5442/AOH: Operation Hercules - Secure Pearl Harbor!

AOH: Operation Hercules - Secure Pearl Harbor!
Date of Scene:	13 August 2017
Location:	<AOH> Abyssal Pearl Harbor
Synopsis:	Operation Hercules proceeds, pushing into Pearl directly. The Dreadnought Water Demon awaits within.
Cast of Characters:	Midway, 571, Shigure, Gaonoir, Leyanne Mace, Wo, Nagato
Tinyplot:	Abyssal Operation Hydra

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Midway has posed:
    In the wake of the fierce battle outside of Pearl Harbor, night has fallen. The skies, once filled with the toothy white spheres of Abyssal new-type attack aircraft, are clear. Stars shine in one particular patch of sky, while the rest are obscured by the dense black clouds surrounding Oahu. Wreckage of destroyed Abyssal ships burns on the water's surface, amidst oil and other debris. On the shoreline, flanking the Harbor's entrance, are the two burning hulks of the shore batteries, destroyed and abandoned.

    Those who had to retreat have retreated. Now it is time for those who remain to press on, and for reinforcements to join the battle for Hawaii's largest island.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Reinfrocements come from out the portal. Alexis arrives sprinting, or skating more like, as she streaks across the water with her rig. And I do mean skating, she moves like an ice skater as she links up with Musashi. "OI, Musashi! Sorry I'm late, heard you could use some replacements!" She says, skidding to a stop beside the more experienced ship. "Where do you need me?"

Shigure has posed:
    Reinforcements have arrived. Establishing Battlefield Control. Standby.

    Shigure and Yamashiro sail into view over the horizon as the sun sets and night draws in. They're in formation, line abreast. They join up with the remaining first wave group and slot into formation, red and blue eyes scanning for targets, and Shigure's radar sweeping for threats. "We are head to reinforce the assault team." says Yamashiro, looking towards the others, her turrets sweeping into firing position.

Gaonoir has posed:
As soon as it was clear there was going to be no more immeadiate surprises from the Abyssal forces to clog up their arrival on the island Gaonoir had flown back to the Navy's carrier.

His was not a retreat but a retrieval, as when he returns to the staging point for the island assault it's with his Tamer carried under an arm. This was going to be putting Erika in danger, but it was unavoidable. He was going to need to additional strength she can give him.

Erika on the other hand was too excited at actually being a part of the next stage to be worried about her own being at risk. Which was admittably a typical issue with her, and part of the reason Gaonoir worried about when he had to do this.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
With the shelling around Leeroy over, for now, the mice on board are engaging in some emergency repairs. The boat slows to a halt and everyone but Leyanne and the driver head below deck, pulling out fresh planking or tubes of foul-smelling epoxy to seal the multitude of tiny splits in the wooden boat's hull. A team of two mice follow them around with tar-soaked rope, melting the tar to enhance the seal. It's not perfect, but the rest can be taken up by the Deltic engine and the boat's bilge pumps.

    Leyanne gives a damage report to the others, scanning the skies with her Bofors gun. They're a sitting duck like this...

Wo has posed:
'Arizona, we are here.' That's the gift of the light signal flashes briefly visible as another dark shape emerges from nearby waters, and quite suddenly, a very large radar signature appears, as something seemingly materializes from the corrupt waters themself. The shutters on the baleful mechanism close, causing a ghostly, pale blue light to fade, leaving whatever the shape is glowing with seams of orange-red. It's distinctly a carrier, with a gaping, mouth-like prominence on the bow, from which the flares of an infernal furnace cast a pale glow in the immediate area. The aesthetic definitely screams 'Abyssal' -- were they bamboozled!? Though the shape would be at least vaguely familiar to some, and the voice that comes from the radio aboard soon makes it clear that isn't the case.

    "This is Wo," she calls out. "Here to lend aerial and logistics support. My feelings on this are mixed, but what I've learned in the meantime makes it clear that no Abyssal belongs here." Though it was a long time ago, and she had once forgotten, this is still a place of significance to her.

    Without further delay, the elevators of the flight deck swing into operation, Wo herself supervising operations from the inky blackness of the bridge. Those close enough might see her golden eyes staring down from above. One by one, the distinctive aeroframes of Abyssal fighters, though in full scale, rise from the hangars below, slotting into position to take a ride on the catapult. "...go!" The first fighter literally screams off, sparks and flames rising where the steam of a normal aircraft catapult might be, and then the jet whine turns into a throaty roar as they climb into the skies, to begin their sortie.

Nagato has posed:
    Musashi spent most of the time after that last bout tending to Atago, Nagato's secretary ship. How was she going to explain this to her commander?! There's a fire in the battleship's belly, the Abyssals have to pay for this, there's no more... no more sinking, no more damaging for her allies. There's a slam of her fist upon the carrier's inside... and a third ship jumps. Akashi. "Musashi... calm down. The Admiral will be here soon.. we just have to hold out ok?"

    "I know that, Akashi! I know... but our failure is Hers too, I mean, look at Atago..." Musashi's fist curls up again... "I'm going out, I'm going to make them pay for this.." Akashi nods a bit and moves to start patching the Heavy Cruiser up. "Be careful, Musashi.. we can't afford to lose you as well as Atago." The door slams as Musashi exits, and Akashi winces... "One of the prides of the navy..." Akashi looks towards Atago, "Don't worry about her. She just cares."

