Firing her torpedoes in a concentrated salvo, Shigure ducked as the ship girls and Abyssals began their shelling and torpedo salvo.
And as Saratoga, Chitose and the Anchorage Demon sent out their planes amidst the chaos, Shigure noted the Abyssal Mark ll Fighter and Dive Bomber Planes flying towards them.
Shigure heard the voice of someone crying out in pain behind her, but she forced herself to ignore them as she fired her cannons in order to distract the rank and file Abyssals, thus allowing their bomber planes to accurate drop their payloads, Haruna's shell hitting the Anchorage Demon's shields and causing vibrant red ripples to dance across the previously invisible shields.
Shigure dived to the right in order to avoid the dropped payload of the Mark ll Dive Bomber, noting through the spray of seawater as a result of the detonation of said payload that Haruna and Chitose's combined Anti-Air fire managed to take out an incoming Abyssal plane, the Dive Bomber bursting into flames as it failed to pull up in time to avoid the sudden hail of Anti-Air gunfire.
She heard Kagerou's energetic voice call out,
"That's the spirit!"
Before being forced to evade a Ho-Class's medium-caliber shell.
Arare and Sendai's torpedo salvo struck the lone Ri-Class heavy cruiser as they worked together to force the Abyssal to evade one salvo, but was then steered into the path of another salvo, and while the Abyssal heavy cruiser was engulfed in a watery hemisphere of doom, Shigure could see that it wasn't killed by the torpedo salvo.
Second and third-degree burns plagued her left leg as she stepped out of the smoke, and while charred flesh was starting to peel off of her bones, flames were dancing on her left arm cannon as armor plates fell into the ocean.
The burns caused a copious amount of bleeding as ruptured vessels oozed out blood and fuel, further fueling the fire on her boots as they slid down her thighs to be ignited by the burning boat slippers, the flames licking at the descending drops of fuel and tempted them to rise up and further burn the weakened Ri-Class's leg.
Shigure could hear somebody grimly order,
"Put her down!"
A Type 99 Dive Bomber swept down in order to carry out the ship girl's orders, but the Abyssal was clearly still functional as she raised her arms to allow her Anti-Air turrets to take out the incoming bomber, succeeding as the armor plates of the Type 99 Bomber were shot off, sparks flying before smoke quickly erupted from the fuselage as the plane was quickly compromised.
The Fairy pilot ejected from its plane and activated the parachute in its ejector seat, but the spiraling plane droned on and spilled out smoke and fuel as it spun out and inexplicably smashed into the face of the damaged Ri-Class in an unintended, yet successful kamikaze attack.
The payload which the Type 99 Dive Bomber carried detonated at point-blank range, and killed the Ri-Class as Shigure looked away from the ensuing fireball, firing a round at a Ha-Class destroyer as she noted the Abyssal's final condition.
Blood and fuel was spurting out of the Ri-Class's neck, missing its entire head save for what remained of its burning steel skull as the corpse collapsed onto the ocean surface, knees hitting the ocean before she collapsed forwards as the Ri-Class's internal systems failed and allowed the spreading flames to cremate the sinking corpse.
Haruna shouted,
"Evasive maneuvers!"
Shigure snapped back to attention and strafed in order to evade the barrage of large-caliber shells fired from the cannons of the Anchorage Demon, whose Beast extruded a few large-caliber cannons from its flank which were previously hidden by the Demon's large dress attachment, shells whizzing past them as the Demon let fly a broadside salvo along with her powerful autocannon mount.
The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer turned around to find that Jintsuu was taken out before this, joining the three other injured ship girls as she saw that Jintsuu was lying supine on the ocean surface, using Naka's legs as a head rest as she took fast, deep breaths while Kuroshio applied pressure on a wound on her stomach.
Arare sailed in as the Asashio-Class destroyer covered her with another torpedo salvo, accurately hitting the Anchorage Demon's shields and causing the hexagonal plates to flare up in violent red hues as explosions of water vapor flew everywhere and drenched the Anchorage Demon.
Sailing away from the large-caliber cannons which were shifting towards them in order to avoid getting shot at, Shigure sailed towards the remaining Abyssal posse and fired her cannons along with Shiranui, Kagerou and Arare in order to try and take out the Ha-Class destroyers to eliminate the possibility of the Abyssals crippling their battleship and carriers with torpedoes, allowing them to focus on the Anchorage Demon.
This succeeded as they torpedoed the destroyers into oblivion, their exoskeletons falling apart as the explosion blanketed them with a series of devastating explosions as Arare's torpedo smashed into the flank of the pretty-much destroyed Abyssal, wiping it from the face of the Earth as Arare held up a fist and cheered lazily.
"Score…"
Shiranui warned, sailing around the Anchorage Demon along with Kagerou as she explained their next move to Arare and Shigure over the radio.
"Arare, stay back until your torpedo launchers finish reloading.
I counted the number of torpedoes which you launched, and you've fired them all.
Shigure, Kagerou and I will fire any other torpedoes we still have in our launchers to open up a path for Haruna and Sendai to engage the Anchorage Demon."
Arare retreated in accordance with Shiranui's orders, and gave Shigure a quick nod as Shigure sailed up, emptying her torpedo launchers along with the two Kagerou-Class destroyers in order to fire as many torpedoes as possible to try and break the Anchorage Demon's defensive shields.
And as expected, the Abyssal Demon winced and recoiled as the torpedoes hit their mark, the sound of something shattering signalling the destruction of the bottom layer of the shields, leaving the Beast vulnerable to torpedoes as a result.
Shigure called out to Saratoga over the radio, performing evasive maneuvers as the Beast sent out another two Abyssal Mark ll Dive Bombers in order to incapacitate them before they could take advantage of her period of vulnerability.
"Saratoga-san!
The Anchorage Demon's torpedo shields are down, and you can use torpedo bombers to try and take her down until her shields come back online!"
Shigure was then tag-teamed by the two Ho-Class light cruisers with their torpedo salvos, so that even when Shigure evaded one, she would be hit by the other, since the two Abyssals were obviously coordinating their actions to deal as much damage as possible while working together.
Performing a desperate roll on the surface of the ocean, she realized too late that this was actually a three-part plan as an Abyssal Mark ll Dive Bomber swept down for a bombing run, heading for her as its machine guns fired in order to soften her up.
Shigure put all of her energy into all her limbs as she pushed off in a great burst of speed in order to evade another attack right before the bomb detonated on the ocean surface, the high-temperature shock-wave of the explosion lifting her clean off the ocean as though a big bad wolf had blown her off her feet.
She felt weightless for a millisecond, the world shifting into a high shrill as she was showered with a powerful wave of seawater hitting her like a freight train while her ears rang with the echoes of the explosion, before gravity finally decided to kick in and drag her back down.
She hit the ocean while the thrown-up seawater threatened to drown her as a giant tidal wave pushed her into the ocean, Shigure struggling to learn how to swim in the midst of battle in order to try and swim back to the surface, tasting sweet, sweet air after accidentally inhaling seawater, causing her to hack and cough upon surfacing.
"AACCKKHHPPTT!"
And the first thing she saw was the Abyssal Demon sailing towards her, blanching and feeling the fear of being killed by the Demon settling in so fast, she instantly turned tail and scrambled back towards her retreating teammates, Saratoga's TBF Avengers dropping their torpedoes into the water in order to cover her escape as Shiranui called out.
"Be careful, Shigure.
That cannon likely won't work now, after you were dunked in the ocean and likely drenched the gunpowder.
Use your torpedo launchers from now on."
Shigure looked down at her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon, grimacing as she attempted to fire a shell and felt her stomach drop upon hearing the cannon produce nothing but a damp and hollow,
'Click'.
