Of Ships and Girls and Shipgirls - a KanColle-RP (IC)

[Rynagria]

Who knew, maybe Caty would be interested in the Salvage Operation with Vancouver? She surely had large enough holds to gather much salvage and the destination was not too far away, so fuel wasn't that much of an issue as it normally would be.
I would try to talk her into it once I came back from Morning Patrol.
Then my eyes fell onto the cruiser standing by the board as well. "Good morning, Coralier.", I said to my fellow roommate and cruiser.

Upon being greeted, Coralier turned her head towards the source. It was the cruiser leader, Rhiannon, an authority figure in this base. Smiling at the light cruiser, she first subtly checked the sailor uniform she wore for any creases messes, then not-so-subtly flattening those that she found. Satisfied with her clothes, quickly gave the smaller ship a salute and returned the greeting. "Good morning to you as well, Rhia-... ma'am. Are you getting prepared for your patrol?"

[The Selkie]

snip

Amid Baylee's peaceful moment with the three pilot fairies, there was another group who was having a good view this heartwarming spectacle...

A few heads popped up from the back of Baylee's head - whom belong to none other than three ordinary Kraician sailors. Their black peakless flat sailor caps, and black and red naval uniforms (sailor shirt, trousers, and shoes) were a telltale give away in broad daylight, not to mention that sailors were all males. The left sailor fairy had blonde hair while the others had brown hair; however, scaling Baylee's head was but a meticulous endeavour since they had to inform her directly of an important matter from the captain fairy.

Any sailor fairy knew that trying to hang onto Baylee's shoulders would be like attempting to standing on an extremely rounded and steep boulder, so it was perfectly justified to find the three Kraician sailor fairies to be climbing on Baylee's head. The three sailor fairies that climbed on Baylee's head, however, were soon accompanied by two more sailor fairies (one an African and the other as an ordinary Caucasian) - whom they climbed up the same way the three sailor fairies came. Though unlike the three sailor fairies, the new Caucasian skinned sailor fairy had a bundle of rope on them, and he knew exactly why this was to be needed.

The blonde haired sailor fairy gestured to have the rope handed to him, and he immediately wrapped it around his waist. The blonde sailor fairy knew that literally giving Baylee a 'heads up' or a 'knock on the head' wouldn't get her attention, so he reckoned that jumping in front of her face might do the trick. He couldn't help but chuckle inaudibly for a moment as he gave the rope around his waist one more tug to see if the knot was fastened.

One of the sailor fairies got a grip of one end of the rope as he gave a questioning nod. The blonde gave a thumbs up and a positive nod before standing for a moment to allow his fellow comrades to get a grip of the rope. The African skinned sailor fairy was grabbing the remaining end of the rope while his three other Caucasian counterparts grabbing hold of the rope, and it was from him that the blonde was given the go to rappel; however...

The moment the blonde leaped backwards, a gust of wind and as well as Baylee suddenly leaned her head forward - not knowing of her fellow fairy sailors on her head - became the disastrous moments where the entire plan of surprise fell apart. The African skinned sailor fairy grabbed onto Baylee's hair with his right hand while his left hand was holding the rope; which happened to so be looped around his wrist. The other three Caucasian skinned sailor fairies had a mixture of fear-stricken reactions; with the forward sailor fairy loosing their grip, falling for a moment, and grappling for dear life from the blonde's waists; the middle sailor fairy grabbed the rope for his dear life; while the third sailor fairy did the same thing like the African skinned sailor fairy behind him.

"EH?!" Baylee grunted out loud as she felt the two sailor fairies of hers grabbing onto her hair for dear life; however, surprise was swift to overcome her as she saw two of her sailor fairies dangling in front of her face.

The blonde haired sailor fairy was dangling with the rope still wrapped around his waist, and it didn't help that one of the fairy sailors had wrapped their arms around the blonde's waist for dear life. The sailor fairy grappled onto his waist was yelling in pure fear before quieting down for a moment as he saw the large eyes of Baylee looking straight at him and the blonde sailor fairy with a partial frown. The plan of getting the drop on Baylee did no good when the element of surprise ended up being spelt upon the perpetrators.

"Okay, ye wee lads." Baylee spoke in a low yet calm voice at the two dangling sailor fairies in front of her, "That's funny...very funny..."

The sailor fairy grappling onto the blonde sailor cried out loud saying that he didn't come up with the idea of rappelling into her face; however, Baylee found that hard to believe when she can feel the weight and grip of three other fairy sailors on her head. On the other hand, the blonde sailor dangling by the rope around his waist sighed saying that he had something important to tell Baylee - knowing that bluffing in front of her was going to do nothing but put the rest of his peers at risk for much longer. Besides, he and the poor fellow sailor fairy wrapped around his waist were already afraid of heights.

"You could have just poked or jabbed me if you wanted the attention." Baylee uttered, "Besides, you're frightening the fly-stricken chaps below you."

"?" The blonde sailor fairy and the dangling sailor fairy collectively reacted as they looked down; however, it was at that moment that the dangling sailor fairy recoiled in fright and inadvertently letting go of his grip on the blonde sailor fairy.

The unfortunate sailor fairy was lucky enough to cushion his fall by landing on Baylee's arms and begin rolling down below to the three sailor fairies in her palms. His sailor hat unfurled off his head as he rolled down sideways down towards the fairy pilots, and it didn't take long for the poor sailor fairy to land with a thump on her palms. Of course, the sailor fairy was fortunate to be much alive and unharmed; however, he was still shaken from his fall as he laid prone with his hands on top of his head.

The first one to see movement on Baylee's head was the navigator, who watched with astonishment as the fairies belonging to the destroyer, easily recognizeable as such, began their little operation. By the time he saw the ropes, he knew, he simply knew, that he needed to watch without drawing anyone's attention to it.
By then, the gunner, too, saw the odd proceedings and wanted to call out to the fairies to join them - just before that fateful gust of wind and Baylee herself getting aware of the fairies and their little stunt.
He was, for a moment, shocked, but then, with his pilot and navigator, began to plan their way for a rescue operation, with or without help of the firefighters - forgetting, for a moment, that they were standing on the palm of a living destroyer, who then proceeded to let them dangle for a bit...
...until one of those, who clung for their dear life, fell.
The moment stretched as the panic of lossing a fellow mate set in. Fairies were small - distances, which were neglible for a human or a ship girl were all the more deadly for them.
And that they were currently dammed to do nothing did not really help.
The pilot wished, that he had his plane, so that he could do something, but that was wishful thinking.
The sailor, however, had more luck then anything else as he landed on Baylee's arm and rolled down onto her palm, next to them. As if the air had decided to leave them like a popping baloon, the three fly-fairies exhaled in relief, one grinning as he gave the destroyer and her crew a thumb up, they would take care of the sailor fairy, and the other two rushing forward, helping the fellow fairy up and looking him over, asking him questions to his condition and generally putting their lessons in first aid to good use.
It was a bit merciless to the poor, shaken lad, but it needed to be done.

Who knew, maybe Caty would be interested in the Salvage Operation with Vancouver? She surely had large enough holds to gather much salvage and the destination was not too far away, so fuel wasn't that much of an issue as it normally would be.
I would try to talk her into it once I came back from Morning Patrol.
Then my eyes fell onto the cruiser standing by the board as well. "Good morning, Coralier.", I said to my fellow roommate and cruiser.

Upon being greeted, Coralier turned her head towards the source. It was the cruiser leader, Rhiannon, an authority figure in this base. Smiling at the light cruiser, she first subtly checked the sailor uniform she wore for any creases messes, then not-so-subtly flattening those that she found. Satisfied with her clothes, quickly gave the smaller ship a salute and returned the greeting. "Good morning to you as well, Rhia-... ma'am. Are you getting prepared for your patrol?"

I grinned, quite flattered by the need of the heavy cruiser to take care of creases and messes.
"No need to be so formal, Coralier.", I told her, "We're roomies, after all... and I'm not a person for needless formalities." Sure, I was the Leader of the Cruisers, one of the persons to sit on the council of the flagship (if we had one, that is), but that was only an administrative position, not that much of authority to it. Additionally, I really wasn't for needless formalities - when the time came, that was different, but not when gazing at the notice board with my roomie. That was the SDF-Navy talking and I knew it. "But yes, I am. Yakaze is a nice and good lassie... and you'll be fine in the evening with Kokai as well."

[Higher Japan]

Unknown sector

"Ship down! I repeat, our final supply ship is down!" Tokai shouted as she reloaded her cross bow, before firing off another squadron of fighters as she sailed at full speed. On her tail was a small fleet of abyssals, but the worst part was that the fleet had both a carrier and submarine in it. As she just launched the squadron of fighters, she heard her sonar detect something but it was too late. By then she had been struck by a torpedo, rendering half of her guns useless.

