Kijin Sentai

奇人戦隊

Chapter 02

Authors' Note:

Hi there, reader! Thanks for following us up to this point. We hope you like the action we've provided in this chapter; one of our writers really enjoys writing combat scenes, and he honestly couldn't wait to put this one in. It's right towards the end. Please tell us what you think of our work thus far!

Also, special shoutout to Jedii, who kindly left us a review: We have every intention of seeing this through! We think there's potential for our idea, and we're huge fans that spazz over feels (plus the chief writer is a huge history buff). In terms of planning, we've already got content lined up for another 4 or 5 chapters, at this point. Thank you so much for your support. You keep reading, and we'll keep writing!

/2100 hours, Sora's quarters/

The door creaked open, and Sora declared, "I'm back!"

"Teitoku! Welcome back, poi!" Hurried footsteps and a warm hug from Yuudachi greeted Sora before he could even take off his peaked cap. He ruffled her hair as he returned the hug.

"It's good to be back," he replied with a gentle smile. Yuudachi helped Sora take off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack by the door. In the meantime, he took a seat, and she poured him a cup of tea when she joined him at the table.

"How was your day, Teitoku?" she asked, eager to hear about the aspects of his life she did not witness personally.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me 'Teitoku' at home? Don't be so formal. You're the only girl I allow to stay in my quarters."

"That won't do, poi~!" replied Yuudachi insistently, shaking her head left and right with her eyes shut tightly. "I still have to respect you as my fleet commander, poi~!"

Sora smirked in defeat. She knew just the right things to say to convince him of anything. "Alright, alright… I give."

"Heehee. So... How was the debriefing with Akiyama Teitoku?" she asked, sipping from the cup of milk she had been helping herself to.

Sora sank into his seat and sighed deeply. "The usual, I guess. Just like any other meeting with any other officer, really. Saito is annoying, just as I expected. He was constantly nagging about things I already knew... It's not like I don't know the things he's trying to teach us. I'm just too lazy to go and do it all over again with one hundred percent accuracy. I've done it like a million times in my cadet training days already, so there's no point in doing this again.

"Hahaha, well... I'm sort of with Captain Akiyama on this one poi~, what if you don't keep practicing now, and when the real deal happens, you mess up, poi? I'll be really worried!" she pouted in his general direction. Her concern for her admiral was… admirable.

Sora puts his teacup on the table and plopped down face-up on his bed, openly sulking. "Ehhh... You're on his side? Fine..." He covered his eyes with his arm, exaggerating his exhaustion.

Sora felt his bed wobble, and he moved his arm to see Yuudachi had taken a seat next to his head. As soon as they made eye contact, he hid his eyes behind his arm again. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you if you accidentally messes up during real combat just because you didn't practice, poi..."

Yuudachi sounded like she was about to cry. Pangs of guilt filling his heart, he pulled his arm away and looked up at her. "Y-Yeah... I guess you're right, I'm sorry... I'll take training more seriously, okay?"

"That's good." She cheered up, and flashed that innocent and brilliant smile of hers. She patted her commander on the head. "I don't really know what kind of man he is, but he seems kind poi~ Just listen to him, and I'm sure we'll be fine!"

/2100 hours, Kuro's quarters/

Kuro returned to her quarters, and the one ship to enthusiastically greet her as she entered was none other than Shigure, her secretary ship for the day.

"Welcome back, Commander. Good work out there!" she beamed, a smile radiant enough to relief Kuro from the day's exhaustion.

Patting her head, Kuro replied with a small and sincere smile of her own. "Thanks. You did well today, too." In a swift sweep of her arm, she had unbuttoned her uniform and allowed it to hang loosely on her shoulders as she slumped on her sofa, letting out a soft groan of tiredness. Shigure followed suit, sitting herself beside her commanding officer with knees together in an orderly manner.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" she asked. The girls locked eyes in gentle silence before Kuro kindly rejected the offer, instead, casually switching the topic to one of interest regarding the man who arrived that afternoon.

"I'm fine without. Thanks. Actually, Shigure, what do you think of that new officer? Him, his girls… oh, and did our girls say anything about them?" It was a casual talk, just like any other day. Kuro never failed to make time for her girls no matter how busy her day had been. Sparing time listening to them was as important to her as any kind of training. It would serve to forge closer relationships with her ships, and that was evidently why her fleet was still the best-performing in Hatsushima.

