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

[Hashirajima]

Yakaze, En-route

'And certainly, the light cruiser is annoyed by my actions. Most unfortunate, but I certainly had enough of waiting...' Calming herself, the destroyer paused in her dead sprint, reaching for her own earpiece before the distant drone of plane engines gave her further reason to pause.

'Lookouts, what do you see?'

After a brief moment, the fairies on board started chattering 'Desu! Desu desu desu... desu desu-' Enemy fleet heading for thesouthern island group, under air cover... not sure what that group of destroyers are doing though, seems almost like ASW formation...

Frowning, Yakaze thought for a moment. "Any submarines in our convoy?"

'Desu....?' No....?

... Submarine surface escort, then. Keeping an eye on the water surface, the Japanese warship engaged her radio. "Copy that, cruiser Rhiannon. Reporting that enemy battlegroup appears to be disengaging, southernly course. Be advised that they have CAP up, and possibly active submarines. Convoy status unknown, requesting permission to clarify intel. Will hold position for now, over."

Yuubetsu, Convoy

Watching the enemy aircraft head away, the light cruiser let go of the breath she was holding. 'Finally...' And it was then when her fairies started yelling in alarm, causing her to look closer at the surface-

"Enemy destroyers with leading cruiser approaching- t... T-TORPEDO CRUISER!"

[The Selkie]

Yakaze, En-route

'And certainly, the light cruiser is annoyed by my actions. Most unfortunate, but I certainly had enough of waiting...' Calming herself, the destroyer paused in her dead sprint, reaching for her own earpiece before the distant drone of plane engines gave her further reason to pause.

'Lookouts, what do you see?'

After a brief moment, the fairies on board started chattering 'Desu! Desu desu desu... desu desu-' Enemy fleet heading for thesouthern island group, under air cover... not sure what that group of destroyers are doing though, seems almost like ASW formation...

Frowning, Yakaze thought for a moment. "Any submarines in our convoy?"

'Desu....?' No....?

... Submarine surface escort, then. Keeping an eye on the water surface, the Japanese warship engaged her radio. "Copy that, cruiser Rhiannon. Reporting that enemy battlegroup appears to be disengaging, southernly course. Be advised that they have CAP up, and possibly active submarines. Convoy status unknown, requesting permission to clarify intel. Will hold position for now, over."

Yuubetsu, Convoy

Watching the enemy aircraft head away, the light cruiser let go of the breath she was holding. 'Finally...' And it was then when her fairies started yelling in alarm, causing her to look closer at the surface-

"Enemy destroyers with leading cruiser approaching- t... T-TORPEDO CRUISER!"

I supressed a groan.
Of course she was not turning around, not listening to reason. That would end in tears, I knew it...
"Please hold position for the moment. As soon as trouble finds you, break off and flank speed your little arse out of there while screaming for Mommy Amy to help you.", I told her. At that point, I had no idea, that Amy was really with the convoy or alive, was just using a phrase the SDF-Navy had, but the reunion would be... hearty. I can promise as much. "Group 3, as the enemy is retreating, our objective changed. We'll assist Group 2 with their task and provide additional cover. I know, that this will let the Abyssals get away, but the convoy has priority."
I did not add something like or what's left of it, to the convoy.
"Coriolanus, I'll lead Novaya and Chrysantheme to your position, we'll then go out to meet the convoy at flank speed." I thanked the Gods for the small blessing, that at least some seemed to be listening to me. We really needed a flagship. "Novaya, please get your fighters up, as well as scouts in every direction. I want no nasty surprises."
There was a short moment of silence.
"By the way, Caty, how long is the maximum range of your guns?", I asked, trying to sound innocent as a very sinister thought entered my head. We might not be able to give chase, but with some luck, we might be able to give the Abyssals something to think about.

Indeed, by the convoy, the torpedo cruiser and its escort made its attack run - by now, they were between twenty and twenty-two kilometres out, coming closer at their own flank speed, which wasn't exactly lightning fast, but more then fast enough.
Now that I knew what I had to look for, thanks to Yuubetsu, I saw them, too.
One of their torpedoes would be enough to cripple me for a whole lot of time, if not sink me - still, I positioned myself between them and Tokai. Better me, who was useless in open see, then her, who was one of the most important shipgirls with us.
I swallowed. "We should take evasive action.", I suggested.

Meanwhile, the volunteer formation circled around, still waiting. They were forbidden from attacking the remains of the convoy unless a good opportunity arose, but more importantly hit any reinforcements. A lone destroyer wasn't really a good target for them, so they let that little girl do as she pleased.
Their time would come.

[Higher Japan]

"Torpedoes incoming, everybody hold on!" Tokai shouted as she slowly sped forward before she began to turn such that the torps would only by pass her on their run towards her while she executed the manoeuvre, her hand touching the water as half her body tilted towards the direction of the water. As she sent out one last squadron to track the abyssals down, she stopped suddenly as she was struck by a torpedo. "Shit, I'm down! Propellers got struck by a torpedo." She shouted out as two more ships could be seen coming on the horizon. "The group is in retreat, we're hauling her back." Himito shouted to them as Kokai slowly began to change course to the carrier. Once attached, Tokai and the other three quickly left the scene.

[Novaya Equestria]

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.

"Roger, Rhiannon." Novaya spoke as he and Chrysantheme, equipped with their riggings, went out of the exit and into the open waters. "Chrysantheme, communicate with the Knights of Salta ao that they can see what happened. We will need all the assiatance we can give." Novaya told Chrysantheme. "Hai! Will do!" Chrysantheme then contacted the Knights of Salta, who were told about Group 2's plan.

Such a plan is a great idea that the Knights of Salta agreed to that and head towards the battlefield, where they can coordinate with all allows groups involved. "Knights of Salta has agreed and will coordinate after arriving!" Chrysantheme spoke to Novaya, who nodded and said, "Roger. Time to launch my Night Fighters." Novaya then launched the Night Fighters into the air. "Alright, provide air cover and cover us. Try not to get shot down. Parachute if your plane got hit, okay?" Novaya ordered his fairies, who nodded. "Then let us begin." Novaya and Chrysantheme said as they and their fairies head to the battle alongside Group 2.

[Rynagria]

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 BEGAN!!![/color][/size]" 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 AND HEAD OUT! PREPARE FOR COMBAT RESCUE! [size=150][color=#0000FF]OPERATION FIERY SHIELD AND OPERATION WINGED HUSSARS IS NOW 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.

RNC Coralier

---

Still smiling, the Rynagrian heavy cruiser had begin to make her way towards the launch bay after the alert occurred. Hands behind her, several thoughts ran in her head, assessing the situation to the best of her ability. Half way there was tersely informed by Rhiannon of which group she'd be in.

This is troublesome, a whole fleet attacked and in need of rescue, so soon as well. There's also the likelihood that this is a trap, to get the majority of our personnel out in the open sea and ambushed by several awaiting submarines. After all it's not hard for a lone submarine to be sent here to observe our patrol routes. Then there's the route we're going to take, presumably the quickest, predictable, and least complex way over to the fleet. Shifting the topic, Coralier thought about Group 2. Himito, Himiko, the supply ships. Then there's the Novaya the Aircraft Carrier, weirdly specializes in night battles. And Chrysanthemum, a destroyer that can be relied upon for anti-submarine duties. Hmmmm...... Submarines wouldn't only our problems in the case of a surprise attack, an awaiting carrier can also cause quite a stir due to the below to average anti-air capability of this present in Group 2. Well, I suppose there's no point worrying about it now. We'll just have to adapt to the situation as it develops.