As she sailed forward, she signalled to her fairies what may possibly be her final message. "Abandon attack run go! Save yourselves!" The fighters then turned around and sailed in front of her towards the naval district. Once they were within range to land, they took no time in getting out and telling and begging the other fairies to send reinforcements to help their carrier.

[Kraicia]

snip

"Aye, we can't pull you up if this specky wee gag here is playin' like some gutless puss!" The African skinned sailor fairy shouted down with a light Nigerian accent to the blonde sailor fairy dangling.

"Aye, this rope is hard to grapple, you bleedin' blackjack!" The middle sailor fairy cursed back, with his posture of grabbing the rope with two hands indicating his cowardice, "I don't want to die like Jeremy!"

"Jeremy is not dead, you gutless halfwits!" The blonde fairy sailor shouted back while he kept dangling in front of Baylee's face, "He landed all fine and well, just ask those flymates down here. They'll tell you..."

Unfortunately for the Kraician sailor fairies, their voices were unintelligible to the shipboys/shipgirls - being nothing more high-pitched squeaking and grunting. Plus, before the blonde fairy sailor could finish his bantering, Baylee decided to gentle scoop the three fairy pilots and and the Kraician sailor fairy off her palms before using her hands to respond to the four other Kraician sailor fairies on her head. Letting the blonde sailor fairy rest on her right hand, it didn't take long for Baylee to give her commands in a dryly voice, "Aright yee wee mates, down you go."

The three other sailor fairies on her head felt a relief in weight and pressure as the blonde sailor fairy rested in Baylee's right hand; however, it took the other sailor fairies a few moments to finally let go of Baylee's hair before allowing Baylee to gently grab them like dolls in her left hand. Her grip was loose to make sure that the three sailor fairies weren't crush to death; however, all three sailor fairies were bunched together with their heads and shoulders protruding from her hands like they had been snatched by a giant from the English fairytale, Jack and the Beanstalk. Come to think of fairytales, the African skinned sailor fairy gave a brief yet nervous chuckle as he caught the reference of being handled like a midget; however, the rest of his Caucasian skinned mates could only sigh quietly in relief and defeat.

All four sailor fairies were eventually placed onto the ground below, with the rope still connected to the blonde sailor fairy in her right hand. So it was unsurprising that the blonde sailor fairy untied the rope around his waist upon his buttocks contacting the ground underneath him. The African skinned fairy sailor - seeing that the rope was finally untied - was quick to detect the change in plans and gently bundled up the rope again; however, as he was getting the rope together again, his two Caucasian skinned counterparts near him began to help each other up...not to mention that one of them patted each other on the back...

The blonde haired sailor fairy walked up to the sailor fairy that had previously grappled onto his waists, and he wanted to see if he was alright as he had claimed; however, the blonde sailor fairy was quick to see that there were in fact three sailor fairies that weren't of Kraician origin. The pilots had already helped the poor sailor to his feet and checking if he was okay - never mind the fact that the sailor was fixing his sailor cap on his head after his fall. Though without wasting time to awing, the blonde sailor fairy gave a wave to the pilot fairies and gave a curt greeting (knowing that his fairy voice was inaudible to the shipboys/shipgirls), "G'day..."

[Rynagria]

I grinned, quite flattered by the need of the heavy cruiser to take care of creases and messes.
"No need to be so formal, Coralier.", I told her, "We're roomies, after all... and I'm not a person for needless formalities." Sure, I was the Leader of the Cruisers, one of the persons to sit on the council of the flagship (if we had one, that is), but that was only an administrative position, not that much of authority to it. Additionally, I really wasn't for needless formalities - when the time came, that was different, but not when gazing at the notice board with my roomie. That was the SDF-Navy talking and I knew it. "But yes, I am. Yakaze is a nice and good lassie... and you'll be fine in the evening with Kokai as well."

"Right." Replied Coralier with a small nod, taking a look at the notice board. "Ah, Yakaze, one of the three destroyers we have on hand. A proper fleet would be difficult compose should we need to make one, doesn't that concern you? If an officer was here to see who they have on deck, one would think that cruisers are the escorts for destroyers." She joked, despite the rather serious question she had asked earlier. Even then, it just simply wasn't her style to remain serious. It would prevent her from experiencing many things if she did.

"And Kokai." Said Coralier, addressing her fellow heavy cruiser. ".... Why was he wearing a skirt?"

[The Selkie]

I grinned, quite flattered by the need of the heavy cruiser to take care of creases and messes.
"No need to be so formal, Coralier.", I told her, "We're roomies, after all... and I'm not a person for needless formalities." Sure, I was the Leader of the Cruisers, one of the persons to sit on the council of the flagship (if we had one, that is), but that was only an administrative position, not that much of authority to it. Additionally, I really wasn't for needless formalities - when the time came, that was different, but not when gazing at the notice board with my roomie. That was the SDF-Navy talking and I knew it. "But yes, I am. Yakaze is a nice and good lassie... and you'll be fine in the evening with Kokai as well."

"Right." Replied Coralier with a small nod, taking a look at the notice board. "Ah, Yakaze, one of the three destroyers we have on hand. A proper fleet would be difficult compose should we need to make one, doesn't that concern you? If an officer was here to see who they have on deck, one would think that cruisers are the escorts for destroyers." She joked, despite the rather serious question she had asked earlier. Even then, it just simply wasn't her style to remain serious. It would prevent her from experiencing many things if she did.

"And Kokai." Said Coralier, addressing her fellow heavy cruiser. ".... Why was he wearing a skirt?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, why Kokai wore a skirt... something cultural, maybe?", I suggested, then let that one drop, "But yes, we have little in the ways of an actual fleet, but if I'm not completely mistaken, there should be some new people coming soon, with supplies." I grinned. "New planes, new guns, new everything. Can you imagine that?"
I let out a little laugh...
...which died in my throat, as suddenly, an anciet god, in this world longer then the Gods and Goddesses of Man and Ship Girl alike, began to wail.
It took me a moment to realize, but then... "Oh, Carman Fea, be with us... Alert!"

snip

"Aye, we can't pull you up if this specky wee gag here is playin' like some gutless puss!" The African skinned sailor fairy shouted down with a light Nigerian accent to the blonde sailor fairy dangling.

"Aye, this rope is hard to grapple, you bleedin' blackjack!" The middle sailor fairy cursed back, with his posture of grabbing the rope with two hands indicating his cowardice, "I don't want to die like Jeremy!"

"Jeremy is not dead, you gutless halfwits!" The blonde fairy sailor shouted back while he kept dangling in front of Baylee's face, "He landed all fine and well, just ask those flymates down here. They'll tell you..."

Unfortunately for the Kraician sailor fairies, their voices were unintelligible to the shipboys/shipgirls - being nothing more high-pitched squeaking and grunting. Plus, before the blonde fairy sailor could finish his bantering, Baylee decided to gentle scoop the three fairy pilots and and the Kraician sailor fairy off her palms before using her hands to respond to the four other Kraician sailor fairies on her head. Letting the blonde sailor fairy rest on her right hand, it didn't take long for Baylee to give her commands in a dryly voice, "Aright yee wee mates, down you go."

The three other sailor fairies on her head felt a relief in weight and pressure as the blonde sailor fairy rested in Baylee's right hand; however, it took the other sailor fairies a few moments to finally let go of Baylee's hair before allowing Baylee to gently grab them like dolls in her left hand. Her grip was loose to make sure that the three sailor fairies weren't crush to death; however, all three sailor fairies were bunched together with their heads and shoulders protruding from her hands like they had been snatched by a giant from the English fairytale, Jack and the Beanstalk. Come to think of fairytales, the African skinned sailor fairy gave a brief yet nervous chuckle as he caught the reference of being handled like a midget; however, the rest of his Caucasian skinned mates could only sigh quietly in relief and defeat.

All four sailor fairies were eventually placed onto the ground below, with the rope still connected to the blonde sailor fairy in her right hand. So it was unsurprising that the blonde sailor fairy untied the rope around his waist upon his buttocks contacting the ground underneath him. The African skinned fairy sailor - seeing that the rope was finally untied - was quick to detect the change in plans and gently bundled up the rope again; however, as he was getting the rope together again, his two Caucasian skinned counterparts near him began to help each other up...not to mention that one of them patted each other on the back...

The blonde haired sailor fairy walked up to the sailor fairy that had previously grappled onto his waists, and he wanted to see if he was alright as he had claimed; however, the blonde sailor fairy was quick to see that there were in fact three sailor fairies that weren't of Kraician origin. The pilots had already helped the poor sailor to his feet and checking if he was okay - never mind the fact that the sailor was fixing his sailor cap on his head after his fall. Though without wasting time to awing, the blonde sailor fairy gave a wave to the pilot fairies and gave a curt greeting (knowing that his fairy voice was inaudible to the shipboys/shipgirls), "G'day..."

