Admiral Mako was sitting at her desk with Mutsu while on the 16th of May, the battleship bringing in a chair to sit beside Admiral Mako as they looked down at papers which hypothesized about what the Abyssals were up to, Admiral Mako spinning her Admiral cap on her right index finger as she had folded her left leg over her right while she looked down at the first paper, which was a report about what the Abyssals were up to on Aogashima Island.
Her ship girls were certain that there were signs of what she theorized to be a M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, which easily fit the criteria of being able to fire consecutive rockets and had tank treads which would have left behind the tracks which they had found.
The land Beast was a real mystery which she had recently solved via an epiphany while speaking with Ashigara, and she had a thought about how one land signature could be both a vehicle and a land Beast at the same time.
A transforming Beast.
It was an insane and seemingly impossible idea, but for a land Princess to traverse across continents, she had to be in a modern-day vehicle and hitting speeds which World War 2 vehicles could never dream of achieving.
But even if their upgraded land vehicles were tricked out with tons of weapons, they wouldn't possess the raw physical might of a Beast which, if allowed to take the place of the vehicle, would travel slower across the land because they weren't optimized for speed or utility.
So why not focus on developing a Beast which would be capable of transforming into a vehicle form to traverse the land and do vehicular thingies, while transforming back into a Beast when the shit hit the fan and they required destructive might to wreck everything in their path?
And they could go underwater, submerging and surfacing wherever they desired and making them technically amphibious Beasts which were distinguished from their oceanic counterparts by the fact that they carried less firepower and armor which allowed them to go on land where the sea Beasts couldn't, but probably had to be towed around the bottom of the ocean since they couldn't sail around efficiently like Princesses could with their Beasts.
So simple, yet so ingenious.
Mutsu looked equally horrified by the prospects of a land Beast being capable of transforming into a vehicle form in order to move around quickly on land, asking her Admiral about how this might be related to Apocalypse.
"Admiral, the fact that these new Beasts can transform into vehicles and move on land, could it be that these are related to the land assault campaign known as Apocalypse?
If so, we need to warn everyone about this…"
But Admiral Mako nodded as she looked at the Nagato-Class battleship, knowing that despite how the government of every country mostly looked out for themselves, they would genuinely try to put aside their differences in order to address an incoming world war as she remarked.
"Oh, don't worry about that.
I dropped 'incoming Abyssal world war' in a voice mail, and every major world power will be speaking with me via teleconference in a few days about what we're going to do about this, and I have evidence to back up my case now.
If we're to stand a chance at surviving what comes next, we need everyone to be on board, and although I understand the fact that we don't get along all the time even if we're allied around the same cause, but this time, if we don't stand together, we're as good as dead."
Mutsu nodded understandingly, looking down with a down expression as she asked about what else the Abyssals would be capable of.
"And if they are capable of creating land vehicles, could they possibly be creating airplanes in order to fight on par with every country's air force, since we know that a lack of air-power would drastically handicap them, yes?"
Admiral Mako nodded, having understood that air power was becoming even more relevant than ever, and in comparison to past wars, was entirely capable of single-handedly turning the tide of seemingly unwinnable wars thanks to drastic improvements in guidance technology and an increase in the delivered payload.
She leaned forward and revealed a written mind-map as well as notes on how the Abyssals might be able to pull off a land assault, and one idea of interest was inspired by the appearance of the Flying Dutchman and how they might choose to create carriers of their own to launch their airplanes before taking control of airfields and using them to extend their range.
"I might have an idea about that.
If they're going to utilize a aviation battleship, known as the Flying Dutchman, to blindside us by mixing up the old with the new, I think they may have honest-to-god carriers, perhaps Kaga-Class or Nimitz-Class.
I have no idea how far they're going to go with the World War 2 theme with their warships.
But I'm somewhat certain that they're likely going to utilize anything from amphibious landing craft to carriers to compete with, well, not us, since the JMSDF isn't exactly the biggest oceanic threat, let's face facts here."
Mutsu raised an eyebrow as Admiral Mako knew that she understood how after World War 2, the JSDF was only allowed to maintain a self-defense force (hence the SDF) and wasn't going to be able to handle an invasion save for their armada of ship girls, who in turn were also ill-equipped to stop this invasion due to the Abyssals' ability to keep it secret for so long.
But Admiral Mako knew that there was one particular country who still possessed the naval power to give the Dutchman and the Abyssals' warships a run for their money, and that was the good old United States of America.
"The United States would still be able to put up a fight because of their cruisers, submarines and aircraft carriers.
They'd probably try to build up a sizable naval armada without wasting too much resources on them, because most of the fighting's going to be in the air and on the ground and the bulk of resources should be focused on ground and air troops.
Modern warship doctrine ain't what it used to be since we now have ship girls, places like USA are huge and possess a lot of airfields to send out planes and has a lot of ground to cover, so I personally think the ground and skies are where I think the action in Apocalypse's gonna be, with the oceans staying mostly unchanged."
Mutsu nodded, writing something down as she looked to her Admiral and updated her about how they progressed in regards to their preparations for Apocalypse.
"And I understand that Admiral Jackson's got the Americans mass-producing weapons on the down low before we convince everyone to ramp up the production speed, all for the sake of stopping Apocalypse.
Here in Yokosuka, we're hosting the land assault training session in a week, so I think that although things will be harsh, we aren't completely unprepared for them."
Nodding, Admiral Mako looked down at her notes as she thought about how possible it was to get everyone to stand together on this issue, putting aside any agendas or grievances they may have had beforehand.
It was a tall order, especially since tensions between countries like China and Japan, America and Russia, they were still running quite high because everyone just wanted to ensure that they were better-off than everyone else while fully understanding that resources were limited and may run out one day, which put everyone at each other's throats.
And that wasn't even factoring in the undeniable fact that everyone had some history with each other, and hardliners of every country were often out for the blood of other countries, adding to the confusion of everyone beneath them who simply wanted to get by.
The main reason why countries like Japan, Germany and America weren't running the world with their ship girl armadas right now was because of the ship girl constitution which stated that despite being properties of their respective countries, every ship girl on Earth was technically protecting the world in its entirety and all its inhabitants from the global Abyssal threat.
They were not to be openly allied with any political movement or carry out politically-fueled orders in order to further their country's agenda, so the Japanese government can't say something like,
"We're bringing Japan's glory days back, let's go on another Asia tour and shower them with Japanese 'greatness' (and I don't mean anime and manga)." or "I don't like how that country snubbed me in a deal, let's make them pay for that." and order their ship girls to attack another country for political reasons.
Despite being their masters and housing them in their countries, the governments of the world had to order their ship girls to do things that in some way either helped to protect the people of Earth or helped them to win the Abyssal War, allowing for greater flexibility in their approach without being tied down by global politics.
This way, countries who didn't possess their own ship girl navy would be reassured that countries who did possess them would utilize a hands-off approach to the ship girls and wouldn't allow world politics to even influence, much less dictate, the actions of ship girls, lest another world war break out between ship girl navies because of failing international relations while in the midst of the Abyssal War.
Boy, that would be awkward, infighting when they were supposed to be united against a common enemy to the point of going extinct as a house divided.
And when all the countries of the world in action-heavy B-movies were capable of putting aside their differences in order to work together (despite their penchant to let America save the day), extinction as a result of infighting was a humiliation which no one wanted to suffer.
