Down the Rabbit Hole - A Kancolle RP (IC)

[Sterkistan]

SRN Battleship Diamantina LM
Base
Dia had gotten halfway through her breakfast when the PA blared to life.

"Um... All ships assigned to... Special Response Force and, um, Base patrol are to report to the Docks, effective Immediately!"

She stood up in a flash, sculling her coffee as she approached the exit. Placing the empty mug down on the small table near the door
"Thank you!"
Dia called out as she ran out the door. Running purely on instinct.
She pulled her hat on as she ran toward the docks, her fairies already readying her rig inside.
She stood at the door to the docks.
"Battleship Diamantina... Reporting for duty."

[The Selkie]

Kindred Spirit
Around HQ

Yawning, Kindred sleepily made her way to the headquarters building. She held a green bag in one hand and a cup of her own home brewed coffee in the other, with her tan dungarees and matching cap hastily thrown onto her body. She didnt much care if the younger ships saw her in her rumpled state, it was first thing in the morning and shed fix herself once she had a free second. Mornings werent exactly her thing, one way or another.

She wasnt a grumpy gus in the morning, but she never seemed able to wake up refreshed, instead awakening just as tired as she had been the night before. It really was an infuriating condition. Entering the building, she passed by Kreech River, heading in the opposite direction and looking just as tired as Kindred felt. Poor girl, she thought, she'd been on duty all night and was probably about to pass out on her feet. Kindred gave her a sympathetic nod as she passed and kept walking.

Reaching her building, she smiled slightly as the new HQ duty saluted her with excited joy. Today's duty was FNS Tumbledown, one of the torch class. She was a small thing, even shorter than Kindred but absolutely exploding with energy and youthful repose. "Good morning ma'am!" She called as Kindred returned the salute, her waist length silver hair going everywhere as she hurried to open the door for Kindred. "Good morning, Tumble, thank you." The old fleet oiler always had a soft spot for destroyers. Where she she could go toe to toe in shouting down any ship twice her size, she just couldnt bring herself to do more than softy chastise the younger girls.

She supposed it was only natural. Older ships should know better, while the younger ones, they needed a guiding hand once and a while. Put in a somewhat better mood, Kindred continued through the HQ's winding halls until she reached her door. Her small smile dissipated when she saw someone standing in front of said door. She always feared the worst when something like this happened. She couldnt help it, people only ever showed up when they wanted something. That damnable cruiser was a prime example, quench one thirst, and they will simply find a new one. Such was the way of life in the thankless job of quartermastering.

Wordlessly, she passed him, opened the door and preceded in, muttering a sidelong, "Come in," As she went. She lovingly sipped her coffee a few times before setting it down on her horribly cluttered desk and started to rifle through her bag. Yanking a small dossier free, she set the bag behind her desk and snatched her hat off her head, letting it plop on the desk next to her coffee cup.

Opening the folder, she flipped through a few pages until she found the one she wanted, then she cleared her throat and directed her voice at the man in her office, "Good Morning, I assume youre," She squinted at the page and promptly frowned, "Fao-i-lean." She knew instantly she'd butchered the poor bastards name, but it wasnt her fault. Other people's languages where not her business. "Of course people enjoy showing up at my office far before their time, but Ill make the assumption for you. Im Kindred Spirit." The man wasnt bad looking, and unlike the bloke form last night, wasnt a fucking giant, which was nice. "Please have a seat, you're probably wondering what I have in store for you today."

Ta
The Open ocean

Ta's squadron would need to turn back soon. They were rapidly approaching an undrawn line she would not yet cross. That, and her battlegroup were starting to tire. They had been crusing all night at flank speed with no rest, they'd already lost two of her destroyers to fatigue and the Wo class would not stop bitching about how badly her feet hurt. But it was about to pay off. With the morning sun, Ta's frown turned into the ghost of a smile.

"All carriers will begin air operations." They knew the rough area the runaways would be in, and Ta couldnt waste time scouting before launching the attack. Theyd just have to shotgun it. At her order, dozens of aircraft lifted off at once until a mighty swarm of abyssal air power buzzed and droned around them. This large swarm divided up into several groups and split off in different directions, allowing them to cover the most ground.

Ta wasnt kept waiting for long. As one of the planes began squawking that they'd found their target and began an attack run. Personally, Ta couldnt see what the plane saw, but Wo could and confirmed the runaways were under air attack. The only problem Ta felt she had now, the attack wave wouldnt have enough power to put down that bitch Wo for good, the other waves would need time to converge on the target. Time Ta didnt have. She felt herself at a critical crossroads, a decision had to be made. "All planes will converge on the runaways, ensure they do not survive." At this point she couldnt afford to do anything less than sink the bitch, a pity really, but it couldnt be helped.

Glory
Around and about

Glory had only just pulled her blue dungarees on when panicked chatter came over her private frequency. From her room in the dorms she could reliably contact and be contacted by anyone in the HQ so long as they had her frequency, which she made sure was written down in the war room.

"Secretary ship Glory please come in! Please oh please!" The voice sounded like Tumbledown. Probably just coming on to relieve Kreech River. She babbled a bit before Glory managed to clear her throat and properly respond, "Glory here, whats wrong?" She felt a pang of annoyance at being disturbed before even reaching her prison, but for someone to use the frequency, meant something bad was happening. So instead of chewing the girl out, Glory decided to find out what had her in such a state.

"Oh Thank goodness! Secretary ship, There a bunch of blips on the radar! And and and no ones scheduled to come in right now! And and and I dont know what to do so I called you and please tell me what to do!" Blips on the radar? It could be stragglers coming in from last night... or a convoy she wasnt told about?

"Just calm down, Tumble, how many blips are there?" She replied with.

There was a short silence, which Glory used to throw on the rest of her clothes and tie back her golden blond hair, putting her normal blue bow much further up than it normally sat. "A lot!" The high pitched voice finally came back, "They all kinda mesh into each other, I cant count them all!" That wasnt good. It could be an attack but there was the possibility it wasnt. She could throw the entire base into general quarters and mobilize everyone to defend their home... but if it turned out to be nothing she would never live it down. No, whatever it was, shed use the regular patrol and Special Response force to intercept it.

"Um... Secretary ship?" Came the uncertain voice, clearly disturbed by her lengthy silence.

Glory was already out of her room and running for the docks, "Broadcast to the base," She dodged around people and corners alike, "All ships assigned to Special Response force and base patrol are to report to the docks immediately!" A frightened yes maam came back over the airwaves and then Glory was left to her own thoughts, up until the bases PA system screeched to life and the same high pitched and nervous voice blared to the entire base, "Um... All ships assigned to... Special Response Force and, um, Base patrol are to report to the Docks, effective Immediately!" Tumble's voice did manage to solidify long enough to emphasize immediately, and Glory was proud of her. She never liked speaking publicly herself and gave major props to the destroyer for her courage.

Now Glory just needed everyone to show up so she could brief them and get them on their way.

SDFS Faoileán, Quartermaster's Office.
As the Oiler passed me, I thought to myself, that she was my boss for today. She certainly reminded me a bit of SDFS Babhstar, who we only called Baby, who was safe and sound in the Free Lands. She, too, could talk smack to the cruisers and even to Kyrenaian Battleships, but destroyers never annoyed her.
On the contrary, destroyers and anything smaller, our sloops included, received cuddles and snuggles galore.
Once in her office and adressed, I saluted.
"Yes, Ma'am, I am SDFS Faoileán, Seaplane Tender of the SDF-Navy.", I told her, dropping my salute. "People like to call me Fao, if that helps." I hated that nickname, but it did help usually. Sitting down, I looked at Kindred Spirit with expectation in my eyes, passing over the PA Announcement by a cute-sounding, afraid and nervous sounding voice as it did not immediately concern my assignment. "So... what's today's plan, Ma'am?"

SDFS Carman Fea. Base Cafe.
I looked at the cheery girl in front of me with a slightly raised eyebrow... who, now that I thought about it, was actually my roommate.
She must have risen even before I did, which was always a possibility.
"Morning.", I told her, "Thank you for the offer, but I'll get something from the buffet. Just... waiting on someone." The cruiser from yesterday. Sergei. He seemed nice. I was sure, that I blushed lightly. Maybe he would be up for having breakfast together...? Then, it dawned upon me: "Do you have tea, by any chance?"

Adelheid grinned mischievously at the blush. "Someone special, perhaps?", she asked, alluding to the light blush. It really was fun to speculate on the romances of others, and Adelheid would have liked to think of herself as having matchmaker potential, but she was under standing orders to not even think about it. Some carriers, it seemed, didn't appreciate romantic advice. As to the question of tea, "There's none out in the buffet, but I can have Kerriott whip some up for you. Do you have a specific kind you're wanting?", she responded, taking out a pad of paper and a pen.

Split - Cafe

As Split waited for a waitress, she could hear the musical number of the staff, but really didn’t make any sense of it, except that it was in the tune of ‘Drunken Sailor’. She looked down at her knuckles, her bandages having been removed before she showered. The cuts and wounds that they had begun to heal and already had scabs, so that was good. She looked at the kanmusu who were preparing, and had recieved quite a shock; they were green. All of them, thier skin an unnatural shade of green, to her at least. She quickly turned her head to the window so that she could get herself together with no one noticing.

“Man, this fleet looks like everyone deployed thier biggest oddjobs here, overly nervous battleships, green cruisers, and a heavy cruiser made for ramming. Yep, definitely the oddjobs...” She thought to herself as she looked at the menu. Soon enough one of the cruisers came to Split’s table, making herself known as a waitress.

“I’ll take whatever you reccomend. And a big cup of whatever will wake me up fastest.” She replied.

"Well, you'll have to be a bit more specific as far as recommendations if you don't want everything on the menu and in the buffet.", Erika said, giggling, "As for the coffee, it's self-serve, over there on the buffet. Kerthenian Navy Brew should be strong enough for you. If you really wanna try it, though, Kafferol's the best thing for waking up this side of a tin of Überlast chocolates. Before you ask, we don't have any Überlast in at the moment.", she continued, her tone *far* too perky for someone who'd been up before First Call.

