3675/Admisassination!

Admisassination!
Date of Scene:	16 January 2016
Location:	Hikari Sea Port
Synopsis:	Wo of the Abyssal Fleet, and Yari Takane target the Admiral of Hikari Seaport in a bold attack! Yuna Kagurazaka joins in on the explodey fun!
Cast of Characters:	385, Wo, Nagato, 691

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Yari Takane (691) has posed:
~Water outside Hikari Seaport~

Yari Takane has been training, and planning for quite some time for just a time like this. After a good session with Wo, consulting and laying out ideas, the ninja-assassin has finally tapped her Abyssal ally for it. The plan: take out the Admiral herself of HIkari Seaport. Fighting such a well-defended area would be suicide, even for the Abyssals without substantial Fed involvement. But a decoy and a sharp blade might do the trick: or at least manage to do enough damage to hit the Fleet's morale.

Thus, Yari changed into a wetsuit, requisitioned a small oxygen tank, and went with Wo's fleet.

"Thank you for the assistance in this, Miss Wo. Wish me luck. If worse comes to worse and I'm overcome, prioritize your own forces over my life. I'll get back somehow." The ninja isn't going to sacrifice her allies. That's not what someone like her does.

She's the sacrifice after all.

And so, the Au Ra slides into the water not long before the attack is set to begin, using the radio chatter to monitor positions of allies and enemies. She's no submarine, but the stealthy ninja can keep even that quiet. No ninja tricks just yet, only a good forward-stroak, a good wetsuit, and very good eyes even underwater. Eventually, she'll come to a pause, lurking underwater as she awaits her prey.

Wo has posed:
    The somewhat unusual request had arrived to Iron Bottom Sound, not long ago. It was personally directed to this particular Wo-class, in this case; one of the more active Abyssals in multiversal affairs, as of late. Yet, there are precious few secrets among their kind, and word had spread quickly. Of course, as a loyal Confederate operative, as well, there would have been full cooperation in Yari's daring plan, regardless. Her further information during the planning phases, would have further reinforced Yari's intuitions. Hikari Sea Base is incredibly well-defended, and Nagato, a powerful Big Seven battleship herself, would be surrounded by others as strong, or in some cases even stronger. A full assault would be unnecessarily risky, and have a low chance for success.

    However, there were other options. The one that Yari and Wo had agreed upon was to lure them out, instead, using a show of force in waters nearby to the fleet daughters' staging area. To that end, no less than 3 Ru-class battleships, two of whom have a swirling, reddish aura about them, an elite Ne-class heavy cruiser (suspected in fleet files of being an Abyssal aviation cruiser), a Nu-class light carrier, and Wo-class herself, form a reasonably heavy attack force. Behind them is a Confederate-owned heavy transport ship -- outdated and slated for the scrap yard, anyway, it was decided an acceptable use for this operation. It is moving under its own power, to further enhance the illusion, though inside it has already been stripped of any truly sensitive technologies, should it become captured in the operation.

    In the here and now, the standard carrier gives a slight nod of her head, a subtle motion which pendulously sends her large hat of a flight deck into a heavier dip. "I under-stand," she says, seemingly leaving it at that. But before Yari submerges to properly begin her side of the operation, she adds one last thing, "...you are brave - to face her, a-lone. Good luck." She still remembers that Yari was among those that had recovered her, and she will do her best to repay her, even though no debt was owed. With that, the Abyssal fleet separates from where they had been shadowing in the radar profile of the now-unmarked, and to long range sensors, unaffiliated, transport ship. This has the effect of making their own radar signatures suddenly obvious. The Ru-class and Ne-class fire a few shells, but they are just to make the show more convincing from a distance.

    The air cover will wait until they see if the bait has been taken, and what the composition of the enemy will be.

Nagato has posed:
    The ceasefire for the holidays has been a peaceful time at Hikari Seaport, the Admiral able to get quite a few things done concerning Akashi and the equipment along with fleets prepping for the inevitable attack against the base. So while the base might be active, it's significantly understaffed than what was primarily needed. Twenty different expeditions out, a hundred and twenty girls in total away from the base already, leaving another thirty to fourty something waiting for activity.

    Ooyodo's manning the communications tower like usual this day, keeping track of all the fleets around like a naval traffic controller, the unmarked and unidentified vessel popping up on the base's radar gives the cruiser an odd look at the radar, "That's strange... that wasn't there a moment ago." then her eyes go wide... Abyssal markings showing up. Large contacts too.

    "Admiral! ADMIRAL!" comes the shouts from Ooyodo, "We have trouble, multiple Abyssal contacts bearing north by north west... they're advancing! Multiple battleships, a few cruisers and an aircraft carrier! It looks like the target's an unidentified transport!" Nagato frowns and bashes a hand into her desk, "Mutsu, Musashi. Take Kirishima, Haruna, Akagi and Kaga with you. Distract the fleet." she curses under her breath, moving to head out, Over the intercom, "Kagurazaka, you're with me. Launch bay seven."