She was then distracted by the ringtone of the office phone on her desk filling the silence of the room, Mutsu answering it by pressing on a button before she asked who it was on the other end.
"Admiral Mako's room.
Who is this?"
And she could hear a certain repair ship speaking up, the slight breath of static muddying her voice as Admiral Mako suddenly became really nervous about Tenryuu and Tatsuta's fate in Project Psyche, leaning back as she waited, held her breath and listened to Akashi.
"Well, Admiral, I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that Tenryuu and Tatsuta survived, and there were surprisingly no complications in the procedure.
We got some intelligence from the exchange, but there seems to be a problem, although it's not with us."
Admiral Mako was somewhat confused as to what could be wrong, asking offhandedly.
"And I believe that's the bad news?"
Mutsu looked worried about what it could be, and Admiral Mako softened her gaze as she met Mutsu's gaze and shared her concerns while Akashi revealed how screwed they might be.
"Their soul manifestations said that it was entirely possible for the Abyssals, who are the yin to our yang, to pull off their own Project Psyche in order to draw more power from their souls, provided they have the technology.
And given that the Abyssals have been inactive for ten years regarding introductions of new weapon units into their line-up…"
Admiral Mako's heart sank along with her body, slouching and sliding down her seat as she sighed deeply and voiced her thoughts about how screwed they were.
"Oh, fuck…
Can we not keep getting news on how screwed we are every other week?
I sometimes hate thinking about this war and obsessing about what our enemies are up to, and I want to just lie back, chill with my girlfriends and say 'fuck this war!'.
Sigh…"
While Akashi spoke up and ended the conversation by remarking,
"Hmm, well, I'm sorry that I ruined your day, and…
Well, not really."
And after an awkward pause over the line, Akashi piped up with a clarification,
"That was a joke, by the way, Mutsu."
While Mutsu's expression softened a touch as she uttered a simple,
"Ah."
Before Akashi continued her sentence.
"I need to get back to work by performing check-ups on Tatsuta and Tenryuu and making sure that they aren't suffering from any unseen aftereffects.
So please try not to hit on Mutsu while you two are alone in your office.
You remember what happened the last time you made out with Ashigara in there."
Admiral Mako's face flushed as she looked away from Mutsu's knowing yet judging gaze while the line clicked in order to end the call, suddenly feeling as if the room became somewhat hotter as she tugged at her collar and hastily changed the subject.
"Well, I think that this complicates things a whole lot more."
Mutsu's gaze softened as she turned to look down at the mind-map, clicking her pen as she prepared to write something down if they were to discuss and touch upon an important point which needed to be written down, asking.
"Please elaborate."
Admiral Mako looked away at nothing in particular as she thought about how they, too, wouldn't want to risk their strongest units in this procedure.
"Well, much like us, they probably wouldn't want to risk their Princesses in this procedure, despite the fact that they possess reserves.
I mean, they would…
Would…"
Admiral Mako stopped mid-sentence as she remembered how Yuubari and Sakawa, ship girls who sank in her first years as an Admiral, were able to attain ranks of commander-in-chief and secretary respectively for some inexplicable reason, coming to another conclusion as she slapped her forehead and groaned, feeling shittier by the second.
"Aww…
I think that's how 'Brainiac' and 'Superstar', and that's Yuubari and Sakawa, got their ranks as supreme commanders of the Abyssal coalition.
Not just for their innovative abilities or skills which any humanoid Abyssal would possess, but they must've been used as guinea pigs for their own Project Psyche, and…"
Admiral Mako sighed as she covered her face, still feeling the guilt over having lost them while on her watch, and even though ship girls had told her over the years that their sinkings weren't really her fault since she did her best to maximize their odds of survival, she always felt as if she could have done more to make sure that they made it back alive.
Sure, she couldn't have been there to catch or block the shells which sank them, but she could have done something differently, the ability of hindsight and fantasizing what could have been hounding her nightmares and darker thoughts on shittier days
Mutsu noted down something, having realized the implications of Admiral Mako's realizations as she didn't bother with repeating what others had said, that it wasn't her fault.
She was grateful for that.
The Nagato-Class battleship asked how likely was it for the Abyssals to allow a Princess to be in Project Psyche, although Admiral Mako could see that she already had an inkling as to what the answer was.
"And how likely do you see the Abyssals allowing their Princesses to go through this procedure, if it only has a 30% chance of surviving Project Psyche?
I mean, if they haven't improved the odds of surviving, since Yuubari and Sakawa sank nearly a decade ago."
Admiral Mako nodded, now feeling rather old when thinking back about her younger self, bright and enthusiastic about saving the world as she hypothesized on how that might not be the case.
"Well, I'm not sure if oceanic Princesses would be their intended subjects…
I think that the land Princesses would be who they want to put through Project Psyche, because they'd be hit hard by the firepower and armor nerf in order to gain the ability to transform and go on land, and I think they need to make up for that somehow.
This would explain Yuubari and Sakawa's positions, they must've gotten powerful abilities to allow them to be at the top of the food-slash-command chain, since the Abyssals respect strength no matter who it is.
I'm not sure if they would want to risk the lives of their oceanic Princesses, since the Abyssal War right now is currently at an equilibrium with their Princesses being the powerhouses who're strong, but require months to repair.
And I think that Princesses are too valuable in their area of expertise to be allowed into Project Psyche, so they'd focus on buffing the land Princesses with Project Psyche for Apocalypse to go smoothly."
Mutsu nodded, and asked about how they might have to introduce more ship girls into Project Psyche for the sake of countering these new land Princesses.
"I understand that you said how we need to keep ship girls in Project Psyche low in numbers and within our base in order to keep tabs on them and protect them, but do you think we need to introduce more ship girls into Project Psyche for us to stand a chance?"
Admiral Mako inhaled sharply as she leaned back into her seat and heavily considered the question, and how they might have to consider future candidates for Project Psyche.
And finally, she leaned in close to the mind-map and considered every factor on the paper right now, giving her answer which had the best interests of winning the war for her ship girls in mind.
"Yes, but not right now.
I want Aoba, Akashi, the Fairies and the engineers to make sure that there aren't any unintended side effects, like turning them evil or making them sleepy or whatever, especially since the Abyssals certainly wouldn't be concerned with stuff like that.
But although I can start considering future candidates, I don't think that the Abyssals would also be concerned with mass-producing these New Wave units."
She looked at Mutsu as she hypothesized how the Abyssals probably wouldn't want to disturb the chain of command that was a handful of powerful commanders giving orders to the rank-and-file Abyssals beneath them.
"The Abyssals respect strength as it flows down like a pyramid where the strongest are the rarest and stand at the top, and I suspect they would replicate that Abyssal hierarchy on land with the mass-produced Abyssal mooks at the bottom and the rare Princesses on top.
They wouldn't want to disrupt that hierarchy pyramid by allowing their lower-ranked Abyssals to gain access to these powers, or create too many New Wave Princesses to muddy up the chain of command in their land invasion."
And Mutsu asked her, curious about how that was going to work when the Abyssals seemed to have no upper limit to the amount of Abyssals they could produce.
"And how would that work out when the Abyssals have seemingly no end to their numbers, since wouldn't that mean that they would need a lot of Abyssal Princesses to commander them, yes?"
Admiral Mako slid back down her chair, her butt almost leaving the seat as she complained about how her day was getting shittier and shittier, and her ship girls weren't helping at all by dropping bombshell after bombshell on her mood.
