3527/Risen from Kardashev's Locker - 2

Risen from Kardashev's Locker - 2
Date of Scene:	14 December 2015
Location:	Great Ocean - Southern Loop
Synopsis:	Zwei tracks down the previously coined 'Armiger Princess' and the final standoff ensues; the true nature of Whispered Revolution revealed in the process, as the heartbreak of a faithful warship gives some small insight into its mysterious master.
Cast of Characters:	253, Wo, 596, 637, Nagato, Shigure, Haguro, 908

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Zwei (596) has posed:
    Thankfully, responders have the luxury of not being already under assault when repeat contact is made. It's perhaps unsurprising that Zwei would eventually find the mysterious 'Abyssal', being the only accessible Elite around with full knowledge of its technical abilities and pre-programmed behaviour before sinking, and with equipment specialized in picking up on it. This time, the target has been illuminated well off at a distance, coordinates uploaded in real time to even the most basic GPS or radar systems brought along via the wonders of advanced battlefield intelligence networking.

    Asche is the sub-unit present, holding position at low altitude over a nondescript expanse of empty ocean, already armed with heavy, long-ranged weaponry. The 'princess' is beyond visual range due to simple physicality, but all instruments indicate that it won't take very long to change that if going at full steam. It's perhaps slightly telling that nobody from the Flotilla, ostensibly Zwei's closest allies, are here at all this time. "I am currently intercepting the renegade's long-distance sensors. She-"

/*It.*/

    "-she has held this position for the past three hours, siphoning carbon and hydrogen from the ocean current and recharging her power supply. It is likely she will resume movement shortly. Draw your plans before closing into visual range. I cannot render you invisible to the naked eye."

Wo has posed:
    A full-sized fleet carrier, or at least the shell of one, cobbled together of weathered steel plates with still-glowing-hot weld seams, this is the Wo-class' answer to the ocean fit out. Unlike the fleet daughters, however, she remains on the deck of the ship, standing just outside the island as she communicates silently with the bulk of what becomes an extension of her body. Radio and radar are attuned to the transmissions from Zwei, and in addition to her own glowing, golden eyes, she 'sees' with that sort of information. "I under-stand," she broadcasts in return. "Thank you - for your assist-ance, in this matter." Afterward, she glances back to the lone Confederate ally she could muster on such short notice; fortunately for her, as evidenced by the last time, it is more effectively three. Two and a half?

    "Ally Gudako," she says, her monotone voice somehow growing more serious despite no real change in personality. "It is like-ly, the Union...will also arr-ive. They will, try to sway her." Her eyes then glance back forward, to the direction of the ship's movement, though the speed of the turbines has been dropped, to allow the situation to briefly develop ahead. "If it - comes to it. We will fire, upon her. She cannot fall, into their hands." Adding to the promise of full force, she holds out a black gloved hand and gestures, level to the horizon. Elevators raise from below decks, beginning to load full-sized versions of Abyssal aircraft onto the deck. They appear to be modern, jet designs, curiously, though they still have the worn metal plate, and human jaw, aesthetic that the Abyssal fleet is well attached to. In addition, the anti-air and defensive batteries angle skyward, at the ready.

    And then, the wait, as the slower speed draws the ship closer to what could become an active battlefield, shortly, if the scenario so-turns. The large, toothed maw of the carrier hull burns with its inner fire, casting an ominous, crimson light into the waters ahead of it. Not exactly a stealthy craft, this, despite the aircraft it is carrying.

Nagato has posed:
    Upon getting the information that the "Abyssal Princess", Nagato has ordered the Fleet to sortie out. Nagato herself, along with Ryuujou starts heading towards the location given by Zwei, "They found the ship. Time to go see what it's made of." she mentions to the fleet, "I want everyone to be on guard for anyone else. All light carriers scout out the area. Get the Saiun's up." Nagato's face frowns a bit, o O (What in the world is this thing...) comes a stray thought, o O (What is her purpose...)

    Meanwhile, Ryuujou's scroll folds out from its roll with plane shaped strips of paper on it. With a soft chant, hand signs and obvious magic, the planes start shooting off the scroll and into the air, markings designating most of them as a saiun and some as the type 0 recons. "PLanes up! Let's go, let's go! We'll have the Admiral's praise after this if we do good!"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Woooo, look at the view, Caster!" Gudako says, on Wo's deck.
    The blue-robed Servant behind her crosses her arms, just sort of looking out at the sea. "I don't know. Doesn't it kind of weird you out we're ON an ally?" she asks.

    Just on cue for Wo to speak up. Caster EEKS, Gudako just continues grinning, 8D ever unfazed. "Gotcha! I have an idea. You know, there's a lot of stories that have people change when they see the future, huh? The big revelation that makes a hero or villain turn into someone else to stop or rush it. Caster!"
    "M-Master?"
    "You should show it its future. With us!"

    The foxgirl turns to Wo. "Do you think master's plan might help? We've never really dealt with things like the Abyssals before." Well, can't blame Caster for making sure Wo is fine with it. Gudako wasn't going to bother, but having Caster do it is fine too.

Haguro has posed:
     Haguro's geared up and ready for a fight, launching with the rest of the Fleet Daughters. After the last engagement, she appears to be a little more confident in her movements, having some idea of what to expect this time around instead being caught completely off guard. She's even trying to stay closer to the front of the group, her turrets ready and loaded!

     All the confidence in the world doesn't keep her worry-free, though, and the Heavy Cruiser is unable to figure out whether to switch to something more suited for long range combat or something more suited to close-range and to draining those shields as quickly as possible.

     "U-understood. Will we be attacking from range or trying to get close this time?" She frowns pensively. "Or... Admiral. Do you think we'll be able to talk to her? After last time, she... She looked like she was in so much pain. If we could stop her without hurting her more..." She takes a deep breath while adjusting her turrets' firing angles just in case.

     She just needs to be ready for whatever's going to happen.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    From underneath the waves, emerges a nautical signature. It's pretty large and clearly metallic for anyone with the sensors to tell. It is, in fact, a remodeled and upgraded Type VII U-Boat. Months of Union resources were spent gutting parts of it and modifying it to run on a two-man crew after Wo delivered it to Boston Harbor.

    It breaches up through the waves, the black tower sticking up out of the water as a hatch unscrews with a hiss and opens. Psyber steps out, dressed in a long coat and a scarf, smoking a pipe, "Yarrr." He says as he steps out onto the platform. A voice from behind him calls out:

    "That's PIRATES. Not submarines!" From the ladder into the ship, a white-carapaced man known as Lawless Crimesolver emerges looking more like a noir detective than a submariner. He and Psyber go straight to bickering.

    "Whatever. It felt appropriate."
    "Well it wasn't! It was dumb. You embarassed us both!"
    "Hey woah, I embarassed YOU. I'm fine with how that all went down."
    "Fine, I'm embarassed enough for two people, so I count twice, see?"

    Psyber takes a slow drag from the pipe and then exhales some smoke, "I'm here to hunt warships and make shitty movie references. I'm well stocked on both." He notes to Asche and gives him a thumbs up.

    He puts on a Sean Connery accent, "Now. Let'sh go shink ush a ship!"

    He hops back down into the submarine. Lawless Crimesolver follows behind him, "Oh my You," He uses that particular phrasing just to harass Psyber, "I am gonna have to deal with this shit all night, aren't I?"