    Back on the ocean, Musashi floats silently, sailing close to the Abyssal Carrier, a familiar feeling coming from it and when Wo makes herself known, she gives a bit of a nod. "Wo-Class... let's end this with them." a cough, "Attention fleet! We're in night battle now. Radars ready, sonars ready... let's make sure we avoid abyssal submarines and focus on bombing the shore. We shall recover this sacred place for the good of all!"

Midway has posed:
    There's no opposition left, and so entry to the Harbor is unobstructed. The characteristic channel is wide enough for large warships, and yet the rising mountains on either side can give it a kind of claustrophobic feel, when passing through in the dark like this. The air is still and the island itself is silent. As the fleet approaches the harbor itself, that's when it begins.

    A sudden, unmistakable clash of metal slamming against metal. After a pause, it happens again. And again. A repeated, steady crashing that echoes through the darkness.

    Rounding the last headland into Pearl itself grants a view of the stripped-down base and airfield. The burned out hulks of destroyed ships are gone, since the last visit. Tucked away to the side is a pristine white building stretching out over the water, untouched, the waters around it clear. The sky above is likewise clear, and the circle around the structure is bathed in starlight.

    On Ford Island in the center, a factory-like building belches black smoke into the sky, from furnaces that burn ceaselessly inside somewhere.

    Standing on the water in front of the abyssal foundry is a single figure. A woman in a tattered black uniform, wearing a garrison cap. Her eyes are concealed behind a slitted visor, like a knight's, though the violet glow is unmistakable. Equally unmistakable is the metal armor on her legs, hips, and sides. And the massive, cannon-laden shields she carries in either hand. One is raised, then brought down, crashing against its mate in a show of sparks, replicating that sound. No, the source of it.

    War drums.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka narrows her eyes as she stares at the sight ahead of them. That darkness gives way to reveal a new force, Dreadnought class. These shipgirls would be a difficult target for most people, but Maaka's seen what they're capable of. Which is why she just cocks her machine gun and begins to head toward the Drummer. "You want drums, I'll give you more drumming than you bargained for." She hisses, and fires the first shot of the night, firing off a burst of machine gun fire at the Dreadnought. While she opens fire, she makes for an erratic skating pattern, moving left and right to make for a difficult target to engage.

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure looks between the battleships, her hairflaps raised straight up, little sparks arching between them as she scans with her radar. One hand is lifted to her ear as she listens on Sonar too. "Battleship on radar. Bearing north... It's Dreadnought."

    And then the drums start. Yamashiro rounds the headland, and her red eyes flare in the darkness. "Teki kantai hakken! Housen, youi shite!" (Enemy fleet sighted! Prepare for battle!) she calls, deploying her turrets into firing position, then launching a broadside straight at Dreadnought. She's got unfinished business with this one.

Wo has posed:
Surface and air radars aboard the flat top flare to life on Musashi's mark. Based as they are around Abyssal technology, the sort of beam forming and even the active sorts of radiation are somewhat 'wrong', but it would still be easily detected to those with their own radars or extreme senses. The fighters, serving as scouts at the moment, as well as the active scanning seem to confirm what appeared to be the case from a distance; the immediate area looks clear of hostiles, if a bit desolate. The terrain does provide some cover from attacks from the flank, but as the larger ships on the water would be squeezed somewhat, if there's something waiting at the end of the inlet, it might make gunners' life a bit more difficult. Not to mention, give said enemy a target rich field.

    And there's that sound, which indicates, even before radars and sight lines confirm, that they aren't alone here. The phantom search light from earlier switches back on, casting a pale blue, but surprisingly intense, circle of illumination on areas of interest. It doesn't seem anyone is manually controlling it, though it can seem a little skittish, from how it glances around. Wo, herself, remains outwardly a cold customer, but the hat on her head draws its tentacles up to its 'cheeks' in a silent expression of anxiety. "I know," she utters. "Just keep watching." In the end, the search light isn't necessary though. Their enemy has come to meet them, and is directly barring the path. That certainly makes things easy, maybe 'too' easy.

    The fighters from before move to fly overhead the Dreadnought that was called out, though they don't attack; all scale considerations aside, their guns would be laughed off. The most they try to do is watch the skies to detect, and contain, any threats that might try to interfere. Instead, the projection of offensive power comes from a second wave of aircraft, fairly similar in shape to the first, though in place of the heavy minigun, these have much lighter wing-mounted machine guns, but a prominent torpedo latched onto the belly. It's quite an odd contrast, as aside from the weird biomechanic look, these are clearly modern jet aircraft, which are opting for such an old-fashioned attack. One after another, like the fighters before, they climb into the sky and fly toward the battlefield.

    The Abyssal fleet is full of these kinds of contradictions. They are creatures of their origin. As for Wo, herself, she keeps her carrier body on a cruising course and speed, as the higher speed ships and Elites among them scramble.

Gaonoir has posed:
The scene that greets their arrival is all that Gaonoir needs to see to reassure that he was right in holding back some of his strength from the first fight. Because they were going to definately need it now.