But she looked down at the Fairies which were standing on her rigging as she coupled the cannon to her rigging, allowing her Fairies to fix her cannons as she noted that two of them were standing on her left shoulder, both of them dual-wielding hair dryers in order dry the gunpowder through home appliances.
Saratoga's Dauntless Dive Bombers swept down along with another two Type 99 Dive Bombers in order to destroy the Demon's shields, and Haruna was limiting her cannon fire to consecutive fire in order to strike at the same spot on the Anchorage Demon's shields repeatedly, concentrating all her damage on a single plate.
The Demon attempted to point the violent-red plate away from the Kongou-Class battleship, but with the help of Arare and Shiranui, who forced the Demon's hand with their concentrated salvo, it bought enough time for Haruna to fire another shell into the compromised plate after re-positioning herself.
And much like the dripping water which cut through stone with persistence instead of force, Haruna's last large-caliber shell broke through the Demon's shields much like a pin piercing through a bubble, smashing through the shield and barely missing the Abyssal Demon's head by a margin, her long, pale hair flaring up wildly in the wake of the large-caliber shell as her crimson eyes widened in surprise.
Everyone could hear Kagerou bemoan,
"Ah, so close!"
But as the Anchorage Demon prepared another salvo by pointing her torpedo launchers in their direction, Shigure watched out for a possible trap as she cautiously sailed in between the torpedoes whilst watching out for the aviation battleship's large-caliber cannons.
She noted how they were shifting to try and shoot them down as soon as they were bottle-necked by the Anchorage Demon's torpedoes, which forced them to sail through the gaps in between the salvo, Shiranui evading a large-caliber shell by the skin of her teeth as the shell threw up a shower of sparks upon grazing surface of her rigging.
The Kagerou-Class destroyer flinched and ducked a second late as an instinctive reflex even when the shell already missed her, Sendai covering her as she threw an armed torpedo towards the compromised hole in the Abyssal Demon's shields.
But the Anchorage Demon was prepared for this, spotting her entrance before she threw her torpedo, and the Beast's right arm tensed up in order to propel itself towards the left, gaining an incredible burst of speed as its arm muscles all activated in order to evade Sendai's torpedo.
Watching the Type 93 Torpedo detonate on the surface of the shield and cause one hell of a wave to ripple across the holographic shield was almost mesmerizing, the sheer brilliance of the fireball causing everyone to shield their eyes with a raised arm, also done in part to protect them from the scorching heat.
Sendai was then treated to the sight of the Anchorage Demon adjusting itself in order to aim its cannons at her, her expression morphing into one of shock as she barely had the time to exclaim,
"Oh, shit!"
Before diving to the side and putting a little spin into it in order to evade the incoming large-caliber shell which flew towards her, hitting the ocean hard as the enemy shell landed behind her and doused her in seawater as a result.
But this spectacle was all a distraction to draw the Demon's attention to Sendai, Shigure spotting a tubular projectile being flung into the air by Sendai at the last second before hitting the ocean.
The Anchorage Demon noticed the Type 93 torpedo spinning in the air, projected to land on her weakened upper shield layer and utterly destroy her holographic shields entirely, further extending the repair time and leave her vulnerable as a result.
But the Abyssals weren't known for simply giving up, the Abyssal Demon muttering a simple,
[Tch…]
And focused all her Anti-Air turrets on the torpedo in order in order to destroy it before it landed on her and detonated its payload.
But despite her best efforts, her Anti-Air turrets simply weren't up to the task of shooting down a thrown torpedo which was spinning in mid-air, shrieking as her shields caved in and allowed Sendai's torpedo to envelop her in the resulting fireball.
[Aaaaahhhhh!]
Shiranui ordered stoically,
"She's open to attack.
Sink her."
And even though Shigure and Kagerou gave her strange aside glances in order to note her determination to take down the enemy without mercy, but eventually fired their torpedoes in a salvo alongside Shiranui and Arare in order to crush the Anchorage Demon in a series of devastating explosions, Haruna chipping in with her 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannons while Chitose and Saratoga sent out as many bomber planes as possible.
The dropped bombs, large-caliber shells and torpedoes absolutely devastated the Anchorage Demon as they all synchronized their attacks to land at the same time.
And even when the Demon's Beast attempted to gain another burst of speed in order to evade the incoming barrage, they only managed to strafe into Arare's missed torpedoes while successfully evading the other destroyers' salvos.
It was then hit by of Haruna's large-caliber shells, Saratoga's Dauntless Dive Bombers and Chitose's Tenzan Torpedo Bombers, the Beast stalling in the midst of performing evasive maneuvers due to tanking the damage of Arare and Haruna's respective salvos, overwhelmed by the amount of damage it sustained as everyone looked away at the resulting explosion which would have instantly sunk most Abyssals.
But the Anchorage Demon wasn't like most Abyssals, and amidst the thick, wafting smoke and steaming water vapor which descended like fine afternoon mist, everyone could see that a red light was brightening like a red-tinted spotlight, a previously low-pitched whir increasing in intensity before reaching a crescendo.
Hearing someone behind her shout,
"GET DOWN!"
Everyone dived out of the way as a massive, red-colored energy beam carved a canyon through the smoke and seawater, displacing everything in its path and causing chaos in its wake as Shigure struggled to try and regain her bearings after coming into contact with an enemy weapon which she hadn't known about before.
She should have known about this, since she had prided herself on wanting to learn more about everything, but in the midst of battle, she didn't have time to reprimand herself for her lack of research on the enemy as a drenched Shiranui hauled her up from the ocean by her collar and arm.
Shigure could see that the Abyssal Demon was heavily damaged, her hair smoking, her skin charred by harsh burns and was colored with her own blood as she scowled, her uniform singed at the edges as her black underwear was visible underneath her partially burnt one-piece dress and large coattail attachments.
Her Demon was similarly hurt as its steel armor was wracked with serious cracks and holes which allowed them to look into its bleeding insides, its muscular arms missing chunks of flesh as Haruna's shell clipped it in several areas while its fingers were twitching in pain, coughing out red-hot mist in order to cool itself down after firing a hyper beam from its jaw.
Looking around, she noticed that Arare was hit by the beam, the upper right portion of her uniform top burnt off save for her training bra, the Asashio-Class destroyer missing her chimney hat as she winced while lowering her left hand which she used to shield herself, tearing up and hissing in pain.
"Ouch…"
Shigure knew that in a real battle, an attack of that caliber would have vaporized Arare's right arm and a large portion of her body which was marked out by her partially burnt uniform, the radiating heat from the beam likely searing off half of her face as the mild burn now was a stark reminder of that.
Predictably, Tone acknowledged this over the radio as she called out,
"Arare is too damaged to continue the battle!"
Everyone now knew that they were left on the ropes by the Abyssal's hyper beam which no one, not even Shigure, had expected, and Saratoga seemed to echo this thought as she asked of everyone while they all performed evasive moves in tandem, drawing their fire while Shiranui evacuated Arare to safety.
"Did anyone know what the hell that was?
I didn't know that Demons could do that, even if I understand that they're stronger than even battleships and carriers!"
Shigure shook her head despondently, telling the truth about how her first encounter with an Abyssal Princess didn't include a hyper beam being thrown their way.
"I never saw this technique being used by the Southern War Princess.
I'm sorry, Saratoga-san, but I never expected this either."
Kagerou was the one to pipe up about how this technique was uncommon amongst Princesses and Demons, and how doing their homework would've prevented Arare's injury from occurring in the first place.
"Well, some Abyssal Princesses and Demons can perform a hyper beam, and in these situations, it's best to do your homework beforehand in order to know what you're going up against.
This was our mistake, but we can cinch this victory in order to make up for it."
Shigure could see that the Demon was preparing its remaining large-caliber cannons to fire in their direction, hearing Haruna bark,
"Break!"