Shigure thought about it for a few moments. "Let's see… Captain Akiyama looks reliable…? He sounds kind in his own way. It's a strange feeling, but my intuition tells me that he is someone trustworthy. He can be harsh, but he isn't mean or anything like the Chief Petty Officer. And he's got a bit of rugged… charm? His beard and ponytail style is kind of cool. As for the others… Zuikaku seemed rather moody during the day practice. She didn't say a word and went into the bath. Perhaps it's due to the training accident earlier? And maybe the arrival of the First Carrier Division seniors? She doesn't seem as cheery as usual... Hm… I haven't heard much from Akebono. And wasn't there a Fuso within his ranks—ah." Communicating at the same wavelength, both Kuro and Shigure realised their negligence.

"W-Where's Yamashiro?" The first to shoot up was Kuro, in a controlled state of panic.

Shigure followed soon after, rising from the sofa. "Last I recalled, she entered the docks…!"

Kuro and Shigure bolted from the room, running through the corridors, headed for the docks. Upon arrival, Kuro slid the dock's bath door open and asked loudly, "Yamashiro—!?"

But Yamashiro was nowhere to be found. The only response was an "Eek!" from a Katsuragi who was taking her bath. Kuro quickly turned heels and headed for the next location, which was the ship girl's dorms, leaving Shigure to make quick apologies to the startled carrier.

Where could you be, Yamashiro? That thought was all that occupied Kuro's mind. Dashing down streets and through corridors alongside her commander, Shigure was starting to show signs or exhaustion, lagging behind Kuro despite being a shipgirl with better stamina and strength than normal humans. Her commander was really something.

Kuro looked back and saw Shigure struggling to keep pace. "Shigure, return to my quarters. I'll be fine on my own." Kuro coaxed as she stopped for both of them to catch their breath. Shigure reluctantly nodded and headed back to the officers' barracks. Relieved that Shigure was on her way back to get some rest, Kuro carried on where she had left off. The girl's dormitory was a block away.

Kuro slid the door open and was greeted by the receptionist fairy. "How may I help you?" came the sweet sounding voice, perfectly suited for one of her small figure.

"Is…*huff*… are Fuso and Yamashiro in?"Kuro asked, hands pressed on her knees as she hunched over from exhaustion. The fairy flipped through a book, which Kuro assumed to be the entry/exit logs the girls signed as they passed through this door.

Shaking her head, the fairy replied, "No. Dreadnought Battleship Fuso and her sister Yamashiro have yet to return."

Drat. Kuro stood up and swept her long hair back over her shoulders to allow heat to dissipate from her neck. She leaned her back against the wall, taking a quick breather. Where…? Just where… not in the docks, nor in the dorms… Fuso… Akiyama… His room? Kuro kicked herself off the wall and broke into a run, heading straight for the officers' quarters.

In the officers' quarters, Yamashiro finally tackled tripped and fell on her sister, Fuso, in an attempt to catch up with her. They were at the staircase landing near Saito's room. "Onee-sama? What has happened, onee-sama?! Please talk to Yamashiro! Tell me, who made you cry…!"

Yamashiro cradled her sibling in a protective hug, desperately pleading for an answer, but Fuso remained silent as to what had left her sobbing. As desperate as she was, Yamashiro knew all too well that pushing Fuso for an answer right now wouldn't work. All she could do was bet on her sister's silence; that she would speak up after her waves of tears as she always did. The two sat there in their night wear, which was a simple light maroon one-piece for Yamashiro and a zip-up exercise jacket for Fuso.

Hurried footsteps were heard coming from below them. She knew who they belonged to. The distinctive sound of a ringing keychain could not be mistaken for anyone else's. Yamashiro faced the source of the noise and met eyes with her commander, Kuro.

"Yamash—! Ah…" It did not take Kuro long to identify the weeping figure by the iconic pagoda mast that adorned her head. Kuro climbed the last few steps and squatted, quickly taking in the situation. Yamashiro looked frustrated. She clearly wanted to help alleviate her sister's sadness, but she seemed unable to do so. Saito's quarters were on this level, and with Fuso crying… she looked like she had just been kicked out of her commander's quarters. That must have been it, or so she thought.

