The skies were clear on the 6th of April as the weather forecast predicted, the morning sun shining down on the 1st Fleet as they convened at the harbor to meet up with the Admiral and listen to her mission briefing before they sortied.
The Admiral brought along quite the crowd with her, the revered battleship Yamato sitting on the granite bench beside her and giving them her million-dollar smile as she held her folded umbrella.
Kongou was enthusiastically embracing the nonchalant Admiral from behind while Nagato sat on the Admiral's right with folded arms and seemingly meditating with closed eyes as she ignored the ruckus that was Kongou's Burning Love beside her and focusing on the situation at hand.
Akashi stood beside Yamato, keeping her distance from everyone as she looked away distractedly, looking as though she wanted to be somewhere else.
The 1st Fleet witnessed the Admiral being smothered by Kongou's hug as everyone noticed Hiei trembling, trying her best not to let her jealousy show upon witnessing her Onee-sama be so affectionate with someone that wasn't her, and it took a while before the Admiral patted Kongou's head to get her to stop and addressed the fleet gathered in front of her.
"Alright, your objective today is to sail along the route that will be sent by Yamato via wireless transmission and patrol the seas.
If you encounter an Abyssal Fleet, you are to determine your odds of winning and reach a consensus as to whether you should engage them or not."
Yamato nodded at that, raising her hand as she announced,
"Please prepare for the file transfer."
The fleet was distracted by something that popped up on their HUD before addressing it and nodding to the battleship to signal the successful file transfer, Yamato smiling warmly as Admiral Mako continued.
"Like I tell every one of my fleets, the Abyssals can't always seem to outmatch us, so they often try to outnumber us.
If you find that you can't outmatch them and they outnumber you, the last option is to outrun them.
I ask of you to be brave, not stupid.
The 'Honor-before-Reason' shit is best left in the past, and I'd rather you girls use every trick in the book to bring everyone back alive rather than fight by some code of honor and sink."
Everyone nodded at that, understanding that they were fighting to protect both mankind and ship girl-kind.
And if fighting by a code of honor meant that they'd lose more often, they had to prioritize victory before honor to keep everyone alive at the end of the day.
Admiral Mako asked the 1st Fleet.
"So, who should be flagship?"
Causing everyone to look up upon hearing that, all of them contemplating whether they should nominate themselves without seeming too conceited.
Kongou brightened up, announcing,
"There's no question about that!
Hiei should be flagship, desu!"
While Yamato expressed her opinion politely.
"Um, perhaps Ayanami should be the flagship?"
This caused the Ayanami-Class destroyer to blush a little as she puffed her chest out, secretly proud that someone as heavily worshiped as Yamato would elect her for the position of flagship.
Nagato opened her eyes to give her opinion.
"I nominate Shigure for the position of flagship."
Admiral Mako looked to Akashi for assurance that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was indeed capable of leading the fleet, Akashi noticing the Admiral's glance before turning to regard Shigure.
Shigure bristled as she met Akashi's cold gaze with her determined stare, making herself look as dependable as possible before Akashi relented and returned the Admiral's unspoken question with a wordless gaze, Admiral Mako nodding and announcing,
"Alright, Shigure will be the flagship and the senior ship girls will guide her along the way."
Causing Tenryuu to retort with a raised fist,
"Hey, come on!
What are two of us Tenryuu-Class light cruisers then?
Chopped liver?"
Tatsuta giggled at Tenryuu's annoyance, Junyou looking visibly relieved at the fact that she wasn't going to have to handle the responsibility of being the flag ship.
The surprise nomination caused Shigure to blink in surprise, Kongou popping out from above the Admiral's left shoulder and shrieking in her ear,
"EEHHHH?!
Shouldn't Hiei be the flagship since she's the older ship girl, desu?!"
Causing Admiral Mako to draw away from the hysterical battleship, announcing,
"I know that Hiei is more experienced.
But this is an easy sortie, and I'd like to have everyone to be flagship at least once on an easy sortie and learn the ropes, rather than circumstances down the road forcing them to take up leadership while on harder sorties and screw up due to inexperience with more consequences behind their failures.
Hiei will lead the more difficult sorties, no question about that."
Kongou nodded silently, now understanding her Admiral's reasoning behind her decision.
Hiei looked a little down upon hearing Admiral Mako's reasoning, but was far from dispirited as she nodded towards Shigure in acknowledgement, understanding the Admiral's reasons behind electing her as flagship.
Admiral Mako reiterated her personal 'Zero Casualties' Policy.
"Listen, I don't care if you have to retreat or cut your losses.
Short of a major naval battle, I don't care what happens, you will do your best to bring everyone back alive, got it?"
And the 1st Fleet shouted unanimously,
"YES, MA'AM!"
Admiral Mako waved her left hand to dismiss the Fast Response Fleet, the 1st Fleet heading towards the harbor to suit up and officially sortie as a fleet for the first time.
Shigure stepped out on the blue sea, taking in the salty ocean air as she mentally prepared herself for her first official sortie with her fleet while assuming responsibility as the flagship.
Her teammates approached her whilst stretching their muscles to prepare themselves for the journey, Junyou stating,
"God damn, looking at the ocean reminds me of who I really am.
No matter how much I love to live without the responsibility of sortieing, it just doesn't feel right for a ship girl to live like a complete landlubber."
Hiei nodded at that, noting that battleships had it the worst.
"If you think that's bad, spare a thought for us battleships.
We can't sortie as often as you can, despite being engineered to be stronger than everyone else."
The Kongou-Class battleship continued, although she lowered her volume to address Junyou personally and thus made Shigure feel somewhat ashamed as she heard Hiei personally express her feelings.
"It almost hurts for us to see you all get injured out there and know that we're too much of a burden to do anything about it, despite all the talent and strength we were imbued with."
Junyou nodded solemnly, this private exchange lost on the ship girls who were ahead of them as Shigure tried to pretend as if she hadn't heard that as she sailed on.