And everyone broke formation in order to throw off the Anchorage Demon since she wouldn't know which one of them to aim at.
But the Anchorage Demon unfortunately chose to aim at Haruna, the Kongou-Class battleship desperately trying to evade as Chitose's Model 21 Type 0 Fighter Plane tried its best to distract the Demon with its machine gun fire.
It was then shot out of the air as the irate Anchorage Demon focused all of its Anti-Air fire on the irritating fighter plane in order to avoide taking any more damage, holes being torn into its fuselage, left wing and vertical stabilizer fin in order to compromise its ability to fly.
A Fairy pilot ejected from the quickly descending plane in order not to get trapped by the seawater pressing onto the glass window of the cockpit and turn it into an underwater coffin, the Abyssal ignoring the Fairy which activated its parachute in order to focus solely on the ship girls.
Her Beast prepared another salvo of torpedoes and cannons, firing them all en masse in order to cast as wide a net as possible in order to catch as many ship girls as possible, and Haruna had to take slow steps in order to evade the torpedo salvo.
Her action of ducking saved her skin as a shell threw up massive amounts of sparks upon grazing the roof of a 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannon, a sharp, metallic screech screaming out throughout the battlefield as she narrowly avoided some sort of ammunition explosion, the dance of countless yellow sparks fizzling out upon hitting the ocean.
Shigure looked to Shiranui, seeing the look in her eyes as the Kagerou-Class destroyer met her gaze and nodded, Kagerou and Sendai sharing their knowing look as they all ran forwards, everyone else giving their all as Haruna aimed all her cannons while Saratoga and Chitose sent out every plane they had.
The Anchorage Demon responded in kind by firing all her Anti-Air cannons and charged up another hyper beam, the Beast producing more steam than usual as its exhaust ports discharged exhaust while the insides of its widened jaw brightened incrementally.
Shigure, upon hearing the Beast's high-pitched whirring reach the same crescendo before firing its hyper beam, heard Kagerou shout grimly,
"Break formation!"
Everyone strafed, some using their boost gauges in order to quickly accelerate out of the way of the hyper beam, Shigure cringing at how hot the beam was even at a distance, since even if it wasn't at steel-melting temperatures, it was still hot enough to cause minor burns on a ship girl's skin.
Hearing Haruna shout over the wireless radio, since she likely predicted that the chaos would be too loud for everyone to hear her orders, Shigure could hear Haruna's urgent voice become uncharacteristically serious as she shouted,
"FIRE EVERYTHING!"
Everyone did just that, the Anchorage Demon facing a triple threat of dive bombers, large-caliber cannon shells and torpedo salvos as she and her Beast desperately tried to look for an exit.
But it was not to be as the Abyssal Demon was engulfed in the mother of all explosions, dive bombers scrambling to get out of the way as everyone was forced back slightly by the blast wave which radiated from the epicenter.
The resulting fireball reached up to four meters in height, Shigure almost falling over due to the force of the blast wave as she thought that her damp hair and uniform would inexplicably be dried by the heat which accompanied it, finally seeing a figure struggling to sail out of the smoke.
Whatever internal mechanism allowed the Beast to charge a hyper beam to fire at the ship girls, it obviously misfired as parts of the Beast's upper jaw was blown right off, flames licking at the dead Beast and Anchorage Demon as the fire spread unchecked within the insides of the large alien carcass.
The Beast's fingers were twitching, its death throes playing out in a last, desperate attempt to keep itself alive as it failed to receive any orders from the deceased Demon, whose charred skin and burnt dress were nothing compared to the smoke which she exhaled through her mouth, her bloodshot crimson eyes dulling and rolling up as the Anchorage Demon duo fell as a result of its Beast losing its hold on the ocean, finally expiring after one hell of a battle.
Shigure heard everyone exhale tiredly, realizing that she let out a breath which she didn't realize she was holding as Sendai and Saratoga collapsed onto the ocean, fine misty vapor settling on the battlefield like the curtain falling after the climax and resolution to a great play, the Abyssal sinking back into the ocean to be repaired by the base for another fleet to fight some other day.
They had won.
It was by no means a perfect victory.
Far from it, it was messy and full of mistakes which could have been prevented if they were more experienced and were thus faster on the draw, like Ayanami and Arare's injuries which were the result of slow reflexes and a lack of knowledge about their opponents.
But it was a win nonetheless.
Shigure lowered her head tiredly as Tone sailed towards them in order to conclude the tiring training session, allowing them to hit the docks before going for dinner.
Their injuries weren't fatal since the amount of damage the Abyssal bots could do was toned down in order to speed up the recovery process and allow the ship girls to attend another training session as soon as tomorrow, something which Shigure was looking forward to after realizing the limits of their capabilities.
Sailing towards the edge of the Safety Zone meant that they might encounter Abyssals which were stronger than the Anchorage Demon.
And while it was best for them to avoid conflict as much as possible since they weren't the strongest fleets around, engaging in firefights with the Abyssals was seemingly inevitable, and they had a lot of training to do if they wanted to survive the upcoming sortie on the 14th of May.
Saratoga was sitting with her teammates at a canteen table during dinner, the time now being 6:43 p.m. as her fleet had recently checked out of the docks after their intense training session this afternoon.
Ayanami had taken the longest to recover, since a large-caliber shell hitting her in the chest and causing several bones to crack certainly took some time to recover from.
And while Saratoga was still a little bitter that she couldn't protect her teammates, she could at least find some solace in the fact that it was a training shell, which meant that Ayanami wasn't missing a large chunk of her chest and wasn't bleeding out too badly before she hit the docks.
She looked down at her dinner which was three bowls of instant noodles, extra servings being served to carriers and battleships in order to fill their massive appetites, the 1st Fleet happily slurping down their own serving of noodles.
It took some time for her to learn how to use chopsticks and she had considered using a fork to eat the noodles, but when in Rome...
And while it took her a while to learn how to use chopsticks, her advanced learning capabilities allowed her to pick up on its nuances fairly quickly, and she was now able to at least use them without making a fool of herself.
She was finishing her food when she saw that a group of ship girls were headed towards their table, eventually identifying them as the 8th Fleet and Bismarck, who was chatting with Akitsu Maru animatedly, the foreign battleship holding something in her hand as she looked to Saratoga, the Lexington-Class carrier realizing that she was the one Bismarck wanted to talk to, although Akashi's glance in Shigure's direction meant that the repair ship also wanted to talk to Shigure.
Pushing away her empty bowls as she looked up at the Bismarck-Class battleship, she saw that the fast battleship was elated to get the chance to talk to her, her assertive voice greeting her in German as she said what Saratoga assumed was 'good day',
{Good day.}
Before introducing herself in Japanese.
"I am Bismarck, the nameship of the Bismarck-class battleships.
It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Extending a hand to greet her, Saratoga returned the heartfelt handshake as she understood that despite being a German battleship who fought for the Nazis, Bismarck strongly disapproved of their ideology and was only wearing this uniform solely for the sake of formalities.
The 8th Fleet made themselves comfortable by grabbing nearby seats and seating themselves down wherever they pleased, Kiso sitting with Naka and Jintsuu while Akashi predictably sat down beside Shigure, Bismarck and Akitsu Maru sitting down beside Saratoga as Akitsu Maru explained their reasons for approaching her.
"We wanted to welcome you to the base.
But we realized that buying you something was rather tacky, since anyone could do that without much thought.
We decided to make something for you as a gift, even though we understand that it's a belated one.
Bismarck-chan, show her the product of our hard work!"
Bismarck nodded as she handed her the item which she held in her hand, Bismarck and Akitsu Maru giving her warm smiles as she did so.
Saratoga received a laminated piece of A4 paper, and on it was an impressive recreation of a very familiar comic cover of one of America's most popular heroes, albeit with her replacing Captain America on the hand drawn cover.