Hm… returning them to the dorms in this state wouldn't help anything. In fact, it may instead cause trouble for the other girls who are already resting… "Hey, Fuso. This may sound weird coming from me… but do you want to spend the night in my quarters, with Yamashiro?" Kuro suggested.

/2230 hours, Kuro's quarters/

Akebono and Shigure were sound asleep on Kuro's bed, rolled up tight and lightly snoring. It had been a long day, and they deserved the rest.

It was a surprisingly huge bed; it was a king-sized mattress which had been thrown out but retrieved by its current owner for a new lease of life. Zuikaku was still awake. She had clearly been waiting for Kuro so that she could lament the events of today. Upon seeing Yamashiro, she hurriedly apologized for the damage done to her turret earlier. The apology was quickly accepted; there were more pressing matters at hand.

Fuso sat at the edge of the bed, sniffling, having calmed down from her prior crying fit. Just as she did whenever possible, Yamashiro sat right beside her onee-sama, administering comforting rubs on her back. Zuikaku sat at the opposite corner, gently bouncing on the bed as she waited for her turn to speak. Kuro returned with 3 mugs of hot cocoa, handing one to each girl.

"Would you like to share what happened with us, now?" Kuro prompted, taking a sip of the much-needed tea Shigure had left on the table before setting out in search of Yamashiro, mildly surprised that she still had energy for all this. Fuso held her silence, only sighing in response. She was now hesitant, rather than outright unwilling, to describe what had occurred. Perhaps the hot cocoa and a little time with her sister would coax her into opening up. "You can trust us. Your sister's here, too."

With another sigh, Fuso began to speak. "… Saito… I mean, the commander… didn't want me to be a nuisance in his room," she lamented, her voice barely a whisper. With one of her soft and slender fingers, she wiped a tear from her face. She then sipped from the cup of cocoa and sighed again, her gaze cast towards the window and out to the open sea. Oh, how she missed his company…

"What audacity! How could onee-sama ever be a nuisance to anyone?!" Yamashiro was this close to hysteria at the thought of that bastard Saito mistreating her sister as such, but in front of her commanding officer, she had to show some restraint. Zuikaku decided to save her piece for later, briefly placing her own issues aside to listen intently to Fuso's trouble.

"Was that why you were crying outside?" asked Kuro, trying to ascertain facts rather than absorb the shipgirls' emotions.

"It had to be! When I reached that bearded geezer's room, onee-sama was already running out of the door in tears! How could he do this to Fuso onee-sama…!" Yamashiro was on the verge of tears herself, clenching her fists tightly and shaking them for emphasis.

"Ahaha… calm down, Yamashiro. No need to get so defensive…" Sheeeet. And that geezer warned me not to let them near each other…

"But being a nuisance… couldn't be the only reason you cried, right? You ran out of the room before he could chase you out… isn't it?" Zuikaku asked, her words earning a quick glare from Yamashiro, which she returned with a shrug as if saying, 'Hello, I'm helping here.'

"It's okay, Yamashiro. Zuikaku, and Captain… Koizumi…? …are right."

"Fufu. It's Commander. But Captain's fine too. Carry on." Kuro chuckled darkly under her breath.

"The admiral said… that he didn't want me to stay over in his room. There was a time that he wanted me to stay with him every night, but one day, he suddenly… lost interest. He suddenly became cold to me, outside of work." A hint of a smile broke on Fuso's face as she spoke of a time gone by. But as soon as her thoughts returned to reality, she looked sullen again. "I just thought I'd give it one more try… It seems like whatever I do… it will never be up that man's expectations… and that will be an undeniable fact…" The room went silent, except for Yamashiro, whom everyone could see was holding back her emotional responses as best she could.

Kuro made eye contact with Zuikaku. It was clear to each of them that they both understood what Fuso meant by losing interest. It was Kuro's turn to keep quiet, filing away that newfound piece of information. Zuikaku, on the other hand, took this information differently, eyes widening with lips and hands clenched tightly to suppress her anger. The girl was incensed, and nobody would blame her for it.

The exchange of dialogue repeated until Kuro decided it was for the best to get some rest. There would be more work to do tomorrow. Offering her bed to the three shipgirls, Kuro made herself snug sleeping on the sofa.