"To you, too, laddie!", the pilot said with a smile in their tongue, still appearing as an Oha for any listeners, "Your pal is... uh..."
"He's alright.", his navigator said, "A bit shaken, but a stiff drink will help with that. That was a very good show, people, only the landing left a bit to desire. Seven out of ten."
The pilot snorted in amusement, then turned back to the blonde sailor. "So, then, you had a close scrape with death and we had a close scrape with death today." He nodded towards the firefighter fairies, who were still putting out the last flames of their downed aircraft. "We were far less elegant then you were, though. I take, that you..."
He was rudely cut off by the last thing anyone wanted to hear: The anguished wail of a god as the sirens called to alert.
"Shite.", he said over the din.

Unknown sector

"Ship down! I repeat, our final supply ship is down!" Tokai shouted as she reloaded her cross bow, before firing off another squadron of fighters as she sailed at full speed. On her tail was a small fleet of abyssals, but the worst part was that the fleet had both a carrier and submarine in it. As she just launched the squadron of fighters, she heard her sonar detect something but it was too late. By then she had been struck by a torpedo, rendering half of her guns useless.

As she sailed forward, she signalled to her fairies what may possibly be her final message. "Abandon attack run go! Save yourselves!" The fighters then turned around and sailed in front of her towards the naval district. Once they were within range to land, they took no time in getting out and telling and begging the other fairies to send reinforcements to help their carrier.

The convoy had set out to Operational Sector Wide Seas - South West with high hopes - supplies for their weary fighters, reinforcements, maybe even a communication link, if everything worked fine. Those hopes had been dashed quite effectively.
Most of their convoy was down, the freighters were down and they were sitting ducks.
The leading Abyssal, a carrier belonging to the Wo-class, with a Nu-class Light Carrier by her side, several escorting destroyers, a light cruiser to lead that flotilla and submarines. Half a dozen were here for that raid on the supplies. The base in Sector CN-17 was not exactly a thorn in their side, but it could both very well become and be it, so it had to be cut off from the supplies.
That was a part of it.
The carrier smirked. This was too easy - an escorting fleet would have given her trouble, but as they all appeared to be of different origin, they were badly coordinated. And one carrier against two? It was almost turkey shooting.
A group of fighters slipped away to the base, on their far side. They could tell the tale of how their carrier was overcome.
The leading abyssal smiled. None of the puny humans would survive.
[Another attack wave!], she ordered her planes, a mixture of dive bombers and escorting fighters, a wicked grin on her face. [The carrier is not the target! Take out the battleships!]

I was not in a... wait, sorry, from the other end: SDFS Ámóg, friends call me Amy.
Leaba-class Destroyer Tender - basically a freighter optimized for keeping a flotilla of destroyers or small attack craft fed, happy, in good shape and well. I'm a brunette, brown-red really, long and bound to a ponytail, brown eyes and tanned. I served a lot in the Archipelago, so that's to be expected. A white one-piece swimsuit, which hugged me tightly, under a green jacket.
I was slow, heavy and armed only for the laughs behind it. Sure, my rage is something even for battleships to fear, but... I wasn't exactly in my prime.
So, as Tokai send her planes towards the base, I braced myself and my charges, a group of torpedo boats manned by fairies, against another attack wave. It would not be pretty, that was sure, even to me, as I moved closer to Tokai, hoping to combine our remaining AA-firepower to something worthwile - who was I kidding, I sought protection from her, nothing else.
The others were very welcome to join.

At the base, as the fighters came down, they were first met with astonishment, then with surprise, then in short order fear, anger, hate and the will to do something. The commander of the Naval Base's small airfield did not hesitate for long, as there was only one reply: He pressed a button and moments later, a wail sounded through the naval base.
Attack alarm had been given.
A message was sent in the only language all shipgirls and fairies understood: Morse. Furious button tapping resulted in "Supply Convoy incoming - under attack - strong enemy forces - need support - scramble, scramble, scramble - directions as follows..."
And his pilots did, too. The Giodrogs were in the air as soon as a fighter escort was up as well, the fighters of Tokai were rolled into a hanger and given both a once-over and new ammunition and fuel. They'd be needed, the commander of the airfield could feel that.

[Hashirajima]

Yakaze, Base

"Annnd torpedoes. Two reloads... check. That's about it, I guess. Shall we go check on our partner?" Smiling, Yakaze looked towards her Logistics Chief, who replied with an enthusiastic burst of typical "desunese", as the fairy's squeaky language was called back home. Not that she had trouble understanding, of course.

The peaceful moment, performing pre-deployment stocktaking, was shattered when the base alarm rang out. Followed quickly by a burst of radio transmission.

"Light cruiser Yuubetsu to all allied forces: Under attack from enemy air group, requesting urgent reinforcement!"

Eyes widening, the destroyer contemplated heading out right there and then before rationality took hold. Instead, she took a brief moment to load up on her munitions before sprinting off into the base. Finding Rhiannon, she merely took a moment to consider the other cruiser at the the notice board. "Ma'am! We have to go, NOW!"

Yuubetsu, Convoy

The attack came without any warning. One moment, Yuubetsu was idly watching the calm seas pass her by as her convoy headed for the base she was assigned to, and the next moment, it was as if her worst nightmare came to life once more.

Planes. All sorts of them, dive bombers and fighter escorts of clearly Abyssal origins, blocked out the sun as they headed straight for them. Glancing around, the light cruiser found that the rest of her allies were frantically mustering a response. Taking a moment to force down the panic that was rising in her, she took a huge gulp of air. "A-ALL ESCORTS! ENEMY AIR GROUP APPROACHING, 30-DEGREES BEARING, MIXED COMPOSITION! ASSUME DEFENSIVE FORMATION, COMMENCE ANTI-AIR ACTION!"

After spotting the wounded carrier, the last Nagara-class was about to head for her when she noticed the enemy planes veering towards the battleships in their midst. Her eyes widen before she kicked off on intercept course, raising her guns to fill the air with rounds. "BATTLESHIPS! INCOMING AIR STRIKE, WATCH OUT!"

[Legatia]

-snip-

[Parcia]

PRNS Imperator Montgomery

He steeled his gaze, his senses tingling as his search radar picked up the oncoming carriers. He was about to call them out when the light cruiser, Yuubetsu, called out the enemy fighter squadrons. He snapped his gaze up and cursed at his seemingly not seeing the massive enemy air wave.

"Attack squadron sighted, anybody with AA, Picket line around the merchants, we need them alive!" With that, his guns, nearly 100 different guns and cannons ranging from 127mm secondaries, to 20 and 40mm cannons, and even pintle mounted 12.7s began to unleash shellfire on the Abysal. It seemed the enemy Carrier had different targets in mind, as the planes suddenly vectored on their bigger targets: The battleships.

The first bombs came in fast, and he had barely anytime to react before the first bombs splashed to his left and right. Letting his AA do the work as he swayed from side to side to avoid near misses from bombs, he sighted in the Enemy carrier, who lay just inside his gun range, and called out his target.

"Enemy CV force, bearing 1-5-3, 29.2 Miles out!" He set his guns on the right elevation and loaded HE shells. "Eat this you pale bit-" That is when his first mistake reared it's ugly head. The 500 lbs bomb that sailed its it way right in to his #3 gun turret. "Bloody hell!" He dropped his arms and checked the damage. The bomb hit hurt, a lot, but the turret armor seemed to hold up, but he found the turret it self was disabled.

He keyed in his radio. "Im hit, #3 turret is down, evading enemy fire!"

[Rustyal]

Imperatritsa Ketrin, Launch bay

"COME ON!! IS IT THAT HARD TO GET A 13 TON SHELL INTO AN AMMUNITION RACK?!"

Catherine was upset. Her many, MANY fairies were using equipment to stock up on ammo. Her massive rig [check OOC] was bustling with guns, and fairies, for that matter. While the ship would be great for almost any role, she isn't exactly easy to scramble. It's easier to leave her unstocked because of just how many resources she requires. Catherine herself was quite upset at the speed at which she could get ready, and she was storming around her rig. "We're needed out there! I don't even care if we're on light load, just get stocked!" Catherine was clearly panicking at this.

A good amount of time later, the massive ship was ready. With a loud clunking of metal, she stepped onto her launch pad.
"Empress Catherine, embarking!" The fairies held on to her rig tightly as the colossus of a vessel shot forth... at a rather abysmal speed of 23 knots. While this is impressive for her size, it isn't impressive in terms of actual sailing. Two scout planes were launched forth from Catherine, to be able to implement long range fire. The massive 91 cm guns rose up, their hydraulics straining slightly.