"Wow, that's right out of some dystopian industrial nightmare." Erika holds up her smartphone-like device to try and take a few pics of the factory, but the other monsterous form is standing in the way of most of it. "Ugh, I hate photobombers."

Gaonoir resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Erika, now the time is to focus."

"Oh.. oh! Right!" Erika flips the device back over the other way. "Time to make it better for you to take out this oceanic trash." Her ability to pose is limited held in the digimon's arms, but she still manages some basic arm motioning before holding the digivice up. "Ultimate Digivolution, EXECUTE!" The digivice glows brightly at first, but the energy quickly turns to dark shades of grey and purple as it spews out of the device and wraps around them and coalesing into Gaonoir's body. Every bit of his code is infused with the greater power, even helping to relieve some of the injury he had taken in the first stage of the seige.

"Gaonoir, Ultimate Digivolve to..." And then the aura seems to shatter, bursting away to reveal the taller, bulkier armored form in its wake, with Erika now sitting on one of his shoulders instead. Dark colored cape billows out behind him as he hovers, eyes narrow towards the towering monster from behind the visor. "Umbra Gaogamon."

Leyanne Mace has posed:
The PT boat begins to move again, still trailing white smoke from the damaged engine and a thin stream of blue-black diesel smoke from the secondary engine. The crew return to their deck postings, the two men who had been manning the side guns now moving to assist the exocet gunners.

    Leeroy suddenly cuts a course diagonally towards the Dreadnaught, two burly mice hastily chalking 'NO HARD FEELINGS!' onto the first torpedo, and 'WE'LL STILL GIVE YOU A BEER' onto the next. The two torpedo tubes are dogged shut and a signal given, before with a hiss of compressed gas, the PT boat, for the first time since being rebuilt, launches a pair of torpedoes.

    As soon as the torpedoes are in the water, Leeroy banks away.

Midway has posed:
    "Japanese battleship!" Dreadnought calls out when she recognizes Yamashiro. Her shields slam together once more and remain that way, scattering the incoming shell-fire in a series of sparks and ricocheting ammunition. Lowering her shields slightly, her eyes flick to Umbra Gaogamon's transformation, and the Leeroy scuttling to the side. The aircraft overhead, and Musashi rounding the headland into the harbor behind them. Her lips split into a grin, "And you brought more friends! Exhiliarating!"

    Straightening her posture, Dreadnought raises her voice, "I am the Dreadnought Water Demon! Tonight we shall duel as true warships! Even those of you who lack the distinction shall know my fury!" Shields raise, then clash together, "Even if I fall this night, tell my story! For I would do the same for you!"

    One of her shields is slammed down, burying the end into the water. This is what Leeroy's torpedo strikes, surrounding the Demon in a geyser of seawater. From within the spray, there's a series of explosions, and artillery shells erupt from the sides of the water plume towards Gaonoir, Yamashiro, Maaka, and Shigure.

    Dreadnought's figure bursts from the side, skating sideways across the harbor's surface. The smaller secondary cannons on the sides of her shields swivel out on their casemates, launching smaller caliber shells after the fleeing Leeroy or else pelting the two destroyers.

    From the sky, Wo's aircraft have a good view of the harbor. The battle as it begins, marked with flashes of flames as gunfire is exchanged, and the starlit circle around the Arizona Memorial-- even in the dark, Wo's planes can make out the shape of the legendary sunken warship beneath the surface. And then something curious happens.

    A tiny plane, so dark it's hard to make out against the cloudy night sky, dips close to one of Wo's scouting fighters. Bits of flame pour from the supercharger exhaust, to keep up with the larger jet aircraft, and a tiny face squishes up against the cockpit glass, squinting with tiny black button eyes. It can't be easily identified in the dark, but it doesn't look like one of the Battleships' seaplanes, there's no shape in the silhouette to suggest pontoons. And none of the carriers can fight at night except the Wo class... and Wo's Wildcat fairy is already present and accounted for.

    Who IS this?

Shigure has posed:
    Yamashiro turns, presenting the flat tops of her turret caps to the incoming return fire, angled to deflect the incoming shells. Shigure breaks formation, and starts beelining for the unsullied bastion that is Arizona's resting place. She uses her speed and maneuverability to dodge the shells coming her way, keeping her weapons safe for now.

    Shigure has other intentions. Once she comes close enough, she begins to sing, soft and melodious and in /ENGLISH/ with a distinct accent but clearly understandable.

    "Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light
    What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
    Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
    O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
    And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
    Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
    Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave
    O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

    What is she even trying to do?

    Yamashiro doesn't just take the return shots. She breaks out of the plumes of deflected shells as they crash into the water, and breaks off at a run, the turret caps resounding as they reload. "Shuhou, yoku neratte?? tte!"(Main battery, aim on bearing. FIRE!") The eight barrels report in sequence again, Yamashiro's red eyes glowing bright in the darkness, matching those of the Abyssals themselves.

Nagato has posed:
    At least one responded to Musashi... everyone else seem to be battle thirsty... "Mmm, Sendai would love to Yasen with them." she comments, shaking her head as guns aim... She breaks off from Wo, the fact she can still launch aircraft at night was a major boon to this operation. "Fire!" she shouts, the loud bang of her guns let sail AP Shells towards Dreadnought Water Demon! "We shall duel and we shall win! The words we will say will be of your defeat!" comes her terse words.