Finishing up her thoughts, she entered the launch bay, breaking into a running start and jumping on to the platform. "Coralier reporting for duty!Ready to head out when you guys are." Rigging equipped quickly, followed the Novoyans with no further comments.

Indeed, by the convoy, the torpedo cruiser and its escort made its attack run - by now, they were between twenty and twenty-two kilometres out, coming closer at their own flank speed, which wasn't exactly lightning fast, but more then fast enough.
Now that I knew what I had to look for, thanks to Yuubetsu, I saw them, too.
One of their torpedoes would be enough to cripple me for a whole lot of time, if not sink me - still, I positioned myself between them and Tokai. Better me, who was useless in open see, then her, who was one of the most important shipgirls with us.
I swallowed. "We should take evasive action.", I suggested.

RNC Aveugle
Unknown Sector

---

"Both of you should." Agreed Aveugle as he slowed further to roughly thirteen knots, then taking a sharp turn so that he would be able to face the incoming cruiser and its escorts. And having slowed down significantly, he could only count out distance between him and the nearest Abyssal ship. Speed increasing once more, he readied himself for the worst and started his one person attack on fleet. While it may seem suicide, Aveugle kept a reserve of confidence and hope that he will come out still kicking, all for the sake of protecting the rest of the ships. Aiming his guns at the destroyers, he began to let lose volleys upon volleys of 127mm shells, at the same time weaving side to side in order to become a harder target. Thanks to this, a few of them turned their attention at him, firing back. Explosions producing geysers of sea water to fill the area around him, he could only mutter to himself. "Just a little more."

15,000...

14,000...

13,000...

12,000...

11,000...

"10,000! Torpedoes away!" Yelled CanCan, as he launched five torpedoes into the water quickly countered by several shells hitting two of his turrets and knocking them out of commission. Despite the damage sustained, motored on and built even more speed to place some distance between him and them. He could only hope that at the very least one of his torpedoes would hit them, otherwise this suicidal maneuver would have been for nothing in the end.

[Danceria]

"Torpedoes incoming, everybody hold on!" Tokai shouted as she slowly sped forward before she began to turn such that the torps would only by pass her on their run towards her. As she sent out one last squadron to track the abyssals down, she stopped suddenly as she was struck by a torpedo. "Shit, I'm down! Propellers got struck by a torpedo."

"<<Sir!>>" A small voice squeaked, barely heard over the din of rapid fire AA guns. "<<Torp Cruiser, hit the Tokai!>>" "<<Damnit!>>" a beared and slightly more intimidating voice howled "<<Where's our backup?! The supply ships got wiped out because these youngsters wanted a few extra notches on their belts!>>"

Life aboard the Telcontar was a bit hectic, with him running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to salvage as many survivors and supplies as he could, and chasing away the few harassing dive bombers. The illusion of safety from the enemy cruisers's range was easily dashed, much like the Tokai's propeller. Hopping onto the main deck, the bearded commander stamped his foot twice on the wood. "<<All right, Tel. We're gonna do a bit o' bob fishing. Like Oerba.>>"

With surprising speed, the small destroyer moved its way over towards the damaged vessel, the sound of cannonfire whizzing just over the Higher Japanese deck in order to scare away the torpedo cruiser long enough to get there. Insurance was being made, as the otherwise unused torpedos of the Telcontar were being readied, and the radar and computers sped over calculations of narrowly avoiding the already damaged allied vessel, but also using it as a shield.

Hopefully they wouldn't mind the company, or the awkward invasion of space. Now it was only a manner of speed. "Hey, Tokai!" a baritone called out "Hold still, I'm trying not to hit you!"

[The Selkie]

"Torpedoes incoming, everybody hold on!" Tokai shouted as she slowly sped forward before she began to turn such that the torps would only by pass her on their run towards her. As she sent out one last squadron to track the abyssals down, she stopped suddenly as she was struck by a torpedo. "Shit, I'm down! Propellers got struck by a torpedo."

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 BEGAN!!![/color][/size]" 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 AND HEAD OUT! PREPARE FOR COMBAT RESCUE! [size=150][color=#0000FF]OPERATION FIERY SHIELD AND OPERATION WINGED HUSSARS IS NOW 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.

RNC Coralier

---

Still smiling, the Rynagrian heavy cruiser had begin to make her way towards the launch bay after the alert occurred. Hands behind her, several thoughts ran in her head, assessing the situation to the best of her ability. Half way there was tersely informed by Rhiannon of which group she'd be in.

This is troublesome, a whole fleet attacked and in need of rescue, so soon as well. There's also the likelihood that this is a trap, to get the majority of our personnel out in the open sea and ambushed by several awaiting submarines. After all it's not hard for a lone submarine to be sent here to observe our patrol routes. Then there's the route we're going to take, presumably the quickest, predictable, and least complex way over to the fleet. Shifting the topic, Coralier thought about Group 2. Himito, Himiko, the supply ships. Then there's the Novaya the Aircraft Carrier, weirdly specializes in night battles. And Chrysanthemum, a destroyer that can be relied upon for anti-submarine duties. Hmmmm...... Submarines wouldn't only our problems in the case of a surprise attack, an awaiting carrier can also cause quite a stir due to the below to average anti-air capability of this present in Group 2. Well, I suppose there's no point worrying about it now. We'll just have to adapt to the situation as it develops.

Finishing up her thoughts, she entered the launch bay, breaking into a running start and jumping on to the platform. "Coralier reporting for duty!Ready to head out when you guys are."

Indeed, by the convoy, the torpedo cruiser and its escort made its attack run - by now, they were between twenty and twenty-two kilometres out, coming closer at their own flank speed, which wasn't exactly lightning fast, but more then fast enough.
Now that I knew what I had to look for, thanks to Yuubetsu, I saw them, too.
One of their torpedoes would be enough to cripple me for a whole lot of time, if not sink me - still, I positioned myself between them and Tokai. Better me, who was useless in open see, then her, who was one of the most important shipgirls with us.
I swallowed. "We should take evasive action.", I suggested.

RNC Aveugle
Unknown Sector

---

"Both of you should." Agreed Aveugle as he slowed further to roughly thirteen knots, then taking a sharp turn so that he would be able to face the incoming cruiser and its escorts. And having slowed down significantly, he could only count out distance between him and the nearest Abyssal ship. Speed increasing once more, he readied himself for the worst and started his one person attack on fleet. While it may seem suicide, Aveugle kept a reserve of confidence and hope that he will come out still kicking, all for the sake of protecting the rest of the ships. Aiming his guns at the destroyers, he began to let lose volleys upon volleys of 127mm shells, at the same time weaving side to side in order to become a harder target. Thanks to this, a few of them turned their attention at him, firing back. Explosions producing geysers of sea water to fill the area around him, he could only mutter to himself. "Just a little more."

15,000...

14,000...

13,000...

12,000...

11,000...