It was an accurately-rendered alternative version of Captain America Comics #1, with the title being changed to,
'CAPTAIN SARATOGA'
And she saw that she was the one who was on the comic cover, punching Bismarck out in lieu of Captain America decking Hitler in the face with a nasty right hook.
She was holding a shield which was colored like the American flag in her left hand, and Saratoga, Bismarck and the small crowd of what she assumed to be German ship girls were all wearing their respective uniforms, Saratoga's fuming expression being vented through her punch to a shocked Bismarck's face, maps of America lying around the room and a live feed of U.S. munitions factories being blown up.
Two ship girls wore identical uniforms, dark blue berets and one-piece sailor uniforms with white trimmings with small anchor attachments above each thigh as well as high-collar undershirts underneath their uniforms, and they were firing a Russian PPSh-41 sub-machine gun and a pistol at her.
One possessed silky chestnut-auburn hair and similarly-colored eyes, along with locks of slightly longer hair swaying beside her face, the black ribbon on her beret reading,
'Z3'
As she fired her PPSh-41 sub-machine gun with a fierce expression, while her sister ship, 'Z1', had short silver hair and light-blue pupils, her eyes opened in surprise as she fired her pistol.
Saratoga could see that a ship girl who was dressed up like Bismarck occupied the bottom left of the cover page, wearing a peaked cap and the same red-black-grey uniform with an Iron Cross on her shoulders, long blonde hair tied up in low twin-tails with anchors holding them in place.
Standing closer to the foreground, Saratoga could see that whoever this ship girl was, she was holding a Luger pistol which was used by the Nazis in World War 2, the bullet bouncing off of Saratoga's shield as Saratoga braved the hail of bullets in order to deliver a sucker punch to Bismarck, likely chosen to be the embodiment of the Nazi regime in this alternate cover.
In a corner was another ship girl, a paler version of Bismarck in every sense of the word as her uniform was a white-red-black color scheme, a peaked cap covering her blonde hair as the dark visor almost covered her blue eyes her extended sideburns swayed gracefully, her hair also tied up in small but long ponytails behind her head.
Her uniform top was white, along with a red-white capelet with a flared-out high collar which was held together by a steel anchor and a red-black striped tie with an Iron Cross proudly displayed on it, and her black miniskirt was barely covering her jet black leggings.
Like Z1 and the ship girl in the foreground, Saratoga could see that this ship girl was firing her pistol whilst standing beside another swastika which was displayed on the wall, and was adjacent to the live feed of a U.S. munitions factory exploding.
A ship girl was seated before the screen and was wearing headsets, wearing a black-grey attire as a strangely-shaped cap which fitted underneath the headset's headband, her metallic choker extending an antenna upwards near where her left shoulder was, and her little metallic-grey jacket covered her one-piece dress and was connected to her thick shoulder-length gloves, providing protection against the chilling northern seas.
Her pale hair reached down to her elbows, and there were hints in the picture to prove that she was wearing black leggings, the ship girl facing away from Saratoga and was looking at the screen before her.
There was also a footnote which was written in the signature comics book font,
'Also
CAPTAIN
SARATOGA'S
YOUNG ALLY,
O'BANNON'
And showed a ship girl with bright auburn-red hair reaching down to her neck, styled in a way which flared out a little before curling in a little at the ends, her red eyes shining with enthusiasm as she wore a pink-colored four-leaved clover hair pin with the captions 'CAN DO' written on it, saluting the reader with a white shoulder glove-covered hand and a brilliant smile.
Saratoga felt a sense of awe and gratefulness upon seeing that her comrades, some of whom she had never met before, had done their best to try and help her overcome her loneliness by helping out in any way they could, Bismarck tucking a hair behind her ear as she proudly explained the piece of art to everyone who gazed down at Bismarck and Akitsu Maru's handiwork with impressed looks in their eyes.
"It is quite the honor to be depicted as the ship girl who punched me in the face, even if it's in a fictional work.
We wanted to help you feel a little better even if you're alone in our base, and we wanted to recreate a famous American comic cover in your image with me and the Kriegsmarine.
This is Lebe,"
Pointing to the silver-hair little girl,
"Max,"
Shifting her finger to Lebe's sister ship, also a girl,
"Graf Zeppelin,"
Pointing at the ship girl who stood at a corner and was wearing a white-red-black color scheme,
"Prinz Eugen,"
The ship girl who shot at Saratoga's shield,
"And U-511."
And the ship girl wearing a headset and looked away at the television screen.
Akitsu Maru clapped while sitting beside Bismarck, explaining how they did their best to illustrate this picture and the ship girls in it accurately, either by memory or through the internet.
"Well, Bismarck-chan searched her memory archives in order to draw these German ship girls in all their glory.
And when we weren't sure what the American ship girl looked like, we hit the internet in order to help fill in the blanks!"
Saratoga nodded as she turned to look at Akitsu Maru and Bismarck to thank them both for their efforts to help make her feel welcome, clearly succeeding as Nagato had helped her out with her past, Shigure and the 1st Fleet befriending and working with her, and comrades whom she hadn't met yet going the extra mile to make her feel at home, even when they were under no obligation to do so.
It really touched her heart, to see everyone try to be her friend even after being their enemy in the past, something which could've driven a wedge between them before she even stepped foot in this base.
It was a legitimate fear which made her initially fearful of reaching out to anyone, but after seeing everyone genuinely try to befriend her, it really allowed her to see them in a new light and allow herself to believe in their sincerity.
"Thank you, Bismarck-san, Akitsu Maru-san.
But if I may ask, you're so familiar with how your fellow ship girls look like because you're from Germany, aren't you?
But assuming that you're from Germany, is there a reason why you're stationed here in Japan, instead of back in your homeland?"
Wrong move.
Bismarck's smile stretched a little, her right eye twitching a little while every ship girl at the table held their breath, Akitsu Maru interjecting on Bismarck's behalf to explain everything.
"Well, Bismarck was bought by Admiral Mako when her previous base's Admiral decided that she would serve Admiral Mako better than she could her German commanders."
Akitsu Maru, now looking a lot less scary than when she was sortieing due to the lack of blood on her makeup and her uniform, looked down proudly at her work and promptly changed the subject, Bismarck recovering quick enough to fold her arms underneath her bosom, puffing out her chest and shooting Saratoga a forgiving smile as the amphibious assault ship spoke.
"Well, judging by your expression, you're happy with our work.
I'm glad!
We didn't want you to feel lonely, and while some of us thought it's best to create something from the heart, we also wanted to help ease your loneliness by recreating something American, something you would be familiar with.
Kiso, being an avid comic and manga reader, suggested that Bismarck and I draw the issue cover of Captain America punching Hitler in the face, but with you and Bismarck.
Bismarck gladly allowed herself to be portrayed as the one to be punched if it would make you feel better, and I'm glad it worked!"
Saratoga tilted her head in agreement, looking at a smiling Kiso as the torpedo cruiser met her gaze and shot her a warm gaze befitting that of a caring senior, Saratoga looking the occupants of the table as she thanked them all from the bottom of her heart for doing everything they could to make her feel welcome.
"Thank you.
Everyone.
I must thank you all for doing so much for me."
But Haruna responded to that, being one of the level-headed ship girls who could be counted on to say something sensible in times like this.
"But I thought we, the ship girls of Yokosuka, are all already family.
In bond, if not in class.
I don't think there's a need to thank us for doing all this for you, since you're already one of us."
Saratoga blinked upon hearing that, suddenly lowering her head abashedly in order to focus on the 'Captain Saratoga' comic cover, a strange feeling welling up in her throat as she tried to contain her relieved smile.