    In the rush "All destroyers, man the turrets. Cruisers, get ready to surround the base. I'm heading out. We need to have a defensive perimiter just in case they decide to advance on us." she firmly steps on the launch pad. "Senkan Nagato... GOING!"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna is several kinds of panicked as she sprints to the launch bays. She'd come by Hikari for some extra practice with the destroyer gear, although she's taken to wearing her SDP fuku when visiting Hikari whether or not she plans to deploy - it *IS* her uniform where Hikari Sea Port is concerned, and she's still deeply honored that Nagato picked her for part of the first 'run' of the project.

But she's still learning, and she's well behind some of her 'sister' destroyers. She may be learning quickly, but - a real combat deployment ... ? Yuna isn't going to say 'no, I can't' openly but she's still worried.

And then there's the nature of the weaponry she'll be using. She's still used to having the level of control that the Matrix Divider gives her over how hard she hits an opponent - control that the cannons and torpedoes used by the kanmusu don't have. Elner had been talking to her about that just this morning ... now she has to deal with it for real.

Yuna reaches Launch Bay Seven, quickly saluting to whoever's on duty, and moves to her deployment lane as the kanji for 'Kagurazaka' come up on the lane's hanging sign. "Special Destroyer Kagurazaka, deploying!"

With those words, she steps onto the platform just beneath the water's surface, the kanji for 'Deploy' lighting up beneath her feet - and the bay's machinery revs up, equipping her with the destroyer loadout assigned to her and launching her onto the open water. Kagurazaka adjusts quickly to the conditions on the water, and forms up with Nagato, double-checking that she has everything she needs for the potential battle ahead.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari pauses, just before entering the water. She trusts Wo, even if she's always felt odd around a majority of the Abyssals. No, Wo is someone she trusts and likes. She snaps a watery salute.

"Duty can make the worst coward brave, Miss Wo. Good luck as well. Let's celebrate after this. Linh would like to meet you." Is that a promise? Could be.

While the ninja had certainly hoped to face the Admiral alone, the sight of another figure approaching alongside her isn't unexpected. And so, the ninja stalks the duo underwater for some time. When she realizes the pair are sticking together? A plan forms. She needs to get them apart, and make the fight against that unmarked 'supply ship' Wo is using all the more important. She gets on the radio.

"Miss Wo. It looks like she has an escort. I'll do what I can, but if you can send any interfereance against this second one, it'd help. Beginning assault! Contact!"

And so, the ninja...well, stays under water. Several handseals later, and magic flows through the water around her. The smallest of wind ninjutsu combines with quite a bit of water ninjutsu to turn the seas around Nagato dark and horrible, as if she'd been caught in a storm: the ninja trying to toss her about and have the sea itself lash out at her. But it's more a distraction, as she makes one more set of handseals.

Illusion magic would seek out the Admiral, to give her the sensation of being pulled under by seaweed. Of water filling her, and dragging her down into the depths should the ninjutsu work. To make her hesitate. To fill her with the fear of sinking once more.

Yari herself appears from beneath the waves, trying to use her pair of distractions to carve into Nagato's back with a poisoned kunai, seeking to stab into her heart even as she keeps an eye on Yuna! No attacks to the woman yet, aside from the suddenly stormy seas around them!

Wo has posed:
    Over the local communications, Wo overhears what Yari is encountering, before it can be seen on her end. A verbal confirmation is given, though few concrete promises, based on the radar returns now entering the Abyssal fleet's own views, in the extreme distance. Far enough that the contacts can't be confirmed, just yet, but worriesome if they become reality. "I'll do -- what I can," she vows. At this point, a timed charge borrowed from Yari Takane detonates aboard the uncrewed transport ship. It is shaped to blast away from any of the essential structure, so not damaging enough to sink it, but aiming to sell this as best they can. They have really made this side of things thorough. The battleships and cruiser pause in their shelling, then; saving the rest for what is to come, though to the responders, it might appear they have been noticed. Everything neatly folds into cohesion.

    "Ad-vance to meet, them," Wo directs, verbally even though she doesn't need to physically speak to her Abyssal sisters. Perhaps it is for the viewers at home. All of them that have the actual heads to do so pivot their eyes toward the Wo-class carrier, and give slight nods of their head. The Nu-class, seemingly little more than an overgrown flight deck with muscular arms and legs, instead gives an approving gargle. "...you," she addresses the Nu-class directly, "You will - remain, with me." Another buzzing gurgle. The three battleships and cruiser advance: The former are all tall, pale women dressed in black suits, their arms holstered in large gun batteries, and the latter, a more slender shape of a young woman in her late teens, some kind of symbiotic turret-creature attached to her abdomen. They appear to abandon their transport 'prey' and move on an intercept course. Yet, they stop short of entering Union and Fleet Daughter waters, for the time being.

    More daring are the aircraft, however. It is a coordinated launch; the Wo-class and Nu-class launch a wing of dive bombers and air superiority fighters, respectively. The sleek, shark-like shapes emerge from the gaping maw of both Wo's 'hat' and the Nu-class' main shell of a body. The whine of jet turbines is soon joined by scout planes catapulted from the arm apparatus of the Ru-class battleships, and a slightly different model is launched in quadruplicate by the Ne-class cruiser. The planes will still take some time to arrive, but they would be easily visible on radar already, along with that tell-tale, throaty turbine scream.

