The Trip Home

Kirov cruised the waters of the Sea of Japan. Unlike the returned ships of other countries, Kirov came back as a male. It was assumed to be because Russians called their ship 'he' instead of 'she'. With his tall form, blonde hair, dark brown eyes and well defined face, he would pass off as a dream man for many. Toss in the navy coloured blazer and pants, a regular Soviet Navy officer.

What made him different is that he carried metal rigging. It is similar to Kirishima and Hiei's, only he has tripe 180mm turrets instead of twin 41cm turrets. But instead of having a fourth turret on his lower left slot, he has a triple 533mm torpedo tube. That and the fact by saying cruise, it meant he glided on the surface of water like an ice skater. Earlier, he had refused to travel by jet with the Russian civilians back to Russia.

"It has been so long since I cruised the ocean," he said, "so let me return to Russia under my own power."

So he did, followed by the four Russian Navy Zubr hovercraft. Earlier, the hovercraft were responsible for transporting the residents of Shikotan Island to Japan. They have been ordered to escort Kirov to Vladivostok, which used to be the headquarters of the Russian Pacific Fleet. All along the way, Kirov saw many settlements which have been destroyed by the Abyssals.

It infuriated him to no end. What also made him angry is that the Soviet Union collapsed. The great superpower he served until his scrapping in 1974 is now fragmented, though the biggest fragment is still pretty big.

Russia and its ally China fared decently so far in the Abyssal War, their large land areas meaning they are less dependent on the sea. That is why Chinese and Russian ships didn't come back early like the British and Japanese. They weren't desperately prayed for. Not until Pilot Officer Sima Xiangdong's transport went down over the Pacific did Yat Sen appear. Not until Hibiki prayed for a miracle did Kirov himself appear. Neither Yat Sen nor Kirov were to be blamed. The willpower needed to bring them back simply didn't exist.

In the distance, a small group of Abyssals could be seen. They are all destroyers, a mix of I-class, Ha-class and Ro-class destroyers. There appeared to be ten of them. Since they were heading in the opposite direction, they did not know that the Russians are behind them.

"Enemies spotted," Kirov said, "preparing to engage."

"Acknowledged," replied the commander of one Zubr, "all ships, cover fire, full barrage."

The 140mm Ogon rocket launchers on the Zubrs turn to face the Abyssal fleet in the distance. Each rocket launcher packed twenty two 140mm rockets which can be fired in quick succession.

"Fire!" ordered the commander.

Flames erupt from the launchers as the rockets are fired. The rockets are not guided missiles and therefore suffer from low accuracy. Not that guided missiles would do any better as no man-made tracking device can home in on Abyssals. Fortunately, the destroyers are actually larger ships in the Abyssal fleet, about the size of a small whale. Regardless, a volley of a hundred of seventy six rockets would still cause considerable damage.

Before the Abyssals could respond, a hail of rockets descend upon them. About seventy percent of the rockets hit, dealing considerable damage to the destroyers and even destroying three, their weak armour failing to protect them. Kirov moved closer to the fleet, weapons ready. The destroyers which survived the initial volley growled and fired at Kirov.

The Russian cruiser performed evasive manoeuvres, but still took hits. He winced as the shells penetrated his armor. Kirov-class is about combining firepower with speed, so the ships had only 50mm of armour in most places. He stopped and fired his nine 180mm guns. Despite targets being large, two rounds still missed.

Kirov frowned. The guns are mounted in narrow turrets in close proximity to each other. This resulted in very high dispersion which equals low accuracy. To make matters worse, the cramped conditions in the turret meant that the guns can only fire at two rounds per minute, one third of their designed rate of fire. It would be dangerous for him if he is caught on his own.

"This is getting troublesome," he said, "let's get this wrapped up."

He moves towards the nearest destroyer, which is quite close by now. The Ha-class attempted to fire at him.

"Not today," Kirov said has he launched a spread of three 533mm torpedoes, "you little сука."

The torpedoes ram into the Abyssal, blowing it wide open.

"Nice job, Kirov," one of the Zubr commanders said, "fitting for a Soviet Navy ship."

Kirov nodded, "I am just performing my duty."

Another shadow emerges from the water. It is a humanoid Abyssal, taking the form of a young woman with white hair, glowing blue eyes and pale skin. She wore armored thigh highs, a once-piece swimsuit which is ripped in some places and had a massive collar made of teeth-like projections which covered part of her face. The Abyssal is smaller than the whale-like destroyers. A triple turret is set on the top of each her thigh highs and two more are mounted on fish-like projections which sprouted out of her back.