It wasn't the kind of uncomfortable feeling which was soon accompanied by crying, but it was the kind which accompanied intense happiness, and while she understood the fact that they didn't think too much of this act of kindness, to her, who was the only foreigner…
Well, looking at a smiling but confused Bismarck who couldn't read her thoughts, Saratoga realized that she wasn't exactly the only foreign ship here in Yokosuka, but it was at least safe to say that she was the only American ship girl here.
She explained herself to everyone as she looked around the table, giving a heartfelt talk about how she felt.
"Well, it may not seem much to you all, but I was initially afraid that everyone would want to ostracize me for being American.
But Shigure being my friend, the carriers helping me get acquainted with how carriers of the modern age fight, and the Combined Fleet fighting alongside me to help take down Abyssals, it really means a lot to me.
Compared to what I imagine would've happened because of our bitter past together, I was really thankful that none of my fears and concerns became reality."
Naka nodded, leaning in as she consoled the Lexington-Class carrier with a sad smile.
"Well, we understand that the past should stay in the past.
You're in an almost entirely unique situation, and if we were to try and push you away, it would do nobody any favors except to weaken this base, since we need everyone to work together in order to maximize the combined potential of every ship girl in Yokosuka.
It may sound like we're repeating ourselves here, but we really mean it when we say that you're one of us now."
Saratoga nodded meekly in order to signal her understanding of Naka's words, and Akashi looked down at Shigure as she asked with a fair bit of interest in their recent endeavors.
"Well now.
Did she say that you defeated an Abyssal Demon by yourselves?
That's quite the accomplishment for a fleet that's been created recently and consists of ship girls who haven't worked together yet."
Ayanami clarified Saratoga's statement and the circumstances surrounding their victory.
"Well, we were training with the Infiltration Fleet, so our victory wasn't exactly an impossible feat for us to accomplish.
We lost a third of our members after four rounds of Abyssal horde mode, and none of us did enough research to know that the Anchorage Demon was capable of firing a hyper beam at us, which took out another ship girl."
"But you won anyway."
Ayanami nodded, and Akashi took a sip from Shigure's cup of water, earning her a sideways glance from the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as the repair ship stuck to her word.
"Then none of it matters.
More training and sorties can help reduce the amount of casualties, but the bottom line is that you were able to kill the Anchorage Demon."
Haruna explained how they might feel that their victory wasn't truly a victory due to the condition they were in afterwards.
"We managed to sink an Abyssal Demon and many Abyssals, although I do admit we could have done so with far less casualties if we had more time to train up and improve ourselves.
We are in no position to boast of our victory when we've done so poorly, and in the presence of a superior fleet."
But Hayasui leaned to address the 1st Fleet, adding on to Akashi's words about the Combined Fleet's performance.
"You girls should learn to believe in your own abilities, take more credit for your victories and stop comparing yourself to other fleets.
You're not wrong to say that you could have done much better, but you don't consider how much worse you could have done.
A win's a win.
And Akashi-chan doesn't give out compliments so easily, so just nod along and accept it."
Saratoga and the 1st Fleet nodded in acknowledgement, the entire base's attention being drawn to the buzzing of the P.A. system which allowed either the Coordinators or Admiral Mako to talk to the entire base, Saratoga realizing it was the latter as the Admiral's female voice resonated throughout the canteen.
"Hey, everyone.
I'd just like to let everyone know that we have scheduled another land-warfare training session on the 22nd.
For those of you who either don't know or forgot what this training session is about, we're going to teach you how to swim, fire a firearm and throw a grenade, amongst others, in order to teach you the basics of land warfare."
Saratoga looked around confusedly as ship girls around her sighed, the Lexington-Class carrier asking Bismarck about what the hell was going on.
"Pardon my ignorance, but what is everyone talking about?"
Bismarck explained how because of the Abyssals unexpectedly attacking them in the past, the world governments ordered that every ship girl be taught land combat tactics and how to use a firearm in order not to be caught off-guard again.
"Well, because of the Abyssal land invasion back in 2007, the various governments of the world all mandated that all ship girls be taught how to fight like a human soldier, like learning how to swim, use a firearm and dig trenches, as well as learning how land and sea-based combat differed in order to fight on both fronts.
But since the Abyssals don't look like they've been planning another land assault for several years, these training sessions were held less and less frequently in order not to waste time teaching us things which we may never utilize.
However, it's still mandatory, so I suppose the Admiral's hosting another one of these before Central start asking questions about her not holding a refresher course."
Naka turned to look at Saratoga as she asked about how much of a coincidence Saratoga asking Admiral Mako for some swimming lessons suddenly caused the Admiral to announce that another land-combat training session be held again.
"Saratoga-san, do you think that you asking for a swimming session was why the Admiral decided to host a land-warfare training session?
I suppose it's really been a while since we've had one of these training sessions, but I remember that one thing which is taught in this session is swimming, and our request might have inspired her to hold another land-warfare training session just for the heck of it?"
The entire table looked towards her, and Saratoga gulped as she faced down twelve ship girls who awaited her answer, and she was thankful that Admiral Mako's voice was there to distract everyone as she looked up at the speakers, everyone eventually following suit as Admiral Mako asked of them.
"Well, since today's the 30th of April, so the date of this training session is scheduled to be on the 22th of May.
So take the time to pick out a swimsuit, since we'll be holding lessons in order to help teach you or help you improve your swimming skills.
We're already preparing the entire base to take a day off in order to allow us to conduct this training session for all ship girls without much fuss.
This is mandatory, so everyone has to attend."
Saratoga could feel the suffocating tension of the pregnant pause which filled the entire canteen, everyone waiting for the Admiral to say something.
And Admiral Mako didn't disappoint.
"I hereby use my Admiral powers to lay down a decree to make it compulsory for every ship class other than the destroyer class to wear a two piece bikini, or a sling bikini.
No exceptions."
Everyone in the silent canteen erupted into unsynchronized 'Aww man!'s, as though they were already waiting for the other shoe to drop the second Admiral Mako shifted her focus onto the swimming lessons, a slight commotion sounding out on the speakers before Admiral Mako spoke again, now sounding as though she were struggling against someone else as she exclaimed while being further away from the microphone,
"Nagato?!
I know you're taller than me, but I insist that you give me back my microphone!"
And Nagato's voice sounding as though she were struggling against her own commander as she spoke into the microphone.
"Belay that last order.
Admiral, stop climbing on me-"
Before the speaker cut to silence, everyone pausing for five entire seconds before resuming their respective conversations, Saratoga furrowing her brows at how everyone decided to conveniently ignore Nagato's last words as Akitsu Maru commented.
"Well, shit.
I guess we all have to go shopping for new swimsuits, because the only thing I have which comes close to being considered 'swimwear' is a striped, form-fitting top and pants."
Akashi asked,
"Is it the old-fashioned one with long sleeves and legs, and is colored black and white to make you look like a fucking zebra?"
Akitsu Maru nodded, and Akashi added,
"Oh wait.
It also makes you look like a prisoner, too."
And upon hearing that, Akitsu Maru's expression morphed into a lazy one as she broke out into an extremely sarcastic laugh while she used her gloved left hand to give Akashi the middle finger, every member of the 8th Fleet breaking out into a fit of laughter while the 1st Fleet sat around them silently, unsure of how to respond to such a joke.
Hayasui commented on how she really needed to update her wardrobe, the 8th Fleet now looking to be a little more invested in the conversation.
"Well, I have to agree with the others here.
It does make you look extremely conspicuous in comparison to, about 90 percent of the ship girl population who wears modern swimsuits.
I suppose living in a bizarre age where revealing more of your body is the norm, I suppose we have no choice but to comply."
Jintsuu explained to everyone their plans to go to the city after their sortie in order to get swimsuits in order for Saratoga to participate in the swimming lessons, leaning in as she spoke.