Nagato has posed:
    Meanwhile, the Heavy Support fleet's closing in with Akagi and Kaga launching Saiun and Ryuusei's to fill the sky with aerial support, determined not to let the advancing fleet get further than where they are. The two heavy battleships and the two fast Battleships sail in front of Carrier One just waiting for their chance to strike out at the Abyssals. It's rare that Nagato sends out the heavy fleet but with three enemy battleships on the way, she wasn't leaving anything to chance.

    Back over near Hikari, however, Nagato looks towards Kagurazaka, "There's a Wo-Class aircraft carrier in their fleet, Kagurazaka. The gun you have is capable of firing on enemy aircraft. Keep them busy." and as predicted, Nagato's radar bings, along with Kagurazaka, a tiny bing in stereo surround sound, getting closer and closer. "Mmm. I'm sorry for this trial by fire, Kagurazaka..."

    Then the ninjitsu.. "What in..." she wobbles just slightly, then the illusion magic hits the Admiral, causing Nagato's eyes to go wide, taking a few heavy breaths as she tries not to go into a panic... "Kagur..azaka..." she whispers, "Something.. something's going on, it's not right..." then the eyes shoot open at poisoned steel digging into her back, a sharp yowl of pain shoots out of the Battleships' mouth, hunching forth just a bit as sweat starts pouring down the Admiral's face... something was definately wrong here.

    Meanwhile, the small turrets at the back of Nagato's rigging turning to aim towards the ninja, but the turrets seem to jerk around just a bit before ejecting bullets rapidly towards her!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Unseeing of the illusion, Kagurazaka's biggest concern is the Abyssal air squadron on its approach. Yuna is somewhat familiar with what the Abyssals can do - she's fought them a few times, but only in the Marine Form of her more-accustomed Light Suit. "Looks like more than just the Wo-class," Kagurazaka observes. "Unless a Wo can launch a lot faster than I thought ..." She raises her twin-barreled cannon briefly, hesitating, then switches to the anti-aircraft machine gun.

The distraction works for a few moments, at least - not that Yuna would notice the illusion which has ensnared the Admiral. Nagato's whisper prompts Kagurazaka to look back at her, a worried look on the blonde idol's/warrior's face ... a look quickly replaced by alarm when Yari appears. From underwater.

There's nothing Kagurazaka can do to stop Yari from stabbing Nagato in the back; Nagato's already retaliating anyway, and the air units ARE a threat; Kagurazaka's attention shifts back to the Abyssal air strike force, anti-aircraft fire ripping across their formation from her machine gun emplacement - and a pair of shells from her main twin-barreled cannon sailing at the aircraft for additional good measure, before she wheels around and tries to maneuver for a better shot at Yari.

She's still splitting her attention between enemies, and it costs her; she nearly overbalances and capsizes before focusing on her feet and righting herself atop the water. She STILL can't get that shot at Yari, either ...

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
"Nnn! Understood!" Comes Yari's affirmation amidst the sounds of general wartime violence and attempted stabbing. The radio chatter gives her a decent idea of what's going on. That charge of hers is paying off, making the 'battle' seem all that much more real. But so much is riding on her ability to perform. Luckily she came more than equipped, but two Elites will be more than a challenge.

She might have to use 'that' to stay in the running. It will be a risk, but she's already willing to risk her life for this mission. The Abyssal fleet, and more importantly, Wo needs this threat out of their lives, or at least what passes for it.

Mental note: illusion magic works on kanmusu. Yari files that away just as she's literally twisting the knife in the Admiral's back. But her eyes widen as something more important comes to her attention.

This Ship Girl is not quite so easily felled, even from a sneak-attack to be proud of. Those guns wheel around at her, and Yari has just enough time to leap backwards and curl in to avoid having her head taken off by the shiply one's spray of turret-based bullets. Instead, they rake through her wetsuit to tear gouges of blood and flesh out of her sides, leaving awful bleeding wounds from the shots. Her backflip ends in a land on all of her limbs as she slides to a stop amidst the waves. The visible signs of magic keeping her afloat can be seen from her legs. Coughing, pain searing her mind, she only belatedly tosses a trio of shuriken with explosive tags attached at the Admiral.

"...I'm impressed. Most people die immediately from an attack such as that one. And still managing a counter-attack?" There's more than a little respect for the Admiral. That's about when those explosive tags go off as those shuriken seek out her legs, trying to injure her ability to move.

Yuna isn't forgotten either, as the woman wheels around, spitting her attention. Yari notes that stumbling, the hesitance, and with one final flick of a hand, sends something small and round at Yuna!

It's a slightly water-logged smoke bomb. The water keeps it from being fully effective, but a tiny cloud of smoke might make Yuna's shooting and stumbling all the worse! She very visibly tries to keep the Admiral between herself and Yuna, but that might just leave her open to more shots from Nagato!