"Well gee, thanks.
As if I wasn't feeling bad enough already, you gotta remind me that the Abyssals aren't like us and have reserves from another world, and we can't even begin to fathom just how many are there even on good ol' Earth.
You're right in that the Abyssals are innumerable, and probably have entire fleets consisting of New Wave ship girls, but you could have at least allowed me to feel good about myself for a little longer, hmm?"
Sighing as the Nagato-Class battleship got up from her chair, Mutsu walked over to her chair as she easily hoisted Admiral Mako from her seat and held her up as though holding a cat by its armpits, Admiral Mako feeling her toes leave the ground due to the battleship's amazonian height and strength, both of which fueled her love for older girls like her.
Mutsu seated herself in Admiral Mako's seat as she slowly lowered Admiral Mako onto her and made sure that the back of Admiral Mako's head would rest squarely on her two breasts, something Admiral Mako enjoyed as her expression and body became slack upon feeling Mutsu's large, soft melons supporting her head and neck.
Ahh, big, soft titties.
This day just got a whole lot better.
Both she and her ship girls knew what she liked, and what she liked she sought to obtain and shower with love as evidenced by her nine ship girl girlfriends, letting out a hum of approval as Mutsu cheered her up by cuddling with her since she knew of her preferences, Admiral Mako looking up at Mutsu as she asked of her battleship about her polite rejection of her advances, since it was clear that they weren't talking business now.
"Say, Mutsu, why did you turn down my offer of being my girlfriend?
I love you as much as the others, so why?"
She saw that Mutsu was surprised at the question, but she eventually softened her expression as her smile grew warm, answering honestly.
"Well, Admiral.
I am human after all, and while I understand that you love everyone in your harem equally, as the saying goes,
'All may be equal, but some are more equal than others.'
Your girlfriends all understand this as well, that even though you may love each and every one of them more than the rank-and-file ship girl in this base (but and that's not to say that you don't love and care about every ship girl anyway), but you love Nagato the most.
And although I'm happy for the two of you, I can't help but feel envious of you for being able to love my sister in the way that you do.
It's not proper etiquette to offer second place to the sister ship of your number one ship girl as a consolation price, Admiral."
Admiral Mako's face scrunched as she thought about things from Mutsu's point of view, and she recalled something which Mutsu might be salty about.
"I don't remember my love ever resembling anything like pity love or a consolation price of any sort.
And when you say 'second place', could you also be salty about the fact that the Kantai Collection video game has Nagato as first place, which I'm totally for by the way, and you as second?"
Mutsu looked surprised at the random talk of the video game based off of them in order to boost public support for their cause, and Admiral Mako was glad to see that Mutsu's attitude cheered up as she burst out into a small, controlled bout of laughter while she gracefully lifted her gloved hand to her mouth, and Admiral Mako blushed at the sensation of Mutsu's bouncing bosom pressed intimately against her head.
And finally, Mutsu calmed herself down as she looked down and remarked,
"Well, that wasn't exactly on my list of pet peeves, but I suppose you can call it a minor annoyance of mine which you've reawakened.
And I apologize for the insinuation about the 'consolation price' part.
I love Nagato and I do actually love you a bit in 'that' way, but I understand your relationship with her well enough to know that the love between you and Nagato cannot be surpassed even by your other girlfriends.
And her love for you might, just might, outweigh her love for me, although I know Nagato would never choose between us even if her life depended on it.
I'm already envious enough of the happiness which you two share, and I wish for her to be happy; God knows how much she needs it with the stress that comes with being a capital ship and being the second-in-command of Yokosuka."
Admiral Mako felt genuinely conflicted about Mutsu's revelation, unsure of how to proceed from here on out since her relationship with Nagato was unshakable, but this seemingly cock-blocked her from being able to pursue her romantic feelings for Mutsu, this being reflected in her voice as she asked in an unusually meek voice.
"So…
My love for Nagato is cock-blocking me from being your girlfriend, because you feel that losing out to Nagato, your own sister, in romance before even accepting my offer to be my girlfriend hurts, and that's why you turned me down?
You envy the both of us for being each other's number one, and that leaves you to be number two at best in either of our hearts?"
Mutsu nodded, and although she spoke again with a happy tone, Admiral Mako knew her own battleship well enough to know that there was an impressive, almost successful attempt at misdirection in her next sentence.
"But I'm happy with the amount of happiness that you've brought Nagato, and by extension, me, and how you've treated us, your ship girls, so well.
To treat us as more than human weapons and to care about us all as though we were your children, even taking the time to love some of us as proper women…
Just for that, I'm grateful to you and happy beyond words, Admiral."
And as Mutsu tried her best not to crush in her from-behind hug with her super strength, Admiral Mako suddenly felt an uncomfortable lump in her throat as she saw through what Mutsu was trying to do, despising this feeling as she looked up at Mutsu's stretched-out smile, asking in a genuinely confused tone.
"Are you truly happy to see me and Nagato being happy together, Mutsu?
Or are you just projecting Nagato's happiness onto you, and you're forcing yourself to say 'If she's happy, I'm happy' in the classic Japanese way of self-sacrifice?
Does your own happiness not matter?"
She could see that the question hit her hard, Mutsu's expression freezing up as her smile trembled, and it took a while along with a pleading stare from her, but Admiral Mako's heart broke a little as she saw the exact moment Mutsu's heart imploded in on itself, her smile collapsing into a thin line as her expression flat-lined.
Admiral Mako reached up with her hands as she looked at Mutsu, caressing the sides of her battleship's face as she asked,
"Mutsu, talk to me.
I know that you must have feelings for me, otherwise you'd never feel as strongly about this as you do right now.
Please, help me understand your heart, since this problem involves Nagato and you clearly can't talk to her about this."
Mako heard Mutsu speak her next few words as her expression soured, looking nervous about voicing her true thoughts as she leaned in close to whisper into Admiral Mako's ear,
"Well…
I'm telling you this in confidence, so you keep it a secret from even Nagato, alright, Admiral?"
Lowering her arms as she looked down, she leaned back on Mutsu's bosom in order to hear her better as she grunted in agreement, reassuring her as she elaborated.
"Don't worry.
I may have promised to do my best not to lie to her, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her."
Nodding, she felt the gratefulness in Mutsu's tone as she hugged her tighter and spoke into her ear,
"Thank you."
Before slowly opening up to her Admiral with her inner thoughts which she couldn't share with Nagato, because they were about Nagato.
"I love Nagato and I'm starting to have romantic feelings for you too, but I can't help but feel envious of you two, because she's captured your heart while you've captured hers.
I hate that part of myself and try to bury it within my heart, never allowing it to stop me from loving her as a sister ship.
In addition to being the name-ship, Nagato's survived the war after going through so much, but I…"
Admiral Mako looked down, understanding of how Mutsu saw limited action before she blew up in 1943 and instilling a fear of fire and explosions in her modern incarnation, while Nagato survived the war and even tanked two nukes before sinking at Bikini Atoll.
Mutsu continued, looking guilty for feeling this way about her beloved sister as Admiral Mako listened silently, since it was her job as well as her wish to lend them a listening ear and help out whenever they required it.
"She's become the ship girl closest to your heart, and also part of the active fleet roster while I'm her backup.