    There's a pause in Musashi's shelling, one turret still loaded. She kicks off and skates directly towards Dreadnought, aiming with that last gun... the barrels lower as she closes distance before... she fires... and then launches herself out of the water, fist at the ready to try and meet with the Dreadnought's own gauntlets. "Shall we dance!?"

Gaonoir has posed:
The eyes behind the visor narrow a bit more as the Dreadnought gets a little hammy before starting to actually attack. "Mmm. This one at least has some personality."

Erika waves from Gaonoir's shoulder. "Don't worry Miss Dreadnought!" With the other hand she's using the camera function on her D-PORT to snap a few shots. Then points at it with a finger. "Pictures are worth a thousand words, so there's plenty of story to te--oh no, shells!"

In contrast to her excitability Umbra Gaogamon is as composed under fire as one would expect of an experienced ultimate warrior. He raises one arm and his cloak flares behind the Dark Beast Knight as he makes the gesture, the warclaws extending from the his heavy vambraces, blades glowing as if under a blacklight. "Umbra Cutter." A sweeping motion with the arm releases the energy from the blades, sending a shower of crescent blades slicing through the air to intercept as many of the shells as possible. Literally cutting them down out of the sky.

Afterwards he clenches fists to his sides, refocusing his gaze on the Dreadnought... but a bit of a smirk forms on his wolfish expression as well. "Then be a dear and be sure to give us a glorious tale to tell!"

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leeroy swerves to try and avoid some of the smaller-calibre shells but he takes a few hits just the same, shrapnel splintering his fragile wooden hull and punishing hte poor little boat further. Leyanne points over towards Big A's resting place and the driver pours on the power, one of the mice in the wheelhouse frantically searching through the tapes while Leyanne attempts to keep any Abyssals off Shigure.

    The large piebald part-rat-seeming Exocet gunner joins in the song with a thick, heavy Russian accent. A few of the other mice on board the PT boat also sing along, with American accents, their voices a little shaken by the boat's bouncing over the water. Even with Leyanne's help, they really can't hold a tune...

Wo has posed:
The absolute concentration on the battlefield is important. And yet, things can sometimes happen that break even the most intense battle meditation. The fighters are in something of a holding pattern as they form their air screen, which also makes them slightly more approachable by a conventional aircraft. Detecting the interloper, and broadcasting a black and white, low definition image of the fairy's face pressed up against cockpit glass, button eyes staring out, such a circumstance befalls the Wo-class carrier. As the last of the torpedo bombers has left, the characteristic buzzing of one of the fighters in her mind alerts her to its findings. ...what on Earth? "...you're certain?" She radios her immediately curious message over the local channel, and issues the command.

    Accordingly, one of the fighters breaks formation, indeed pulling back on the throttle as much as it can. In the process, it also spontaneously shrinks in size to be more the human-sized Abyssal standard, and accordingly on a similar scale as this unknown aircraft. It wiggles its wings indicatively toward the unfamiliar fairy pilot, pulling up alongside, and then moving forward in an apparent bid to escort her back to the mothership. From underneath the edge of Wo's cape, another fairy emerges. "You're going to go see what's happening, right? Not that I could really stop you." 'She's a willful one, my kind of gal,' comes that everpresent 'other' inhabiting Wo's mind. 'Shouldn't we be cruising to the front line? Can't let the surface gunners have all the fun.'

    "...after whatever fairy that is is aboard and safe, I'll let you go crazy just this once." Maybe it'll even help draw some of the fire which is beginning to erupt on the front lines. Out ahead, the torpedo bombers that had taken off before slip low, flying perhaps 5 meters off the surface at their lowest, enough that the wash from their turbines is visible. This does expose them to the Dreadnought's retaliation -- you do have anti-air guns, right!? -- though they hold into this attack pattern until they're in striking range, and then drop their payloads into the water, the torpedoes streaking off, before any survivors pull up. "Friendly torpedoes deployed, on this mark and vector."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Alexis watches the machine gun's rounds bounce off the Dreadnought's armor. "...fuck." Artillery shells land towards her, and she begins to dodge faster, trying not to get hit. She does, however, get caught in the blast as she's knocked off course. "FUCK!" She bounces like a thrown stone across the ocean, before she tries to get her rig back on.

    It's then that Maaka sees Shigure begin to...sing? "...eh?" Her eyes widen, and she looks on with befuddlement.

    "Screw this." She can't sing, but she can definitely fight. She charges at the Dreadnought, launching a torpedo towards the Abyssal.

Midway has posed:
    "Tch!" Dreadnought clenches her teeth when she digs a heel in, bringing herself to a sudden stop. She brings a shield up to protect herself from Yamashiro's salvo, shells sparking off to either side. One manages to penetrate, and the middle turret of the three on Dreadnought's right shield erupts with a jet of flames that is quickly extinguished. Shifting, she angles her shield further, Musashi's heavier-caliber ammunition digging furrows in blackened, tarnished armor. She meets Musashi's charge with this same shield, thrusting back against it with a grunt while keeping it angled. In this way, she puts Musashi's own energy to use, hurling the speeding battleship up and over herself rather than try to counter all of that energy.

