The 1st Fleet was out on the training grounds, sparring with each other to improve their close quarters combat while Tone supervised the training, guiding the members along while they fought each other with practice rounds.
The cannon rounds had rubber tips that were designed to cushion and massively reduce the damage done to ship girls and their equipment, while the torpedoes and the plane-dropped bombs released a weak explosion upon impact that couldn't kill a ship girl if they tried and were only able to injure them superficially, in which a background program in the ship girls' minds calculated the damage and displayed it on their HUD if they got caught in its blast radius.
This time, Ayanami was fighting against Tatsuta, the destroyer utilizing her superior speed to outrun and outmaneuver Tatsuta, who was whirling her glaive around carelessly and content to patiently wait for a chance to strike instead of being pulled into Ayanami's pace and wasting her time chasing the quicker destroyer.
Ayanami blitzed inwards, closing the distance as she ran clockwise circles around the older ship girl.
Tatsuta stopped whirling her glaive, her gloved palms holding the shaft of her weapon firmly as she brought her Anti-Abyssal weapon close to her body in preparation for an incoming attack.
At the last second, Ayanami used her left feet to stop her momentum, pirouetting counter clockwise about her right foot as she swung her left hand out, which held a 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon and pulled the trigger that was positioned under the cannon to shoot at Tatsuta.
The light cruiser dodged, running counter clockwise to stay behind Ayanami and hopefully get her from a blind spot.
Ayanami responded by aiming the 12 cm Single Gun Cannon in her right hand at Tatsuta through her left armpit and fired behind her, retaining her momentum. Tatsuta threw her glaive up in a spin and bent down to slap her hand on the ocean surface, cartwheeling as the shells whirred past her body.
She detected that Ayanami was slowing down her spin to bring up and focus both her cannons at her, stopping her cartwheel to hold up her hand and catch her descending glaive.
Her smile was already gone as she mentally prepared for the next move, and the immense control required to ensure that her next move, God-Killing Spear, wouldn't fatally wound her own comrade, Anti-Abyssal weapons equally capable of hurting ship girls as they didn't discriminate and only called such because of their intended targets.
As Ayanami fired her two cannons simultaneously, Tatsuta tuned everything out to concentrate on the trajectory of the incoming shells as she ran forward, sliding underneath them as her knees scrapped the ocean surface before her abdominal muscles pulled her upper body up to start running towards the panicking Ayanami, who had two cannons that needed reloading.
The Ayanami-Class destroyer backed away to gain some distance, Tatsuta's teenage body and status as a light cruiser preventing that from happening and maintaining the distance despite Tatsuta stumbling.
Ayanami sheathed her cannons, her battle backpack accepting the two cannons to allow the destroyer to fight with her hands free while her battle backpack helped hold her cannons as they reloaded.
Tatsuta swung her glaive horizontally forwards, Ayanami ducking underneath the sharp blade and scurrying away from the light cruiser who seemed slightly too invested in the sparring session.
Tatsuta smiled at Ayanami's tenacity and whirled the glaive that was in her right hand before holding her weapon in both hands, bringing back, spinning around and bringing her glaive down vertically and causing some seawater to be kicked up due to the impact of the blade on the water, a few drops of seawater hitting Ayanami's uniform as she skidded away.
Tatsuta smiled, pushing off her planted feet and popping up in front of Ayanami before realizing that the destroyer had both her hands behind her, and was late to respond as Ayanami whipped out her cannons from behind her to shoot at Tatsuta at point-blank range.
Two stretches of blood appeared on Tatsuta's cheek and right temple as she performed a desperate evasive roll to avoid a head shot despite knowing the practice rounds wouldn't kill her.
She hit the floor hard, her bulky battle backpack forbidding her from performing a complete roll to safety and instead scrapping on the ocean surface, leaving a messy wake as she scrambled to escape Ayanami's rapid-fire shots, another wound appearing on her right forearm and her stomach, other shells throwing up sparks as they bounced her battle backpack.
She clamored to regain her footing as she held her glaive down to stabilize herself on the ocean, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.
As she got back up, she saw Ayanami holding her arms behind her, again passing her cannons to her backpack in order to free up her hands as she placed her hands on her knees in order to rest up.
Tatsuta smiled, breathing in a little heavier as she regarded the relaxed destroyer.
"Ara, Ayanami-chan, don't you think that you should be taking this a little more seriously?
And those surprise shots might have ended me, you know?"
Ayanami tiredly smiled back as she replied,
"You intend to take me down with everything you've got, right?
I simply intend to respect you by returning everything in kind.
Right now, I'm simply taking a break while waiting for you to catch your breath."
Tatsuta's left eye twitched, and she held up her glaive menacingly as she stated.
"Hmm, then, let's continue, shall we?"
Tenryuu was chatting with Junyou on the sidelines while spectating the battle, Junyou's eyebrows creasing as she remarked on Tatsuta's performance.
"What was that?
Tatsuta let her guard down for a second, and barely avoided getting shot in the head!"
"Well, when you're facing off against a lone destroyer, you have to admit, your status as a light cruiser can make you a little complacent, no matter how level-headed you are."
"Well, touche, but how is it that even when Tatsuta is giving off her killer vibes and looks as if she wants to wear Ayanami's skin as a coat, Ayanami still isn't scared shitless?!"
Tenryuu gave Junyou an aside glance as she remarked dryly.
"Well, aside from that mental image that I probably have to manually delete from my memory drives later, I applaud Ayanami's calm demeanor despite facing my sister.
I think the thing about her is that she always channels her fear into trying to think up of ways to counter, or at least keep up with her enemies."
"Hmm, I guess that's why she possesses the potential to keep up with Tatsuta, even when she's not as powerful as them.
But it's gotta have a limit eventually, especially when her enemies are too powerful."