Knowing that I'd always play second fiddle to my own sister even if I were to accept your advances, I feel somewhat bitter about that, and…
And nothing stings more than knowing that you'll already be second place to your own sister in a romantic relationship."
Admiral Mako nodded since she understood the fact that a woman's heart was tender, and although her other girlfriends were content to be a very close second behind Nagato, to Mutsu, her own sister being superior to her in every aspect might get to her in a way which other ship girls might not understand, since no one had Nagato as a sister and didn't share the same past as Mutsu.
The past when Nagato was the lucky name-ship who survived the war instead of her, the present where she was the secretary ship and was part of the active fleet roster instead of her, and would always be first in Admiral Mako's heart instead of her…
Although she was glad that Mutsu was opening up to her, as a ship girl who's been around for a while, she felt bad about not knowing this sooner, and even though the saying 'better late than never' helped to ease the guilt, she wished she had pried into Mutsu's psyche sooner in order to help her through her issues of inferiority.
She heard Mutsu continue about herself.
"Like you said, I do have some feelings for you, Admiral, but…
To see my sister look relaxed in your presence, well, on occasion when she allows herself to express her feelings for you while she thinks others aren't looking…
I love it, and I know she does since she hangs around you so much, and I would never dare to disrupt her happiness by taking more attention away from her than your other girlfriends already do."
Admiral Mako looked up at Mutsu since she wanted to get to know the Nagato-Class battleship better, but she always drew attention away from herself either by teasing Nagato or being cryptic about her feelings which she now chose to get off her chest and share with her own Admiral.
Now that she thought about it, loving her sister to the point of having no problems with sacrificing oneself for the happiness of her sister and having no problem with her sister ship taking the spotlight in her stead, being cryptic about herself and her feelings and opening up to few people outside of a small circle, and choosing to smile her problems away…
Was Mutsu taking lessons from Tatsuta about how to conduct herself in a psychologically masochistic manner not unlike self-flagellation in order to allow their respective name-ships to be happy, to allow herself to suffer in silence rather than compromise the happiness of her beloved sister?
Her brows furrowed in concern after she let that thought sink in, asking.
"I always have enough time for every single one of my girlfriends.
But, I mean, if you're talking about cup size, yours are as large as hers, so I've give you both equal amounts of attention."
Mutsu likely now shared Nagato's slight frustration at having to deal with Admiral Mako's lewd side, since her eyebrows creased and she rolled her eyes at how easily her Admiral's thoughts shifted to the jiggly parts of a woman's anatomy at the slightest insinuation as she replied.
"Well, if you want to play it that way, you'd give Yamato, Musashi, Atago and Takao-san the most amount of attention since they're the largest, with Nagato barely losing out at a close third place.
And even though you have Ashigara, Myoukou, Kongou and Hiryuu-san, all who easily fill out a D or even a DD-cup, I know you've been making advances on Bismarck, Akagi, Chitose, Unryuu, Iku and Kaga-san, and you only stopped with Kaga-san because you didn't to make things difficult between you and Zuikaku-san.
Everyone understands your blatant enthusiasm to find a Fusou-Class battleship, and you've been eyeing Saratoga-san with those eyes for a while now, so please ease off on the Casanova act, Admiral."
And Mutsu pinched her cheeks lightly and stretched them out, her ship girls never exerting enough force to hurt her (most of the time) as Admiral Mako teared up and whined.
"W-Well, it's not an act if I have nine girlfriends as of now, right?
I want to be suffocated by big tracts of land, the forces of Heaven and Hell combined will not stop me from winning the war in order to stuff my face into the voluminous bosoms of Seaport, Midway and Battleship Princess, as well as Wo, Ru and Ta-Class.
Perhaps even Harbor Summer Princesses, Aircraft Carrier Princess and Carrier Water Demon, they're all stacked as hell."
Mutsu pulled a little harder on her cheeks as she teased relentlessly, remembering the Admiral's past appearances on live television and how she was now heavily discouraged from going in front of a live audience and recording camera.
"Yes, Admiral.
And your shameless public confessions of these goals are amongst the reasons why we don't set you up for more T.V. appearances.
Because what people need to hear in times like this is that an Admiral wants to save the world because she wants to protect everyone, not because she wants to hook up and get it on with our enemies when the war's over."
Admiral Mako gently swatted her hands away, rubbing her stinging cheeks and blinking the tear beads away as she remarked about something which everyone asked her to do.
"Well, everyone asks for me to be natural and give honest responses, that's what they got.
Not my problem if they don't like the truth, and at least I don't pretend to be someone who I'm not by sprouting such false and overly-idealistic goals for the sake of appearing politically correct in the public eye.
I mean, seriously, 'protect everyone'?
I understand that I was idealistic and naive back then, but even I wasn't so bold as to sprout such lofty goals in front of a live camera and audience."
Mutsu nodded, since she knew that Admiral Mako was honest in her goals and ambitions in contrast to some Admirals who choose to shore up public support by painting themselves in a better light, but her own Admiral was the commanding officer of Yokosuka, one of the largest naval bases in Japan alongside Ominato, Kure, Maizuru and Sasebo; she had an armada at her fingertips, and public support for her was an afterthought that was handled by her PR manager.
Besides, her love for the 'aesthetic' designs of ship girls and Abyssals alike helped to secure her infamous reputation as an unorthodox Admiral who was enough of a perv for the horny masses on the internet to rally behind and support, and this carefree attitude strangely helped her to amass support in America, who appreciated her openness compared to other Japanese Admirals who tensed up when sent overseas in order to project a air of strength, looking rather difficult to approach and relate to in the process.
Admiral Mako then turned around on the chair so that she was straddling Mutsu, holding her ship girl as her folded knees straddled Mutsu's seated figure while she looked into Mutsu's eyes and spoke genuinely.
"Well, I won't tell Nagato about this, cross my heart.
At least I know that you have some feelings about me, and after learning about your repressed feelings for me and Nagato, I suppose I can indulge in both our feelings for each other by doing this.
If you wish…"
And after seeing the consenting look in Mutsu's eyes as she nodded, Admiral Mako leaned in closer while Mutsu's expression softened in anticipation for a kiss.
As she brought her lips together and slowly shut her eyes along with Mutsu to make the kiss even hotter, their chests pressed against each other and she felt Mutsu's voluminous chest squeeze harder and pile the pressure on her own sizable chest, and…
And…
She opened her eyes to find that both their necks were stretched out forwards in an attempt to kiss each other, but their sizable breasts were in the way as the Nagato-Class battleship's large chest couldn't be compressed any further, Mutsu's chest dangerously squeezing upwards as they almost reached her chin and tried to smother her.
Every goddamned time…
Mutsu opened her eyes and asked.
"Admiral?
I think you need to get off the chair so that I can lean forward and kiss you."
Admiral Mako tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow as she got off of the chair, patting herself down before the both of them leaned forwards so that their breasts wouldn't get in the way, an action which couldn't be accomplished while she was straddling Mutsu unless she risked falling off the chair.
Even seated, Mutsu almost reached up to her height as Admiral Mako leaned down, closed her eyes and held Mutsu's face as her lips met those of the Nagato-Class battleship, savoring the taste of strawberry-flavored chap-stick even after she pulled away and saw Mutsu bring up her gloved fingers to her lips in order to feel where her Admiral's lips met hers.
And she broke out into a genuinely happy smile, her expression becoming even more radiant than before as she expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you, Admiral.