"Careful, Kirov," the commander of a Zubr said, "these humanoid ones are dangerous. It will take considerable time for us to reload our rocket launchers. We only have our guns and man-portable rockets."

"Understood," Kirov replied, "preparing to engage enemy."

The Ne-class continued glaring at Kirov as it turned its triple turrets at the Soviet cruiser. But Kirov already reloaded and is closing the distance. By the time the Ne-class brought its guns to Kirov, Kirov was already at near point blank range.

Can't miss at this range, Kirov thought.

Kirov's nine 180mm guns thundered as they fired at the Ne-class. At such a short range, all nine shells hit. He got lucky, because he scored critical hits on the Abyssal. Enraged by the damage, the Ne-class fired its guns. But Kirov had already moved out of the way.

Thirty second reload, the cruiser thought as the fairies in his turrets went about reloading, is very bad.

Fortunately, Kirov has decent mobility, which allowed him to avoid the gunfire. An idea suddenly popped into his head. Kirov circled behind the Ne-class and jumped on the Abyssal's back, between the two turrets. The Ne-class stumbled and attempted to throw Kirov off its back.

"Now shoot!" Kirov shouted.

The Zubrs open fire with their AK-630 CIWS. The GSh-6-30 spewed out 30mm shells at 5000 rounds per minute. Most of the shells bounce off the Ne-class's armor, but some penetrated weaker spots. The Abyssal roared and turned its attention to the hovercraft. Russian soldiers fired with the Strela 3 missile launchers. The missiles are meant to be used against aircraft and thus had small warheads. Their infra-red guidance is also ineffective against Abyssals. As a result, most of the missiles missed the Abyssal and the few that hit barely did anything.

Kirov jumped off the Abyssals back and reversed.

"Game over," he said, aiming his torpedoes and guns, which have now been loaded, "stupid Abyssal."

The guns fire again, the shells scoring more critical hits. As the distance between Kirov and increased, he releases another spread of torpedoes. The Ne-class couldn't move out of the way and takes all three. The Abyssal suddenly descends back into the water, quickly slipping under the surface.

Kirov smirked. All Abyssals are capable of submerging, not just the submarines, allowing them to ambush surface ships. However, a non-submarine Abyssal cannot operate its rigging while underwater and they can only move at speeds no faster than a swimming person. While the Ne-class was above the water, it was a formidable foe. Now it is just a sitting duck. Kirov casually reached into his pocket and took out a few metallic, marshmallow sized objects.

"Merry Christmas," Kirov said as he dropped the objects into the water, "and a Happy New Year."

The Ne-class continued diving, attempting to flee the new ship. It took the form of a male, which is very odd. All shipgirls have been girls, as suggested by the name. A few low ranked Abyssals took masculine forms, but no male boss has ever been observed.

The Abyssal heavy cruiser suddenly noticed metallic cylinders drift down to her depth. It wondered what they were.

Kirov stood facing the Zubrs when pillars of water exploded from the surface of the water and a shockwave propagated through it.

"Let's go," Kirov said, "we have a port to go to."

The Russians completed the trip to Vladivostok without encountering more Abyssals. As Kirov sailed into the port, he was disheartened by what he saw. Vladivostok was once the home port of the mighty Russian Pacific Fleet and the largest Russian port on the Pacific Ocean. Six hundred thousand people once lived here.

The city is now a ghost town. Buildings near the sea have been obliterated, reduced by rubble by the Abyssals. Buildings more inland have been abandoned, some of them already crumbling. Vladivostok is just a ghost of what it once was. When Kirov approached land, he saw that many people seemed to waiting for his approach. Many of them appear to be journalists as they operated large cameras. Political leaders in suits also stood waiting, accompanied by military officers and infantry in combat armor. Tiltjet gunships circled the air above them.

Kirov dissipates his rigging as he steps onto land. The Zubrs deflate their skirts and rest on the water. Kirov walks towards the people, ignoring the flashes of cameras and chatter from the civilians. The cruiser stopped in front of the suited men. The two entered a staring contest before the man spoke. Kirov took in the man's appearance. He is very young for a political leader, appearing to be in his late thirties or early forties. He is half a head taller than Kirov, and still had all of his hair and all of his eyesight.

"Welcome to Vladivostok," he said, "or the remains of it. I am Joseph Mikoyan, President of the Russian Federation."

"Name ship of the Kirov class," Kirov said, "cruiser Kirov."

The two men shook hands as the cameras flashed to capture a historical moment in Russian history.

"Sorry I couldn't come earlier," Kirov apologized, "nobody awakened me until Hibiki did."

"Better late than never," the President said, "we are glad to have you back. Now that you are here, we can begin to build up the ship force. But enough talk. We will be returning to Ussuriysk for now."