/0530 hours, Corridor outside Saito's Quarters/

BAM BAM BAM!

BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Zuikaku repeatedly smashed the meaty base of her fist against the heavy wooden door to Saito's quarters. "Kuso Teitoku Akiyama Saito! Answer this door or I'll bomb your office to smithe-"

"Just try it, and let's see how far your bombers get, Fifth CarDiv," remarked an ice-cold feminine voice as the door suddenly opened partway. Zuikaku's hand paused mid-strike as an unexpected face appeared in front of her. Sleepy, with her untidy hair let down and her evening wear clearly pulled on in a hurry, Kaga shot Zuikaku a steely glare of annoyance.

A whole train of thought rushed through Zuikaku's mind. Kaga…?! Huh?! "K-K-Kaga-san?! What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

"You… you slept with that geezer?!"

"… Your point?"

This was completely unexpected. Zuikaku had come here expecting to berate a middle-aged man, and ended up staring down her senior from the First Carrier Division, who had witnessed her embarrassment the previous day. She was not emotionally ready for this.

"I… ah…"

"If you've got nothing important or useful to say right now, get out of here. You woke me up an hour early. My eyebags will have eyebags because of you." Kaga closed and latched the door, leaving Zuikaku to catch her breath and her train of thought.

Kaga! Of all people, the coolest, calmest, and most elegant of the carriers, spent the night with that gross bearded man! What the hell…? Sickened by the very thought, Zuikaku gagged and walked away, headed to the mess hall for an early breakfast. After all that she had seen, she was going to need all the bauxite she could get her hands on.

/0900 hours, Armament Room/

Kaga and Akagi checked their equipment, as was normal procedure before any operation. "The new armoured flight deck looks good on you, Akagi-san," commented Kaga, as she admired the shiny metallic surface of the flight deck mounted on Akagi's arm.

"It's interesting, isn't it? An armoured deck rather than a wooden one… It's a little heavier than I'm used to, so movement's a little sluggish, but it's sturdier and less prone to fire damage."

"Saito's amazing, isn't he? He convinced Akashi to reconstruct our decks without changing the length or compromising capacity. I wonder what he'll come up with next," Kaga remarked with a satisfied smile.

Akagi smiled, satisfied with the new equipment. She spun around once, to give Kaga a look at her new equipment from all angles. "He's got a crazy streak. He pushes the envelope, but in a practical way."

"Oh, sure he is…" a third voice interjected sarcastically. "He's so amazing that he's got you two under his thumb, huh, First Carrier Division?"

Kaga adjusted her riggings and picked up her bow as she stood up, walking out of the archery range. "I have nothing to say to a 5th CarDiv brat who can't make her point frankly and clearly."

Zuikaku ran in front of Kaga and pointed an accusatory finger in her direction. "I've got questions for you! Why are you spending nights with that scumbag admiral? He's disloyal and callous! You don't know what happened to Fuso yesterday, do you?"

Kaga folded her arms, uninterested in Zuikaku's tirade. "You are the one who doesn't know a thing."

"Oh, yeah? I spent all night talking to her about how he used to sleep with her, and how they used to be so close. He's a manipulative scumbag and a creep."

"You're just so quick to jump to conclusions, aren't you?" prodded Kaga, staring Zuikaku down with an icy gaze. "Fuso has been like this ever since the commander rescued her from being scrapped by a senior officer who was just angry at her for performing poorly. He punched that man and had her struck from the list of ships to be scrapped. That officer was quite influential, so he had Captain Akiyama demoted and reassigned here. His promising career in the Navy is doomed to end on this godforsaken island because of that."

Zuikaku gritted her teeth. She could hardly believe a word she was hearing. She had thought of him as scum of the earth, but here the First Carrier Division seniors were extolling his virtues. She refused to believe it, as long as it came from Kaga. "Akagi-senpai, is this true?"

Akagi sighed and nodded without another thought. "It started with her trying to repay the favour. Fuso is beautiful, and he's drawn to that sort of outlook. But he's not the kind who's ready to get serious. She clings, and constantly tries to get his attention, and he doesn't like it. It really doesn't help that she's a little insecure and finds fulfilment from giving him satisfaction."