"But you gotta admit, she's gonna go far, right?"
Junyou looked on as she grunted in agreement, taking a sip of fuel from the fuel can she purchased prior to the training as she watched the destroyer fight on.
Out on the field, Ayanami's mind was whirling as she tried to keep her cool, Tatsuta slowly stalking towards her and bringing the sharp end of her glaive up to her face, the destroyer thinking through the situation tactically.
'Alright, Tatsuta's a light cruiser, but she's not faster than me, and speed's my main advantage.
Tatsuta has a defensive sphere around her as she can strike with both ends of her glaive, and her teenage body means she's taller and thus has a longer reach than me.
But it's alright, because I think she's the kind of attacker that strikes you with reckless abandon when she thinks she's got you cornered.
And I've to make my counterattack at that moment!'
Ayanami put her hands behind her to once again relieve her backpack of her cannons, a single barrel cannon in one hand and the double barrel cannon in the other.
Tatsuta burst forward, her eyes dulled as she pointed her glaive towards her own comrade and ready to take her down like a real Abyssal would.
Ayanami was indeed scared, but she needed to maintain her focus to gather everything she could about her enemy and treating this like an actual battle, noticing that Tatsuta was leaning in more than usual to gain more speed as she sprinted towards Ayanami.
Ayanami finally decided on her plan and charged forward to meet Tatsuta halfway, to the surprise of the entire 1st Fleet.
Tatsuta's eyes widened in surprise, but finally narrowed as the remnants of her smile vanished, seemingly ready to impale the destroyer on her weapon as she continued charging in like a lancer, right forearm parallel with her extended glaive that acted as a makeshift lance.
At the last second, when Ayanami could practically kiss the edge of the blade and stare into the abyss of Tatsuta's pupils that were boring into her soul, she ducked to her right and pointed both of her cannons and its three barrels right at Tatsuta's exposed torso and fired, skidding on the floor while holding up three smoking gun barrels as Tatsuta collapsed, dropping her glaive due to the shock of the shells hitting her.
The 1st Fleet rushed forward at this point, moving in to check up on the fallen duo, Tenryuu abandoning her tough facade as she outran the faster Shigure and the taller Hiei as she skidded on the surface to kneel and lean in as she put her ear to Tatsuta's chest, checking if she was still breathing.
Sure, those were practice rounds, but you never knew…
Tatsuta gasped for air, finally awakening as Tenryuu sat up so as not to inconvenience her sister. Ayanami hobbled over to the Tenryuu-Class cruisers, clutching her right elbow that she put too much weight on when she landed, Shigure behind her and helping Ayanami load her cannons onto her battle backpack.
Tenryuu wanted to shout at her for firing at her sister, but she held her tongue that contained her impotent fury as she knew that Ayanami only did so out of respect for her sister's abilities, and wanted to pull out all the stops to defeat Tatsuta.
Tatsuta coughed a little before smirking at the destroyer and commenting on Ayanami's reckless move for all to hear, the fleet gathering around them.
"So you made me stare you down right until the last second before dodging and blindsiding me with three shots that would have certainly sent me into light-damage at such close range, despite being practice rounds."
Ayanami looked slightly shocked for a second, before looking away abashedly, Tatsuta now smiling warmly at her own observation.
"I saw it, you know.
You looked as if you were debating whether to really empty three shells into my chest, before adjusting your aim to shoot at my stomach, which would only have knocked the wind out of me."
Ayanami could only shrug sheepishly, replying,
"Well, I can't shoot my own comrade now, can I?"
As Tatsuta nodded and motioned for Tenryuu to help her up and guide her back to the spectator area.
Tenryuu helped her sister up by slinging her arm under Tatsuta's armpit and supporting her from the side as her wounded sister hobbled over to where Tone was, her eyes fluttering closed as she tried not to nod off.
Tenryuu whispered,
"Tatsuta, what happened back there?"
To which Tatsuta replied quietly.
"Tunnel vision."
Tenryuu nodded, prompting her sister to continue.
"My focus and my blood lust allows me to perform my strongest attacks, but my intense concentration also acts as a double-edged sword when someone blindsides or surprises me, leaving me open."
Tatsuta shook her head in resignation, recalling a certain medical ship's words.
"Akashi was right.
I couldn't help but worry the entire time that my attack might injure Ayanami-chan, and if it was an enemy that had decided to empty those shells into my head…"
Tenryuu held up her free hand to softly flick Tatsuta in the forehead, causing her sister to wince in surprise from the move, Tenryuu chiding.
"Come on now.
I know you wouldn't do that to a comrade.
I swear on my pride as your older sister, Tatsuta.
And the point of training is to get better and allow ourselves to makes mistakes that are to be corrected before we deal with the real threat out there, right?"
Tatsuta looked at her sister ship incredulously, before breaking out into a smile and nodded at that, remarking.
"You say the smartest things sometimes, Tenryuu-chan."
Tenryuu nodded at that as she slowly sat her sister down onto the ocean surface, helping her get comfortable as she sat down.
Tone slowly walked over to the duo, kneeling down as she silently inspected Tatsuta's wounds, the two Tenryuu-Class ship girls silently allowing the Tone-Class cruiser to check up on her.
Tenryuu stood up while supporting her body weight with her palm on the ocean surface, getting up and looking around slowly as she heard Tone looking up and discussing with the fleet on the next match up.
Tone didn't want to pair anyone up unfairly, like Shigure against Hiei, and was instead discussing possible match-ups like Junyou, Tenryuu and Shigure against Hiei and Ayanami, and even Tone could join in to even the odds.
Suddenly, Tenryuu spotted a solitary dot moving towards them on her radar, and she smirked when she saw who it was, holding her scabbard comfortably with her right arm and ready for the inevitable battle.
