Golly Gee Batman, 11,000 reads!?

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Shigure and Harusame barely dodged a few shells falling over their heads as they continued to try and process everything that was unfolding in front of them. None of the allied fleet had fired a single shell because the Abyssals were doing that for them. With excellent marksmanship might they add.

As they continued to dodge the occasional shell coming their way as a misfire from the supposedly enemy fleet, as opposed to the so called friendly fleet, they turned their attention back to the Missouri, who was still stuck in a backwards motion. And not only that, but her turrets were still skewed, the two forward mounted still at max elevation.

And the rear wasn't much better off, still straight as each gun had been set to a different elevation level, none of which would be helpful. It seemed as if the Missouri crew had gone insane.

Which, would be considered perfectly okay considering the situation in which the fleet now found themselves.

Facing an Abyssal fleet. Supported by an Abyssal fleet. And not just Abyssals, but Abyssal Warships if the decorated hull of Mutsu was anything to go by as her forward guns spit up another four shells, landing among the opposing fleet. Following suit were the other three battleships that the Snow Fleet had brought to the party, the sounds brining back memories rather well forgotten.

But as they watched the surface fleets ford through the confusion and the dogfights overhead blaze away at each other, Snow Fleet Vs The Abyss Fleet, something occurred to Harusame. Something that bothered her to no end.

The Allied Fleet had not engaged.

"Hey! Arizona!" Harusame called over the fleet wide Radio. It crackled to life a few moments later, Arizona on the other side of Missouri as she answered.

"Yeah, Harusame?" Arizona asked in response as she watched the forward Snow Battleship line fire off another round of Salvos.

"Since when did we let the Abyssals take our job for themselves? Isn't it us who is supposed to engage Abyssals, not Abyssals themselves?" She asked. "How long are we gonna sit around with our thumbs up our asses and wait? Until the Fleet of the Abyssal is just a memory?" She demanded. Silence ensued for a moment before Arizona let out a bark like laugh at that, joined in turn by some of the other American Ships, Oklahoma and San Diego to be noted.

"Yeah! Since when did we let a little confusion stop the U.S. Navy!? If anything else, it just adds to the trophies in the end." Bristol giggled, laughter following from her sister's. And as if on cue, Arizona spoke again.

"Fleet, full engagement. Don't pull any punches for the sake of our new.... pals here..." she said. And as if one cue, the fleet made their way forward to the front lines, the destroyers sailing past the Snow Fleet's battleships and cruiser's, the beings watching them sail by but making no move towards them, their haze licking upwards. And for good reason as well, as the allied fleet's cruiser's and Battleships began to slot in amongst those of the Snow, the groups trading uneasy glances with one another before they focused their sights on the Abyss as one power, guns aligning left and right as the Allied fleet fired, namely the battleships to begin with.

Shells soared through the air, the whistling noise there in an obligatory manner before reaching the peak and starting their downward decent.

Their downward decent into hell. There were so many resulting explosions among the forward lines of the Abyss fleet that those of the Allied briefly lost sight of the opposing fleet. It only worsened when the Snow's battleships fired as well, further adding to the carnage of the ensuing battle.

As the fleet's main guns began their reload, the Warships that sat behind them joined in as well.

Rippling down the line, each ship fired their guns only for the next to follow suit, the full sized shells taking out any pour souls caught in their path without question. Only another line of explosions racketing the waves and the sky was their payment in return.

As the battleships reloaded and readied themselves, they waited for the smoke to clear so that they could get an idea of just how much damage they had done.

The destroyers out front didn't hesitate to find out. Besides DesDiv6, the rest of the destroyers were out front and showing the Enemy what for, adding to the already intense onslaught as they tossed their fish into the water, a mixture of the Type 93's and the Type 14's sailing together in a waiting mixture for destruction.

