The dark clouds broke out into tears almost half an hour after that, Shigure having wondered just how hard it would pour after observing the extraordinarily dark clouds.
Needless to say, it became a torrential downpour.
Shigure reviewed the briefing that the flagships gave to everyone beforehand, Hiei warning them of the Abyssals' tactics and how they were going to work around them.
About 20 or so Abyssals had dived underwater, according to the sailors monitoring the sea from the islands.
The humans on the islands were pretty much immune to the Abyssals' wrath as the Abyssals had no intention of setting foot on the island, content to passively occupy the surrounding ocean and not attack their fishing boats if they didn't attack them first.
The island occupants had their supply of non-perishable food sent to them in bulk in monthly intervals, allowing them to survive for quite a while after taking into account the stockpile of food each island had for its occupants.
There was no threat of the Abyssals taking the food by force as they didn't feed on human food (as far as they knew), and weren't exactly interested in wasting their forces and time to destroy these small islands as they posed no real threat to them save for their strategic locations to be used as vantage points.
But it was understood that the moment that the navy decided to install a base there, use it to stockpile weapons of any kind or do anything suspicious on these island, they would be obliterated by the Abyssals without mercy.
Note that while the islands were immune from attack, that didn't mean that the ocean surrounding them had the same protection.
On the contrary, being the chain of islands that led from Japan into the Pacific Ocean as well as pointing towards the Marianas Trench, which was where everyone had commonly accepted as the spawn location of the Abyssals, the oceans surrounding the Izu Islands, Bonin Islands as well as the smaller islands to the South of Japan that were still populated by Japanese civilians and sailors were popular hot-spots for the Abyssals to attack in order to muscle in on their territory.
Not attacking the islands was seen some sort of mysterious logic that they stuck to, preferring to save their ammo for attacking naval bases and ship girl fleets save for large scale invasions on the mainland (the American Blitzkrieg being one example) that everyone learnt to spot a mile away, what with essentially millions of Abyssals that could be easily detected even if they were travelling underwater, thus allowing for a mass evacuation of the mainland beforehand.
So the islands themselves weren't exactly in danger, and only the ocean surrounding them was.
Hiei explained to the 1st Fleet that they would form a defensive semi-circle around Mikura Jima Island, although they didn't want to stick too close to the island lest it potentially block their retreat.
The destroyers would be positioned at the left and right of the main formation to scout for any underwater Abyssals that might flank and breach the formation, while being within range of the light carriers and battleships so that they could reach each other should trouble arise.
The cruisers would form the vanguard, since their cannons packed more punch and they had more health, armor and stamina to engage the Abyssals safely.
The fast battleships would babysit the light carriers while they sent their planes out for as long as they dared, what with the risk of lightning strikes in the midst of a storm, the light carriers focusing on flying the plane at an unnaturally low altitude to avoid tempting fate before recalling them.
The destroyers, while being in a position to support the cruisers if required, were still within range of the battleships that were stationed at the center of the formation and were thus quite well-protected despite spreading out so as not to provide the Abyssals an easy target, Shigure spotting the battleships and light carriers off in the distance, about fifty meters to their right and could be reached at a moment's notice.
The 3rd Fleet of Yokosuka was to join them later and provide shelling support should they require it and cover their escape with powerful cover fire laid down by one of the Big Seven, Mutsu.
And about five minutes before the world screwed everyone over, the bomber planes returned to the light carriers, both of them warning the left and right flank via radio as Shigure, Umikaze, Kasumi and Wakaba made their way to Mikura Jima Island while guarding the left flank, hearing Junyou's voice over the radio as she felt the first few raindrops escape the clouds and fall towards the ocean, hitting her in the process.
"Seems like the Abyssals aren't trying anything funny other than the whack-a-mole tactic! In fact, aside from the Abyssals that disappeared under the ocean, they're pretty much comin' at us head on!"
Shigure opened up a private radio channel to talk to Ayanami, the ship girls having established the various channels that were to be used for private conversations and urgent messages, lest the entire radio spectrum become a mess of ship girls all trying to talk to each other.
She whispered in a concerned tone, asking her fellow destroyer in a way that sought her advice and opinion.
"Ayanami, do you still think…"
The rain became heavier as the rain clouds started unloading its contents and soaked the ship girls in rainwater, the name ship of the Ayanami-Class unsure of the Abyssals' intentions and tried to reassure both Shigure and herself.
"I don't know. Maybe you're right, but they could be playing things straight as well. I'm starting to like this less and less as well, but there's no turning back now."
Shigure gave a grunt of affirmation, cringing as the rain hit her on the crown and shoulders, some of it dripping down her bangs and causing her hair to stick to her skin.
She could feel the rain water permeating and drenching her uniform and body from head to toe, making things rather uncomfortable underneath her uniform as she felt the raindrops roll down her body.
The rain was now unleashed in full force as she focused on her HUD's radar to try and identify where the Abyssals were coming from, the turbulent weather only serving to provide environmental interference that reduced the range and effectiveness of their radar.
Shigure could see that the Abyssals were approaching the cruisers, the destroyers using their sonar to try and pick out the Abyssals that had submerged underwater to avoid detection.
She knew that Ayanami, Oboro, Hibiki and Isuzu were watching the right flank as she scanned the surrounding ocean, noting that the waves were starting to become rougher and the wave crests became higher, throwing her position off every so often as she tried her best to stay where she was despite the rough waves threatening to throw her off-balance.