Especially when the approaching ship girl had gotten her Kai Ni…
Tone had already noted the approaching ship girl, and she held up her index finger to silence the 1st Fleet before her, turning her head to the mystery ship girl in question and had a grin on her face as she introduced the torpedo cruiser to the team.
"Girls, meet Kiso, the Kai Ni torpedo cruiser of the 8th Fleet."
The ship girl that was approaching them had on a white beret on her head holding down her shoulder-length camouflage-green hair.
The eye-patch on her right eye had a grid of gold lining beside a exposed green left eye, along with a black cape that covered the right shoulder of her white and green school uniform, the edges of the cape and her dark battle backpack spotting white streaks on them and not unlike the skin pattern of a tiger's stripes.
The black and gold-lining shoulder guard on her right shoulder had golden braided threads hanging from it, both ends connected to the front and back of the shoulder guard.
Her brown-colored gloved hands were clenched, her right hand resting on the cutlass on her right hip and one torpedo launcher strapped to each thigh along with the other two torpedo launchers on her rigging.
Her knee-high boots were wearing the boat slippers, and she had two belts slung across her school skirt, carrying shells.
Her gait was confident yet poised to strike, a war veteran's face of weariness and experience that contradicted her youthful face, the energetic spring in her step due to the sea being associated with a place of danger and subconsciously scanning her sector for enemies and allies alike before her eyes relaxed a little.
She strode over to the 1st Fleet and folded her arms as she stared Tenryuu down, who returned a stare of her own, the little dragon's eyes hungry for battle despite her inexperience and inferior stats.
Kiso's voice was of an elderly teenage girl, yet her tone was crisp as she delivered her challenge to her rival,
"So, ready to get your ass kicked again today, Tenryuu?"
As the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser's smile widened and replied,
"Sure, but you know it's not a question of who did the 'One-Eyed Swords-woman' earlier, it's who did it better, right?"
Kiso smirked at the light cruiser's retort, shaking her head as she turned her body back towards the designated training field, motioning with her hand for Tenryuu to follow her out, replying,
"Oh don't worry.
There's no question as to which is the better swords-woman here."
Along with a chorus of,
"Ohhhhhhhhhh…"
From the 1st Fleet, Tenryuu's grin growing as she sauntered over to the other end of the tennis court-sized field, her thumb already pushing the small hilt of her sword Ezekiel out of the sheath, revealing the metallic steel underneath and the purple edge of the blade facing up.
She could spy Kiso's fingers twitching, and Tenryuu's grin faded as she leaned forward to assume the iaido position, poised to cut whatever Kiso threw at her.
As Tone whistled loudly, Kiso shot two torpedoes at Tenryuu as an opening strike, the two silent yet deadly killers barreling down the ocean, on a collision course with Tenryuu's boat slippers, their 'V'-shaped wake barely noticeable behind them.
She knew that if the torpedoes scored a direct on her boat slippers, she was as good as dead in real life as she would be half-submerged in water with only one functioning boat slipper, or trying to fight while balancing on only one feet.
One way to evade them was to jump over the torpedoes, which would require immense ship girl stamina due to the heavy weight of their equipment and boat slippers, but this was something that could eventually be overcome via physical conditioning.
She could see Kiso eyeing her, arm frozen as she was itching to reach for her 14 cm Single Gun Cannon on her rigging and uncouple it to hip-fire at an airborne Tenryuu, who would be vulnerable in the air if she jumped.
So she strafed to the left at the last second, and her sword was a blur as she unsheathed Ezekiel and dipped her sword underwater to cut the torpedo in half down the barrel, the motion too fast to even register on the torpedo's pressure-sensitive detonator.
She made a motion to clean her blade on the throat of her scabbard before sheathing Ezekiel in a slow but meticulous motion, the split torpedo sputtering and dying out behind her, while the untouched torpedo exploded harmlessly behind her.
Kiso looked surprised for a second, before her eyes narrowed to charge forward and display a very special fighting style developed over the decades and known as one of the hardest styles to master in the world.
The torpedo cruiser pulled out her two 14 cm Single Gun Cannons, holding them by the handles located behind the turret as if she were holding two large teapots, and fired while she waltzed right towards Tenryuu.
The light cruiser responded to the threat with a weapon of her own, pulling out her 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon, holding the horizontal handle and firing at the torpedo cruiser.
The shells met each other halfway, and Tenryuu could see the small sphere of air that the two colliding shells displaced upon impact before harmlessly dropping into the ocean, Kiso predicting the trajectory of every shell flying her way despite her eye-patch hindering her depth perception.
But the light cruiser had a suspicion that Kiso had already learnt to compensate for her depth perception long ago, as almost every shell that Tenryuu fired at her was harmlessly stopped by Kiso's own shells.
They both holstered their cannons after their ammunition ran out to let their battle backpacks hold their cannons while they unsheathed their swords and began whirling them about before charging each other, Kiso using by her boost gauge to move even faster.
They met each other halfway, their swords clashing and throwing up sparks as they swung their swords around in a complex dance of death, neither gaining an edge over the other in terms of swordsmanship as they swung their swords around and parried each other's strikes.
Tenryuu remembered that Kiso was proficient in the hack and slash fighting style, a style of combining gun and swords in combat to fight stylishly in a manner that played to the strengths of the light cruisers, which was incredible agility with almost no equal.
Light cruisers, often looking like teenagers, possessed older and stronger bodies compared to destroyers while being marginally slower than them, but were still light and fast enough to outrun heavy cruisers who were well-balanced stat-wise and were mostly young adults.
Adult battleships specialized in firepower and overwhelming strength to destroy everyone with their mighty cannons while carriers had powerful vision and radar to give them unparalleled spatial awareness, scouting capabilities and the ability to rain death from above.