SDFS Carman Fea. Base Cafe.
I just wanted to reply to Adelheid, having blushed a bit more as she assumed, that it was someone special, who I was waiting for - not entirely incorrectly, it was someone specific, who I was waiting for, when my breakfast was rudely interrupted.
"Um... All ships assigned to... Special Response Force and, um, Base patrol are to report to the Docks, effective Immediately!", came through the PA System.
And I was Special Response Force today.
I had to say, the voice sounded cute, as if from one of our sloops. Even my cold-hearted Warrior Heart had a soft spot for the sloops.
I rose.
"I'm afraid, that the tea has to wait, then.", I said to Adelheid, a bit stiffly, I must admit, "Keep up the good work! And I'll have a cuppa of whatever you recommend once I return!"
And with that, I turned and went.
Let me emphasize this: I went, I did not run. Cruisers of the SDF-Navy, when not on the water, did not run. Especially not me, thanks to the heels, but we did not run. Running meant, that something was going either terribly wrong or terribly right, with a clear favouritism of fate for the former.
At least the heel allowed me to let my rear swing a bit.
Nodding to Búraló Liath, who stood in the door, making way for me as she hadn't been called, I went towards the docks.
I was not the first one there. A battleship, who looked as if she had run here, was already there, reporting just as I arrived.
"Battleship Diamantina... Reporting for duty.", she said.
I took a moment to come closer as well before I raised my hand to my temple for a salute and coldly spoke: "SDFS Carman Fea, Rhiannon-class Light Cruiser, reporting as ordered. What's the situation?"
My appearance might have been a bit sudden and startling, but I did not care. There was something going wrong and it needed to be introduced to my blade and apparently her guns.
Besides, I dimly remembered a Diamantina on the list for the Special Response Force. She had spirit, from what I could tell.
I gave the battleship a respectful nod.

[Virshia]

Ta
The Open ocean

Ta's squadron would need to turn back soon. They were rapidly approaching an undrawn line she would not yet cross. That, and her battlegroup were starting to tire. They had been crusing all night at flank speed with no rest, they'd already lost two of her destroyers to fatigue and the Wo class would not stop bitching about how badly her feet hurt. But it was about to pay off. With the morning sun, Ta's frown turned into the ghost of a smile.

"All carriers will begin air operations." They knew the rough area the runaways would be in, and Ta couldnt waste time scouting before launching the attack. Theyd just have to shotgun it. At her order, dozens of aircraft lifted off at once until a mighty swarm of abyssal air power buzzed and droned around them. This large swarm divided up into several groups and split off in different directions, allowing them to cover the most ground.

Ta wasnt kept waiting for long. As one of the planes began squawking that they'd found their target and began an attack run. Personally, Ta couldnt see what the plane saw, but Wo could and confirmed the runaways were under air attack. The only problem Ta felt she had now, the attack wave wouldnt have enough power to put down that bitch Wo for good, the other waves would need time to converge on the target. Time Ta didnt have. She felt herself at a critical crossroads, a decision had to be made. "All planes will converge on the runaways, ensure they do not survive." At this point she couldnt afford to do anything less than sink the bitch, a pity really, but it couldnt be helped.

Wo and the three destroyers were likewise beginning to feel the strain. Even though the Kanmusu Base was almost within shouting distance, Wo could confirm that their pursuers had not stopped. Cursing to herself, she prepared one of her Torpedo Bombers and motioned to the Wo fairy who had berated her earlier. "I need you to deliver a message to the Kanmusu. Tell them that we're seeking to surrender and need immediate support."

"Wo!?"

"Yes, I know they might shoot at you, but you're one of the best pilots I have. I know you can dodge them. Now, when you're over the base, Bail out and deliver my message. We'l try and follow you, ok?" Wo replied, sneaking a glance back towards their distant chasers. The Fairy nodded and returned inside Wo's headdress, an Abyssal Torpedo Bomber launching soon after and gunning it for the kanmusu base.

"Right. So, Don't bother trying to stand and fight. They'd just pick...." She heard a distant droning. And she knew what it meant. "Incoming Air Attack!" She barked at the 4 other "Abyssals. Break formation, prepare All Anti-Air Weaponry!" The other Wo Fairies inside the headdress readied themselves for combat. Even the Dive Bombers and Torpedo Bombers launched, ready to defend their carrier to the end.

[Jebslund]

Glory
Around and about

Glory had only just pulled her blue dungarees on when panicked chatter came over her private frequency. From her room in the dorms she could reliably contact and be contacted by anyone in the HQ so long as they had her frequency, which she made sure was written down in the war room.

"Secretary ship Glory please come in! Please oh please!" The voice sounded like Tumbledown. Probably just coming on to relieve Kreech River. She babbled a bit before Glory managed to clear her throat and properly respond, "Glory here, whats wrong?" She felt a pang of annoyance at being disturbed before even reaching her prison, but for someone to use the frequency, meant something bad was happening. So instead of chewing the girl out, Glory decided to find out what had her in such a state.

"Oh Thank goodness! Secretary ship, There a bunch of blips on the radar! And and and no ones scheduled to come in right now! And and and I dont know what to do so I called you and please tell me what to do!" Blips on the radar? It could be stragglers coming in from last night... or a convoy she wasnt told about?

"Just calm down, Tumble, how many blips are there?" She replied with.

There was a short silence, which Glory used to throw on the rest of her clothes and tie back her golden blond hair, putting her normal blue bow much further up than it normally sat. "A lot!" The high pitched voice finally came back, "They all kinda mesh into each other, I cant count them all!" That wasnt good. It could be an attack but there was the possibility it wasnt. She could throw the entire base into general quarters and mobilize everyone to defend their home... but if it turned out to be nothing she would never live it down. No, whatever it was, shed use the regular patrol and Special Response force to intercept it.

"Um... Secretary ship?" Came the uncertain voice, clearly disturbed by her lengthy silence.

Glory was already out of her room and running for the docks, "Broadcast to the base," She dodged around people and corners alike, "All ships assigned to Special Response force and base patrol are to report to the docks immediately!" A frightened yes maam came back over the airwaves and then Glory was left to her own thoughts, up until the bases PA system screeched to life and the same high pitched and nervous voice blared to the entire base, "Um... All ships assigned to... Special Response Force and, um, Base patrol are to report to the Docks, effective Immediately!" Tumble's voice did manage to solidify long enough to emphasize immediately, and Glory was proud of her. She never liked speaking publicly herself and gave major props to the destroyer for her courage.

Now Glory just needed everyone to show up so she could brief them and get them on their way.

Base Café, then docks.
As soon as the PA announcement went out, Hornissennest and Turmfalke took off at a run, Adelheid behind them with only enough delay to hand a somewhat confused Mary Read Kerman, who had just walked in and wasn't quite fully awake, her notepad. On their way out of the kitchen, Hornissennest and Turmfalke caught a trio of sack lunches tossed to them by Kerriott, the third being for Adelheid. To a Jebslunder sailor, "immediately" was as good as, "Why the hell aren't you already here?". It was a word used only in emergencies and lost tempers, when seconds counted and lives were on the line, and that meant running was the only acceptable speed to get to the docks. As they ran, their fairies met them along the way, helping them into their rigs on the move and, in Hornissennest's case, hopping into their aircraft, though none would lift off until given the order. Wouldn't do to go running off half-cocked, after all. Upon reaching the docks, the three ships saluted Glory. "Hornissennest, Turmfalke, and Adelheid reporting as ordered.", Hornissennest announced, "The PA did not specify day patrol, and Adelheid was up, so she came along all the same. What's the issue?

Mary Read Kerman, back at the base café
Mary Read Kerman was a bit confused. She had come in to eat breakfast before reporting to the Quartermaster for the day's expedition, not to take orders (Hornissennest had even told her she was to rest up and eat well, not help in the kitchen), so why was she being given an order pad? As the sleepyhead got herself a plate of bacon and roasted potato pieces, she pondered the mix-up, but it was only after finishing her food and a decent-sized (for a destroyer) mug of Kafferol that it occurred to her that she was expected to give the pad to Kerriott, not take orders! As soon as her plate and mug were put in the dirty dishes area, Mary Read Kerman walked into the kitchen, and, upon finding the tender, handed her the notepad and accepted a box of sack lunches from her.

"Mary Read Kerman, make sure you eat when you're hungry, don't stray too far from your group, and make sure you watch out for enemy ships! I know you like adventure, but don't take too many risks, and make sure you don't get lost.", Kerriott told her, fretting as usual, as she touched up the little destroyer's hair and adjusted her uniform. As soon as everything was in order, Kerriot gave Mary Read Kerman a pat on the head, "Come back safe, okay? Now off with you. Can't have you showing up late for work, can we?"

With an, "Okay!", the destroyer was on her way to the quartermaster's office.

[Offer Erapia]

So class, with wo and her fleet


So kept quiet her even as the muffled humming of enemy engines reached her ears. At that point in time, under the dark and cold waves, So didn't know what to do. Help the ones that she called comrades and risk being sunk or stay under the protection of the waves and betray her new allies. The frail submarine had no clue what to do but she believed that the the carrier, with her fighters, and the destroyers with their anti aircract guns could hold out. And besides the kamansu base was only like ten minutes away.

As a matter of fact that was her worst concern. How were the kamansu who have sworn to destroy abyssmals react to us surrendering. And even if they took it lightly what would they do about the other not so friendly abyssmals laging only an hour or so behind. All this worrying made so's head feel hot and if not for the battle Currently raging above she would have surfaced for fresh air. After about five minutes So peeked her head above the surface to see what was going on. While she did this she hoped she wouldn't be discovered or bothered by any enemy aircract.

Mordred, battleship dorm

Mordred slowly sat up from her bed. She rubbed the tired from her eyes and soon stretched after she hopped from her bed moredred went into the bathroom and changed out of her white night gown. Brushing her teeth and hair she walked out and put on socks and shoes. Walking over to her suitcase she unzipped it and took out a bottle of perfume. It's rich scent was almost heavenly and after a few sprays she was restored to her former image.

Walking down to the cafe Mordred opened it and sat down at a corner table. Hopefully she didn't have a repeat of yesterday it was rather troublesome for her. Once she ordered her meal, which was a healthy serving of bacon and eggs, she sat calmly and patiently awaiting her food. It was seemingly perfect if not for the loud and sudden p.a system. The woman on the mic sounded nervous and then severe as if something bad was going to happen. After her call for the quick response force Mordred watched a girl suddenly get up and leave.

[Parcia]

The Open ocean, long range patrol rout Sigma October-4
PRNS Jaina

Whispers of the deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvYVVnOO1Nw&t=60s

One does not simply move across the active patrol rout of a hunter killer submarine with out the Sub it self noting. As such, as her day lengthened and the sun shown over head, she enjoyed gliding through the water at a good speed, popping her head above the surface to replenish her tanks and get the sun on her face.

That was until she came across the set of sound signatures that perplexed her.

She chose to fallow it for now, keeping at range and being as quiet as her design allowed.



She approached them for the time being, staying around 20 kiloyards (20,000 yards) behind them and at the vary edge of her range. She noted one signature she could recognize just because she had heard it before. That fuckin Wo class?

Why such a asset as a CV was so far out, so far deep past the enemy lines perplexed her, but it worried her more, this could be a deep strike, or a scouting mission, or perhaps the forefront to a much larger, much more heavily armed force making a push in to friendly waters.