Tenryuu pointed to herself with her thumb as she turned back and encouraged Shigure,
"Don't worry, Shigure.
If the enemy comes, put me in front of the fleet.
I'll cut them all down!"
Tatsuta commented,
"Ara, Shigure-chan, don't worry about the enemy.
Just give us the command and we'll take care of them for you, alright?"
And Ayanami cheered everyone on by clapping merrily in order to encourage everyone, finally turning back to address Shigure,
"Shigure, shall we?"
And Shigure nodded in reply, temporarily hit with a wave of nostalgia as she regarded her fleet and experienced the same feeling of camaraderie that she once felt with the Nishimura Fleet.
But she shook her head, focusing on the here and now as she accelerated her boat slippers in order to catch up with her teammates.
She wasn't going to get over her guilt easily, perhaps taking a month, a year, even a decade if it necessary.
But she knew that she'd come to terms with this misplaced feeling of guilt over the Nishimura Fleet's demise with the help of her newfound friends.
And one day, she could face them all without feeling guilty over having survived when they all perished in her wake, and would eventually be strong enough to protect them in this life with the help of her teammates.
That was what friends were for, right?
The day passed by rather uneventfully, the team distracting themselves with small talk but ultimately keeping a watchful eye on the calm sea, checking their radar and sonar quite often to ensure that no Abyssals were going to sneak up from beneath them as if they were in a Jaws movie.
The excitement of going on a sortie for the first time might cause them to make simple errors that a seasoned fleet wouldn't, Junyou and Hiei both utilizing one Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplane each to expand the scope of their surveillance to give them more time to prepare should they encounter an Abyssal Fleet.
And as the sun was nearing the end of its journey and cast an orange glow upon the skies and clouds, the clock on Shigure's HUD read,
'5.32 p.m.'
As Junyou's eyes narrowed, announcing.
"We've got company!"
The fleet tensed up, mentally preparing themselves for combat as Hiei and Junyou, possessing the strongest radar in the team, concentrated in the direction of the Reconnaissance Plane while the Fairies that manned their riggings detected and interpreted the incoming red dots on the radar, finally concluding.
"We've got 2 Ru-Class battleships, a Wo-Class carrier and 2 Ho-Class light cruisers headed our way!"
Everyone looked to Shigure, who tensed up at the focus being shifted to her as Hiei asked.
"What do you think we should do, Shigure?
Engage, or run?"
Shigure took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes and mentally running through their odds and a battle strategy, asking,
"How long do we have to plan?"
And Junyou replied,
"3 and a half minutes, max."
"Hiei, what are our odds of winning?"
"None of them are Elites.
And if we play our cards right with the right strategy, we can beat them."
Tatsuta leaned in, losing her smile and addressing the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer seriously as she advised.
"Shigure-chan, you don't have to prove yourself to anyone by forcing an engagement that goes against your your better judgement.
This enemy fleet is stronger than usual, and there's no shame in choosing to retreat…"
"I know."
Shigure finished the sentence, thinking about how to engage the superior enemy fleet.
The Abyssals had two battleships and a standard carrier, unlike the 1st Fleet, which had only one fast battleship and light carrier.
But the upside was that the enemies only had a small protection detail that consisted of two light cruisers.
If the four of them could take down the two light cruisers while Junyou and Hiei tried their best to heavily damage, or outright sink one of the three remaining Abyssals, they could force a power play to convince the remaining Abyssals to retreat.
Not that they couldn't sink them all if they endeavored to do so, but Shigure knew that a prolonged battle would only incur fatal injuries as the cannon rounds of the slow battleships and the payload of the enemy planes would eventually hurt someone.
She relayed this to the 1st Fleet as Shigure's eyes finally opened, announcing to the expectant 1st Fleet as they stood around her to receive their instructions before the battle.
"I have a plan."
The incoming Abyssal Fleet consisted of two Ho-Class light cruisers that guarded the Ru-Class battleships, monochrome ladies with jet black hair and unusually pale skin with emerald-green eyes that reflected their determination to wipe out every ship girl who got in their way.
They were wearing black costumes that consisted of a black sleeveless vest, undershirt and pants, armored shoulder-plates not bothering to hide the two pipes sticking out from behind each shoulder to function as exhaust pipes.
In each hand was a tall column of cannons being held from behind, each column containing two large-caliber twin-barreled turrets with a single-barreled turret sandwiched in between them.
The carrier Wo-Class took up the rear and had already scouted out the 1st Fleet with her own reconnaissance planes.
And it was perhaps luck or arrogance on the Abyssals' part that they were out on the ocean surface as the two fleets sailed towards each other rather than the Abyssals using their ability to submerge to stealthily swim the ocean and getting the jump on them, which they occasionally chose to pull off with varying degrees of success.
The Abyssals approached from beyond the horizon while the evening sun illuminated them, making it simpler for the 1st Fleet to identify where they coming from.
And upon closing in, the orange sunset cast a shadow upon the incoming Abyssals, the glares of the Abyssal battleships apparent as they approached cautiously in a Diamond formation with their cannons loaded and ready to fire upon entering effective range.
The 1st Fleet was also ready for combat in the line-ahead formation with Tenryuu leading the formation, followed by Ayanami, Tatsuta, Shigure and Hiei while Junyou took up the rear in order to minimize her chances of getting hurt.
Shigure breathed in, somewhat convinced that her improvised plan was going to fall apart the moment they engaged the Abyssals and that somebody was going to get seriously hurt, Shigure really wanting to avoid the two unfavorable outcomes.
But she cleared her mind, choosing to believe in the plan she laid out for the 1st Fleet where everyone had an active role to play in this battle.
The two fleets were now barely out of bombing range, Junyou and the Wo-Class having summoned their bomber planes beforehand and passed by each other on their respective bombing runs.
And as the Abyssal planes made themselves seen and swooped down like Death on swift wings before dropping their payload and pulling back up, Shigure could practically feel the excitement of the 1st Fleet as they got ready to perform evasive maneuvers.
