Chapter 2: Home

Akizuki was grateful to leave the cell block. Her nose couldn't take much more of the rotting stench. She was determined to get out of this place, no matter what happened. But first there was something she wanted to do. She left behind all the experimental equipment, but perhaps someone would be grateful back home if she brought something back with her. In the main room, she began sweeping all the design plans for Kanmusu into her bag. Anything that was related to the development and design of these girls she jammed into the bag. Once she had grabbed all the papers, she sealed the overstuffed bag, tugging on the zipper as it tore several corners off of some of the papers. It bulged immensely, but it would hold. With that settled, she headed to the powerplant, sucking her thumb in thought. If she broke the huge glass wall, she'd flood the facility and drown both herself and probably Oumi. Seeing as he was her ticket off the island, that wasn't going to happen. But she was no computer technician. She had enough problems using the computers at the library back home. She couldn't deactivate the powerplant or reroute the energy in any way. This left her little choice in the matter.

"Choujuusenchihou-chan." Her turrets nodded. She backed up into the doorway, ready to run if need be. Her turret's spewed fire into the open doorway, their targets the generator boxes the cables were attached to. Several large explosions shook the facility as the boxes released the energy stored inside them. The humming sound that signaled power going to the base vanished. Electrical smoke billowed out into the hallway, causing Akizuki to cough madly. Her throat still felt very sore and adding smoke to the equation didn't work out well for her lungs. She felt her turrets clinging to her legs and she stumbled backwards, tripping on the doorframe and tumbling back into the main room. She lay there, without an urge to get up. Her body was already a wreck, and more than anything she desired to just fall asleep.

Then there was an inhuman roar and a rending sound of metal. She lifted her head slightly to see a dark figure coming down the cell block hallway.

"He's free."

Then her body decided to take a break from life on it's own. She smiled and blacked out.

"She's missing?"

"Yes sir. There was no confirmation of her death either. She could have sunk. No one remembers where she last was during the battle." Said Musashi.

Admiral Akiyama Hiroto let his face fall into his hands. So many casualties. If he had known the Abyssals had such a force there, he would never have sent as many ships as he did. Several months ago a large Abyssal force captured a strategic island in the northern Japanese waters. The Russians were still having trouble in the North sea and didn't have any of their battleships to spare. Instead Admiral Soma had offered a large force from his base to assist him in destroying the enemy. Just under 100 shipgirls had been part of the combined fleet, with forty-two ships being of his own.

Only 37 girls survived the operation and came back. Everyone else was either missing or dead. They took back the island, but it had cost them two carriers, including Hiryu and Katsuragi. Shinano had been severely damaged too. Only Taihou escaped undamaged. Most of the losses were destroyers and light cruisers, destroyed from behind by several battleship divisions that had somehow managed to outmaneuver them. They could probably recapture the lost girl's souls before the Abyssals turned them into enemies to supplement their forces, but that was still time they really didn't have. Japan needed more heavy warships. Their carriers were certainly their most powerful assets, but their huge resource consumption coupled with the amount of time the girls had to spend in the docks meant they were not suitable for day to day operations. The ops they needed to be assigned was mostly against enemy carriers. This meant that lighter fleets ended up encountering battleship divisions without much backup. Japan needed more long range heavy hitting warships, but they didn't have that many to spare. Admiral Soma had alerted him that Yamato had sustained critical damage in the defense of Akagi and Kaga, and both Kirishima and Hiei had been sunk. Nagato and Mutsu were laid up in the docks too,

Only Kongo, Haruna, and Musashi had escaped undamaged. Despite the numerous modifications he had made to his dreadnoughts, Ise and Hyuuga were not performing at the levels that had been predicted, and they were trying their very hardest to be the best battlecarriers they could be, but in essence they were just upsized Tone-class vessels, good for reconnaissance, not blending the carrier and battleship role together. Hiroto had no spare battleships either. Settsu, Mikasa, Kawachi, Fusou, and Yamashiro were all on expeditions to search for more resources.