And it soon came in a symphony of demonic screeches and steel bending to the will of brimstone and fire as the rows of torpedoes set off yet another wave of explosions among the Abyss fleet. But despite the best efforts of those willing, the forward lines still stood, destroyers re-positioning themselves to better cover for their new losses.

And with their side ended, the Abyss side began.

Firing forwards to the back, the Abyssal fleet opened fire. But as the shells began to fall, the Snow fleet took action.

Either nudging the Kanmusu present out of position or just outright blocking them, not a single shell landed on one of the girl's as the Snow tanked the hits, Destroyer to Battleship shells pelting the Albino Abyssals in less than friendly ways. But the Snow endured, not bending their will even an inch to bow to the Abyss.

As this went on and the shells continued to fly from both sides. And as they did so, more so was happening within the Abyss fleet within it's ranks.

"Ha! Missed me!" White laughed as she raced to and in between two battleships, causing them to be fired upon by other Abyssals trying to rid themselves of the Empress. The Abyssal only laughed as the two battleships let out enraged roars before turning their guns on the one's who had fired with no hesitation, returning the gesture.

It was the same across the entire fleet, the five Empress's causing havoc among the Abyss, zooming to and fro as the ranks they were racing circles around tried to deal with them to the best of their ability. Well, four of them were anyways. Laptev was still trading blows with the two Queens, very nearly escaping fatal blows a couple of times as she kept the Queens on their toes.

"You little pest! Why won't you do the smart thing and die already!" Pacific demanded as she took another swing at the Empress. Laptev simply slid out of reach as she turned and countered a swipe from Southern, the Empress confident in every move she made as she shrugged.

"That's rhetorical, right, Pifi?" Laptev asked as she looked back to the Queen as she socked Southern in the gut with her fist, not doing much more than serving to annoy the Queen. "Because dying just isn't in the plan right now." She laughed as she flipped over the Queen, very nearly bringing Pacific's axe slamming into the other Queen.

Shooting a heated glare to her fellow Queen, Southern took her attention off of Pacific and focused on Laptev again, launching for the Empress. Laptev only spun again, sliding just out of the Queen's range of motion. But it before the skillful Empress jabbed at a weak point within the Queen's armor, her blade finding pale flesh before drawing onto it with the black blood of the Abyssal. Southern screamed in rage as she swung a halberd for the Empress, Laptev countering without a moment of hesitation.

"This is what I get for being signed up for Patrol.... maybe Atlantic and Indian would have been a tougher choice for this assignment... I mean... they wear the pants in the family, don't they?" Laptev asked. Anger flared to new heights in the two Queen's as they rushed once again at the Empress, this time not caring for one another's personal well being.

And this of course was their issue as Laptev was more than ready to make them regret their actions.

As Southern charged at her in front, Laptev swept to her side, bringing her within range of Pacific. And as if one cue, Southern swung again, her vision tinted red as she aimed for the Empress. What she wasn't counting on was her halberd crashing off of Pacific's armor, throwing off her balance in the process. Laptev didn't miss her chance.

Sweeping under Pacific's feet, Laptev skirted under the Queen before pushing off of the water's surface, going airborne briefly before her feet planted themselves firmly in the square center of Southern's belly. Pushing off once again, Laptev flipped backwards as Southern was sent flying, sliding across the water's surface a ways. Granted, Southern corrected herself rather quickly, but she still had a distance to cover to get back to the two.

This left Laptev alone with Pacific, the woman still brandishing her axe. And as she did so, she brought it down upon Laptev. But the Empress had been more than ready for a strike by the Queen. As Pacific swung, aiming for a decapitation of the Empress, Laptev let herself fall backwards, sinking beneath the waves as the weapon passed harmlessly over before emerging again.

"I was unaware that Arctic had trained her Empress's so well..." Pacific grunted as she watched Chukchi tangle with two Re's, one on either side of her as she played a dangerous game of chicken. Turning her gaze back to Laptev, she shook her head as she watched the Empress. "Such talent waisted." She said as she hefted her battleaxe over her head, resting it on her shoulders. "Tell me, why do you fight for the Humans? What sets them so apart from us that you would betray your own kind?" The Queen asked. Laptev only chuckled as she shook her head.