[Kraicia]

snip

The sound of the sirens wailing so suddenly only caused the sailor fairies to curse, with the African skinned sailor fairy saying his words out loudly, "Bleedin' beggars, we got blood-clots on the way!"

"All hands on deck!" The blonde sailor fairy shouted as he ran towards Baylee's right hand and began climbing up her wrist before repeating himself again, "All hands on deck! Toss your wee gags at once! All hands on deck!"

The other four sailor fairies complied as they ran and climbed up Baylee's right hand; however, that was before the African skinned sailor fairy shouted down in his light Nigerian accent at the three pilot fairies, "Be on your way, aye! We meet you again on the highseas!"

The African skinned sailor fairy was the last to climb up Baylee's sleeve and as one of the Caucasian sailor fairies grabbed his arms, pulled him in, and disappearing back into the shipgirl before Baylee quickly took off to the docks for deployment.

"As I feared not to happen..." Baylee uttered as she rushed into action..leaving the three pilot fairies to their own thing...

---

Moments Later

Baylee can only estimate that ten minutes had passed by; however, she was completely uncertain how quick she was able to get into action. Aside from time, she got her rig gear together, and as well as adding the standard-issued Kraician headset on top of her garrison cap. Among her rig gear, her armament was unorthodox for a destroyer of her kind, as she had twin-barreled 57mm automatic cannons as opposed to the ordinary 5in/6in guns; however, her armament in mind was meant for anti-aircraft duties, not to mention that her rig gear contained four (4x) 20mm automatic cannon nests and ten (10x) machine gun nests.

While having so many automatic weapons on her allowed her to shoot down many small and fast moving enemies, Baylee can only hope that she was not going have to fight anything larger than a destroyer. Of course, the 57mm automatic cannons can decimate vulnerable spots (e.g. Unarmoured Carrier Decks, Lightly Armoured Bridges and Afts) and shred abyssal submarines in no time at all, the 57mm automatic cannons would only annoy abyssal heavy cruisers and battleships. Aside from firepower, Baylee was confident with her on-board radio set - as indicated by the radio antenna protruding from the back of her rig gear - that she can call for help whenever she needed it.

She was fortunate that she had free hands, since all of her guns were in turret rings or nests, with her twin barreled 57mm automatic cannons especially being on turret rings on each of her wrists. In case she was going have to sink some cowardly abyssal submarines, there was a utility belt bordering her skirt and coat with depth charges on her hip ready to be taken off and thrown into the water. Though before leaving the dock to sortie out to sea, Baylee couldn't help but briefly watch some of her sailor fairies scrambling to their posts; however, her subtle awing was interrupted by a distress call from her radio, which only prompted Baylee to get going.

Though as soon as she proceeded, she happened to walk past a 'battleship-sized' shipgirl on her way out...

[Regria]

RSS Brightbell

6:00 AM
As the sun began to slowly creep up the horizon, slowly yet surely the Fleetgirls of the Naval base began to awaken, one by one. Though most were awake at this point, the one known as Brightbell was not. For the few months she had been on base, the Regrian was never really used to waking up early, unless she had gone to sleep incredibly early. Grudgingly, she would finally awaken-- groaning slightly in protest and tiredly sitting up, stretching her arms and legs out while yawning in her pajamas and rubbing her sleepy eyes. Blinking a few times and glancing around, Brightbell would quickly realize how 'early' it was for her, with a still dim sun barely illumining the Naval Base, though not enough to where the lights could be turned off.

After a few minutes of trying to gather her energy, Brightbell would pull herself out of bed-- and onto the floor of her dorm room, her bare feet touching the ground and making a slight creaking noise as it made contact with the hard wooden floor. She would follow her usual routine, the more menial tasks that one could expect in the morning. Brushing of teeth, washing of her face, and getting dressed for the day, all in order. Brightbell was always one to keep her sense of fashion stylish to the Regrian ways-- at least somewhat formal clothes were to be expected at nearly all times. Brightbell herself preferred to wear a black bowler hat, a white button-up shirt, a black bow-tie, and a black skirt with brown suspenders. To her at least, that seemed to be the perfect choice for one such as her.

Shortly after making sure everything was in order via a mirror, Brightbell, still without shoes (but with socks), would finally leave the dorm room, quickly checking in on the bulletin board, where she had heard new patrol plans had been posted. Nothing appeared to detail any mention on Brightbell... Perfect. She had the entire week off to do whatever she desired, though she was thinking about going on one of those volunteer missions if they came up during the week. Alas, she'd turn around with a satisfied smile, sighing in relief and going back into her dorm room which she had assumed to be empty. After glancing around the room again, she'd smile slightly to herself, which was odd with those acquainted with the girl, but wasn't, if they knew her well enough, like her roommates undoubtedly did.

Sitting down on the edge of her bunk, she would clap twice-- where about seven fairies would stumble out of a small pouch-like object, climbing up next to her and glancing up at the usually salty and passive-aggressive girl. Looking down at them, Brightbell smiled warmly. She loved these fairies, in her opinion they made life a bit more worth living. But there was something in particular. Every fairy was holding an instrument, and each instrument looked as if it belonged to a Jazz band. Each one was dressed in the usual Navy uniform, but somehow the Regrian girl was able to pick out each and every one of them on first sight. A fairy with a trumpet and a clarinet on their person would speak up, to which shortly after, Brightbell's previously happy expression would intensify, as she'd nod once.

"...Yes, yes it is. Apparently, as it stands, I currently have an entire week to myself. Mind if I spend it on all you guys?"

Glancing at each other, all seven of the fairies would nod at one another unanimously, as the dual-instrument wielding fairy would speak up once more. And once more, Brightbell would speak, her voice carrying with it a softness which was only to be expected with such a passion for music.

"Thank you... Now, shall we take it from the top? How about some nice bar-style melodies? I'd think 'Walk through Shirley' sounds just about good right now. What do you guys think?"

Once again, all the fairies would glance towards one another and nod in approval, as Brightbell smiled whilst bringing up her own trumpet, nodding once.

The song was relaxing to her own nerves and would be straight from her very soul, as the song retained a relaxing, yet cheerful and somehow calm mood overall, perfect for a morning stroll in Regrian city streets. For what seemed like forever, the eight would play relaxing Jazz tunes straight from Regria, and some of their own improvised melodies. Yet, Brightbell didn't want it to end, pouring her heart into this (presumably) private musical performance for what seemed like a paradise which would last forever.

----

LATER...

An indefinite amount of time had passed, and Brightbell was still playing, lost in her world of music. However, it would all come to an abrupt end, as a siren rang out throughout the base, and the flow of the music was entirely ruined, the Regrian panicking and dropping her trumpet, her fairies just managing to hold onto their instruments. Then came the morse code. A convoy fleet was under attack? And they needed all help possible? She’d set her trumpet back down onto her bed, blinking back towards the fairies as she stood up.

“Sorry, guys, but it looks like we’ll have to cut this short. Stay safe, alright? I promise I’ll be back here soon.”

Meekly, the fairies would all nod slowly, as Brightbell herself quickly turned around, getting herself ready and running into the halls, making her way as fast as she could down to the launch bays. “Showtime at last.”, she’d mutter to herself as she fleeted towards the bays.

[Regria]

-redacted-

[New Antonalia]

SPN Sergei Malinokov
Sector CN-17 Base

Just relax, and enjoy... Sergei thought as his bare feet dug into the sand beside the sluceway. Not too long ago, he was near frozen to death outside Haska after a disastrous trip with his parents. Just relax, and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the sa... His thoughts were interrupted by the claxon blaring out it's violent cacophony. Even through he hadn't been on the island for long, Sergei knew immediately what was going on. "Rahat rahat." He swore as his ran towards the dock, sailor fairies scrambling around him as he suited up. The rig felt clunky on him, but familiar as bits and pieces of Romanian and Russian flooded his mind as almost dozens of tiny men scrambled up his arms and legs, disappearing into the rig and into him. In his ear, he could hear the captain, a gruff, and stout fairy, enter the bridge and begin barking orders to his subordinates as Sergei slid into the water, the boilers humming as the Solokov engines roared to life, turning the three propellers, as he thundered into the bay. "Captain, what is the situation?" He wanted to ask, but felt it would be better to follow the rest of the ships as they sailed out into open waters. As this happened, Sergei could feel the four turrets, each with two 190 mm guns, rotate as the six single mount, 100 mm guns were manned. "This is SPN Heavy Cruiser, Sergei Malinokov, joining fleet for escort and fire support mission."