"10,000! Torpedoes away!" Yelled CanCan, as he let lose five torpedoes into the water quickly countered by several shells hitting two of his turrets and knocking them out of commission. Despite the damage sustained, motored on and built even more speed to place some distance between him and them.

That did it.
Now, I was angry. Sure, I tried to shield Tokai with my body, so that I would be struck rather then her, but somehow, during the evasive movements, I allowed her other flank to be presented, something I would not stand. And the enemy was at a range of nine kilometres.
Well within the range of what I called artillery.
My lone 76mm gun, a breachloader that was out of date by the time I was laid down.
For a destroyer, completely sufficient and maybe even less then worthwile, for me, my only halfway serious defense against surface warships.
I gave Tokai a comforting smile, rubbing her head for a moment. "There, there, don't cry. Mommy Amy is here.", I told her, then positioned myself in front of her - and unleashed a singular shell at the Abyssals, then another one and another one, my fairies trying their damnest to keep Mommy Amy's Righteous Fury ignited. Sure, Tokai was not a destroyer, but like hell I was letting one of my charges down.
And another one.
"Mommy makes the evil fucktards, who messed with one of my kiddos, go away, shoving shells up their rear ends until they taste metal.", I added.
And another one.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Cancan, that crazy little boy, make a counterattack, not coordinated with mine (my fault, I was not a warship for frontline use, he was). But still, the torpedo squadron suffered from the torpedoes he sent their way... the Torpedo Cruiser screeched in agony as his torpedoes, at least one, hit, and limped away, as one of the destroyers landed a lucky shot on the destroyer.
But he would live, I could see that... still, it only stoked the fires of my Anger and Mommy Amy would show them, that taking on a destroyer tender was not as easy as it sounded.

"Roger, Rhiannon." Novaya spoke as he and Chrysantheme, equipped with their riggings, went out of the exit and into the open waters. "Chrysantheme, communicate with the Knights of Salta ao that they can see what happened. We will need all the assiatance we can give." Novaya told Chrysantheme. "Hai! Will do!" Chrysantheme then contacted the Knights of Salta, who were told about Group 2's plan.

Such a plan is a great idea that the Knights of Salta agreed to that and head towards the battlefield, where they can coordinate with all allows groups involved. "Knights of Salta has agreed and will coordinate after arriving!" Chrysantheme spoke to Novaya, who nodded and said, "Roger. Time to launch my Night Fighters." Novaya then launched the Night Fighters into the air. "Alright, provide air cover and cover us. Try not to get shot down. Parachute if your plane got hit, okay?" Novaya ordered his fairies, who nodded. "Then let us begin." Novaya and Chrysantheme said as they and their fairies head to the battle alongside Group 2.

I smiled at the two. I would not tell them for now, but the two of them were life-savers.
"Good.", I said and led them towards Coriolanus, waving at the battleship in greeting, "You three and I will meet up with the convoy. Last note we have is of their carrier being damaged and heavy AA-combat taking place, so keep your eyes on the sky and on the surface. Chrysantheme, you will keep your eyes below the surface, I don't want any Abyssal Submarines to make our day worse then it already is."
I knew Yakaze's report, active submarines rarely meant something positive.
With the fairies in the air and their eyes peeled I felt safer, though. Considerably so.
Regardless, at that point, I heard Coralier: "Coralier reporting for duty!Ready to head out when you guys are."
I tapped my radio. "Welcome to the party, Coralier! You're up to speed?", I greeted him, smiling in his general direction, "Let's head towards the convoy!"
I did not know, that apparently an aircraft carrying cruiser, a battleship, a light and a heavy cruiser and a destroyer were a good target for a group of Abyssal fighters and bombers out for blood and not planning to return to their carrier.

[Rustyal]

RNV Imperatritsa Ketrin
94 km off from the reinforcement fleet
Sector CN-17

The massive fortress of a ship would sigh, looking on at the tiny plooms of smoke in the far distance. Her fairies were cleaning off the guns and evacuating into the rig itsself. "This is Siege ship RNV Imperatritsa Ketrin. I'm about 100 kilometers off from the convoy, and I'm here to provide fire. I will tell which I'm targeting, and I need you all to stay well clear of the targets in question. A friendly fire incident does not need to happen with twelve 3-ton projectiles. Over, and out. And, the absolute maximum range is 151 kilometers, Rhiannon."

The two fairies in the spotter planes would identify the priority target- the Wo-class carrier.. One would grin, sending a telegram over to Catherine. The battleship perked up and implemented the coordinates onto her radar. She had her location. The huge turrets would near-silently shuffle over, much faster than one would expect. Magnetic Levitation technology can work wonders. Each gun would raise accordingly, the hydraulics audibly straining over lifting these massive 900 ton guns- each. "Range, 102700 meters. Elevation, 44 degrees. Locking target, Wo-Class. Firing in 10." Catherine grit her teeth, preparing to fire with lightweight high explosive loaded. When I say lightweight, I mean there's 1 ton of explosives in each round.

(Italics is radio chat.)

[The Selkie]

RNV Imperatritsa Ketrin
94 km off from the reinforcement fleet
Sector CN-17

The massive fortress of a ship would sigh, looking on at the tiny plooms of smoke in the far distance. Her fairies were cleaning off the guns and evacuating into the rig itsself. "This is Siege ship RNV Imperatritsa Ketrin. I'm about 100 kilometers off from the convoy, and I'm here to provide fire. I will tell which I'm targeting, and I need you all to stay well clear of the targets in question. A friendly fire incident does not need to happen with twelve 3-ton projectiles. Over, and out. And, the absolute maximum range is 151 kilometers, Rhiannon."

The two fairies in the spotter planes would identify the priority target- the Wo-class carrier.. One would grin, sending a telegram over to Catherine. The battleship perked up and implemented the coordinates onto her radar. She had her location. The huge turrets would near-silently shuffle over, much faster than one would expect. Magnetic Levitation technology can work wonders. Each gun would raise accordingly, the hydraulics audibly straining over lifting these massive 900 ton guns- each. "Range, 102700 meters. Elevation, 44 degrees. Locking target, Wo-Class. Firing in 10." Catherine grit her teeth, preparing to fire with lightweight high explosive loaded. When I say lightweight, I mean there's 1 ton of explosives in each round.

(Italics is radio chat.)

That could, indeed, work.
Maybe it would, even, giving the Abyssals something to think about with the care of a ton of explosives - literally. It would be a sight to see, but as Caty was too far out, we would most likely only see the plumes of fire from her guns as she fired.
I knew, we would pay for this in supplies expended later, but for a moment, I didn't give a flying fuck.
I grinned. "Caty, coordinate with your scout planes and Yakaze. Engage.", I told her over radio, "Make us proud and them pay."

[Regria]

-redacted-

[Regria]

Brightbell

Once she had reached the launch bays, the Regrian girl would waste no time in jumping onto her pad with delicacy and care, making sure not to trip or anything in the rushed half-panic. She didn't know the intensity of the battle, but knew that the more help there was, the better. Besides-- the Morse code transmissions had explicitly stated that they required all help possible, so either way, the anti-air Light Cruiser would serve, no matter how useless or useful she was. Did the enemy formation have CVs? What was the fleet composition? These questions raced through her mind in these instants. Time seemed to pass by a bit more slowly than usual, as she braced for her rigging to be equipped, to which it did, one piece at a time, the rearmost part in particular lurching her forward. As she coasted towards the exit of the bays, a familiar weapon would drop from the ceiling, freefalling. Spotting the familiar gleaming metal, Brightbell managed to catch it in expert fashion, doing a 360 degree turn, before pulling the bolt back, looking ahead at the opened bay doors.