Naturally, over the years, several styles were developed to fight the Abyssals while playing to the strengths of their classes, light cruiser being able to perform swift acrobatic feats that destroyers couldn't do due to their underdeveloped, prepubescent bodies.
And that was when Kiso decided to step back, sheathing her cutlass and relieving the extended mechanical joints of her turrets before the mechanical arms folded back into the backpack.
And that was when she jumped and fired.
Tenryuu reciprocated, sheathing Ezekiel again and firing with her reloaded Double Barreled Cannon at the airborne torpedo cruiser, both of them alternating cannons or barrels for a steady and rhythmic rate of fire.
Tenryuu would always be amazed by Kiso's flashy fighting style, spotting the few exhaust nozzles that were installed in Kiso's boat slipper, and as Kiso was in the air, Tenryuu got a good look at the nozzle pointed out of her Achilles Tendon and two smaller nozzles on the underside of her boat slippers, the cone of the underside nozzle hidden inside the slipper itself to reduce water resistance when sailing.
As Kiso reached the apex of her jump, a small thrust of nitrous oxide-enriched flames escaped the nozzle of the three boosters for an instant in a micro-boost, halting her descent as she fired her cannons, the recoil from the cannons in her hands further slowing her drop.
Her actions were quick, but practiced as the cannons and boosters were activated in a specific cycle to maintain her balance in the air, although she was slowly but surely descending.
Right booster boosts, left cannon fires.
Left booster boosts, right turret fires.
Tenryuu tsked and started strafing upon finding that Kiso going to land, realizing that the difference between them was like the difference between heaven and earth when comparing herself to the Kai Ni torpedo cruiser, Tenryuu identifying herself as the earthbound dragon despite her name meaning 'Heavenly Dragon'.
The default bodies of the ship girls couldn't handle the stress of the propulsion, but their Kai upgrade reinforced their bodies in terms of bone strength and muscle mass, the Fairies installing the boosters in their boat slippers during the remodel, Tenryuu currently not possessing boosters of her own as she hadn't been remodeled.
Kiso sheathed her cannons yet again upon landing and fired off two torpedoes in the direction of the advancing Tenryuu, who leapt up and flipped over the incoming torpedoes before her feet hit the ocean surface and she pounced forward.
Kiso immediately realized what Tenryuu was up to after spending so much time with her, shifting her left leg back and her arms formed an 'X' in front of her to protect herself.
Tenryuu persisted despite realizing that Kiso expected her to perform a physical attack, leaping up and pulling her feet up to her chest as she adjusted herself to fly forward almost parallel to the ocean surface.
The incoming drop kick from Tenryuu pushed Kiso back, her face grimacing from the impact of the relatively sharp underside of the boat slippers hitting her forearm and stomach, which was exposed.
Tenryuu was smirking as she tilted her head back, commenting,
"Are you testing my skills, or my patience?"
As Kiso smiled and rubbed her wounds, asking.
"That last move, did you play one too many fighting games?"
Tenryuu's smile grew, as she took the time to temporarily rest up by placing a hand on her hip and replying.
"Yeah, I did.
That air shooting move, Devil May Cry?"
Kiso could only reply with a shit-eating grin of her own, the unspoken answer to Tenryuu's question as Tenryuu ran through what she had learnt about the torpedo cruiser's fighting style as they both rested up and took the time to catch their breath.
The light cruisers were older and tougher than destroyers and they thus had access to Medium-Caliber cannons, which provided one hell of a recoil for a handheld cannon.
Everyone assumed that some light cruiser got high one day and decided to mimic video game characters, something that wasn't out of the question as they had superhuman bodies and could use their boost gauges to enhance their performance, and were also capable of using their weapons while hanging in mid-air due to their significantly longer air-time as a result of said boost gauges.
But heavy cruisers, carriers and battleships were too heavy compared to them, and didn't have nearly enough boost to even slow down their descent if they attempted to mimic their acrobatic feats, while destroyers couldn't get access to Medium-Caliber Cannons, the Small-Caliber Cannons not providing enough recoil.
Besides, destroyers were physically weaker due to their prepubescent bodies and couldn't handle the physical stress from performing such a physically demanding style.
The only reason why Tenryuu wasn't fighting like her was because Kiso trained for years to learn this fighting style, the time she spent arguably better used for more practical maneuvers that could be learnt quickly.
And every ship girl weighed differently despite being in the same class, so an aspiring ship girl needed to experiment with her boost gauge to determine how much boost was needed to keep herself airborne, this amongst other minute but significant problems which made for a steep learning curve that few bothered to overcome.
Kiso's gaze hardened as she pushed herself up with her palms on her knees, and rushed towards a slightly panicking Tenryuu, who fired a salvo of torpedoes in response to the torpedo cruiser's swift advance.
The torpedo cruiser simply used her boost gauge to sidestep the salvo, reaching Tenryuu and whispering one word.
"Shukuchi."
Using what was left of her boost gauge and her toned leg muscles, Kiso blurred as she appeared behind Tenryuu, grabbing hold of Tenryuu's battle backpack that was connected to the back of her hip and roared in fury as she bent back, performing a German Suplex on Tenryuu.
The sea rippled fiercely from the impact and threw up some seawater that reached even the spectators, Kiso letting go after the move was performed and scrambled away as she waved her cape around with her right hand, taunting.
"Andale, Andale!"
Tenryuu groggily got up, massaging her strained neck and the throbbing headache as a result of the suplex as she shot a thumbs-up at Kiso out of respect for pulling that move off perfectly as she staggered, shaking her head to clear her mind.
To be honest, Tenryuu wasn't under any sort of delusion that she could actually beat Kiso, and was trying to see if she could force a draw out of her.