[Legatia]

LNS Coriolanus

---

Naval Base, Sector CN-17|Operational Sector Wide Sea- Southwest|0530 hours

It was a night like this one, she remembered. 52 years ago, under a starlit southern sky, was the night where she had nearly sunk. The water was still warm, even in October, a slight comfort as it calmly lapped against the grey steel of her hull. The details of that night were forever engraved into her memory- a night she wished not to recall. She had come to terms with the tragedy that befell her at Triticum, yet every once and a while she remembered.

Her main guns were silent that night, there existed not even a heavy cruiser worth her mettle. Her secondary guns had difficulty lowering to shoot the gunboats that assailed her, as explosions tore at her hull and water filled compartments. The sky was alight with tracer fire and explosions, the air thick with sulfur and the cries of her men.It wasn't until the arrival of Agrianus's jet fighters and helicopter gunships that she was given a reprieve, hundreds dead and half sunk. The battle had ended, and with it Coriolanus's dominating role in the seas. But she found herself as always content with her standing.

Unum, duo, tres, quattuor.

Her running shoes gently contacted the path infront of her, gravel embedding in the treads as she ran. Carrying herself at a brisk pace, she took a glance for a moment out to the sea as her own thoughts drifted back to the road ahead. The canopy of trees cast shadow further onto the long trail, a roof of evergreens and palms lining the path ahead of her. A gentle breeze sent her ponytail towards the sea, ever swaying behind her as she ran the length of the course.

She exited the cover of trees into the early morning sight of the beach, the waves gently rolling upon white sands as she jogged past, slowing her speed, the blues of her sneakers coming to a slow as she transitioned into a walk. Her running catching up with her at last, she took a breath, striding over to the beach, where she was able to spot the small, pale figure of a sandcrab stalking along the ocean, searching for prey amongst the bounties of the sea. Coriolanus smiled, approaching the crab and kneeling. The crab regarded her for a second, before it skittered off in search of food. The warship girl simply smiled, watching it for a few moments before standing up, looking off towards the horizon. The rays of the sun had just began to peak over the horizon, she noticed, and their day would begin soon. She had yet to wash, and now would be a prime time to refresh herself.

* * *

Exiting from the bath, Coriolanus dressed herself in her standard attire, which she had folded from the previous day for herself. Her uniform consisted of a khaki collared dress shirt,an inner clasp in thread of gold joining across her neck. A gold-trimmed red lapel rested on her shoulders, a golden rope secured by a black and white orb resting over her chest, and she wore a pleated shirt of red, trimmed by black. Her hair was, as always, tied back with her signature white and red ribbon, a silken garment that was reminiscent of the old, peacetime naval standard of the Imperial Navy. The sleeves of the khaki dress shirt were rolled up slightly towards her shoulders. Beyond her steel boots, which hiked halfway up her lower leg, she wore a mismatch of half-knee and thigh sock, both black and clean.

Finishing her attire, ensuring everything was smoothed and checked, she exited the baths in solitude, the morning still early as brilliant reds and oranges painted the morning sky. She figured that she would start the day with breakfast early, something.. particularly heavy. But first she decided to investigate the volunteer board near headquarters, her heels clicking ever so sharply as they came in contact with the cobble. Noting quickly the only mission with a single ship was the salvage operation, she handled a pen, quickly signing it with a flourished ~Coriolanus. Satisfied, she turned to the restaurants, walking forward- until an alarm blared. The battleship immediately went to work.

Bridge, what is the situation?

Supply convoy is hit, with large enemy concentration. The reply came, as she made brisk pace towards the water. There would be little time to prepare, she would have to go with what she was loaded. Arriving at the docks, she did not spare any effort, rapidly engaging her rig gear. Her three 18 inch triple gun turrets appeared to either side, 6 inch turrets and 5 inch single guns forming along the waistline in rapid succession, anti air lining the decks as water rushed to her feet. Pausing for a moment, she noticed a destroyer to her side. Coriolanus didn't know her name, but addressed her anyway.

"Destroyer, you're sortieing, correct? " Coriolanus gave a quick nod, as she stepped into the water. "Would you mind to act as my escort?"

[Rynagria]

RNC Aveugle
Unknown Sector

---

Ahead of the entire fleet, a part of him could only enjoy the battle around, as chaos reigned upon them in the form explosions and incoming enemy aircraft. At the same time, could only also feel guilt. Having been sent out yesterday to scout the route they had to take, to make sure that it was free of enemy presence. For what he saw, it was clear, no Abyss presence in the area and yet here they are. Seemingly chasing them down to the ends of the Earth, with their sole purpose to sink every single last one of them. These thoughts only caused for him to clutch the handle of both weapons in his hands, a five-inch turret in one and a dual 40mm Bofor anti-aircraft gun. "I-I'm no use all the way up here.... Better slow down."

And with that, his speed began to bleed of at noticeable rate and fell more in line with his compatriots. All at the same time, began aiming her 40mm at the Abyssal aircraft littering the sky. Opening fire, a short burst of roughly one and a half inch shell entered the sky, clipping one of the dive bombers that have already dropped their load. On his way to the back, Aveugle was just in time to see a quarter ton bomb impact on Imperator Montgomery. Going over the comms, he did his best to sound calm and trying to get a complete overview of the situation. "Who's still with us?!"

At the same time, turned his head towards a fast approaching I-class destroyer. No time to think, aimed all of his 127mm turrets at the whale looking bastard and let loose a volley of high explosive projectiles. Before it can even fire a single shot or let loose a torpedo, all shells connected to its nose, exploding in a spectacular manner. Not waiting for any response, he followed it up with another question. "What about a smoke screen, can anyone lay one?"

[Higher Japan]

Naval district

Back on the airfield, once their fighters were replenished and ready they wasted no time as they quickly boarded it and flew off, the numbers of '777' painted on the tails of the Reppu as they helped to guide the reinforcements towards the doomed escort fleet. Leaving a trail of smoke behind, they began to speed forward before eventually coming to the sector where their carrier was.

Unknown sector

"Direct hit on flight deck, direct hit!" The fairy shouted as the flight deck suddenly caught on fire, smaller fairies running out and putting the fire out as the previous wave of fighters sent out came back. As they refueled, she saw bombers flying past her before realizing what was going on. "I won't let you." She muttered, sending off the last of her Reppu fighters as they went into the sky to intercept. Suddenly, flak fire from another point aside from her would hit them down as she turned to see a heavy cruiser approaching in on the distance.

"Heavy Anti air Cruiser Kokai, joining the fight!" He shouted out as he advanced forward slightly before angling himself as he launched off 8 torpedoes at the enemy carriers before following the enemy planes and opening flak fire with all his weapons.

[The Selkie]

Yakaze, Base

"Annnd torpedoes. Two reloads... check. That's about it, I guess. Shall we go check on our partner?" Smiling, Yakaze looked towards her Logistics Chief, who replied with an enthusiastic burst of typical "desunese", as the fairy's squeaky language was called back home. Not that she had trouble understanding, of course.

The peaceful moment, performing pre-deployment stocktaking, was shattered when the base alarm rang out. Followed quickly by a burst of radio transmission.

"Light cruiser Yuubetsu to all allied forces: Under attack from enemy air group, requesting urgent reinforcement!"

Eyes widening, the destroyer contemplated heading out right there and then before rationality took hold. Instead, she took a brief moment to load up on her munitions before sprinting off into the base. Finding Rhiannon, she merely took a moment to consider the other cruiser at the the notice board. "Ma'am! We have to go, NOW!"

Yuubetsu, Convoy

The attack came without any warning. One moment, Yuubetsu was idly watching the calm seas pass her by as her convoy headed for the base she was assigned to, and the next moment, it was as if her worst nightmare came to life once more.

Planes. All sorts of them, dive bombers and fighter escorts of clearly Abyssal origins, blocked out the sun as they headed straight for them. Glancing around, the light cruiser found that the rest of her allies were frantically mustering a response. Taking a moment to force down the panic that was rising in her, she took a huge gulp of air. "A-ALL ESCORTS! ENEMY AIR GROUP APPROACHING, 30-DEGREES BEARING, MIXED COMPOSITION! ASSUME DEFENSIVE FORMATION, COMMENCE ANTI-AIR ACTION!"

After spotting the wounded carrier, the last Nagara-class was about to head for her when she noticed the enemy planes veering towards the battleships in their midst. Her eyes widen before she kicked off on intercept course, raising her guns to fill the air with rounds. "BATTLESHIPS! INCOMING AIR STRIKE, WATCH OUT!"