"Light Cruiser Brightbell-- sortieing!"

Blasting out at full speed, Brightbell would crouch down low to the ground, travelling at a brisk pace as the wind blew in her face, her signature bowler hat somehow remaining firm on her head, also holding her rig's turreted weapon with both hands-- one on the forward grip, one on the handle, her finger off the trigger. Shortly after making her leave and sailing out into the waters adjacent to the launch bays, the Regrian girl would then ask something that she was genuinely curious of.

"This is Brightbell. I'm out, now. How's it looking, out there? I'm ready to aid in any way possible, just give me the word."

[The Selkie]

Brightbell

Once she had reached the launch bays, the Regrian girl would waste no time in jumping onto her pad with delicacy and care, making sure not to trip or anything in the rushed half-panic. She didn't know the intensity of the battle, but knew that the more help there was, the better. Besides-- the Morse code transmissions had explicitly stated that they required all help possible, so either way, the anti-air Light Cruiser would serve, no matter how useless or useful she was. Did the enemy formation have CVs? What was the fleet composition? These questions raced through her mind in these instants. Time seemed to pass by a bit more slowly than usual, as she braced for her rigging to be equipped, to which it did, one piece at a time, the rearmost part in particular lurching her forward. As she coasted towards the exit of the bays, a familiar weapon would drop from the ceiling, freefalling. Spotting the familiar gleaming metal, Brightbell managed to catch it in expert fashion, doing a 360 degree turn, before pulling the bolt back, looking ahead at the opened bay doors.

"Light Cruiser Brightbell-- sortieing!"

Blasting out at full speed, Brightbell would crouch down low to the ground, travelling at a brisk pace as the wind flew in her face, her signature bowler hat somehow remaining firm on her head, holding her rig's turreted weapon with both hands-- one on the forward grip, one on the handle, finger off the trigger. Shortly after making her leave and sailing out into the waters adjacent to the launch bays, the Regrian girl would then ask something that she was genuinely curious of.

"This is Brightbell. I'm out, now. How's it looking, out there? I'm ready to aid in any way possible, just give me the word."

I smiled a bit at the eagerness... ah, being young again...
Anyway, I tapped my radio.
"Brightbell, you belong to Group 1. Your mission is to keep the base and Caty safe.", I told her over the radio, seeing the light anti-air cruiser in the distance. "Preferably both at the same time, but Caty is a bit outside and I'd hate her to be without cover." Gigantic siege battleship with guns large enough that they simply had to compensate for something somewhere or not, it would be rather impolite to let her float on her own. And it would invite people into trying their luck. I'll also not mention her shot, the Abyssals didn't need to know more then they already did. "Kokai can keep the base safe. Questions?"

[Kraicia]

HLFFS Whitney
Unknown Sector

To the human eyes, objects and creatures alike within the sea were indifferent; everything was like hazy yet bright entities in the water. On the other hand, for a 'submarine' girl like Whitney, anything that moved in the darkness appeared as green blurs in the black void of the ocean depths. Usual 'submarine' girls don't have the luxury of sonar, radar, and a prototype night vision device all together to engineer the ultimate underwater assassin, whom can not only see you, but can also find you.

So when Whitney kept swimming behind the tail of an unsuspecting abyssal submarine - whom appeared in Whitney's point of view as a glowing green bulb according to her NVD (night vision device) and sonar displays. The oblivious abyssal submarine was completely unaware of the predator lurking behind her as she made her way to the convoy; however, Whitney had suddenly deciphered an enemy transmission. The signal in mind happened to so come from the enemy flagship, a standard abyssal carrier, "[Kas, retreat to battlegroup... Destroyer Group A, intensify ASW-Screen...]"

"Christ..." Whitney muttered under stress as the decrypted transmission greeted her like an unpleasant gust of wind, "Them bloody witchmates got wind I'm onto them. Though let me see how much..."

The abyssal fleet somewhere knows that a submarine like herself was lurking about; however, that can only be confirmed if Whitney is forced to the surface. She was lucky her Anehoic Tiling can reduce her noise and cross section signature to the point where she would appear like a scrambled school of fish on screen, otherwise she would've had to retreat if she was like any of the other 'submarine' girl. Likewise, Whitney ought to stay on the abyssal submarine's tail until she can find out where they're going; however, it was only after a few minutes that Whitney heard the muffled sound of abyssal ships up on the surface.

"Destroyers..." Whitney grunted annoyed to her findings presented by her decryption computers and sonar arrays, "Ah well, the wee buggers will find nothing if I dive deep."

Without wasting another breath, Whitney cut all electric motors to a halt and dove into the darkness of the ocean until she was merely part of the darkness. Moments later, as she sunk into the safety of the darkness, Whitney can hear the gargling sound of abyssal radio chatter as they thoroughly prawled the surface for any sign of other 'submarine' girls. At such a depth that Whitney was hiding in, an ordinary 'submarine' girl can feel the frigid cold and pressure that would otherwise begin to slowly bring someone to a lonely freezing death.

Whitney looked up at the abyssal destroyers up on the surface, and she can already tell from their chatter that they began to drop depth charges - whom were to shallow to reach Whitney anyway. Like a cuttlefish hiding in the corals for a tasty hermit crab, Whitney was still and seemingly dead in the water, with her decryption computer disabled temporarily to reduce the noise level to nothing. The muffled explosions from the depth charges gave off distinctive 'booms' that sound like the growling and grunts of the kraken; however, the sound of the depth charges added a metallic texture that gave the kraken sound effects a robotic touch.

Eventually, the abyssal destroyers came up with nothing as they steamed above Whitney after making multiple sweeps - unknowingly letting a predator arise from their domain and out on the hunt again. Subsequently, Whitney enabled her decryption computer once again and slowly arose to a safer depth while traveling at a speed of five (5) knots. Though it was upon reaching a safe depth that she decrypted another transmission from the same abyssal flagship, "[If you wish, you may collect volunteers for another attack.]"

"Bugger..." Whitney cursed under breath while retaining a calm façade on her face, "Thy witchmates think they can go for another charge. There's no time to call thy other shipmates out there, not in me dodgy hardfettle."

Though it was upon her cursing that she heard a jargon of new abyssal radio chatter, this time it was coming from the skies above. Judging from the background noise of the decrypted radio transmissions, Whitney can tell that a squadron of airplanes had been deployed into battle; however, she couldn't be too sure how many abyssal planes had been delployed from judging the amount of decrypted radio transmissions. So without any further ado, it was in the best decision of Whitney's part to cause as much damage to the abyssal fleet remaining in the sector.

And it was to her surprise that she saw a abyssal cruiser in the distance fleeing for some reason. Judging from the decrypted transmissions, the abyssal cruiser in mind was defending itself against a bunch of friendly aircraft; however, the abyssal cruiser wasn't alone since there were small handful of abyssal destroyers acting as extra protection. Though it was when Whitney swam closer to the unsuspecting abyssal ships that they were the same kind of destroyers looking for her.

