The time was now 7 p.m., and Shigure was starting to feel thankful for the military ration that doubled as lunch, now feeling revitalized as she had been summoned for an emergency sortie before, and she knew that sortieing on an empty stomach did no favors.
She remembered a great military leader saying, "An army marches on its stomach." Refueling mid-sortie and having an adequate lunch before the battle would benefit them greatly as they could break down the contents of their lunch and burn fuel in order to power their bodies.
The sky now was a reddish-orange hue as predicted, the sun resting on the horizon and peeking at them, looking ready to catch a glimpse of their battle before setting.
The weather seemed to be on their side as there were only wisps of clouds drifting aimlessly in the sky, above the concerns of the ship girls sailing beneath them as they stood at the Japanese frontier, beyond which were Abyssal waters.
So far, they didn't have to fight any Abyssal fleets that hadn't been accepted into the Princess' personal fleet and were designated as disposable auxiliary fleets as the other bases had helped them whittle down the number of auxiliary fleets before the two Yokosuka fleets arrived to engage the real enemies.
The other bases had tried to wipe out several auxiliary fleets in order to increase their chances of success, something that was important when going up against powerful fleets as the weaker bases could help defeat the enemy minions to make life easier for those who had to face the main Abyssal fleet.
The seas were calm, almost eerily so as she felt the rhythmic yet subdued rise and fall of the tide, Shigure never having stopped to truly appreciate the view that the world provided them with as she marveled at the sight of the sun illuminating the skies and flooding the ocean with a slight orange glow, noting her teammates getting ready for battle.
She sighed as her viewing session was cut short, following in their footsteps by disengaging the safeties of her cannons and torpedo launchers as Unryuu, Ise and Hyuga sent out their planes to greet the enemy.
Unryuu, true to her ideals of becoming the ultimate weapon via suppression of their humanity, had her face set in a blank expression as she did everything efficiently and effectively.
And like every ship girl that had trained up over the years to be excellent front-line combatants, Shigure could feel the air shift around everyone, their auras flaring up as they prepared themselves for battle.
The summoned bomber and recon planes had reached their targets and dropped their payloads, causing the horizon to be illuminated with small fireballs that devastated what remained of the auxiliary fleet that survived the Combined Fleet assault a day ago.
But Shigure could see that there a swarm of Abyssal bomber planes were headed their way, and she readied the Anti-Air Cannon that was part of the recommended load-out as there were quite a few Wo-Class Abyssals that were part of the armada.
Ise, being the leader of their fleet, shouted in an uncharacteristically serious voice,
"EVADE!"
Everyone performed evasive maneuvers in order to evade the incoming Abyssal bombers that swooped down in order to drop their payloads and injure them before the actual battle.
But Shigure saw a heavy cruiser who wasn't evading in spite of the bombers performing their bombing runs, Maya screaming as her Anti-Air cannons started barking in a steady stream of machine gun and cannon fire, her expression absolutely confident of her odds of survival.
COME GET SOME, MOTHERFUCKERS!"
The Abyssal bombers, having been fooled by the mass of evading ship girls and failing to account for the Anti-Air specialists within their ranks, tried their best to evade the sudden barrage of Anti-Air fire from both Maya and Hatsuzuki whom worked together to utilize their Anti-Air firepower to deny the Abyssals air superiority, several Abyssal bombers inevitably peppered with bullet holes and promptly burst into flames as everyone opened fire and filled the sky with white-hot Anti-Air rounds.
The Abyssal bombers veered off-course and erratically dived into the ocean as the holes in their shells coughed out flames and pumped out plumes of thick smoke, Shigure attempting to dodge the few Abyssal planes that were on a deliberate collision course with them in a last-ditch attempt to take them out.
She saw the flaming wreck of an Abyssal Hell Dive Bomber attempting to keep itself airborne while trying to home in on her, armor falling apart at the seams and its reddish interior aflame as chunks of armor fell into the ocean while its insides were aflame due to the Anti-Air rounds hitting its internal fuel reserves.
There was a primordial scream coming from the plane, mouth spilling out oil that burst into flames with several horns adorning its burning exoskeleton, looking as though it were bleeding out the flames of Hell itself.
Its voice was a ghastly mix between a metallic screech and a mechanical imitation of a beast's pained howl, intermixed with the whirring engines within its body that were still pumping out burning oil as the Abyssal plane quickly lost altitude, Shigure strafing to the right to evade its crash landing.
The Abyssal's crash landing caused quite the explosion upon kissing the ocean, throwing up waves and disturbing the ocean as the Abyssal Bomber self-destructed upon impact with the sea, the explosion resembling a grenade blast as she was engulfed by a pressure wave that sent her stumbling and struggling to right herself, thankfully not deafened by the volume of the explosion due to noise-mufflers within her ears.
Looking back at the area of impact, the only sign of the Abyssal plane ever having existed at all was the puddle of burning oil that floated on the ocean surface and the pillar of smoke that it released into the air, Shigure shuddering at the haunting similarity of the method the Abyssal plane used to try and take her down with the desperate kamikaze tactics used by the Japanese Air Force in the later stages of World War 2 when they were losing.
But she reminded herself that here, despite being a support ship that wasn't supposed to do the heavy-lifting, she was still out of her depth as the enemies here were stronger, and she had to exercise caution even as a support ship.
Shaking off the uncomfortable feeling, Shigure continued her attempts to shoot down any Abyssal planes that flew too close, knowing that intimidation was part of the game.
Filling the skies with Anti-Air rounds would scare off even the most daring of bomber planes due to the fact that it was too dangerous to fly into and attempt to aim at them when all their Anti-Air firepower was concentrated on them.
And Maya, a ship girl who allegedly had the highest Anti-Air stats and possessed an impressive array of Anti Air cannons, was fearlessly charging…
Wait, what?
Shigure gawked at the sight of Maya and Akitsu Maru charging headfirst into the fray of Abyssals, some of them possessing cracked armor and charred skin from the initial bombardment as the backup fleet provided cover fire, Ise and Hyuga hard at work as their cannons roared, shaking the air as their 35.6 Cm Cannons punched holes through the Abyssal ranks, forcing them to evade the lethal rounds flying towards them instead of aiming at the two incoming ship girls.
Maya and Akitsu Maru were relentless as they fearlessly charged at the enemy, the former brandishing the cannons on her rigging and arms, while the latter had drawn her katana and held it menacingly over her head as they both yelled in an intimidatingly passionate roar to signal their charge.
"TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"
She could hear an exasperated Kawakaze shout over the deafening cannon fire of the Ise-Class aviation battleships to address everyone as she fired at the Abyssals to prevent them from aiming at their two charging comrades, echoing past grievances she had concerning the duo's tactics.
"See, this is why we can't have nice things when those two are around! Everyone, provide cover fire for them both!"
Shigure noted that Hatsuharu and Kawakaze hadn't unleashed their torpedoes yet, figuring that torpedoes weren't ideal due to their "fire-and-forget" nature and tendency to inflict splash damage, and since Maya and Akitsu Maru were now engaging the Abyssals in close-quarters combat, it would be unwise to use their torpedoes right now and potentially hurt their allies as collateral damage.