Wo has posed:
    Perhaps in an underestimation of Nagato's escort, the dive bombers break off from the main flight, angling instead toward Yuna and Nagato's position. The air superiority fighters and scouts, however, remain firmly affixed to the heavy fleet Nagato had sortied. They ascend to a slightly higher ceiling than the bombers and scout planes of the fleet daughters, which are presumably less equipped for air-to-air combat. Regardless of their state, some capability remains (thanks, proficiency system), and a scout plane ahead of the formation pulls away as it bursts into flame. The fighters that remain on target fire upon the incoming aircraft, their vulcan cannons growling with fury as they rush into the formation, aiming to scatter them, if not shoot them down.

    The Nu-class gives a slightly confused gargle, which while not in any intelligible language, the Wo-class is able to respond to. "...all bombers?" Perhaps the fleet daughters simply felt that threatened, that they are not pulling any opening punches, even possibly giving up air superiority for the moment, for the sake of a heavier opening strike. With a lift of her command staff, and a meaningful gesture of her hand, she orders, "All ships -- anti-air fire." Audible clacks and clunks herald a loading of different shell types into the Abyssal's arsenals, and the Ru-class and Ne-class battleships and cruiser raise their secondary batteries, beginning to fill the sky with a cover of flak and other dangerous debris. It is going to be, in this atmosphere, difficult for the torpedo bombers to make their run -- but some do still slip under the cover. Smaller anti-air guns train on them, but once the torpedoes are already in the water, there isn't much to be done for it.

    Several miss wide to minute adjustments, but one of the red-wreathed Ru-class takes a solid strike to one of her legs, causing her to kneel forward in the water and seeming to lean against one of her gun 'gauntlets' for support. She isn't sunken yet, and is more determined than that, but she's fighting to stay afloat as much as she is against her fleet daughter counterparts, now. The Ne-class has a torpedo explode next to her, rather than a direct hit. The explosion is still enough to cause some of her already brittle-looking armor to splinter, but it's relatively light damage. Almost-suicidal-bomber opening, somewhat successful!? It's reduced the amount of shelling they can perform, anyway. And also it's focused their attention on survival, rather than long range shelling of their own. The advantage, for the time being, lies with Nagato's battleships. The Wo-class and Nu-class, further back, shift positions slightly to avoid the stragglers. Unlike those in front of the lines, damage is far more costly to them.

--

    Back at the dive bomber squadron, they arrive a little late to the party, as Yari has already made her first strike. In a way, it parallels Akagi and Kaga's strike, minus fighters coming to greet them. Instead, what they meet is the unusual sight of a single battleship and a destroyer escort. Unfortunately for them, the destroyer in particular seems modeled as an anti-aircraft platform. (Anti-air cut-in!?) With the combined bursts of Yuna's machine gun emplacements and main cannons contributing to filling the air with unfriendly shots, three of the five original dive bombers suffer devestating failures. One seems to mostly weather it, before sheets of that blackened steel rip off and it begins to smolder in flame. It loses enough airworthiness that it stalls and crashes into the water at full speed. The other two seem to receive fuel strikes, and all but explode and disintegrate into the air. That still leaves two, however, that survive with minimal damage. They angle one Abyssal bomb each, at Nagato and Yuna.

    Seeing somewhat through her plane's 'eyes', Wo-class frowns practically from over the horizon. "...it's one of - those. That I heard, a-bout." Even worse, it's that girl from a long time ago. She'd better not hug her again.

Nagato has posed:
    "Heavy anti air in main battlegroup. Kaga, Akagi, switch to dive bombers, launch the Reppu as well, clear the skies for air superiority!" comes Musashi's demand, "All battleships, Type One armor peircing load. Angle, fifteen degrees. Main guns, fire!" the loud rapport from thirty six barrels could be heard from miles and miles over the open ocean as white shells come barreling towards the enemy battlegroup. Meanwhile, the two carriers ready up more arrows, launching another wave, this time Suisei's fill the air along with Reppu to work on clearing the skies.

    ---

    Back at the Battleship with Destroyer Escort, the smoke bomb does a good job at obscuring the area, giving Nagato a hard time seeing her escort destroyer, much less the aircraft in the sky. Fortunately, explosions for the aircraft sound and she nods, turning around to face the ninjadragonthing, those shuriken hitting home on the legs, exploding to make the battleship stumble some in the water. If Yari was astute enough, she'd notice the boots Nagato wears are sinking a bit more into the water, just over the ankle now.

    "You.. are dealing with the member of the Big Seven, my armor isn't just for show nor is my constitution, destroyer." Nagato's face doesn't look too well, that poison still coursing through her, "You picked the wrong ship to mess with." the main cannons slowly turn to aim for Yari... a loading sound making a loud noise from the turrets. Nagato coughs a bit, trying to keep a bit of balance, the injuries to her legs and the poison messing with her some. Smaller turrets move to aim and start rattling off gunfire of their own before green shells are fired, exploding into a ton of shrapnel to keep the Au Ra on her toes.

    "Sink. Sink and be gone from your miserable existance!"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Kagurazaka brings her arm up to shield her face when the 'grenade' is tossed; fortunately it's just a smoke bomb, and the waterlogging means that the obscuring vapors don't spread as far as they were meant to ... but it's still enough to cut off her view of the assassin, and more importantly, of Nagato. "Please don't sink, Admiral," the blonde destroyer whispers as if praying.