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Scout planes, scout planes~," Zuihou hums to herself as she draws an arrow from her quiver and pulls it back along her bow. Aiming upward, she releases it, the arrow soaring. In midair, it glows, then separates into a flight of five green aircraft with yellow tail markings, which bank off on separate vectors. Recon is key! "Go find them~!" Though she's confident, Zuihou still reaches back, pulling free two more arrows held gently by the fletching. The arrowhead shapes indicate these are bombers.

    A few yards to her left, and somewhat ahead, Kongou skates along at a steady pace, her hands resting on her hips, "So it's the same ship that attacked the base~?" Head tilting, she slows to a halt, glancing towards the horizon. The radars on her headband swivel in place, adjusting their angles, before she glances back towards Asche, "And just what is it you expect us to do~? There's more than a little thirst for <Revenge> in this fleet after--"

    A submarine surfaces.

    Kongou suddenly isn't there.

    Squawking an objection, Zuihou discovers a new hat, when a battleship literally scrambles up onto her shoulders and clings to the carrier's head like a startled cat. The gun turrets bristle on her rigging, eyes wide and intensely staring at the U-boat. She only relaxes when Psyber emerges on deck, but refuses to get down.

Shigure has posed:
    Kuma and the Fifth Fleet sortie in support of the Flagship. They take a double Line formation, with Kuma and Yamashiro heading the columns, and Chitose taking up the rear with Nowaki and Shigure in the center. They're all in Land Fit-Out for now.

    Chitose hears the orders, and with a swivel of her launch rails, she aims skyward. "Zuiun, launch. Observation pattern." Hisses of steam herald four floatplanes blasting into the sky to join the carrier-based planes already launching. "We'll wait for your orders, Flagship." says Yamashiro to Nagato, as the fleet comes up alongside the northern fleet flagship.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Aircraft seem to have a much easier time going forward now than before. Asche was telling the truth. Even if weird Abyssal wuju seems to be going on here, the ship was originally of Licht make, and so Zwei knows every fine detail of how to deal with the original model. The 'Armiger Princess' doesn't pick up on anything as they close into observation range, scanners reporting nothing but clear skies and calm waters, and her actual eyes closed as if in sleep or meditation; or at least the one visible through the broken visor is, still mysteriously left unfixed. The water froths faintly around her feet, occasionally flickering with tinges of electrical light, the air shimmering visibly from the combustible fumes separating from it.

    Though the planes have to close into her unfairly massive anti-air range, she doesn't open fire, and likely won't until they get close enough for her to actually hear their engines fairly loudly, though it seems quite probable that her shield is up in this relaxed state, and probably fully charged after being left alone for so long. Still, she's been caught completely unaware and unprepared during a resupply routine. The chances of a surprise attack working don't get much better than this.

    "In the interest of fair distribution of information, both superfactions are present. This case affects the fundamental, driving cycle of a world, removed from the politics of the Union and Confederacy. I hope you understand why." Asche says, holding position even should the others begin moving up. It'd just be Weiss if Zwei only intended to observe. It's quite likely he can shoot from this distance.

Wo has posed:
    "As you - wish," the Wo-class' humanoid self responds, lowering her hand now that a full flight of dive bombers is ready for launch, if necessary. There is just a hint of fatigue in her shoulders, somehow, as she admits, "This was...an un-expected, complication. If it can be re-solved, that way, then - you have my su-pport." She then turns her eyes to Caster, which also involves a shift of her head, causing the bulbous weight of her hat atop it to pivot. Both sets of 'eyes' stare, in consideration, "...un-certain. She was - still fresh-ly awoken, before. Lost. Angry. But...it is worth, a try. Perhaps, being beaten...will have given her, some sense." Appealing to some baser instinct, like self-preservation, or revenge, seems like the best bet, but the carrier does not articulate that point. It is already beyond her to guess what the nature of this new Abyssal could be.

    "Princess - types," she somehow sounds reflective, in her subdued tone, "Like surface dwelling, ones... Their person-alities, can be. Ecc-entric." Yeah, real helpful and insightful. It's just another problem of trying to guess what this already unfamiliar Abyssal might want, as her voice is not clear enough, in the shared headspace of the Abyss. A perhaps more useful thought follows, "Re-mind her...of where she, tru-ly belongs." To a good portion of the world, just another sea monster, like the Abyssals she has emulated.

    It is about this time that Wo also notices other radar contacts, far on the horizon. They aren't certainties, just yet; more like probabilities. She had predicted that they would not be coming here alone, though. "They're here," she remarks, with conviction ill-fitting the data available, though not seeming to feel strongly about it. It's also likely good that she doesn't catch Kongou's embarassing antics. She might have to break her monotone just to tell her to Kan Up.

    As that strange feeling that something is 'wrong' just over the horizon threatens to consume her thoughts, the end of her cape receives a tug. It is a tiny person with a bulbous, chubby head and button eyes, wearing a bomber jacket. She gestures meaningfully out over the sea. "...it's danger-ous," the carrier reminds, but the small girl seems to be adamant. "...o-kay, but - only for, scouting. If you are - fired upon, re-turn." The terms and conditions seem to be agreeable, and the fairy scrambles away to the other end of the flight deck, boarding what looks like a model of an F4F Wildcat, scaled to her size, and starting the engine. The tiny fighter plane climbs ahead, as Wo frowns, vaguely after. Can she actually get worried? "If 'they' are, here," she remarks, "They'll recog-nize it. So be it. We're not - here, to be subtle."

    With eyes in the sky now covered, the large carrier closes in on visual range. She appears dormant, but that sort of thing can be deceiving, especially when dealing with such a familiar-yet-not entity. "I'll hold - a cruising pe-rimeter, here," she asides to her passengers, "And watch - your back."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Before vanishing down into the bowels of the submarine, Psyber gives Kongou a chipper wave, "Kongou! Did you and Zuihou form Mecha-Shiva?" He inquires as he climbs down in, "Good work! Ride into battle gloriously as a carrier with the guns of a battleship!"

    CLANK. Turn-turn-turn. Hissssssssss.

    He and Lawless are climbing down into the depths of the U-Boat, both of them squeezing through the tight passages to make their way to the mostly-automated command center. They click a few switches. The submarine lets out an audible 'BWOOOOOOM' noise from the horn before it begins to sink and go forward.

    If this were a normal submarine, crew would be running around and making sure everything is working properly. If it were properly manned, the same thing could be observed. But most of it is automated, so instead:

    "Alright. Uh... B3." Psyber says, rubbing his chin.
    "Miss. C10."
    "Hit. Damnit, you sank my battleship. Motherfucker."

    Fortunately, as a submarine captain, he won't be around for as much of the action and exposition as everyone else. This is totally not Psyber's plot to avoid writing a report.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    A dark shape silently slices through the sea, a meter or two below the surface. Its nature is unknown. If one were to treat the idling Princess as a central point, this shape approaches her from the side opposite the gathering Daughters, an somewhat perpendicular to the Abyssal aircraft carrier. It leaves no trail, its method of propulsion unknown, and against the deep, it's nearly invisible.

    "Admira~al!" Kongou whines from her comrade's shoulders, "You shouldn't bring a submarine, don't be mean~!" Beneath her, Zuihou groans, wobbling on the water's surface, which gets the battleship's attention, "--Ah! Sorry, Zui~!"

