Chapter 17: plans begin
Time skip 10 minutes, non specific location
Now across the world, news of the nuclear missile launches was spreading like wildfire. The missiles had already been taken down, and the areas saved were major cities in the Dragon Union, Guam, and heading towards the Sakura Empire. But the ones who shot them down were mainly Southern Yamato, but also a few others in the Abyss Empire.
But… now across the entire Pacific Ocean, radio channels, even supposedly secure ones were flooded with an ominous chanting of Abyssals.
The chanting went as so "Sinking down to the bottom, burning down in the depths. Sinking in a blink of light, under the freezing water surface. Sinking down to the bottom, burning down in the depths. Sinking in a blink of light, under the freezing water surface. Sinking down to the bottom, burning down in the depths. Sinking in a blink of light, under the freezing water surface.
Sink to the depths, deeply in the dark. Collapse, break away, sink completely. To the bottom of the darkness, together with your friends. Sink! Sink! Sink! Completely!" After the final words there would be a pause before the chanting started again. It seemed to be mainly Abyssals doing the chanting, and they sounded like they were very, VERY angry.
But this didn't seem to be planned by anyone, it had seemingly come from nowhere. But for anyone hearing it, mainly ship girls, it was terrifying to listen to.
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Time skip 8 minutes, Location San Diego naval base
Now Admiral Falcon and Enterprise could be seen together in Admiral Falcon's office. They were at a very fast emergency meeting, between only them, Raffel, Admiral Nakamura, and Yang Li.
"What do you mean the Southern Trench is merging with the Abyss Empire?!" Yang Li suddenly yelled seemingly no longer having his normal calmness.
Raffel didn't seem to react too much to Yang Li yelling. She sighed and said "I mentioned this before, there was a possible larger amount of Abyssals on Southern Yamato's side than we thought. Almost half of my own staff were on Southern's side. Eima Maya was hiding the ones figured out, and Ramka's thought that Southern was in the Indian Ocean was a wild goose chase. But after you launched all those missiles, everyone here is outraged. What made it worse for you is, that it was Southern who shot them down"
"We did not fire those missiles!" Yang Li yelled "our systems were hacked! There were no orders from our Leader to fire them!"
"Crazy isn't it then? I guess you can understand what Southern feels like. But now I believe her, especially with everything she's done. Not so much with you, and the Dragon Empery. She was at war with the Southern Trench and the Sakura Empire, and yet!" Raffel suddenly yelled "she saved both of them from these nuclear missiles! It'd have been strategically better if she let those bombs hit!" Now there was a pause as she sighed "I don't know what the Sakura Empire thinks, I can imagine that they're angry at what happened. Don't know if it's far enough for them to join the Solidarity League. Eh? Nakamura?"
Nakamura seemed to hesitate "I can't speak for the government. It has barely been an hour since the missiles went down. But I can say the ship girls here, they're getting second thoughts about Southern Yamato. They served alongside her for years. But I'll have to wait for what to government says before there can be any definitive answer to what the Empire will do now"
Now Yang Li let out a very frustrated sigh and said "what about you, Americans?" He had a frown on his face.
Admiral Falcon sighed "I've talked with the navy secretary recently… we can send ship girls, but… they may not be able to help. Southern Yamato, Eima Maya, and Eiki Chokai are all Hadals, and Enterprise wouldn't have a chance against the three of them. And Yamato knows this" now he paused "I'll have to talk specifics later as…" now even over the computer call he seemed to motion to Raffel.
Raffel clicked her tongue before saying "one more thing before I go, as I don't really think it's a secret. I suggest preparing for another blockade" now she laughed "it was only a year you had free access to the oceans" now she frowned "a little advice, try to negotiate peace while Southern's still in a good mood. Might mean the Dragon Empery no longer exists, but it's better than your nations being conquered and their governments replaced" now before anyone could respond to her, she left the video call.