Even if I've become comfortable with the way things are, I thank you.
I thank you for paying attention to me instead of Nagato, to see me not as a Nagato-Class battleship, but as Mutsu, even if it's just for an instant.
I feel somewhat guilty for stealing a kiss from you when you're supposed to be Nagato's girlfriend, but it felt better than anything I've experienced in a long while, and I suppose in this moment, that's all that matters.
This'll be our little secret, alright, Admiral?"
Nodding, Admiral Mako returned Mutsu's brilliant smile as she felt as if things had turned out a little better today.
Sure, she knew that Apocalypse was an incoming storm which seemed to get deadlier as it inched closer, and that the Abyssals likely had access to their own pool of New Wave Abyssals who had special abilities which the world wouldn't be prepared for, but this happened all the time.
If she were to be depressed every time she learnt of how the Abyssals were going to screw them over, she'd probably fall into a slump in her first three years when all her faith in their chances of winning this war got painfully eroded away with time.
No, Admirals either had to learn the easy way or the hard way to learn to bond with their ship girls and be happy with them, because if they felt bad, their ship girls certainly felt even worse since they had to get shot, set on fire, literally die etc.
Rather than allow everyone to wallow in their misery, they were encouraged to raise everyone's spirits by personally communicating with their ship girls and allowing them to express their grievances, allowing them to fight with a clear mind.
And if Mutsu was at least able to express her true feelings concerning their relationship and was happy that despite her desire to bite the bullet in order not to interrupt her sister's happiness, she was still able to attain satisfaction with one kiss from her Admiral.
She had long admitted to herself that she couldn't solve everyone's problems, but to see her ship girls be happy, that genuinely made her happy as well.
Yuudachi was hanging out with Shimakaze and Hatsushimo on the night of the 16th as they bought popsicles from Houshou's and were sitting at the pier, its location allowing for an impressive view of the ocean even if it was secluded and relatively silent as a result.
She was speaking to both the Shimakaze-Class and Hatsuharu-Class destroyers about their concern for Shigure as they were the destroyers of the 2nd Fleet and could benefit from a little heart-to-heart every now and then, and since Shimakaze had found a friend in Shigure, she was strangely capable of rivaling Yuudachi's concern for the previously hospitalized ship girl.
Yuudachi and Hatsushimo were friends of Shimakaze's and were previously concerned about her capability to make friends, but it was great to see that she cared about Shigure not just as a comrade, but a friend whom she visited in order to make sure that she was well on the way to recovery.
It was just a theory, but Yuudachi suspected that Shimakaze was concerned about Shigure's well-being not just because her sister beat Shimakaze in a go-kart race and cemented her respect for Shigure and her nerves of steel, but was likely also because the sunk Amatsukaze shared the same captain as Shigure, Captain Tameichi Hara, and Shimakaze slowly saw Shigure as a spiritual reincarnation and psychological replacement for the sunk Kagerou-Class destroyer in her life.
If that was true, Yuudachi wasn't exactly sure what to think about that.
Speaking to them, Yuudachi was talking about how she was worried about Shigure's future as she ate her strawberry popsicle, Hatsushimo eating her mango popsicle while Shimakaze, after receiving enough lectures from everyone (and Akashi) to slow down when eating to avoid choking to death, was taking the time to savor the taste of her orange popsicle.
"I know that Shigure-nee is lucky, but the things which happen either to her or around her…
She either acts like an unwitting magnet for trouble or the eye of the storm, where everything goes wrong around her while she remains untouched…"
And Shimakaze, as per her fast personality, cut in bluntly.
"Unless she throws herself in front of danger without a care in the world, as though her life didn't depend on it, the dolt."
While Hatsushimo pulled the popsicle out of her mouth as she pointed out.
"Which she… disturbingly does increasingly often, both in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island and the sortie to Aogashima Island.
Maybe we should get Akashi-san to put a restraining order on her prohibiting her from sortieing or even approaching a large body of water."
Yuudachi lifted an eyebrow to concede the feasibility of that move in order to ensure Shigure's safety, but she still respected her sister enough to allow her on the battlefield as she responded.
"Well that doesn't sound like a bad idea, poi.
But she's still a soldier in her own right, and while I don't believe we have the right to ground her, well, literally, poi…
I think we shouldn't hold her down like that and can only watch her back…"
And both Shimakaze and Hatsushimo turned to face her as they raised an eyebrow at the choice of words while Yuudachi squeezed her eyes shut, before opening them and exhaling tiredly after fretting about her sister for so long.
"Alright, that wasn't exactly the best choice of words here, but still…
I think we should protect her when the time comes, not just resort to tying her to a bed and coddle her ceaselessly.
She's strong, and will become even stronger than this the longer she fights on, and I don't want to fall behind and become a burden to her, because I, too, possess potential of my own."
Shimakaze hummed as she leaned forward on the railing and looked out towards the secluded area of the ocean, hearing the sloshing of the ocean waves as Yuudachi and Hatsushimo patiently listened to their comrade and friend.
"Hmm…
I wouldn't understand either of those, being concerned about a sister ship or possessing potential, because I possess talent instead of potential, being a constant high-performer instead of possessing a well of potential or whatever.
But I know that the both of you will be able to unlock your respective potentials when you achieve your Kai Ni remodels, even though I'm the highest performing destroyer in the 2nd Fleet right now.
So don't make me wait too long at the top."
Yuudachi nodded while she saw that Hatsushimo raised an eyebrow to acknowledge Shimakaze's words, Yuudachi understanding that her performance at Aogashima Island wasn't exactly stellar, and she had Kitakami bail her out of life-ending danger when fighting the Re-Class Abyssal since she positioned herself so poorly on the battlefield.
She stood with Shimakaze and Hatsushimo as they looked out into the ocean, looking slightly down about things as she thought about how Shimakaze might still feel lonely about not having a sister ship, something which their friendship wasn't going to solve completely.
She chanced it by speaking warily, wanting to make sure that Shimakaze didn't take things the wrong way as she did so.
"Look, Shimakaze, I admit, I wanted to be your close friend so that you wouldn't feel so lonely, but I've been thinking about it for a while now.
I know that friendship alone isn't going to fill up that hole in your heart, and even though I've told you that you can count on me for anything, I'm not your sister ship, and will never be."
Yuudachi inhaled, looking away abashedly as she admitted.
"My first thought when I was about to die at the hands of the Re-Class was being afraid of leaving the 2nd Fleet, and more importantly, the both of you."
She looked away when she felt the gaze of the destroyers beside her shift in her direction again, admitting something which had been on her mind for a while now.
"I-I understand that so far, we only see each other as fellow destroyers of the 2nd Fleet, poi.
But I want to take our relationship even further.
To see each other as honorary sister ships."
And upon looking back, she could see the surprise and interest in Hatsushimo and Shimakaze's eyes as they silently listened to Yuudachi as she continued.
"I mean, our seniors say that they already see their fleet members as a second family.
And I want to say that although we may see each other as destroyers belonging to separate ship classes, on the battlefield, the only 'sisters' who matter are the ship girls who stand by you, shoulder to shoulder as you all face the battlefield, regardless of class.
Neither Hatsushimo nor I have any sisters in the 2nd Fleet, so I don't want us to see each other as separate members, I want us to see each other as honorary sisters."