    With a 'hup', she hops down, then straightens her haori. As if nothing happened, she perks up and thrusts her hand out, "Now~! I think a surprse attack would be the best move! What do you think, Flagship?" Glancing aside, she adds, "Would the carriers be able to catch her off guard~?"

    The dark shape is soon joined by more. A handful. And then more. More still. Identical, sleek creatures rapidly approaching the idle Princess.

    "Ahh~..." Zuihou, now much less burdoned, folds her hands primly, "It'd have to be a surprise attack. Her anti-air is really good. I had a lot of planes shot down last time." With a nod, she adds, "That's why my cute little Saiuns are holding their distance today." She turns a bit towards Kuma's crew, "Chitose, I hope your Zuiun doesn't get too close, it'd be a shame if she was lost!"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "So the end line, you guys are kind of unpredictable and it's hard to generalize, huh?" Gudako surmises, while looking ahead to the seemingly dormant ship. She watches Wo interact with... what is that even? A tiny ship girl? Oh! It's a tiny plane girl! That's adorable.

    Well, either way, the plan seems worth a shot.

    "Go ahead, Caster~."

    On the deck of the Wo-class, Caster gives a nod, and extends her arms to either side. A dozen slips of paper appear around her, circling her rapidly. They glow an intense pink, and then she motions forward, toward the sleeping !Abyssal.

    The paper talismans pulse, and then disappear.

    They reappear ahead, forming a large circle around the would-be princess. They discharge their magic immediatly, and it'd be pretty difficult for Caster to hide that she's the source, especially if anyone had eyes on Wo.

    The spell ATTEMPTS to give the !Abyssal a vision of the future. A what-if, presenting it life in the Abyssal fleet. People it can relate to, powerful allies it can fight with, and freedom. How long or short it is, how detailed it is, depends entirely on her resistance to being shown such a thing. If she actually takes to it, the vision could be pretty faithful to reality. It might also clearly show that the approaching non-Abyssal fleet isn't friendly, mostly from being the Abyssals' enemies.

Nagato has posed:
    The appearance and dissapearance of Psyber and Kongou's reaction cause the Battleship to shake her head... "If we can get contact and air superiority... but then we have to worry about any Confederates coming in." Nagato's eyes close and she nods, "Bomb her but keep on the lookout for anything other than ... that new Abyssal." she starts, "Load up your best dive bombers and get covering fighters in the air. "Let's close in and finish this. If we can get this Abyssal and sink her, perhaps we can make this one less abyssal for the enemy."

    Ryuujou nods and more papers come out, red marked papers that launch off the scroll quickly, covered in magic and Ryuujou's own hand signs to get them going, followed by a set of green marked planes. "Okay okay! All you carrier aircraft! Get to work! Get to work!"

Haguro has posed:
     Are those.. Other Abyssals? Haguro's breath speeds up slightly as she starts to get more wary of the whole situation, her eyes darting around to try and determine just how many targets they have to focus on. Hearing Nagato's orders, Haguro nods before loading her anti-aircraft ordinance. Getting as close to the giant as she did last time isn't something the Heavy Cruiser's keen on doing, but...

     But if she doesn't, who will? "I... I'm ready, Admiral. Anti-aircraft shells loaded. WHether you need me here or to move ahead, I"ll.. I'll be ready!" Even as she tries to sound determined about that course of action, Haguro keeps her turrets trained in the sky for the time being. She's ready to speed forward at the moment's notice, and she's still keeping her gaze focused on the giant ship. "And then we can save her... We have to save her!"

Shigure has posed:
    Chitose nods to Zuihou. "They are keeping station with your Saiun!" she calls back. But as Nagato calls the order to strike, she launchest additional units. "Zuiun! Form up and attack! Coordinate with the Carrier planes and destroy the enemy!" Hiss-CHKAK! go the rails on her arms, and sprouting from her backpack rigging, launching another four Zuiun. They reset, and repeat until a full 16 Zuiun are in the air. "Drop your bombs and return immediately!"

    Yamashiro rotates her cannons into position. "Load Type 3 shells!" she announces, the cannons clankclicking as the loaders arm the weapons. "Airburst, 2 seconds from predicted impact." she looks over to Nagato. "Ready to open shelling on your command, Flagship."

    Kuma, Shigure and Nowaki shift position. "We will close to torpedo range after initial shelling, kuma! Be sure to cover our approach, kuma!"

Zwei (596) has posed:
    It's an odd thing for a being formerly purely of technology to be shown its future through magic, in a way that could almost be called a dream when once it had no concept of something closer to sleep than death. The lack of subtlety is no real issue, as the ship is not properly equipped to divine the details of spellcraft anyways. It is a conflicted slumber, to say something of it. Though 056-237-001 has risen in the proper form of the Abyssal that should normally follow a sinking like hers, or perhaps even somehow styled herself in that way, it was jointly the Abyssals that had sunk her to begin with. It's difficult to so easily accept them as friends, rather than simply beings of the same breed, even entertained in imagination, but then after all, she is supposed to be on the same 'side', right? Now that she understands their suffering, and now that they might understand hers, in some form. That's not all she wants though. Not really. If someone were closer, they might see the uneasy way her exposed brow twitches. Thoughts of an Admiral of a kind, who has nothing to do with these girls, and yet mirrors them so closely.

    One end of the mental scales is shoved down like a bratty child grabbing it by hand as the currents of water stir faintly around her feet, waking her into a brief boot-up and re-check routine to try and account for the obvious error since she hadn't detected any missile being launched, lasting just long enough to be a sitting duck when the wave of Long Lance torpedoes strikes from out of nowhere. The 'Abyssal Princess' disappears into the resulting spray of skyward-hurled sea foam, and then the ensuing explosion of ignited hydrogen as the separated gas catches flame, blossoming into a spectacular fireball visible for miles all around, already filling the air with the scent of ozone as the shield shudders violently from such a massive blow, dropped instantly below the halfway threshold. She's barely recovered her senses in time to see the waves of dive bombers swooping down on her, pelting her mercilessly with their gravity-dropped munitions, spraying her with a wave of secondary detonations.

    Wo seems to have been correct in that some of that homicidal fury has worn off, or at least sorted itself into place, after some time alone, because for the first few moments, the 'Princess' seems more stunned than angry; confused, alarmed, even scared, completely uncertain of how this surprise attack was even possible, never mind what to do. Right away she begins backing up, thrusters whining towards full burn as she looks fearfully up to the sky, her impressive anti-air battery coming online and divying up its targets, abruptly lacing the air with dense, crisscrossing streams of point beam weapon fire, mowing down the straggling last wave of the bombers before they escape from range. With her sensors still being intercepted, she can't even find the Fleet Daughters, never mind shoot at them, and so her movement towards Wo is more instinctive, or perhaps accidental, than anything. A handful of fusion missiles rocket into the air, climbing to high altitude to gain a visual on the seascape below, briefly catching sight of the Union formation before their targeting is jammed and they drop out of the sky as a safety measure, but no sign of the source of the torpedoes. The telltale pulse of red light can be seen on the horizon, indicating the charge of those devastating raiser batteries.