Zuikaku felt her position grow weaker by the moment. If Akagi-san corroborated this information, then she would have to change tack. "You're saying this because you're in his favour now, but how long do you think it'll be before he gets tired of you and starts looking for somebody else to satisfy him at night?"

"We know that this is how he is," Kaga acknowledged coolly. "He likes new experiences. He fools around. But we know that he respects us, nonetheless. He's never forced us into something we weren't willing to do."

"… We…? Us…? Wait a minute…" Zuikaku paused to let it sink in for a moment, making eye contact with Akagi, who flashed a childlike smile in return. "Akagi-san, you too?!"

"What can I say? Some things in life are best enjoyed together. Right, Kaga-san?" Akagi replied, standing next to Kaga now that she had completed her equipment checks.

An awkward silence filled the air, broken shortly by a chuckle from Akagi.

"… BOTH AT ONCE?" Zuikaku fell over backwards, blood running from her nose.

/0930, Open waters/

"Eh? The First Carrier Division isn't coming with us?" asked Zuikaku, as the fleet advanced in echelon formation. She looked left and right, making sure that all shipgirls were accounted for, and checking positions and angles.

"No," replied Kuro by radio. "They're doing a shakedown because they've just been refitted with their new flight decks. And of course, Fuso is their escort."

"Ahh…" muttered Zuikaku. She said nothing else, and focused on the task at hand. They were practising formations and movements, with Sugihara barking orders from the Mitsurugi, the Base Commander's command cruiser.

Kuro was busy fine-tuning her fleet's movement and spacing while in echelon formation. Fuji's fleet was a few miles to their northwest, practising formation switches. They were alternating between the diamond and double line formations, with his command cruiser as the flagship. Sora, on the other hand, was to their southwest, experimenting with the order in which he would place his ships in a line ahead.

After repeating the same route twenty times, the shipgirls had grown tired. Their shoulders were slumped, perspiration had soaked their clothes, and they had started to lose focus.

"OYYY! KOIZUMI! DON'T SLACK OFF OVER THERE! I SEE YOUR GIRLS GET LAZY AGAIN AND I'LL GIVE YOU MORE THAN JUST THREE EXTRA SENTRY DUTIES!" Sugihara roared into the radio. "WE'RE ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH THIS MORNING'S EXERCISE! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO-"

Kuro muted the speakers so that she could work in peace, focusing on how she could best position her girls in an echelon. Some of the seamen on the bridge stifled a laugh. They liked this side of their commander.

"Commander, don't you ever get bored of this?" complained Zuikaku. "We've been doing the same thing day after day… And that ass Sugihara…"

"Bored? With girls like you around, it's pretty hard to be bored."

"W-What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've got a red stain under your nose. What have you been looking at?"

"Ehh?!" Zuikaku hurriedly wiped her nose with the side of her thumb. There was nothing. Realising she had been tricked, her face reddened and she fell silent in embarrassment. Kuro grinned to herself as she watched Zuikaku cruise along in silence.

Yamashiro, second in the formation behind Shigure, suddenly turned her upper body around and waved at the bridge of the Kusanagi. "Commander! I'm detecting six unidentified ships on radar, bearing zero-four-zero, approaching at thirty knots!"

"Could they be one of our own? Hail them and check."

"Roger! Unidentified fleet, please identify yourselves. You are entering Imperial Japanese waters. Identify yourselves, or we will fire!"

Loath as she was to do this, Kuro grabbed the radio headset and set the radio channel to communicate with Sugihara. "Chief Sugihara, I have a report. We've detected six unidentified ships on radar, bearing 0-4-0, approaching at thirty knots. Estimated time to contact, sixty seconds. Your orders?"

"Well, hail them and check if they're one of our own!" Sugihara's brows furrowed at this development.

"I already did."

"So just get them to answer! Why are you wasting my time with a pointless report?"

"Just following protoco-" Kuro was cut off mid-sentence and thrown off her feet as the Kusanagi rocked violently. Deafening bangs filled her ears as she fell. Catching her breath, she reoriented herself, picking up the radio mouthpiece as she got up.

"Commander Koizumi! We're taking live fire!" reported one of the seamen, rushing to her

"Damage report!" she demanded as she climbed back onto her feet.