But by God, she was going to make sure that she got some good shots in, and make Kiso work for her victory. She drew her cannon, noting that Kiso was drawing her sword.
Kiso was better than her, no question.
Time to kick it up a notch, then.
Tenryuu reached up to her eye-patch, ripping it off and discarding it on the ocean floor. She slowly walked in a counter-clockwise circle, readying the cannon in her hand and slowly blinking to get her left eye adjusted to the brightness of the environment while Kiso swung her sword in a lazy sideways '8' in front of her, stopping the cutlass to hold her cutlass upright beside her at a right angle to her left forearm.
"Aren't you going to take off your eye-patch, Kiso?"
Kiso smirked as she replied nonchalantly.
"You'll have to work for it, Little Dragon."
Tenryuu cracked her neck upon hearing her nickname uttered by her sworn rival, and slowly raised her cannon to meet Kiso's gaze, the crowd now hushed and intently spectating.
Both barrels coughed explosively, muzzle flashes bright as a firecracker as Kiso opened her left eye a fraction before swinging her sword out.
That was the last of what Tenryuu saw before her vision was obscured by the smoking barrel, bringing it up to her lips to blow the smoke away.
As the smoke cleared, she saw Kiso leaning downwards, which meant that she had likely dodged one shell.
But her raised cutlass and three small and almost unnoticeable splashes behind the torpedo cruiser confirmed the light cruiser's worst fears, that the torpedo cruiser had computed the trajectory of the shells and ducked underneath to avoid one shell and used her sword to cut the second shell at a speed that Tenryuu couldn't even begin to comprehend.
Granted, the shells of the 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon were slightly larger than a conventional firearm bullet, but come on, man.
How much stronger did she get with her Kai Ni?
Tenryuu switched the Twin Barrel Cannon to alternate fire to allow for a steady rate of fire as Tenryuu swaggered up to Kiso and fired.
Kiso didn't even look fazed, swinging her cutlass in broad, but precise and predetermined arcs to either cut or deflect the shells fired at her, even evading a few shells so as not to over-strain her swinging hand.
Finally, as Tenryuu was an arm's length away from Kiso, she pointed the barrels right at Kiso's forehead, certain that she wasn't going to block this point-blank shot.
So why was her senior smiling?
Her answer came in the form of the answer of,
"Someone's not counting."
And the loud click of her cannons signaled to everyone that she needed to reload.
As Tenryuu let loose a string of shocked profanities, Kiso had already sheathed her cutlass as her left palm met Tenryuu's face and brought her in close as she whispered.
"Those fighting games that you played to get inspiration from?
I played them too."
As she brought her left foot behind Tenryuu's legs to force her off-balance with a sweep, and put all her weight down as she slammed the light cruiser's head into the water. She heard everyone spectating wince and groan upon seeing her own head hit the ocean.
But Kiso wasn't done yet.
Picking up the dazed light cruiser in a bridal carry, her face contorted as she heaved, and threw the light cruiser up with all her might. The light cruiser flew slightly overhead, Tenryuu only managing to achieve some clearance above Kiso due to her limited strength as a torpedo cruiser.
And at the last second before Tenryuu hit the ocean floor behind Kiso, she felt Kiso's boat slippers smash into her diaphragm and stomach as Kiso performed a reverse drop kick on the falling light cruiser, adding in a burst of boost upon her slipper's contact with Tenryuu's body to deal extra damage, Tenryuu feeling the slight burn of the boost gauge singing her uniform and flesh as the thrust produced by the boosters drove her into the water.
The air left Tenryuu's lungs as she was wheezing from the drop kick, coughing and hacking to clear the seawater from her throat and windpipe, the fallen light cruiser doing her best to catch her breath whilst feeling the seawater drench her hair and uniform as she tried to recover from the torpedo cruiser's devastating blow, barely able to make out Kiso's slightly strained voice amidst her struggling.
"Damn, the power throws and wrestling moves are best left to the heavy cruisers and battleships, after all…"
Tenryuu groaned in pain as she finally exerted her arm muscles to try and push herself up, looking at a surprised Kiso unflinchingly as Tenryuu blinked the seawater from her eyes and tried to coordinate her limbs to get back up into a standing position.
Tenryuu was slowly trying to unsheathe Ezekiel but stumbled a little in the process, finally focusing on the sight of Kiso walking towards her, both 14 cm Cannons out and pointed at her.
She ducked as the shells whizzed past her head, Kiso also alternate firing as Tenryuu stumbled away from the armed torpedo cruiser. The ocean in her wake exploded as the shells impacted the ocean floor behind her, Kiso attempting to lead her shots, but was getting thrown off by Tenryuu's unpredictable movement patterns due to her wooziness.
Finally, when Kiso decided to shelve her cannons to draw her cutlass, Tenryuu saw her chance and charged in apparently without care for her safety, firing another salvo of torpedoes in Kiso's direction whilst running behind them, finally drawing Ezekiel.
She banked on the very likely possibility that Kiso would be pressured into either strafing or jumping into the air to evade the salvo, after which Tenryuu could intercept her with one last sword strike with Ezekiel to end this before she was too tired or damaged to fight on.
Kiso grimaced, squatting down with one arm still on the handle of her cutlass as she sprung up into the air to evade the salvo, Tenryuu following suit as she leapt up to meet Kiso with Ezekiel, swinging Ezekiel in her direction.
But it seemed that the torpedo cruiser had a few more tricks up her sleeve as her expression softened despite Tenryuu's Ezekiel about to cut into her steel flesh, Tenryuu unable to stop Kiso as the torpedo cruiser's boosters all powered up at the same time.
Her legs shone as a directed explosive force propelled her up by just a few centimeters, but the important point was the increased air-time that caused her to practically hover in the sky due to her relatively lighter body.