Admiral Falcon sighed as he rubbed his eyes for a moment "Well… I didn't want to mention it as Raffel was a possible enemy, and I'm sure some rumors have spread. But we were able to unlock auras for standard ship girls, though this only increases their power to that of Plains Abyssals. And we made something similar to the Fairies that the Sakura Empire has made. Uh… how do I say it? They're cat officers, meowfficers. I know their name may sound stupid, but they basically give buffs to a ship girl fleet"
Yang Li sighed before I asking "when will you be sending reinforcements?"
"I'll have to organize a fleet first, but probably today"
Yang Li sighed "Admiral Nakamura. You already know we've sent something out of the Sakura Empire, so it doesn't fall into the Solidarity League's hands. If you get a chance, don't hesitate to use it against her"
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Time skip 40 minutes, location Pearl Harbor naval base
Missouri growled as she was suddenly pushed backwards. She was in the base, and seemed to be fighting against an Ei-class. But it wasn't a sparring match, the entire base seemed embroiled in battle, between the Eagle Union ships and the about dozen Trench Abyssals there.
Missouri fired the few guns she had on her staff at the Ei-class, but the Ei-class seemed unaffected. Then Missouri was punched hard in the gut by the Ei-class and was thrown backwards. She rolled across the water before coming to a halt. Missouri groaned in pain as she stumbled to her feet.
But now she saw the Ei-class seemingly hesitant to fire her guns. Missouri looked behind herself and saw the massive form of Sunken Shinano's ship. While the rest of the harbor seemed to be in chaos and some places were burning, Shinano's ship was completely untouched. Yet it loomed ominously over the entire harbor, as something not to be attacked by either side.
Missouri looked back now at the Ei-class. Before she could react or even see, she felt the Ei-class grabbing her head and slammed her against Shinano's hull. Missouri groaned as she tried grabbing the Ei-class's arm, but then she was thrown away from Shinano's ship. Again she was on the water's surface, but unlike before the Ei-class fired at her.
Missouri screamed in pain as several shells hit her directly. But now she stumbled to her feet, and was able to fire her guns from her staff, before having to dodge another attack from the Ei-class. Her shells landed just shy of hitting Shinano's hull. Missouri growled since she couldn't fire her main guns, since moving her ship was much harder than for a normal ship girl.
Now the Ei-class seemed to look upwards at something. Missouri looked up as well and saw the sky was filled with Banshees. But now the Ei-class looked at Missouri and smirked.
"It's already over" the Ei-class said "it's better to surrender now" Missouri growled as her red aura appeared around her. It started healing her, but very slowly.
The Ei-class was about to attack when an insanely loud foghorn went off. Even with riggings summoned, everyone had to cover their ears. The battle seemed to momentarily pause and everyone looked to where it came from. The sound came from Shinano's ship, and creaking could be heard from the ship.
Missouri looked concerned as she worried that something happened to anger Shinano. But now she saw Shinano on the flight deck in front of the superstructure. Missouri could see someone else and tried focusing on who it was. But then she realized who it was. It looked to be Byrne, she couldn't see him too well, but he looked injured. He seemed to be unconscious on Shinano's lap.
Missouri gulped nervously as she knew Shinano was the one who could tip the scale so far for either side.
But Shinano didn't seem to act, as she seemed to pat Byrne's head. Her eyes were closed, and she sighed. She then opened her eyes and they were filled with fury.
She then spoke in a terrifying manner "Leave this Harbor now…" she paused. Her aura suddenly flared around her ship, and her deck was instantly filled with aircraft ready to take off "Abyss Empire"
The Ei-class seemed to have wide eyes as she stared up at Shinano. But she didn't hesitate to say "everyone retreat now!" She turned to glance at Missouri before trying to sail away quickly. The other Trench Abyssals could be seen sailing away as well. But some ship girls tried attacking the Trench Abyssals, though they seemed to ignore the attacks as they feared what Shinano could do.
It was only a few minutes until the Trench Abyssals disappeared out of the harbor. The battle seemed over now, the base was slightly destroyed, but not beyond operating level. Now Missouri turned to look at Shinano, and was terrified as Shinano was staring at her.