The three torpedoes that were released by the bombers hit the ocean with the barest hints of a splash and timed themselves to meet the torpedo salvo of the Abyssal light cruisers as they headed towards Tenryuu, who smiled and braced herself for the incoming torpedo salvo, calling out behind her.
"Guys, get ready to move!"
And as the salvo of torpedoes approached them, Tenryuu was tasked with finding a gap between them that they could all safely sail through, the entire queue of ship girls following suit and believing in Tenryuu's judgement.
Shigure was following Tatsuta's lead, the members of the formation spaced out far enough to be able to see the incoming torpedo salvo as Shigure saw an Abyssal torpedo harmlessly passing by her boat slippers.
The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer released a bated breath upon witnessing the lack of deadly explosions that the Abyssal torpedoes were programmed to unleash if their proximity sensors were activated upon coming into close contact with a ship girl to inflict splash damage.
They could see that Junyou's bombers dropped their payload and were retreating as the Abyssals unleashed their Anti-Air cannons to shoot them down as Hiei and Junyou tried their best to evade the torpedoes.
But the two senior ship girls weren't in too much danger as they stood at the rear of the formation, where most of the torpedoes went wide by the time they reached that far and missed them by a large margin.
Shigure sighed with relief upon seeing that her teammates were now out of the woods, and they weren't going to lose anyone before the battle had even started.
"Put me in front, Shigure!
I'm not afraid to face them head-on with my sword and cannons!"
Tenryuu roared, feeling the thrill of battle coming on and Shigure could see that it invigorated her, but she tried to keep a clear head and think this through rationally as she asked,
"What will be their opening move, anyone?"
Junyou raised her hand, answering,
"Well, the first move will be for the Abyssal light cruisers to send out torpedoes to greet us.
They got a Wo-Class in their fleet, so they may also try to send out bombers to destroy us with a devastating opening strike."
Shigure sighed, and finally compromised,
"Tenryuu, I'll put you in front, and you'll be in charge of leading us through the torpedo salvo."
Tenryuu pumped her fist in the air, shouting,
"YYEEEAAAHHHH!"
Shigure looked to Hiei and Junyou, notifying.
"You two, I need you to stand further behind in case the torpedoes start flying, where Tenryuu will spot the torpedoes and help us navigate through them safely.
We need you two for the battle that is to come."
The two ship girls nodded, seeing her point of view and understanding the fact that they were the most influential participants in the upcoming firefight, although Shigure did note the not-so-subtle glances the Kongou-Class battleship and Hiyou-Class light carrier gave towards Tenryuu, slightly uncertain about entrusting their lives in the hands of the light cruiser.
But Shigure ignored the looks of uncertainty as she knew that there was a certain amount of trust that each teammate needed to place in each other, especially in actual sorties where there was an element of actual danger and the possibility of sinking that practice sessions could never recreate.
This was their first sortie, and this was where they had to learn to depend on each other during the moments that really mattered, this being one of the make-or-break factors that determined victory and defeat.
The Abyssal battleships got into range as their powerful cannon muzzles produced a blinding eruption of flames, leaving a mini mushroom-cloud that ballooned from the cannon muzzles and sounding like the thunderous roar of a gargantuan beast as the cannon rounds flew forward, Shigure announcing,
"NOW!"
And as the incoming projectiles were mostly headed for the four fleet members of the 1st Fleet, the Abyssals currently more concerned with taking out as many members of the fleet as possible with their salvo of cannon fire, the destroyers and light cruisers jumped out of the way at the last second as the large-caliber cannon rounds hit the water and threw up large pillars of seawater upon impact.
Shigure could see an explosion of smoke as something happened to two shells headed towards Hiei's head and abdomen, Shigure's heart stopping and was already expecting the worst as she maintained her course and sailed with Ayanami in a counter-clockwise direction around the Abyssal fleet that was sailing closer towards the last two members of the 1st Fleet.
She spotted the light cruisers breaking out in a run in a clockwise direction as the smoke cleared around Hiei, Junyou clearly looking concerned as she focused on preparing her scroll and lighting her hand to retrieve her planes and summon the next batch of bombers.
Hiei held the two Abyssal cannon rounds in each hand, her palms smoking as she had a shit-eating grin on her face.
Her eyes were fierce as she glared at the Abyssal battleships, who looked a little shocked but maintained their poker faces, Shigure overhearing Hiei calling out to the Abyssals as she crushed the shells that failed to hold up against the full might of the fast battleship's grip.
"Let's play a game.
You play, 'Shoot', and I'll play 'Catch'.
I'll show you the might of a Kongou-Class battleship."
And as Shigure sailed, she could see her plan being realized as she approached the Abyssals' 10 o'clock, Tenryuu and Tatsuta reaching their position at the Abyssals' 2 o'clock while Hiei and Junyou were still right in front of them at the 12 o'clock position.
As Hiei's cannons finished loading up, Junyou's planes were materialized as everyone performed their part synchronously, Shigure, Ayanami, Tenryuu and Tatsuta all releasing a salvo of torpedoes in the direction of the Abyssal fleet.
Hiei's cannon muzzle blew out a flash of smoke and fire as her face contorted, the majestic and devastating roar of four Kongou-Class cannons echoing across the battlefield as the Abyssal light cruisers attempted to use themselves as shields to protect the more important ships and carriers, instantly sinking upon contact with torpedoes from two directions.
The cannon fire from Hiei did significant damage to one Ru-Class battleship, blowing out two turrets on the cannon column in her right hand and effectively halving her firepower, the Wo-Class's hastily summoned fighters barely managing to stop Junyou's bombers from releasing their payload and missing the Wo-Class by a hair.
Shigure grimaced upon noting that their opening move destroyed the two Ho-Class light cruisers and damaged one Ru-Class battleship, but wasn't lucky enough to sink any one of the three major Abyssals in the enemy fleet.