Wo has posed:
    Those teasings of radar returns earlier resolve slowly into certainty. Both from other ships and varied Elites, as well as the aircraft being launched and the scout craft already in the skies. The F4F fairy in the sky places a hand over her eyes, as though shielding it might allow her to see better, as she has her serious face on! While she speaks no words, a telegraphed signal returns to Wo, further confirming the composition of the opposing(*) forces. "Looks like - your Caster might get, some 'help'," Wo asides, watching this action seemingly more through her mind's eye than her physical ones, for a moment. "It appears...they plan, to attack the new - one." While it means little from this far out, there was no sightings of that strangely familiar destroyer, the one that calls herself Hayashimo. The one on their side that had tried to appeal to reason before, and could have been another complication.

    Conflicted feelings follow for the fairy aboard the Wildcat, as she noses slowly over and briefly tracks some of the incoming aircraft from the light carrier Ryuujou, from a high vantage point. After a moment, she gives a shake of her head. "...you don't, have to," Wo remarks openly to the air, in a strange display of understanding. It is not completely altruistic, however; the fleet daughters and their allies attacking the ship reinforces the point Caster is trying to make, with her visions. In the Abyssal thoughtscape, Wo adds her own reinforcement; she can be more articulate, in this realm of the shared voice, than the one than many surface dwellers can hear. "An incoming force is about to attack you. If you join the fleet, I will do my best to cover your escape. If you refuse this offer and continue to act on your own -- then you will be considered a rogue element." With unsaid consequences.

    Yeah, after past experiences with Kongou and Yamashiro's Abyssal selves, and even though this seems to be a Princess-class borne of a mostly unfamiliar vessel, she is just going to lay it out. She confides as much to 8D, seeming to return more fully to the here and now, "I have - given her, our con-ditions. Whether she, chooses to hear it, we will see." With other strike aircraft in the sky, there is no more time for hesitation, regardless of the outcome, as they could come under attack just as easily. "Co-ver, your ears," she instructs, as the jet turbines aboard the full scale Abyssal fighters fire, causing a high volume and pitched whine to resonate around the area. They take turns lining up at the catapult, the sound of hydraulics propelling them forward as they rocket off into the sky.

    A wing of air superiority fighters, they lack obvious torpedoes or bombs, but retain large caliber cannons. Though they have glossy areas like cockpits, they are mirrored over in a sickly, black finish, and their nose areas sport human-looking teeth. Already, the elevators are moving again, and the actual bombers are being loaded. There is something odd, though, that the Wildcat fairy above reports on. Several strikes confirmed, but from whom? The fleet daughters' force looked to still be getting into position. It causes another frown to form on the face of the Wo-class carrier, "...a-nother, com-plication." Yet somehow, not surprising, given the complicated circumstances of Armiger's 'rebirth'. "Moving into - screen-ing position. We will - buy the Princess, time. That is all."

    "Hold - on, Gu-dako, Cas-ter." With that, the carrier's frame surges forward, turbines humming to full steam as she moves forward. It's not quite enough to knock someone off their feet, as it's not that rapid an acceleration, but the easily motion sickened would not enjoy it. Anti-air batteries level upward, but refuse to fire upon anything until the Princess, herself, makes her choice.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    The downside to Caster's spell is that she has no way to see the visions themselves. Or to tell if it worked. Beyond the fact the sleeping Princess didn't immediatly fire at them in rebutal, whether it was successful or showed what needed to be shown is up in the air. Gudako is not lacking in faith in her Servant, but it'd be a mistake to bank too much on something the results of which can't be seen.

    And Wo confirms that she saw the attacks, too. And they're moving in! Alright, naval action! The magus nods to Wo, while the Caster produces another set of talismans.

    "Caster, shield Wo! Everything is up to her now."

    Caster nods, and with a flash of magic spreads the talismans to the various parts and pieces of the Wo-class. Her cannons get attack buffs, her engines efficiency buffs, her radar and sonar arrays get accuracy and range buffs. Most importantly, and where the Caster's magic is focused strongest, the hull plating of the Wo-class gets a defense buff, and a magical barrier. Every little bit counts, right?

    It does not really occur to Gudako staying on the deck is probably a bad idea. That'll be extra work for Caster and Berserker, most likely, but the master really is enjoying the view too much to head inside.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "... aaaand... B13."
    "God DAMNIT, LC. Last one. You win." Psyber grumps, slamming the cover on his game board closed and pouting a bit, "So what do you wanna play now?" Psyber asks as he looks around.

    "Well, they're fighting up above." LC points out, waving vaguely at the instruments and readouts that show the battle topside is beginning. He quirks an 'eyebrow', "Should we help them out?" He inquires, adding, "I dunno why we're even in this. Aren't you actually stronger on foot?" He asks blandly.

    "Probably, but. It's fun to play along. We'll think about helping out later." He muses as he leans back, "But let's play a few games. Kongou was scared of torpedos, right?" He inquires as he looks at a folder next to him, "Or Submarines anyway. Maybe..."

    The U-Boat does surface, briefly. And when it does, the WHUMPH of a torpedo leaving the tube echoes in the air. It then tries to vanish under the waves as silently as it arose.

    The torpedo isn't aimed at the Abyssal. Instead, it streaks through the water towards the Wo-Class. It does not, however, have any chance of hitting her. Instead, when it gets about twenty yards away from her, it detonates very obviously in her eyeline.

    Psyber is curious to see if Wo has enough memories of her old life to be startled by torpedos, but he's not willing to actually hurt her.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    "Right!" Once ordered, Zuihou shifts her grip on her arrows and draws one back, aiming skyward. This is right when the explosions go off, relayed to the carrier through the frantic transmissions of her scout planes as the sudden appearance of that fearsome anti-air curtain throws the entire aerial unit into evasive maneuvers. It's so unexpected that she nearly drops her arrow, fumbling for it, then shooting a bewildered look at Ryuujou. A heartbeat later, she glances towards Nagato, "T-torpedo detonations, reported at the Princess! Ryuujou's only using dive bombers and I haven't gotten my Tenzan into the air!"

    Straightening, Zuihou rapidly switches her two bomber arrows for a fighter, drawing it back, "Nnn~ go!" The bow snaps, the arrow taking flight and splitting into a squadron of green-marked aircraft. With her fighters airborne, she switches to the bomber arrow she's already holding, drawing it back and releasing, following the Zeros with a slower, lower wing of Tenzan torpedo bombers.

    Kongou shades her eyes as the aircraft take flight, a frown forming while her radars swivel, "Hmm~... I can't see where those could have come from." A sidelong glance, "Kuma, was it <Long Lance,> maybe? Do you recognize it?" Either way, as she speaks, her guns rotate forward and elevate, loaded with Type 91 armor piercing shells. She'd used these against the Arimger when it was just a ship, and so she recalls this should work well again. Though she holds fire, waiting for Nagato's command.

    In the distant sea, a black shape emerges from between the troughs of the rolling waves. Indistinct, its appearance shifts, obscured. There's the faint glimmer of black metal amidst the shifting exterior. Billowing about with the foe's motions. There's a bursting impact overhead, the sputtering of an aircraft's engine, a shattered Zuiun spiraling down from the sky.