What ever it was, she had to find out. and so she began to close in Steadily, staying below the thermal layer and using the noisy Wo to keep a point of bearing.

[Virshia]

The Open ocean, long range patrol rout Sigma October-4
PRNS Jaina

Whispers of the deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvYVVnOO1Nw&t=60s

One does not simply move across the active patrol rout of a hunter killer submarine with out the Sub it self noting. As such, as her day lengthened and the sun shown over head, she enjoyed gliding through the water at a good speed, popping her head above the surface to replenish her tanks and get the sun on her face.

That was until she came across the set of sound signatures that perplexed her.

She chose to fallow it for now, keeping at range and being as quiet as her design allowed.



She approached them for the time being, staying around 20 kiloyards (20,000 yards) behind them and at the vary edge of her range. She noted one signature she could recognize just because she had heard it before. That fuckin Wo class?

Why such a asset as a CV was so far out, so far deep past the enemy lines perplexed her, but it worried her more, this could be a deep strike, or a scouting mission, or perhaps the forefront to a much larger, much more heavily armed force making a push in to friendly waters.


What ever it was, she had to find out. and so she began to close in Steadily, staying below the thermal layer and using the noisy Wo to keep a point of bearing.

"Ok, ok... I need time to think, Dammit!" Wo grumbled as the Abyssal Renegades spread out. "I need backup. I need a lot of it. She didn't notice that Jaina was closing in, though Jaina had wandered into a rather nasty position. In front of her were the renegades, and behind her, several kilometers away, were a lot of angry Abyssals. "For Crying out loud, how long does it take for them to send out their forces!?" A howl of frustration echoed out from the stressed-out carrier.

[Fantrum]

Glory
The docks


The wait, however slight, was horrible. While she wasnt entirely sure her actions were justified, there was a nagging feeling in her stomach that she couldnt afford to waste time. Within a few minutes, all the ships she'd paged had arrived, and none too soon, as Tumbledown's now clearly scared voice rang into her private channel again.

"Secretary ship!" Glory had just finished saluting the Jebsland ships and giving Turmfalke a less than friendly glance when she was jolted out of her present. "What is it?" She snapped, not angry at Tumble, but angry that something worse than what shed already been briefed on had happened. "Um," the duty destroyer hesitated, clearly not sure if she should proceed, "Th-theres a second group of dots now, a lot larger than the first one, like, a LOT larger!"

Glory took it in stride, not letting her rising anxiety show on her face. "I see, thank you Tumble." Indeed, the situation appeared to have changed. What the hell was going on out there? She needed to find out, and fast. Turning to the assembled fleet Glory cut to the chase, "Theres two groups of contacts heading toward the base. I have no idea if they are friendly or an enemy attack." She crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular, letting her anxiety turn into anger. "This patrol fleet will sortie out and determine who these contacts are, what their intentions are, and if necessary, defend the district." She gestured at Hornetsnest, "Fleet Carrier Hornetsnest will be in command. Dont expect any air support from the district, as our airfield is still fucked." The large cruiser stated bluntly.

"Any last second questions?" The question was rhetorical, as she continued without pause, "No? Good. Get out there."

Wo
The open ocean

This wasnt much fun anymore. The excitement had been thrilling at first! Going on a wild chase to hunt down some filthy Wo traitor, it had filled Wo with an energy she hadnt felt in... ever! But now... Now her feet hurt. Carriers werent supposed to run around like some kind of dim witted battleship after all! She cast another fugitive glace at her flagship, the wicked Ta. There were rumors about her, that she was cruel for the sake of being cruel, the usual things that come from being around I class and Nu class for too long. But maybe they had some merit. Wo was happy as anyone to get to kill some dumb kanmusu, but Ta... Ta was telling them to fire upon their own kind. Wo was absolutely certain that Ta would gleefully do the job herself, but she needed Wo's aircraft to do it faster.

Of course, Wo would follow the orders of her superiors, she wasnt a filthy traitor or anything. Still. Something nagged at the back of her head... Did it really feel right killing her own sister? Abyssal ships came from all walks of life, true, but at the end of the day they were both Wos. She couldnt exactly put herself in the traitor's shoes, but it could have been her on the other end of these strike fighters. To be killed by dumb shipgirls was one thing... to be sunk by another abyssal... what would happen to them?

Was that the kind of jinx Wo could live with? She gulped hard and glanced over at Ri. That one's sister had died to keep Wo alive. And unlike Wo, Ri had been close to her sibling. She didnt know the exact extent their relationship had covered, but the cruiser wasnt taking the loss well. She hadnt said a word since they had left the lagoon, instead spending her time kicking at waves and making faces at any other ships getting too close to her. Wo had kept her distance, opting to let the other girl stew in her own pool of whatever that was.

Closing her eyes, Wo watched as her planes circled over their prey, black puffs of anti aircraft fire rose to meet them in sheets. But the fire was paltry, it was only a few destroyers and another Wo after all, and her planes swooped in to their targets, loosing bombs and pulling out. She grimaced slightly as several of her planes shuttered from an impact and spiraled into the sea. Paltry was evidently still effective after all. More of her planes were showing up all the time, and at the rate they were going, the Wo would be sunk within an hour.

((If someone wants to shoot down the bomber Vir sent and pick up its fairy in their next post its first come first serve on it. Ill be posting for Kindred later, Ive got a three hour drive ahead of me and this was the best i could do))

[Offer Erapia]

So class, with wo




So couldn't believe the horror as bombs rained from the sky. Along with the constant whistles and explosion her ears were plagued by the snap, crackle and pop of the destroyers guns. Through the hail of bullets and the screen of bombs so could also see death. The lead destroyer was in flames and listing to one side. The destroyer next to so was in bad Condition as well her superstructure was blanckened and torched from bombs and gunfire from the planes that buzzed around. So felt sad, why, why was her own brother and sisters fighting it wasn't right. But with the sadness came anger and hatred for the people attacking her and her comrades.

"So is going to buy wo time, don't stop for whatever reason"

So didn't say another word, instead, she turned full right rudder and went flank speed. She banked away from the small fleet and circled back. She could faintly see, on the horizon, a larger fleet of abyssal attackers. So dived down to one hundred fleet and swithed to ultra silent. Her engines died down and eventually stopped, so, was now in perfect position. As long as the fleet kept chasing in a straight line after the wo and her companies so would have a nice broadside shot with her main target Being the enemy carrier. With her ability restored and her tubes primed and ready so waited.

It was in fact a long while before the enemy ships came into range. So waited and waited the ships crept so slowly by, then, when so thought the time was right she inacted her ability. Her own radar signature was erased while three more fake signatures were randomly created. At the same time she applied this so rose to sixty feet and poked a periscope just above the water. So quickly and efficiently began to put together a fire solution.

"Range 250m, speed 26kn, keel depth 24ft"

The submarine said to herself. She smiled a big smile as she watched the destroyers peel off from the formation as they chased non existent submarines. This left a much bigger Gap in the ranks and perfect holes for her torpedoes to slip through. Once in range so fired all her forward torpedoes she put two of them leading the carrier and two more slightly behind her in case she tried to reverse to avoid the other two. The remaining two torps she fired at a few destroyers that escorted the carrier as the others began depth charging fake signatures.

[Jebslund]

Glory
The docks


The wait, however slight, was horrible. While she wasnt entirely sure her actions were justified, there was a nagging feeling in her stomach that she couldnt afford to waste time. Within a few minutes, all the ships she'd paged had arrived, and none too soon, as Tumbledown's now clearly scared voice rang into her private channel again.

"Secretary ship!" Glory had just finished saluting the Jebsland ships and giving Turmfalke a less than friendly glance when she was jolted out of her present. "What is it?" She snapped, not angry at Tumble, but angry that something worse than what shed already been briefed on had happened. "Um," the duty destroyer hesitated, clearly not sure if she should proceed, "Th-theres a second group of dots now, a lot larger than the first one, like, a LOT larger!"

Glory took it in stride, not letting her rising anxiety show on her face. "I see, thank you Tumble." Indeed, the situation appeared to have changed. What the hell was going on out there? She needed to find out, and fast. Turning to the assembled fleet Glory cut to the chase, "Theres two groups of contacts heading toward the base. I have no idea if they are friendly or an enemy attack." She crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular, letting her anxiety turn into anger. "This patrol fleet will sortie out and determine who these contacts are, what their intentions are, and if necessary, defend the district." She gestured at Hornetsnest, "Fleet Carrier Hornetsnest will be in command. Dont expect any air support from the district, as our airfield is still fucked." The large cruiser stated bluntly.

"Any last second questions?" The question was rhetorical, as she continued without pause, "No? Good. Get out there."

[OOC: Assuming Glory did, in fact, tell them which direction the contacts are coming from and their last known heading. for the sake of getting this moving]

Hornissennest was already launching aircraft before they'd even been told to leave, and Turmfalke and Adelheid were feet wet, Turmfalke's Fliegendeschweine screaming out to look at/communicate with the contacts even as the aircraft from Hornissennest flew behind them, once the fast craft had passed them. Much as she lost no time getting her birds in the air, the carrier lost no time in getting in the water and issue deployment orders.

"Turmfalke, Higashikawa, move to intercept. Blákksdorff, provide fire and AA support to the heavy cruisers. Avvo, hold half your aircraft for now. You'll be providing CAP for the ships in the rear. Diamantina, advance only far enough to put the closest contacts into firing range, then provide cover fire as requested. Adelheid, go with her and provide AA support. Avvo, the half of your aircraft you're not holding will be their CAP. You, Carman Fea, will remain here to provide AA support should any enemy fighters make it through our lines or come from an unexpected direction.", she ordered. It was a formation that would allow her to move Diamantina forward if needed, or allow her to stand off and risk fewer ships in a knifefight otherwise. But it wasn't good enough. Hornissennest would have preferred a greater number of ships to work with.

"Glory, if you would be so kind, and the expedition can spare the LC, I'd like you to order Erika to meet up with Diamantina and Adelheid. The more AA coverage for her, the better. In fact, requesting permission to scramble any ships not currently assigned to other functions.", she asked, having decided that more ships would be better here.

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Split - Cafe

Split nodded and acknowledged what the waitress said. She began to skim through the menu fore something to eat and randomly chose something.

“Let me just have the eggs benedict please, that will be enough.” She said, closing the menu and putting it on the far edge of the table. When the waitress would leave she would go and get herself some coffee.

Heretic Ship Drummer Boy - Abyssal Base

Drummer Boy, or simply Drum as he prefers, was relaxing around the docks, having not much care for anything currently going on, and he liked it that way. The smell of the sea, the rush of the wind, all of it spelled peace for the Abyssal. That being said anything major could shatter that peace in but an instant, but for now he is simply going to enjoy the moment.