"Well, the members of the 1st Fleet, both old and new, are going on a trip to the nearby town in order to help Saratoga-san get a swimsuit, as well as to stock up on whatever we need.
You're welcome to join us."
But Akitsu Maru politely declined, explaining that they didn't want to bother the two fleets with their presence, explaining.
"Well, that's mighty kind of you.
But we really wouldn't want to force both your fleets to accompany us everywhere and make things awkward when none of us know how to maintain a conversation with you all.
It's best if we do our shopping by ourselves, please understand."
Jintsuu nodded in order to acknowledge this, but Shigure tried to steer the conversation back on the right track by commenting.
"Getting some more training, even if it's in the form of land-based combat, is good for us.
Not only is it a chance to learn more about new weapons and tactics, but we have powerful memories which help us recall these training sessions accurately.
It may be overkill to spend an entire day learning about the basics regarding how one should be a land soldier, but I suppose it'll be worth it."
Bismarck then questioned inquiringly, looking a little confused as to why this training session was held now, when they had to prepare for the large-scale battle that was to come.
"But why is Admiral Mako holding this training session now?
We need to train up for the large-scale battle to come, and I don't think we need to learn about these land-based combat tactics since we're not going to use them anytime soon, right?"
The 8th Fleet immediately lapsed into silence, Saratoga noting that even Shigure became deathly quiet and made things extremely uncomfortable for the rest of the ship girls at the table, the Lexington-Class carrier suddenly feeling like there was something which the 8th Fleet and Shigure knew about while she didn't.
She surmised that it may have something to do with the battle with the Southern War Princess, since she knew that Shigure was in the Backup Fleet, and it might have something to do with what they learnt in that battle which made them remain silent after listening to Bismarck's comment.
Eventually Akashi answered in an extremely cryptic tone, yet heavily inferred that the worst was yet to come, and they had to prepare for every eventuality.
"Well, Bismarck.
Without divulging any classified information, I must remind you that the Abyssals haven't sprung anything new on us for almost a decade now.
I recommend that you take this training session particularly seriously."
Saratoga gulped at the insinuation, and she could see that everyone got the hint that something else may be at work here, and Kiso decided to change the subject by shifting the focus back onto the new 1st Fleet, a clumsy transition into another topic which did not go unnoticed by the ship girls at the table, but it was not an unwelcome one.
"Well, the land-based training session will occur after your sortie on the 14th of May, so you still have time to get a swimsuit for Saratoga-san, and we still have enough time to prepare for whatever comes next."
Saratoga heard Akashi leaning in to talk to Shigure privately, and she could only make out a few words which the repair ship muttered to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer,
" … not exactly wrong.
The Abyssal's body is capable of …"
Before Bismarck drowned out their voice by asking about why the 1st Fleet was sortieing with the Infiltration Fleet, asking Haruna as Saratoga politely listened to their conversation.
"And if I may ask, Haruna-san, why is your fleet sortieing with the Infiltration Fleet?"
Haruna nodded understandingly as she replied honestly, a warm smile gracing her face as she returned the battleship's gaze.
"We're to escort the Infiltration Fleet out of the Safety Zone, allowing them to perform their duties while in enemy waters under the cover of night.
We were training in order to determine our limits and improve on whatever weaknesses we might identify when we review our performance."
Saratoga nodded, understanding that whatever the Infiltration Fleet were up to, they had to be escorted out of the Safety Zone without taking too much damage. And while she wasn't happy that her teammates were taken out by the Abyssal bots, she was satisfied that they could defeat the Abyssal Demon in their first session together, something which Akashi commended them for accomplishing.
She could hear Naka commenting on their performance as she exclaimed whilst standing up, causing her chair to scrape back on the canteen floor.
"Well, I admit we could have done a lot better and could do without the high casualty count, myself included.
But we'll get better!"
Hayasui lifted an eyebrow to ask her about their ability to sortie in the upcoming large-scale battle, Saratoga noting the concern in the fleet oiler's expression as she did so.
"Well, are you capable of sortieing in the large-scale battle that is to come?
Because even though we need the extra firepower and manpower, we certainly don't want you to sortie with us when your fleet isn't strong enough to defend itself against the Abyssal armada, which will be out to sink you."
Ayanami responded, echoing the 1st Fleet's thoughts as she spoke up and explained how they intended to train some more, as their other members likely were.
"Even though we are willing to join you on the front lines, our abilities and teamwork are certainly not up to par, since we lost four ship girls while defeating several Abyssal fleets and a Demon, while I believe only Hatsuzuki-san slipped into unconsciousness in your battle with the Southern War Princess.
There's still quite a ways for us to go, and we understand our limits well enough to only request for a supporting role.
And while our fleet's composition may be temporary, I believe that our other members, Hiei, Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Junyou-san, are using the time given to them to improve themselves and become stronger."
Unryuu nodded, commenting on how they shouldn't worry about the large-scale battle when they had another upcoming sortie, and they had to focus on surviving the sortie with the Infiltration Fleet before worrying about anything else.
"You need to understand that while it's better for us if you join the battle, understand that we're not so short-staffed to absolutely require you to participate in this battle as a main fleet who fights on the front lines.
You have a sortie with the Infiltration Fleet, and you need to focus on that sortie since it occurs about two weeks from now.
The large-scale battle will occur after that, so you will have more time to improve yourselves and reconsider your final role in this battle."
Unryuu then turned to Akitsu Maru, asking her own teammate about what she had to say regarding the 1st Fleet's upcoming sortie.
"Well, Akitsu Maru?
You've given Saratoga-san a welcome gift, do you have any words to send Saratoga-san off on her first sortie?"
Akitsu Maru was then put on the spot as every pair of eyes at the table turned to her, and in classic Akitsu Maru fashion, she managed to lighten the mood by choosing to quote a phrase which might have drawn the ire of others in another situation.
However, in this case…
"What do you want me to say as parting words?
Um…
'God himself couldn't sink this ship.'?"
As Akitsu Maru scrunched up her face in a confused smile, shrugged and said the first words which came to her mind, the 8th Fleet all burst out into laughter as Akitsu Maru blurted out the words which no ship girl wanted to hear, Akashi displaying her middle finger to flip her off while wearing a shit-eating grin, Bismarck smirking as she exclaimed in German before explaining how that phrase was an omen of doom.
{My God.}
"That's one hell of a death flag to raise, especially for us ship girls who often sail the seven seas."
While Saratoga was trying to rein in her laughter as she remarked over the noise.
"I got it.
I got that reference."
And they all eventually paused their rambunctious laughter long enough for Shigure to point out to everyone, being the bright and precocious little ship girl which Saratoga had known her to be as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer remarked.
"But there's no harm in saying that phrase.
Because then we would need to watch out for icebergs, which, to my knowledge, are practically non-existent in this part of the world, a French-Canadian female singer singing 'My Heart Will Go On' on the ocean, and the ghost of Leonardo DiCaprio inexplicably calling himself 'Jack' for some reason.
All three occurrences seem highly implausible, Akitsu Maru-san, and none of us being named 'Titanic' helps us out a lot too."
But Unryuu, barely suppressing a smirk, added onto Shigure's over-analysis of Akitsu Maru's words, commenting about the new American comrade which they had brought back to this base.
"Yes.
Although with the sudden appearance of Saratoga-san, I wouldn't exactly discount the possibility of a French-speaking Canadian ship girl appearing in our base.
Lightning does strike the same place twice, after all."
Everyone burst out into another bout of lively and unbridled laughter, Kiso miming the action of flinging something at Akitsu Maru with her entire arm as she mocked in jest.
"Get fucking owned, bitch!
Ahaha!"