But then, she really hated depending on luck to carry her through missions, instead preferring to rely on reliable information and a sound battle plan to win the battle.
Shigure was now approaching their 8 o'clock position and never let up on her speed, although she instructed her teammates to regulate their speed in order to perform evasive maneuvers if the Abyssals caught wind of their plan.
The healthy Ru-Class was now seeing that the light cruisers and destroyers of the ship girl fleet were rendezvousing at their 6 o'clock as the ship girl light cruisers were mirroring the destroyers' progress and zooming in at 4 o'clock while making sure not get hit by the cover fire provided by the cannons stuck to the sides of the black pod atop the head of the Wo-Class.
Tenryuu and Tatsuta performed evasive maneuvers, Tenryuu swerving to avoid the shells as Tatsuta performed cartwheels to weave in between the bullets.
And in front of them, the Ru-Class battleships were ready to fire upon the now-split up Hiei and Junyou, both attempting to shift themselves away from the focus fire of the two battleships, heading towards the Abyssal Fleet's 10 and 2 o'clock while moving into the positions of the light cruisers and destroyers before them.
Junyou moved clockwise and Hiei counterclockwise as the light cruisers and destroyers of the 1st Fleet met up behind the Abyssal Fleet to engage in the second three-pronged attack.
All according to Shigure's plan.
"Look, if we split up, they'll be forced to divert their firepower.
And if we take out the light cruisers instantly, they will only have the large-caliber cannons of the battleships with their long reload times, and the Wo-Class will be their last line of defense against us."
Shigure explained calmly as there was still one and a half minutes left till they had to engage the enemy Abyssals.
Everyone was listening intently, focusing on their roles in the upcoming battle.
Shigure decided that taking out the two Abyssal light cruisers wasn't the problem, especially after the first three-pronged assault where they would no doubt try to body-block the incoming torpedo salvo to selflessly protect the rest of the fleet.
The problem was the other three Abyssals.
When the light cruisers and the destroyers of the 1st Fleet met up behind the Abyssal Fleet, Junyou would be to the right of the Abyssals and Hiei to their left, preventing any sort of accidental friendly-fire due to standing in opposing directions.
However, by the time they had gotten into position for the second three-way assault, the Abyssal battleships would have already finished reloading their cannons.
They would either be aiming for Junyou or Hiei, likely focusing on severely injuring one or the other rather than try to turn around to aim for the more elusive members of the fleet.
And that wasn't even going into the bombers that the Wo-Class was likely to summon.
But when she relayed her thoughts to the elder duo, Junyou and Hiei only smirked in return, the light carrier boasting:
"I'd like to see them try to sink me!"
And Hiei puffed her chest out, proclaiming,
"They'd never be able to sink this Kongou-Class Battleship, even if they tried!"
"B-But, what if they hit Tatsuta, Tenryuu, or anyone of us?"
Ayanami squeaked, not liking the chances that one of them was going to go back in pieces.
Hiei's expression darkened, but she still maintained her confident smile as she replied.
"Then we make them pay for hurting one of us."
The Abyssals now knew that this was their last chance.
And as the 1st Fleet lined up their sights to fire upon the Abyssals that were stuck in the middle of the encirclement, the two Ru-Class Battleships looked to each other, before readjusting themselves and aiming their cannons to point at the most vulnerable member of the 1st Fleet.
Junyou.
Shigure's heart stopped, the world around her ceasing to function as the cannons of the Abyssal battleships stopped whirring and Junyou's eyes widened in fear at what was sure to be her doom, not expecting the two battleships to focus solely on her.
Hiei's face contorted in fury, mentally urging the Fairies within her rigging to hurry up with reloading her cannons to prevent her teammate from getting hit.
Shigure's breath caught in her throat, but deep down, she knew what she had to do in order to defeat the Abyssals before they could fire upon her teammate.
And even when her muscles tensed up upon taking in the haunting possibility that her teammate could die if they screwed this up, she ordered,
"OPEN FIRE!"
And the 1st Fleet emptied their ammunition clips into the Abyssals, who managed to open fire on the light carrier an instant quicker than they did.
Everyone's attention focused on Junyou, who disappeared behind an explosion of black smoke billowing into the sky as the same happened to the Abyssals, having been shot at by five ship girls with cannons of different calibers.
As the black smoke slowly dissipated and revealed the situation before them, the Fast Response Fleet first saw the signature white uniform of the light carrier peeking out from the smoke shielding her body, which was a good thing as that meant the light carrier hadn't sunk despite the fact that the uniform was tattered and exposed parts of Junyou's torso and ample chest.
Blood was gushing out of several wounds, and the dissipating smoke revealed the uncomfortable fact that anything else beyond Junyou's left elbow was conspicuously missing, causing her to lose copious amounts of blood thatdyed the ocean beneath her crimson.
But it was also revealed amidst the smoke that one of the Ru-Class battleships had a good chunk of her body torn off trying to protect the Wo-Class carrier with her formidable armor.
Her right shoulder was blown off, small scraps of metal sticking out of what remained of her arm socket as liquid fuel and body coolant leaked out and stained her black uniform.
Her left eye was closed as a streak of red fluid, likely Abyssal blood, ran down her grimacing cheek as she had already dropped a cannon column into the ocean due to her arm and shoulder being unceremoniously blown off by the ship girls.
The other Ru-Class battleship wasn't faring any better, holding a broken gun column in one hand that had smoking holes riddling its armored plates after being used as a makeshift shield against the fast battleship.
She too, had her left shoulder plate blown clean off while protecting the Wo-Class, the Ru-Class taking advantage of the confusion to point her only working gun column at Hiei, ready to move on to her next target.
The Wo-Class carrier finally readied her planes and sent them out via the monstrous jaw that doubled as a hangar exit for the black pod atop her head to finish off Junyou, looking towards the light carrier with her emotionless turquoise eyes to confirm her target.