This meant that the tip of the Tenryuu's blade came up short as it simply nicked her uniform and cape, Tenryuu's face morphing into one of shock at the torpedo cruiser's fast reaction to her move as she started dropping like an anchor.
But the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser wasn't going to give up after coming so far, and reached behind her to whip out her 12 cm Twin Cannon to shoot at Kiso, having somewhat planned for this.
So why was Kiso's wistful smile widening, and why was she reaching up for her eye patch?
Kiso's hair whipped about her face furiously and her cape unfurled to cast a shadow on Tenryuu as they both descended, the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser tearing off her eye-patch as they both descended, Tenryuu's finger already squeezing the trigger and the cannon ready to fire.
And that was before she heard Kiso mutter.
"Yata no Kagami."
Oh, fuck.
Kiso's revealed right eye shone with the intensity of a thousand suns, catching Tenryuu by surprise as she flinched upon one of Kiso's three 'Imperial Regalia', the Eight-Hand Mirror being revealed and used to stun her as her shots went wide, instinctively trying to shield her squinting eyes against the harsh glare of the ocular searchlight.
Tenryuu was about to hit the ocean, almost unable to react to the intimidating shadow that was her best friend turned sparring partner's final attack, Kiso bringing her sword down with a passion while roaring the kanji '面',
"MEN!"
As she slashed down with the fury of a spiteful god at Tenryuu's forehead in a clean Kendo head strike, and the last thing Tenryuu saw were the rays of Kiso's ocular searchlight reflecting off the Anti-Abyssal blade as it was swung down in a killing strike.
The ocean was split, knee-high waves created as the ocean reverberated from the strike, the 1st Fleet shielding their eyes from the seawater that was thrown up as a result of Kiso's powerful strike before they could move their arms and focus their eyes on the sight before them.
Kiso held her cutlass a millimeter away from Tenryuu's forehead, her arms frozen mid-strike as she looked like a samurai with her dark cape draped over her right shoulder, casting a shadow over her uniform as the sword gleamed in the sunlight, Kiso shutting her right eye so as not to blind Tenryuu.
The sublime anger that Tenryuu could clearly see in the torpedo cruiser's face dissipated after taking a few deep breaths, the sword slowly edging away from Tenryuu's face as Kiso relaxed her tense muscles.
Both of them were panting as Tenryuu tried to stop herself from shaking after nearly being struck down by the Kai Ni torpedo cruiser, but Tenryuu gripped her sword that was held in a reverse grip, pushing the end of her handle into Kiso's abdomen.
"Did… did you really think… you stuck that landing?"
Kiso looked down in surprise at the handle of Tenryuu's sword that was hitting her torso, which meant that Tenryuu could have chosen to stab Kiso in a mutually-assured destructive strike should she decide to do so.
As Kiso got off of Tenryuu, the torpedo cruiser still had her right eye closed as she held out a hand to help Tenryuu up just as the 1st Fleet arrived to help their fleet mate up.
Tenryuu accepted Kiso's hand, but had to be helped up by the the sturdy arms of Hiei as Shigure rushed over with Kiso's eye-patch for her to cover her searchlight eye with.
Kiso calmed herself down with a few deep breaths and graciously accepted her eye-patch from the destroyer, sheathing her cutlass as she slowly and carefully stretched the elastic band around her head, positioning the patch over her eye.
Tenryuu had only this to say about her victory, citing her inspiration from the previous fight that she witnessed.
"You may not have been here to see Ayanami fight, but she used the same tactic before this match, to counter your opponent right when they go all-in with one last strike and leave themselves open.
Gotta learn from everyone who's worth learning from, eh?"
Kiso only nodded approvingly at that, announcing.
"It's a draw, I suppose.
You've improved, Tenryuu."
"Yeah and since I was keeping up with you without a Kai upgrade, maybe I'll be stronger than you when I receive my Kai remodel."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, maybe one day it'll come true."
They could only grin at each other as they leaned in for a bro-hug to celebrate the end of the fight.
The 1st Fleet sailed back to the harbor, and had already been through the entire process of waiting while the harbor machinery took off their rigging, battle backpacks and boat slippers before the platform raised them back up to the harbor, which was elevated above sea level.
The Admiral was waiting for them while sitting on a steel bench along with a tall ship girl beside her which Tenryuu took a while to identify.
And boy, when she said that a tall girl sat beside the Admiral, she meant that the ship girl was colossal.
Nagato was tall when compared to the Admiral as Tenryuu had seen Admiral Mako sit beside her girlfriend quite often, but this ship girl was likely even taller if the two ship girls had to stand up to compare their height, Tenryuu deducing that she was likely Yamato of the Yamato-Class of battleships, since they were the only ship girls who were more powerful than the Nagato-Class.
The tie holding her long brown ponytail had cherry blossom petals scattered around it atop her head, wearing a metal head-gear spawning two radar antennas, and was sprouting from her temples.
Her metal collar was similar to Nagato's with the Imperial Chrysanthemum Seal on it, wearing a sleeveless sailor uniform with four colors of red and white with black and yellow lining the uniform.
Her socks seemed to be deliberately misaligned with a knee sock on her right leg, and a thigh-high on her left. She held an Oriental umbrella, folded, positioned between her feet and was holding the handle with her arms covered by arm sleeves.
Yamato was composed and rather formal, yet possessed a tender and considerate air as she looked down and leaned in affectionately to return the Admiral's loving gesture where two lovers rubbed their upper arms together whilst sitting beside each other.
Although it was more like an affectionate elbow rub in this case as Admiral Mako's shoulder that was supposed to meet Yamato's shoulder instead came up short and reached her elbow, and Yamato could lean in to touch shoulders with her girlfriend but risked falling over and leaving her Admiral as a red smear on the bench.