Hatsushimo asked rather caustically, although Yuudachi could hear that the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer didn't mean it.
"So you want us to treat each other like sisters so that we can feel a little better about ourselves when we're getting shot at, no?
Feels a bit like a sappy circle-jerk, but since we need all the support we can get in this war, I suppose I can roll with it.
Besides, we're going to work with each other extensively from here on out, so why not see each other that way?"
Yuudachi sweat-dropped as she saw things from Hatsushimo's point of view about how doing this was simply done to make themselves feel better, but she looked to the silent Shimakaze and spoke to her about how she wanted to be close to her, and although this was nothing more than a title as the honorary sister ships of the 2nd Fleet, this was mostly for Shimakaze's sake.
"Look, Shimakaze.
I genuinely want us to be close, and perhaps I'm not going about this the right way.
But I want us to form a unique bond which no other ship girl can be a part of because we're the destroyers in the 2nd Fleet of Yokosuka.
Will you join us, poi?"
Shimakaze looked away as she licked her popsicle, Yuudachi feeling rather afraid that Shimakaze might turn them down since the lone destroyer sometimes preferred to be a lone wolf and act alone, but she could see that there was always a part of her who just wanted to be a part of something greater, it was just that she waited for everyone to invite her since she was too timid to ask to be a part of them.
And finally, Shimakaze turned to face them as she had on a surprisingly mature look on her face while she gave her reply.
"If I were to hear this question a few years ago, I would certainly have stomped off in irritation at the insinuation that you were doing this to make me feel better.
But I now think that you two genuinely want this because you two are also technically in the same boat as me since you don't sortie with your sister ships on the battlefield, and we, as the destroyers of the 2nd Fleet, have to band together despite our difference in class.
I don't mind, because I've already accepted that I'm alone in my ship class, but sisterhood doesn't just have to be within classes, but it can exist in bond, which transcends ship class."
Yuudachi blinked as she witnessed how mature Shimakaze could be, and she threw out a suggestion as to how they could cement their bond as honorary sisters who would be there for each other, no matter what.
"Well, how about we imitate 'The Three Musketeers'?
We can use our popsicles in lieu of the swords they use in order to bring them together in their signature pose while stating, 'One for all, and all for one!', poi!"
Shimakaze grimaced at the thought and pulled away from Yuudachi as she started to regret thinking up of such an idea as her scantily-clad teammate remarked.
"That's a good idea, but no thanks.
We ate these things, and if we were to touch popsicles, we'd share the saliva on the tip, and that's one hell of an unsanitary process."
Hatsushimo tilted her head as she nodded, remarking about how they were thankfully girls and didn't have to deal with the double entendre if they were boys.
"Well, I mean, it's a good thing we're not boys, since this would make the process that much more awkward if we were to really go with the whole popsicle-touching thing, eh?"
Shimakaze and Yuudachi cringed as Yuudachi shut her eyes in embarrassment, Shimakaze almost about to lick her flavored popsicle, but eventually chose not to as she lowered her popsicle and groaned.
"Well, thanks for putting that image in my head, of our gender-bent selves with our popsicles…
And having them touch while our bodily fluids are on them…
Aww…"
Shimakaze covered her eyes in shame and extreme cringe while Hatsushimo shrugged, her expression expressing some level of regret as she remarked.
"Well, you gotta admit, us being in an all-girl's naval base has all the homoerotic subtext in the world.
And rather than fight it, why not milk it for all it's worth?"
And Hatsushimo mirrored their expressions as she felt the cringe in her last statement, Shimakaze holding up a gloved hand as she stated.
"Please. Stop. Talking."
This elicited a chuckle from both Yuudachi and Hatsushimo, and Shimakaze smirked at how she was bonding with her teammates, even when off-duty.
Yuudachi turned to look at them as she suggested something else in order to double as a bonding ceremony for the three of them.
"Well then, how about doing that thing in The Romance of Three Kingdoms?
The three guys sat together in a garden, took an oath and became sworn brothers, right?"
Hatsushimo turned to look at her, now looking genuinely interested in performing the process and becoming honorary sisters who'd stand by each other so long as they were members of Yokosuka's 2nd Fleet.
"You mean the Oath of the Peach Garden where Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei became sworn brothers?
I suppose there are three of us present, and it fits our goal of being sworn ship sisters of the 2nd Fleet.
So might as well, hmm?"
Shimakaze shrugged, looking to the both of them as she too, looked forward to the idea of having honorary ship sisters, her mature expression aging her a little.
"Well, better late than never, right?
And I mean, we're sisters-in-arms who ride together into battle, so might as well go all the way and make it official, hmm?"
Yuudachi smiled at that, knowing that the loss of Amatsukaze affected her deeply, and although she was initially uncertain if she would shy away from being close to anyone else because of her loss, being on several sorties with her helped her to see that the Shimakaze-Class destroyer actually became rather protective of those close to her, since she didn't want to lose them like she did with Amatsukaze.
And although her lone wolf personality still showed at times, she made a genuine attempt to try and work together as a team, even attempting to come to her rescue in the battle of Aogashima Island.
Nodding, she saw that Hatsushimo had already whipped out her touch-phone in order to look up the speech which brought the three men together, and she had her popsicle in her mouth which freed up both her hands for faster researching speed, finally pulling the popsicle out of her mouth as she spoke.
"Well, I got the speech here, although we do need to change it up a little to fit our situation.
So repeat after me, alright?"
And she held up her popsicle, prompting Shimakaze to lift an eyebrow as she asked.
"So we're still going with the whole popsicle thing?"
Hatsushimo replied idly.
"Well, if you think it'll make it feel less gay, I suppose we won't have the tips touch."
Shimakaze looked to Yuudachi, who shrugged nonchalantly and prompted the fast destroyer to accept the compromise, the both of them following suit by raising their popsicles and positioning them close to each other.
Hatsushimo looked down at her touch phone, reciting from the words on the screen for the two of them to repeat, Yuudachi suddenly feeling her own body becoming hot and her heartbeat starting to resound in her mind for some reason.
"'When saying the names Shimakaze, Yuudachi and Hatsushimo, although our class names are different, we have come together as sisters.
From this day forward, we shall join forces for a common purpose: to save the troubled and to aid the endangered.
We shall defend the nation behind us, by fighting alongside our comrades and sisters beside us, in order to sink the enemies before us.
We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year.
We merely hope to sink on the same day, in the same month and in the same year.
May the Gods of Heaven and Earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may Heaven and the people of the Earth both strike us dead.'"
And they lowered their popsicles, Yuudachi looking over to Shimakaze as she mentally calmed herself down in her mind before asking Shimakaze.
"Well?
Do you feel any different, Shimakaze?"
She could see that even though the fast destroyer seemed a little nonplussed by the anticlimax of the speech, it seemed a little surreal to her as she returned the gaze and replied.
"Hmm, I wouldn't know.
I mean, I don't have any ship sisters, so I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to feel right now?
I understand that sisters don't constantly race each other, so I'm not exactly sure what else sisters should do with each other."
Hatsushimo nodded in understanding, and Yuudachi leaned on her as she slung her right hand over Shimakaze's shoulders and remarked coolly into her ear.
"Well, I suppose we can move into the same bedroom so that we all can live together in our off time.