But the 8th Fleet had moved up to engage the Abyssals, Akashi flicking her arms as an array of surgical weapons shot out from her long sleeves, and since the repair ship was created with an innate knowledge of the ship girl anatomy, she had probably dissected many Abyssals as well and learnt to weaponize that knowledge to allow her to surgically dismantle her opponents.
Unryuu's eyes had already dulled, the muscles within her arms taut and ready to kill Abyssals as she had suppressed everything within herself to perform at her best, unfazed by fallen comrades, pain or even threat of death.
Hayasui was pulling on a lever on her flight deck to transform her "flight deck" into something unrecognizable, the hidden mechanisms transforming the flight deck as the flat surfaces of the flight deck unfolded to form plates on the sides of the strangely-shaped weapon as Shigure identified a nozzle on the end of the "gun barrel" , Hayasui turning some sort of valve as she dual-wielded the mysterious "firearm".
Kiso had drawn her cutlass, and the wind had blown back her cloak to cast a shadow over her body as she leaned in, looking excited for the close quarters fighting after this, Shigure noting that the torpedo cruiser was taking in the details of the battlefield and was lost in her own thoughts, even noticing the noiseless mumble as Kiso's lips twitched.
Shigure could see that Maya and Akitsu Maru were going to town on the Abyssals, since their charge was when the Abyssals had the best chance to shoot them down before they even got close, but the backup fleet and the support fleet had made them waste that chance thanks to the cover fire they provided and the various evasive maneuvers on the duo's part.
The 8th Fleet moved up, and Shigure was surprised to see Kiso flip the cutlass in her hand, holding it in a reverse grip as she raised it above her head in a spear-throwing stance, her coiled muscles ready to burst.
And with a swing of her arm, she sent the cutlass flying towards an Abyssal in a shiny blur as it caught a few rays of light originating from the orange sunset on the horizon, Shigure following its trajectory as a carrier Wo-Class was facing away from the incoming sword, oblivious to it as she used the cannons on her headdress to snipe Maya and Akitsu Maru while using her cane to fend off the latter's attacks.
The sword pierced her back through her dark cape, causing the Wo-Class to shriek in pain as she was struck down, trying to turn around and face her attacker.
Shigure could see that the Wo-Class's expression had morphed into one wracked with pain that contrasted with her usual expressionless demeanor as she held up her hand and cane to defend herself against an imminent threat.
And that threat came in the form of a charging Kiso who had fired her torpedoes which were headed for the Wo-Class, the Abyssal's eyes widening in shock and apprehension as Kiso sprinted towards her while staying behind her own torpedoes.
The Wo-Class, now desperate to avoid getting destroyed, performed evasive maneuvers as the three Type 93 Oxygen Torpedoes passed by her harmlessly, the Wo-Class now trying to dislodge the cutlass from her back.
But the approaching Kiso shot up into the air with a high-jump, her cape majestically flaring in the wind and causing her to look like a hero that could fly, intent on reclaiming her cutlass and killing the Abyssal.
The Wo-Class sensed that as she stumbled backwards, struggling against the urge to simply pull the blade out as common sense dictated, since pulling out the sword would greatly exacerbate the wound, trying to keep the cutlass away from the airborne Kai Ni cruiser as she retreated while the cutlass was still stuck to her back.
Kiso used her boost gauge to push herself further forward, already losing her beret as she descended and was projected to land on top of the Abyssal while she was still orientated upside down.
Kiso slapped a gloved palm on the Wo-Class's headdress as she flipped over the carrier, now landing in a kneeling position while back-to-back with the carrier.
Wo-Class and Kiso immediately spun around, the former trying to keep the impaled cutlass away from the torpedo cruiser, and the cruiser attempting to retrieve her cutlass and strike the Abyssal carrier at close range.
The torpedo cruiser eventually won as she slapped her hands on the handle of her cutlass, yanking it out as though pulling a cord and partially bisecting the unfortunate Wo-Class as she spun again, deflecting a feeble strike from the Abyssal's cane as she spun around like a lethal, bladed spinning top, using her cutlass to slash at the throat of the Wo-Class as she turned to face her with a grim look in her eyes.
Shigure couldn't see the Wo-Class's expression, but it couldn't have been pretty as she saw Kiso slightly cringe at the expression of the Wo-Class and the spurting river of blood being splattered all over her and her black cape, which she used as a shield against the alien blood as the Wo-Class uselessly tried to stem the bleeding with her hands, dropping her cane in the process.
Not that it did her any good, blood also flowing freely from her torso as the Wo-Class crumpled like a rag doll, bleeding out like a pig as Kiso uncoupled her 14 cm Single Gun Cannon and emptied one shell into the Wo-Class's head to put her out of her misery before moving on coldly, already drenched in blood from that one encounter.
Shigure tried to hold her lunch in after witnessing that and did her best to focus on providing cover fire for her as Kiso ran forward again, the blood freely dripping off of her cutlass as she wiped it on a clean part of her cape.
Not that the rest of the 8th Fleet were doing a better job of being discrete, Akitsu Maru utilizing the incendiary properties of her sword to keep the Abyssals at bay, since fire was a huge threat to them as it might cause them to internally combust.
Akitsu Maru formed a semi-crouching stance while holding her sword like a cue stick as she used the web in between her left index finger and thumb to rest the back of her sword on while holding the handle with her right gloved hand, leaning in to look down her blade to aim her attack as a wispy, black battle aura menacingly flowed out from her pitch-black uniform.
She then shouted in a manner that a berserker would when calling out for blood,
"Tapana! Lone Fiery Impaling Strike!"
She shot forward at a speed that was almost inhuman, propelled not only by her boost gauge but also her developed leg muscles as she used her left hand to aim the sword and her right hand to shove the katana forward to form an impaling lance, Akitsu Maru's katana igniting in an uncannily-colored blue flame.
The tip of the burning blade caught the right shoulder of a Ri-Class heavy cruiser that hadn't expected the move and couldn't evade in time as the katana entered the shoulder of the Abyssal, drawing blood as Akitsu Maru pulled her left hand away in order to allow the katana to be plunged in all the way.
The Ri-Class started screaming in pain as the flaming katana impaled her shoulder, and the skin around the area of impact started to glow in a muffled blue tint, Shigure connecting the dots in her mind and realizing to her horror that the Abyssal heavy cruiser was starting to burn from the inside.
Akitsu Maru pulling out the katana only confirmed this as freeing Kagutsuchi from the heavy cruiser's shoulder exacerbated the wound, Akitsu Maru retreating from the struggling heavy cruiser.
The Abyssal Ri-Class's shoulder was starting to glow from within now, the fuel lines near the area of impact starting to burn up and caused the fuel vessels in her shoulder to glow a luminescent blue in contrast to her pale skin, spreading throughout her body like a growing crack in a glass pane and likely slowed by whatever protective systems they had in place within their bodies.
The Ri-Class was certainly panicking now, screaming in an ungodly tone as the primal fear of fire set in and forced aside all rational thought.