But the two of them saw the 1st Fleet approaching them and stopped their little public display of affection, the Admiral waving them over and the ship girls complying save for Kiso, who explained to them that she had to meet her teammates and left them.
Admiral Mako looked at the somewhat exhausted 1st Fleet, and she leaned forward while fixing her blazer and clothes.
"Hey girls!
How's your training going?"
Tone raised her hand to note the 1st Fleet's progress, remarking.
"They're doing well, Admiral-san.
And although it might take a while for them to realize their full potential, I think we've got a solid fleet here."
Admiral Mako nodded as Yamato nodded to them in recognition, every ship girl of the 1st Fleet awed by the revered battleship's acknowledgement of them and bowing slightly in return.
Tenryuu looked at Yamato and met the gaze of the legendary battleship, feeling her cheeks color as Yamato shot her a smile, feeling the battleship's strength simply by being in Yamato's presence and understanding how this ship girl was essentially the personification of the Japanese spirit, gentle yet immeasurably strong.
Admiral Mako tried to get her attention as she broke eye contact with Yamato, addressing the training ship seriously.
"So do you think they're ready to sortie?"
Tone shrugged, narrowing her eyes as she cautiously answered her Admiral.
"Yes.
But are you sure?"
Admiral Mako nodded, but elaborated a little more on her plans to help the 1st Fleet gain some experience out on the field.
"Yeah, they'll be sortieing two days from now, on the 6th of April.
But they'll be restricted to fending off Abyssal Fleets strictly within the Safety Zone, and they'll also be sortieing with fleets from other bases to ensure their safety."
But Hiei raised her hand to ask her Admiral a question about why they were sortieing so soon, since other fleets sometimes took up to three weeks of training to sortie for the first time.
"Admiral, why are you sortieing us so soon after our fleet is created?
I mean, other fleets train for about two to three weeks before sortieing, but are you sure that only about one week's worth of training is enough for us?"
Admiral Mako looked them with her 'no-nonsense' expression, simply stating.
"No.
I don't want you to sortie without preparing for every situation that could happen out there, like fighting in adverse conditions or learning to fight against stronger opponents.
I mean, I don't have my Nostradamus glasses on, so I want to prepare you all for anything that could happen."
Admiral Mako looked away, considering something as she explained herself.
"But between us, I have reason to believe that things may likely become worse any day now, and I want you all to get as much experience as possible in the coming weeks before the shit hits the fan."
Admiral Mako's gaze hardened as she looked Tenryuu in the eye and continued.
"I can see you all realizing your full potential in time, but potential doesn't mean anything if you're dead.
I need you all to become stronger, but I won't be taking any risks by sortieing you beyond the Safety Zone, where the real danger lurks and we can't get a response fleet out in time should things take a turn for the worse out there."
Tenryuu gulped at that, but kept silent as she saw that the Yamato-Class battleship moved one hand from the handle of the umbrella she was holding to gently reach for Admiral Mako's hand, holding it tenderly and wordlessly comforting her girlfriend, a bold move for a ship girl who was the epitome of the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype.
Admiral Mako looked a little surprised at that, but she did seem to relax a little as she flashed Yamato a quick smile and continued as her mood lightened somewhat.
"Don't worry, y'all.
I'd never send you out on sorties and take on opponents that are out of your league, and you'll have company on a few of the upcoming sorties."
Tenryuu nodded at that, trying to mentally prepare herself for sortie that was in two days, and possibly in the coming weeks as she was part of the Fast Response Fleet, and had to become stronger within the month.
Admiral Mako was suddenly felt something in her pocket as her hand reached down to what Tenryuu assumed was a vibrating phone, nodding at them with a genuine yet distracted smile as a non-verbal signal to get them all to leave, Tenryuu understanding the look as they saluted the Admiral and left the couple alone.
And as the 1st Fleet followed the training ship Tone back to the canteen where they could queue in line for an early dinner, Tenryuu could hear Admiral Mako's infamous ringtone that caused everyone to blush a little upon hearing it play in public.
'TITTIES, ASS 'N TITTIES,
BIG BOOTY BITCHES, THAT'S WHERE IT GETS,
COME ON HOE...'
But Tenryuu slowed down her pace a little to try and find out who the Admiral was talking to without making herself look conspicuous, but was only able to make out Admiral Mako greeting a certain isolated heavy cruiser over the phone.
"What's up, Aoba?"
Admiral Mako was standing in front of Aoba's room, looking up at the nameplate titled '青葉', thinking about the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser and wondering what else she could have done to prevent the previously cheery and energetic ship girl from going through everything which left her as an introvert and a mere shell of her former self.
But Admiral Mako shook her head, making sure that she didn't fall into the self-destructive loop where she filled her mind with what could have been or what she could have done differently to help her ship girls, raising her hand to softly knock on the door.
Aoba's tired voice was barely audible, Admiral Mako pressing her ear to the wooden door to hear Aoba mutter.
"Door's unlocked."
Admiral Mako looked down, preparing herself to face the heavy cruiser which she couldn't help in time, this being one of the many regrets in her life as she placed her hand on the handle and opened the door slowly so as not to startle Aoba.
Walking into the dim room which she had once been into in order to ascertain Aoba's mental state which, last she remembered, was 'not good'.
That verdict was not changing anytime soon as she noted the inane scribblings on the wall, the various notes tacked on a map of the world along with the threads and colored thumbtacks that connected multiple locations, Admiral Mako looking around and taking in everything quietly.
Aoba was sitting on the fold-down bed in the room, hugging her knees and looking up at Admiral Mako with slightly fearful eyes, and Admiral Mako could see that Aoba had at least tried to make herself presentable before meeting the Admiral, having bathed and changed into her best uniform.