Then she has to worry about *herself* not sinking, as one of the equipment fairies 'reminds her' that there are still radar signatures approaching in the air. Kagurazaka's attention snaps towards the dive bombers, and she fires a quick volley ... too late, as the bombs are already on their way. "No -- !!" Kagurazaka yelps, veering hard to starboard as she sprays more bullets at the bombers and the bombs alike. "Nagato, please, *MOVE*!!"

Wo's in no danger at all of getting hugged today, it seems ...

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The ninja stays the course, eyes narrowing as she notes the Admiral coming out of her illusion. But the strike's been made, and the air support comes in for both Yuna and Nagato! She's already leaping backwards to stay out of the blast radius, when Nagato offers her full attention!

The smaller turret blast goes by the ninja, Yari nimble as ever, staying low and swift as she ducks, dodges, and does small flips only to land in near-perfect sight of those main cannons. Yari's brave demeanor drops for a moment in pure terror, as that massive guns aim for her! It's a good opportunity for scything turret-fire to eat into her legs, more blood streaming down her wetsuit, and causing her to throw herself to the side. Nagato isn't weak by any stretch of the imagination. There's already bone showing in her right leg from the shrapnel blast.

"...It seems that way. You're definitely not weak. I've probably underestimated you, Admiral Nagato." Admits Yari in a rather humble manner.

"So I guess that means I can't hold anything back."

Yari comes to rest, abandoning defense for speed in handseals. Magic flares from her wounded body, flooding past Yuna and Nagato, and for a moment, the world changes. The trio are on a lake amidst a small valley, a tree full of sakura-petals raining upon it. The moon is high in the air, before it all fades away.

Yari's gaze hardens even as three columns of moonlight start to form amidst the small patch of water the trio have claimed as a battlefield. She reaches behind her, and pulls out...an umbrella? She rushes for Nagato, recklessly, suicidally! Everything is put into speed as she's a blurr of magic keeping her afloat and motion as her greatest ninjutsu settles behind her now. She doesn't draw the blade. Instead, she's leaping for the Admiral in an attempt to press the tip as close to her chest as Yari can manage.

And pulls the hidden trigger! BLAM! A shotgun round aimed straight for the chest of the well-armored destroyer!

"...I don't intend to 'sink'. I have too much scum to slay, too many people I love!" She adds at the last moment!

Yuna calls for Nagato to move. Yari checks the timing...and grins bitterly. Despite her earlier statements? She pulls something out from that wetsuit.

A series of pins attached to fishing line. Crude, but effective, as a good six grenades go off on the ninja's body as she finally tries to get up close to Nagato, only further adding smoke to the battlefield! And from within that smoke, one more kunai tossed at Yuna, another small white ball attached.

It's poison this time, the sort that tries to make limbs numb and slow reactions!

Wo has posed:
    At the heavy fleet brawl fest, the opening is a narrow window, at best. The Nu-class is already launching a second wave of fighters, to reinforce the ones already in the air. With a troubled gurgle, it expresses as much to the Wo-class, though she already has them on radar. "...I know," she confirms, "They have - strong, fight-ers." Though the numbers of air superiority fighters are uneven, in favor of the Abyssals, the fleet daughters indeed hold nothing back when it comes to possible base defense, or helping out troubled vessels this closer to their waters. The standard Abyssal fighters begin to have their numbers thinned in this show of force. This also means that the fighters are completely entangled in fighting against the reppuu; the bombers are left relatively unharassed. The main Abyssal surface force, those battleships and the cruiser, can't afford to spend more time with anti-air again, with in-bound shells.

    They accordingly complete the switch back to standard shells of their own, and trade fire with the fleet daughters' formation. The Ru-class battleships appear to take the brunt of things headed in their direction, being understandably, slightly slower and more ponderous in their motions than their Ne-class sister. Fortunately for them they have those enormous chunks of blackened steel, worn on either arm, each with suitably sized batteries that befit a battleship. Their empty eyes reflect only anger, especially the two that have that red flame coursing around their bodies. Several salvos are fired from all of them, including from that still-kneeling one, but aimed more at the fleet daughters' grouping. The incoming shells begin to splash down among their ranks, scattering their line, before the non-aura'd Ru-class is struck solidly by of the heavy shells. It essentially sheers off one entire arm, the resultant bone more akin to twisted, weathered metal than a proper skeleton, and leaks congealed, black fluid rather than blood. Gross. The dive bombers, mostly uncontested, also loose their weapons. The already injured two Ru-class battleships make prime targets, and are soon pockmarked by similar open 'wounds', freshly opened by the bombs. The ones they can't fend off with their turret emplacements, that is.

    The aircraft carriers aren't completely left out of the party, either. As they are further down range, they avoid most of the worst of it. The Wo-class however, has one shell that heads straight for her. Instinctively, she raises her staff against it and braces. The fractured piece of steel likely should have completely buckled from the armor penetration, but remains firm against it. Unfortunately, there is still the secondary explosion, which is less effectively blocked. The Nu-class gargles in alarm as she's momentarily consumed in an explosion, but she emerges from it, cut up and bruised, but mostly intact. "...ally, Yari," she calls over the radio. "--we will be, re-treating. Be-fore we take, heavier losses."