    The shape stops, whirls about, and a human arm snaps out to snatch the wounded aircraft out of the sky. While the plane burns, the stranger lowers it, another hand emerging. Gently, though quickly, the unknown girl pulls open the Zuiun's cockpit and extracts the fairy between two fingers, then reaches back. Two fairies emerge from the side of her rigging, welcoming the rescuee aboard. She then lifts up the ruined aircraft.

    "Seaplanes..."

    Turning back to face the Princess, Kiso discards it over her shoulder, dropping it into the sea behind her.

    "Don't need 'em."

Shigure has posed:
    Chitose winces as her trailing Zuiun get carved up, the fairies bailing out as their planes literally fall apart around them. The one caught by Kiso bows gratefully, and clambers in to hide within the Cruiser's rigging. Chitose releases the arm launchers, and lets little strings fall from clenched fists, holding them out as her remaining Zuiun return. They drop low, skimming the water as they line up to the catch lines, swinging for a moment at full power before shutting down. "Be safe... everyone." she says, retrieving her planes and turning to move out of range. She doesn't have any Main Batteries, and her AA array wouldn't so much as tickle the Armiger, so she's backing off to let the others focus on the engagement.

    Yamashiro tracks her eyes as her Spotters confirm the target. "Track, 219 degrees, elevation maximum. Extreme Range." The cannons swing out on arms, lining up in a broadside across her shoulders, their barrels angling skywards, and the Battleship holds up her right arm, then chops it down towards the Armiger. "FIRE!" Four reports, followed by another four reverberate across the ocean, bowling the water before her out as the shells fly free. They're set to detonate and spray the area under their detonation zone with the white-hot magnesium and tungsten within, since that seemed to work better in the previous engagement.

    Kuma blinks... lifts her hands up to rub at her eyes as that shape emerges. She then beams brightly, hopping up and down and flailing her arms. "LITTLE SISTER KISO!!" she bellows. If the opposing forces didn't know she was there before... they do now.

Haguro has posed:
     Haguro's seemingly at a loss on what to do for a while, looking from Fleet Daughter to giant to the Abyssals present. It's not until new orders come over her radio that an affirmative grunt comes from the Cruiser, and she starts to pick up speed. "Understood, Admiral. Guns engaged!" Her turrets aim upwards slightly to compensate for the distance between herself and the Armiger.

     "I'm sorry, but... But we'll save you. We'll save all of you!" And with that, she begins firing anti-aircraft ordinance at the Armiger, once again going for quantity over quality with her shots. After the last engagement, she's not even sure if armor-piercing rounds would work at all against those decidedly unnatural shields. Thus, her strategy this time is to just try and bombard it as much as possible!

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Likely not a ship designed to fight a reactionary battle, the 'Abyssal' doesn't seem to want to stand and deliver, picking up speed quickly as she starts to accelerate over the previously placid waves, skating back and forth without slowing her retreat vector with the side-mounted verniers on her armoured leg assemblies, weaving between as many bombs and shells as she can. Burning magnesium and red hot tungsten rains down on her, catching her in washes of flames and shrapnel as she skirts away from the incoming vector of each shell, diverting fire to try and shoot down ordnance rather than aircraft. Already so hard-hit right off the bat though, her shields are visibly quivering in a tenth of the time as before. It really seems as if she doesn't know what to do here, having been caught lost and alone with no support and little idea of where she even is, attacked by unknown enemies from nowhere. Perhaps the way those circumstances could be compared to her original sinking are actually paralyzing her, in a way.

    It's only when Kiso finally appears, at last putting a face on the attack to direct her attention at, that one of the oldest of the fleet of Whispered Revolution reacts in any concrete sense; her sole visible eye shooting wide open, pupil contracting into a black pinprick in a sea of luminous green, followed by her lips contorting into a grimace of despondent outrage. "Go away! . . . leave me alone!" she finally cries out, shredding the airwaves with that horrific static, both arms hauling their hefty, featureless gun banks to bear, circuit patterns coalescing beads of bloodred energy into firing points, and then loosing a quartet of volatile hardlight cannon bolts at the new arrival.

    "Just . . . leave! I don't . . . understand! Why?!" She hisses as a second barrage ripples across her shield, strained to its breaking point as the torpedo detonates near Wo, causing her to swerve violently inbound towards the carrier, diverting one battery in Kuma's direction and returning ultra-long distance fire. "They're . . . only going to throw you away! I'm not wrong! . . . Why . . . do you hate me so much?! Why . . . won't you realize that?! Why. . . won't you just sink?! It's all . . . we can do! To sink . . . and be forgotten! I'm already . . . useless . . . so why do you keep hurting me?! Just sink already! Sink! /Sink/!" The last 'sink' is punctuated by a volley of missile fire, this time far better aimed and coordinated than the panic dump from last time, screeching at hypersonic speeds over the sealine in sleeting curtains for each Fleet Daughter target, only to fall silent out of the air, intercepted by digital-warfare codes a tier above her own.

    The 'Abyssal' doesn't respond directly to Wo, but she flees straight to her, the sole eye of reassurance in this storm of uncomprehending violence. It's odd that a ship that claims to already be dead would fear dying again so intensely, but she seems more than willing to make that alliance of desperation more than anything else. Asche remains relatively impassive, but the whine of charging weapon banks is audible regardless. "So your resolution is to kill her?" he asks in utter neutrality.

Wo has posed:
    As the carrier surges ahead, a single torpedo is loosed in its direction, and while primed to detonate harmlessly some distance away, there was no way to know that ahead of time. The deck tilts ever so slightly as an evasive maneuver is executed, though cut a bit short as the warhead explodes some distance away. Though she is safe from it, especially with Caster's reinforcements applied, she still visibly flinches from the sound, thankfully void of creaking or ruptured steel, this time around. When she looks up from holding her forehead, she grumbles faintly: "That sub," Wo confirms the track, from its brief surfacing, and having her Wildcat's eyes on the area. "Gh...is he, trying to - get me, to leave?" There is little time to second guess what Psyber is doing down there, and she certainly would never guess that he and a buddy had just wrapped up a round of Battleship. Now back on course, though with a few seconds lost, the freshly enchanted ship rushes through the sea.

    It is a bit too late to save the Princess from the bulk of the shells and shrapnel now pouring her way, but the effort is, at least, honest. The bad part about attempting to screen for her is that it is now Wo's turn to line up in the direction of the fire, should the Armiger pass behind as expected. The large carrier is not precisely the most heavily armored thing, and the bombers even now are trying to streak off on the catapult ahead of the inevitable. Most of them make it out to join the fighter wing, but at least one falls prey to the peppering of shots coming in from range. The ship itself continues to hold, for the most part. A combination of the Wo-class' stubborn nature and Caster's reinforcement, though she does call to her Confederate allies, "Get - in-side, if you must." Despite that, she seems to be resolute to remain where she is, as despite the protective magic, the boards on the deck become scorched and pock-marked. One incoming shell even glances across the hull. She doesn't look even a fraction as concerned as she did against the torpedo. Regardless, the monster-fied profile of a Yorktown carrier is presented.

    With all the planes in the air, the anti-air batteries finally level at the incoming aircraft of the fleet daughters. They track for a few moments, and then begin to fire. The full-sized Abyssal aircraft don't seem interested in that side of the engagement, instead trying to climb over and take a direct course at the fleet daughters' lines. The poor little Wildcat continues to hover, as though it isn't certain what to do - it similarly remains out of the engagement, for the time being. The fairy pilot feels conflicted to the extreme, but is thankful to not have to engage potential friends of hers.