His best air defense destroyers had been sunk, at the same time that there were more and more enemy carriers appearing. Hatsuzuki, Suzutsuki and Teruzuki had all been destroyed and Akizuki was missing. Given she was the weakest girl in the naval base and probably was going to be scrapped anyways, this wasn't a huge loss, but Hatsuzuki was his finest and she was gone now. Yoizuki had only just started training and wouldn't be ready for some time. And there was a lack of cruisers to train the destroyers at his base, most of which had been reassigned to Admiral Soma's base to assist in his fleet's reconstruction. The Michizuki subclass of the air defense destroyers was still in development and wouldn't be ready anytime soon. From now on he'd have to be extra careful with his fleet compositions. There wouldn't be any major offensives for some time.

Hiroto wiped his face. He had only been involved in the Kanmusu program for a few years and he was almost thirty years old. It pained him greatly to see the young girls return battered to his base, some still bleeding from the stumps that once had arms attached. It was worse seeing his girls carrying back the bodies of their fallen comrades. The biggest issue wasn't even the losses, it was morale. Soryu was in a complete funk after losing her sister to Abyssal bombers. The destroyers didn't even want to attend practices, instead lighting candles to float out into the harbor in memory of their fallen sisters.

"Damn those Abyssals to hell, damn them all." He desired someone to talk to. Musashi was a great secretary and she comforted him when he needed it most, but she was still a girl and there are some things that are just impossible to discuss with a girl because they would never understand. Hiroto was the only male present at the base almost all the time. He wished for another male friend that he could have shoulder the burden with him.

He hoped for one dearly.

The first thing that Akizuki felt when she regained consciousness was a pressure on her back. The salty ocean air stung her nose and she wrinkled it.

The ocean?

"Wait what the-!" She went from being worn out and tired to instantly awake. She fell out of Oumi's arms to land heavily on the water. She was in fact out at sea. The sun was actually shining brightly above her. All around her was the familiar wetness of the sea. She floated there, letting the cold water soak her battered form.

"Are you alright?"

"Owwwwwww….." She wasn't sinking, but she couldn't move very well. Her damages were more evident once she touched water. Her whole body ached once again. She looked up at Oumi.

And her jaw fell in cold terror.

Seeing him inside the base was terrifying enough, but she recognized the rigging he wore now as the rigging that had been hanging above him when she found him chained up. He had four huge triple turrets that appeared to be bigger than Musashi-senpai's 46 centimeter guns, two mounted on his shoulders and two attached just below those guns. These were supplemented by a sixteen count of recognizable twin 10 centimeter guns of the same type as her Choujuusenchihou-chans. There were also several enclosed 25mm AA gun mounts, that were immediately visible. He had a small hand crossbow shaped similar to a catapult launcher and a katana hanging from his belt. There were small bolts sticking out of a leather pouch that was also attached to his belt. His huge funnel strapped to his back puffed black smoke into the sky, the same color as the paint that stained all of his gear. Her bag and equipment was slung over his shoulder and her twin turrets were riding on top of his shoulder mounted guns. He looked down at her with his face full of pain and concern.

"What the hell is that you are wearing?" Akizuki asked. Realization dawned on his face and he smiled slightly.

"Warship 797. I'm sorry I didn't explain this to you before. To be honest, I barely know anything about myself. The people in white decided that I could be "expanded upon" and they fitted me with these 51 centimeter guns. The stress my body feels is the worst. It's like someone is tearing at my soul with a knife constantly. I wasn't meant for this. It has been a long time since I have used this gear, so I am trying to get used to it again."

She was awed. 51 centimeter guns dwarfed the firepower of Musashi's 46 centimeter cannons, and he had twelve guns compared to her nine. How could such a ship be even possible? Before she could think up a response, Oumi scooped her up back up into his arms. It was only then that she noticed something about his appearance. She originally mistook him for American, but now that it was bright outside and she was close to his face, he seemed to bear no nationality at all. He was devoid of the features that defined an American warship, but at the same time he lacked the features of a Japanese or British man. It was like he was a man without a country to call home. He was very pale however, most likely because he had probably never seen the light of the sun before. He appeared to be almost an adult, perhaps around the age of 17, which felt odd to her considering the battleships and fleet carriers all were either 18 or nearing their mid-twenties. He seemed too young to be a battleship, nevermind one as terrifying as he was. Her face flushed red.

"Umm why are you carrying me?" She asked.

"You are injured are you not? It would only hurt you if you tried moving on your own."

"Do you know where we are going?"