Hayasui was wiping away the tears which were forming in the corners of her eyes, Akitsu Maru wearing a wide grin on her face despite lowering her gaze and lazily shifting her head about as she spoke offhandedly.
"Alright, now I just want to fucking kill myself…"
Saratoga, upon hearing the 8th Fleet's morbid jokes and Shigure's over-analysis of Akitsu Maru's comments, couldn't help but laugh along with the 8th and 1st Fleet, now understanding that eccentric the ship girls of the 8th Fleet may be, deep down, they were still human.
And even if everything about them, from their personalities to their sense of humor, was off-kilter and often deviated from the norm, Saratoga could see that their awkward but straightforward attempts to befriend and be closer to her were sincere.
And while she could do with a little less dark humor and swearing, Saratoga could start to see the beginnings of a unique friendship start to form between them.
It was admittedly lonely to be the only American here in Japan, but as a ship girl and a soldier, it wasn't hard for her to see that there was a place for her here in Yokosuka, along with other ship girls who fought alongside her.
The time was 6:30 p.m. in the Japanese island of Okinawa, an island where U.S. and Japanese forces had fought, bled and died for an outcropping of rock to the South of Kyushu back in World War 2.
It was an island which was slightly isolated from the Japanese mainland, but the one naval base which protected the Okinawa Islands were well-connected to the mainland thanks to improved internet connectivity, and had a fair amount of resources stockpiled alongside the occasional ferries which sailed in from Kyushu to keep them stocked up in case of emergencies.
Admiral Tachibana, Admiral of the Okinawa Naval Base, leaned in close to his monitor screen as he attempted to connect to his second fleet which he sent to Orchid Island, Taiwan.
This sortie was in response to a call which was sent from the island about a strange occurrence which the locals, already used to the presence of the strangely-designed Abyssals in their waters and learnt to avoid them while still sustaining their livelihood as fishermen, still found something strange enough to warrant calling in a ship girl fleet to investigate.
Being a lean man who had a five-o'clock shadow and short oily hair which was recently cut by his secretary ship Shouhou, he scratched at his stubble as he waited yet again for his fleet to get in contact with him, following a series of tried and true steps in which they would establish contact with the locals and determine the situation at hand, and relay it back to Admiral Tachibana for a quick sit-rep.
Along with being the Admiral of a naval base, he was also one of many Admirals who carried out Central's overseas peacekeeping efforts , his ship girls often being tasked with investigating any situations which were called in by the locals of other countries whenever they reported any abnormalities or strange developments.
Having been at this job for a little more than fourteen years, Tachibana Kentaro was no stranger to dealing with difficult situations, from uncooperative locals of other countries who were understandably still resentful of them due to their past, or tampered scenes where the locals unknowingly messed up crucial evidence, and they had to spend a fair amount of time recovering enough of it to bring back for inspection.
His 2nd Fleet consisted of Aoba, Suzuya, Shiratsuyu, Choukai and Nagara, five ship girls who were chosen partially because of their amiable personalities which were determined to be unlikely to cause friction with civilians of other countries, and Choukai said that they would attempt to get in contact with him at this time.
And in his second attempt to connect with his overseas fleet, he saw that the computer window flickered to life with his ship girl on the screen, Choukai standing on a beach along with a large, unidentifiable object located a fair distance behind her.
Choukai the Takao-Class heavy cruiser was wearing a sleeveless blue blouse along with a white sailor collar and red neckerchief, the uniform top exposing her tough abdomen as she looked back at the Admiral.
She wore black gloves while her long black hair reached down to her shoulder-blades, barely covering her red eyes as her glasses did nothing to hide her ruby-red pupils, and on her head was a headdress which possessed five antennas.
Four of them were sticking out horizontally and diagonally in a symmetrical fashion while a lone antenna stood upright on her crown, the entire contraption possessing loose wires to connect the various antennas to each other, and the only thing which didn't belong in her default uniform was the wireless headset microphone which she wore in order to communicate with the Admiral
And since the camera focused on her upper half, Admiral Tachibana could only see so much of her as he greeted casually,
"Hey Choukai.
How's it look down there at Orchid Island?"
Choukai lifted an eyebrow, an unspoken signal of hers to express the fact that there were no complications as she turned to look behind her and stepped out of the way for Admiral Tachibana to witness the scene, only speaking to the cameraman,
"Aoba-san, move up for Admiral Tachibana to see what the locals found.
This is obviously the work of the Abyssals, but he needs to see what the hell happened before this blue whale died and washed up here."
He could only inhale sharply as Choukai shifted her body in order to allow Admiral Tachibana to gaze upon the sight of the beached blue whale carcass, all while Aoba took up the camera and started strolling along with Choukai.
It was almost sad, gazing upon a once-majestic colossus which towered over the comparatively tiny beach umbrellas as it was reduced to a pile of dead flesh and bones, the deceased blue whale likely being an adult since he knew the heights of his ship girls well, and Suzuya standing near an inflicted wound which was taller than her by one and a half times temporarily stopped his breath.
The whale's buckets of blood had already stained the wet sand, the waves crashing in softly in order to wash some of it away as locals surrounded the corpse, attempting to salvage what they could from the dead whale without interfering with the ship girls' work as Choukai turned back to the camera in order to explain herself.
"We arrived at Orchid Island in the morning, at approximately 0943 hours, and we then contacted the locals at around 0956 hours.
We spent half an hour negotiating with the locals, coming to the agreement that we get to keep any recovered evidence for free, and we get to spend three hours studying the unusual blue whale carcass without any restrictions.
In return, when the three hours are up, the locals get to salvage what remained of the carcass even after the carcass had been here around 0125 hours last night, so some of the whale's flesh had already spoiled."
Admiral Tachibana nodded along as she spoke, trying to find the highlight of this story as he leaned back in his seat, looking at the situation from a few angles as he did so.
"Hm...
But I think I might have missed the punchline here, since whale deaths are sad, but not uncommon.
What's the problem here?"
Choukai pointed at the whale carcass, pointing out the biggest wound which was inflicted on the dead animal as the Takao-Class cruiser pointed out.
"The fishermen on the island didn't think too much of this death, but when they studied the wounds that were inflicted on the whale, they found that it didn't match any of the usual suspects, like killer whales.
Instead, they called us in when they found these."
And the camera was pointed down in order to focus on the two items in Choukai's hands, Admiral Tachibana's eyes slightly widening even after having seen quite a few things in his relatively long and colorful career.
The item which filled the heavy cruiser's hands actually sent a small chill down Admiral Tachibana's spine simply due to their respective sizes, something which didn't happen very often nowadays due to his 'seen-it-all' attitude which was shared by almost every Admiral which served for ten years or more.
And even Choukai, being an analytical ship girl who kept her cool with her soft-spoken voice and observant personality, was deathly silent as she presented what looked to be a pearly-white shark tooth and something resembling the end of an elephant tusk.
Or a saber-tooth tiger's canines.
Except bigger.
But the previously pale shark tooth in Choukai's left hand was sharpened to the point of almost expressing its cutting-edge through the TV screen and looked capable of cutting a dropped hair strand, its white luster stained by viscous whale blood, Choukai's glove similarly stained by the substance which dripped from the dislodged shark tooth which was extracted from the flesh of the whale carcass.
It almost eclipsed the Takao-Class heavy cruiser's adult palm, and what baffled Admiral Tachibana was how a Great White Shark's tooth paled in comparison to what was in Choukai's hand, Admiral Tachibana now giving this situation his undivided attention as he started considering all possibilities, noting the other dislodged tooth in Choukai's right hand.
It was shaped like a saber-toothed tiger's infamously long canine, about 10 centimeters of blood-soaked steel as whatever unholy creature it originated from was able to take down a full-grown blue whale, the largest animal to have ever existed.