"That question is not so easily answered as you would have it be. The question is far more complex and strange than you make it sound." Laptev answered, shaking her head. "Tell me this. What gives you the right to decide if the humans should live or die? Why should you be the jury, judge, and their executioner? Why do you see yourself as some sort of deciding factor in their lives?" The Empress asked. Pacific shook her head.

"And who tells me I can't be? The Humans need to be put in their place. For centuries, they've dirtied the oceans with their filth and mistakes. They've tainted this planet with their wars and diseases. They deserve far more than even we are capable of giving them." She said in response. Laptev shook her head.

"But why now? The Abyssals have been around since before even Humans took to the water. Why now out of all times? Why not stop the Humans when they were just getting ready to set on traveling by water? Or fishing? Why not stop it before it began if you're so committed to this?" She demanded. Pacific shook her head.

"You're too young to understand. You are but a weapon born out of necessity to fight a Rebellion that your seniors had no right in starting. You can not hope to fathom the reasoning and decisions behind this war, let alone those who wage it." Pacific replied cooly. Laptev rolled her eyes at that.

"Okay, Granny! Sorry that I'm only 24." She huffed. "What? The humans accidentally kill your pet Stegosaurs? That why you're so salty?" She asked. Pacific only chuckled at the insult as she shook her head, still holding her weapon in a laxed state as she watched the Empress.

"It would seem that Arctic allows you contact with the Human world and society. Am I wrong in assuming this?" She asked. Laptev watched her for a moment before shaking her head.

"No... you're not wrong. Arctic calls it never forgetting what we're here to protect. And I'm not stupid. Yeah, Humanity has a couple of handfuls of those people who want to make you rip your hair out. They've got the people that make you ask how someone could be so stupid. And I'm not ignorant. Humanity is no where near perfect. They have their flaws, their wars, their disagreements. But for all of that, they're also human. And Humans are allowed to make mistakes without someone trying to put them out of their misery." Laptev answered the Queen. Pacific arched a brow at that.

"So do you even know why you're fighting this war with life and limb?" She asked. Laptev shook her head.

"No, the question Pacific, is why you're fighting this war. If it's just because humanity is shit, that's an even shittier excuse. If that was the reason for anything, then humanity would have been turned to ash by it's own hands long ago. It's not up to you to decide what's common law." Laptev replied. Pacific shook her head.

"It has to fall to someone. And that someone is the Abyssals. Humans have to be taught that they can't simply do what they want when they want. They can't be allowed to screw up any further." Pacific replied. Laptev shook her head, fists on her hips as she looked at the Queen.

"What kind of logic is that? They can't be allowed to screw up? I just said that Humans make mistakes. What you want?! What you see as your ultimate goal? It can't happen. Humans are flawed. Humans are not in any way, shape, or form the definition of perfection. But neither are you or me. We're just as flawed as them." She said. Pacific shook her head.

"I am of Royalty. I-"

"You have a title created and used by Humans in certain forms of their governments. Queen Pacific? How about Queen of England? Sure, she ain't as old as you are, but she's probably a fuckton more sane than you." She said. Pacific shook her head.

"She is but a human." She replied. Laptev shrugged.

"And your point? Centuries ago, people saw their rulers as divine. Beings who were bound to no one's will. Entities that could spread their word far and wide just with a flick of the hand. You're nothing special Pacific. None of you Queens are. You just haven't come to realize that you're all out of your goddamn minds!" Laptev insisted. Pacific rolled her eyes at this.

"And you are in no place to try and convince me of how." She said as the five Empress's the Abyss had brought began to surround the Empress, Zanj and Arabian more than ready to take on the Empress straight away if they had to. Laptev only rolled her eyes at that as she watched the five Empress's stand in the way of her and Pacific. "And you're also out of time, for Southern has already made her move." Pacific said, bringing her battle axe off of her shoulder as she allowed a small smirk. Laptev whipped around to locate the Queen, and cursed when she did so.