"Tell your superiors" Shinano said "for the safety of my family, I shall fight"
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Time skip 1 hour, Location Hong Kong
Southern Yamato could be seen aboard her ship. It seemed to be sailing slowly southwards out to sea. Following her ship was a line of ships, but it was her own ability. Five Yamato class followed behind her in a battleline, several monster Abyssals surrounded the battle line and provided escort.
Southern Yamato was at the top of her ship near the main range finder. She sat on a bench and on her lap was Yahagi, who seemed pleased to be on her lap.
Though now Southern Yamato let out a frustrated sigh and said "ugh… the Southern Trench has joined the Abyss Empire, But at the cost of my own sister fighting against me now. Have we really won anything?"
Yahagi stayed silent for a moment before saying "two steps forward, one step back I suppose. But we shouldn't remain idle. Even if we've captured or sunk many of the ship girls that were stopping the frontlines, the armies are still several days from conquering the entirety of the Dragon Empery. And they are starting to stall them" now she paused as she leaned back against Southern Yamato. "But I think we should start showing the Azur Lane our true power. This war won't end if we endlessly give mercy, and hold back"
"Hmm, I have thought of that… Ugh, I am getting tired of this war. But, those ship girls… from the Sakura Empire and others, I know. They're friends"
"But do you want this war to never end? Do you wish to always fight your friends?" Southern Yamato sighed. But now Yahagi chuckled "one of the things I tried before was to help you not be so rough with people. But I guess after I disappeared, you went to the opposite extreme. But right now you're being TOO nice"
"Then…" Southern Yamato now seemed to grimace as she remembered how she had previously acted "what should we do?"
"Well…" Yahagi said as she looked out at the fleet they already had "we already have a fleet. Let's finish this war shall we?"
"Hmm… first…" now she glanced to her right, at Kau Yi Chau Island "let's see a few old friends"
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Time skip 20 minutes, Location Kau Yi chau
Now the Island of Kau Yi chau could be seen in between Lantau Island and Hong Kong Island. It was separated by several kilometers of water from any other piece of land. It seemed that part of it was converted into a prison camp, with a portion deforested and flattened. Several buildings were surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire at the top, and then a fence of barbed wire a few meters beyond that. After that there were several meters of clearing before there was the tree line. Several watchtowers were set up on the hills nearby, as well as very close to the camp.
But why put a prison camp on an island? Because they were holding ship girls. Akagi's fleet could be seen there, but it wasn't just them, several other ship girls could be seen in the camp. All of them now were dressed in bright orange jumpsuits that were also shiny looking. But there seemed to be several things stitched into jumpsuits, they were disruptors, that didn't allow the ship girls even a little of their super strength.
Currently the ship girls seem allowed to roam around. Though they seemed to avoid going near the chain link fence. Instead they seemed to stay near the buildings they slept in together.
Akagi could be seen sat on the ground, leaning against one of the buildings. She was looking at the chain link fence, and watched as armed guards were on patrol. She sighed as she was as weak as a normal human. She'd have absolutely no chance at getting to freedom in her current state. But there wasn't much to do.
Akagi sat alone as the others seemed to be in the center of the camp, hanging out together. All they could do was talk, but Akagi wasn't too interested in that right now. She just wondered if she'd get to see Akihito or Ken again. Maybe she'd be turned into a Trench Abyssal, or maybe she'd just be kept there as a prisoner for good. The others seemed to have high hopes that they could break out, but she was less enthusiastic in that regard. So… she just sat there thinking.
But then she heard someone sitting down next to her, and the unmistakable voice spoke to her "how's your kid?"
Akagi glanced now and saw Southern Yamato sitting next to her. She stared daggers at Southern Yamato, but she didn't seem to look at Akagi. Instead she just stared straight ahead. But Akagi didn't answer her.