Now, two white spheres that had misaligned teeth lining the proportionately enlarged mouth flew across the skies, several cracks that ran down its exoskeleton splitting open as the bombers opened their jaws to emit a metallic screech of a beast that had its prey cornered as its bizarre features were topped off with a pair of white horns sticking out from its crown.
Their red apertures attained a visual lock-on on the injured Junyou, the Abyssal Cat Fighters performing their bombing runs to inflict damage on the enemy and terminate them with extreme prejudice.
And as the injured Ru-Class turned to her left to face the destroyers and light cruisers, she was too late to notice what was going on behind her as she cried out at what was going on in her blind spot, alerting the Wo-Class carrier as she was too heavily damaged to try to move herself into a better position to body-block whatever came next.
The Abyssal carrier heard the splashing of water behind her, but was too engaged in ensuring a proper takeoff for the Cat Fighters to notice the commotion behind her, finally spinning around to confront whatever was a cause for alarm for the damaged battleship.
What she felt next barely registered in the Abyssal's mind.
Tenryuu and Tatsuta flew forward, a shadow clouding over both their faces as their expressions clouded with anger.
Tenryuu's expression was enraged, Tatsuta's face devoid of emotions and only promising the sweet deliverance of death to the horde of enemies before her.
Tenryuu achieved air time by pushing herself up with a powerful jump, propelled forward by her running start.
Tatsuta dipped the sharp end of her glaive into the ocean in front of her, her lithe body bending down to shift her weight onto her weapon and transitioned from a run to a pole vault while pushing herself off her weapon to drop kick the Abyssal carrier in the side.
The carrier folded from the surprise physical attack, attempting to use her black conducting cane to block the incoming second attack that was the glint of sunlight reflected off of the metallic edge headed towards her neck.
A clean cut was made by Tenryuu, the sheer speed of the incoming sword cleanly decapitating the Wo-Class and cutting through her forearm as her head fell back onto the ocean.
The cable connecting the nape of the Wo-Class's neck to the black pod resting atop her head was uselessly flailing about as the black pod slipped off of the Wo-Class's head and hit the ocean, a geyser of red blood being unleashed from the headless neck like an broken fire hydrant.
The corpse crumpled like a rag doll, the Abyssal blood engulfing Tatsuta in blood and tainted her uniform before hitting the ocean surface and started sinking back into the abyss, the limp body barely twitching as the majority of her body was covered by her black cape in a manner not unlike a funereal robe.
The Wo-Class's two Abyssal Cat Fighters dropped out of the sky at the exact same moment she died, the mental connection between the carrier and the fighters severed and the fighters no longer receiving signals to direct them anymore, thus dropping back into the ocean with two harmless plop.
Tenryuu and Tatsuta both pointed their weapons at the two remaining Abyssals and glowered at them, and when the Abyssal battleships saw the carrier drop before them due to the combined efforts of the two light cruisers, they reevaluated the situation and their odds of winning.
Two damaged battleships facing off against two destroyers and light cruisers, one fast battleship and one heavily damaged light carrier.
Tenryuu slowly approached the Abyssal battleships and issued an ultimatum to the remaining Abyssal duo.
"Both of you can run and live, or fight and die."
Tatsuta lifted her head to smile devilishly at the two remaining Abyssals, commenting,
"Ara, just know that we can kill the both of you.
It's just that we're feeling generous today, and it'll just be a waste of our time."
The fact that Tatsuta was covered almost head to toe in Abyssal blood as she stared at them with hollow eyes that reflected the blood-thirst within her, causing the Abyssals to reconsider engaging in a suicidal battle by fighting to the death.
The incoming fast battleship Hiei had a death glare that expressed her unbridled fury through her seething expression as the destroyers surrounding them readied their torpedoes to fire in case the Abyssals do decide to fight to the end.
The light carrier they shot at wasn't even on her knees despite bleeding out.
In the end, as the Ru-Class battleships looked to each other, they both had a look in their eyes (or eye, in the case of the severely-damaged Ru-Class) and the 1st Fleet could see that even though the Abyssals were dedicated to their cause, they knew better than to throw their lives away pointlessly, and were able to make the decision to wisely retreat when necessary.
The Abyssals slowly started submerging in unison, teh 1st Fleet's cannons trailing behind them as they retreated, making sure that they weren't going to try anything funny.
Finally, as the black hair of the Abyssal Ru-Class battleships disappeared beneath the ocean surface, the 1st Fleet kept their cannons and torpedo launchers trained at the last known location of the Abyssal Fleet before relaxing a little to head over to the light carrier, who finally collapsed on the ocean floor with a dull splash.
"If they heavily damage one of us, we must NOT collapse.
They mustn't see our weakness for the final part of our plan to work."
Shigure explained carefully, now quite anxious at the possibility that the Abyssals could arrive before she finished relaying her plan.
"We must convince them that they are going to lose no matter what they do.
If everything goes according to plan, they'll be concerned with cutting their losses by the time they lose most of their members.
If we take out another Abyssal with the second or third attack, they'll likely retreat when we offer the chance for them to do so as throwing themselves at us by then would serve no purpose except wasting our time and their lives."
Shigure wanted to portray the image of invincibility to intimidate the Abyssals, as she knew that convincingly faking the image of invincibility was important in certain scenarios to cause the enemies' resolve to waver in the face of overwhelming losses.
Casually wiping out the light cruisers and taking out one of the three relatively powerful Abyssals in the Abyssal fleet would certainly make them reevaluate the 1st Fleet's combat potential and cause them to hesitate when considering the possibility of a prolonged battle.
This was their first sortie, but she didn't want to risk anymore lives in a battle against a superior fleet.
Indeed, they could take down every single Abyssal in the enemy fleet if they really tried, but there was no need to waste their ammunition and strength to punish an enemy that had already lost, lest the Abyssal become desperate and fight back with twice the vigor to take the 1st Fleet down with them.
"But who's going to pull off the third attack?"