And as your honorary sister, I get to do this while expecting myself to be forgiven later, so…"
She tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned down to suck Shimakaze's popsicle before breaking a piece off, swallowing it as she licked her lips while the look on Shimakaze' face turned from questioning to comically horrified, immediately giving chase to a fleeing Yuudachi as she exclaimed halfheartedly.
"Ok, you know what, I changed my mind.
I don't like having sisters anymore!"
She saw that Hatsushimo was laughing merrily at Shimakaze's annoyance at her for stealing a bite of her popsicle, and Shimakaze was actually looking extremely fond of this bonding between them despite being from different ship classes, and Yuudachi was looking forward to being honorary sisters with the previously lonely Shimakaze-Class destroyer.
Along with Shigure being a quasi-replacement for Shimakaze in lieu of Amatsukaze (which Yuudachi still wasn't entirely sure what to think), she knew that Shimakaze would certainly be cheering up in the days that were to come.
It was all quiet on the Southern front, and a small group of ship girls were gathering resources near an island known as Helen Reef, East of Indonesia and North-West of Papua New Guinea which was within the Safety Zone, and they had taken pit stops at Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines on the way here.
The mostly-abandoned island was left by the 40-odd people who previously lived there, but it was still located at a safe distance from human civilization and was thus accessible to the ship girls who went there to gather resources, which in and of itself was a fickle task and required different ship classes for every area, since they had to cart around and operate resource extraction tools at certain areas for the highest odds of success.
This was were information-sharing between bases and countries paid off, since they required inter-base cooperation to defend these areas and mine from them while sending out the right ship girls for the job, much like how one particular area required a mostly-submarine fleet to access an underwater cave in order to mine for resources.
A fleet from the Yakushima Naval Base was at Helen's Reef, where Shirayuki, Mutsuki, Kisaragi, Natori, Inazuma and Ikazuchi were watching over a machine which consisted of smaller parts which unfolded and combined together to become an oil rig of sorts which was manned by the Fairies.
It possessed an upgraded version of their boat slippers to allow their relatively small rig to haul up large quantities of resources in one go while floating on the surface of the ocean, with help from the ship girls who brought their rigging to said location in case of emergencies.
And while the strength of destroyers and light cruisers were usually enough to assist the Fairies in their expedition endeavors, they required the strength of carriers and/or battleships for deeper/trickier hauls or for providing a security detail when they mined at locations which were located deeper in Abyssal waters.
Magnet-based extensions allowed the 'oil rig' to extract metal ores from the ocean to be refined into steel back in the base as past ship girls recorded in their past visits, and right now, Shirayuki had gotten up from her squatting position, having finished tonight's ration as she turned back to the sight of Mutsuki and Ikazuchi keeping watch for enemies or helping the busy Natori out amidst the darkened ocean in the dead of night.
Mutsuki and Kisaragi were wearing the same white school uniform with green sailor collar and skirt with brown leggings and a black neck ribbon around their sailor collar, and while they had the same vibrant purple-pink hair, where they differed was that Mutsuki had short hair which curled in at the ends while Kisaragi had long, flowing hair.
Kisaragi had a flower-shaped hairpiece on the left of her head with three pink petals, and Kisaragi wore brown thigh-high stockings while Mutsuki wore brown pantyhose which covered the entirety of her legs.
Ikazuchi and Inazuma were also sister ships who shared similar uniforms with dark-grey skirts and sailor collars with a white anchor emblazoned on it, and while Ikazuchi's black tights reached up to her thighs, Inazuma's reached up to her knees.
They shared the same red neckerchief and short, disheveled reddish-brown hair and pupils, but Ikazuchi's fringe was held in place by a hair-clip and had extensions which flared out and formed ringlets while Inazuma's hair was tied in a ponytail which was folded upwards behind her head and was held in place by a hair clip.
And on them was a white-colored clip which resembled a roman numeral III, and while the clip was attached where Inazuma's right kidney was, it was also located on the right flap on Ikazuchi's sailor collar.
Chaperoning them was Natori, a light cruiser who was the mandatory (in most cases) grown up sent to lead the fleet and do the heavy lifting while consuming minimal resources in the process to maximize profits for the naval base.
Her miko-esque uniform had no sleeves, and shide, white zigzag-shaped paper streamers, were attached to her maroon-colored sailor collar near her armpits as they flared out, and her pleated skirt was red as they left a strip of thigh flesh exposed while the rest of her legs were covered by white thigh-highs, as were her arms with detached white sleeves as they were held in place by brown ribbons tied around her upper arms and near her wrists.
Her short brown hair was held down by a white headband, and she provided the most protection with her rigging as it was well-equipped with several 14 Cm Cannons and a bull-pup assault rifle-esque handheld weapon with another 14 Cm cannon at the forefront and an Anti-Air turret atop it, where its sights were supposed to be.
Right now, she was heaving as she worked on a winch which protruded from the side of the Fairy oil rig, helping the Fairies achieve the mechanical power needed to extract the oil from the bottom of the ocean while the destroyers watched out for threats on the ocean.
Shirayuki replaced Inazuma on the night watch and allowed the obviously tired Akatsuki-Class destroyer to rest up by eating some rations and taking a short nap in a squatting position, with their arms wrapped around their folded legs while using their kneecaps as a headrest, a skill which all expedition ships learnt eventually to allow their boat slippers to function while they slept.
But all she needed to hear was Mutsuki warning everyone about a possible confrontation with an enemy as she called out while tensing up.
"Everyone!
There's an Abyssal on the horizon; I think she's on the island of Helen Reef!"
And everyone brought out their weapons, even Inazuma who brought out a 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon and pulled the hammer in order to fire off a quick first shot if required, the only thing sounding out right now was the slight creak of the winch which Natori worked, looking ready to step in with her cannons if needed.
All of them had their night-vision turned on and had zoomed in closer in order to spot their enemy which attempted to hide its signature by approaching from the island, but it was still a grainy green image of an adolescent woman standing off in the extreme distance on the island, along with a dark shadow lurking behind her.
No, wait.
It was standing behind her as it was aglow on certain body parts, leaning forwards menacingly but was positioned in a way that showed its protectiveness of the Abyssal in question.
Shirayuki noted the sound of a reconnaissance plane being sent out by Natori's rigging in order to assess the situation, and she heard Kisaragi attempting to lighten up the mood by remarking.
"Well, this Abyssal, whoever it is, certainly isn't wearing much on that white, luscious, reflective skin.
I like her already."
And she sensually licked her lips, Inazuma looking a little panicked as she replied in a pacifying tone while everyone sweat-dropped.
"Hawawa, that's rather indecent, Kisaragi-san.
And we shouldn't compliment what the enemy wears, or rather, doesn't wear…"
Shirayuki did indeed notice the similarities of this Abyssal to the Aircraft Carrier Princess, what with the dark armored shoulder gloves and thigh highs, and if it weren't for a handful of dark pixels covering up where it really mattered on her pale body, she would have thought that the Abyssal was going entirely nude, which wasn't exactly that far-fetched when you saw how much certain Abyssal units revealed to everyone…
With the Reconnaissance Plane sent out and approaching the island, Natori stopped spinning the winch as she focused on getting intel from the Reconnaissance Plane and relaying it to everyone, Shirayuki opening a computer window on her HUD which reflected what the airborne plane saw and detected.
It was certainly an Abyssal, but unlike anything which they had encountered since its shadowy Beast was relatively large compared to the Abyssal it was standing behind.