Nagato has posed:
    "If she's Abyssal, this is the way it happens. We sink her and, with hope... she comes back with memories. That's how the Fleet is." Nagato responds to Asche, "If there is any other way, we would opt for it." with the direction it's going... Nagato gives a nod and an order over the radio. "Full speed ahead! I'm going in." Ryuujou drops back to join the carrier squad, launching planes along with the others to have cover fire for the Admiral. "Unknown voice, I am going to try something."

    Nagato's guns dissipate from her rigging and slowly, most of her rigging dissipates as well, just battleship and turbines going in a line as fast as they can carry her towards the Armiger Princess... "Nowaki's right, it may be late for diplomacy but I will make amends... First wave. I have something similar." with radio pings updating her position, she continues forth, "ARMIGER!" she shouts and, as useless as this might sound, "WAIT!" the focused woman takes a brief look up.... aircraft. Jets... nngh. She shakes her head and continues on her way forth, trying to meet up with the Armiger Princess.

    Nagato's got an idea...

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure listens to the radio, then nods, kicking off forward. She squeaks as the Raiser beam slices through the water toward Kuma, but continues onwards to join up with Nagato. She swings her backpack out and grabs the cannon-fa as abyssal aircraft come streaking in. She lifts the barrels and opens fire with rapid blasts of flak shells, filling the sky with black explosions in the path of the incoming aircraft.

    Kuma blinks a little, the flash of the raiser blast occurs a fraction of a second before it strikes, giving the cruiser a very brief window to begin a though. "Oh..." she says intelligently, as she's caught full-face by the starship blast. She goes flying backward, skipping across the water before coming to rest, half submerged. "... ow."

    Yamashiro stows her main battery, instead opting for the smaller secondaries to fill the sky with flak and tracer fire, adding to the AA fire from Shigure. Nowaki also joins in, opening up with flak shells and machinegun fire from her own rigging. They're shifting tac entirely to defense, easing off the pressure on the Armiger.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    It's kind of hard for Gudako to tell what all is going on. The fight is happening at a distance, and while Wo is getting closer, it doesn't seem like those firing at the Princess are all in visible range. For a normal person, anyway. What she CAN tell is that when Wo gets close enough, she's the one taking fire. And then things start shaking! And there's explosions, and shrapnel, and all that incredibly fun and safe stuff.

    Told to get inside by Wo, after she refers to someone trying to make her leave, Gudako ponders, and though she seems rather happy to be on the deck, if her constant expression can be called a sign of that, she eventually wanders inside-- she is curious now, anyway, what is even inside Wo.

    Do Abyssals have the need for crew quarters, cabins, entertainment rooms, observation decks? She'll discover! Let's find out what's inside a horrible dark corrupt ghost ship thing.

    Caster remains on deck, having produced her very large mirror to act as a physical barrier between herself and shrapnel. It's still not perfect, and she's still at risk on the deck of the Wo-class, but it means nothing.

    Another set of paper talismans is produced, and sure enough like the last set it lances out from her. Towards the Armiger Princess. Glowing a bright pink and blue, these blessings are all focused on defensive buffs. Speed, armor, a generic magical shield, and even regeneration. Unfortunately, since the Armiger class is primarily technological, the regeneration spell won't be worth all that much. It might seal the lighter and smaller holes in its hull, at least.

    She even throws in a mental clarity blessing. Wo had mentioned this ship might have been angry, confused and conflicted, so trying to ease that may help at least a little bit.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    As the Fleet Daughter formation breaks up for combat, Zuihou leans aside and breaks off, turning away. Once she's clear, she surrounds herself with glittering silver light and bursts forth into the distinctive flat-topped silhouette of her fully sized aircraft carrier form. As the flight deck solidifies, another wing of aircraft--fully sized--rises into position on her central elevators. In the air, the tiny toy model Zeros and Tenzans expand to match, then break apart. The Tenzan dive low, merely 100-200 meters off the sea's surface, while the Zeroes climb and break off into a chaotic dogfight with the Abyssal fighters.

    While Zuihou's fighters dance in the sky, and a second wing ascends from the carrier to assist, those four Tenzan torpedo bombers swing around and form together. With the order to leave the Princess alone, they've chosen the next largest threat: The massive fleet carrier made out of teeth and malice. Incoming planes are no doubt going to attract the anti-air batteries' attention, and so the squadron dips low and drops their torpedoes at a long range before banking away to regroup. It's dangerous, but far enough out that the spread could be evaded. It might cause some mis-positioning, though. Is that Zuihou's real intention?

    Standing on the sea, Kiso raises her visible hand to scratch the side of her face, "...Yeah? You're Abyssal, ain't ya? You'd sink me on sight, listen to you sayin' it. Sinkin' you is just self defense." She jerks aside, narrowly avoiding a crimson beam. The next slices through the bulk of her cloak, sending off sparks where it clips her equipment and, as she recovers, there's smoke from the gear attached to her back, "..Heh.. They come up with better 'n better ones.." Leaning forward, she accellerates across the sea, weaving through widespread laser fire. The launchers on her thighs swing forward, though a sudden beeping catches her single eye's attention, "--Mm?" Squinting forward again, she nods, "Fine. She knows what she's doin'." Kiso swings to the other side, and the launcher on the side of her rigging flips forward instead. On a different trajectory, five black-painted torpedoes are launched into the water. It spins around, switching to the second launcher, which follows suit. These, not aimed at the errant Armiger girl, are instead aimed in a spread that carries them across the enormous aircraft carrier's path, "Solvin' another problem, instead!"

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Whispered Revolution is most definitely getting behind the big, protective, almost sisterly bulk of Wo's presented carrier side, clinging to those earlier visions of . . . even if she can't quite believe in friendship, something at least that doesn't involve being hunted down and shot! The shots still trailing after her start to fall short, glancing here and there at sub-optimal angles as Caster's buffs take effect, prolonging her flight to safety until the fleet's fusillade lets up, and switches to focusing on the aircraft, but her primary defensive system really is at its limit. Some of the panic fades from her expression as the last blessing takes effect, and yet the primal confusion of fear seems only to give into another kind of conflict as she is more clearly able to determine why it is that nothing about this makes sense.

    "I said . . . go . . . /away/!" she screams to Nagato, taking aim at her even as she approaches completely unarmed and almost unarmoured, offended on some deep level beyond having simply just been attacked. The dual-quad raiser sets charge, focus, and then one is blown asunder as matching energy weapon fire rips from over the horizon and crashes into the weakened shield, blunted by Caster's magic to the point where, though it manages to tear through the cannon assembly and the 'wing' behind it, it skirts off the point defense belt and only grazing the girl's arm, spraying a strangely iridescent fluid in place of oil; the flames issuing from the damaged equipment blue-white instead of ruddy orange. Even if it's not a hulling shot, it should still be a listing one, due to how light the armour seems to be under that shield, and how little there is in the way of robust or redundant systems, but she doesn't seem to be actually lowering in the water. Losing performance very quickly, yes, but not properly sinking like a real ship spirit should to signify its flagging life force.