    "Experience, youngster! You'll learn to appreciate it!"

    In the maneuver, Dreadnought spins around in the water, which brings her other shield's cannons to bear. Two shots are hurled Gaonoir's way, followed by a fan of smaller caliber shells from her secondary guns. Her shields are brought forward again, the Umbra Cutter's blades carving into tarnished black armor before sailing past her. Her secondaries light up again, scattering more small-caliber artillery after Shigure and Maaka, though she's lost track of Leeroy.

    Dual-purpose emplacements swivel around, elevating to engage the sudden arrival of aircraft too-late to pose a threat to them. With a growl, she kicks off from her stationary position, swinging into her turn to minimize her profile even as a torpedo explodes to her side, "Air power in the dark, eh..."

    In the sky, when the abyssal fighter reduces itself in size and tries to coax the unknown plane in, the fairy face in the window shakes its head and disappears. The plane's wings waggle in return, then it banks into a sharp dive. In doing so, it reveals four more identical silhouettes, all diving to join it. Dauntless in the face of Dreadnought's anti-air battery that now knows to watch for targets, the squadron dives, then pulls out, their ordnance exploding across Dreadnought's shields and in the water around her moments later while the little planes soar off, one trailing a misty cloud from an oil leak.

    As Shigure and the Mice sing, a figure rises from the water near the Memorial, holding her hands out. She directly interposes herself in front of the PT Boat such that it has little choice but to run right into her, and she digs her heels in, slowing the boat down while her body resolves to that of a human woman in a khaki uniform, garrison cap askew amidst brown hair. Leaning over the Leeroy's gunwale, she hisses, "For the love of GOD! Stop that horrific noise, you crazy mouse-people!" Straightening, she peers over the ship to the soft-spoken destroyer some distance further away, "At least she can carry a tune without a bucket!"

Leyanne Mace has posed:
There's a big rooster-tale from the back of the PT boat as the driver attempts to prevent Leeroy from impacting the Arizona. The boat even slews to one side, trying to avoid hitting her, but alas, Sir Isaac says no, and so the wooden boat crunches into the figure.

    "Ooohhhh shit shit BRAKES BRAKES!" Leyanne cries out, instinctively grabbing hold of her seat. At her 'request', Leyanne blinks, sheepishly. "Uh... oh.... hey Vostok, Thud, Conrod, stick a sock in it, eh? I don't think the lady likes our singing. We, uh... we were tryina' show respect, miss Arizona." She shifts in her seat. "Sorry."

    The mice trail off sheepishly.

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure draws her song to a close, looking at Arizona with a soft smile. "I apologize for the intrusion Lady Arizona, but I wish to humbly ask for your aid in clearing the Abyssals from this island." her words soft, but carrying even over the distant din of battle.

    At least until the shells from Dreadnought slam into the water around her, one scoring straight through her backpack rigging and emerging through the other side, leaving a large, oil-soaked hole in her midsection. She lets out a surprised GRK, as the Number 2 magazine detonates and sends half her backpack rig spinning off into the bay, and the Destroyer sprawling into the water.

    Yamashiro continues to close, pumping out Secondary fire from the mounts that swivel out from her main batteries. The main eight barrels firing a steady staccato of 14inch shells. "Let me show you experience then, Dreadnought!" she says firmly, moving to intercept the other Battleship and grab onto one of those shields, attempting to leverage it up, and dip down to sweep legs and hurl Dreadnought up and over in one motion.

Gaonoir has posed:
By this point Erika is practically clinging to Gaonoir's neck and shoulders. "We need to do something to cut down her options!" She pauses, resisting the urge to let go with a hand to adjust her glasses as nerds tend to do as she remembers the warclaws. "Not necessarily literally."

"Noted," rumbles the Ultimate Digimon as Dreadnought turns to open fire in their direction again. The cloak flares again, this time as he draws on the shadowy energies stored within it. Followed by a swell of water backwashing fromt he surface as he abruptly takes off. Directly into the barrage it seems.

"MIDNIGHT STALKER"

Dozens of mirror shadows of himself appear, hurtling ahead into the fray. Most of them are just soaking up the shells, disappearing in a burst of black and purple motes when they dissolve from the impacts.

Out of the cascade of exploding shadows the real Ultra Gaogamon emerges, aiming to rip his claws into one of the Dreadnought's gun batteries and take out some of her proverbial fangs.

Nagato has posed:
    A hit... then suddenly that shield takes her momentum and uses it against Musashi, throwing her /over/ the Dreadnought! Musashi gets this strange look in her face, a look of surprise at being upended so easiliy, it remains as she lands into the water, taking an unintentional swimming lesson, popping back up behind the Dreadnought. "I have to say, that's the most unique thing I've seen you Abyssals do." she shakes her head, dripping water everywhere... And there's Yamashiro coming in to suplex the Dreadnought...

    Maybe she'll do better. For now, the new ship that comes into play, Arizona, catches the battleship's attention... "Is... that a new kanmusu?" she questions, sailing slowly, keeping guns trained at Dreadnought. "If you're on our side, we thank you for showing up."