"Hmm, how dandy indeed?" Whitney chuckled with a stoic composure, "Time to steady the odds, I reckon."

Zeroing in on the abyssal cruiser, Whitney reduced her speed to minimise her noise signature before she began to line up her sights on the unsuspecting abyssal cruiser. The abyssal cruiser had seem to suffer light damage, and it was steaming into her line of sight with little trouble, even though it was evident by the crashing and sinking of friendly aircraft that it was involved in anti-air duties. The abyssal destroyers that were previously hunting for Whitney unsuccessfully had no idea that their predator in mind had returned unannounced and without a notable presence - leaving one thing for the Kraician 'attack submarine' girl one thing to do...

"Behold thy farrowing, mates." Whitney whispered in a calm yet calculative voice as she let loose two torpedos into the way of the cruiser and destroyers.

With Whitney diving into the safety of the depths, the torpedos had indeed make their mark on the abyssal cruiser; however, neither hit declared a decisive sinking upon impact. The unfortunate abyssal cruiser had attempted to slow down and turn away from the torpedoes, only for her efforts to be useless as they all hit and slowly making her stranded in the water. Her engines had been struck with a direct hit, along with a critical leak springing from her 'starboard' side; however, she was fortunate that the torpedoes missed the magazine holds.

Unfortunately, while the abyssal cruiser remained afloat, the first torpedo that hit her on her 'starboard' side had caused her to leak precious fuel to make it back home. Subsequently, the abyssal destroyers spread out in all directions to locate the 'enemy' submarine ship girl who fired the torpedoes; however, they would only end up chasing a ghost just like they did just minutes earlier before disaster struck...

(SORRY, I'M POSTING FROM MY PHONE, SO I CAN't CONTINUE UNTIL I CAN GET TO A COMPUTER)

[Rustyal]

Catherine's guns were locked on target, gently compensating for target lead. All the fairies had evacuated into the rig and covered their ears. If they were outside, no matter which part of the ship they were on, they would suffer from hearing loss. She grit her teeth, yelling out the countdown to her fairies and putting one foot back as to stabilize herself.
"... Pyat! Chye-tir-ve! Tree! Dva! A-deen! OBZHIG!"
[Five through one, then "FIRING!"]

All at once, the twelve massive triggers for each individual 91.4 centimeter gun slammed into the rear of the shells, all of the gunpowder igniting. And, that's a LOT of gunpowder, mind you. Fireballs erupted within the 36 inch cannons, forcing the twelve gargantuan shells forward and slamming them into the air with astounding speed- The shells were instantly gone. The fireball was absolutely colossal. The smoke leftover from it had completely covered Ketrin- honestly, it could cover 3 of herself side-by-side. The massive ship was knocked back a couple yards, however she was caught by the water. As for the sound. The sound, oh boy the sound.

B O O M ! !

The huge rounds were soaring through the air, at around 1500 meters per second, or in other words, REALLY GODDAMN FAST. At their peak, the spiraling shells could soar well over Mount Everest with how high they were- and then the descent begun. There was a deep, bellow whistling as the shells came striking down... on the wrong target. While she had aimed for the Wo-class, the shells had gone off course and were headed for the Nu-class light carrier. Aside from this downside... the shells were well on target. Too well on target. Four of the twelve massive shells had directly hit the Light carrier, slamming into her and going right through the armor, detonating inside of her. What happened next was a bit too graphic for Nationstates, so I'll just say that Abyssal blood and scrap metal are everywhere.
"Confirmed penetration, enemy Light carrier sunk. Next salvo is ready."
It had actually taken so long for the shells to land that Ketrin had the chance to reload fully.

[Hashirajima]

Yuubetsu, Convoy

Yuubetsu watched the enemy torpedo squadron turn tail, and finally took a breather. The past few minutes were, frankly, nerve-wrecking for her. While she was somewhat used to fighting planes, and therefore being on the receiving end of aerial munitions, a cruiser was a whole different ball game for her. A ball game she very much preferred to avoid, thank you very much.

And of course, that was when the Abyssal torpedo cruiser decided on one last salvo, one that just *had* to score a hit right into her citadel. Or as humans would say, abdomen. Gasping, the light cruiser held onto the gaping wound and whimpered softly before falling face-first towards the ocean surface.

Yakaze, Off-Convoy

"Copy that, cruiser Rhiannon. Imperatritsa Ketrin, first volley sighted-" Watching the enemy fleet carrier closely, Yakaze was just answering the radio transmission when her lookout fairies personally ran up to her face and almost yelled at her.

'DESUUUUU! DESU DESU DEUS!' YAAAAAA-CHAN! YUUBETSU WAS HIT!

'Say WHAT?!' Whirling around, the destroyer saw the distant figure of her fellow IJN warship crumpling to the surface. Gritting her teeth, she quickly spotted the offending Abyssal who, by some luck, was blindly heading right towards her own location. A quick bit of calculations later, and Yakaze glared at the cruiser, watching the Abyssal cruise past her before promptly eating what seemed like a submarine's torpedo .... with the wake of her own torpedoes closing in.

Turning her glare towards the Wo-class, the pre-war destroyer calmly - and chillingly - intoned. "Imperatritsa Ketrin, Nu-class sunk, confirmed. Adjust 500m, south-southwest, target designated Wo-class fleet carrier."

[The Selkie]

HLFFS Whitney
Unknown Sector

To the human eyes, objects and creatures alike within the sea were indifferent; everything was like hazy yet bright entities in the water. On the other hand, for a 'submarine' girl like Whitney, anything that moved in the darkness appeared as green blurs in the black void of the ocean depths. Usual 'submarine' girls don't have the luxury of sonar, radar, and a prototype night vision device all together to engineer the ultimate underwater assassin, whom can not only see you, but can also find you.

So when Whitney kept swimming behind the tail of an unsuspecting abyssal submarine - whom appeared in Whitney's point of view as a glowing green bulb according to her NVD (night vision device) and sonar displays. The oblivious abyssal submarine was completely unaware of the predator lurking behind her as she made her way to the convoy; however, Whitney had suddenly deciphered an enemy transmission. The signal in mind happened to so come from the enemy flagship, a standard abyssal carrier, "[Kas, retreat to battlegroup... Destroyer Group A, intensify ASW-Screen...]"

"Christ..." Whitney muttered under stress as the decrypted transmission greeted her like an unpleasant gust of wind, "Them bloody witchmates got wind I'm onto them. Though let me see how much..."

The abyssal fleet somewhere knows that a submarine like herself was lurking about; however, that can only be confirmed if Whitney is forced to the surface. She was lucky her Anehoic Tiling can reduce her noise and cross section signature to the point where she would appear like a scrambled school of fish on screen, otherwise she would've had to retreat if she was like any of the other 'submarine' girl. Likewise, Whitney ought to stay on the abyssal submarine's tail until she can find out where they're going; however, it was only after a few minutes that Whitney heard the muffled sound of abyssal ships up on the surface.

"Destroyers..." Whitney grunted annoyed to her findings presented by her decryption computers and sonar arrays, "Ah well, the wee buggers will find nothing if I dive deep."