Her voice denoted her desperation to put out the flames that started to consume her from within as she instantly fell onto the ocean and shoved her afflicted shoulder into the water, rolling about in an attempt to put out the flames via seawater and now screeching from the pain of the seawater getting into her wound.
The rest of the Abyssals hesitated to get close to the injured Abyssal for fear of getting caught in a spontaneous internal combustion, Shigure remembering the gruesome case of Taihou where the ship girl body failed to contain the flames, causing an internal fuel reserve to ignite which would result in an increase in internal pressure and inevitable self-destruction.
But Akitsu Maru wasn't so kind as to wait for them, already jumping and slashing at another Ne-Class's torso, her katana bursting into flames again as she sent yet another Abyssal screaming and hurling herself onto the ocean surface to extinguish the lethal flames that danced on her chest, heating up her blood and her dire injury to uncomfortable levels.
Akitsu Maru almost seemed to be enjoying herself all the while, gleefully laughing as she swung her katana about like an excited child swinging a toy about with unrestrained enthusiasm while using her physical agility to evade any torpedo and cannon fire aimed in her general direction.
A Ta-Class battleship was keeping her distance to try and take advantage of any opening that might present itself in the IJA ship girl's tempo, and as Akitsu Maru's boost gauge was depleted while landing on the ocean surface, the Abyssal fast battleship took advantage of the momentary lull in the the IJA ship girl's movements as she trained her cannons on her crouching form, Shigure worried about Akitsu Maru's well-being as she trained her cannons on the battleship while knowing that it wouldn't do much to stop the battleship.
But a group of Suisei Dive Bombers swooped down, Shigure spotting the brown-tipped nose cone, myrtle green paint job on its fuselage and wings, the red circles that represented the rising sun and the three white digits on its tail to indicate that it was from the Suisei 601 Air Group while the other two had silver nose cones, white-rimmed red circles with "鹰-13" imprinted on their tails in gold fonts to indicate that they were normal Suisei bombers.
The Ta-Class was bombarded with explosions as the flying trio made a pass on the battleship and dropped their payloads despite the amount of Anti-Air fire from the Abyssals, the battleship howling in pain as her oversight caused the dropped payload to engulf her upper torso and head in a fiery explosion while the three courageous bomber planes pulled up to evade the sudden hail of incoming Anti-Aircraft fire, their engines buzzing monotonously as they proudly sailed across the skies.
Shigure whipped her head around to see Unryuu walking up to her with staff in hand, Shigure shivering slightly at how inhuman the carrier seemed now seeing that she had suppressed everything human about her, her cold eyes piercing into hers before looking away and talking to the ship girls who were having a little too much fun fighting.
"Do not drop your guard in battle, fools."
Listening to her talk made her shrink away from the carrier a little, her detached, emotionless and impersonal tone reminding her that they were ultimately weapons of war, and that emotions and weaknesses had no place on a battlefield, just like what Unryuu preached.
But Akitsu Maru responded over the radio as Shigure turned back to see her aggressively swinging her katana at the surrounding Abyssals, the two Wo-Class and Ri-Class Abyssals drawing back out of genuine fear at the streak of blue fire that was produced in Kagutsuchi's wake, Akitsu Maru sounding like she was having the time of her life as she retorted.
"Maa, there's no point in doing that when you're here and watching our sexy backs now, eh, U-chan?!"
Unryuu responded,
"Focus."
Looking around and using her cloud staff to direct another squad of torpedo bombers towards Maya who was having a little trouble with the Abyssals that were ganging up on her as she tried to punch them all out with her bare fists, Unryuu calmly giving the heavy cruiser a heads-up about the reinforcements she was sending.
"Maya-san, I'm sending out a squad of torpedo bombers to take down the Elites that are surrounding you. Prepare yourself."
When she wondered why the Kai Ni heavy cruiser was having trouble with the Abyssals that surrounded her, she noted that a few of them had wisps of colored flames that were flowing out of their eyes and even their exhaust ports, crimson-red auras bleeding out of their pores and eyes making them look far stronger than the rank-and-file Abyssals as some of them looked as though they were able to match Maya's strength.
But a squad of Type 97 and Ryuusei Torpedo Bombers flew in to save the day, the former with the same myrtle green paint job, red circles on their wings and two horizontal yellow stripes on their rudder, and the latter with their signature bent wings, silver-tipped nose cone and slightly darker tone of red circles on the plane skin.
And like the dive bombers, they swooped in to drop their torpedoes in the water and hauled ass to prevent themselves from getting shot at or swatted out of the sky by the taller Abyssals.
The crowd of Abyssals cried out as the torpedoes detonated and blew up their feet, but Shigure, to her horror, could see that one of the Elite Wo-Class carriers, having noted the incoming bombers soon enough to evade their salvo in time, used the cannons on her headdress to shoot down one of the Ryuusei Bombers.
Succeeding in that before Maya managed to intercept her with a nasty right hook to the left cheek, Shigure's widened eyes followed the flaming wreck of the Ryuusei bomber, frozen in place while wondering what she was supposed to do in this situation, the bomber plane clearly attempting to remain in the air for as long as possible without burning to death.
But Unryuu calmly walked towards the descending wreck as nothing seemed to faze the white-haired ship girl, uncharacteristically calm amidst the chaos as she stored her summoning staff on some sort of flag-holding apparatus that unfolded itself and took the load off of Unryuu's hands.
And this was when an I-Class destroyer its chance to emerge majestically from the water like an unholy dolphin from the depths, mouth dislodged and jaw cannon ready to fire at Unryuu, Shigure bringing up her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon without a second thought, ready to shoot the destroyer down.
But she was glad to have been a millisecond slower on the draw as Unryuu twisted her body to evade and used her left arm to catch the upper jaw of the I-Class Abyssal in mid-air, the Abyssal now realizing its predicament as its thumb-sized limbs writhed around uselessly in order to free itself while its jaw cannon retracted in order to allow its lower jaw to close.
But Unryuu wasn't so nice as to allow the poor destroyer to do whatever it wanted, slapping her right hand on the I-Class's lower jaw and ripping the I-Class destroyer down its torso while Shigure was in a good position to see its flesh rip apart like wet tissue paper, the flesh of a destroyer unable to hold up against the might of a stone-cold carrier, the Abyssal fully aware of its predicament as its useless limbs squirmed like a dying bug in order to stave off the inevitable.
Unryuu was being drenched in the I-Class's blood from the chest down, absolutely apathetic as she dropped the two pieces of the twitching I-Class destroyer onto the ocean without a second thought while coolly walking to where Shigure saw the Fairy descend on a parachute, carried by the gentle wind.
The pilot Fairy likely activated the plane's ejector seat to save itself while the torpedo bomber had unceremoniously crashed into the ocean and sank quietly while leaving behind a pool of flaming fuel on the ocean, Shigure catching a glimpse of the Ryuusei's tail before it was swallowed by the ocean.
And when the airborne Fairy was within arm's reach of the carrier, Unryuu raised her bloody right hand to gently catch the smoking Fairy who was coughing up a fit from the fire that erupted in the engine of the Ryuusei and threatened to suffocate the little pilot, Unryuu lowering her palm to allow the crew onboard her rigging to pull the pilot in, parachute and all as Unryuu tried to add some words of encouragement.