[The Selkie]

Glory
The docks


The wait, however slight, was horrible. While she wasnt entirely sure her actions were justified, there was a nagging feeling in her stomach that she couldnt afford to waste time. Within a few minutes, all the ships she'd paged had arrived, and none too soon, as Tumbledown's now clearly scared voice rang into her private channel again.

"Secretary ship!" Glory had just finished saluting the Jebsland ships and giving Turmfalke a less than friendly glance when she was jolted out of her present. "What is it?" She snapped, not angry at Tumble, but angry that something worse than what shed already been briefed on had happened. "Um," the duty destroyer hesitated, clearly not sure if she should proceed, "Th-theres a second group of dots now, a lot larger than the first one, like, a LOT larger!"

Glory took it in stride, not letting her rising anxiety show on her face. "I see, thank you Tumble." Indeed, the situation appeared to have changed. What the hell was going on out there? She needed to find out, and fast. Turning to the assembled fleet Glory cut to the chase, "Theres two groups of contacts heading toward the base. I have no idea if they are friendly or an enemy attack." She crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular, letting her anxiety turn into anger. "This patrol fleet will sortie out and determine who these contacts are, what their intentions are, and if necessary, defend the district." She gestured at Hornetsnest, "Fleet Carrier Hornetsnest will be in command. Dont expect any air support from the district, as our airfield is still fucked." The large cruiser stated bluntly.

"Any last second questions?" The question was rhetorical, as she continued without pause, "No? Good. Get out there."

[OOC: Assuming Glory did, in fact, tell them which direction the contacts are coming from and their last known heading. for the sake of getting this moving]

Hornissennest was already launching aircraft before they'd even been told to leave, and Turmfalke and Adelheid were feet wet, Turmfalke's Fliegendeschweine screaming out to look at/communicate with the contacts even as the aircraft from Hornissennest flew behind them, once the fast craft had passed them. Much as she lost no time getting her birds in the air, the carrier lost no time in getting in the water and issue deployment orders.

"Turmfalke, Higashikawa, move to intercept. Blákksdorff, provide fire and AA support to the heavy cruisers. Avvo, hold half your aircraft for now. You'll be providing CAP for the ships in the rear. Diamantina, advance only far enough to put the closest contacts into firing range, then provide cover fire as requested. Adelheid, go with her and provide AA support. Avvo, the half of your aircraft you're not holding will be their CAP. You, Carman Fea, will remain here to provide AA support should any enemy fighters make it through our lines or come from an unexpected direction.", she ordered. It was a formation that would allow her to move Diamantina forward if needed, or allow her to stand off and risk fewer ships in a knifefight otherwise. But it wasn't good enough. Hornissennest would have preferred a greater number of ships to work with.

"Glory, if you would be so kind, and the expedition can spare the LC, I'd like you to order Erika to meet up with Diamantina and Adelheid. The more AA coverage for her, the better. In fact, requesting permission to scramble any ships not currently assigned to other functions.", she asked, having decided that more ships would be better here.

SDFS Carman Fea. Docks.
I frowned slightly at the situation report: Two groups of contacts coming in to ruin our day, not sure, whether or not they were friends or foes. I was relegated to rear duty.
I did not like that.
I was named in honour of the Goddess of War and Science. With that of course came a bit of an will to fight at the front lines. But my commanding vessel ordered me to protect the district as rear guard, so I would protect the district.
End of story. As I had little experience in commanding aircraft carriers and battleships, I had to defer to the judgement of someone, who actually knew how to command such vessels.
I nodded and confirmed.
Then I had a thought: "If I may, Ma'am, you might also want to get SDFS Faoileán, Fao for short. He's a seaplane tender, but he also has seaplane fighters, which might be of use.", I proposed with a small bow. "He's on Quartermaster Duty today."

[Parcia]

"I have seen the devil the Humans speak of...it stalks the vary oceans we sail on, shadows our own fleets at will and when it hungers, take who ever it wants..."
"And its a Women."


Jaina, Open oceans.

The Situation above her had broken in to all hell, with planes and shells flying over head and boats and ships maneuvering to avoid bombs and torpedo. What perplexed her, neu, worried her, was that these were all enemy ships and planes.


The situation seemed to be clear to her after she listened for a while. She could make out two groups, the Wo and her small spattering of escorts, and a...Ta Class battleship.

This was big, so, so big. She didn't have the noise signature of a Ta-class BB, this was a special piece of information the Admiralty lacked altogether, not to mention the signatures and drive tones of the other Elite class ships that escorted her.

She soon enough, after writing down the signatures, radio frequencies from both groups, this little feud was a treasure trove of information she rerecorded in (waterproof) log book with a gleeful smile forming on her normally stern face.


Then she heard the sound of torpedo tubes flooding. IT was a distinctive sound, something that sent a chill up her spine.

She traced the sound from the torpedoes along their travel vector and came up with...nothing. She grimaced and went with option B.

She sent out a single wide vector Active Sonar Ping, and while most of the other ships in the combat area would be to focused on the Battle above her, she did indeed find what she was looking for.

A So class Submarine.

[Offer Erapia]

so class, 250m from intended target



The petite submarine waited and waited her fairies estimated that five minutes would pass before their scheduled impact. She stayed put not moving in inch everyone on her sub was silent and the only thing that was with her besides silence was her beating heart. As long as she didn't do anything stupid she would be fine. Her ability had two more minutes left before it deactivated and she had one more torpedoe in her aft tube if anything went South.

After the one minute thirty second mark the so class dropped to two hundred feet. This insured that she would be difficult to find and that she would have time to evade depth charges when they were dropped. After two minutes her ability cut out and so almost held her breath when she heard the faint sound the the destroyers sonar ping. They were searching for her now, the real her, and it was very frightening. But she kept her cool and so dropped to three hundred and fifty feet.

After the five minute mark so nearly screamed in joy as she heard a faint but distinct sound of four torpedoe explosions. The other two must have been evaded or they must have been duds but that technically didn't matter. So now switched her engines on and went to silent running. She leveled off at four hundred feet and crept along at twelve knots her heart pounded and fear grew in her gut.

"So needs to leave, so needs to leave now"


She turned away from the antagonist fleet and dropped to her maximum Depth of five hundred feet. The pressure on her Hull and body was immense it creaked and groaned as her Hull was tested to the maximum.

[Sterkistan]

SRN Battleship Diamantina LM
Docks

---

Dia nodded as she was given her orders, her rig clicking into place and her guns swivelling, barrels rising and falling as she tested her equipment.
"Roger, I'll cover your advance."
She entered the water, her fairies locking in the reinforcements securing her superstructure weakness.
Dia steadied her breathing, calibrating her firing computers as she set off with the rest of the fleet. SHe was ready to see combat again, she hoped. Now she was fighting for a righteous cause, rather than in some bloody civil war.

[Offer Erapia]

G.E.N Jason, quartermaster office




Jason quickly zoomed around the corner his head beady with sweat from the combination of constant running and the humid heat of day. After he breached the door Jason took a minute to catch his breath and after which he began to speak.

"j-jason! R.. reporting for d-duty."

He gasped and sighed before straightening up and saluting.

"I will be leading the expedition team today, I apologise for being late my clock didn't go off"

He told his story Hoping he wouldn't get punished for being late on the first day.

"I would be so grateful if I could have the briefing"


Mordred, down by docks

After her meal at the cafe Mordred had walked down to see what all the fuss was over. She heard the urgency on the p.a system but she was still clueless as to what was truly going on. Once she had finished her lengthy walk towards the docks the big Battleship sat at the edge her long, elegant, pale legs dangling over the ledge of the dock. She watched as a small team began to rig up Mordred wished she'd could help but she would not have the confidence to ask. Instead she sat tight and watched as the ships were launched into the water.

She watched curiously as the ships soon faded into dots in the distance. Mordred would soon fantasize about lobbing shells at her enemies both taking and giving hits. She'd yearn for the feeling of shells crumbling against her armor and falling into the mysterious sea below. As she pondered on the thought of utterly decimating abyssmals Mordred giggled sadistically her feet kicking back and forth in unison.

"Can't wait, just......can't..........wait"

[Fantrum]

Kindred Spirit
Her office

The Oilier kept her gruff expression but deep down, she decided she liked the man. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until proven otherwise. "Well, Mr. Fao," She started, shifting a few papers around in her folder before continuing, "Im very sorry to inform you about this," Her tone was deathly serious, "But youve drawn the short straw and youre on Quartermaster duty."

She let the news float around for a bit, and was pretty sure its impact was lost on her guest. Undeterred, she pushed on, "You'll be my errand boy for the day." Point clarified, she made a show of straightening out her papers, which was a hopeless endeavor given the absolute disaster of her desk. "Your first task is to ask the cafe staff what materials they need for continued operations, youll make a list and bring it back to me." She tapped her head, "And avoid Turmfalke at all costs. And I mean all costs."

Sipping her glorious coffee, she had a sudden thought. "How rude of me, would you like some coffee? Its a special blend I make myself." It was custom to offer what you had to someone who had nothing in the Velstado navy, and Kindred felt shed snubbed tradition by forgetting. Without even getting an answer, she had already reached into her green bag and retrieved a thermos several times the size of her cup. The thing was cartoonishly big, and held at least a gallon or two of the magical brown bean juice. And Kindred alone would drink every drop. Before nine. Such was her need for the stuff. Still, she didnt mind parting with a cup or two of it, and had no problems especially when it came to someone she didnt hate.

She'd just finished topping off her own cup when Jason came within a hair of blowing her door off its hinges.

The kid had a lot of spunk. Not a lot in the brains department but what could you do? She nodded to Fao to stick around while she spoke to Jason and downed the entire cup she'd just poured for herself. "Mr. Jason," She checked her watch, he wasnt quite late, and anyone else showing up for expedition would be right behind him, "I appreciate the hustle but there is no rush yet." She stressed the word yet.

She wasnt Glory, someone slighting her or appearing late when they were required to be somewhere would not go unpunished. "The rest of your fleet should be arriving soon, Ill fill in the technical details when they arrive." She flipped more pages in her small folder until she settled on one near the front, "Your expedition is to scour an island nearby where Kanmusu previously maintained a major airbase." She thumbed the page and kept reading, taking intermittent sips from her coffee, "Ill give you a real list of things we need but general rule of thumb is anything that looks valuable or part of an airplane, the fairies can work with whatever you bring them, no need to be picky."