Without wasting another breath, Whitney cut all electric motors to a halt and dove into the darkness of the ocean until she was merely part of the darkness. Moments later, as she sunk into the safety of the darkness, Whitney can hear the gargling sound of abyssal radio chatter as they thoroughly prawled the surface for any sign of other 'submarine' girls. At such a depth that Whitney was hiding in, an ordinary 'submarine' girl can feel the frigid cold and pressure that would otherwise begin to slowly bring someone to a lonely freezing death.

Whitney looked up at the abyssal destroyers up on the surface, and she can already tell from their chatter that they began to drop depth charges - whom were to shallow to reach Whitney anyway. Like a cuttlefish hiding in the corals for a tasty hermit crab, Whitney was still and seemingly dead in the water, with her decryption computer disabled temporarily to reduce the noise level to nothing. The muffled explosions from the depth charges gave off distinctive 'booms' that sound like the growling and grunts of the kraken; however, the sound of the depth charges added a metallic texture that gave the kraken sound effects a robotic touch.

Eventually, the abyssal destroyers came up with nothing as they steamed above Whitney after making multiple sweeps - unknowingly letting a predator arise from their domain and out on the hunt again. Subsequently, Whitney enabled her decryption computer once again and slowly arose to a safer depth while traveling at a speed of five (5) knots. Though it was upon reaching a safe depth that she decrypted another transmission from the same abyssal flagship, "[If you wish, you may collect volunteers for another attack.]"

"Bugger..." Whitney cursed under breath while retaining a calm façade on her face, "Thy witchmates think they can go for another charge. There's no time to call thy other shipmates out there, not in me dodgy hardfettle."

Though it was upon her cursing that she heard a jargon of new abyssal radio chatter, this time it was coming from the skies above. Judging from the background noise of the decrypted radio transmissions, Whitney can tell that a squadron of airplanes had been deployed into battle; however, she couldn't be too sure how many abyssal planes had been delployed from judging the amount of decrypted radio transmissions. So without any further ado, it was in the best decision of Whitney's part to cause as much damage to the abyssal fleet remaining in the sector.

And it was to her surprise that she saw a abyssal cruiser in the distance fleeing for some reason. Judging from the decrypted transmissions, the abyssal cruiser in mind was defending itself against a bunch of friendly aircraft; however, the abyssal cruiser wasn't alone since there were small handful of abyssal destroyers acting as extra protection. Though it was when Whitney swam closer to the unsuspecting abyssal ships that they were the same kind of destroyers looking for her.

"Hmm, how dandy indeed?" Whitney chuckled with a stoic composure, "Time to steady the odds, I reckon."

Zeroing in on the abyssal cruiser, Whitney reduced her speed to minimise her noise signature before she began to line up her sights on the unsuspecting abyssal cruiser. The abyssal cruiser had seem to suffer light damage, and it was steaming into her line of sight with little trouble, even though it was evident by the crashing and sinking of friendly aircraft that it was involved in anti-air duties. The abyssal destroyers that were previously hunting for Whitney unsuccessfully had no idea that their predator in mind had returned unannounced and without a notable presence - leaving one thing for the Kraician 'attack submarine' girl one thing to do...

"Behold thy farrowing, mates." Whitney whispered in a calm yet calculative voice as she let loose two torpedos into the way of the cruiser and destroyers.

With Whitney diving into the safety of the depths, the torpedos had indeed make their mark on the abyssal cruiser; however, neither hit declared a decisive sinking upon impact. The unfortunate abyssal cruiser had attempted to slow down and turn away from the torpedoes, only for her efforts to be useless as they all hit and slowly making her stranded in the water. Her engines had been struck with a direct hit, along with a critical leak springing from her 'starboard' side; however, she was fortunate that the torpedoes missed the magazine holds.

Unfortunately, while the abyssal cruiser remained afloat, the first torpedo that hit her on her 'starboard' side had caused her to leak precious fuel to make it back home. Subsequently, the abyssal destroyers spread out in all directions to locate the 'enemy' submarine ship girl who fired the torpedoes; however, they would only end up chasing a ghost just like they did just minutes earlier before disaster struck...

(SORRY, I'M POSTING FROM MY PHONE, SO I CAN't CONTINUE UNTIL I CAN GET TO A COMPUTER)

Catherine's guns were locked on target, gently compensating for target lead. All the fairies had evacuated into the rig and covered their ears. If they were outside, no matter which part of the ship they were on, they would suffer from hearing loss. She grit her teeth, yelling out the countdown to her fairies and putting one foot back as to stabilize herself.
"... Pyat! Chye-tir-ve! Tree! Dva! A-deen! OBZHIG!"
[Five through one, then "FIRING!"]

All at once, the twelve massive triggers for each individual 91.4 centimeter gun slammed into the rear of the shells, all of the gunpowder igniting. And, that's a LOT of gunpowder, mind you. Fireballs erupted within the 36 inch cannons, forcing the twelve gargantuan shells forward and slamming them into the air with astounding speed- The shells were instantly gone. The fireball was absolutely colossal. The smoke leftover from it had completely covered Ketrin- honestly, it could cover 3 of herself side-by-side. The massive ship was knocked back a couple yards, however she was caught by the water. As for the sound. The sound, oh boy the sound.

B O O M ! !

The huge rounds were soaring through the air, at around 1500 meters per second, or in other words, REALLY GODDAMN FAST. At their peak, the spiraling shells could soar well over Mount Everest with how high they were- and then the descent begun. There was a deep, bellow whistling as the shells came striking down... on the wrong target. While she had aimed for the Wo-class, the shells had gone off course and were headed for the Nu-class light carrier. Aside from this downside... the shells were well on target. Too well on target. Four of the twelve massive shells had directly hit the Light carrier, slamming into her and going right through the armor, detonating inside of her. What happened next was a bit too graphic for Nationstates, so I'll just say that Abyssal blood and scrap metal are everywhere.
"Confirmed penetration, enemy Light carrier sunk. Next salvo is ready."
It had actually taken so long for the shells to land that Ketrin had the chance to reload fully.

Yuubetsu, Convoy

Yuubetsu watched the enemy torpedo squadron turn tail, and finally took a breather. The past few minutes were, frankly, nerve-wrecking for her. While she was somewhat used to fighting planes, and therefore being on the receiving end of aerial munitions, a cruiser was a whole different ball game for her. A ball game she very much preferred to avoid, thank you very much.

And of course, that was when the Abyssal torpedo cruiser decided on one last salvo, one that just *had* to score a hit right into her citadel. Or as humans would say, abdomen. Gasping, the light cruiser held onto the gaping wound and whimpered softly before falling face-first towards the ocean surface.

Yakaze, Off-Convoy

"Copy that, cruiser Rhiannon. Imperatritsa Ketrin, first volley sighted-" Watching the enemy fleet carrier closely, Yakaze was just answering the radio transmission when her lookout fairies personally ran up to her face and almost yelled at her.

'DESUUUUU! DESU DESU DEUS!' YAAAAAA-CHAN! YUUBETSU WAS HIT!

'Say WHAT?!' Whirling around, the destroyer saw the distant figure of her fellow IJN warship crumpling to the surface. Gritting her teeth, she quickly spotted the offending Abyssal who, by some luck, was blindly heading right towards her own location. A quick bit of calculations later, and Yakaze glared at the cruiser, watching the Abyssal cruise past her before promptly eating what seemed like a submarine's torpedo .... with the wake of her own torpedoes closing in.