But it wasn't large enough for it to be a wandering Aircraft Carrier Demon or Princess, and the shadow was separate from the Abyssal like a Beast and its Princess, which eliminated most Abyssals from their list of possible adversaries.
And the signature which it helped the ship girls to pick up confused them even more, as it read,
'ABYSSAL/SHIP GIRL/? ? ? SIGNAL DETECTED
KAGEROU-CLASS DESTROYER 181
"AMATSUKAZE"
STATUS: ? ? ?
ERROR: UNIT TYPE UNCLEAR
ERROR: UNIT STATUS PREVIOUSLY 'SUNK'.'
Mutsuki furrowed her brows, holding her cannon up in preparation for a fight as she voiced the question which was on everyone's mind.
"Um…
How can an Abyssal also be classified as both a ship girl and Abyssal at the same time?
Just what the hell is it?"
But Natori surprisingly put a hand on the Mutsuki-Class destroyer's shoulder as she moved forward in order to put herself between the Abyssal and her destroyers, an unusually grim expression gracing her face as she held up her bull-pup assault rifle, answering in a no-nonsense tone.
"I don't know.
And that's what scares me, the fact that we're not sure what we're dealing with here, and I would know; I've sat through the lessons on Abyssals and even I can't identify who's that.
But so long as that Abyssal doesn't attack us, I think we're safe, but I want to be sure."
Pointing back without looking in the direction of the Fairy oil rig, she professionally ordered the destroyers present to pack up and be ready to run.
"This expedition is over.
Help the Fairies pack up the equipment, and be ready to dump the extracted resources if they slow us down in our attempt to retreat."
Shirayuki, watching the other destroyers follow her orders, raised an eyebrow as she turned to look up at the worried Natori and made sure she meant no offense before asking.
"I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries, Natori-san, but shouldn't we attempt to fight off this Abyssal on the off-chance it's sent here to rob us of our resources?"
And Natori looked down at her with concerned eyes, answering with blunt honesty.
"And what are we to do if she sinks one of us?
I am the one to make the call to abandon the resources if it'll deter her in any way, since resources can always be gathered again when you go on more expeditions.
A ship girl is lost forever if she's sunk, so I prioritize our lives over the resources we gathered, and on the off chance our Admiral sees a problem with that, I'll take responsibility for the outcome of the expedition as our fleet leader, not you."
Shirayuki bowed towards her, ashamed of herself for questioning her fleet leader's decisions and her concern for their well-being as she remarked apologetically.
"Forgive me.
I did not mean to question your choice-making skills as our leader, I was just…"
But she felt Natori's hand on her head as the Nagara-Class light cruiser ruffled her head, looking up to find Natori looking extremely understanding about her decision to ask that question.
"It's alright.
You're worried about accomplishing our objective, and how we might waste the Admiral's time and resources after sending us so far out to procure resources for the base."
Shirayuki grimaced as she turned back to the immobile statue that was the Abyssal with her Beast, feeling the sweat start to trickle upon considering the implications of her next question as she asked her senior.
"And what happens… if she's out for us?
What are we to do if she doesn't want our resources, but our lives?"
She gulped at the thought of sinking again as she held her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon in a death grip, and she could hear the realist within Natori expressing herself as she pulled the cocking handle of her handheld weapon while she spoke darkly.
"Then, we fight.
Judging by how little this new Abyssal carries around her, she's likely to be fast like us, so outrunning it might not work, although that doesn't mean we won't try.
We send an SOS signal out and hold our ground until a nearby ship girl fleet comes by and scares her off, and since we're in the Safety Zone, this shouldn't be too much of a problem."
Hearing the pilot Fairy speak up about getting a reading on the Beast, Shirayuki's curiosity was piqued as she saw the reading pop up on her HUD regarding the Beast, something which they didn't need often since they were taught in class about what Beasts belonged to each Princess.
'ABYSSAL BEAST DETECTED
AFFILIATED CLASS: DESTROYER/? ? ?
AFFILIATED PRINCESSES: ? ? ?
ERROR 404: UNIDENTIFIED BEAST'
Shirayuki furrowed her eyebrows, because although their system could detect the fact that it was affiliated with the destroyer class since it was with the ghost of Amatsukaze, but it was not affiliated with any known Princesses, even the Destroyer Princess who bore a passing resemblance to Harusame from the Shiratsuyu-Class.
The Abyssal then moved from its position, leaving land and stepping onto the ocean as Natori raised her assault rifle, all the cannons on her rigging bristling in retaliation as Shirayuki brought up her handheld cannon to squeeze off a shot if worst came to worst.
But what the Abyssal Amatsukaze did next surprised everyone as they tuned in to the plane's bird's-eye view of both Abyssal and Beast as they vented vibrant red flames before making a break towards the North-East, towards the Pacific Ocean.
They all stared in silence as the destroyer and Beast left a trail of ghoulish, red-hot fire, mist and vapor in its wake as the red flames it emitted vaporized the swaths of water which it kicked up, reaching inhuman speeds even for their standards as it quickly blitzed into the darkness, where it went beyond the Reconnaissance Plane's view save for its infernal wake.
Like the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas, misty seawater was thrown up like a thick liquid curtain and reached several meters in height if they weren't outright vaporized into boiling steam by the wisps of hell-fire which was vented from the Abyssal and Beast's main body as they ran.
Turning to Natori, her lips were trembling as she asked,
"What was that, Natori-san?
No Abyssal can move that fast!"
And the shock on Natori's face was palpable, being rather knowledgeable about things as she looked down and considered something, Shirayuki urgently wishing for her to finish sorting out her thoughts and tell her what was going on as the other destroyers gathered around the silent light cruiser to get some clarification as to what was going on.
Finally, Natori looked back at Shirayuki while she addressed everyone, speaking about a technological marvel of the human race which possessed demonic speed while on the ocean, not unlike what they just saw.
"Girls, modern racing boats are easily capable of reaching speeds of 320 km/h while travelling in a straight line.
I don't know how, but that Abyssal looked perfectly capable of achieving that same inhuman speed along with its Beast, judging by its acceleration and speed before it left our sight."
Ikazuchi then spoke up for everyone as she stoically asked, since she was a dependable ship girl who knew when to cut the bullshit and get down to business.
"Then what are our orders, Natori-san?"
Natori looked at them all, Shirayuki noting that the destroyers had already packed up the oil rig to be carried around by hand or and by attaching parts of it to their rigging, all while dragging around their gathered resources as she urgently ordered.
"Change of plans.
Warn as many fleets as you can get in contact with in this region about an unknown Abyssal and Beast out on the ocean.
Tell them to watch out for two blazing-red comets on the ocean horizon, with unknown capabilities other than inhumanly high speeds which exceeds any known Abyssal top speed.
I'll personally call the Admiral, and we'll immediately head back for Yakushima, with no pit stops.
If any one runs low on fuel, I grant you permission to drink from our barrels of gathered resources, I'll take responsibility should anyone question this order back at base."
Nodding, Shirayuki helped her destroyer comrades to pack up what remained of the equipment and tied the gathered resources onto her rigging while other destroyers pushed the capabilities of their communication equipment to the maximum in order to connect with other fleets in the region and warn them of the presence of an unknown Abyssal.
She heard Natori's voice as she spoke into her touch phone and got in contact with Admiral Hirayama, speaking gravely.
"Admiral?
We have a situation."