Glory
The Docks

The fleet had just barely set off and already Hornet had called for reinforcements. Something Glory really had wished would have taken at least a little bit longer. At this rate, Hornet hadnt gotten eyes on anything, but Glory couldnt blame her. If their roles were reversed she'd want as many guns with her as she could get her grubby little hands on. The only problem was, as Glory rubbed her temples in thought, that the base didnt have the fuel reserves to sortie everyone at once. It was what she had been hoping to avoid.

Not only that, but they couldnt sustain a large number of heavily damaged ships, the docks just werent up to it yet. She couldnt shake the feeling that her decision would effect the entire district no matter which way she went. Either way, she just knew, deep down, that there wasnt a right call for this. On one hand she scramble everyone that could float and send them out for nothing, demolishing their fuel stocks in the process. Then again maybe it was a full scale abyssal attack and she sent only a few kanmusu, resulting in their deaths?

There were so many what ifs to each side, she'd go insane if she tried to figure it all out. As it was, she didnt even have time to ponder that revelation. Keying up Hornet's signal, she made her decision, "Hornet, Glory, Youll have your reinforcements. Im scrambling the base now." Without further delay, but still feeling the lingering doubt, she switched to the HQ frequency and was rewarded by a very girly scream as Tumbledown jumped at the noise. "Tumbledown, bring the base to general quarters, all ships no assigned to base critical duties are to report to Hornetsnest for deployment right now!" Already the alarm klaxons were ringing their somewhat off tone call as Glroy spoke and Tumble relayed her orders in her own shaky way.

Tumbledown was a wonderful little girl, but she didnt do well under pressure. She could function, as any kanmusu could, but she got nervous. And being Nervous could lead to mistakes. Glory would have to watch her. The secretary ship broke into a dead sprint for the HQ, where she'd be most useful as a commander.

Ta
The not so open ocean

Damn, damn, damn, damn! This entire deal was getting on Ta's final nerve. How goddamn hard was it to kill one bitch with four times her number of aircraft? This was absolutely unacceptable. Their window, if it hadnt already slammed shut, was rapidly closing. "Flagship!" The Wo called, at least she'd stopped bitching about her feet, "The enemy has sallied a fleet to meet us, advance scouts report no solid numbers but they have confident radar contact." Ta grit her teeth at the news, but didnt show her rising panic on her face.

She was about to issue out new orders when several of her advance destoryers sounded torpedo avoidance alarms and started trying to maneuver. Two of which did not manage to dodge their torpedoes. A quick check of the sky revealed that it was indeed an enemy submarine. It must have been the same one to have sunk Ri. Only a kanmusu would be so suicidal to attack several elite destroyers alone. "Find her, weapons free." She hadnt even finished the order and several escorts had already pealed off each chasing what they determined to be the real sub.

**One DD would get lucky. His soar equipment, far superior to that of a standard I class, picked out one signal among the chaff and he honed in on it. The So class far below him would be roughed up by his depth charges but would likely survive if she got treatment quickly. (So class receives critical damage!) Unfortunately, the eager escort would not get confirmation of the kill before being called back into formation.**

The situation had changed. Indeed it had changed. With the arrival of a submarine, albeit she was sure it was at least driven off, and the kanmusu fleet she had to turn back now. "All ships, turn back now, maintain formation." She glanced at the aircraft carriers among her fleet, knowing she was about to ask quite a lot of them. "Air operations will continue against the enemy. Strike craft are not to lead the enemy back to us, and CAP will be doubled until I say otherwise." She hid her grimace with her hair and looked away from a very pained looking Wo class.

She had to be careful, the loyalty of certain ships was suspect now, and if she pushed someone too hard she might find herself with an entire fleet of bitch wos. None the less, this order needed to be given. "Concentrate all attack aircraft on the Kanmusu fleet while we disengage." She could kiss those planes and their pilots goodbye, and the Harbor demon would very definitely have more than a few choice words for her treatment of abyssal aircraft. But she just needed to buy enough time for the fleet to disengage, that was it.

*At the battlefield, an abyssal helldiver decides to make one last pass on the enemy Wo. Her fleet had been savaged by constant air attack, but somehow the primary target was still afloat. This helldiver was going to change that. Carefully, he lined up his target, ignoring the black puffs of death that exploded all around him. He had to get this last bomb perfect, just like he'd been trained. Right at the perfect drop point, everything went black and explody. Instead of pulling out of his dive, the abyssal bomber, payload and all, careened straight into Wo. The detonation could even be seen from where the advance elements of Kanmusu were coming under air attack. (Elite Wo class receives critical damage!)*

[Virshia]

Glory
The Docks

The fleet had just barely set off and already Hornet had called for reinforcements. Something Glory really had wished would have taken at least a little bit longer. At this rate, Hornet hadnt gotten eyes on anything, but Glory couldnt blame her. If their roles were reversed she'd want as many guns with her as she could get her grubby little hands on. The only problem was, as Glory rubbed her temples in thought, that the base didnt have the fuel reserves to sortie everyone at once. It was what she had been hoping to avoid.

Not only that, but they couldnt sustain a large number of heavily damaged ships, the docks just werent up to it yet. She couldnt shake the feeling that her decision would effect the entire district no matter which way she went. Either way, she just knew, deep down, that there wasnt a right call for this. On one hand she scramble everyone that could float and send them out for nothing, demolishing their fuel stocks in the process. Then again maybe it was a full scale abyssal attack and she sent only a few kanmusu, resulting in their deaths?

There were so many what ifs to each side, she'd go insane if she tried to figure it all out. As it was, she didnt even have time to ponder that revelation. Keying up Hornet's signal, she made her decision, "Hornet, Glory, Youll have your reinforcements. Im scrambling the base now." Without further delay, but still feeling the lingering doubt, she switched to the HQ frequency and was rewarded by a very girly scream as Tumbledown jumped at the noise. "Tumbledown, bring the base to general quarters, all ships no assigned to base critical duties are to report to Hornetsnest for deployment right now!" Already the alarm klaxons were ringing their somewhat off tone call as Glroy spoke and Tumble relayed her orders in her own shaky way.

Tumbledown was a wonderful little girl, but she didnt do well under pressure. She could function, as any kanmusu could, but she got nervous. And being Nervous could lead to mistakes. Glory would have to watch her. The secretary ship broke into a dead sprint for the HQ, where she'd be most useful as a commander.

Ta
The not so open ocean

Damn, damn, damn, damn! This entire deal was getting on Ta's final nerve. How goddamn hard was it to kill one bitch with four times her number of aircraft? This was absolutely unacceptable. Their window, if it hadnt already slammed shut, was rapidly closing. "Flagship!" The Wo called, at least she'd stopped bitching about her feet, "The enemy has sallied a fleet to meet us, advance scouts report no solid numbers but they have confident radar contact." Ta grit her teeth at the news, but didnt show her rising panic on her face.

She was about to issue out new orders when several of her advance destoryers sounded torpedo avoidance alarms and started trying to maneuver. Two of which did not manage to dodge their torpedoes. A quick check of the sky revealed that it was indeed an enemy submarine. It must have been the same one to have sunk Ri. Only a kanmusu would be so suicidal to attack several elite destroyers alone. "Find her, weapons free." She hadnt even finished the order and several escorts had already pealed off each chasing what they determined to be the real sub.

**One DD would get lucky. His soar equipment, far superior to that of a standard I class, picked out one signal among the chaff and he honed in on it. The So class far below him would be roughed up by his depth charges but would likely survive if she got treatment quickly. (So class receives critical damage!) Unfortunately, the eager escort would not get confirmation of the kill before being called back into formation.**

The situation had changed. Indeed it had changed. With the arrival of a submarine, albeit she was sure it was at least driven off, and the kanmusu fleet she had to turn back now. "All ships, turn back now, maintain formation." She glanced at the aircraft carriers among her fleet, knowing she was about to ask quite a lot of them. "Air operations will continue against the enemy. Strike craft are not to lead the enemy back to us, and CAP will be doubled until I say otherwise." She hid her grimace with her hair and looked away from a very pained looking Wo class.

She had to be careful, the loyalty of certain ships was suspect now, and if she pushed someone too hard she might find herself with an entire fleet of bitch wos. None the less, this order needed to be given. "Concentrate all attack aircraft on the Kanmusu fleet while we disengage." She could kiss those planes and their pilots goodbye, and the Harbor demon would very definitely have more than a few choice words for her treatment of abyssal aircraft. But she just needed to buy enough time for the fleet to disengage, that was it.

*At the battlefield, an abyssal helldiver decides to make one last pass on the enemy Wo. Her fleet had been savaged by constant air attack, but somehow the primary target was still afloat. This helldiver was going to change that. Carefully, he lined up his target, ignoring the black puffs of death that exploded all around him. He had to get this last bomb perfect, just like he'd been trained. Right at the perfect drop point, everything went black and explody. Instead of pulling out of his dive, the abyssal bomber, payload and all, careened straight into Wo. The detonation could even be seen from where the advance elements of Kanmusu were coming under air attack. (Elite Wo class receives critical damage!)*

Wo weakly opened her eyes. the Damage dealt to her by the errant dive bomber had practically blown he rout of the water. Looking down, she saw blue. A lot of blue. Her body was covered in gashes and burns, and her left arm was unresponsive to any attempts to move it. She could barely see due to her blood covering her eyes to the point she had to close them again to prevent it from blinding her. "Ok...Ok..." She gasped out, trying to stand up. "That's a lot of blood. Way too much." She opened her eyes again, wiping some of the blood from her face as she tried to get her bearing again. Her ever-loyal destroyers, all three of them suffering varying degrees of damage, were still defending her from air attacks. She could see the Abyssals chasing them starting to focus their attention on the sortieing Kanmusu, transferring the bulk of their forces to that front. Wo shakily stood up, putting her only working hand on the least damaged destroyer for support as she got up. He cape was full of holes and was burned as she was. She couldn't see her headwear anywhere. It has most likely been destroyed in the attack. Putting it simply, it was amazing she was even alive after all that. Though, if she didn't get repaired soon she'd be joining Anataka in the depths of the ocean. Wo was not really interested in that scenario, but her compassion for her fleet came first. "C-continue course." She said weakly. "Make for the Kanmusu base. You three...need repairs..."

"With respect, Fleet Flagship," The I-class supporting her said. "Your wounds are much more serious than ours are. "We will survive, but you need attention at once. I hope that messenger you sent arrived, because the Kanmusu may fire on us otherwise." The destroyer finished as the wrecked fleet limped for what they hoped would be a haven. "So Class, if you can hear me, we're sailing for the Kanmusu Base. Break off engagement and follow us." Another destroyer transmitted.