Wo has posed:
That's right. In this era of radar and instrument flying, there is no reason to keep aircraft raids to being a strictly daytime affair! Plus the Wo-class has been a flagship for a longtime, she's quite familiar with the workings. The torpedo bombers climb away, no longer an immediate threat to Dreadnought, or anyone else, now that they're emptied out. The fighter wing, having covered both them and, by chance, the wing of Dauntless, also breaks off to escort them back before a fresh wave can be launched. Sadly, the Dauntless come back, as well, but friendly gestures were exchanged, so whatever the source, it doesn't seem that it will be a problem. The Wildcat fairy will stand on the deck and look somewhat disappointed, but also accepting and brave, as the winds and blasts of distant explosions rattle things.

    "SBDs, huh." Wo was, of course, familiar. She uses them in her other...configuration, as well. But then the slightly(*) annoyed voice chimes in over the frequencies, and the presence of a being fitting a description from Agent Yari, all that time ago, makes itself known. Then, going by everything they know, that has to be... This is becoming increasingly interesting, though also a little sad. And despite knowing what she does, the humanoid carrier still isn't certain why that is. They have a battle to focus on for the moment, however, and she can sort out those complicated feelings later.

    Wo made a promise, though, to someone else even closer. And, as the fairy from earlier had refused the escort to come meet, it seems it's her turn to hold up her end. The red-hot welded hull of her carrier body groans and creaks as it picks up steam, and the embers burning inside its maw seem to glow a bit hotter as it does so. It's usual for a carrier to hang back in a battle like this, so that it can support from afar, but now it seems it's headed for a front row seat. From the extremes of their range, the 5 inch guns aboard train and fire between openings afforded by those that are battling closer in. With so much close quarters combat, though, the timing is tricky. If something goes bad...blame Hornet! Wait, that's not a good motto.

    All the while, the next wave of fighters is preparing and launching, to resecure the skies. Please wait warmly.

Midway has posed:
    "I appreciate it, but please, just fly a flag or something," Arizona quips to the Biker Mice on a PT Boat. She releases the boat and slides aside on the water's surface, eyes shifting to Shigure. Before she can answer, the destroyer is taken out, prompting a flinch. She kicks off, skating to a stop beside where Shigure's come to rest, crouching down to scoop up the damaged destroyer. Reversing, she closes distance back to Leeroy, holding her up for the Mice to pull aboard, "Gentle now."

    Hands free, she addresses Musashi over her shoulder, "Doesn't seem like I have a choice, does it?" A hand raises, and she tightens her glove meaningfully, "Give me a second, though, I don't have any guns so I'll need an opening."

    The wing of dive bombers have disappeared from whence they came, even vanishing off radar, like little ghosts. Where they are, who knows? Even their retreat path wasn't entirely clear.

    But the shipgirl they dive-bombed is still very much in the Harbor, fires burning on her shields and highlighting her face. In all this madness and violence, she's smiling. When Yamashiro grabs on to her shield, she simply releases it, allowing the battleship to have the weapon. She brings her second shield up, however, thrusting the edge towards her midsection and discharging her three main battery turrets in the same action, "Show me, then, Japanese Battleship!"

    Dreadnought's secondary guns light up, firing rounds at the 'shadow' Ultra Gaogamon copies to no effect. Her eyes dart aside, and she wrenches her shield back to use it defensively again. Claws chop into the shield, severing one of her gun barrels and mangling another gunhouse completely. Digging her heels in, she shoves back against her shield, then swipes with it in a backhand towards the Digimon.

    The torpedo Maaka had launched earlier explodes behind her, staggering Dreadnought. Even she's starting to see the futility of fighting so many foes at once... but it's the principle of the thing. Is she even mentally capable of retreat at this point?

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leeroy is about to surge off in support of Arizona when she scates back with Shigure. THe big Russian piebald blinks at her a moment, gormlessly, before what the shipgirl says sinks in, especially the caution to be gentle. He nods, bellowing a pidgin of Russian and English to spur his comrades into action. Leyanne's first off her post, sprinting the length of the boat to help her comrade bring Shigure on board.

    Leyanne begins to bandage any wounds she finds at this point, the piebald mouse taking his fluffy hat off for her to use as a pillow. "Don't vorry." He rumbles, brushing her hair away from her face. "You're vith friends."

Shigure has posed:
    Yamashiro wasn't entirely expecting the release, but she uses the momentum from the attempted flip to turn 360, and bring Dreadnought's own shield into position to absorb the point blank shots. Once it's served its purpose, she releases it to plunk into the harbour, gathering herself and with another round of reports from her guns... blanks this time, launches herself forwards, aiming a palm strike up into Dreadnought's midsection, then another series of palm and elbow strikes to take advantage of her off-balance state after attacking Gaonoir.

    Shigure is feebly trying to get back to her feet when Arizona scoops her up. Black oil leaks from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes, while open, don't seem to focus. "I'm sorry... I've been a burden to everyone..." Her voice, soft and hoarse, is barely above a whisper, even as the Mice aboard the PT boat apply triage. "Admiral... Everyone... Goodbye."

    Her eyes slip closed, but she's not in much danger of sinking, unless Leeroy does.