"What was his name again?... Wasn't it, Ken?" Now Southern Yamato chuckled "I wonder what Amagi will think when she comes back to find she has a nephew"
Now Akagi looked away from Southern Yamato "What is your game? Why are you here?"
Southern Yamato seemed to hesitate. "I thought we'd visit old friends… May I ask something? Why do you fight? For the protection of your family? Of your country? Or do you just blindly follow orders?"
"Why do you ask?" Akagi's tone had venom to it, like she heavily disliked talking to Southern Yamato.
"I had an old friend. Before Kaga. Her name is Yahagi" now Southern Yamato sighed "the government you were fighting to protect, is the very same government that let her be enslaved for FOUR YEARS. What would you think if that same government was letting that happen with Amagi, or Kaga?"
"So you kill millions?"
Southern Yamato seemed to pause "let's say I did attack those cities. Why would I do that? And… Why do I seem so hesitant now to kill even my enemies now? I could destroy the Sakura Empire in a day. Level it to the ground. Answer that, Akagi. Until then…" Now she glanced down at her "I won't let you see your family again" Now she stood up and Akagi finally saw that Yahagi seemed to be on the other side of Southern Yamato, but had been hidden. But Southern Yamato now let out a heavy sigh "I'm running out of mercy to give to people. Ah, I fear I might revel in the torment of others if it continues this way"
Akagi now looked concerned at Southern Yamato from what she said. But she looked at Yahagi now first with pity, after hearing what had happened to her. But… Akagi thought she saw a devious smile on Yahagi's face, but after a moment she seemed to be slightly frightened and hid behind Southern Yamato. Akagi was confused as she thought her mind was just playing tricks on her.
"I need to go" Southern Yamato said as she turned to walk away, with Yahagi clinging to her side. But then before she walked too far away she said "playtime is over. The Dragon Empery will be the first to feel what it is like when my mercy runs dry" Now before Akagi could say anything, Southern Yamato and Yahagi walked away. But… before they disappeared around a corner, Akagi could see Yahagi smirking at her.
A chill ran down Akagi's spine as she got a bad feeling about Yahagi. But she also was worried about what Southern Yamato was going to do. 'How is she going to end this war?' She thought to herself. 'Maybe by killing the Dragon Empery's leaders?"
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Time skip 30 minutes, Location San Diego Naval base
Now Admiral Falcon, and Enterprise could be seen in an office. Across from them was New Jersey and Iowa. "The fleets are all prepared" Admiral Falcon said "you two, alongside Enterprise will be Fleet flagships. Because of the size of the fleets, you'll be given rosters of who's in your fleet. But one thing different from normal, is that your fleets will be equipped with Meowfficers. You've already been explained their effects, so I don't need to repeat it. But even with them, expect hard battles"
Now Enterprise spoke "We'll be going to Japan first, and form up with anoth-"
Now yelling could be heard outside, like there was a commotion, but they couldn't tell what the people outside were saying.
"What is that?" New Jersey asked with curiously. Now Enterprise looked to Falcon with a concerned look on her face.
Before they could react, the door was suddenly flung open. It flew so fast and hard that it crashed against the wall, making a large hole in it. But then everyone in the office could see Sunshine, seemingly being restrained by the male Cleveland, Helena, and Baltimore. Yet Sunshine had her aura and seemed to be dragging them, though she still had difficulty in doing so.
"Why is she so strong?!" Baltimore exclaimed.
"Sunshine" Enterprise said in a serious tone "why are you here?"
"Ugh, let go of me!" Sunshine yelled, at the three cruisers trying to stop her from entering the office. But now she looked at Enterprise and yelled "I can help! I know how we can beat my mother!"
"Cleveland, Helena, Baltimore, let her go" Admiral Falcon said.
"But, Sir!" Baltimore exclaimed.
"Let her go" Falcon said again. Now after a moment Sunshine stumbled forward as the three let her go. Falcon sighed as he leaned back in his chair "You said you know a way to beat Southern. What is it?"