" … You're safe."
But Shigure saw one Ri and Ne-Class heavy cruiser emerge from the sea, tail cannons ready to fire at the vulnerable carrier as the water dripped from their clothes and armor in unbroken streams, their expressions showing their determination in wanting to sink a carrier.
But Unryuu looked at someone behind them as she coolly replied, unconcerned about the cannons that were pointed at her and her Fairies, remaining calm while assessing the situation.
"Akashi-san, please take care of this nuisance."
Shigure shifted her eyes to look behind the two heavy cruisers, noting Akashi running up behind them like a ship girl possessed, manic grin on her face as she held two operating scalpels in each fist as she used her weak presence to her advantage, since the last person the Abyssals expected to attack them was the fleet medic.
Akashi ducked underneath the one of the sentient tails of the Ne-Class that attempted to clothesline her, the hooks on her cranes jingling like ominous sleigh bells to signify her presence as she shoved one of her scalpels into the wrist of the vulnerable Ne-Class while maneuvering around the Abyssal.
She spun on the spot like a ballerina while still in front of the now-injured Abyssal, clearly headed for the adjacent Ri-Class who was swinging her cannons around to shoot the repair ship, knowing that the armor that covered her arms protected her hands and Akashi couldn't target the same spot twice.
But Akashi predicted that as she spun the scalpel around to hold it in a reverse grip, bringing it down on the Ri-Class's exposed thigh while Shigure winced, Akashi's fluid motion similar to that of an experienced serial killer with a sharp object as she pulled out both scalpels to get out of the two cruisers' range, and the removal of both scalpels caused fountains of blood to gush out in gratuitous amounts, sending the two Abyssals into a panic.
Unryuu came in fast, dual-wielding her staff to shove its blunt end into the face of the bleeding Ne-Class and punching through it with ease, Shigure looking away before she could see any of the grey matter spill out after catching a glimpse of blood being spilled everywhere, the Ne-Class's skull being crushed after resisting Unryuu's strike for a fraction of a second before shattering like a porcelain bowl.
She kept moving to prevent any Abyssals from targeting her as she hadn't been remodeled yet and was thus more susceptible to life-threatening damage, allowing herself a peek back at the situation as she saw the Ri-Class stumble back from Unryuu's raised and extended armored leg, landing on her bum.
Unryuu lowered her leg, likely having kicked the Abyssal in the gut and causing the seemingly unstoppable fountain of blood flowing from her leg to spray copious amounts of blood everywhere to the chagrin of the Ri-Class, Shigure sailing up to them while keeping her 12 Cm Cannon trained on the downed heavy cruiser, looking at Akashi and Unryuu as she asked out of concern.
"Are you two alright?"
Akashi nodded, licking the alien blood off of the scalpel in her hand as she replied.
"Of course, Shigure. But Unryuu, didn't you just say that we shouldn't drop our guard in battle?"
Unryuu huffed in indignation as she looked Akashi in the eye and explained herself.
"Unlike a certain Amphibious Assault Ship who seemed to be having too much fun and disregarded her own safety, I knew you were coming, but I still had my guard up regardless. Like now."
And Unryuu's hands shot out to catch two incoming cannon rounds from where Shigure was pointing her cannon, Shigure pulling the trigger without even looking at the Ri-Class to fire a round into the Ri-Class's face, causing the Ri-Class's head to snap back from the shell impacting her on the forehead, though sadly not penetrating it as she hoped.
Akashi, having ducked upon hearing Unryuu's warning, was quick to flick her wrists to summon a myriad of surgical tools, from various surgical scalpels to scissors, long-nose pliers and even utility knives for her to grab before they slipped back into her long sleeves.
She wore a manic grin as she leaned in, causing shadows to form over her face as she brandished her sharp weapons for the Ri-Class to see as while strolling over, taking her time to play on the the fallen Ri-Class's fears as she was doing her best to submerge in time, Akashi mocking,
"You don't look too good there, dear. I hear death's quite an effective cure."
The repair ship utilized one of the scalpels in her hand to cut deeply into the upper arm of the struggling Ri-Class, causing the arm that she was using to aim her cannon at point-blank range to seemingly drop dead, suddenly limp due to some sort of major muscle being severed and rendering it impossible for the Abyssal to lift her cannon.
Akashi slammed her knee down on the Ri-Class's right arm which was still functional, using her body weight to hold down the Abyssal's arm and cannon, calmly pulling the hair of the Abyssal heavy cruiser as she held another scalpel in her right hand before the Ri-Class could fully submerge into the blood-stained ocean, the water now up to her breasts and rising.
Akashi coolly swung her scalpel down to slit the Ri-Class's throat that was exposed as the repair ship pulled the Abyssal's head back to allow the scalpel to fit into the small space formed between the Ri-Class's chin and her throat guard which protected one of their most vulnerable areas.
It was evident that the Ri-Class didn't want to die like this, Shigure noting that the Ri-Class's eyes reflected the horror that one would experience upon being awarded the dubious honor of dying at the hands of a mad scientist or doctor, a shell to the head far more preferable to the prolonged suffering that was to come.
Shigure looked away again, slightly squeamish at the profuse bleeding that erupted from the throat of the dying Ri-Class, looking back with a hint of revulsion at a blood-soaked Akashi who was getting up and was sensually licking the blood off of her scalpel, the Ri-Class dying from exsanguination as the crown of her lifeless head disappeared into the bloody ocean.
"That was disgusting."
Akashi withdrew her tongue and pocketed the scalpel, shrugging as she was about to nonchalantly remark about her fearsome fighting style.
But Unryuu was a second earlier in agreeing with Shigure's statement, although not in a way that Shigure would ever learn to expect in a hundred years.
"Yes, I agree that licking your operating equipment clean is rather unhygienic."
Akashi and Shigure stared at the emotionless carrier who showed no signs of joking as Shigure wore an indescribable expression, having only one thought in mind in response to that retort.
What.
But she shook her head free of those thoughts as she looked around to watch the carnage around them, beginning to understand the modus operandi of the 8th Fleet.
They specialized in individual areas of expertise, but compared to other fleets that were comfortable with long-range combat like the battleship and carrier-orientated fleets, ship girls like Akitsu Maru and Akashi used weapons and possessed skills that were best utilized at close range while Kiso and Unryuu had weapons that could be used in mid to long-range while being capable of holding their own in close-quarters combat.
While Akitsu Maru and Maya caused havoc in the middle of the enemy formation, the Ise-Class sisters, Unryuu and the rest of the destroyers picked off retreating Abyssals with cannon fire, bombers and torpedoes respectively, and despite the Abyssals' superior numbers, they were forced to abandon their conventional battle formations due to their close-and-long range combination play.
Kiso kept up the mid-range pressure by charging them, going on the offensive as Shigure could see her hovering in the air while alternate-firing her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons along with the occasional burst of her boost gauge to keep herself airborne for as long as possible before landing.