Turning her glare towards the Wo-class, the pre-war destroyer calmly - and chillingly - intoned. "Imperatritsa Ketrin, Nu-class sunk, confirmed. Adjust 500m, south-southwest, target designated Wo-class fleet carrier."

The Abyssal Nu-class Carrier did not know, what hit her.
Quite literally. It was over at the same time it began. All left for the Wo was to make a sound: [Eep!]
And from there she went, full steam ahead. As fast as she and her group could. It was not much left, even with the other destroyers distracting, their cruiser lost to a submarine and a destroyer hell bent on avenging something.
It didn't matter.
As the remaining destroyers, four of six, one being felled by a destroyer tender, another one by a torpedo salvo, retreated, they traded a few shells with the offending destroyer, but nothing too serious. They sped past her and let her live.
The Wo-class was, for a moment contemplating to send her volunteer group after the destroyer, but that would be petty and lead to nowhere. She, for the moment, decided to keep them in reserve.

Yuubetsu was hit, badly.
I could see it. The rest of the convoi, despite the ear-splitting fire from a gun so large, that it shook my innermost bearing, sped off, but Yuubetsu was hit badly. There was a time for everything...
...and now was the time to rush to her side and see, where she was hurt and what could be done for her. Tokai had been rushed away, but I hoped, that she was in good hands (unbeknowst to me, she was), so that left me to focus on Yuubetsu.
Abdomen-hit, citadel. It looked bad, if she didn't get any attention soon.
I made a short decision: "Boats, off, help me tug!"
My Reathai-class Torpedo Boats had, for their size, powerful engines and although each of them clocked in at around 100 tons of weight, it would still be better to not have them on me while tugging Yuubetsu away - and helping me, in fact. The ropes were attached quickly, as damage control fairies rushed over to the stricken cruiser.
"Don't worry.", I whispered to her, "You'll be alright. They got the cruiser, who hurt you, too."

[Rustyal]

"ON THE WAY!"

It wasn't long before a large flash of light was seen over the horizon once more, followed with yet another ear-annihilating shriek of gunfire. Once more, twelve massive HE shells launched themselves at the Wo-class, assisted by the two fairy-piloted scout planes. Ketrin was knocked back again as she begun the reloading process. Soon enough, the twelve shells came striking down upon the carrier... All of them missing and providing straddling fire. The plooms of water were so massive that they collectively rose the carrier slightly with water waves, along with the horrendous shockwave which actually provided light damage to some equipment on the Wo-class. Ketrin sighed as her guns lowered again, spewing out white exhaust fumes.

[The Selkie]

"ON THE WAY!"

It wasn't long before a large flash of light was seen over the horizon once more, followed with yet another ear-annihilating shriek of gunfire. Once more, twelve massive HE shells launched themselves at the Wo-class, assisted by the two fairy-piloted scout planes. Ketrin was knocked back again as she begun the reloading process. Soon enough, the twelve shells came striking down upon the carrier... All of them missing and providing straddling fire. The plooms of water were so massive that they collectively rose the carrier slightly with water waves, along with the horrendous shockwave which actually provided light damage to some equipment on the Wo-class. Ketrin sighed as her guns lowered again, spewing out white exhaust fumes.

[DO NOT WANT!!!], the carrier screeched as she was lifted into the air, her escorts getting shaken by the same waves from the massive shells. She had an idea, what that was, which fired these shells, for there was only one option, barring an angry god trying to smite her for something she did. [DO DECIDEDLY NOT WANT!!!]
The damage was light, but not neglible. One of her destroyer screen began to lag behind, he would have to fend for himself. Still, all things considered, this was not the worst outcome. She had her body in one piece, after all.
[Full speed ahead!], she called and began to lead her formation into evasive maneuvres, expecting the next salvo.
She should have done so from the start, she realized... another rookie mistake.

[Rustyal]

"Adjusting fire. Salvo in 5... 4............. 1, FIRING!"

Once more Ketrin fired. She was determined to sink this carrier. Once the salvo had left the barrels, her engines begun humming, the huge propellers beginning to spin and propelling her forward. Smoke bellowed from the two funnels as she attempted to lay chase to this carrier. The massive shells were bearing down on the carrier, the fire getting more accurate. Ten plooms of water appeared around the carrier, shaking and rattling her equipment even more. One shell catapulted itsself into one of her gun turrets, actually penetrating due to hitting the back face of it. The entire turret was annihilated, and some of her hat-shield was as well. Another HE shell had hit the Wo-class directly on the hat shield, only to fail to set off its fuse and somehow overpenetrate and go all the way through it, landing in the water in front of her. That was one REALLY heavy shell. It yanked her head forward upon hitting, in fact.

[Legatia]

LNS Coriolanus

---

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

Coriolanus gave a brief nod of acknowledgement as the cruiser gave her a wave, as she filled her in on the situation. She frowned at the mention of submarine and air combat- her two weaknesses in one place.

"I'll be depending on you all for anti-submarine and anti-air measures." Coriolanus stated, her guns shifting as they steamed towards the convoy. "I will keep my own sonar active for any enemy threats on the surface." She leveled her guns without further words towards the direction of the retreating enemy composition, prepared to engage if it would be necessary. Though the battle looked won for now, she could not be sure.

[Regria]

I smiled a bit at the eagerness... ah, being young again...
Anyway, I tapped my radio.
"Brightbell, you belong to Group 1. Your mission is to keep the base and Caty safe.", I told her over the radio, seeing the light anti-air cruiser in the distance. "Preferably both at the same time, but Caty is a bit outside and I'd hate her to be without cover." Gigantic siege battleship with guns large enough that they simply had to compensate for something somewhere or not, it would be rather impolite to let her float on her own. And it would invite people into trying their luck. I'll also not mention her shot, the Abyssals didn't need to know more then they already did. "Kokai can keep the base safe. Questions?"

Brightbell

"Affirmative. Five-by-five, no questions from me. I shall stand watch near Catherine and keep an eye on any possible contacts headed for base, though I shall report in if anything eventful occurs. I wish the best of luck to you, Rhiannon."

As such, she would veer towards the absolutely massive RADAR signature which must have been none other than Ketrin, still speeding full steam ahead whilst remaining vigilant for any potential contacts-- both ones that would be picked up by RADAR, and those who would not. A good thing about Brightbell was that as an AA cruiser, her RADAR was ridiculously powerful, and as such this made finding ships both large and small far easier, as she had managed to detect Ketrin within mere seconds of searching. And then came the first 'kaboom', firing with all it's might. Even from relatively far away, Brightbell could hear it, and knew for sure it was Ketrin. Thus, she quickly set about towards the massive battleship. Another distant noise of firing would ring out as the Regrian got closer and closer.

At a steady speed of about 32 knots, Brightbell would waste no time in coming to aid the massive supervessel-- the pride of the Naval Base. Narrowing her eyes, she eventually spotted the beast-- the monster herself. Ketrin, in all of her glory. To be frank, though? The Regrian wasn't surprised. She had heard all the rumors, and was inclined to believe them, setting her bar extra high. She still was absolutely massive, though.