Junyou asked, raising her hand and looking rather concerned, not because of the plan itself, but the fact that any one of them, still relatively green when it came to naval battles, could come out of the battle injured, or worse…
Shigure smiled tiredly, understanding Junyou's concerns and trying to allay her fears by replying,
"Our light cruiser duo, of course."
Tenryuu smiled upon hearing that, excited that they were able to participate in this battle extensively.
Shigure reached the damaged light carrier first, her heart dropping upon considering the possibility that her teammate was hurt because of her unorthodox plan.
Despite the fact that they could recover easily from injuries like these so long as their brains were preserved and recovered, it still hurt to see her friends so brutally injured, especially when she had to see her friends suffer potentially agonizing deaths before being thrown into the equivalent of the Lazarus Pit, reviving them so that they could suffer all over again so long as they were never sunk in battle.
It hurt to see their lives so entwined with Death and never able to truly die from anything that killed them so long as certain body parts were intact.
Shigure knelt down beside Junyou while the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers kept watch as they shot glances towards the wounded light carrier, watching out in case Abyssal reinforcements arrived or the two Ru-Class battleships decided to turn back and sneak up on them to inflict more casualties.
Shigure noted the injuries on Junyou, her left arm being blown clean off below the elbow as Shigure immediately ripped off the sleeve of the light carrier's uninjured arm to tie a tourniquet around what remained of her upper arm to prevent her from losing too much coolant, oil or blood, all vital components in maintaining a ship girl's body.
The bottom half of her white uniform blouse was torn as there was major discoloring of the skin, blue-black marks forming together to mix into some sort of hideous purple that covered a good portion of her abdomen.
These were signs of internal bleeding, evident by the impact of the Abyssal shells hitting the light carrier's stomach and causing her to vomit blood, if the blood that stained her lower jaw and was leaking out of her mouth in a small waterfall was any indication.
Her breath breathing was ragged and she was sweating profusely, visibly forcing herself to take in deep breaths to try and increase the amount of air that flowed through her steel body, air being an integral component in not only acting as a coolant to redirect heat and cool down their bodies in times of stress, but also as a catalyst to break down fuel to keep their ship girl modes active.
She desperately clutched at her missing arm and was lying prone on the ocean surface as she closed her eyes and tried to bring her breathing and heartbeat under control.
Shigure couldn't bear to see her teammate go, and was almost frantic as she shook Junyou lightly, trying to wake her friend.
"Junyou-san? Junyou-san?
PLEASE WAKE UP!
DON'T DIE, PLEASE!"
She was almost on the verge of tears as she witnessed her injured friend seemingly fall conscious, but as she shook Junyou with increasing intensity, she almost missed the tic in Junyou's eyebrows, Junyou's eyes finally flying open as she announced with an annoyed tone, trying to get the shaking to stop.
"I'M NOT DYING, ALRIGHT?!
SO STOP SHAKING ME!"
And Shigure started, a little shocked at the outburst as her eyes watered, smiling wanly at the light carrier as she apologized,
"I'm sorry, Junyou-san.
But I've lost friends before.
And since this was our first fight and anything could happen, I was worried that my worst fears came true…"
Junyou looked as if she was about to retort, but she coughed up some more blood upon agitating her wounds, leaning to her left as she likely felt pain shooting up the stump that was her left arm while Shigure leaned in closer as she tried to alleviate the light carrier's injuries.
Tenryuu stood to Shigure's left, swinging her sword diagonally downwards in a swift motion, the dripping Abyssal blood flying off the bloody sword and hitting the ocean surface as Tenryuu sheathed Ezekiel, all while keeping her eye on her surrounding as she guarded the fleet, leaning in to occasionally check on Junyou's condition.
Tatsuta was standing further away from them, grimacing as she tried to clean the Abyssal blood off of her uniform and wiping the blade of her glaive on her skirt.
Hiei knelt down to the light carrier's left, her expression sullen as she regarded Junyou with a tone of regret that reflected the thoughts in her head on whether she could have done something different to change the outcome, uttering with her lowered head,
"I'm sorry, Junyou.
I should have been there to cover you, as I could have easily tanked those shots..."
And Junyou finally sighed, reaching up with her uninjured right arm as Hiei drew back, both Hiei and Shigure's expressions morphing into one of surprise.
But upon witnessing Ayanami's insistent gaze, the Kongou-Class battleship slowly allowed Junyou's slightly trembling hand to meet her left cheek.
Shigure was wondering what possessed the light carrier to make this intimate move, Hiei likely wondering the same as they looked into each other's eyes, and everyone could see that she was struggling to maintain some facade of normalcy as she caressed Hiei's cheek.
Before Junyou straightened her palm out and softly slapped Hiei on the cheek, snapping both Hiei and Shigure out of their trance as Junyou announced,
"You're not a time traveler or an oracle, so don't blame yourself for something you couldn't see coming."
Junyou visibly winced as she turned to Shigure and patted her on the head whilst closing her right eye, a streak of blood flowing down her temple and risked getting into Junyou's eye as she chided, Shigure unable to deny the truth in Junyou's words.
"And you.
You did great, changing up the usual formations and coming up with a strategy that helped us sink two light cruisers instantly, and eventually allowed Tenryuu and Tatsuta kill a Wo-Class because they were too busy shooting at me.
I'd say that was a win."
Hiei sputtered as she tried to take responsibility for Junyou's mistake, her face wrought with pain as she exclaimed with concern in her voice.
"B-But, I could have blocked it for you!"
And Junyou replied, turning to her and admonishing the fast battleship, though not too sternly as she still possessed a caring tone that was trying to convince Hiei to quit it with the self-blame.
"And then what?
My planes weren't ready to launch yet, and I'm alive since the Abyssals thankfully didn't aim for my head.
If they hit you, Hiei, you'd fire later as your Fairies would be reeling from the impact, allowing the Wo-Class to send out enough planes to injure at least one of us."
Ayanami nodded, adding as she placed a comforting hand on Hiei's shoulder,
"No one can know the outcome of any battle, Hiei-san.
