"... And that's the end of my report, Ma'am."
Woxanne was kneeling down on her right knee and had her right fist on the steel floor, taking a knee as she lowered her head reverently when reporting to her superiors in the medium-sized room.
The room was about the size of a briefing hall, with several stylized tables and blocks of machinery standing at attention to the sides of the room, wires and tubes sticking out of each and everyone of them as they barely illuminated the bridge with the several LED monitors and light bulbs, the latter blinking on and off in the darkness like fireflies in the night.
Woxanne had her head down and could see the grooves in the floor that were to be used to move these control panels back into place to pilot the gargantuan vessel that she was currently on.
At the end of the room was a heavily reinforced window that was supported by a large grid of steel strips that allowed for a viewer to witness the sight of the deep ocean, but currently had a metal shutter drawn to act as a projector screen for the projector above Woxanne's head.
The six members of the 1st Fleet were projected on the screen, each photo looking as though they were posing for a passport photo along with their respective stats being displayed beside them, a few pentagon and bar graphs extrapolating and predicting how the 1st Fleet would grow and develop.
Two figures stood before the bright screen, enveloped in darkness due to the amount of light fixtures left inactivated on the bridge as well as the primary source of light that was the projector screen being situated behind them and failed to illuminate their frontal features.
One of them moved forward, Woxanne clearly hearing the metal boots softly making contact with the hard floor as her master slowly approached her with slow yet regal steps, Woxanne reverently closing her eyes as she saw the dark boots of the Abyssal leader stop before her, her dark cape stretching out the pitch-black shadow at her feet.
She felt her master's gloved hand reach down and affectionately ruffle her hair, Woxanne squeezing her eyes a little harder as she felt her ghostly hair tickle her eyelids and cheekbones, her master congratulating her with a satisfied tone.
"Well done. You've accomplished both your objectives with flying colors. You've contacted the Infiltration Fleet, observed the 1st Fleet in action and conveyed our message."
Woxanne was humble about her accomplishments, citing the part that her master played by placing her in an advantageous position to pull off her mission successfully.
"It was nothing, Ma'am. I followed your instructions to the letter, and that was it."
"Ahh, don't belittle your own achievements, Woxanne-chan! The symbol you carry on your back is proof that you're someone worthy of delivering the message of all Abyssal-kind, no?"
Woxanne nodded upon lifting her head slightly to witness the second shadow stepping forth with a spring in her step, almost skipping across the platform as an energetic and bubbly voice resounded across the bridge, Woxanne peeking up and noting the signature bluish-white circle in the center of her chest, visible through her uniform as it rested slightly above her cleavage.
Woxanne accepted the compliment as she simply declared.
"I have accomplished my mission. I shall retreat to my quarters until you find another use for me, my masters."
Woxanne rose wordlessly, her cape fluttering and revealing the capital "A" on the back of her dark cape as she kept her head lowered dutifully as she bowed slightly whilst backpedaling, Woxanne finally turning as the sliding door hissed open to allow her to exit the command bridge as she heard the Abyssal secretary pout behind her.
"Oh, come on! Stay here and chat a little more, please?"
The two figures stood in the middle of the room as the automatic doors closed behind the exiting Woxanne as a signal of sorts was sent through the entire bridge, causing the machinery that stood on the sidelines to slide along the grooves installed on the floor as the entire room buzzed with energy.
They reached the end of their predetermined paths on the floor and cleanly unfolded to form control panels that consisted of touchscreens, levers and countless buttons of unknown functions, even more LED screens gently lowering themselves from the ceiling as they powered up to display even more numbers, graphs and meters that were currently in the green.
But this was all ignored by the two figures as they moved towards the command chair in the center of the room, the seat unfolding from a pod-like module that was summoned from the depths of the platform, smoothly unfolding to form something resembling a massage chair.
The Abyssal secretary looked a little upset after seeing the Wo-Class leave so quickly and in such an abrupt manner, puckering up her lips as she waved her gloved hands about in in a circular fashion as she complained.
"Ahh, the Abyssals are good soldiers, but they're all like dead fishes in terms of personality! What's it take for a girl to get some company around here~?"
The Abyssal commander noted in a droll tone as she glided over to the command chair, cape hovering above the floor as she remarked,
"Aww, do I not count as an Abyssal you'd like to be with? You wound my heart, Sa-chan."
"Moouuu, it's not that~! But you're so smart that I sometimes can't keep up with what you're thinking, Yuu-chan!"
The caped commander chuckled a little upon hearing that, pushing her cape in as she sat herself down on the steel throne, the command chair coming to life as neon blue stripes lit up the chair, electricity starting to course through the circuitry within as the dark figure made herself comfortable, looking like a queen seated upon her rightful throne as she commented.
"I suppose, but being able to stay as my secretary ship for so long means that you should listen to your own advice and believe in your own intellect. Now, shall we take care of what's on the memo before dealing with the 1st Fleet?"
Her secretary nodded eagerly as she moved over to a touchscreen panel, pressing the screen with her gloved hands before bringing up a few computer windows to indicate the amount of reports to handle, the first issue being the Princesses submitting even more complaints as her exuberant voice narrated.
"The Princesses submitted even more death threats and challenges to contest your rule over them, despite your little stunt the last time you met them all in a large-scale meeting. But I think you are capable of, and I quote, 'choking a bitch' whenever you feel like it, right?"