Shortly after, a resounding explosion would boom out-- one which sounded almost too powerful to even be a battleship gun. Though her fairies-- some which were hanging off of her weapon were a bit shook from the sheer volume of the blast even from distance, Brightbell herself was not, as she blinked and approached the Battleship, stopping nearby in front of the absolutely colossal vessel and facing her turret-adorned weapon forwards, firmly rested at the hip. Looking back at Ketrin for a moment and nodding once, the Regrian girl with her bowler hat would then speak up, finally using her 'normal' tone of speaking.

"Don't worry, wheat-girl. I gotcha' covered. Any of them eggs get through, and I'll fill 'em with daylight, capiche?"

When not taking orders, she was a completely different person.

[Parcia]

Montgomery

He lowered his guns, a steel forged grimace lay on his face as he unloaded his guns and set his crew to damage control. He was...beyond pissed. Being caught off guard by an air wave like that...he was lucky to be alive.

He wish he could only same the same for his fleet mates. The light cruiser, the one who had likely saved his life with her call out, needed a good towing.

Before he did so, he switched his radio to an open channel, one he was sure the Abbies would hear. [You can run, and you can hide, but be sure of this, you pale faced fuckes...I will find you, and I will kill you.]

He turned to Yuubetsu and, much to the wonder...of the smaller ships, and the annoyance of the fleet tugs, hefted her up and wrapped his arm under her shoulders, putting her weight on him. "Some one call for a tow?"

[The Selkie]

"Adjusting fire. Salvo in 5... 4............. 1, FIRING!"

Once more Ketrin fired. She was determined to sink this carrier. Once the salvo had left the barrels, her engines begun humming, the huge propellers beginning to spin and propelling her forward. Smoke bellowed from the two funnels as she attempted to lay chase to this carrier. The massive shells were bearing down on the carrier, the fire getting more accurate. Ten plooms of water appeared around the carrier, shaking and rattling her equipment even more. One shell catapulted itsself into one of her gun turrets, actually penetrating due to hitting the back face of it. The entire turret was annihilated, and some of her hat-shield was as well. Another HE shell had hit the Wo-class directly on the hat shield, only to fail to set off its fuse and somehow overpenetrate and go all the way through it, landing in the water in front of her. That was one REALLY heavy shell. It yanked her head forward upon hitting, in fact.

The Wo-class Carrier right about now came to a startling realization: She hated battleships.
It might come as a surprise, but that indeed seemed to be true. She would not leave this standpoint, she would hate battleships. FOREVER.
She was also quite certain, that no battleship would loose much sleep over that, but that was another question. Still, with another one of her escorts gone, this one breaking apart in a shockwave from the massive guns' fire, and herself rattled to the core, she decided: Even if it would only enable them to escape, she had to commit her little force of volunteers.
Soon, four torpedo bombers, twelve dive bombers and twelve fighters were on their way to the battleship affectionately called Caty. She would most likely not sink, unless something really, really bad happened, but it would still be a distraction, the distraction they needed.
But that wasn't the whole force: Four torpedo bombers went after Yakaze, expecting to at least damage her. The two missing fighters, and two mates from the CAP of the carriers, went further out, looking for observers.
They would pay.
Radar, though, had picked up scrambling fighters all around, and none of them from the Abyssal side of things.
[You can run, and you can hide, but be sure of this, you pale faced fuckes...I will find you, and I will kill you.], suddenly came over the frequencies.
The Wo took a moment of her fleeing time and responded: [I'm an Aircraft Carrier. You are a battleship, judging by your voice. Or something similar. Regardless, not a carrier. Do the math, pink-skinned monkey!]
And with that, she sped off again.

LNS Coriolanus

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

Coriolanus gave a brief nod of acknowledgement as the cruiser gave her a wave, as she filled her in on the situation. She frowned at the mention of submarine and air combat- her two weaknesses in one place.

"I'll be depending on you all for anti-submarine and anti-air measures." Coriolanus stated, her guns shifting as they steamed towards the convoy. "I will keep my own sonar active for any enemy threats on the surface." She leveled her guns without further words towards the direction of the retreating enemy composition, prepared to engage if it would be necessary. Though the battle looked won for now, she could not be sure.

I smiled and nodded.
"We'll keep you safe!", I said with a smile, taking a position at his flank, keeping my eyes peeled. I could make out the plumes of smoke rising from the convoy in the distance, but also the remains of the smoke trail left by the fighters leading their peers back to their carrier.
Speaking of which... the carrier was not with them. For a moment, I wondered, where the home of those fighters was...
...regardless. "You take care of any mean battleship, though, right?", I asked the battleship as we came closer to the remains of the convoy. Really, there was not really much left, but they would still be important.
"Hello!", I called over the water.

Montgomery

He lowered his guns, a steel forged grimace lay on his face as he unloaded his guns and set his crew to damage control. He was...beyond pissed. Being caught off guard by an air wave like that...he was lucky to be alive.

He wish he could only same the same for his fleet mates. The light cruiser, the one who had likely saved his life with her call out, needed a good towing.

Before he did so, he switched his radio to an open channel, one he was sure the Abbies would hear. [You can run, and you can hide, but be sure of this, you pale faced fuckes...I will find you, and I will kill you.]

He turned to Yuubetsu and, much to the wonder...of the smaller ships, and the annoyance of the fleet tugs, hefted her up and wrapped his arm under her shoulders, putting her weight on him. "Some one call for a tow?"

I looked at the battleship as he easily hefted Yuubetsu up. "Some one call for a tow?", he had the gall to ask.
I shook my head. "Battleships...", I mumbled, slight anger in my voice, "Always trying to play the hero, you darn lot! Swooping in at the last moment and then failing!" My anger disappeared for a moment. "Still... thanks. She's mostly stable, I think, but she should still be brought home as soon as possible. I'm a destroyer tender, but I can help her, too... but tugging her is yours."
I frowned, then raised my voice...
...only to be interrupted by a distant shout of "Hello!" floating towards us.
My head whipped around - Carman Fea, have mercy on me, but my poor heart would not stand seeing her of all fleet girls.

[Rustyal]

"W-Wheat-girl? I don't work on the farms, pizdec!!" While Catherine was mostly brawn and some brains, she didn't exactly understand how Regrian slang worked. She prepared her guns once more, taking aim with her spotter planes again. Except... something was off.

"...Contact, bearing 355. Aircraft." God, she loves the fact she has powerful air radar. "They're out of range for my 6 inch cannons, and the 12 inch ones aren't within effective flak range." She pondered for a moment. "...You can handle them, pirozkhi. I'm going to keep targeting the carrier." And with that, she did. Another massive 'BOOM' was heard as she fired once more, launching a full salvo of 36" HE at the carrier. Literally every single one of them missed. The shockwave was still prominent, but damn, something happened. The shells are further off than the first time around, even.

[Legatia]

LNS Coriolanus

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

The battleship girl offered a smile, nodding.

"Of course. After all, I was designed to engage capital ships. Anything they throw at us shouldn't be a problem." Looking off towards the convoy, she regarded the scene carefully, her eyes scanning over the horizon expectantly.

"Those warplanes seem to be retreating. Novaya, are you following them back? You may be able to ascertain the location of another possible enemy composition if you do." Coriolanus put a hand to her brow, shielding her eyes from the sun. Lowering it after a moment.. her stomach grumbled, causing her to put up an embarassed frown and rescind her hand. "That's what I get for skipping breakfast, I presume.."