Let's just accept the win and get Junyou-san back to the docks."
Junyou's face was now utterly exhausted, her body now slack as she leaned on Hiei's firm body.
The light carrier now wheezed, shifting her bandaged left arm as she recommended the next cause of action.
"Maa, let's go home.
Can one you radio in for them to prepare three bottles of Burgundy, at least 1995, and ten packets of snacks next to my repair dock?
I really need a drink when we get back home."
Hiei sighed as she lifted Junyou up by her uninjured arm and made sure not to exacerbate the injuries on her belly, delicately lifting her up in a bridal carry and easily hoisted her up thanks to her superhuman battleship strength.
Tenryuu sighed and radioed in that the 1st Fleet was done with their sortie and was coming in with one casualty while relaying Junyou's order, Shigure's face relaxing as she followed in the battleship's footsteps to get up, starting up her boat slippers to prepare herself for the hike home.
Her heart had almost broken, the responsibility of the flagship position weighing down on her as she kept trying to remind herself that things could have turned out worse, and that everyone had survived their first sortie.
Unfortunately, it didn't help when it was her strategy that got Junyou in trouble in the first place, and it was only a matter of time before her mistakes got someone killed.
But she knew that mistakes were inevitable, this being her first time out on the field and actively commanding her fleet in the heat of battle.
Like her Admiral said, mistakes were tolerated in these low-level sorties where losses were recoverable and injured could easily be healed, unlike later on in the war where the stakes were higher and more lives were on the line.
But Junyou coughed as she tried to say something, Hiei spinning around as she announced warily.
"We've got company."
Everyone went into their combats stances upon hearing that, Shigure whirling around as she scanned the perimeter for any Abyssals that they may have missed.
And true enough, about 100 meters away stood an Abyssal, barely illuminated by the evening sun as Shigure raised her cannons to engage the enemy, but an observation made her hesitate as she ordered.
"Wait."
Everyone froze at that, Shigure suddenly remembering that she was the flagship as Tenryuu complained, holding up her sword Ezekiel in a striking stance.
"Maa, what's the matter, Shigure?!
She's an Abyssal, and we've got to sink her!"
But the she finally noted the raised hands of the Abyssal standing before them, Hiei pointing out the obvious as she trained her cannons on the Abyssal who was now slowly sailing towards them.
"You dolt.
It's a Wo-Class, because of the obvious black cape.
But she doesn't have her cane and black pod atop her head, and she's raising her hands in surrender."
Tatsuta commented, warily curious about this unique situation.
"Hmm, I'm interested in what this Abyssal has to say, seeing that she's heading towards us without her rigging and equipment.
But don't worry, Tenryuu-Chan."
Tatsuta's eyes darkened as she brandished her glaive, dual-wielding her Anti-Abyssal weapon.
"I'll make a pincushion out of her if she dares to try anything funny."
Shigure lowered her weapon, although she still kept a tight grip on her handheld 12 cm Single Gun Cannon as the Wo-Class came into view, Shigure giving Ayanami an aside glance as she simply instructed.
"Cover me."
Ayanami nodded wordlessly in reply as the Wo-Class was only about 30 meters away from them, the entire fleet tensely waiting for any excuse to rip into the approaching Wo-Class as Shigure cautiously called out.
"Wo-Class!
We have you surrounded!
State your business or we will sink you!"
But the Wo-Class simply sailed forward, closing the distance until she was within 10 meters of the 1st Fleet, Hiei shouting fiercely as she carried Junyou.
"Stop right there, or we will fire!
State your business, Abyssal!"
The Abyssal complied as she stopped, now standing within striking distance of the two light cruisers as she slowly brought her hands together so as not to make any sudden movements.
And she clapped.
The 1st Fleet hadn't expected this, watching the Abyssal stand so close to them without her equipment yet looking nonplussed as she slow-clapped for the 1st Fleet, Shigure gripping her handheld cannon to prepare for a surprise attack that never came.
Instead, the Wo-Class congratulated them on their hard-earned victory as she stopped, Shigure trying her best to note down every detail about the mysterious Abyssal and trying to ascertain her objective in meeting up with the 1st Fleet.
[Congratulations on your victory, 1st Fleet of Yokosuka.
You used an interesting strategy that utilized the agility of the weaker ship classes to encircle and trap our fleet, as well as striking from three directions to ensure that at least one attack hit home.]
The Wo-Class held both ends of her cape as she moved her left foot back to curtsy, bending her knees and spreading her cape with both her hands while lowering her head and introducing herself.
[I am Woxanne, a portmanteau of 'Wo' in 'Wo-Class' and the name Roxanne.
Pleased to make your acquaintance.]
Woxanne raised her head, Shigure spotting the one ship girl who didn't share the sentiment as a dark figure advanced.
Tatsuta's glaive blurred as the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser attempted to impale the Abyssal carrier through her face, but Woxanne was quicker on the draw as she caught Tatsuta's glaive by the shaft and immediately brought her glaive to a halt, the entire 1st Fleet bristling in retaliation should the Abyssal attempt a counterattack.
Tenryuu brought up her sword and prepared to strike, Shigure and Ayanami both holding up their cannons to cover Tatsuta as Shigure made a note to try and shoot out Woxanne's powerful carrier eyes that allowed her to spectate the battle from afar, thereby negating her greatest strength.
But Woxanne never gave them a reason to attack, the arms of both parties trembling as a surprised Tatsuta tried to overcome Woxanne's death grip on her halted glaive to no avail as Woxanne continued on.
[We, the Abyssals, have taken an interest in you, the 1st Fleet of Yokosuka.
We would like to inform you and your superiors that any preparations you make at this point in time will only delay the inevitable.]
Hiei leaned forward, her cannons ready to fire into Woxanne's torso at point blank range as she asked darkly.
"What would that inevitability be?
And why the sudden interest in us?!"