[Jebslund]

Hornissennest
"Understood, Glory. Thank you.", Hornissennest responded. The backup was much appreciated, and Hornissennest wasted no time in issuing orders, "Erika, rendezvous with Diamantina and Adelheid. Mary Read Kerman and all destroyers responding to general quarters, sortie immediately and hunt for subs. All light cruisers with antiaircraft capability are to rendezvous with Diamantina, as are all battleships. Atlas, Novaya, launch all aircraft and cover the battleships in case any enemy aircraft make it past my jets. All heavy cruisers are to head for the front", she ordered, already feeling better about the precarious position of the battleships.

Schwert Ein
10 Machinenteufels formed the leading edge of the main decoy/first strike group, the lead four in a four-finger with the six behind in triangles to either flank, with another 10 50m behind them in similar formation, as they rushed, high, fast, and loud, to meet the initial force. The idea was for them to be seen and responded to by the enemy, and, as such, they were ready to be set on at any moment.

The first moment was a single enemy bomber, which was set upon by the flanking six of the forward group almost as soon as it was seen. The fact that it tried to evade, but made no other attempt to defend itself was relegated to the "strange afterstory" pile, and the encounter ended with an enemy bailout, which was promptly reported to the incoming surface van and left to them while the groups continued on.

The second was a large group of enemy fighters being spotted. This was far less of a milk run, and it wasn't more than a few seconds into the encounter when they were ordered to forget the plan and engage the fighters.

Speer Ein
Far below the initial flight, four line formations of five Fliegendewaffels each hugged the surface of the water as closely as they could without leaving wakes, radio silent as they sped toward the target low and swift. Each carried two 600kg bombs, and their flight plan would ultimately have them coming at the first group of enemy ships from four directions, rising up just close enough to accurately dive on the enemy and GTFO.

What they had counted on was Schwert Ein dealing with the enemy CAP, hopefully after dropping ordnance.

What happened was that their distraction/escort got tied up on defense, and there would therefore be no distraction for the enemy to be focused on. And that left them in a very precarious position indeed.

Schwert Zwei/Drei and Speer Zwei/Drei
In a similar vein to Schwert/Speer Ein, two more flights of each aircraft, ten each, flew identical formations to those of the same type in Ein. These, however, were bound for the second, more distant contacts, and were instructed to fly around the initial group to flank the second group. Their job was not going to be easy, and they could expect little support until the other carriers got involved.

IF they got involved.

Turmfalke
Moments like these were Turmfalke's greatest joy. The rush of battle. The enemy that must be stopped at all costs enabling her to freely adopt a no-retreat doctrine. And being thrown at the enemy, rather than held back. Indeed, the heavy cruiser wore a grine that would concern most sane kanmusu as she charged toward the enemy at flank speed, only slowing down to, several minutes after one of Hornissennest's fighters reported it, scoop up the dirty Abyssal fairy that had bailed from the lone, clearly suicidal bomber.

That the fairy bore a message, though, was cause for concern. That that message was a surrender pissed her off. "Hornissennest, an enemy Wo-class, three I-class, and a So-class want to surrender. What are your orders?", she asked, hoping that the Wo-class, which her own comms plane had just confirmed, would be denied surrender, "It's the one that hit our convoy.".

Imagine her joy when she was asked to convey a message from Hornissennest.

Hornissennest
The Wo-class that had just killed their comrades wanted what, now?

Like. Hell. "Patch me through, Turmfalke.". As soon as that had been done, Hornissennest continued, "Wo class. At last we meet in this theatre of war. By now, you've realized, I'm sure, that your forces are badly outnumbered. Allow me to clear up a misunderstanding, however:", the words carried a slight Kermanic accent, "I am not accepting surrenders at this time. I want you to know defeat. Utter failure. And that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you. Now, let us proceed. All ships and aircraft, open fire as soon as you are in range.". The order to fire was only on allied frequencies. As soon as it was given, Hornissennest radioed Glory again. Something wasn't right. The ships, as reported by Turmfalke's aircraft, had shown signs of having been raided from the air, despite no allied craft in the vicinity. "Glory, looks like enemy group one has been hit with Red-on-Red fire. They've attempted to surrender, as well, and I can't say I've ever known Abyssals to do that. The group is lead by yesterday's Wo-class, interestingly enough.".

[Offer Erapia]

So class, open waters




Through the black so could hear a faint voice. It came in peices at first but soon it rang in her ears.


"So class........kamansu........break......follow us"


The voice encouraged the unconscious submarine to open her eyes. So instantly felt pain rake her body and she recoiled In agony. She had sustained many deep cuts and gashes from the depth charges that seemed to come out of nowhere a few minutes ago. In her headset she could hear her fairies running about. Her Hull had been severely damaged lined with many bad cracks and dents. Her five inch gun was a twisted mangle of metal same thing with her other anti aircract gun. Now that her vision had slightly cleared the small sub could see just how bad she had it.

Blood clouded In the water around her and she was losing oxygen. She checked her cracked gauge on her wrist and was glad to see that she had maintained her last recorded depth of five hundred meters. So looked at her mangled body her right leg was blackened and didn't move at all her right rudder was broken in three places the screws were twisted and broken. So took her one good arm and placed it to her bleeding ear her comms were on open frequency but that didn't matter.

"So class.......t-taken....heavy damage..... enemy...f-f-force retreating"

She choked out her voice cracking and faltering a few times. It pained her to speak but she fought through the pain as best as she could.

"S-sunk....enemy....d-destroyers"

So no longer cared if everyone could hear her she was more focused on survival. Gathering her bearings she slowly ascended toward the surface after about ten minutes so slowly breathed the waves. A long streak of blood and oil trailed her as so limped along at nine knots making her way ever so slowly towards her comrades, towards help and towards the kamansu.

Her pumps did the best they could to spit out the water that rushed in from the cracks and holes in her battered Hull. So's vision began to blur and give as the weariness plagued her aching, screaming muscles. After another moment of silence she broke the silence with a transmission.

"This is.....s-so....Im taking on....w-water.....please!...i-dont want to die!"

Tears streamed down her bloody face. She continued to send her SOS to all frequencies available.

"P-please...k-kamansu i-i need....i-i need.....your h-help"

Her voice was weakening as she began to take a slight list. Her fairies ran around sealing water tight doors and taking buckets of water and throwing it off her conning tower into the vast blue ocean trying their hardest to save their ship and their lives.

Jason, quartermasters office


Jason, who had thought he was in trouble, sighed with relief and rested against the door frame. His racing heart calmed and he took a seat nearby and waited for the others to arrive. Looking around, Jason took in the office view there were a lot of papers on the girls desk, like, alot of papers they were scattered around. Jason would have gladly fixed them but it wasn't his place to, that, and the fact that he didn't know where stuff went.

"Pretty busy huh?"

He said with a smile looking at the desk.

"If ya want I can help you sort those out?"

He offered standing up.

[Sterkistan]

Battleship Diamantina LM
Combat Zone
Dia was approaching her operational zone as ordered. Bt she did feel bad about having so many resources dedicated to her.

She looked over her Radar contacts and the SOS signals being sent. Approximating their location in the zone based on signal location.

She slowed her engines to 1/4ths and raised her guns. Her computers working to establish the range. She waited as the computers clicked over. Her drifting pace possibly even unnoticable to her escort.

She let fly a ripple-fire volley from all batteries. Set to fly over the heads of the surrendering ships and blast the fleet trying to destroy them.

She didn't realise that Abyssals had infighting. It was strange really. Even they had flaws.

Dia looked back, realising she had drifted away from her escorts. And she began turning to loop back toward them.

---

Sterkian Group
Lizbeth, Junipris, Lia, Ven
Open Waters

---

Lizbeth yawned as she chugged through the water, looking back at her small group of ships.
"Come on everyone, you're all being a big group of downers at the moment."
Her eyes fell on Junipris, the group destroyer. Who looked like she'd pass out at any given moment.
"Okay, maybe I pushed them a bit too much. They can handle it though.

However, the reverberating cracks of explosions put them all on combat alert. Lizbeth keyed her radio, hoping they were in range of the base.
"Operational Base, this is Lizbeth-Charles of the Royal Sterkian Navy battlegroup. We are enroute to base, however we notice there's an active battlezone. We're running on fumes, but would like to assist in the engagement if necessary.

[The Selkie]

Kindred Spirit
Her office

The Oilier kept her gruff expression but deep down, she decided she liked the man. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until proven otherwise. "Well, Mr. Fao," She started, shifting a few papers around in her folder before continuing, "Im very sorry to inform you about this," Her tone was deathly serious, "But youve drawn the short straw and youre on Quartermaster duty."

She let the news float around for a bit, and was pretty sure its impact was lost on her guest. Undeterred, she pushed on, "You'll be my errand boy for the day." Point clarified, she made a show of straightening out her papers, which was a hopeless endeavor given the absolute disaster of her desk. "Your first task is to ask the cafe staff what materials they need for continued operations, youll make a list and bring it back to me." She tapped her head, "And avoid Turmfalke at all costs. And I mean all costs."

Sipping her glorious coffee, she had a sudden thought. "How rude of me, would you like some coffee? Its a special blend I make myself." It was custom to offer what you had to someone who had nothing in the Velstado navy, and Kindred felt shed snubbed tradition by forgetting. Without even getting an answer, she had already reached into her green bag and retrieved a thermos several times the size of her cup. The thing was cartoonishly big, and held at least a gallon or two of the magical brown bean juice. And Kindred alone would drink every drop. Before nine. Such was her need for the stuff. Still, she didnt mind parting with a cup or two of it, and had no problems especially when it came to someone she didnt hate.

She'd just finished topping off her own cup when Jason came within a hair of blowing her door off its hinges.

The kid had a lot of spunk. Not a lot in the brains department but what could you do? She nodded to Fao to stick around while she spoke to Jason and downed the entire cup she'd just poured for herself. "Mr. Jason," She checked her watch, he wasnt quite late, and anyone else showing up for expedition would be right behind him, "I appreciate the hustle but there is no rush yet." She stressed the word yet.

She wasnt Glory, someone slighting her or appearing late when they were required to be somewhere would not go unpunished. "The rest of your fleet should be arriving soon, Ill fill in the technical details when they arrive." She flipped more pages in her small folder until she settled on one near the front, "Your expedition is to scour an island nearby where Kanmusu previously maintained a major airbase." She thumbed the page and kept reading, taking intermittent sips from her coffee, "Ill give you a real list of things we need but general rule of thumb is anything that looks valuable or part of an airplane, the fairies can work with whatever you bring them, no need to be picky."

Glory
The Docks

The fleet had just barely set off and already Hornet had called for reinforcements. Something Glory really had wished would have taken at least a little bit longer. At this rate, Hornet hadnt gotten eyes on anything, but Glory couldnt blame her. If their roles were reversed she'd want as many guns with her as she could get her grubby little hands on. The only problem was, as Glory rubbed her temples in thought, that the base didnt have the fuel reserves to sortie everyone at once. It was what she had been hoping to avoid.