    Elsewhere, the surviving dive bombers climb away from their attack run, and begin to level off and climb away again from the suddenly, doubly preoccupied Yuna. Now that they aren't in a single-minded dive, they aren't nearly as easy to track, and make their way back to their home carrier. One that is thankfully still intact enough to receive them, for the moment. But if they stay much longer, that might not be the case forever. The Abyssals seem to be responding to an unheard signal of their own, the surviving fighters trying to break away from their engagements to the launching Nu-class. The battleships and Ne-class, the ones still able to fire shells that is, also begin moving away from the engagement line, still trading shells as they go.

Wo has posed:
    Addendum: It would also become clear, at this point, that the ship they were 'attacking' was in fact completely empty. A run of the profile in their databases would show that it was a Confederate transport that had been scheduled for disassembly and scrapping, this week.

Nagato has posed:
    "Nagato, please, *MOVE*!!" comes the voice from her harried destroyer escort, the resulting noise causes the Admiral to hesitate, look and lets out a sharp pained yelp under the explosion of the bomb's direct hit. Even more evident that Nagato's legs are slowly sinking into the water. She drops a bit and scowls at Yari. "Abyssal allied traitors..." she scoffs out, "You... you don't deserve to sail these waters, much less be on them any longer..."

    The mention of not holding back has the battleship on edge, the wash of magic causing Nagato to pull her arm up to her eyes and when they come to... a tree of Sakura and a high moon, then... nothing. The umbrella catches the battleship off guard... why is she rushing at her with it?! More turret fire comes from the secondaries towards Yari, trying to aim for vital spots but accuracy wasn't the best on these... not to mention the blurring magic.

    Then the shotgun blast rings out into her chest, ripping open a hole in her top and black, oil like blood seeping from the new wounds, and with more smoke being added to the battlefield... even with her escort she feels alone with this strange threat. The multiverse has not been kind to her this week, more so with this attempt on her life from a non-abyssal. Nagato lashes out, throwing a fist towards Yari... it's a haphazard attempt to steer the Au Ra away from her and into the line of reloading turrets.

    Over the radio, "Kagurazaka... retreat... I will not have you sink along with me. Don't worry... I'll. be fine." the noise of shells reloading... and another rapport, further adding smoke to obscure the battleship and sending the shrapnel shells towards Yari! "You, girl with the tail... you will not leave here. If I have to, I will drag you to the depths with me!"

    Meanwhile, back at the Heavy Fleet Fest...

    Fighters are tangled up with fighters as the Abyssal bombers slip past to make their attack run. "Kaga, they are gaining air superiority." "I know. Let's show them that us fleet carriers can take it back. Let's launch the Reppu Kai..." with a nod from the red carrier, more arrows are loosed to launch even more skilled planes.

    The battleships however, take the brunt of the shelling, splitting them up just a bit as bombers get near misses on them, knicking them before more turret fire can be sent the Abyssals way.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Fortunately for Kagurazaka, she manages to avoid the bomb that was addressed to her; Wo or her allies must have misspelled her name or something.

But the sound of the explosion coupled with Nagato's yelp tells the destroyer that Nagato didn't manage to dodge. And between that, the smoke, and her intensifying worry about Nagato's well-being, she almost ignores the sudden change in their surroundings.

Not that she ignores the sudden wave of magic; THAT is pretty evident, and it tears her attention towards what the magic does. That, in turn, is enough of a distraction that she doesn't notice the kunai until it's sunk between two ribs - and while the blade doesn't bite as deeply as it could, it's plenty for the poison (paralytic, soporific, whatever) to start coursing through her system. "Agh - !!"

Kagurazaka yanks the kunai back out, shaking her head to clear it. "Don't die, Admiral ... don't sink ... !"

The surroundings revert to the normal ocean off of Hikari Sea Port, and Kagurazaka gets her bearings as quickly as she can, taking stock of the situation in a hurry. Bombers are retreating, Nagato is obsessing over an enemy who isn't actually an Abyssal - but she doesn't seem to be mistaking Yari for one, so that's better than it could be. And Kagurazaka's not sure how steady her aim is going to be with her brain and limbs feeling sluggish.

She really, *REALLY* wants to help Nagato out ... but she also doesn't know what the Admiral has planned for scuttling Yari's plans, and trying to help could backfire, costing one or both of the girls their lives. And then there's that other problem that was crossing Yuna's mind before she rushed to deploy ...

She doesn't have the weapons she's most used to.

The Matrix Divider, while powerful, can control its output. But the cannons and guns and torpedoes of her Special Destroyer loadout only have one intensity, meant to destroy enemies outright. And while Yuna wants to help Nagato, she DOESN'T want to kill an enemy, whether she knows who that enemy is or not.

Nagato ordered her to retreat, and Kagurazaka does so - although the sound of a sob might float back to the two remaining combatants in her wake as Kagurazaka speeds back to the docks, her course wavering as she struggles to keep her head clear enough to navigate.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari frowns, noting the battle to be turning well into the Fleet Daughter's favor. The voice on the radio is clear, and Yari takes a breath.