Admiral Mako closed the door behind her and walked towards Aoba without any regard for her safety while the heavy cruiser shrank into the corner of the bed, Admiral Mako almost seeing how scared the heavy cruiser was of her strength as she squeaked.
"P-Please, don't come any closer, Admiral.
I don't want to hurt you, since you're more fragile than us ship girls."
Admiral Mako sighed upon hearing that, raising her hand to take off her Admiral cap and toss it onto the bed, sitting down on the chair in the middle of the room as she regarded Aoba in a no-nonsense tone.
"Look, Aoba, I know that you'd never hurt me, being one of my beloved ship girls.
And besides, aren't you a little tired of everyone tiptoeing around you and always being uncomfortable in your presence, right?"
Aoba looked away at that, unable to come up with a retort or argument as she lowered her head upon hearing her Admiral bring up that point, Admiral Mako able to see that Aoba had at least gotten some sleep, although that didn't completely help the tired look she always had on her face, Admiral Mako asking inquisitively.
"It's rather interesting, though.
Often, I'm the one who has to call you and ask to meet you.
So what's made you take the initiative this time, Aoba?"
Aoba looked away, but Admiral Mako leaned in a little closer to try and get closer to the heavy cruiser, seeing each and every one of her ship girls as family members in lieu of her real one.
And eventually, Aoba revealed the reason why she wanted to try and get out more after agreeing to the desperate plea of a certain Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.
"Shigure...
She told me that I couldn't rot in here, and needed to leave this prison of mine sometime.
She practically went down on her knees and begged me to get out and talk to someone who's not my sister ships, and you were the first choice..."
Admiral Mako cracked a genuine smile at that, noting.
"Well, when even a ship girl who's new to this base sees what's wrong with your living conditions, I think it's time to do something about it, right?"
Aoba nodded reluctantly at that, changing the subject to ask about the classified research project which Aoba had refused to be on for various reasons, her own debilitating condition being a major one.
"You wanted me to work on a secret project with Akashi and Kirishima, right?
I know that I previously refused to participate, but I think I might reconsider in the next few days if my condition improves..."
Admiral Mako's smile drooped a little, but she inched closer to Aoba as she tried to explain her point of view.
"Look, Aoba.
I always said that the best way for you to learn to live with your condition was to find a way to apply yourself to help everyone in some way, not holing yourself up in your room..."
Looking around at Aoba's uncleaned room, Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow before raising her gaze to look at the global map, dryly continuing.
"...and obsessively keeping track of everything through your research."
Aoba shot her Admiral a glance, before looking away ashamedly as Admiral Mako met her gaze with a caring look of a worried parent, silently accepting her Admiral's words as Admiral Mako comforted Aoba and gave her some time to decide.
"Look, I'm not ordering you to join this project even though I have the power to do so, because I want you do things at your own pace.
But the Abyssals aren't nice enough to do the same, so tell you what."
Admiral Mako's gaze hardened as she explained the situation.
"I've sent you some declassified documents and recent reports of Abyssal activities as an act of good faith.
You can look through them and see for yourself how badly things are going to turn out for us from now on, and you might be able to see how important this research project is in helping us win this war.
Because I know no matter how much you try to enclose yourself within these walls and pretend that you're dead to the world, I know that the 'Intrepid Reporter' Aoba still lives on inside you, and you'd never give up a chance to help everyone in any way you can."
Getting off the chair, Admiral Mako walked closer to Aoba, the heavy cruiser trying to curl up into a defensive knee hug the closer Admiral Mako got to her, Admiral Mako sighing and scratching her hair, thankfully free of the stuffy peaked officer's cap as she leaned in and ordered.
"Aoba, close your eyes, and look up."
Aoba looked up at Admiral Mako questioningly, but Admiral Mako's reluctance to elaborate meant that Aoba did as her commanding officer ordered, Admiral Mako easily noting the nervousness and uncertainty in the heavy cruiser's expression as she closed her eyes and leaned in, her right palm pressing against the map stuck on the room wall to prevent herself from falling forward.
Her lips met a surprised Aoba's exposed lips, and Admiral Mako savored the unique taste of the heavy cruiser's juicy lips for a good five seconds before a blushing Aoba pushed her away, the Admiral having spent enough time around ship girls to know when they tried to restrain their strength around her so as not to accidentally break something.
Aoba's cheeks were colored and she was actively scrambling away from Admiral Mako, a complete 180 from her previously depressed and lifeless state, the heavy cruiser covering her mouth with the back of her right hand as she stuttered while exclaiming.
"A-A-Admiral Mako!
I-I'll report you for sexual harassment!
It'll be a-a huge scandal, I-I swear!"
Admiral Mako laughed heartily as she held her right index finger to her lip, commenting merrily.
"Well, at least that's something that'll keep you busy other than obsessively spying on everything and being depressed as fuck.
Everyone knows me so well by now that this little display of affection won't even make the headlines, Aoba.
Besides, don't tell me you didn't enjoy it."
Aoba's colored cheeks reddened even more upon hearing that, becoming tomato red as Aoba's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, unable to say a word as Admiral Mako turned to leave the room, picking up her Admiral cap and lazily slapping it on her head as she headed for the door.
Admiral Mako stopped right in front of the short corridor leading into the room, looking behind her shoulder to regard a stunned Aoba one last time as she made things clear.
"Four days from today, after the 1st Fleet has sortied on the 6th of April, the Coordinators, Akashi and I are holding a closed-door meeting in the Coordinator Room to determine what our future plans are.
Attend the meeting if you're interested."
And with that, Admiral Mako ended the conversation and exited the room, the door clicking as it closed behind the Admiral and left a flustered and silent Aoba in the room, looking at the door while wondering about her Admiral's words and her little parting gift.