"Our heading bears East. You were unconscious so I could not ask you where to go to bring you home." She sighed. She still felt really uncomfortable with the situation, but he was right, she wasn't in any condition to be moving around. Her last burst of energy back at the facility was probably just an adrenaline surge. Instead she wormed around in his arms trying to get comfortable. His leather felt nice and she realized for such a large battleship, he was keeping a pretty decent pace. She kept her eyes on the horizon for what felt like hours, trying her hardest to remember what had happened to her. Some of it had come back, but it was still foggy. She remembered that there had been a large battle that had involved many vessels from both her naval base and another larger base located at Kure. Other than that she had completely forgotten most of what happened. She still felt dizzy, and it was only once the island of Shikotan came into view that she decided she wanted to try sleeping again.

"Oumi. That's Shikotan Island. Turn south and follow the coast until you reach Yokosuka. You will know it when you see it. There will probably be more girls patrolling the waters near the harbor entrance."

"I understand. Get some rest if you can." His voice seemed always to be so low, but Akizuki felt like that line was slightly louder. Before she could put any more thought into it, sleep captured her. One thing was sure though, she felt very safe.

Taihou found herself staring out at the ocean from the docks. She had woken up after another night filled with nightmares. It had been two days since the operation and it would probably haunt her for a long time. She was very new to the fleet, and never before had she seen so much bloodshed. She understood why the Abyssals were to be hated. The sun was just beginning to rise and it cast its pinkish glow across the sea. Tears began to form in her eyes and she let her head drop. The color of the water reminded her of how the water looked after the battle, stained bright red. She had lost her only friend in that battle. Hearing she was designated MIA by Musashi tore at her heart, because MIA almost always meant sunk in the long run in this war. She desired nothing more than to tear out the cold spine of the abyssal who had sunk her.

An extremely loud and deep foghorn resounded from far away, breaking her out of her mourning.

Only just coming into view was a dark figure. Even in the dawning light of the sun, it was pitch black. Taihou squinted, trying to get a better view, but couldn't. She sat down, opting to wait instead. But the more and more she waited, the more she was terrified. It was clearly a Kanmusu, but she had never seen anything like it. Huge cannons jutted out in triple turrets, their barrels elevated upwards into the sky, which usually meant that the ship meant no threat, but it's imposing appearance didn't lend much credence to that. As it came closer, she realized it was actually a boy, who seemed to be carrying something big.

That was strange, a boy as a warship?

Perhaps out of fear, she started to back away from the edge of the pier. This man was quite a bit taller than she was and judging by the amount of armament that was present on his form, he clearly was designed with one purpose in mind. As the water licked the edge of the pier he stepped up, his weight cracking the edge as he levered himself up and over. Taihou struggled to keep the fear out of her face as the boy advanced towards her, but when she backed into the side of a building, there wasn't much to do.

But then the boy knelt down in the grass just in front of her and laid out the form of a peacefully sleeping girl under a brightening sky. For a moment, Taihou didn't recognize her. She was battered in many places, her clothes damp with water. She was covered in a light coat of soot and the injuries she had sustained were prevalent everywhere. The boy dropped a bag from his shoulder and two 10cm animated turrets chittered with delight as they jumped off of him and ran to give her a hug.

It was only once she saw the turrets that she recognized who it was in front of her.

"Akizuki?"

[Authors Note:

Warship 797 was a planned Yamato class battleship, the fifth of its class after the framework of its sister, Warship 111 was laid down. Warship 797 was subject to numerous changes in its design following the experiences gained during World War two. The information wasn't easy to come by, but rather than constructing an advanced version of the Yamato class (Later referred to as the A-150 class) the Japanese planned to redesign the 797. Originally it was to be a Yamato class hull with 510mm twin turrets equipped, but then the design was changed to triple turrets. The advent of the Montana class ships design made the Japanese wonder if their untested 510mm guns would be viable as there was not much data to gain from this type of gun, so they increase the count again to 12 guns, lengthening the ship. After the experiences at Midway, the ship was also designed with the idea of fitting many 10cm guns (The same guns that were used by the Akizuki class) onto the ship as secondaries and primarily AA defense. The design was also heavily reinforced armor wise including a new type torpedo defense, a better protection of the citadel, and more armor protecting the superstructure and bow/stern. The ship probably would have displaced over 100,000 tones and there was no dockyard capable of handling such a massive warship, but nevertheless the Japanese dreamed on.]