I nodded.
"That we do, Yakaze.", I told her, remaining calm and collected - professional soldiers and shipgirls would not succumb to mindless panic and running for the docks to get into the water and the fight. I began to jog towards the docks, raising my hand to my ear for signalling radio, seeing the smoketrail in the sky.
Cueing the radio, I spoke: "Alright, people, this is what we've been waiting for - an attack. One of our convoys is out and in distress by an enemy carrier battlegroup, current circumstances are unknown. We'll meet at the docks. Group 1, Caty, Brightbell, Kokai, you stay here and keep the base safe. Everything that even remotely looks like an Abyssal, shoot it." I made a small count in my head. "Chrysantheme, Novaya, Himito, Himiko and Coralier, Group 2. You will provide air support for the fleet, fuel and all of that. If someone needs to be dragged home, you do that. Group 3, Vancouver, Malinokov, Yakaze, Baylee, Coriolanus and myself, we will be the once to convince the enemy, that attacking ours is a really, really bad idea. Everyone understood their role and mission?"
I let a beat pass, trying to let everyone process, that there was now to be a structure in that mess.
"Good, let's get a move on!", I called and sped up towards the docks.
Two minutes later, I had my rigging deployed, the six 135mm guns bristling in the morning sun, the AA-guns and torpedo tubes loaded and ready, the mines only waiting to be dropped off. I looked to the others already assembled, including the massive form of Caty.
"Remember me to never get onto your bad side...", I joked as I looked at the massive guns.

---

At the battered convoy, things were only slightly looking up - a new heavy cruiser was reinforcing our AA-firepower, one which I had never seen.
Monty was hit and it looked bad, Cancan was calling for a smokescreen, the flight deck of their sole carrier burning. I am only a destroyer tender, but that did not mean, that I was completely helpless in every regard. As the heavy cruiser's torpedoes swished past, the enemy taking evasive action, I shook my head at Cancan's question and looked Tokai once over. "Alright, where to start...", I mumbled and began to help dousing the flames on her head. I answered Cancan other question: "I'm still here, Tokai's burning, Monty has lost a turret. Who else...?"
Monty could indeed wait for a moment.
My meager AA-guns were doing their best to help, but it sounded easier then it was. A lot of aircraft had been shot down, but even more returned to their carriers.

The Abyssal in the lead of the operation to catch and sink that impudent supply convoy scowled.
Nearly, she commited a rookie mistake: Getting close and personal to a battleship. She was not equipped for such a thing. She let herself fall back a bit while evading the torpedo salvo of that impudent new cruiser, and repositioned herself well outside of any gun range, bit her destroyers closer. As they retreated to her, the destroyers dropped torpedoes towards the enemy, letting them speed without the intent to hit something. The evasive action, though, would make them disarranged and out of concept, the carrier hoped, and if something was hit anyway, it wouldn't hurt either.
No need to squander their advantage, especially now, that one battleship was burning.
Radar of the cruiser picked up on air-contact coming closer, no doubt air support and most likely followed by new fleet units - that would be bothersome. [One last attack.], she told her companions, [What escapes after that is boon for them... for how long will be the question...]
Indeed, as they picked up the dive bombers and escorts, they began to strap bombs onto the fighters as well, smaller then on the dive bombers, but bombs nonetheless. A nasty little surprise.
Meanwhile, the light carrier sent out a Combat Air Patrol of fighters to convince any of the incoming aircraft, that attacking was not a good idea.

The fairies of the Giodrog torpedo bombers followed the fighters, at a slower pace to both conserve fuel and due to simply not having a fighter's speed, grim expressions on their crews. Twelve were supposed to be there, only eleven could, as one air crew lost their aircraft, was still out and being rescued. They saw them, by the admirality building, saluting as a destroyer hurried towards the docks.
Eleven torpedoes.
Not a lot, but it would certainly smart.
Fighters were their greatest horror, as they were indeed torpedo bombers and despite a rear gunner with a peashooter, they were not really capable of defending themselves.

[Novaya Equestria]

"Right." Replied Coralier with a small nod, taking a look at the notice board. "Ah, Yakaze, one of the three destroyers we have on hand. A proper fleet would be difficult compose should we need to make one, doesn't that concern you? If an officer was here to see who they have on deck, one would think that cruisers are the escorts for destroyers." She joked, despite the rather serious question she had asked earlier. Even then, it just simply wasn't her style to remain serious. It would prevent her from experiencing many things if she did.

"And Kokai." Said Coralier, addressing her fellow heavy cruiser. ".... Why was he wearing a skirt?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, why Kokai wore a skirt... something cultural, maybe?", I suggested, then let that one drop, "But yes, we have little in the ways of an actual fleet, but if I'm not completely mistaken, there should be some new people coming soon, with supplies." I grinned. "New planes, new guns, new everything. Can you imagine that?"
I let out a little laugh...
...which died in my throat, as suddenly, an anciet god, in this world longer then the Gods and Goddesses of Man and Ship Girl alike, began to wail.
It took me a moment to realize, but then... "Oh, Carman Fea, be with us... Alert!"

"Aye, we can't pull you up if this specky wee gag here is playin' like some gutless puss!" The African skinned sailor fairy shouted down with a light Nigerian accent to the blonde sailor fairy dangling.

"Aye, this rope is hard to grapple, you bleedin' blackjack!" The middle sailor fairy cursed back, with his posture of grabbing the rope with two hands indicating his cowardice, "I don't want to die like Jeremy!"

"Jeremy is not dead, you gutless halfwits!" The blonde fairy sailor shouted back while he kept dangling in front of Baylee's face, "He landed all fine and well, just ask those flymates down here. They'll tell you..."

Unfortunately for the Kraician sailor fairies, their voices were unintelligible to the shipboys/shipgirls - being nothing more high-pitched squeaking and grunting. Plus, before the blonde fairy sailor could finish his bantering, Baylee decided to gentle scoop the three fairy pilots and and the Kraician sailor fairy off her palms before using her hands to respond to the four other Kraician sailor fairies on her head. Letting the blonde sailor fairy rest on her right hand, it didn't take long for Baylee to give her commands in a dryly voice, "Aright yee wee mates, down you go."

The three other sailor fairies on her head felt a relief in weight and pressure as the blonde sailor fairy rested in Baylee's right hand; however, it took the other sailor fairies a few moments to finally let go of Baylee's hair before allowing Baylee to gently grab them like dolls in her left hand. Her grip was loose to make sure that the three sailor fairies weren't crush to death; however, all three sailor fairies were bunched together with their heads and shoulders protruding from her hands like they had been snatched by a giant from the English fairytale, Jack and the Beanstalk. Come to think of fairytales, the African skinned sailor fairy gave a brief yet nervous chuckle as he caught the reference of being handled like a midget; however, the rest of his Caucasian skinned mates could only sigh quietly in relief and defeat.

All four sailor fairies were eventually placed onto the ground below, with the rope still connected to the blonde sailor fairy in her right hand. So it was unsurprising that the blonde sailor fairy untied the rope around his waist upon his buttocks contacting the ground underneath him. The African skinned fairy sailor - seeing that the rope was finally untied - was quick to detect the change in plans and gently bundled up the rope again; however, as he was getting the rope together again, his two Caucasian skinned counterparts near him began to help each other up...not to mention that one of them patted each other on the back...

The blonde haired sailor fairy walked up to the sailor fairy that had previously grappled onto his waists, and he wanted to see if he was alright as he had claimed; however, the blonde sailor fairy was quick to see that there were in fact three sailor fairies that weren't of Kraician origin. The pilots had already helped the poor sailor to his feet and checking if he was okay - never mind the fact that the sailor was fixing his sailor cap on his head after his fall. Though without wasting time to awing, the blonde sailor fairy gave a wave to the pilot fairies and gave a curt greeting (knowing that his fairy voice was inaudible to the shipboys/shipgirls), "G'day..."

"To you, too, laddie!", the pilot said with a smile in their tongue, still appearing as an Oha for any listeners, "Your pal is... uh..."
"He's alright.", his navigator said, "A bit shaken, but a stiff drink will help with that. That was a very good show, people, only the landing left a bit to desire. Seven out of ten."
The pilot snorted in amusement, then turned back to the blonde sailor. "So, then, you had a close scrape with death and we had a close scrape with death today." He nodded towards the firefighter fairies, who were still putting out the last flames of their downed aircraft. "We were far less elegant then you were, though. I take, that you..."
He was rudely cut off by the last thing anyone wanted to hear: The anguished wail of a god as the sirens called to alert.
"Shite.", he said over the din.

Unknown sector

"Ship down! I repeat, our final supply ship is down!" Tokai shouted as she reloaded her cross bow, before firing off another squadron of fighters as she sailed at full speed. On her tail was a small fleet of abyssals, but the worst part was that the fleet had both a carrier and submarine in it. As she just launched the squadron of fighters, she heard her sonar detect something but it was too late. By then she had been struck by a torpedo, rendering half of her guns useless.