"Severe rudder damage! We cannot turn to port! Fire in the engine room! We need to stop the engine and repair it!"

"Do it!" she exclaimed as she turned her attention back to the radio. "Unidentified fleet, cease fire immediately! Cease fire immediately!" exclaimed Kuro on the open radio channel. Shit, what's going on?

"Sosi hui! (Suck my dick!)" came the response over the radio as shelling intensified. "[We'll send you to the bottom of the sea!]"

In the excitement of combat, Kuro was unable to place exactly which language this was, although she felt like she had heard it before. "… What the hell? Does anyone speak this language?!"

"Commander!" reported Yamashiro, shielding her face from an incoming round. It detonated without doing much damage, but she seemed to be the main target of the enemy's attacks. "We're taking heavy fire! We won't last forever!"

Kuro realised that she was fast running out of time. "My fleet is taking severe damage and my command cruiser is disabled! We need reinforcements! Now! Chief Sugihara! Anyone!"

Fuji and Sora heard the reports and request for reinforcements, but had no idea what was going on, and had no idea how to react in this situation, either. "I wanna help, but what do we do?!" exclaimed Fuji in confusion. "Chief, what do we do?"

Sughiara gulped. This was a completely unexpected turn of events, and everyone was looking to him for leadership. "I… I…"

"Chief! Your orders, please! What can we do?!" asked Sora as he had his fleet turn northwards in preparation for manoeuvres. "They're going to be sunk!"

Silence.

"Come on! Chief! What do we do?!" Fuji yelled into the radio, observing the chaos from his position. He trembled at the sight of smoke billowing from damaged shipgirls and the disabled Kusanagi.

"Incoming enemy torpedoes!" reported Shigure as she rushed to shoot the incoming torpedoes. Out of six, she could only set off two. There was no time. She lined herself up with one and prepared to take damage. "Everyone brace for impact!"

The torpedoes went off, and during this time, they were still taking heavy fire from the enemy fleet. "I need help! Please!" pleaded Kuro, her fleet largely immobilised but still intact. Of her fleet, Zuikaku and Shigure were heavily damaged, whereas Akebono and Yamashiro were moderately damaged. They were now nought but floating targets for the hostile fleet.

Just then, Saito's voice rang out over the radio. "Prepare to go into combat!"

"Are you kidding?! We're using training shells!" exclaimed Sora. "They won't even leave a scratch!"

A greatly annoyed Saito growled into the radio. "You asked for orders, and I'm giving them. Indecision kills! Koizumi, hold a defensive formation and return fire, but do not aim to hit! Shoot into the water! Fuji! Reorganise your fleet! Form a wedge with Hiei and your command cruiser at the front, with heading 0-9-0, and advance at maximum speed! Kirigaya, form a line ahead with heading 0-6-0. Curl around the rear of Koizumi's fleet and head due north once you're clear of the fleet's flank. Form a wall for Fuji's fleet to squeeze them into!"

"B-But-"

"Do it, now!"

"Alright! Fleet, form up! Yuudachi, take the lead! Haruna and Katsuragi, hold the centre with me! Fubuki, guard the rear! Helmsman, make heading 0-6-0. All ahead full!"

"Roger!" acknowledged the shipgirls in unison as they formed up and advanced as instructed. They hurried into position, passing the fleet under fire. Huge splashes of seawater towered over them, as they came under rapid and accurate fire from the enemy ships.

"Kuro! How are you holding up?" Sora asked, checking her fleet's status as he passed by. Plumes of smoke rose from gaping holes in her command cruiser, which had clearly caught fire. Crewmen were actively fighting the fires, while her shipgirls held defensive positions against the enemy.

"We're stable for now but we can't hold on forever! What's the plan?"

"Just do what Akiyama said! Why did he tell you to miss on purpose?"

"I don't know, but we're doing it! You should too!"

"Right! Fuji, progress?!"

Fuji replied as he caught sight of Kuro's fleet lined up on his right and Sora's fleet on the opposite side. They had boxed in the attacking fleet on three sides. "All vessels, full speed ahead! I hope this works!"

"Who are these guys?" asked Hiei, steaming ahead alongside Fuji's command cruiser. "I've never heard that language before. My sister Kirishima would know it…" At this distance, she could spot individuals in the enemy fleet clearly. "They're all… shipguys. One of them looks a little strange, though."