Gaonoir has posed:
There is the resounding clash of metal slamming into metal as the massive shield plows into Gaonoir with no more than a swing of the Water Demon's arm. His Dark Digitron armor takes the impact, but fractures start to crack its surface in a few places. The damage is visible as he tumbles into the air from the blow, before restablizing himself. "Erika are you okay."

"A little shaken up." Erika brushes some stray hairs out of her face. "But don't worry about that." She grips the Digivice tightly in her other hand, while regrabbing the collar of his armor to brace herself. "Keep up the assault! If she wants a story to tell, give it to her!" She was getting into this. Maybe a little too much.

"Heh." But her being spirited was good. That was what gave him strength. "Lets show her how it's really done." A burst of force shoots him farther up into the air before he stops. Fists clench beneath the vambraces, but the claws retract as he focuses his strength elsewhere. "Lunar" His eyes flash, as does the digital hazard emblem on the front of his chest armor as it opens like a pair of jaws. "... Eclipse..." Motes of purple and grey energy swirl in a dark miasma as energy is drawn inward, collecting within the 'mouth' as it spreads wide.

"CANNOOOOOOON!" In contrast to the flatly spoken words the final command is practically a howl as that torrent of energy erupts back out of the apeture. A massive purple beam of energy drawn directly from the Dark Digitron spews out, evaporating the surface of the water where it initial strikes, before slicing its way towards Dreadnought Water Demon. Even if one of those shields gets in the way he'll hopefully be able to inflict some heafty damage to her defenses so the others can keep working away at the Demon.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Alexis is quick to help Shigure back to the boat. "You're not a burden, stop with that shit." She whispers, helping the mice bring her aboard. She then takes off, returning to the melee as she opens fire on the Dreadnought once more. They know she's reeling, so now is a good time to keep hitting her until she breaks completely.

Wo has posed:
Before the fighters can pursue, even if they wanted to, the Dauntless have already left the area. Nuts. It seems that wherever they came from will have to remain a mystery, for the time being. More importantly, Wo finally takes control back of the carrier itself from her Hornet side, so that she'll stop shelling. "Even this close, it's too dangerous with our allies in melee range." There's an internalized, resigned sigh. CV-8 knows she can't win that argument, but has another idea. 'How about we use 'that', then?' "...that does have an odd poetry to it. And it wouldn't be as dangerous to Yamashiro and Musashi."

    Whatever agreement they came to, the evidence of it soon materializes on the pitch black flight deck. Rather than arriving on the elevators, though, they appear spontaneously in motes of light, the scale making them look on the larger end of model aircraft, like a fleet daughter's standard equipment. Twin engines on both hum to life, powering propellors, as the miniature B-25Bs taxi into place. They do not make use of the catapults; rather, the length of the flight deck is the only benefit they receive. The carrier makes a turn into the wind, and as they take off, even at this scale, it's harrowing; a steep drop off the end, before they finally gain enough air speed to climb on their own. Every so often, the bulbous head of one of the fairy crew can be seen to look out, all of them with expressions fixed with intensity and duty.

    Time to see how a Dreadnought responds to medium bombers. One of the bombs might have 'Shigure's Revenge' scribbled on it in chalk. Or maybe not. As soon as the bombers are in range, the fairy bombardiers move to their sights, and the bombers radio their intention to those below. Not exactly in spoken terms, but...somehow fairies just get their point across. Bombs away!

Nagato has posed:
    Musashi gives a quick salute to Arizona... an American salute to show respect... before sailing off. "You need an opening, I'll make one." she comments, spinning around to aim all four guns at Dreadnought's side. "HEY, Dreadnought! I commend your battle prowess but I'm afraid we're going to end it here!" there's a loud kathunk in her turrets, a small whirr... and she aims. "See, you're taking up space I need, now get the hell out of my water!" with Shigure damaged as well, the shells are launched!

    White AP Shells, the Type 1's, sail through the air with a loud bang from all of her turrets, these shells carrying a strange hatred towards the Abyssal ships out there, and a protective 'aura' for her fleet... the battleship was angry and wanted to protect what she could... "GET OFF OUR WATER!"

Midway has posed:
    Her own shield is used to deflect her gunfire, and Dreadnought's attention is kept divided between the major threats of Yamashiro and Ultra Gaogamon. She interposes her shield when the Digimon warrior winds up an obvious cannon. She growls as she endures the beam attack, while the weapons built into her shield begin to wilt and melt. By the time the beam has faded, her remaining main battery guns are drooping and useless, and the secondary guns are either completely gone or burning and useless.

    Staggered, Yamashiro gets several melee hits in on her side and midsection. With a growl, she swipes at the battleship with her shield, the blackened metal red hot and smoldering, even when lighter artillery starts striking her from further away.

    Heavy bombs start exploding against the Water Demon's shoulders and remaining shield, staggering her further. Musashi's armor-piercing salvo comes next, landing home with massive explosions. Half of her visor goes spinning off out of the cloud of shrapnel and debris, and as the smoke clears she's still standing, clutching her face with her free hand. Her remaining shield is still clung to, though she's struggling to stand.