"Understood, Ma'am. Retreat, minimize losses. I'll do what I can on my end. Good job today, Ladies. You Abyssals have more than earned your reputation. If I can't take her out, she's at least going to take severe damage." It's a promise to her Abyssal allies who have already suffered so much just to make this mission possible. Her voice is filled with respect and love for Wo and the Abyssal Fleet, as strange as that might come across.

Yari's eye narrows at Nagato! "Traitor? What are you talking about? I've never once been your ally. Always been with those strange girls. Don't your dare call me a traitor! I fight with my allies until the bitter end!" She hiss-growls back at Nagato in turn!

The ninja scowls after her blast doesn't seem enough to take out the Admiral, even as she wounds her horribly. She grins, then, as more shrapnel cuts into her, and then a simple fist to her face. She lands on the 'ground' of the water, skidding along, before leaping forward as those turrets lash out at her. Blood, bone, and far too many hisses of pain exit the ninja before her grenades she pulled the pins from finally cook off. She's already mortally wounded from such incautious attacks. Is this ninja trying to die!?

KABOOM!

"Go ahead. We're both soldiers. It's our duty to die for our friends, family, and our countries." Are seemingly her last words as grenades on her wetsuit explode, tearing her into three halves in bloody ragged shreds, and hopefully damaging her opponent. It seems that this ninja might well have decided to end her own, even as merciful as Yuna has been.

It's right around then that the resulting water flail and smoke on the battlefield has her ninjutsu solidify. From above, a trio of ninja descend upon Nagato, concealed umbrella-hilted swords trying to stab out from the smoke to hit as many vital parts as they can, falling upon the Admiral ruthlessly.

"...But like I said, I have too much to live for to just let one or two deaths kill me." Comes Yari amidst the three clones of herself, soul settled nicely into a new illusion-reality-body. Her 'real' body lay floating, torn to bits from cannonfire even as they let go of those swords. Swift handseals, and all three Yari-bodies draw breaths, aiming to flood the Admiral with a wall of fire-ninjutsu to try to burn her up! At least Kagurazaka is retreating, easing much of Yari's worries. Two on one is a little much for the ninja, after all! Still, she memorizes that particular 'shipgirl'. A dangerous opponent, the pair!

Wo has posed:
    The initial surge is not unlike some chi-slinging street fighters having a standoff, including a build-up over whose bullet is bigger and better. The reinforcements of the Nu-class' fighter wings can only do so much, especially tangling with the stronger variants of reppuu that are launched soon after. Their less obvious attempts at trying to disengage turn into an all out retreat. A few get shot down, exposing their 'tails' in the process, their blackened airframes trailing soot where they become damaged, before splash down. The Nu-class that had launched them growls in annoyance at this insult, but the damaged Wo-class' presence keeps it in line from attempting to go even further out. Instead, with hesitation, it opens its mouth to 'eat' the fighters, and return them to wherever Abyssal planes are stored between sorties. The dive bombers from earlier have already returned to Wo's hat's mouth, in similar fashion. No more aircraft are launched, instead both carriers aim to put some distance between themselves and the engagement, before submerging.

    The other surface ships, all in various stages of damage, gauge that they also have enough separation now to begin a full retreat. The two more heavily damaged Ru-class battleships are helped along, towed if you will, by their two more healthy sisters. Even Abyssals support one another, you know! It opens them up to more retaliation, the Ne-class -- now weighed down somewhat by this, getting struck in the shoulder and back. Her symbiotic turrets swing around of their own accord and hiss angrily, firing more cruiser-caliber, 8 inch shells. Despite the bluster, it is clear that they are in full retreat, now. If they manage to get far enough away from the harassing fighters, bombers and shells, they will also submerge to relative safety.

    On the plus side, it seems they have left the ship behind. It would be too costly to attempt to retrieve it. What isn't too costly, however, is their ally. Despite their submerging, the Abyssals don't completely withdraw, yet. Instead, the Wo-class observes as best she can through her sonar, the happenings with Yari, and what few snippets they can discern from the bursts of radio traffic. With a beckon, the Wo-class gestures at the Nu-class carrier, the vaguely hamburger-shaped Abyssal receiving the wordless order, and beginning to make its way toward where Nagato and Yari are still going at each other. Hopefully it won't be needed, but just in case... Thankfully, that weird destroyer is already retreating, so no worries about depth charges, as the black shape drifts closer.

Nagato has posed:
    "Traitor to those who find that there is still good in others." she scoffs back at Yari as the Battleship starts to move forth, only seeing the grenades too late. "I'm more than just a soldier, girl... I... am these girls protector." with Kagurazaka retreating as ordered, she briefly nods... the explosion from Yari's suicidal attack rip holes into her rigging, showing off various bits of ammo and maybe a scared fairy or two.

    Nagato stumbles back, heavy breaths as she's up to her shins in water. She was listing, leaning, but she wasn't out of the fight just yet... the keyword being yet. "Looks like I wo..ghrk!?" the sudden voice of Yari... "I saw you... explode..." she mutters, "YOu... you should be dead!" the concealed umbrella swords make even more holes in the Admiral's already damaged body, pained yells from each stab filling up the night and then... the fire.