Admiral Tachibana, placing his elbow on the table and covering his mouth in order to hide his admittedly quivering lower jaw, asking his ship girl about just what the hell he was looking at.
"Alright, Choukai.
The tooth in your right hand only seems to match a handful of the Abyssal Beasts which we've encountered thus far, and looks a lot like a shark's tooth, but larger.
I have no idea about the dagger-looking tooth, since I'm pretty certain that there are very few Abyssal Beasts which possess teeth which are shaped like that.
The presence of two different sets of teeth also doesn't make sense, since this would contradict the M.O. of one Princess or Demon per fleet, and we're assuming that only a Demon or Princess's Beast is strong enough to even hurt, much less kill a blue whale, so what're we looking at here?"
Choukai nodded solemnly in order to affirm her Admiral's thoughts, expressing her own opinion on the situation and the recovered evidence.
"Yes sir, I've considered most of those questions as well.
This…"
Slightly lifting the broken-off bloody fang in order to draw her Admiral's attention to it, Choukai continued her analysis on the curious case of the deceased blue whale which was washed up on this little island off the coast of Taiwan.
"I have been unable to determine which Beast this tooth comes from, even when its material composition undoubtedly consists of Abyssal steel.
It's an incomplete hypothesis, but until further evidence presents itself, I think we can safely say that these two sets of teeth came from two different Beasts, the likes of which we have never seen before."
Admiral Tachibana cocked his head, leaning back in his seat as he expressed a thought which came to his mind then and there, speaking into the microphone as he expressed how this attack contradicted the Abyssals' M.O..
"There's a thought which interests me, and it's how this attack goes against everything which the Abyssals stand for.
They always claim to have the moral 'high ground' by saying that mankind is a blight to Earth and the animals which inhabit it, and how our over-hunting and overpopulation threatens the lives of plants and animals, this being their main justification for attacking us.
This means that they quickly crippled our whale-hunting industry by attacking and even destroying our whaling boats in order to prevent us from hunting and killing any more whales for usable products within their bodies.
It doesn't make sense that they'd kill this whale out of the blue, since it'd contradict their own goals."
Choukai nodded as she saw things from her Admiral's perspective, looking down at the remaining piece of evidence as to what killed the largest animal to ever exist, working off of Admiral Tachibana's points as she remarked.
"Right.
And if it wouldn't make sense for a Beast to hunt for a blue whale, since it's an accepted consensus that they likely feed off of steel and fuel like every other ship girl and Abyssal, not flesh and blood.
I present one possibility for the motive of this seemingly senseless whale culling, at least until other possibilities present themselves upon further investigation."
"I'm all ears."
Looking down at the gargantuan Abyssal Beast's tooth, Choukai gulped before sharing her proposed possibility as to why the Abyssals wanted this whale dead.
"Perhaps they wanted to hunt this blue whale for no other reason than for sport.
To mortally wound it and allow it to beach itself here, for us to find."
Admiral Tachibana raised an eyebrow and muttered a slightly incredulous,
"Hm."
But to the ship girls who knew him well, this wasn't exactly an expression of disbelief, but rather a signal for the speaking party to try and convince him of their side of the argument, Choukai acknowledging this as she pocketed the saber-like tooth in order to pull out a sheath of bloody papers from her pocket, looking down at the transcripts of the conversations they had with the locals and drawing their conclusions based off the information they had so far.
"Well, the locals had tried their best to reconcile the size and shape of the jaws which would inflict such a wound on the blue whale, and one of the cleanest wounds dealt was the wound which Suzuya is standing beside.
Aoba, move up and let the Admiral see the wound."
Admiral Tachibana watched the screen as Aoba nodded, walking forward as Aoba called out to the Mogami-Class heavy cruiser with her cheery voice.
"Yo, Suzuya!
Smile for the camera, the Admiral's watching!"
Suzuya looked towards the monitor and started waving towards the Admiral, pointing at the gigantic wound on the carcass's flesh as she smiled uncomfortably, calling out to him as she did so.
"Yo, Admiral!
You seein' this?!"
Choukai continued with her explanation, the sound of flipping papers sounding out in the background as the heavy cruiser continued.
"The locals have confirmed that this triangular tooth is that of a shark, but they say that its sheer size eliminates almost every known species known to them.
The size and shape of the jaw which inflicted this wound corroborates this claim, and even when we've done the math and reconstructed the jaw which could have done this on the computer, we're hard-pressed to match it to any Abyssal Beast which we know of so far.
The jaw size and shape, as well as the shape of the teeth which they possess disqualifies almost every Beast which we know of, and those Beasts who barely fit the criteria, they possess muscular arms which they could've used to incapacitate the whale, but we've detected no bruising or contusion wounds to prove that whatever did this possessed human hands to aid in its slaughter."
Choukai turned to look at Admiral Tachibana with a grim expression as she finished her explanation.
"Whatever these two Beasts were, it's clear that they could've killed this whale in secret and never allowed it to reach anywhere close to our shores.
But they attacked this whale, chased it here and forced it to beach itself in a last-ditch move before bleeding out and allowing us to find its carcass, instead of finishing the job and dragging it into the depths…
It's sloppy work, and in my experience, the Abyssals aren't the kind to allow their work to be 'sloppy'."
"So they did it for shits and giggles?
That sounds even less like them."
"Well, lest you forget, there exists quite a few dangerous personalities amidst the ranks of the Abyssal forces, such as the Southern War Princess in all its incarnations, as well as the Re-Class aviation battleship, amongst others."
Nodding, Admiral Tachibana was already considering his next moves as he asked.
"Alright, pack up and bring the evidence back home.
We'll study it here and write a report back to Central in order to warn them about the possible presence of a new Beast and allow them to prepare themselves."
But Aoba, standing behind the camera, was the one to talk to the Admiral as she used the camera to zoom in on the shark tooth as she elaborated darkly.
"Wait, Admiral.
This tooth is confirmed by the locals to be a shark tooth, but they say that no shark which exists in the modern age possesses shark teeth this large, and they know this since they've met their fair share of sharks.
But…"
They all looked down at the two bloody sets of teeth, coming to one conclusion after realizing their current search parameters limited them to animals of the modern age, a convention might have to be reevaluated yet again when one considered the fact that they were dealing with a new Abyssal type.
"This tooth appears to match the tooth size and shape of one other species of underwater animal, but only if we expand our search parameters to include extinct, prehistoric beasts."
Admiral Tachibana gulped as he leaned in further back into his seat, feeling afraid that he was at risk of falling back and collapsing on his chair if Aoba, of all people, was going to suggest what he feared, almost whispering into the microphone.
"No way.
They wouldn't go that far, would they?"
Choukai looked down at the bloody tooth which likely belonged to an extinct prehistoric beast, although its descendants and relatives had survived into the modern age as equally fearsome, albeit downsized predators.
But that did nothing to diminish their effectiveness at hunting and killing prey, and now, Aoba was going to suggest the impossible after dismissing every possibility which they could think up of.
"Admiral.
This steel tooth doesn't belong to any Abyssal which we know of, but its general shape is extremely similar to that of a Great White Shark, albeit larger.
I have good reason to believe this is a tooth of an Abyssal Megalodon Beast."
Admiral Tachibana inhaled sharply upon hearing the words which he least wanted to hear, but knew deep down that it wasn't an impossibility.
To create Abyssal Beasts which could easily kill titanic beasts underwater...
Nothing seemed off-limits now.
This was something else entirely, a new Abyssal Beast which was out there, on the loose and could attack anyone even while underwater, a feat which few other Abyssals were capable of replicating due to their inability to attack while underwater.
"And although I don't know who controlled and ordered it to kill this blue whale, I only know that this Beast wasn't working alone.
There's another Beast out there, and they worked together to kill this blue whale, likely for sport."