    It seems she's clear-headed enough to tell what's happening now though. The way the enemy has ceased to even attack her, instead focusing entirely on Wo. It's cruelly poetic. Once again, she is rendered useless; nothing but an inconvenience to the ship trying to help her, crippled by another of her creator race and set up to fail, caught unawares and unable to fight back. Desperate to at least do /something/, she forsakes her refuge from behind Wo, throwing out her arms at the incoming Fleet Daughters. "Stop it! Leave . . . her alone! She . . . understands! You can't . . . take her away! You /can't/! This isn't . . . /fair/! Why do you . . . keep doing this . . . even though you have everything?!"

Nagato has posed:
    "You want someone who understands?" Nagato shouts out, though with the laser coming in and breaking off part of the Armiger, Nagato continues her quest forward. "Shot down... sunk... left as a test bed for nuclear weapons." she continues to shout out, things that the fleet will more than likely hear. Nagato's story. "I did not do much during the war in which I was sunk, girl. I know what you're going through, you're without purpose, without a home, without being!"

    Nagato frowns, her voice turning a bit more passionate, "I sank... I sank with regret... with hatred towards them... towards the same people who built me! I became THEM... the very thing you are running to. A being full of hatred and lost dreams who wallow in their own being.. because they can't remember who they were or how it felt." she shakes her head and shouts, "We do not have everything, we do not come close to having everything. We're in a war with our other halves... the Abyssal ships... the ones you are mimicing..."

    She looks back towards her fleet then back forward, "I'm here... to show you that we do want to understand you, that we want to make sure you... become the one you want to be... they became what they are because of my help and the rest of the fleet. I want the same for you. We fired because that's what we're used to doing, how this normally works, but you, you don't follow it do you?" Nagato's completely guessing here, "Come.. join the fleet, cast off the Abyssal garb you're wearing and we can give you purpose, we can give you understanding... we can give you what the First Wave never gave you."

    "Recognition and care. An identity. You."

Nagato has posed:
    If Nagato's close enough, she's going to be bold enough to end things with an embrace and armorless.

Wo has posed:
    Inside, curiously, it is replicas of all the equipment and mechanisms that one might expect to see in the original, including the hallways, but it all has that same rough hewn appearance as the exterior. Various stations that almost look like they could be used by a human crew are around, at least unless one actually tried to push any of the buttons, or twist any knobs. There is a conspicuous, crumpled area near the bow of the ship, however, where the radiant heat might make it difficult for 8D to approach. That is likely where the infernal furnace that one could see from various vantage points, outside the ship, has been forced into the frame, the rest contorting around to accomodate it. Cabins and bunks are all there, but are in a curious state of lacking any detail of being 'lived in', or even previously occupied. What can't be made of solid material is omitted. The atmosphere feels a little bit like a skeleton without its flesh. Regardless, it is likely safer in here than outside, and the red lighting everywhere really sets off the decor.

    Suddenly full-sized aircraft are a bit more considerable than their prior form. The Abyssal jets buzz and emit digital-sounding static between each other, and the fighters break away from the bombers to engage their counterparts. Despite what one might believe of technology gaps, Zuihou's more conventional aircraft still appear to be holding their own; the sleek airframes of the Abyssal planes are more suited to high speed flight, and they have to fight themselves, and their stall speed, as much as they do the enemy planes. The end result is more parity than one might expect, with cannon fire being exchanged between aircraft. Two of the original six are eventually peppered with rounds, one of which suffers a catastrophic airframe failure as it bursts into flames, where rounds barely keep from sawing off a wing. The others don't seem swayed, not even the damaged one.

    For their part, the bombers continue. Unlike their fleet daughter counterparts, they climb high into the air, before beginning a dive, releasing an Abyssal mockery of a bomb each; two head for Yamashiro, one for Kongou and two for Zuihou. Unfortunately, the level of concentrated anti-air fire the collection of fleet daughters on the other side can leverage is a bit much. A full three of the original five essentially disintegrate in mid-air. A fourth is billowing smoke as it turns up, its wing creaking from the stress and threatening to break. The accuracy of the bombs in those conditions is questionable, though the planes themselves, at this size, are also dangerous, as their burning wreckage falls out of the sky. The Wildcat fairy has had enough, and turns back to return to her carrier -- but will there even be one to return to, at this rate?

Wo has posed:

    Wo turns her eyes on the deck to Zuihou's incoming bombers. Gesturing with her staff, she directs the anti-air batteries in their direction, but she knows that when it comes to torpedoes, it's better to just not be there in the first place. Through either luck, or mercy, she manages to pull ahead of their spread, and while she does her best to remain in position, it does nudge her out of the space. It's about that time that a sting goes through her head, and she quickly turns to Caster, "Brace--" It could have been a lot worse, and Gudako will feel this even below decks, but one of the torpedoes from Kiso just struck near the bow. The welds of the metal plates on the exterior ripple briefly, like some kind of cool, slow motion video of a guy getting punched in the face. And then several shatter and break off, exposing framework, as well as more of that inner furnace. While it is just the metal creaking, it is almost like the carrier itself growls.

    When it all clears, the carrier is intact, for the most part, but many more strikes like that won't help the cause. The Wo-class, herself, has dropped to one knee on the deck, propping herself up with her staff, and twitching visibly. The planes being shot down, being torpedoed, it's all a bit much at once. And then the other, more freshly awoken 'Abyssal' appears to have had enough of having another suffer for her, which catches the carrier by surprise. About then, the Wildcat also lands on the deck, scooting to a stop in front of Wo, which requires a harder landing than usual to even come to a stop. Fire from the Wo-class ceases, for the time being. Almost as if she is also hearing Nagato out. "...kuh," she gasps out, a trickle of black oil coming out. "--if only, it were - that easy." Knowing that the fleet isn't likely to fire further with their flagship and Admiral in the vicinity, Wo remains steady where she is. Anti-air and defensive batteries raise, as though being stowed.

    "Believe who you want," she speaks through the shared, Abyssal voice space again, where she can be a bit more articulate, "But if you go with them, I won't be going with you. There are too many of my sisters, like me, for whom those answers won't come. And I won't abandon them until everyone gets to come home." With that, the carrier once again enters a cruising pattern, nearby, but it seems the fighting from her is over.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako will likely spend the next while exploring this REAL LIFE GHOST SHIP. If she's bothered by the atmosphere, it doesn't show; actually, she finds this pretty homely. It might be taint of the Grail making her feel like that, or it might just be that she's that much of a sociopath she feels at home in an empty skeleton ship. She'd likely go all the way to the furnace, and then widely back off and decide she doesn't need to see what's there THAT badly.

    It's too bad all those levers and buttons don't do anything!

    Maybe if she looks hard enough she can find an admiral's coat and hat.

    On-deck, the Caster's mirror is put to work; incoming artillery, at least, can be deflected, or worst-case detonated on the mirror to spare Wo one or two hits, at the expense of the Servant's own health and magical reserves. It's really not a situation in which she can truly shine-- she can play a mean support game, but it's not her best talent by far.

    As Wo and Nagato give the Princess her choices, Caster pitches in, in support of Wo. "They came here to sink you. We came here to save you and give you a home, and whatever you want after that. It wouldn't take me a long time to pick a side. They can hide it behind pretty words, but it won't erase the fact they tried to kill you. Twice."

