Monday, April 21st, 2014.
I would've never imagined that our efforts to capture live Abyssal specimens for Seal Team Six would ever pay off or amount to anything, seeing how disastrous our first attempt at it went, and here I am writing this journal entry with the knowledge that the Abyssals we captured helped make Yuudachi's and Kitakami's regression surgeries successful. Ironic that a mission that once ended with the death of one of my light cruisers now ended with the return of one, in a sense. I wonder if that's supposed to mean anything in particular, like a sign or an omen of sorts. But regardless, thanks to the cooperation of Kuubo-Hime, Ritou-chan, and the others who've told us everything they know about Abyssal technology and program coding, Seal Team Six were able to pull through and complete Yuudachi's and Kitakami's rehabilitation surgeries. This meant that I needed to supply Ritou-chan with another year's worth of dank memes and anime, and Kuubo-Hime (I keep forgetting that they call her Jenna here at base) made me hang out with her and the Abyssal destroyers we'd captured, and they kept knocking my commander's hat off and sitting on my head like they were my hat. Needless to say, Suzuya and my other destroyers got riled up by Kuubo-Hime hogging all my attention and attempted to usurp her position, but they really can't do much against a capital Abyssal girl like Kuubo-Hime if they can't use their guns.
Yuudachi and Kitakami are okay now. Both of them are back to what they were before, and it doesn't appear that their memory caches have been tampered with, so they remember everything just fine. Shigure, Harumsame, and Samidare had quite the reunion with Yuudachi, and there were many Poi's, tears, and huggies to be had. Same went for the Kuma-Class cruisers when Kitakami showed up.
On top of which, Big and the guys from Seal Team Six combined their regression surgeries with their intended Kai 2 upgrade surgeries, so now they're both Kai 2, as I'd originally planned. And like Shigure's Kai 2, which Big revealed to me that the Kai 2 surgery is based heavily off Abyssal tech, Yuudachi Kai 2 and Kitakami Kai 2 are several times their previous strengths.
Kitakami Kai 2 now has four 61cm Quintuple Rapid-Fire Oxygen Torpedo Mounts, and each mount carries up to fifty torpedoes in each for a total of two-hundred torpedoes. Kitakami's torpedoes also are customized with a specialized oxygen propellant that's stronger than usual, meaning that Kitakami's torpedoes can reach her targets about 50% faster. The torpedo mounts are placed on the sides of her thighs, stacked two high, and the last one is on her left arm. She also gained an extra 12.7cm Twin High-Angle Mount for additional firepower, and her gearbox got installed with a Type 21 Air Radar for additional anti-air capabilities for herself and the fleet.
What's interesting is that Seal Team Six intentionally left a few of the Abyssal traits that Kitakami gained alone, the ones that are objectively strictly beneficial and have no drawbacks that we can see. Kitakami's sensors are now extremely sensitive to Abyssal presence - Kitakami said that she can locate every single Abyssal presence at this base no matter where she went. In addition, Kitakami's personal shielding that came with her Kai 2 upgrade is practically as strong as Kuubo-Hime's, and when we tested it, it took literally an entire volley of direct hits from five of our destroyers' guns at fifty meters to dissolve it. The only symptom that Kitakami still retains is the fact that her eyes still blaze red whenever she gets into the mood of fighting, as our training earlier this afternoon showed. Kitakami's aggression levels have definitely risen, but it's not significant - if anything, it's good because Kitakami, while historically known to be very strong, sometimes had the problem of not being willing to chase down kills.
Kitakami's internal augmentation, the Weapon Pre-Igniter, also received a Mk. II upgrade with her Kai 2. Now, instead of having only one volley of ordinance ready to fire immediately after weapon deployment, Kitakami can now follow-up with two more instant volleys, giving her three back to back attacks within a short period of time. When we tested it, Kitakami fired sixty torpedoes in five seconds. Practically speaking, this isn't exactly the most efficient way to use her torpedoes, but at least it gives her the capability of landing extremely quick follow-up shots. But Seal Team Six also gave her the Ammo Manufacturer Mk. II augmentation as the perfect complementary augmentation, which produces five torpedoes in a miniature magazine that Kitakami can pull from her gearbox from a dispenser tube and reload her mounts manually with every seven seconds. So long as her resources last, Kitakami can spam torpedoes to her heart's content. Add the whipped cream on top, the light cruiser-specific Corvid Reactor augmentation that strengthens all the previously mentioned augmentations, and Kitakami's loadout is complete.