Now Sunshine walked a bit closer and now said "y-yes…" now she paused and everyone there could see that she clenched her hands into fists "I can get mother in a state where she can be vulnerable"
"How? You aren't even a Trench Abyssal" Enterprise said "you'd be dead the first instant Southern chose to"
"No one else can get close enough to her with disruptors. And anyone else would be teleported away before they could get too close. But, I think I can get close enough to her without that threat. And…" now she seemed to hesitate as part of her hated what she was about to say "once she's gone, her fleet will stand no chance. Even with everyone else"
"Are you sure you can get close enough to her without provoking her? Besides, her fleet may be suspicious of you"
Now Sunshine seemed to look down sadly "I know many want to hurt me, because of what Mother did, but… if we use that we may be able to trick them"
"Make it seem that we're now hostile to you? So you can get close enough to Southern, without dying?" Iowa now said.
"Yes" Sunshine said as she nodded her head. "It's risky, but this way we can defeat Mother. And once she's down, then Enterprise and the others will be able to clean up the others with ease"
"Hmm, does the Red Merchant Fleet know of this?" Falcon asked "it's known that you joined them"
Sunshine seemed to hesitate now "I… left them" she sighed now "they didn't agree with me, and even… sided with the Abyss Empire"
"Are you sure you're up for this?" Enterprise asked "you're the daughter of Southern. So I know you were incredibly close to her. Are you sure you can carry through on something that would mean you'd kill your own mother?"
Now Sunshine lowered her head sadly, she paused for a long moment "a lot of people have been hurt because of mother for no reason. I want to stop her, so people who've done nothing don't get hurt" Sunshine raised her head as she said this.
"Hmm, then is there anything else we need?" Admiral Falcon asked.
"A civilian looking ship and… some modern ships"
Admiral Falcon chuckled and muttered quietly "to bad CVN-65 sunk in 2016"
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Time skip 2 hours, location somewhere near Hong Kong
Now Thunderer and Samoa could be seen in what looked like a laboratory. In the laboratory was a machine used to summon ship girls, but instead of a normal wisdom cube inside of it, there was a green wisdom cube. Several materials and even a blue print was inserted into a compartment in the machine. There was also a teleportor device to see if the ship girl could use portals like Hadals do.
"Will this work?" Thunderer asked as she closed the glass compartment door where the materials and the blue print was.
"This is the first test, so I expect failure. But if it's successful… then the world fully enters a new era. Though despite this being the first test, this cube has been made to hold extreme energy. Even a mere frigate could be terrifying if she trains, a carrier would be even more terrifying and might reach the capabilities of a powerful Abyssal to weak Trench Abyssal" Samoa responded as she was at what looked to be a control panel, on the opposite side of where Thunderer was.
But now Thunderer looked into the compartment and at the blue prints. At the blue print of what looked like a terrifying super carrier in theory. Her eyes darted to the top of the paper that had the name of this beast 'Type-S61'
"Everything is ready" Samoa said "put on your protective eyewear" as she said this she seemed to turn on a recorder next to her.
Thunderer just nodded as she went over to a table and now put on goggles that seemed to have a very heavy tint. She then turned to Samoa and gave a thumbs up.
Now Samoa put on her own eyewear like Thunderer's and grabbed a large lever. "This is the summoning of modern ships, test one. Target, Type-S61… begin"
Now she pulled the lever down and instantly the room was filled with blinding white light. A loud sound of what sounded like electricity sparking, could be heard. After a few moments the room was filled with sparse smoke, except for the wisdom cube, where there was so much smoke, that you couldn't see if anyone was there.
But now Thunderer looked into the compartment and she seemed sad, and now said "the materials are mostly still here. Some got consumed, but not all of them"
Samoa sighed "fine" she said as she now flipped a switch and turned a fan on that started to clear the smoke out of the room "Test one, target ship- agh!" Samoa screamed as someone suddenly grabbed her neck.
"Samoa!" Thunderer yelled. She moved towards where Samoa was, but then suddenly stopped in terror. She gulped in fear as she saw just two glowing purple eyes through the smoke.