And when she did, Shigure was awestruck by how the torpedo cruiser, despite being surrounded by a number of Abyssals that were beginning to converge on her position, had stored her empty cannons on her rigging and did a partial front flip to land while slapping her hands on the ocean.
Kiso, with torpedo launchers strapped on both her thighs and on her rigging, performed a flare break-dance move by swinging her shapely legs around while constantly moving her hands that were supporting her entire body weight, her spread legs spinning around without touching the ocean.
She fired off torpedoes in every direction to either kill or deter Abyssals from getting close as her constant evasive motions, striped launchers and the sheer amount of torpedoes she shot out everywhere threw off their aim, the torpedo cruiser spotting some Tsu-Class light cruisers evading the torpedoes in time and taking aim at Kiso as the other Abyssals were engulfed in explosions.
The torpedo cruiser then changed moves, now swinging her legs up in a sweeping arc to spin her legs like a spinning top with her legs split and her hips thankfully covered by compression shorts, this time using the torpedo launchers on her left shoulder that were almost kissing the ocean to fire another salvo of torpedoes at the stray Abyssals.
This was effective as the Abyssals scrambled to get out of the way, and one of the Tsu-Class light cruisers had one leg blown clean off after stumbling into the path of an incoming torpedo.
The Tsu-Class, despite not looking as if it possessed an oral orifice of any kind to produce such noises, did have a throat and a voice box to articulate as it cried an unholy scream of anguish as its limb was eviscerated by the explosion and fell onto the ocean, temporarily taken out of action.
And as another Tsu-Class light carrier tried to lift her cannons to fire, a burning projectile hit the Abyssal's helmet and shattered like glass upon impact, dousing the Tsu-Class's upper torso in dripping flames and the surprised Abyssal could only howl in its immolated mask as its large hands, unwieldy for self-maintenance, clumsily attempted to wipe the flammable substance off of its burning skin.
And in the end, the burning Abyssal could only screech in its alien, metallic tone as it too fell onto the ocean as it became a flaming wreck that promptly burst into flames, Shigure shielding her eyes as the fireball erupted and the pressure wave hit her even at a distance.
She followed Kiso's glance back at the fleet oiler Hayasui, who stood far away and was giving her an encouraging smile as she bent her knees slightly to emulate a basketball player smugly throwing a three-pointer.
Hayasui proceeded to take out a wine bottle, but it now had a wet towel in its mouth and was a significant fire hazard, Hayasui smiling serenely all the while as she uncoupled the one "cannon" on her rigging, pressing the trigger dangerously close to the wet towel that was partially stuffed into the filled wine bottle.
And what came out the nozzle of the "cannon" in Hayasui's hands was a slight burst of flame to set the towel on fire, Shigure finally realizing that what was in Hayasui's hand was a Molotov Cocktail, Hayasui hurling the makeshift incendiary bomb at another group of Abyssals.
This time, the unlucky Abyssal to be hit and set on fire was an Elite Ru-Class battleship who coincidentally looked away at that moment, didn't see the incoming projectile and was thus caught off guard by the Molotov Cocktail hitting her on the shoulder, on target due to Hayasui's advanced ship girl aiming system helping her hit the Ru-Class's blind spot.
The alcohol in the bottle spilled everywhere as the bottle's fragile glass shattered upon hitting the Abyssal's tough armor, but inadvertently caused its contents to spill and the flaming towel to ignite the flammable substance that dripped everywhere, causing the Elite Ru-Class to scream not just in pain, but in surprise at the sudden attack that burnt her skin.
The Ru-Class's jet black hair, flammable due to its humanoid design and no longer protected by the coat of cold ocean water after surfacing, was immediately set on fire as the flames worked its way up her hair in order to hungrily devour her hair and turn it into an inferno that consumed the Ru-Class's upper torso, hair and back.
The shrieking Ru-Class was already spiraling into a panic, seeing that flames were a genuine hazard to ship girls and Abyssals alike as she discarded her cannons stacks to free up her hands in order to try and extinguish the flames that seared her skin, screaming as she ran through the battlefield and cut a large swath through allies and enemies alike as her clothes caught on fire.
Her scream was far more distinct due to her humanoid design, and it really said something when the human-sounding scream made Shigure feel bad for the Abyssal, her voice clearly expressing a primal fear of fire as her panicked scream turned heads and causing ally and foe to dive out of the way of the immolated Ru-Class as she shrieked.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
And eventually, she collapsed onto the ocean as she practiced the emergency drill of Stop, Drop and Roll to extinguish the flames that permeated her entire upper body, not difficult to pull off since they were standing on an ocean and water was everywhere, the Abyssal squirming and producing a plume of smoke that dissipated into the air as the flames snuffed out.
Shigure then jumped at the explosion that occurred off in the distance as she spotted Akitsu Maru hurling small spheres off into the distance, causing the Abyssals to either try and evade the spheres, or attempt to throw them back in which Unryuu made their lives difficult if they tried to scoop up the floating spheres and throw them back at the ship girls.
Shigure temporarily retreated from the scene as she realized that Akitsu Maru was throwing live grenades at the Abyssals, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer maintaining her distance from the 8th Fleet members in order to practice the art of Not-Dying.
Shigure saw Maya swinging her elbow at a Ta-Class battleship's temple to try and induce a concussion, the Ta-Class's head snapping to the right as Maya's elbow struck her temple, Hatsuharu, Hatsuzuki and Kawakaze teaming up to take out the Abyssal destroyers, not bothering to risk their lives by trying to hit above their ship class.
The Ise Sisters were providing cover fire along with Unryuu, who was controlling her planes as they waged an aerial war with the Abyssal fighter planes above them while Maya and Hatsuzuki's Anti-Air cannons homed in on the enemy aircraft, Akitsu Maru, Akashi and Kiso all engaging the Abyssals in close quarters combat.
And we have Hayasui standing off at the side, now throwing fuel-filled tied-up balloons around, drenching a Ri-Class who was trying to keep her distance from the fleet oiler, assuming that she specialized in close-range combat like her comrades.
But Hayasui flicked her right wrist like Akashi did, producing a bright red flare gun from her long sleeves and quick-scoping the Ri-Class heavy cruiser before the Ri-Class could get a shot off.
Shigure had to shield her eyes again as the incandescent glow of the flare shot out from the barrel of the flare gun, flying across the air not unlike a comet through space towards the Ri-Class, who was already diving into a prone position to evade the lethal flare.
But any satisfaction that the Abyssal could gleam from evading the magnesium flare flying over her head was lost when Hayasui produced a second flare gun in her left hand, firing at the Abyssal Ri-Class who valiantly tried her best to evade again, Shigure noting the first flare plop onto the ocean and vaporizing the seawater due to the excessively high temperatures the magnesium reaction produced to create a ball of white-hot light, the reaction reacting almost explosively upon hitting the ocean.
But despite the Ri-Class attempts to roll on the water to either get rid of the layer of fuel caused by the tied-up fuel balloon or to evade the second flare, it didn't help much as the magnesium and phosphorus-filled flare impacted the Ri-Class on the left breast, instantly searing into the Ri-Class's breastplate as it ignited whatever fuel remained on her body.