    Due to the betrayal in her own life, Caster doesn't forgive easily. So where her advice is concerned, it's pretty obvious she'd pitch to the Princess not to overlook the two sinking attempts so far. Even if one was, admittedly, in self-defense, and probably doesn't count.

    As they idle about, Caster does at least focus her magic into another quick spell. A half-dozen ofuda shoot out, three at the Princess, three at Wo's damaged hull. Healing spells, this time-- no fancy stuff, just raw healing. Likely more effective on Wo than the Princess given the former has a heavy spiritual component to her.

Shigure has posed:
    Yamashiro stares upward defiantly as she clears the sky. A bomb slams down into her #4 turret, ripping it completely out and blasting shrapnel into the sea surrounding her, but she remains resolute. "We all have our own hidden pain..." she says softly to Nagato's speech, finally wincing as the ruined turret falls free from its mooring, splashing down into the water before the magazine inside detonates.

    Shigure, for her part, hovers near to Nagato and the Princess, but doesn't turn her guns on either, keeping her eyes firmly locked onto any approaching aircraft, ready to shoot them down, or throw herself in the path of their attack.

    Nowaki watches stoically as Nagato makes her speech. She remains stone-faced, but any Daughter would know the turmoil boiling under that placid surface.

    Chitose wheels about, after Kuma gets knocked sprawling. "Kuma's taken a heavy hit! Moving to assist!" She skates over, and stoops to haul the cruiser back up.

Kongou (637) has posed:
    Trailing smoke, a Zero spirals out of the sky and into the water, a tiny parachute floating down a few moments later-- far too small for a human pilot. Jets against Zero dogfighters is always a hairy situation, and Zuihou always has a hard time managing against the likes of Wo simply because the Abyssal has more aircraft to commit to a dogfight. It's Ryuujou's assistance and the combined anti-air power of the gathered shipgirls that helps bring it down to parity, more than the disadvantage of low speed combat on the Abyssal fighters. Another Zero suddenly rips into a steep slanting dive, the left wing tearing off courtesy of cannon fire. A third breaks off and dives, making for its mother carrier, trailing black smoke from the engine compartment.

    Alongside Zuihou, a bomb explodes in the water. Seconds later, the second impacts the flight deck just forward of the central elevator, shattering wood and twisting steel. The girl shrieks, audible outside the ship, "Ahh~! They got me!" Fire suppression hisses to life around the resultant fire, while she frets, "I-is the flight deck okay?"

    The fairy flying the damaged Zero pulls off, avoiding the bomb hit and surveying the damage. After a moment, the button-eyed little sprite shakes her head and banks the plane away. The cockpit slides open and she jumps free, while the plane ditches into the sea.

    At a much more sensible size, Kongou leans aside from incoming air attack, presenting her back to where the bomb lands. The blast, quite large, pushes her forward but she refuses to fall down. Smoke gutters from her rigging's twin stacks, until her boilers recover from the concussive impact. Her guns lower, trailing smoke, while she hears out Nagato's speech.

    Some distance away, Kiso raises a hand to shade her eyes, squinting at the sky with her one visible eye, "Retreatin'?" A glance downward towards the smaller abyssal, "...Heh." Her equipment's double launcher swings up to a rested position, torpedoes loading back in while she slows her speed to a more leisurely approach. "No sense firin' that close. Guess she gets away."

Zwei (596) has posed:
    In amidst the chatter of machine gun fire, the percussive boom of cannons, the screech of shells and whistle of falling bombs, and the roar of deafening explosions, it's that tackle from Nagato that seems to jostle the Armiger Princess the most. It's such a slight impact compared to the countless blow she's already weathered, but the stiff jerk of her body sends the broken visor tumbling from her eyes, finally exposing her entire, surprisingly youthful face, and the expression of numb, shellshocked grief etched across it. The snarls of bared teeth opened across her rigging remain still and silent, the glow fading from their hellish maws as her body begins to tremble, and then the tears roll down her corpse-pale cheeks.

    "But I /do/ remember . . ." she chokes out. "I remember . . . all of it . . . every second . . . every day with her . . ." Her shoulders twitch up and down, her lower lip contorting pathetically as she struggles not to yell. "I don't want . . . a new admiral . . . I don't want . . . a new fleet . . . I just want . . . to go back . . . I want to see the others . . . I don't want to be . . . the only one left behind . . . to be the only one thrown out . . ." Finally, she drops to her knees, the water splashing around her legs as she crumples. "I hate her . . . /s-so much/! . . . but I still . . . I remember when she was different! . . . Before she changed! . . . I don't know . . . what happened . . . I don't . . . understand! Did I do something . . . wrong? Is it . . . my fault? Am I the reason . . . she's so unhappy? I don't get it! I just want . . . her to be happy again . . . so things can go back to normal! Our war is over! We're supposed to protect . . . the peace! Not . . . kill humans! But don't I have to? She . . . she told me to so . . . I had to do it . . . b-but . . . I just . . . I didn't want to be alone! . . . I don't want to die alone . . . not when . . . all the others are gone . . . not when . . . she only has us left . . . I still want to help . . ."

    There is a series of explosive pops as tiny flashes light off in the joins of the rigging, purged from her frame by micro-explosives, leaving her in just the bodysuit and leg thruster array. The rigging turns to dust the instant it hits the water, sloughing off into an ugly lagoon of carbon slag. Her arms briefly squeeze around Nagato's waist before she picks herself back up again, looking back to Wo. "I can't . . . leave her . . . just yet. She's suffering too. I can't . . . leave them all alone as well. I don't want to fight . . . for no reason . . ." For one instant, her vocalizations resolve into a brief strain of crystal, high-definition clarity; soothing, warm and even. "I have to make sure she's alright first, before I can do something like that. I'll be seeing you."

    Her arms then slip free of the Fleet Daughter, drifting away as she does, turning towards the damaged carrier listing off with one, long-lasting second glance.

/*I'm really going to let it go huh?*/
//Study proves conclusive for tier 2 intelligence.//
/*That's not the point.*/
//056-237-001 - Whispered Revolution has been confirmed destroyed. She is freed from military service. Her workings are now sufficiently entangled with supernatural phenomena as to be considered black-box, and there is no risk of a breach of intelligence. The prodigal sister reaps what she sews here. I will not execute one of our own.//
/*Ugh, yeah yeah I get it. I'm just hoping this isn't going to bite me in the ass later.*/

Nagato has posed:
    "Then I shall wait for you." Nagato returns the gentle squeeze, giving the Armiger a nod. "Very well. Go see her, make sure she is well. We shall meet again soon." and with a radio call, "Fleet. Cease fire, fall back." she nods and stays where she is, just watching. Ryuujou slowly sails up, her planes recovering to her. Ryuujou looks between the Wo-Class, the Armiger and then the Admiral. "Shall we follow?" she questions, before Nagato gives a shake of her head.

    "No, Ryuujou. We wait here until the Wo-class is free of the area." comes Nagato's voice, it's strange to hear but it's not her usual stoic, commanding voice. "Sometimes, the best victory is hard to obtain, Ryuujou. And I am... one to think that when we see her next, it will be on the best terms and we will welcome her with open arms." Nagato stands there, hands at her hips, arms spread out... assuming that commander pose. "We did well but... I wonder about the Wo-class at times.."

    Shaking that brief thought out of her head, she nods, not even resummoning her gear. "Good work, fleet..."