Not only that, but they couldnt sustain a large number of heavily damaged ships, the docks just werent up to it yet. She couldnt shake the feeling that her decision would effect the entire district no matter which way she went. Either way, she just knew, deep down, that there wasnt a right call for this. On one hand she scramble everyone that could float and send them out for nothing, demolishing their fuel stocks in the process. Then again maybe it was a full scale abyssal attack and she sent only a few kanmusu, resulting in their deaths?

There were so many what ifs to each side, she'd go insane if she tried to figure it all out. As it was, she didnt even have time to ponder that revelation. Keying up Hornet's signal, she made her decision, "Hornet, Glory, Youll have your reinforcements. Im scrambling the base now." Without further delay, but still feeling the lingering doubt, she switched to the HQ frequency and was rewarded by a very girly scream as Tumbledown jumped at the noise. "Tumbledown, bring the base to general quarters, all ships no assigned to base critical duties are to report to Hornetsnest for deployment right now!" Already the alarm klaxons were ringing their somewhat off tone call as Glroy spoke and Tumble relayed her orders in her own shaky way.

Tumbledown was a wonderful little girl, but she didnt do well under pressure. She could function, as any kanmusu could, but she got nervous. And being Nervous could lead to mistakes. Glory would have to watch her. The secretary ship broke into a dead sprint for the HQ, where she'd be most useful as a commander.

Ta
The not so open ocean

Damn, damn, damn, damn! This entire deal was getting on Ta's final nerve. How goddamn hard was it to kill one bitch with four times her number of aircraft? This was absolutely unacceptable. Their window, if it hadnt already slammed shut, was rapidly closing. "Flagship!" The Wo called, at least she'd stopped bitching about her feet, "The enemy has sallied a fleet to meet us, advance scouts report no solid numbers but they have confident radar contact." Ta grit her teeth at the news, but didnt show her rising panic on her face.

She was about to issue out new orders when several of her advance destoryers sounded torpedo avoidance alarms and started trying to maneuver. Two of which did not manage to dodge their torpedoes. A quick check of the sky revealed that it was indeed an enemy submarine. It must have been the same one to have sunk Ri. Only a kanmusu would be so suicidal to attack several elite destroyers alone. "Find her, weapons free." She hadnt even finished the order and several escorts had already pealed off each chasing what they determined to be the real sub.

**One DD would get lucky. His soar equipment, far superior to that of a standard I class, picked out one signal among the chaff and he honed in on it. The So class far below him would be roughed up by his depth charges but would likely survive if she got treatment quickly. (So class receives critical damage!) Unfortunately, the eager escort would not get confirmation of the kill before being called back into formation.**

The situation had changed. Indeed it had changed. With the arrival of a submarine, albeit she was sure it was at least driven off, and the kanmusu fleet she had to turn back now. "All ships, turn back now, maintain formation." She glanced at the aircraft carriers among her fleet, knowing she was about to ask quite a lot of them. "Air operations will continue against the enemy. Strike craft are not to lead the enemy back to us, and CAP will be doubled until I say otherwise." She hid her grimace with her hair and looked away from a very pained looking Wo class.

She had to be careful, the loyalty of certain ships was suspect now, and if she pushed someone too hard she might find herself with an entire fleet of bitch wos. None the less, this order needed to be given. "Concentrate all attack aircraft on the Kanmusu fleet while we disengage." She could kiss those planes and their pilots goodbye, and the Harbor demon would very definitely have more than a few choice words for her treatment of abyssal aircraft. But she just needed to buy enough time for the fleet to disengage, that was it.

*At the battlefield, an abyssal helldiver decides to make one last pass on the enemy Wo. Her fleet had been savaged by constant air attack, but somehow the primary target was still afloat. This helldiver was going to change that. Carefully, he lined up his target, ignoring the black puffs of death that exploded all around him. He had to get this last bomb perfect, just like he'd been trained. Right at the perfect drop point, everything went black and explody. Instead of pulling out of his dive, the abyssal bomber, payload and all, careened straight into Wo. The detonation could even be seen from where the advance elements of Kanmusu were coming under air attack. (Elite Wo class receives critical damage!)*

Hornissennest
"Understood, Glory. Thank you.", Hornissennest responded. The backup was much appreciated, and Hornissennest wasted no time in issuing orders, "Erika, rendezvous with Diamantina and Adelheid. Mary Read Kerman and all destroyers responding to general quarters, sortie immediately and hunt for subs. All light cruisers with antiaircraft capability are to rendezvous with Diamantina, as are all battleships. Atlas, Novaya, launch all aircraft and cover the battleships in case any enemy aircraft make it past my jets. All heavy cruisers are to head for the front", she ordered, already feeling better about the precarious position of the battleships.

Schwert Ein
10 Machinenteufels formed the leading edge of the main decoy/first strike group, the lead four in a four-finger with the six behind in triangles to either flank, with another 10 50m behind them in similar formation, as they rushed, high, fast, and loud, to meet the initial force. The idea was for them to be seen and responded to by the enemy, and, as such, they were ready to be set on at any moment.

The first moment was a single enemy bomber, which was set upon by the flanking six of the forward group almost as soon as it was seen. The fact that it tried to evade, but made no other attempt to defend itself was relegated to the "strange afterstory" pile, and the encounter ended with an enemy bailout, which was promptly reported to the incoming surface van and left to them while the groups continued on.

The second was a large group of enemy fighters being spotted. This was far less of a milk run, and it wasn't more than a few seconds into the encounter when they were ordered to forget the plan and engage the fighters.

Speer Ein
Far below the initial flight, four line formations of five Fliegendewaffels each hugged the surface of the water as closely as they could without leaving wakes, radio silent as they sped toward the target low and swift. Each carried two 600kg bombs, and their flight plan would ultimately have them coming at the first group of enemy ships from four directions, rising up just close enough to accurately dive on the enemy and GTFO.

What they had counted on was Schwert Ein dealing with the enemy CAP, hopefully after dropping ordnance.

What happened was that their distraction/escort got tied up on defense, and there would therefore be no distraction for the enemy to be focused on. And that left them in a very precarious position indeed.

Schwert Zwei/Drei and Speer Zwei/Drei
In a similar vein to Schwert/Speer Ein, two more flights of each aircraft, ten each, flew identical formations to those of the same type in Ein. These, however, were bound for the second, more distant contacts, and were instructed to fly around the initial group to flank the second group. Their job was not going to be easy, and they could expect little support until the other carriers got involved.

IF they got involved.

Turmfalke
Moments like these were Turmfalke's greatest joy. The rush of battle. The enemy that must be stopped at all costs enabling her to freely adopt a no-retreat doctrine. And being thrown at the enemy, rather than held back. Indeed, the heavy cruiser wore a grine that would concern most sane kanmusu as she charged toward the enemy at flank speed, only slowing down to, several minutes after one of Hornissennest's fighters reported it, scoop up the dirty Abyssal fairy that had bailed from the lone, clearly suicidal bomber.

That the fairy bore a message, though, was cause for concern. That that message was a surrender pissed her off. "Hornissennest, an enemy Wo-class, four I-class, and a So-class want to surrender. What are your orders?", she asked, hoping that the Wo-class, which her own comms plane had just confirmed, would be denied surrender, "It's the one that hit our convoy.".

Imagine her joy when she was asked to convey a message from Hornissennest.

Hornissennest
The Wo-class that had just killed their comrades wanted what, now?

Like. Hell. "Patch me through, Turmfalke.". As soon as that had been done, Hornissennest continued, "Wo class. At last we meet in this theatre of war. By now, you've realized, I'm sure, that your forces are badly outnumbered. Allow me to clear up a misunderstanding, however:", the words carried a slight Kermanic accent, "I am not accepting surrenders at this time. I want you to know defeat. Utter failure. And that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you. Now, let us proceed. All ships and aircraft, open fire as soon as you are in range.". The order to fire was only on allied frequencies. As soon as it was given, Hornissennest radioed Glory again. Something wasn't right. The ships, as reported by Turmfalke's aircraft, had shown signs of having been raided from the air, despite no allied craft in the vicinity. "Glory, looks like enemy group one has been hit with Red-on-Red fire. They've attempted to surrender, as well, and I can't say I've ever known Abyssals to do that. The group is lead by yesterday's Wo-class, interestingly enough.".

Battleship Diamantina LM
Combat Zone
Dia was approaching her operational zone as ordered. Bt she did feel bad about having so many resources dedicated to her.

She looked over her Radar contacts and the SOS signals being sent. Approximating their location in the zone based on signal location.

She slowed her engines to 1/4ths and raised her guns. Her computers working to establish the range. She waited as the computers clicked over. Her drifting pace possibly even unnoticable to her escort.

She let fly a ripple-fire volley from all batteries. Set to fly over the heads of the surrendering ships and blast the fleet trying to destroy them.

She didn't realise that Abyssals had infighting. It was strange really. Even they had flaws.

Dia looked back, realising she had drifted away from her escorts. And she began turning to loop back toward them.

---

Sterkian Group
Lizbeth, Junipris, Lia, Ven
Open Waters

---

Lizbeth yawned as she chugged through the water, looking back at her small group of ships.
"Come on everyone, you're all being a big group of downers at the moment."
Her eyes fell on Junipris, the group destroyer. Who looked like she'd pass out at any given moment.
"Okay, maybe I pushed them a bit too much. They can handle it though.

However, the reverberating cracks of explosions put them all on combat alert. Lizbeth keyed her radio, hoping they were in range of the base.
"Operational Base, this is Lizbeth-Charles of the Royal Sterkian Navy battlegroup. We are enroute to base, however we notice there's an active battlezone. We're running on fumes, but would like to assist in the engagement if necessary.

SDFS Faoileán. Quartermaster Office.
I nodded at the description of my job for today, wanted to say, that just Fao was alright, that the Mister was still asleep, and wanted to politely decline the cup of coffee - I was a tea drinker, but the cup smelled too damn delicious and...
...I took it with a "Thank you, Ma'am."
It really was a good coffee, I thought as Jason arrived, finished my cup and when the conversation continued, I... heard a call to general quarters for the entire base.
I stopped for a moment, thinking of how to respond to it, then nodded to Kindred Spirit, that I would take my leave and left the emptied mug with the Quartermaster.
Once I was gone, I quickened my pace, set on leaving the Admiralty. I would not join the battle, I was a seaplane tender, not a battleship, but my fighters could.
"Flag, SDFS Faoileán...", I spoke into my radio, while I walked towards the Cafe, hell-bent on avoiding Turmfalke, "...I have some seaplane fighters. Shall I send them up?"