Woxanne released Tatsuta's glaive, the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser gripping the shaft of her glaive tighter as she retreated slightly while Woxanne lowered her hands as she nonchalantly replied.
[Your fleet has the potential to go far, and being a fleet that hails from the Yokosuka Naval Base only serves to heighten our interest in your fleet.
And that means we are also interested in what it will take to break your fleet in both body and spirit to make sure you never achieve that potential and become a genuine threat to us.]
Tenryuu scowled, uncoupling her 14 cm Cannon as she held it to Woxanne's head, exclaiming.
"Not if we kill you first, bitch."
But Junyou was the one to talk some sense into the light cruiser, predicting Woxanne's reason for her near-suicidal confidence.
"Cut it out, Tenryuu.
If she came here unarmed, then she's likely accomplished her main objective.
Killing her with a cannon round does nothing but waste our ammo at this point..."
Before she coughed up blood, trying her best to prevent her blood from staining Hiei's miko uniform by covering her mouth with her right sleeve, Woxanne glancing at the light carrier of the 1st Fleet and remarking.
[An astute observation.
I have no reservations about dying for my cause when I've accomplished my objective of transmitting the live feed of your battle to my masters.
And in case you wanted to ask, the Abyssal Fleet that you engaged in battle with was uninformed of my presence.
I was sent here on a classified mission, and I have served my masters well by observing your battle as a spectator.
I have no qualms about being killed or self-destructing now that my main objective is complete.]
The entire fleet looked rather uncomfortable upon hearing that, wondering why the Abyssal commanders would want to send out an Abyssal to spectate their battle and watch them in action.
Ayanami asked Woxanne a question, feeling brave enough to test the waters by extending a question to the enigmatic Abyssal carrier.
"You know that we're one of the strongest naval bases in the world, and we can sortie with the stronger 3rd or 4th Fleet to protect us while on sorties, right?"
Woxanne turned to regard her icily, causing the Ayanami-Class destroyer to warily take one step back as she readied her cannons, Woxanne replying nonchalantly as she paraphrased her superior's words.
[Your fleets are being recalled from the Eastern Hemisphere from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea to convalescence at the Yokosuka Naval Base, and we determined that you were going to assault the Pacific Ocean again.
The fact that the frequency of American fleet encounters on the other side of the globe has decreased substantially only helps to mount the evidence in favor of a large scale assault on the Abyssals stationed in the Pacific Ocean.]
Woxanne's gaze panned over the various members of the 1st Fleet as she explained their need to sortie more often in the near future and gain experience quickly or risk falling behind in terms of progress.
[Your fleet has potential, but you all need to clock in the hours on the ocean to gain experience quickly for the upcoming naval battles that your Admiral has no doubt predicted.
Tell me this.
Despite the heap of undeniable evidence that Admiral Mako genuinely cares about your well-being, does your Admiral strike you as the type of person to wastefully sortie their most powerful fleets to babysit their most inexperienced fleet should something should happen to them in the Safety Zone, of all places?]
Shigure countered quickly.
"We can sortie with the 2nd Fleet to ensure our safety in numbers.
No matter what you intend to throw at us, be it a new Abyssal or weapon, it will certainly struggle against the combined might of two Fast Response Fleets."
[An interesting suggestion, but unsustainable in the long run.
Sortieing both your Fast Response Fleets to participate in the same sortie will mean leaving your territories and fleet-mates from other bases vulnerable.
A large number of your fleets either possess slow speed or cannot be readily deployed like you can, making this an unwise course of action.]
Tenryuu shouted, barely restraining the urge to simply cut down the opponent before them and calling it a day as she exclaimed.
"Do you think we'll simply sit around and dwindle our thumbs to wait for our impending doom after your fatalistic declaration?!"
Woxanne shook her head gently, as though gently advising a stubborn child of the available alternatives as she explained to them.
[My masters have predicted this outburst, and has thought up of a way to prepare yourselves for the upcoming massacre.
Pray.
Pray that it won't hurt too much as you sink.]
Woxanne slowly retreated upon noting Tenryuu's clenched teeth and her white-knuckled grip on Ezekiel, Tatsuta's murderous stare along with Hiei's unbridled fury that was expressed through her uncharacteristically dark expression, simply wanting to get back in time before Junyou passed out from her wounds.
Woxanne backtracked as she maintained her gaze with her petrifying, luminescent turquoise eyes that contrasted with the shadow that the twilight sun cast upon her as she left them with a few haunting last words.
[You should feel honored upon being the first to witness the dawn of a new age of warfare.
We are interested in your potential, and an area of particular interest is how far you can progress should we leave you alone.
However, at the level you ship girls are at right now, you will be crushed beneath our heels without a second thought.]
Woxanne slowly turned away to leave, but remembered something as she looked right into Hiei's eyes, but looked as if she were regarding someone else as she stated.
[To the Yokosuka high command who will watch this later, my masters have a message for you.
Learning about the our plans at this point in time will not force us to change our schedule, and you will not stop us as we engulf this world in a sea of fire.
Tell the Infiltration Fleet I said hi.]
All cannons and weapons were trained on the Wo-Class carrier as she left, noting that she had an unusual symbol imprinted on the back of her cape, taking the form of a capital 'A' in a white font and was stylized to look like a shark that was swimming up towards the surface.
Only later would they learn from a worried Admiral that this was the rarely-seen Abyssal symbol that was used to mark Abyssal property and was never seen on an Abyssal's clothes.
The fact that Woxanne had the symbol inscribed on her cape likely meant that she was a messenger of the Abyssal high command and thus acted on their behalf, spectating and relaying the live feed to her superiors and contacted the 1st Fleet when the battle was over.
No one in the 1st Fleet could truly understand Woxanne's words as they kept their cannons trained on the submerging Abyssal, Shigure finally deciding to call it a day and let her Admiral do the thinking as the Abyssal Wo-Class was now beyond the range of their sonar, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer lowering her cannons as she turned to her teammates and ordered.
"Let's go home."