She picked up a few enemy signatures with her sonar that was installed in her equipment to help her detect underwater Abyssals, this coming in useful when the Abyssals all had the ability to submerge at will.
She readied her cannons and torpedo launchers, the two cannons that were attached to her battle backpack twitching in excitement as she heard Kasumi call out,
"Alright, bitches, get ready for action! Here they come!"
One of the Abyssals, a Ro-Class destroyer, was using the usual porpoising motion to maneuver across the ocean, Shigure noting a few destroyers emerging and submerging while timing their leaps according to the crest and troughs of the ocean waves.
But Kasumi had already anticipated the destroyer's approach, muscles coiled as she brought up her arms to catch the destroyer.
And at the last second, Shigure saw Kasumi boost-dodge to the side as the barrel in the Abyssal's mouth flashed, Kasumi circling the airborne destroyer while the Ro-Class fired off a missed shot as it could only fire forward, Kasumi easily dodging the shot and was now facing the destroyer's flank.
She grabbed hold of the Abyssal's body by bear-hugging the Abyssal as the airborne Ro-Class was starting its downwards descent, wrestling with the flailing destroyer as she redirected the Abyssal's momentum and slammed the Abyssal over her shoulder in a Judo throw.
She freed up her right arm that was holding her 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Cannon as the Abyssal was struggling to get free after being flipped over, pale belly exposed as its body was upturned, Kasumi pointing the twin barrels of her handheld cannon down at the exposed weak spot of the trapped Abyssal.
She fired off two shots, causing the belly of the Ro-Class to erupt in blood, ichor and even shards of steel, Kasumi cringing a little to protect her face from the tiny shards of steel flying out in a fireworks motion along with the blood spurting out of the Abyssal's belly.
The Ro-Class Abyssal started crying out in a metallic screech that was heard by the ship girls surrounding Kasumi, causing Shigure to cringe as she heard the painful, weakening cry of the Ro-Class sound eerily similar to a trapped and dying beast sounding desperate in the face of death, before Kasumi put the Abyssal out of its misery by firing again into its hemorrhaging belly.
The Ro-Class was silenced as the next two shots rang out amidst the rain, the Abyssal's cries becoming a sort of gurgling cry as the Ro-Class's jaw flopped about uselessly as the steel barrel that was previously sticking out of the Abyssal's jaw was retracted to allow it to call for help.
That wasn't going to happen now, seeing that the Ro-Class destroyer was most certainly dead due to the blood loss and point-blank shots to its belly.
Kasumi loosened her grip on the Ro-Class, the red blood of the Abyssal being splattered all over Kasumi's right arm and upper right torso, some of it getting on her face and neck and stained her uniform as she had on her classic scowl, although it was now wracked with a fair bit of revulsion as she tried to hide her disgust at her own actions, trying to rally her comrades into action by shouting over the howl of the rain and wind.
"Come on, y'all! Stop relaxing on the job and get shooting!"
And that was when Shigure saw an I-Class destroyer emerging from the ocean at a distance with the steel barrel within its dislodged jaw exposed, Shigure noticing the splash that the destroyer made upon surfacing.
But this time, instead of firing a shell from its jaw, Shigure could spot the domed surface of a torpedo warhead barely exposed within the steel barrel, the Abyssal about to launch its torpedo at Kasumi while airborne.
Shigure barely had time to think as she raised her handheld 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon and fired almost immediately, drawing on her battle experience from her previous life and her practice sessions that taught her not to think too much about things and simply react.
As she fired off a round into the barrel of the I-Class, the contact between the shell and the warhead created a small sphere of fire that resulted from the premature detonation of the torpedo warhead.
Naturally, this also caused the I-Class destroyer to go everywhere, shreds of steel and fuel being spread around forcefully as the explosion lit the fuel on fire and polluted the ocean surface, small pools of flaming fuel being spilled on the ocean as everyone shielded their eyes from the mini-sun being formed where the I-Class was, temporarily heating up skins that were starting to feel cold from the constant rainfall.
Kasumi, upon lowering her arm and surveying the damage inflicted on the dead I-Class destroyer, looked to Shigure and pumped her fist in Shigure's direction, a thankful smirk on her face as she cried out.
"Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
Shigure gave a quick nod, returning the smile as she held up her cannons to prepare for any other Abyssals that might pop out of the water.
Wakaba seemed to get over the shock of the gruesome scene that Kasumi caused and held up her handheld cannons to prepare for an incoming firefight.
Umikaze, already disengaging her safeties, gave Shigure a quick reassuring nod that Shigure reciprocated, despite feeling that such a motion was something of a harbinger of doom if the tragedy stories that she read were any indication.
But she kept a vigilant lookout for enemy Abyssals, seeing some of them lurk on the surface of the ocean like sharks, Wakaba and Kasumi taking pot shots at them while Shigure and Umikaze watched over them and each other whenever anyone needed to reload.
Being the ocean, it was hard to say just how many Abyssals were swarming beneath them, the rain and lightning throwing off their sensors and making conditions sub-optimal for enemy detection.
The cruisers at the vanguard were now engaging in close-quarters combat with the Abyssals, red and blue dots dancing around on her radar while the two battleships that stood at the rear of the formation provided cover fire for everyone.
The light carriers helped keep track of the enemy's movements, getting feedback about the accuracy of the last shot from the cruisers that could see the impact of the large-caliber rounds hitting the ocean or Abyssal before correcting the battleships' aim.
The battle was now in full swing, and Shigure was prepared to fight to the death to accomplish her mission and protect her fellow comrades.