Shigure ducked as the Ri-Class likely squeezed the trigger of her cannon out of reflex upon feeling what was the equivalent of the sun scorch her skin and bra, burning through her armored breastplate and attempting to carve its way into the Abyssal's fuel reserves stored in her chest, the Ri-Class screaming all the while.
"AAHHHH! AAAAAHHHHH!"
Hayasui was already moving on to her next victim, a retreating Wo-Class who determined that her comrade couldn't be saved and was now acting out of self-preservation in the face of the pyromaniac who was the fleet oiler strolling towards her, calmly reloading her one-shot flare guns while her dark eyes belied the inferno that she had in her mind for her enemies, twinkling ever so slightly.
But the Wo-Class raised her cane at the same instant Hayasui noted something coming in fast from above, Shigure pulling out the one Anti-Aircraft Cannon, a 10 Cm Twin High-Angle Gun Mount that had a good angle of elevation, pointing it upwards in order to shoot down the three Abyssal Dive Bombers swooping down to ambush the fleet oiler.
Shigure's Anti-Aircraft fire was joined in by the Anti-Air fire coming from a third party, Shigure's neck swiveling to see who it was.
Hatsuzuki placed her right hand on Hayasui's shoulder to reassure her, her expression a poker face as she nodded as soon as Hayasui looked back, the fleet oiler expressing her gratitude.
"Yo, thanks, Hatsu-chan!"
Hatsuzuki's left eyebrow creased a little at that, likely the destroyer's way of expressing a slight displeasure at being called such an affectionate nickname, but she placed her other hand on Hayasui's other shoulder, guiding her away from one of the crash-landing Abyssal Dive Bombers as the Wo-Class's pod cannons fired, Shigure already performing evasive maneuvers while firing her cannons.
Hayasui, being dragged around freely by the Akizuki-Class destroyer, was elated at having a teammate who was there to watch her back, cheered her and her Rensouhou-chan on as her turrets kept firing into the air.
"Yep!
Help me get close with my flamethrower, and I'll finish off that pesky Wo-Class!"
But she didn't get the chance to do what she wanted, Shigure resisting the urge to do a double take at what Hayasui allegedly wanted to use to kill the Wo-Class, noting that the Wo-Class spun around in order to fire her pod cannons at a charging Akitsu Maru.
The IJA ship girl, seeing that she lost the element of surprise since carriers all had enhanced environmental perception and powerful radars, simply gave her trademark slasher smile, and the fact that her once-white makeup and dark uniform were now soaked in blood just made her seem nightmarish, her deathly-black killing aura flaring up again as she deflected every one of the Wo-Class's cannon rounds, small blue flames spitting into existence as she swung her katana around at blinding speeds.
And as the Wo-Class now knew that she had to resort to desperate measures in order to survive, the large headdress jaw that represented the hangar exit screeched as it opened, allowing two torpedo bombers to hastily take flight and only needing to drop their payloads upon seeing the light of day to accomplish their task.
But Akitsu Maru smoothly reached behind her to pull out her Benelli M3 shotgun by the handle which was jutting out for easy access, squeezing her eyes shut as she swung the black shotgun forward to fire its "Dragon's Breath" shells, Shigure noticing out of her peripheral vision that Hatsuzuki and Hayasui shielded their eyes as Shigure dived back and followed suit.
She was glad to have done so as she felt two large explosions go off at roughly the same instant, rocking her body as she felt her uniform simultaneously feel the heat wave of the explosion and the cool embrace of the sea on two sides of her body as she hit the ocean.
In her screaming mind, she managed to rationalize that the Dragon's Breath shells lived up to their name as she managed to catch a glimpse of the blindingly bright glare of the round fired from the shotgun, igniting as it sprayed all over the Abyssal planes and likely even on the Wo-Class herself.
This probably caused whatever payload the Abyssal planes were carrying to combust from either the magnesium being fired at them, or crash-landing into the ocean after being shot at with Dragon's Breath shells, the shock of the crash-landing causing their payloads to detonate.
She was thankful that everyone on her side had closed their eyes and protected themselves for the most part against the fireball that temporarily shone like the sun as Shigure closed her eyes in time to prevent any damage to her eyes, remembering a certain recovering light carrier in her fleet and the damage she had sustained.
But a dark shadow emerged from the fireworks, trails of flame streaking behind her as Akitsu Maru screamed,
"Pratāpana! Triple Fiery Impaling Strike!"
The IJA ship girl thrust her katana forward in a piercing motion at a speed that was so fast that it appeared to be three strikes at once, the katana again bursting into flames upon being thrust forward so quickly.
And despite the fact that the Abyssal carrier blocked one strike with her cane, the other two strikes hit their mark and impaled the Wo-Class in the throat and kidney, causing her blade to smash through her throat guard and pierced through her throat.
The Wo-Class stumbled, trying to put some distance between herself and the amphibious assault ship who was still partially on fire after she ran through the explosion and still carried her katana and shotgun, the Abyssal trying to quell the flames that were starting to erupt from her neck wound and was visible through the decimated throat guard, sweating buckets as the Abyssal's expression was trying to remain impassive while facing off against the terrifying IJA ship girl.
But a large-caliber shell fired from the cannon of a aviation battleship suddenly hit her and instantly crushed the Wo-Class's right shoulder, ripping through it to punch through her upper torso and destroying either the heart or lungs.
This caused the torso of the Wo-Class to collapse in on itself as her body was crushed by the impact of the shell punching through her body, causing body bits to fly in strange arcs due to the slight vacuum the large-caliber shell left in its wake.
The Wo-Class registered her own death upon collapsing onto the ocean, now no longer possessing a right shoulder and was almost bisected as blood spurted everywhere, drenching herself in blood and the occasional tiny organ bits.
Shigure inched forward while keeping a low profile to observe the carrier's injury in vivid detail, and to her horror, she could see broken ribs sticking out of the carrier's exposed torso, splintered due to the shell impact.
The flames that were dancing on the Wo-Class's neck wound were now working down her collarbone and her damaged upper torso, the flesh surrounding it already starting to wax and decompose from the fire burning the flesh from the inside out, Shigure taking in a whiff of something disgusting being cooked, almost like the cauldrons of Hell were whipping up their signature dish that was cooked Abyssal flesh.
The Wo-Class's eyes were unfocused and bloodshot, looking up at nothing in particular after being blinded at close range due to either the Dragon's Breath Shells or the explosion of her own bombers right in front of her.
Her dark cape as well as the ends of her hair were smoldering, having endured the brunt of the explosion at close range as evidenced by the horrific burns on parts of her face, her left arm that was now lying uselessly next to her sundered body and the burning wound on her torso that caused the Abyssal's chest to go up in flames, the Wo-Class coughing up blood which freely flowed down the sides of her mouth.
Hayasui and Akitsu Maru were ready to put the Abyssal out of her misery as the amphibious assault ship reloaded her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun and pointed it right in the Wo-Class's face, unceremoniously pulling the trigger to execute the Wo-Class without a second thought, Shigure shutting her eyes to shield herself from the blinding flash of the Dragon's Breath Shell being unloaded into the Wo-Class's face at point-blank range, slightly feeling the heat of the shotgun blast that eviscerated the Wo-Class's head.
