Admiral Haru strolled down the hospital hallway, inhaling and taking in the sanitized, well-conditioned cold air as she considered the situation at hand and what exactly was going on beneath the ocean.
The Abyssals were changing up the game.
Apocalypse, whatever it was, may well be in full effect after considering the fact that the amount of resources needed to craft the Flying Dutchman barely held a candle to the sheer amount of resources that had been used to create God-knows-what.
But the thing was that she might have an inkling of what they were up to.
She spotted a particular pink-haired repair ship waiting at the vending machine in the hospital's rest area, the squarish machine aglow with various canned drinks that were on display, one of which was in Akashi's hands as they noticed each other, nodded so as to acknowledge each other's presence and looked towards the steel bench that they both eventually sat down on.
Akashi took a sip of her drink as Admiral Haru dryly commented on the situation.
"Knew I'd find you here. This is quite the conundrum, hmm?"
Akashi retorted, reminding the Admiral about the war in which they were currently embroiled in.
"If by that, you mean 'we're fucked everyday', I suppose so. Today just marked the start of yet another five years of the Abyssals screwing us over by changing up the game again, so what's new anymore?"
Admiral Haru lifted an eyebrow to concede the point, asking Akashi as they made sure to sit on the bench that was furthest away from the hallway so that anyone who was passing by wouldn't accidentally overhear sensitive information.
"That's the problem, Akashi. I think that the Abyssals' Apocalypse plan may be the 'Mud-skipper' scenario that we thought up of, in the wake of the Abyssal Blitzkrieg in '07."
Instead of being greeted by a typical reaction of surprise, the senior ship girl calmly considered the current situation and all of its known variables before responding without the usual sass that she used to address others.
"Hmm. Abyssals coming onto land and attacking us directly? Interesting."
Admiral Haru twisted her body to face the repair ship, concern and worry permeating her voice and was reflected in her eyes as she explained herself.
"Think about it! They've done it in the past despite using their unwieldy ship cannons on land, which allowed them to pull off a successful assault on America despite suffering heavy casualties. So, what if they've built the correct weapons and mass produced them to get the job done right this time?"
Akashi breathed out a little harder through her nose to pass as a sigh as she gave her Admiral a bored aside glance.
"Relax. I said it was an interesting notion, not an impossible one. The chances of what the Abyssals term 'Apocalypse' being the plans to carry out the code-named 'Mud-skipper' scenario coming true are growing higher and higher with every revelation. And should the Abyssals come on land and possess enough firepower in the air, sea and sky to take on several countries at once, no force on heaven or earth is going to stop the inevitable World War 3. They're prepared, they're cocky, and they believe they can win. That's probably why they chose to usher in the next age of ship girl warfare with the Flying Dutchman at its vanguard instead of choosing to sneakily attack everyone simultaneously in a devastating first strike."
Admiral Haru's eyes widened before narrowing worriedly, a shadow forming on her face as she lowered her head to look at the ground and grumbled darkly.
"Fuck man, they knew that we probably wouldn't prepare any real countermeasures for a second land invasion that seemed less and less likely as time passes, and that's when they'll really strike. We need to convince Central of this in order to get them to set aside resources and Fairies to build Anti-Abyssal weapons en masse and get the governments of the world up to date on this new development..."
"Stop."
Akashi silenced her Admiral with one word, and Admiral Haru looked up at Akashi's sharp eyes that reflected her concern as she pointed out.
"Remember. Everything that have we proposed thus far are ultimately nothing but hunches. Like you told the Coordinators and seniors, if you're too locked onto one particular theory, you may suffer from confirmation bias and only focus on certain facts that agree with your theory, and that's arguably hell of a lot more dangerous than anything the Abyssals are capable of cooking up. Right now, we only have vague plans and receipts to indicate that something large is going on behind the scenes, and they could be building giant Gundams for all we know."
Admiral Haru snorted upon hearing that, her expression finally softening as she wearily conceded the point.
"Alright, alright, I know. I need damning evidence to convince Central and the Japanese government about the 'Mud-skipper' scenario and 'Apocalypse' being true. Otherwise, I'm just a fear-monger or doomsayer that those stuffy government officials want to avoid the most."
Akashi sighed, single-handedly crushing the steel can in her grasp and tossing it into the nearby trashcan without even glancing at it, sluggishly standing up as she put her hands in her pockets and asked in a bored tone.
"What do you need me to do?"
Admiral Haru looked up at her as she ordered her repair ship.
"The Flying Dutchman's attack has also sent the Abyssals scurrying about in a frenzy of activity, and one Abyssal Princess in particular has been spotted leaving her little island and has been press-ganging Abyssals left and right into her fleet amidst the chaos. If she reaches anywhere near the Safety Zone, I want you to sortie with the 8th Fleet in order to stop her and interrogate her about 'Apocalypse'."
Akashi raised an eyebrow in acceptance and tilted her head, causing the white bandanna wrapped around her head to shift and swing as she acknowledged her Admiral's orders, clarifying.
"And about 'Psyche'? Do we push that project forward?"
Admiral Haru considered the tempting possibility but eventually dismissed it with a simple shake of her head, remembering the uncomfortably low odds of survival as she added.
"No. I don't want to needlessly jeopardize our girls' chances of surviving the procedure just yet. Focus on the Princess, and then on Project Psyche with Aoba. I'll focus on the upcoming large-scale battle and 'Apocalypse'. Besides, the government and navy will understand the importance of submarines and naval mines after seeing the Dutchman in action, and will be more than willing to provide all the naval mines under the sun in order to protect our shores. I suppose there's a silver lining after all, hmm?"
Akashi responded with a "hmpf" as she nodded and turned to leave, Admiral Haru pulling out her touch-phone to contact the Coordinators about the Flying Dutchman and get them to crunch some numbers.
Ooyodo's voice piped up on the other end of the line, her "default secretary" voice chirping as she commented on the Admiral taking the occasional initiative to call her and get work done.
"Oh, Admiral? It's a pleasant surprise to see you call me, instead of it being the other way around. What is it this time?"
Admiral Haru's tone surprised even herself, ordering Ooyodo in a way that didn't allow for any rebuttal as she kept her volume down, seeing that she was using her phone in a hospital.
"Ooyodo, get the folder. The 'Apocalypse' one."
She could barely hear Ooyodo inhaling sharply, the light cruiser having worked with Admiral Haru for roughly ten years and understood the Admiral's current tone to be no-nonsense and completely serious as she curtly replied.
"Yes, Admiral. What would you like me to do with it?"
Admiral Haru slowly made herself comfortable on the steel bench while keeping an eye out for anyone that might overhear her as she ordered into the phone.
"You received the 1st Fleet's memory file from Akashi for inspection, right? I want you to build a hypothetical model of The Flying Dutchman and determine if the amount of resources needed to create the Dutchman matches the amount of resources needed to build a Nagato-Class battleship. And then, I want you to determine our odds of winning should the Abyssals utilize the resources detailed in 'Apocalypse' to develop and mass-produce human weapons for another land invasion."
Ooyodo's voice sounded steady, although after working with her for so long, Admiral Haru could discern various subtle signs of the secretary ship being unsettled by the order as Ooyodo asked.
"Admiral… Do you think that the Abyssals have built Abyssal tanks and firearms without our knowledge?"
Haru chuckled at that, preparing to correct the Ooyodo-Class light cruiser as she shared her fears and felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"Oh Ooyodo, my dear. I'm not just afraid of them building tanks, warships or even planes without our knowledge. I'm afraid that those may not be the only things that they've built."