Admiral Yin smiled to himself as he watched all of his ship girls training just off the docks of the naval base. In the three days since Wo got mentally healthier, ( in part to Yuudachi's efforts the night before) all of the ship girls had been practicing like people possessed, leaving nothing to chance and figuring out what strategies and combat formations suited them the best. The sight of all of the girls trying their hardest to work together made Yin feel good, even better that over the last three days Shimakaze seemed to open up a bit to Yuudachi as well.
In the back of Yin's mind though, his thoughts were elsewhere, focusing on both their slowly dwindling resources, and all of their levels, and another thing as well. As all of the ship girls came up to the docks to finish up Yin stepped to and sat at its edge with a smile on his face. "I know it's nearing lunch, but we are getting low on resources, so could you all go on an expedition to find some resources. I'll have a good dinner made when you return."
"Oh! That sounds good!" Yuudachi said as she and Wo began imagining the food together.
Musashi smiled. "Then we shall return tonight. With enough resources to make your jaw drop in surprise, Admiral!"
Yin nodded and watched the ship girls leave. As their silhouettes disappeared across the horizon he got up from the edge of the dock and walked through the base and toward the firing range, using the bases tablet to call a maintenance fairy.
"Yes, you called, Admiral?" a little fairy said as it flew out of the nearest building and landed on Yin's shoulder.
Yin nodded as he walked into the firing range and up to the pools edge. "Yes. I know it isn't in your job description, but I need you to gather some experiment details for me."
"I can do that, but what experiment, the ship girls all left on an expedition, didn't they?"
Yin nodded as he slipped his shoes off and then did the same with his socks before putting the bases tablet on the ground beside him. "Tell me. Ship girls can walk on water because they are ships, but has it been recorded to have happened any other time?"
"What, like a human doing it? No it hasn't. Why?"
Yin smiled and instead of answering, took a step forward, his foot going over the water of the pool. Hitting the water his foot did not go into it, and instead held firm on its surface. When he was sure his foot would not slip he moved his other leg forward and did the same. A second later he was standing on top of the pools water, his bare feet gripping it like it was dirt.
The fairy looked at Yin for a moment before flying over to the bases tablet. "I'm assuming this is to be kept secret then?"
"Yes, please. I want to know why I can do this before I tell anyone about it." Yin explained.
The fairy nodded. "What kind of readings do you want me to gather, Admiral?"
"All of them," Yin replied. "I'll try many things, so I want all possible readings. I need to find out why I can do this."
"That's fine. Begin when ready."
Yin nodded and tensed his legs before running across the water's surface, " Let's do this!"
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200 leagues away. Oceanic sector 12, zone 7-3
Battleship Kongou let out a heavy breath of frustration as she let loose a powerful barrage of fire toward her target, the same target that was now responsible for battering and devastating her entire fleet. Two heavy cruisers, a submarine, and three battleships, and she was the only one who wasn't heavily damaged, or unconscious on the water's surface.
As her second barrage rattled her ears she could see her sister, Kirishima, crawling across the water's surface toward her, her body battered and her clotting torn. "D-don't,.. just run, Kongou! You can't beat it!"
"But we can't retreat unless I damage it! It'll catch up to us!" Kongou argued with her sister as she let out a third volley of fire towards her opponent. "That should do it!" Kongou asserted as she ran over and helped her sister to her feet.
" Kongou, we –," Kirishima began, her voice ragged and strained.
"Don't talk, just walk." Kongou said as she looked to see their fellow battleship, Nagato carrying both of their cruisers, Atago and Kiso, on her shoulders as their submarine, I-19 swam just beside them. "We're all getting out of here, we need to-!"
"We need to alert the Admiral. This new abyssal, it's- it's not right somehow!" Kirishima stated with ragged breath.
Kongou nodded and looked toward the mass of slowly dissipating smoke behind them. Through it she could clearly make out the silhouette of the new abyssal ship they had encountered, standing exactly as it had been when she fired upon it.
The ship in question looked nothing like they had seen before. It wore clothing that was strange, a black skirt with a jacket that looked like it had been stolen from a Ru-class battleship, and the Facemask of a Chi-class Cruiser. Even less like an abyssal were its weapons, instead of torpedoes it had bands on its thighs just below its skirt that held dozens of Depth charges, and in its hands instead guns or cannons, were two large and black Katana's that ended in vicious serrated hooks, their entire length covered in a pattern that seemed to mimic spattered blood.
Kongou swallowed hard as more smoke cleared revealing that the abyssal ship seemed to be completely unfazed and undamaged. It merely stood there with both of its blades in hand, unflinching and unmoving. "You're right, we can't beat that thing. Maybe it's some kind of new Hime?"
Kirishima coughed slightly. 'Perhaps but it seems to be leaving us be, so let's just report back, on our failure. The Admiralty needs to know about this one."
Kongou nodded as she, her sister and the rest of their fleet retreated away from the unknown Abyssal, not realizing that as they retreated, the abyssal muttered to itself.
"Find them. Free them. Find them. Free them. Find them, sink them, embrace them! . . . . . . Help me!"
Authors note: and we have another one up. And to answer a question I had, no I unfortunately have not had a chance to see the anime's first ep yet. My internet is no good for streaming and I haven't found a good HD download yet. And work, work is at fault too. When I do see the anime It will likely not chance how I write this story, or future ones, though it may make me add a 'written before anime' addition onto the summaries of my fics.
Either way I hope you all like the chapter and how things are unfolding. Until the next one.