Hayasui was mumbling about not getting to use her flamethrower, holding the weapon that had transformed back into a flight deck as it was easier to carry around while Akitsu Maru simply stuck her tongue out at the fleet oiler.
She wanted to complain about the savagery of their tactics, but repressed that desire as she knew that this was done to ensure their victory.
If they hadn't resorted to such brutal and ruthless methods to take down the Abyssals, they would be having a far tougher time dealing with Abyssals, seeing that some of them were Elites and were stronger than the rank-and-file Abyssals, and the Wo-Class would have suffered for far longer than was necessary had Akitsu Maru not ended her suffering prematurely, looking down at the corpse of the Wo-Class, her shattered metallic skull showing through the waxing flesh of the dead Abyssal's face which was annihilated by the point-blank shotgun blast.
The corpse now lost control of whatever damage control systems it had in place to contain the flames, the corpse now internally combusting as her singed flesh started to glow from within whilst slowly sinking into the ocean, Shigure wincing as the exhaust ports violently coughed out flames and slightly caused the seawater around it to bubble before sinking, the Abyssal returning to the depths whence it came.
Shigure looked around, noting that Ise was kneeling down to punch the face of an Abyssal while her sister ship provided cover fire, although the way the bleeding Ri-Class's neck lolled about lifelessly clearly said volumes about the Abyssal's state, Ise gleefully repeating as she kept punching the Abyssal in the face,
" POW! You're dead! POW! You're dead! POW! You're dead!"
Hyuga, starting to get a little annoyed at how her sister ship went off on a tangent to beat a dead Abyssal and was ignoring the battle around them, ordered Ise to stop.
"Ise. Stop beating the dead Abyssal, and come help me take down the rest of the Abyssals before they hurt any of our comrades."
But Ise was drenched in her enemy's blood like most of the 8th Fleet, looking back up at her sister and complained.
"But, this Elite Ri-Class came back after being shot a few times by us!
She could be a zombie!"
The glare from her sister was enough to push her into action, the nameship of the Ise-Class sighing and getting up while readying her cannons and controlling them so that they were facing different directions, Shigure wondering what the aviation battleship was going to do.
Ise boosted backwards so that she was able to aim at all her enemies, since it was easier for Ise's vertically-orientated cannons to hit some of the outlying Abyssals, a few barrels having reached their maximum angle of elevation in order to hit them as her cannons could only shoot in a narrow arc before her.
Ise called out,
"Cataclysmic Roar of the Eight Great Cannons!"
All of her cannons roared, pillars of fire shooting out of the barrels as Ise hit all her marks, some of the Abyssals getting shot in the head, their metal skulls exploding upon impact with the cannon shell as they collapsed on the spot, fountains of blood gushing from their exposed necks like broken fire hydrants.
Others were hit in the torso, disabling them as the battleship's cannon shells punched through the weaker Ri and Tsu-Class cruisers, while the stronger Ta and Ru-Class stumbled back from the impact of the shells hitting them and providing an opening for the destroyers to empty their torpedo launchers in order to sink the battleships.
The muffled screams of the Abyssals rang out in the distance as the torpedoes struck them with devastating results, Shigure noting that Ise was smiling at them, winking gleefully as she held up a victory sign, and Hyuga also had her eyes closed as she nodded, letting things slide this once as they all gathered around to confirm their status.
Looking around, she noted that she was the only one to come out completely unscathed, although she was fine with it this time round as she wasn't even supposed to be here, and she understood that she was to support the others from the sidelines this time, lest her try-hard attitude either cause her to sink, die or sustain fatal injuries and cause her teammates trouble when they had to protect her.
Akitsu Maru and Maya looked like hell as they had suicidally jumped into the fray, the former's uniform almost entirely shredded and thoroughly drenched in Abyssal blood, so much so that it wouldn't be unusual for a ship girl who met them now to think that crimson red was the default color of her uniform.
But seeing that her uniform was far from burnt despite the fact that she regularly used fire as a means of attack probably meant that her clothes and makeup were fire-resistant, allowing her to go wild with her fire-based attacks without worrying about getting burnt by her own attacks.
Akashi was also drenched in blood, standing off to the side and complaining about her dry-cleaning bills, and Shigure couldn't help but feel a little afraid of her for being so knowledgeable about the ship girl and Abyssal anatomy and learning how to weaponize that knowledge in order to perform surgical cuts that would deal the most damage.
The other destroyers also seemed to be in good shape, if a little disheveled after zipping around and launching torpedoes in a "hit-and-run" manner, the three of them listening to a proud Maya as the slightly damaged heavy cruiser boasted.
The Kai Ni heavy cruiser had indeed taken some damage and her uniform was in tatters, but she strangely looked more energized now, perhaps getting into the groove of things and looking as if she had no problems with shrugging off her injuries, Shigure assuming that like the rest of the seniors, she had sustained worse wounds in the past.
Shigure's attention was drawn back to the fleet oiler, now free of Molotov Cocktails that were stored in her boxy brown-colored bag, and her flare guns which were likely hidden in her long sleeves as she carried around her "flight deck" that was now in its innocuous looking default form, the complete opposite of the dreadful weapon it transformed into.
Shigure leaned in to ask the fleet oiler about the battle, and why the Princess was a no-show.
"Um, Hayasui-san, it doesn't seem as if the Southern War Princess is coming…"
But Hayasui shook her head, a slight smile on her face as she seemed almost expectant of something as she gripped the handle of her flight deck, responding certainly.
"Oh no. Can't you feel the presence beneath us? Oh wait, I suppose you can't, since you're an unremodeled ship girl. Sorry."
Shigure looked at her senior, watching her senior unfold her weapon to transform her flight deck into a flamethrower again, Shigure asking about the fleet oiler's choice of weapon while standing away from the nozzle of the flamethrower wherever Hayasui pointed it.
"U-Um, Hayasui-san, why do you use such weapons in combat? They don't seem too safe…"
But Hayasui scoffed at that, looking at Shigure and giving her a look that expressed some sort of envy at her naivete and the potential that she possessed, something that Hayasui would never have.
"Maa, what else would I have to work with, if I discarded my Molotov Cocktails, flare guns and flamethrowers, Shigure-chan? Listen here."
Hayasui lowered the flamethrower, having noticed Shigure's obvious discomfort with being in such close proximity to her weapon, trying to explain to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer about what she had to resort to in order to help out on the battlefield despite her abysmal stats.
"I wanted to help everyone out, but I couldn't because I consume more fuel than I can supply to everyone, so I didn't get to sortie too much. Until I built this. "
Gesturing to her flamethrower that was thankfully pointed away from Shigure, Hayasui looked away as Shigure observed her distant gaze and saw how she hated being an auxiliary ship and was never going to perform as well as rank-and-file ship girls, and couldn't even do her job correctly.