"You may now call me Ultra Kitakami-sama!" Kitakami fittingly declared. Someone's been playing too much Street Fighter. They also changed her uniform a second time too, now to this odd sand-dune-ish color, but I'm not going to sit here complaining about something as trivial as uniform color.
Yuudachi's Kai 2 changes are really similar to Shigure's Kai 2 changes: Yuudachi received a similar torpedo launcher set to Shigure's Black Hound, but hers is a bit different and has a different name: the Bloodhound, which gets its name from the fact that the torpedoes it fires leaves behind murky red tracers, which, in the water, look like blood. It comes as two missile-array looking torpedo mounts with the same amount of total ammunition, but Yuudachi's torpedoes look like the Bullet Bills from Mario for some reason, just a bit more anime-looking. And we don't know whether it's because Yuudachi's just upgraded enough to do this or because Yuudachi's still got some Abyssal traits with her, but Yuudachi physically throws her torpedoes around. Who does she think she is, Sendai? Not that I'm complaining. She also got the same 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount Kai 2 as Shigure, too, and she's still got space for an extra weapon too, so Yuudachi settled for another 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount.
Her Nightmare Protocol also got an upgrade: with her Nightmare Protocol Mk. II, like Kitakami, Yuudachi's personal shielding got buffed, and Yuudachi's eyes burn when she gets into the swing of things, especially her left eye. At training today, she obliterated everything we put out for her to shoot - fires and flames everywhere, and Yuudachi just stood in the middle of the harbor laughing up into the sky. I would've been more scared if she didn't come up to me right after and beg to be praised and petted. What's more interesting is that when we were watching Yuudachi do her training runs, Kuubo-Hime, who was watching her with us, said that Yuudachi was going to be able to fight harder the more damaged she became, like a rage mechanic or something. Again, like Akebono's Slayer augmentation, we don't know why this happens. We would've never even known had Kuubo-Hime never told us. I asked her how she knew, and she just shrugged. Maybe because she and Yuudachi had both been Abyssals at one point, but other than that, it was just something she knew, not something she could prove. For Yuudachi's second augmentation, Big specifically coded an upgraded Danger Close augmentation for her, as it's only fitting. Yuudachi's Danger Close Mk. II now allows her torpedoes to detonate three times in a single hit, tripling their damage potential. Throw in an extra Kellorian Reactor, the destroyer-specific passive augmentation, and I've got myself a true hellhound.
Now that both Shigure and Yuudachi are Kai 2, they both have hair flaps that look like dog ears. I spent probably a good half hour today rubbing them, which they loved and wanted me to do more. So they might be two warhounds of mass destruction, but I don't give a damn if I can pet their hair flaps at the end of the day. Weapons of mass destruction? Puh-lease. They're cute, so who cares, right? Kappa
Just earlier tonight, Seal Team Six completed repairs on the girls who were killed earlier this weekend by ?Yuudachi and ?Kitakami, and they all upgraded them to Kai anyway even if they weren't among the ones I'd selected to receive Kai, along with all the other girls whom I've selected for Kai as well, because why not.
Ooi Kai 2 now has the exact same weapon loadout as Kitakami Kai 2, since Ooi's weapons were utterly trashed when Kitakami killed her the second time around. Same uniform, too, which, I suppose, is also only fitting. She also carries the same augmentations with the exception of the Targeting Jammer Mk. II, which Ooi specifically requested to be given again because she'd become so good at jamming incoming torpedoes with it. Kitakami burst into tears and tackled Ooi to the ground the second Ooi got out of repairs - usually the reverse happens a lot more. And because Ooi is explicitly Kitakami-sexual, the look on her face when Kitakami was smothering her face into her chest suggested that Ooi was probably off in her own special place in her mind. She even said that it was worth dying a second time to have Kitakami do that to her. Well...whatever makes you happy, I guess...