As she sailed forward, she signalled to her fairies what may possibly be her final message. "Abandon attack run go! Save yourselves!" The fighters then turned around and sailed in front of her towards the naval district. Once they were within range to land, they took no time in getting out and telling and begging the other fairies to send reinforcements to help their carrier.

The convoy had set out to Operational Sector Wide Seas - South West with high hopes - supplies for their weary fighters, reinforcements, maybe even a communication link, if everything worked fine. Those hopes had been dashed quite effectively.
Most of their convoy was down, the freighters were down and they were sitting ducks.
The leading Abyssal, a carrier belonging to the Wo-class, with a Nu-class Light Carrier by her side, several escorting destroyers, a light cruiser to lead that flotilla and submarines. Half a dozen were here for that raid on the supplies. The base in Sector CN-17 was not exactly a thorn in their side, but it could both very well become and be it, so it had to be cut off from the supplies.
That was a part of it.
The carrier smirked. This was too easy - an escorting fleet would have given her trouble, but as they all appeared to be of different origin, they were badly coordinated. And one carrier against two? It was almost turkey shooting.
A group of fighters slipped away to the base, on their far side. They could tell the tale of how their carrier was overcome.
The leading abyssal smiled. None of the puny humans would survive.
[Another attack wave!], she ordered her planes, a mixture of dive bombers and escorting fighters, a wicked grin on her face. [The carrier is not the target! Take out the battleships!]

I was not in a... wait, sorry, from the other end: SDFS Ámóg, friends call me Amy.
Leaba-class Destroyer Tender - basically a freighter optimized for keeping a flotilla of destroyers or small attack craft fed, happy, in good shape and well. I'm a brunette, brown-red really, long and bound to a ponytail, brown eyes and tanned. I served a lot in the Archipelago, so that's to be expected. A white one-piece swimsuit, which hugged me tightly, under a green jacket.
I was slow, heavy and armed only for the laughs behind it. Sure, my rage is something even for battleships to fear, but... I wasn't exactly in my prime.
So, as Tokai send her planes towards the base, I braced myself and my charges, a group of torpedo boats manned by fairies, against another attack wave. It would not be pretty, that was sure, even to me, as I moved closer to Tokai, hoping to combine our remaining AA-firepower to something worthwile - who was I kidding, I sought protection from her, nothing else.
The others were very welcome to join.

At the base, as the fighters came down, they were first met with astonishment, then with surprise, then in short order fear, anger, hate and the will to do something. The commander of the Naval Base's small airfield did not hesitate for long, as there was only one reply: He pressed a button and moments later, a wail sounded through the naval base.
Attack alarm had been given.
A message was sent in the only language all shipgirls and fairies understood: Morse. Furious button tapping resulted in "Supply Convoy incoming - under attack - strong enemy forces - need support - scramble, scramble, scramble - directions as follows..."
And his pilots did, too. The Giodrogs were in the air as soon as a fighter escort was up as well, the fighters of Tokai were rolled into a hanger and given both a once-over and new ammunition and fuel. They'd be needed, the commander of the airfield could feel that.

The fairies were relaxing in their dorms when a few of their comrades entered the dorms to inform them of the fighters that arrived, just as the alarm wailing goes off. "Something tells me things are going down." A fighter pilot fairy spoke just as the fairies, Chrysantheme and Novaya, both outside the dorms, received the message they and said fairies could understand. "No..." Novaya murmured. The fairy Admiral kicks the door to the Fairy Dorms and yelled out, "SUPPLY CONVOY'S UNDER ATTACK! GET YOURSELVES IN GEAR AND HEAD OUT! PREPARE FOR COMBAT RESCUE! OPERATION FIERY SHIELD AND OPERATION WINGED HUSSARS IS NOW BEGAN!!!" Upon yelling that, the fairies began to wear their outfits and arm themselves and head out, with the fairy Admiral grabbing his Mosin Nagant rifle and also left.

"Knights of Salta! Get those birds in the air now!" Novaya said as the fairies of the Knights of Salta began to jump into their fighter planes and roll out of the hangars and into the runway. The Knights of Salta, in groups of three to five, flew from the runway, heading towards the battle taking place in the sea. "Knights of Salta, prepare for the Abyssal fighters. Novaya and I will be heading there, along with a detachment from the 17th Amphibious Group that would help in getting the injured fairies out. Hurry! There's no time!" Chrysantheme spoke.

Novaya and Chrysantheme, alongside their fairies (including Chrysantheme's fairies), head towards the launch bay to ready for the combat and rescue operations, Fiery Shield and Winged Hussars. Novaya and Chrysantheme arrived at the launch bays and waited for Himiko, Himito and Coralier to arrive. "Himiko, Himito, and Coralier! We're at the launch bays and are waiting for you guys to arrive. Please hurry!" Novaya said to the three via comms before facing Rhiannon. "Tell us the battle plans for Group 2, Rhiannon! We can't just wait and watch and see while the supply convoy sinks!" Chrysantheme's fairy Captain said. "Calm down! We'll have to rely on our air forces to hit the enemy and rescue the convoy." The fairy Admiral replied.

[Parcia]

Monty

With his number 3 turret gone, thus limited his abilities to a degree. He did,how ever, note the over extension of the enemy carrier. Having his crew tune the fire control, he sighed in the CV and fired. The 9 16 inch guns belched fire, lobbing the high explosive shells towards the two carriers.

While he had the range, he was off on his first salvo, bracketing the formation and creating 9 neat plumes of sea water were the shells landed. He adjusted his aim and prepared to fire again...when another bomb, likely a smaller one due to the lack of massive secondary detonation, struck his back.

The hit wrecked his tower, destroying the radar and damaging his fire control. He cried out and started a long stream of curses as he put out the small fire that had started on his back.

"Hit, radar is FUBAR, limited to line if sight."

[Rustyal]

(Well damn, guess void all my posts that involved me leacing base.)

[Hashirajima]

Yakaze, Base

Standing to one side to make space ("okay that is definitely not a mere battleship"), Yakaze watched as everyone geared up. The only sign that gave away her impatience was the increasing tempo of her feet, tapping against the deck of the docks. The moment Rhiannon's guns flashed into being, the destroyer decided she had enough of waiting. "I will go ahead and scout out the situation. I suggest that you all make haste." With that, Yakaze stepped backwards off the docks, casually turning to correct her course before speeding off in the direction of the troubled convoy.

Yuubetsu, Convoy

Yuubetsu was just about to close in with one of the friendly battleships - Montgomery, if she recalled from the almost eternity-ago introductions - when her instincts yelled at her to duck. Well, the fairies on lookout duty, at least. A whoosh ruffled her hair, before the projectile slammed right into the male battleship's back. Turning to figure out what it was, the light cruiser was momentarily stunned at the flames that had erupted mere centimeters from her face until the battleship's yell shook her out of her stupor.

"I-I'll cover you!" At that moment, she spotted yet another wave of enemy planes heading for their direction. Biting her lips, Yuubetsu raised her guns and fired, an rain of varying munitions defying gravity itself to reach out at the enemy air wing. While a handful of planes managed to get through shakily, more fell right into the water, their demise punctuated by explosions that bloomed across the sky...

[Kraicia]

HLFFS Whitney
Unknown Sector

Radio signals were zipping throughout the air in all directions as expected of the naval chaos. The sounds of the explosions and water splashing up on the surface were all but muffled and slightly distorted as the underwater realms remained completely void of any rolling sound. Not long into the first shots being fired, a few abyssal submarines swam through the water in the direction of their objective; however, while the abyssal assassins may be approaching undetected, another predator was doing the same thing...

HLFFS Whitney began to slowly swim right underneath the small formation of abyssal submarines - remaining completely unnoticed and impossible to see or hear. Her Anechoic Tiles rendered her into a silent assassin, with her electrical motors uttering no noise or vibration at all; essentially rendering Whitney into a shadow amid the depths of the vast blue seas. Unfortunately, while Whitney may be sneaking up on the abyssal submarines unannounced, there was no place for child's play.

Whitney was already intercepting radio transmissions for all directions, with her electro-mechanical decryption computers at work deciphering the abyssal radio transmissions. According to the chatter from all sides, a friendly convoy had just been under attacked by an abyssal carrier group, and the abyssal submarines had been called in to sink the vulnerable convoy ships while the carriers distracted the defenders. The abyssal submarine was only just less than half a dozen miles from the convoy, and with that kind of distance, Whitney had to stop the abyssal submarines before they reach their objective.

"Time to make some witches disappear." Whitney muttered to herself with a dark sense of humor evident in her words.

