't to say that ALL Abyssals were summoned the way that Mercury had just been... Akuma herself knew of more than a handful of souls that had arisen on their own without the Pit or any flesh-sculpting. They were something of an odd assortment, each with their own bag of tricks that came in handy, and each one with a more... colorful personality. Unlike the 'Forged' as such spirits called them, those that spontaneously awoke on the side of the Abyss seemed to have a trend that the older they were, the more beastial or monstrous they appeared in their true form. Sure, each Abyssal could be called 'monstrous' in their own way but these 'Wraiths' were less of a cybernetic fusion and more out-and-out animalistic, able to shift between their humanoid form, their ship-state, and a third form that commonly resembled either a huge version of otherwise normal sea-life or something more akin to the beasts of old maritime legend! One of the ships that Akuma had sortied with numerous times was a troop transport that normally resembled an old wooden longship, but could shift into a twisting and vicious sea serpent that coiled about enemy ships to crush them! It always made her chuckle when humans, and even some Abyssals, underestimated what such souls could do!
Pulling herself out of reverie, Akuma swam away from where the others were crowding around the new girl, making for the dispensary to restock on ammunition and other supplies. As she did so, the serpentine ship-girl heard someone calling out to her...
[Akuma? Akuma, is that you?] a Lýkos-(Ta)class called out as they steamed up behind the Imítheos along with a pair of Helepolis-(Ru)class, and the white-haired and green-eyed battleship grinned as she waved towards her. [It is you! Wow, what happened to you? I didn't know that your class even GOT upgrades!]
Akuma grinned back. [Santou! Good to see you too! And thank you for noticing! I only just got out of the docks actually. Do you like it?] she said, pirouetting for the three onlookers.
[Heh, it definitely suits you!] Santou replied, before taking a closer look. [They lengthened your beam, but upped your armor as well, right? Any reductions in speed?]
The grin turned feral. [Not in the least! I can even squeeze out an extra half knot now with the extra horsepower!]
The Lýkos clapped her hands gleefully. [Very nice! Glad something good came out of that mess.]
A frowned covered Akuma's face at those words, her voice darkening in turn. [What do you mean? What mess?]
Santou's only response was to blink, her glowing green orbs widening. [You mean you didn't hear? I thought you were part of the Manila operation?]
[I was. I had to leave early though to secure a... prisoner,] she replied. [Why? What'd I miss?]
Santou and the two Ru-classes looked amongst each other, before lowering their voices, or at least the equivalent of it given its half-telepathic nature. [You didn't hear about the traitor?]
Akuma let out a sigh at that. It was an unfortunate fact that sometimes one of their own would think to go back to the humans, or at least go rogue from the others. As multi-faceted as the Abyss was, they DID have some ground rules for dealing with each other, and traitors were usually rooted out before they could get to the humans to give any kind of information... That, or laugh as humanity did the job for them by shooting the turncoats on sight. [So we had another deserter then... How does that turn an operation as big as that into a mess?]
The longer-haired of the raven-hued battleships shook her head. [The operation didn't just fail, the traitor murdered the Carrier Princess!]
THAT got the Re-class' attention. [What?! How did they manage that? The Royals are all powerful as hell, even we Imítheos would be hard pressed to fight one on par... What class was she? And how'd she pull it off?]
[We don't know,] the shorter haired Helepolis said. [We've never seen or heard of anything like her before... But she didn't just kill the Princess. The few who got away say that the traitor killed her with only three shots from her cannon! She even went so far as to rip Carrier's head off with her bare hands!]
[...Now I know you're exaggerating. It would take another Royal to do that, and a rogue Princess or Empress would have been reported LONG before now,] Akuma reasoned, only for Santou to shake her head.
[This one is completely new. Not only was she able to fight and kill a Royal, but the bitch then went and started shelling the invasion fleet! They didn't even get a third of the way through the city's streets before half the landing forces were slaughtered!]
Now Akuma's eyes widened. [Truly!? You're not just pulling my leg, are you Santou?]
[I swear by the barnacles on the Great One's flank!] she said, raising a hand palm forward. [According to all the survivors, this new Abyssal was able to fly over the city and rain down some kind of guided missile on them, like those Sleepers the humans built,] the Ta-class said, referring to the un-manifested hulls that modern human navies used.
[Flying? Are you sure they weren't simply confused? This is... I know that they were experimenting with guided missiles. Jaeger and Wreck were both participants in those, but for something like that... It begs disbelief...]
Santou shook her head. [When more than 50 different survivors all say the same thing, there's got to be a ring of truth to it...]
Akuma's frown became a full grimace. For the Depths to suffer such a loss was... It hadn't been done since the Alaskan and British campaigns! Admittedly, it wouldn't be long until their casualties came back. The longest an Abyssal remained sunk for was a month, before they were either summoned back or did so on their own, so it wasn't a question of lives lost that mattered, but it DID mean that any future assaults would have to be put off until they returned. And at the hands of a traitor... [Did they at least get the bitch?]
The short-haired Helepolis shook her head again. [From all reports, she's still amongst the surfacers... And working with the human-lovers...]
The serpent-like ship-girl clenched her hands into fists. THAT was a problem! [So... they finally got one of us...]
[Hopefully it won't help them though,] Long-hair said. [If she's that new that noone's heard of her, I'll bet she doesn't yet know much about how we run things anyways, so there's not much that they'll get out of her.]
That... That was a good point. [So even if she's a turncoat, the humans won't know what our plans are... But does she know where we're based? If we have to move our operations again...] It had happened before. Even though they were all fairly certain that the humans didn't have the means to find the various bases and non-mobile installations that the Abyssals used, the various leaders had from time to time demanded that the main summoning and arming operations be moved to different locations. Usually this was in preparation for a mass assault, like what they had just tried on Manila, but on rarer cases it was a 'just in case' sort of thing. By constantly moving their operations, the humans would have less chance of pinning them down in the unlikely even that they DID manage to find one or two of their hidden ports...
[I don't know... but for now, we're likely going to be doing so within a month anyways after the assault failed,] Santou said. A moment of silence passed as they all took the consequences of that into account, but eventually the white-haired Lýkos shook her head and smiled. [Enough doom and gloom though... You just got out of the docks, and here we are making you miserable! What's say we liven things up, hmmm? Me and my two girls here were thinking of raiding that convoy on its way back from Japan that had shown up while the attack was going on. I'll bet you're dying to test out your new abilities in a live-fire setting, hmm?]
Akuma let a smile cross her seemingly angelic face. [Now THAT I can get behind! I still have to stock up on munitions and fuel first, but after that... Then I think we can get acquainted further! What do you say?] she said, looking at the two Ru-class girls.
Both of them grinned back and nodded. [I'm Zaula, and this is Jericho. Nice to meet you as well!] the shorter-haired battleship replied.
[I, Akuma, am glad to make your aquaintance then, Zaula-san, Jericho-san. Together, I believe we'll have a LOT of fun!] the Aviation-battleship said, as all four of them descended into dark chuckles.
A few hours later, the four capital ships were sailing just below the surface of the sea, an escort of Chéli-(I)class destroyers and a trio of cruisers around them as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Now that they were on the sea proper, Akuma felt her blood pumping faster, continuing on for several knots before rising up to pierce the surface, the waves parting for her as though she were a particularly murderous mermaid. As she looked up at the moon above, the Re-class let out a dark chuckle once more, before looking westward towards the horizon where the islands of Japan were. [Soon... Soon I will be a Yamato again... And you will reap the harvest of Death that you have sown!]