SDFS Carman Fea.
Following Hornissennest's new orders for all light cruisers with AA-capabilities, which included me, to join up with Dia and the other battleships, I readied my bow and checked, if my sword sat right. The quiver was in reach as well, I noted as I curved in to match pace with out battleline.
I scanned for enemy aircraft for my AA-guns to take care of and surface ships, which the Big Girls might have missed - so far, no luck.
I wondered, how battles here would be. Back home, it was mostly small units, six ships at most, sortied at one time - and the Abyssals did not exactly seem keen on changing their numbers to something warranting a deployment as we were currently having it here.
Rhiannon's teats, both those of my elder sister and the Goddess she was named after, most of our 'battles' barely passed as skirmishes! And Lutettian vessels weren't that much better off!
In any case, one of my lookouts made me aware of something: Diamantina had drifted out of formation.
I raised my hand to my radio: "Carman Fea, Diamantina, everything alright? Do you need assistance?", I asked.

[Parcia]

I have seen the Devil the Humans Speak of. It stalks this world's oceans with ease, It shadows our own fleets and takes those it chooses as will.

And it is a Women.

Jaina

With her many tattoos and Various other inking hidden under her clothes as she drifted in the water, most would be hard pressed to recognize the Girl in her Uniform. Her Raven hair kept in a neat french braid underneath her cap, a water proof scarf wrapped around her face and neck that kept her Oxygen mask affixed to her face (as did the straps, the scarf just looks better and keeps her warm) One little piece of flair she did allow how ever (and this was only when she was hunting) Was a silver pendant, one past down over the generations of her family that held vary specific meaning to her and her family.

It was a wolf, its hair on end in sharp pointed lines and his mouth open, its toothy maw in full view and its eyes red and glowing slightly in the darkness of the deep water.


She sighted the So class boat above her, dazed and bleeding badly. Slowly, and quietly acceded until she was in front of the girl as she slowly drifted. She was in bad shape, and it almost tugged at Jaina's heartstrings. If anything, the girl could be useful for information later.

She hung there in the water, staring the dying girl in the eyes, her dark irises looking glassy and unfocused as they gazed back at her own fierce Emerald orbs. Then Jaina produced a small serrated knife and began to cut the girl out of her damaged and utterly fucked Gear until all the straps were cut and the hunks of metal floated down in tot he dark abyss. She sheathed her knife and held the girls hand in her own while retrieving one of her two emergency flotation devises. These were given to Parcian subs in the event their gear was disabled and they needed to drop it.

At nearly 500 meters and slowly dropping, the girl would have enough time to acclimate as the device slowly brought her up to the surface. Tying it to the girls arm, she took a moment to unplug her radio jack (the one that ran from her headphones to her radio proper) and plug it in to the So classes own Input jack.

"If they ask who saved your, Girl, tell them is was U-935...and do not make me regret this."

With that, she unplugged her self from the abyyssal's Radio set, pulled the lanyard on the devise and sent the girl up towards the surface. Turning around, a grin would form underneath her mask as the battle raged above her.

There was no thermal layer, there was no surface duct, the day was as loud as loud could be with all the fires and explosions and aircraft. And arguably best of all, the enemy likely thought their Submerged enemy was dealt with.

This was the one thing a Sub captain Dreams of. Important, expensive heavy Capital ships in the open oceans, preoccupied with a major fleet engagement, its escorts trying to fend off waves of Strike craft and keep their screen up...This was a Target Rich Environment, and she loved it.

She fired off her first three torps in a wide arc at the enemy fleet from roughly the same distance the So did, aiming to spook and break up the fleet. Her gutt told her either the Escorts would try to take the torps for their CAPs, with the CVs them self likely evading the best they could. This presented a quandary. Does she fire off the second spread of three at max depth settings to fly underneath the shallow keeps of the Destroyers, or keep them in reserves for future attacks.

After a few seconds of though, she fired off the next two at max depth settings in a smaller arc, aimed at the center of the formation. She kept the 6th torp in reserve and made 15 knotts towards the formation and orders her empty tubes reloaded.

There was a reason she was feared by the enemy as much as she was, her Torpedoes were of the G-7 model and emitted a specific sonar signature that the enemy had correlated to a specific, high threat level, Elite Kanmusu Submarine.

The dogs fought and snapped above at each other, while the real wolf stalked them from below.

[Offer Erapia]

So class, adrift




The so class slowly opened her eyes. Her body hurt still and she was too weak to talk her eyes hazily glanced over where she heard distant roar of guns. Her eyes then drifted to the small flotation device attached to her arm. It was the only thing keeping her afloat she wondered how she got it but she was too fatigued to remember. Her frail body bobbed up and down with the waves she looked ahead of herself and through the haze of blurriness and blood she could see an island on the horizon.

Fate would be her side. The current was pushing toward the island she kicked her one good leg out trying to go by a little faster. Her heart slightly fluttered with hop.

"K-kamansu"

So weakly wheezed it wasn't until she started moving around a little more than she realized her gear was off. Had it been washed off, no, that was impossible her gear was fastened by tight straps. She pondered on it and could vaguely remember a face it was blurry with green eyes. And as she thought she could recall vividly a voice talking to her shortly before she woke. It was a submarine number if she recalled correctly. Hearing a far away explosion so looked her sight trying to focus she could almost see the plumes of smoke and flashes of muzzle breaks as the battle raged on.


The next fifteen minutes was nothing but smoke and mirrors the combination of blood loss and shock sent so in and out of consciousness. But there was a sliver of hope for the young submariner as she neared the island, the current taking her, the last thing she saw before blacking out was the glorious sight of a harbor.


Mordred, docks

Mordred walked around the harbor she looked at the Wonderous docks. She couldn't wait to get her turn out in the sea she could feel the urge wanting to burst out from inside her. She jumped in the air feeling happy and not at all embarrassed as no one was around. She walked over to a dock that stretched out into the loading port. She reached the edge and looked out into the vast sea wondering on how the others were doing.

Mordred continued to ponder after a minute her pondering was interrupted by a groan of hunger that echoed from her gut. She blushed and rubbed her tummy thinking if what would be on the menu. The tall elegant girl was about to turn to leave when she spotted something. It was there, out just passed the harbor, it looked like a peice of debri Mordred squinted harder her eyes focusing. Her heart suddenly jumped when she saw hair! The locks of hair were attached to a small very pale and injured looking girl.

"Oh my God! I-i need to help!"

Mordred said and suddenly burst into a sprint heading toward the armory. She slammed the door open and, after a short look, snatched her gear. She quickly put on her propellers and superstructure she only spared the weaponry as she saw it unnecessary. Once she reached the docks edge she jumped into the water her screws slowly turning faster and faster as she powered forward heading towards the floating girl.

"God please be ok!"

She pleaded not knowing if she was too late or not. But even so unbenounced to her the girl was in fact not a girl at all but rather a so class abyssmal submarine.

[Fantrum]

Ta
The very Cluttered ocean

It was when Ta finally breathed a sigh of relief that things once again took an unexpected turn for her. A Nu near the rear of the fleet reported torpedo avoidance and promptly exploded. Ta had all of a few seconds to react before another torpedo slammed into her. The Explosion barely phased the battleship physically, her armor was far tougher than a single torpedo could penetrate.

Mentally, however, she was beginning to panic. She had to recall every bit of training she had in her to keep from flying into a rage. It wouldnt do for someone like her to lose herself so easily. Ignoring the small bead of blood rolling down her forehead, she called up her fleet, "All ships to flank speed, we are disengaging." She wasnt especially worried about the submarine. True, she had thought that problem dealt with, but they could simply outrun the irritating bitch. What they couldnt outrun was the aircraft that would be upon them if she wasnt careful.

"Flagship! Enemy Carriers confirmed to have sortied expect a strike any time!" The Wo called. Ta didnt bother saying anything, the carrier would take care of what she could take care of, and whatever else happened was out of either of their hands. Of course, they were only just now leaving the enemy's radar range. Until that moment they would have had near perfect data on Tas fleet. Damn. She should have turned them around much sooner. "Wo, tell your pilots to do whatever it takes to disable those aircraft carriers, whoever is left that is." Ta calmly directed her subordinate. They didnt need to sink them, but they had to do enough damage to discourage pursuit.

Above, the ten flights of six abyssal fighters circled at different altitudes four flights kept station high above, four more at mid level, and two flights staying at low level. Their patrol patterns kept them several miles away from their parent ships, keeping the air clear for their own AA fire. It would likely be the Midlevel CAP fighters to spot an incoming strike, holding the best all around view.

*Things werent going the way the abyssal fairie had hopped they would. He was down to just himself and one other wingman out of a formation of six planes. Worse, he had been told he wasnt coming home. He supposed that was just the way things were. How could he feel sadness at a time like this? There was still his mission to consider. So long as there was wind beneath his wings he'd fight for mother wo. Such was the way of his kind. Spying the hellscape below, he judged his best target to be a battleship (Diamantina), a little too far from her escorts for them to stop him. Signalling, he and his wingman to follow him in as he pealed off hard right and came around. It wasnt a good dive, hell it was sloppy as hell. But it would get the job done, his one 2000kg armor piercing bomb released from its cradle and he pulled up through the sheets of flak just as his wingman spiraled down into the battleship, out of control. The explosion was beautiful, and brought joy to his cold heart that maybe, just maybe he had done something worthwhile. The feeling was over in a moment, and before he knew it, he was back in target search mode. (Battleship Diamantina receives critical damage! Shes going to sink!)*

Glory
The Admiralty

She was, in one word, agape. "They what!?" She blurted out, incredulous. The absolute nerve! Glory was about to order her to take no prisoners in her anger, but she caught Tumbledown's eye at that exact moment. There was a lot to be said about the little girls expression. And in that single moment, Glory's anger cooled into a refined calmness. "Hornet, Glory, if," She hesitated, knowing there was a very real possibility Hornet would outright refuse her order. Regardless, it was the right thing to do, "If the offer is ginuine, bring the Wo in. And if she makes the slightest wrong move, give her to Turmflake."

Sighing, Glory handed the headset back to Tumbledown, "What would you do, Tumble?" She asked, not really expecting an answer. To her credit, the destroyer didnt jump in surprise at the question. "I- um, I think, I wouldnt want to trust my enemy!" She started, causing Glory to look up from her stressful worrying, "But the enemy of my enemy is my friend right! A-and what if that Wo can help us? I donno..."

The secretary ship decided she liked Tumbledown, and gave her a small smile in return, "I suppose youre right, now lets just hope our friends from Jebsland see it that way." She couldnt fault them if they simply blasted the abyssals out of the water as soon as they laid eyes on them, but a surrendering enemy should at least be given the chance.