She wasted no time to raise to the depth of the abyssal submarines and then unleash two torpedoes at the forward most abyssal submarine; however, while one torpedo missed, the other torpedo made its mark - leaving the abyssal submarine clueless to what exactly what struck her in the first place. The subsequent explosion from the torpedo sent a column of water shooting up on the surface that seemed to muffle the actual fiery death of the unfortunate underwater abyssal. The other abyssal submarines panicked, with neither of the other abyssal submarines not knowing where the torpedoes came from; only if they ever heard Whitney right behind them.

Knowing that the other abyssal submarines will be running into her without knowing, Whitney dove back deeper into the depths to allow the other abyssal submarines to pass right above her and allow them to start looking around...in the wrong directions. Neither abyssal submarine was looking in Whitney's direction, and it was only in a few minutes that Whitney swam up to the side of another abyssal submarine and launched a torpedo at their vulnerable starboard side. Almost immediately, the vulnerable abyssal submarine saw the incoming torpedo; however, she was already swimming in the torpedo's line of sight - too late to change course as she swam right into the torpedo's trajectory and disappearing into an explosion of water bubbles and flames underwater.

"Two down, and one more to go." Whitney huffed as she looked around before disappearing back into the depths in search for the other abyssal submarine that managed to get away...

[The Selkie]

The fairies were relaxing in their dorms when a few of their comrades entered the dorms to inform them of the fighters that arrived, just as the alarm wailing goes off. "Something tells me things are going down." A fighter pilot fairy spoke just as the fairies, Chrysantheme and Novaya, both outside the dorms, received the message they and said fairies could understand. "No..." Novaya murmured. The fairy Admiral kicks the door to the Fairy Dorms and yelled out, "SUPPLY CONVOY'S UNDER ATTACK! GET YOURSELVES IN GEAR AND HEAD OUT! PREPARE FOR COMBAT RESCUE! OPERATION FIERY SHIELD AND OPERATION WINGED HUSSARS IS NOW BEGAN!!!" Upon yelling that, the fairies began to wear their outfits and arm themselves and head out, with the fairy Admiral grabbing his Mosin Nagant rifle and also left.

"Knights of Salta! Get those birds in the air now!" Novaya said as the fairies of the Knights of Salta began to jump into their fighter planes and roll out of the hangars and into the runway. The Knights of Salta, in groups of three to five, flew from the runway, heading towards the battle taking place in the sea. "Knights of Salta, prepare for the Abyssal fighters. Novaya and I will be heading there, along with a detachment from the 17th Amphibious Group that would help in getting the injured fairies out. Hurry! There's no time!" Chrysantheme spoke.

Novaya and Chrysantheme, alongside their fairies (including Chrysantheme's fairies), head towards the launch bay to ready for the combat and rescue operations, Fiery Shield and Winged Hussars. Novaya and Chrysantheme arrived at the launch bays and waited for Himiko, Himito and Coralier to arrive. "Himiko, Himito, and Coralier! We're at the launch bays and are waiting for you guys to arrive. Please hurry!" Novaya said to the three via comms before facing Rhiannon. "Tell us the battle plans for Group 2, Rhiannon! We can't just wait and watch and see while the supply convoy sinks!" Chrysantheme's fairy Captain said. "Calm down! We'll have to rely on our air forces to hit the enemy and rescue the convoy." The fairy Admiral replied.

I smiled and petted his shoulder.
"Good boy.", I said and nodded, "Alright, your task force's objective is to reach the convoy and to get them to safety, here on base, while you provide air cover for the entire operation. Coordinate yourself with the airfield on base to see, what is needed where and how much is needed." I smiled at the fairies, which seemed ready to rock. "Good hunting, gentlemen!"
And just then, the first pieces of the plan fell as Yakaze...

Yakaze, Base

Standing to one side to make space ("okay that is definitely not a mere battleship"), Yakaze watched as everyone geared up. The only sign that gave away her impatience was the increasing tempo of her feet, tapping against the deck of the docks. The moment Rhiannon's guns flashed into being, the destroyer decided she had enough of waiting. "I will go ahead and scout out the situation. I suggest that you all make haste." With that, Yakaze stepped backwards off the docks, casually turning to correct her course before speeding off in the direction of the troubled convoy.

Yuubetsu, Convoy

Yuubetsu was just about to close in with one of the friendly battleships - Montgomery, if she recalled from the almost eternity-ago introductions - when her instincts yelled at her to duck. Well, the fairies on lookout duty, at least. A whoosh ruffled her hair, before the projectile slammed right into the male battleship's back. Turning to figure out what it was, the light cruiser was momentarily stunned at the flames that had erupted mere centimeters from her face until the battleship's yell shook her out of her stupor.

"I-I'll cover you!" At that moment, she spotted yet another wave of enemy planes heading for their direction. Biting her lips, Yuubetsu raised her guns and fired, an rain of varying munitions defying gravity itself to reach out at the enemy air wing. While a handful of planes managed to get through shakily, more fell right into the water, their demise punctuated by explosions that bloomed across the sky...

I was fuming - there was a plan and a plan was there for a reason.
I raised my hand to my radio. "Yakaze, you know, that you offer yourself as a prime target for anything with bombs under his arse, right?", I asked, biting back annoyance and trying to stay professional. If more of my merry troupe had that idea, it would be bothersome, but we indeed seriously needed to do something sooner or later, unless we wanted people gallivanting off and killing Abyssals at their leisure.
In short, and that was apparent, we needed a flagship, a leader.
And I knew, that I couldn't be it.

---

Meanwhile, the Abyssal Standard Carrier in the lead nodded and grinned... which was soon replaced by a scowl. She had lost contact to her successful submarines, two of four being sunk.
That was not good in the least.
In fact, some of the enemy were already reforming for an attack, even as one of the battleships was hit and burning more and more. But she was going to be out of aircraft soon, something, that she wouldn't like - for a moment, she thought, as her successful wave returned.
[Kas, retreat to Battlegroup.], she ordered her remaining two submarines, who began to slink off towards her formation, under the ASW-cover of her destroyers. There were not many things, that would be able to sink her submarines and as no destroyer had been close to their last positions, the list was getting shorter. [Destroyer Group A, intensify ASW-Screen.]
I-class Destroyers were good destroyers, the late model, as she had four on hand, even came with sonar and depth charge projectors, which she intended to use as soon as her Kas were back. The rest of the escort was provided by a pair of Tsu-class Light cruisers, which's AA-guns would be able to clear the skies easily.
And, for the second to last act of the day: [Destroyer Group B...] The six Ni-class Destroyers with their 21-inch torpedoes perked up where they were waiting under the command of her Chi-class Torpedo Cruiser. [...rallying point C, but for now attack.]
And that they did, rushing forward in nearly reckless abandon.
It was a simple hit-and-run-strike, unquestioned as usually cruisers did not question carriers, rushing forward at high speed, crossing into the gun ranges of most of the vessels. The carrier smirked. As soon as they were up to 9 kilometres away from the enemy, they would swing around, make the turn and drop their torpedoes while doing so.
The carrier did not really expect this action to do something more then force the enemy to scatter again, but maybe the concentrated firepower, twenty tubes on the cruiser, four per destroyer, would give them a few things to think about.
And as soon as that was done, they would lay down smoke and retreat towards rallying point C, known to the humans as the southern edge of the Shipwreck Islands.
[What about us?], her second in command, a lighter carrier, asked.
[Get a combat air patrol into the air. We're retreating for now. Our objectives were reached.], she said, her 2IC giving her a dubious look. Indeed, their primary objective of wittling down the convoy and damaging its escorts, amongst others taking one of the battleships out of the fight, had been reached. [If you wish, you may collect volunteers for another attack.]
The light carrier nodded - and a minute later, with the battlegroup steaming towards the Shipwreck Islands under the cover of their own fighters, breaking off the engagement, a group of eight torpedo bombers and twelve dive bombers, as well as fourteen fighters, were launched and took position a bit west of the convoy, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
Soon, they knew, it would present itself, at their own discretion.

[Legatia]

LNS Coriolanus

---

Naval Base, Sector CN-17|Operational Sector Wide Sea- Southwest|0800 hours

As she prepared to sortie, a call came in from the cruiser Rhiannon with instructions regarding fleet compositions. Her bunkmate, Cathrine, was stationed on defense- while she and the destroyer she'd chanced upon were on the offensive. Coriolanus knew that said Rhiannon was a more senior ship, and judged her battle plan sound enough to execute.

"Battleship Coriolanus to cruiser Rhiannon, I acknowledge and have received your instructions." With a launch, the battleship sailed from the docks, slowing her speed slightly as she entered open waters. The wind in a breeze caught her hair and sent it behind her as she entered the water, forming up with the offensive group.

"This is battleship Coriolanus, I am sortieing now."