"… Ship… guys? Wha?" muttered Fuji in response. "I don't get it, but let's talk about it later." He noticed the enemy formation switching from a line ahead to a diamond as they approached. He then understood what Hiei had meant. The hostile fleet was composed of shipguys, rather than shipgirls. Each was decked out in a maroon coat or jacket with black pants and knee-high boots, and some even had ushankas upon their heads.

Hiei bashed a destroyer aside with her shoulder as she charged forward. Upon impact, his main gun broke, and he slid away across the water, rejoining his fleet. The enemy regrouped and started to concentrate their fire on Fuji's fleet. "Hey, look at them! We did some damage and they're running scared!" Fuji exclaimed excitedly.

Saito's voice came by radio again. "Fuji, well done! Cease advance! Form a line ahead opposite Kirigaya's fleet, and hold position!"

"Why? We were doing just fine with the charge!" exclaimed Fuji, confused as to why he suddenly had to stop the charge. "We're not doing a whole lot here with training shells! If we keep sitting around-"

Just then, a barrage of heavy shells smashed into the enemy flagship, damaging his radio mast, and disabling his main gun. "Chyort vozmi (Dammit)! [I've been hit. Job's done for the day anyways. Let's pull out!]" Successive salvos landed dangerously close, and some of them hit a nearby destroyer, disabling the rudder and engine.

A great shadow was cast over the combat area. As Sora, Kuro, and Fuji looked to the sky, the delightful droning of dozens of propeller engines filled their ears. Wave upon wave of dive-bombers swooped in on the enemy fleet, their escort planes circling overhead to provide cover.

"[I'm not going to just let you go that easily!]" Saito barked on the open channel in Russian as he sailed into the combat area on the Tadakatsu, with Kaga, Akagi, and Fuso abreast with his ship, each of them in combat stance, having just used their weapons. Fuso continued shelling from long range with deadly accuracy. "[Get on your knees and beg for mercy!]"

The Russian ships immediately turned tail and ran as quickly as they had come, except for the destroyer that had been severely damaged and was unable to move. "[Commander! One of us can't move!]"

"[Leave her! She can rot at the bottom of the sea for all I care!]" exclaimed the Russian flagship. "[Pull out!]"

The enemy ships fled, and the aircraft returned to Akagi's and Kaga's shiny new flight decks without even firing a shot… not that they could have even done so. They were unarmed practise aircraft.

As the enemy fleet pulled out of the mission area, the three fleets surrounded the disabled ship. "Captain Akiyama, we captured a ship. What do we do with this one?" asked Kuro. "Wait a minute. Is that…?"

"Is that what? Report," demanded Saito, moving his fleet closer to Kuro's to get a better view of the aftermath.

The lone ship left behind turned their head left and right, observing as the enemy fleet surrounded them. Despite the broken shoulder-mounted main gun and shattered depth charge racks, they continued to resist. Why were these shipgirls so friendly and concerned? Did they not know that a ship's purpose in combat was to do or die? What was this name they kept saying? It was not dislikeable. It just made no sense.

"Koizumi, we'll talk about this later. We'll tow all damaged ships back to port for repairs. Meet at the operations room for debriefing."

"The captured ship… It's one of ours. It's… Hibiki."

"…"

"…"

"… What?!"

Authors' Note #2:

We thought it would be interesting to include commander abilities, because a commander's expertise can make a big difference in combat. Conceptually, each commander has a few abilities, each with a price to pay, and we hope we've introduced them well enough with Kuro's Commander Ability. (Edit: We've scrapped the idea of commander abilities, because it translates poorly into text. We haven't seen much use of it over the next few chapters in terms of planning, so there's no point in keeping it, as cool as it seemed to us initially.)

Authors' Note #3:

Our understanding is that in the Russian language, the convention is to call ships "he" rather than the English convention of "she", which is why they're depicted as shipguys here rather than shipgirls. They're also designed to be a lot more vulgar and less civilised.

No offence to any Russian readers! Our chief writer is a huge Russophile, and just wants to build up some aggression against the hostile fleet. The individual ships are as yet unnamed, but we already plans for an enemy fleet with faces, names, and personalities. Stay tuned for more!