    The ever so hot magical fire... but if she's going down, she's going to take them with her. Nagato angles herself a bit, the high explosive ammo that's exposed gets heated up by the engulfing flames, charring the metal of the rigging a soot black. The fairies abandon ship and start swimming towards shore... "Kawakami Style... Senkan Bakudan. (Battleship Bomb)" if she was going to explode... might as well make it a tribute to the one who did it first.

    The ammo fires off... and more... and more... the resulting heat finally cooks off all the ammo both armor peircing and high explosive ammo explodes into a ball of fire and shrapnel, turning Nagato into a living, six foot tall grenade. The shockwave of the explosion making a minor wave chase in all directions...

    Meanwhile, back at the Heavy Fleet, the group turns their heads towards the explosion... "Admiral..." comes Musashi's quiet voice. There's a fire in Musashi's eyes, "Make... them.. pay... All ships... FIRE!" Musashi rushes forth to eat the shells into her flesh, exploding and making pock marks upon it. "HOW DARE YOU!" Akagi and Kaga quietly put the bows and arrows away, slinking back... "Call a retreat. We have to go help Nagato..."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
"Their protector, nnn? Well. I can believe that much. Anyone less would be on their knees by now." Offers Yari. With every moment, she's coming to respect Nagato even more. Truly, she came unprepared for this woman.

But she's listing, she's falling into the deep.

Yari likes to talk far too much to her opponents. "Deception is a valuable skill in warfare, Admiral. I'd suggest learning, if you manage to live past today." She offers, flicking a hand in a salute as fire converages around the woman to turn her into a slag of metal and flesh.

But the Admiral is resilient, and then, she speaks words that have Yari's eyes going wide. Many times, in fact. All of her bodies react at once, and the now 'true' Yari leaps back even as her other clones leap in front. Even as that explosion cooks off, shredding one body into a red mist, shrapnel tearing into the second body so much that her head nearly comes off, attached by a shred as she slowly sinks to the waves, that painful experience of dying oh-so-slowly due to her wounds burning into her already exhausted true mind and spirit...Yari grits her teeth, and endures. One last ninjutsu from her dying clone has a wind-burst sending the real Yari off a good few meters from he explosion. She's still covered in enough shrapnel to make her arms useless, for only the smallest of gestures. The ninja grins, as she starts to sink down into the cold waters.

"Kawakami Style, huh? You really do make...weird...friends...Momo-sempai. Sorry. Guess I couldn't give you that last lunch..." There's mist in her eyes as she sinks, falling unconscious as her 'fake' bodies fall to mere moonlight-dust. Her 'real' body floats in jagged shards, even as her true body is scooped up into that Nu-class jaws, saving the horrifically bleeding and wounded ninja by a mere thread of life. Truly, the battle between ninja and Admiral has been costly on both sides.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Kagurazaka has not yet reached the docks when she hears Nagato exploding, and she breaks off from her RTB course, turning and coming to a halt as she looks to see what she left behind.

Other than her half-stifled cry on the radio, she is now *silent* ... and she pours on the speed, heading back to Nagato's position now that Yari is being carried away by one of the Abyssals. Along the way, the blonde destroyer considers a minor dilemma: if Nagato's still on fire when she gets there, she might have to shed her weaponry just to make sure it won't catch fire from trying to carry Nagato back to Hikari. Not that Kagurazaka wants to discard the equipment that others worked hard to make for her, but ...

Honestly? Weapons can be replaced, but the lives of her friends are irreplaceable, precious beyond any measure Yuna can imagine. There *IS* no question - she'd shed ALL of her equipment and just swim with her own arms and legs if that's what it took to get Nagato back safely to the port. With that desperation fueling her, Kagurazaka closes in on Nagato like a dolphin charging at a big juicy tuna, scooping her up bodily, and then heading for Hikari's docks as fast as she can go thus encumbered.

If Nagato's still on fire by that point, Kagurazaka just starts shedding her weapons along the way - and might do so anyway for the extra speed, mentally apologizing to the equipment fairies before detaching any part of her loadout.

Wo has posed:
    As long as it is left to its own, the Nu-class' only objective is to gobble up Yari Takane. Or at least, what of her that it can. Its large mouth, set into its large, bulbous body, swallows her whole, but thankfully it's relatively safe inside, and airtight as it once again submerges, single 'eye' of an exhaust port seeming to stare down Yuna as it does so. Nice and warm, all the comforts of home. Sadly, there is no in-cruise movie.

Nagato has posed:
    With the Abyssals retreating, it's full speed ahead to the explosion. Planes zip overhead, allied ones to Yuna's radar, and soon, six more figures come on the horizon. It's the Heavy Fleet. Yuna, however, is definately the first to arrive to see Nagato face down in the sea, still, floating just a bit. The fire seems to have subsided fortunately thanks to waves on the ocean but her gear, her rigging, is nowhere to be found. In her hand, clutches one of Yari's dismembered arms...

    When the main fleet arrives, they just surround Yuna wordlessly as Nagato's dragged along by the Special Division Destroyer. Nagato's quite heavy, but it's a slow... and fortunately harmless journey back to Hikari.