Murakumo Kai received new weapons - the 10cm Twin High-Angle Mount and a special 61cm Triple Oxygen Torpedo Mount that fires torpedoes with flak-filled warheads, essentially making them armor-breaking (not armor-piercing) torpedoes designed to instantly eat away all the shields of the capital Abyssal ship girls. And because her Kai opened up a new equipment slot, Murakumo kept her good ol' 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount, which she'd gotten to used to using to part with just yet. Her head arrays got upgraded too - Murakumo used to use them only for surface radar, but now it's capable of sonar and anti-air radar functions as well. Maybe it's because of the upgrade, but Murakumo's head arrays are a lot more...expressive than they used to be. When I talked to Murakumo right after she came out of the upgrade lab, her head arrays were spazzing out. When I asked Murakumo if she was excited to try out her new weapons and powers, she instantly denied it and ran away. Classic. They also upgraded the main mast that she often carries around as a melee weapon when she's out of ammo by adding an explosive tip to it so that every time Murakumo bashes something with it, the tip explodes like a grenade. I wonder whose brilliant idea that was. Murakumo also received an internal augmentation, the Fog of War, a really cool augmentation that fittingly masks Murakumo's presence on the field in such a way that while it doesn't completely erase her presence, it keeps enemies constantly having to guess where Murakumo is - essentially, it scrambles Murakumo's own signals so that she has more room to roam at melee range. She also got her original Waterfall Shield back, but with an upgrade, so that her Waterfall Shield Mk. II acts like a really strong regenerating overshield to her Kai personal shielding. Might not be as strong as, say, Kitakami's or Ooi's personal shielding, but it still tanks a lot nonetheless. And, of course, the free Kellorian Reactor to top it all off, so now, Murakumo is one of our dedicated close-range fighters.
Fubuki Kai, like Murakumo Kai, also kept her old 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount and received the same weapons, except her special 61cm Triple Oxygen Torpedo Mount fires torpedoes equipped with proximity-detection warheads that detonate if they're close enough to their targets, allowing Fubuki, who's never really been too great at torpedo fire, ample room for error to still deal adequate torpedo damage. Her strength, though, is in anti-air performance - she's always been the fleet's go-to anti-air destroyer that everyone could rely on. So in light of this, Seal Team Six gave her a highly specialized internal augmentation called the Skeet Shooter, which allows Fubuki to directly access the carriers' long-range sensors and radars to locate incoming enemy aircraft and go straight to engaging them without having to have other girls call them out for her. In addition, her main armament ammunition's all been converted into special fragmentation air-burst rounds to drastically increase their anti-air performance. And as if all these anti-air buffs still weren't enough, Chuck gave Fubuki a specially built XM-14 LSAT long-range assault rifle, based off much of the same technologies that went into the LSAT LMG. With an effective range of over 800 meters due to the weapon's marksman-focused design approach, its specialized long-range caseless armor-piercing ammunition type, and a triple-zoom sniper rifle scope that zeroes in as far as 1400 meters if need be, the XM-14 is a perfect fit for Fubuki, though it did take Fubuki a good chunk of the night figuring out her new gun and getting used to it.
Sendai Kai added her own special 61cm Quadruple Oxygen Torpedo Mount to her equipment list, which has a built-in Silencer that fires black and completely silent torpedoes for night battles. Like Fubuki, Seal Team Six went all out with Sendai's motif of the Yasen Baka: her internal augmentation is called Night Battle Creed, a multi-function augmentation that grants Sendai thermal imaging vision, night vision, and infrared vision so that she can see everything in the dark. It also serves as a makeshift Automated Reloader (to replace the Automated Reloader Mk. II that was lost), as it increases Sendai's weapon performance by 15% during the night, turns all her ammo into silent, camouflaged ammo, and enables her Type 0 Recon Seaplane to be used at night. The Yasen is strong with this one. And let's not forget her Corvid Reactor, too.