But Shigure saw the slight glint in her eyes, the slight contraction of the pupils and the uncomfortable excitement in her voice when talking about her main weapon, likely working together with the Fairies to craft this weapon, seeing that it was so seamlessly integrated into her rigging and didn't seem as if major modifications had to be made to overcome incompatibility, something that might happen if one tried to make a weapon by themselves and tried to integrate it with the technologically advanced machinery of the Fairies.
The way everything unfolded and transformed into a flamethrower with a simple pull of the lever almost seemed as if only one who possessed the Fairies' technological prowess would be able to craft it, Shigure politely listening to Hayasui.
"And since I carried so much fuel and alcoholic beverages to quench everyone's thirst and refuel everyone, what else did you think I would weaponize in order to take down my opponents?"
Shigure nodded, explaining what she had learnt about them.
"I understand. I can't expect everyone to fight like we do, seeing that not everyone was created to fight in on the front lines."
Looking Hayasui in the eye, she continued her explanation as she gave the fleet oiler a firm nod.
"But I can't underestimate their desire to protect their teammates in battle, and what they had to go through in order to compensate for their inherent weaknesses."
Hayasui smirked, wielding the flamethrower single-handedly as she reached out with her free hand to ruffle Shigure's hair, gratefully replying.
"Well, thanks for understanding, Shigure. Not a lot of ship girls look past the bloodbath that we indulge in to try and understand why we fight like this. But you've got potential, and you're going to go far with your Kai Ni remodel. And you're from the renowned Yokosuka Naval Base, so learn what you can from us and keep testing your limits, alright?"
Shigure blinked before nodding enthusiastically, not wanting to disappoint those who had expectations of her, like her Admiral and her comrades.
But a suffocating aura suddenly engulfed them, Shigure clamming up from the killing intent welling up from deep beneath the ocean and far more intense than anything she felt thus far.
The Abyssal previously tried to conceal its signature underneath the ocean, only choosing to reveal itself to the ship girls present after the auxiliary fleet was wiped out, flaring up from beneath them to make her presence known.
Beneath the ocean laid an Abyssal Princess who was powerful enough to take on several fleets at once, their very being said to be composed of the souls of fallen ship girls and whatever grudges or regrets they brought into the afterlife, and it'd make sense if their auras were vengeful and malevolent, two traits she was feeling in spades from the surfacing Southern War Princess.
Her presence was surrounded by a cluster of strong signatures, since the Abyssals who were chosen to be the Princess' personal fleet would be Elites, Shigure sweating upon sensing that the Abyssal protection fleet was easily on par with Kai and Kai Ni ship girls, and she was clearly out of her depth here.
She looked to the ship girls around her, none of whom were talking anymore and absolutely focused on the rising presence and the fleet which surrounded her.
Hearing Hayasui talk to her, Shigure listened as she tried to control the shivering that was evident in her hands, noting that the wary fleet oiler held her flamethrower tightly.
"Shigure, listen. When you first lay eyes on the Princess, make sure not to get cowed into immobility by its threatening aura."
Shigure tilted her head to the side while lifting an eyebrow, commenting sarcastically.
"Well, it's a little late to be giving that piece of advice."
Hayasui chuckled as she revised her statement.
"Well, just remember, Shigure. Keep moving, and always be aware of your surroundings. You're out of your depth here, and we can't protect you from everything. But if the Admiral and Akashi allowed you to be here, it means that you at least know how to handle yourself even without our help, right?"
Shigure noted, uncoupling her handheld 12 cm Cannon from her battle backpack as she nodded in a no-nonsense tone, focusing on the battle before them.
It was quite the tall task, learning to roll with the fear when it was against such an intense killing aura.
Shigure's eyes narrowed as she gripped her cannon, unaware that she, for the second time, had entered a "zone" of sorts like her teammates as the azure blue aura began pouring out of her body, wispy and underdeveloped compared to the veterans standing around her and almost nothing compared to the suffocating, murderous aura emanating from the surfacing Princess.
But this was important for the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she realized that no one could simply "be a spectator" in this battle, which was going to be far more destructive than anything she had experienced thus far, and she needed to be laser-focused to even hope to survive the coming engagement.
No useless thoughts. Let go of anything that would slow me down and get me killed.'
And as the enemy signatures broke the surface of the ocean, Shigure gazed upon her enemies.
The Abyssal Princess brought along two fleets to protect herself as she sailed, and they consisted of 3 destroyers, 2 light cruisers, 4 heavy cruisers, 2 slow battleships and 1 carrier.
All of which had blood-red auras, two of which were differentiated by their yellow auras and a streak of blue flame vibrantly flowing out of their left eye, Shigure feeling that those Abyssals were likely the flagships of the two fleets and were strong enough to kill her in an instant.
Standing right in front of her protection fleet and somewhat defeating the point of having one, Shigure laid her eyes upon the Southern War Princess, a female adult who was relatively tall compared to her, but only slightly taller than average when compared to the titans of the battleship class, asserting her dominance through sheer killing intent.
The Southern War Princess had unusually long twin tails which reached down to her knees, flaring out the further down it traveled before curling back in, held up by almost-invisible hair bands that burned a crimson red for cosmetic effect.
Her long bangs covered her right eye entirely, her left eye possessing blood red pupils, the three colors that made up her color palette being red flames, white flesh and hair and black steel.
Her body was bare save for part of a risque dark metal thong covering her nether regions, using strands of hair from her ponytails to cover her ample breasts as they flowed down her torso, metallic belts strapped on her thighs while wearing a dark steel thigh-high heel on her left leg while her bare right leg had on a simple black heel.
It was the machinery on her arms which were most horrifying due to the amount of firepower she carried around, the rigging on her arms stuffed full of cannons within large geometric-shaped jaws.
Nightmarish jaws were opening up to produce large caliber cannons in threes while some of the medium caliber cannons stuck out from the exoskeleton in twos and threes, the entire contraption clearly transforming from a more streamlined form for underwater traversing into the machine of death before them, taking inspiration from various deep sea creatures while resembling eldritch abominations.
Shigure noted that two jaws on either weapon stack were now powering up as their insides glowed a hellish red, the Southern War Princess being a far stronger aviation battleship than Ise and Hyuga as the two jaws were likely where she spawned her Abyssal planes to do her bidding, the whole weapon stack gnashing their teeth and occasionally growling like beasts.
Exposed thick wires, fuel canisters and smaller metal plates formed a thin but significant extra layer of protection against outside elements and cannons shells, the Southern War Princess' cannons adorned her arms while shedding most of her defense, exhaust ports to the rear of her rigging and her thigh-high boot regularly expelling crimson steam in order to regulate the temperature, making her seem even more intimidating than she already was with the crimson steam looming behind her like the promise of bloodshed and death.
The Abyssal Princess' appearance which was by default supposed to look gorgeous, was now overshadowed by the fear and even the slight revulsion which she was designed to invoke in her enemies to make them dread facing her.
And despite her logical mind screaming about how out of her depth she really was when going up against two entire fleets of Elites and had to fight an Abyssal Princess later, the only thing that escaped her mouth was a slightly uncharacteristic yet brutally honest opinion as she blurted out.
"You're one ugly bitch."