The commander shrugged as she noted, already writing off these complaints as disgruntled subordinates who ultimately had to follow her instructions, no matter what.
"Let them grumble all they want.
I was the one who was chosen by the Abyssal overlords to lead the Abyssals, and I have delivered. They may be discontent with the fact that a light cruiser's leading them, but they cannot deny that everything we've designed and built was only possible through my efforts."
Secretary Voice nodded enthusiastically as she closed the computer window, bringing up the next issue to be addressed by the light cruiser duo.
"The preparations for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea are well-underway as we're still recruiting and training up our fleets to improve our odds of victory.
And much like we expected, the Admirals of the naval bases in the Chiba and Kanagawa prefecture are already preparing themselves by fortifying their defenses for the upcoming large-scale battle."
The caped commander nodded as she rested her cheek on her left fist, remarking on the situation at hand.
"Very well. Continue on, and get the Abyssals to engage them at the chosen location as we discussed."
But the Abyssal secretary sounded a little worried as she scratched her head, her ahoge forming something resembling a question mark as she wondered out loud.
"But Yuu-chan, won't the neighboring naval bases band together to fight and likely win, no matter how many Abyssals we send?"
"It matters not at this point, my dear.
'Apocalypse' has already been completed, and whatever scraps of information they scrounge up at this point likely won't help them as we've been mass-producing new units for more than half a decade to prepare for the main event. Think of this as the appetizer, where we'll allow them to celebrate this little victory before we show them the overwhelming might of the Abyssals, and deliver unto them a taste of the despair that is to come when they witness our true capabilities."
The Abyssal nodded as she hummed approvingly, closing more browser windows as the tone of her hum shifted from approving to distractedly whimsical as she settled a few of the issues that popped up on the screen, finally coming up on the last item on the itinerary that was the 1st Fleet's battle, combined stats and their calculated potential, the Abyssal commander commenting.
"The 1st Fleet of Yokosuka. Woxanne has warned them of their impending demise, so I predict that Admiral Haru's going to sortie multiple fleets at once. She can't leave the 1st Fleet as inexperienced ship girls when tough battles are coming up, but she won't leave them alone now that we've got them in our sights."
Silence reigned in the room as the two Abyssals contemplated the situation, machinery buzzing and beeping behind them as background noise before the Abyssal leader questioned.
"Bring up the weather forecast. When will it rain again near the Izu Islands?"
Her Secretary was actively typing on the keyboard as she obtained the desired information, the project screen now displaying a map of the Izu Islands.
They were small islands that were left alone by the Abyssals as they lay on the edge of the Safety Zone, populated by a handful of humans and sailors.
The next estimated date for precipitation around the area was around 12th of April.
And it was shaping up to be quite the torrential downpour, the commander nodding knowingly as she ordered.
"Since the ship girls will have likely found what remained of the secret documents before their encounter with Woxanne, I suppose it's only fair for us to reveal a few of our secrets to the world, starting with this."
The commander rested both hands on the arm rest, sapphire-blue orbs that rested on the end of the arm rests lighting up and engulfing her pale hands in a cerulean blue glow, the luminescent wires trailing down the seat intensifying in their incandescent glow as the commander gripped the two power transmitters.
The room came alive upon receiving its master's powers as the entire vessel that lay beyond the bridge came to life with ominous and dull creaks sounding out in the distance along with the whirring of hidden generators increasing in pitch, the Abyssal secretary looking around in astonishment as she exclaimed excitedly.
"W-Woah! Are we really going to use this?!"
Her leader simply grinned as she explained her thought process.
"Gather a fleet of Abyssals to launch a medium-scale surprise assault in the area. The rain and turbulent weather will mask our presence as we approach, and we'll force the ship girls to sortie their Fast Response Fleet along with the fleets of other naval bases. They'll be convinced that there's safety in numbers, and we shall shatter that illusion by slaughtering them all. If the 1st Fleet is wiped out by us, then they weren't much to begin with, and we'll be rid of a potential threat. If not, well…"
Her grin widened as she took on an interested, slightly sadistic tone as she finished her sentence.
"I suppose we'll have to get a little more... creative... in finding ways to break them."
Her secretary ship was a little concerned as her ahoge was still in the shape of a question mark to indicate confusion as she inquired.
"But what happens if Yokosuka decides to sortie its 2nd Fleet instead of the 1st Fleet to the scene?"
"Well, we'll crush them anyway and cripple them such that they won't be able to recover in time for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, hmm?"
The Abyssal secretary pondered her commanding officer's answer, before her body shot up in understanding as her ahoge straightened up to form an antenna as she exclaimed, her mouth forming an "O" as she inhaled sharply.
"Wow, Yuu-chan! You're so smart, Pyon!"
The Abyssal secretary slapped her gloved hands onto her mouth to try and hide her faux pas, cheekily commenting.
"I did it again, Yuu-chan!"
Her commander only smirked as she acknowledged the activation of the titanic vessel that now pulsed with energy, commenting offhandedly.
"It's alright, dear. There's no need for us to hide in the shadows anymore, not with 'Apocalypse' now completed."
Staring at the portraits of the 1st Fleet to look into their blank eyes, the Abyssal commander grinned upon feeling the hype of revealing what she personally saw as her favorite weapon to the world, announcing through the PA system.
"All hands on deck. Sortie The Flying Dutchman."