Takao Kai is equipped with her usual 20.3cm Twin Gun Mount and her Type 0 Recon Plane, but now she's got her own 61cm Quadruple Oxygen Torpedo Mount, as if our fleet's torpedo power wasn't through the roof already. And because her fourth equipment slot's been unlocked with her Kai, Takao took another 20.3cm Twin Mount at my suggestion to further increase our heavy cruiser firepower. While her weapons aren't unique like the others', it's her augmentations that take the cake: her internal augmentation is the Archon Shielding, a heavy cruiser-specific augmentation that just completed its diagnostic runs yesterday. With this special shielding, Takao can only be damaged by a coordinated volley of successive perfectly accurate battleship-caliber shells, and anything else won't even touch her. In addition, the active field of her Archon Shielding is large enough to fit two more ship girls, so if needed, two ship girls who need to take cover from enemy shelling can join Takao briefly until the volleys pass and jump out again to continue attacking. Again, strange Abyssal tech that we don't quite know how it all exactly works, but I'll take it. Takao also got another heavy cruiser-specific augmentation called Double Tap that causes all her ammo - even her torpedo warheads - to split in two right before reaching their targets to deal 50% more damage than usual. And, of course, the Moebius Reactor to finish the list.
Kirishima Kai got a complete overhaul of weaponry: the more powerful 41cm Twin Gun Mount replaced her old 35.6cm, the stronger 15.5cm Triple Gun Mount replaced her old 15.2cm, and the more all-purpose 12.7cm Twin High-Angle Mount replaced her old 7.7mm MG. Her internal augmentation is the almighty Weapon Pre-Igniter, which Kirishima was extremely pleased to receive, further complemented by her free battleship-exclusive Behemoth Reactor. Not as fancy or technical as the others, but as a battleship, you simply don't have to be.
Shouhou Kai received the Suisei, or Comet Dive Bombers, a special type of upgraded dive bombers. She added the Type 52 Zero Fighters to her arsenal and kept her old Type 99 Dive Bombers and Type 97 Torpedo Bombers, expanding her total airplane capacity from 30 to 48. But like Takao, it's Shouhou's augmentations that prove more interesting (since when do they not): Shouhou's internal augmentation is the On-Board Hangars, which is like Suzuya's Heavy Repeater internal augmentation in that it's built into her weapons - in Shouhou's case, her flight deck. The On-Board Hangars is like the carriers' version of the Ammo Manufacturer augmentation because it allows for the mobile repair, construction, and resupply of airplanes so long as resources hold out. This means that Shouhou can constantly deploy aircraft as long as she's got the resources to sustain it. Way cool. And as a nod to Shouhou's past history as Tsurugizaki, a submarine tender, Shouhou's On-Board Hangars can also manufacture torpedoes for the submarines, even JDAM-Converted torpedoes for Iku and Lockdown torpedoes for Imuya and Goya, though Shouhou can't actually use them herself. And, of course, the free carrier-specific Icarian Reactor to top it all off.
Souryuu Kai replaced her Type 21 Zero Fighters with Type 52 Zero Fighters and her Type 99 Dive Bombers with the same Suiseis as Shouhou's. Well, she didn't replace all of her Type 21 Zero Fighters, as she equipped ten of them into her last open equipment slot. Souryuu's internal augmentation is called the Interceptor Countermeasure System (ICS), another equipment-focused augmentation that comes in the form of a missile array on Souryuu's back, since carriers don't have to carry gearboxes, unlike the other ship types. Seal Team Six basically took the modern Phalanx CIWS, which is an automated defense system against anti-ship missiles, and condensed it to the size of a large backpack. It's like a gearbox in itself, with an angled and rotating turret head that spins slowly clockwise, using its own radar to pick up any incoming threats. When it detects incoming enemy planes or an incoming enemy shell that it can shoot down, it calculates enemy trajectories and fires 25cm Longbolt missiles to destroy them, thus giving Souryuu a reliable self-defense system that she can even use to directly attack close-range targets in an emergency. So basically, she's walking around with a portable Missile Turret on her back. Cool. And her Icarian Reactor, too.
Oh, I did ask Big about Houshou's secret internal augmentation, and Big admitted that they'd worked with Houshou on prototype augmentations before they delivered the ship girls to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, and that Houshou was their sole volunteer. That's why she was able to jump right into combat without having to go through any training.
The fleet's lookin' good - with some more training tomorrow, Sector B won't stand a chance. It's going to be Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003, all over again. From what I've read, anyway.