    And then Arizona is there, skidding to a stop from a high speed approach, her hands tightened into fists, "You...have overstayed your welcome!" The ghostly shipgirl pushes off with her legs, leading with her fist. Knuckles connect with the weary Dreadnought's chin, snapping her head back with enough force to send the remaining half of her visor spinning away. Her feet leave the water's surface, and the force spins her head over heels. Her ruined shield battery hits the water first, followed by the Demon landing face-down. With a groan, she tries to pick herself up, shudders, then collapses again.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace fusses over Shigure until she gets clarification from Wo, dragging Shigure into the middle of the deck. "You didn't fail, leetle lady, don't worry... we got yous" The big Russian piebald reassures her, making sure his hat continues to support the destroyer's head. Leyanne stands.

    "Okay you heard the big scary carrier lady, man the gunwales." Leyanne calls out, striding to the deck-house. "If any Abyssal that we're not mates with puts one foot on this deck I will have someone's tail, do I make myself clear?" As her crew grab sub machine guns, axes, and other implements of boarding action, the Megamouse straps on a large backpack, seemingly made from the frame of a flamethrower's tanks, with two 1000-round 12.7x99mm ammunition boxes bolted where the tanks should be. She picks up her modified M2 Browning machine gun, standing over Shigure as she loads the massive gun. Once everything's in place, she fires a few test shots into the water. Okay yeah Mamma Deuce has some kick.

    "Don't worry, love." Leyanne growls, lighting a cigar. "You're under the protection of the 19th Polar City Motor Cavalry. Ain't any fucker dragging you back into the deep, don't worry."

Gaonoir has posed:
"Now that's my kind of girl," Gaonoir remarks as Arizona up and out PUNCHES the Water Demon hard enough to lay her out flat on the water.

Erika giggles at her device after clicking a few climatic shots. "That one is -definately- going on my wall."

Gaonoir rolls his eyes for a moment, then crosses his arms after his chest armor has hissed back shut to conceal the cannon once more. "That was pretty impressive.. but the story is over. Stay down."

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure's out light a light, but as long as she's aboard the PT boat, she's not sinking any time soon. In fact, a few Fairies have emerged from within the Destroyer's uniform, carrying planks of wood, sheets of metal and welding torches. They slap these across the damaged areas, get tack-welded down, and PAFF into giant 'Anime Bandaids' and shiny metallic bandages to supplement those administered by the crew of the Leeroy.

    Yamashiro jukes backwards as Arizona comes bullrushing in, skidding backwards and setting her legs to support a full broadside... just in case the Dreadnought isn't quite down for the count. "It's over Dreadnought, you fought well, but you have been bested. Stand Down and secure all weapons. You are now a Prisoner of War."

Wo has posed:
With a surge of firepower, the well-worn but still resilient Dreadnought seems to have been beaten enough. It's a little sad, in a way, to Wo. The strange Abyssals here didn't seem bad, exactly, but their choice of territory to take over and work from was very, incredibly poor. The carrier's human face twists up into a light scowl, as she maneuvers her carrier hull forward gingerly, bringing it closer to where the Water Demon had fallen. If it wasn't already in progress, capture would have been her own suggestion, as well. For reasons she can't quite pin down at this moment. By then, Wo has also walked down from the bridge, her booted feet bringing her to a stop at the edge of the flight deck facing down. "Anyone that needs to can come aboard. She's welcome, as well, though under guard." It'd be better than letting her cruise off or fall into the sea, anyway.

    The fighters, meanwhile, start coming in for a landing. But if nothing else, they'll be rotating out for the rest of the night, unless and until it's absolutely certain that the skies are clear.

Midway has posed:
    When addressed, Dreadnought does not respond. She doesn't even move, and it soon becomes clear that the face-down Abyssal Demon is unconscious.

    Arizona keeps an eye on her for a long moment, before turning her gaze towards the Wo class on her carrier form's deck, "...It's enticing, but no. For now, I need to stay near myself." Shaking her head, she adds, "I'm not 'complete' yet. Not like these ship-girls." She's not a full manifestation. Like Independence, all those months ago. A fleeting ghost and nothing more.

    She glances back down towards Dreadnought, then tilts her head. Crouching, she reaches and gently nudges the unmasked woman's face slightly. Her brows furrow, "...This isn't right...why do I feel like I should know her?"

    Eyes closing, Arizona shakes it off and returns to her feet, "--Tch. Get rid of it before it gets up again." And with that, she skates away, towards her own Memorial.

Nagato has posed:
    With Dreadnought unconcious now from the combined effort... Musashi gives a nod towards Wo, moving to pick up and hoist, Dreadnought over her shoulder... slowly sailing off towards Wo's carrier. "Prisoner of war obtained, Yamashiro, let's keep guard on her. I'm sure that once she awakens, she's not going to be happy." she gives a bit of a grin, "I'll be glad to beat some answers out of her."

    She does turn her head towards Arizona, nodding slightly, "Arizona... sleep well. Thank you much for your assistance... we... owe you one."

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leeroy's crew listen to Arizona and then salute her, in the American style out of respect. Then the little boat cruises over to where the Dreadnaught is being restrained. Leyanne looks up at Wo. "Can we... bring her the beer I promised, once she's restrained back at base or wherever? I wanna... try and ease off the hate."

    Leeroy's bilge pumps are working overtime keeping the little boat afloat