Southern was sprinting towards the allied fleet, to be more specific, the destroyers they had out in front. To name a few specifics, Yuudachi and Shigure had unknowingly entered the crosshairs of the Southern Queen. And the distance was closing rapidly. For the Queen had intent. And killing was all it was made of.

Laptev cursed as she tried to bolt past the two nearest Empress's, Somov and Riiser, if she recalled correctly. But the two proved to be more troublesome than she thought as they shot the Empress smirks, telling her that they had won and she had failed. That two members of the Allied fleet would fall this day with more to come. They were confident. They were sure.

They were not prepared.

As Southern was upon the two, now having to dodge the occasional shell from the fleet, she brandished her two Halberds as she prepared to strike, to drive her weapons through the heart of her enemies. To make them suffer greatly. And just as she was upon them, the two finally registered her presence upon them.

Shigure froze in place as Yuudachi's eyes went wide as Southern began to swing her first weapon for the kill, her first target having become Shigure.

The destroyer's eyes snapped shut, waiting for the blow to take her life and send her to the bottom.

She waited.

She knew it was coming.

It never came.

All that came in it's place was the sound of metal clanging on metal, and a small sound of surprise, presumably from Yuudachi. Shigure slowly opened her eyes to see what had occurred, and found herself somewhat surprised.

Where her supposed killer had once been sure, her weapons free to slaughter the two, she now found herself in the presence of a second. This one was holding the first at bay, what looked like an armored leg raised, holding the Halberd at bay as the newcomer glared at Southern. As they continued to hold one another at bay, a rather long and sharp blade began to grow from the other leg on the back, coming to a curved execution.

"Arctic....." Southern hissed in anger, her haze flaring. The indicated fifth Queen only smiled serenely as she kicked Southern back before front flipping towards the presumable murderer of the two Japanese destroyers, the blade on the back of her leg set to come down like a guillotine onto Southern. 

"Guilty." Answered the Queen as metal clashed with metal, growing another blade in a moment's notice on the other leg as Southern knocked Arctic away. But the Queen was ready, coming back as she brought her leg up, spinning back at Southern. Once again, Southern had no problem blocking the move, but it was clear as day.

The destroyers were off limits.

Southern growled in annoyance as she willed Arctic to be pushed back. But it wasn't going. The wound Laptev had left in Southern's side left the Queen's right side not up to par and Arctic seemed to take notice as every two strikes were thrown more to Southern's injured side. And the Southern Queen knew she was at a disadvantage at this point, but allowing Arctic to win so simply was below her.

Pacific let out a hiss of frustration before looking down at the five Empress's. "Kill Laptev and then target Arctic. I am going to assist Southern." She muttered as she left the five to do her work for her, something the five Empress's were all to glad to commit to wholeheartedly.

"Now ladies." Laptev began. "Let's think about this? Would killing me really accomplish anything sort of useful? I mean, you'd get your outfits all dirty and nobody wants that." She chuckled, letting her gaze switch between the five Empress's. Zanj only shook her head, readying her cutlass as Lazarev giggled.

"Maybe. But maybe not. Either way, it's gonna be a ball." Somov laughed as she readied her javelin, preparing to strike at the Empress. Laptev only sighed.

"I can see that there's no use trying to persuade you to not do this." Laptev said. Four of the Empress's shook her head as Zanj only looked on. The Empress under the command of Arctic only shook her head in an amused fashion as she put up her hands on surrender, retracting her blades as she nodded. "So be it." She said in a final motion.

Somov moved first, ready to run Laptev through with her scimitars. The blades that extended from Laptev's wrists strangely absent, the Empress seemed ready to accept her fate. But she wasn't.

Just as the sword was prepared to break skin, Laptev more than ready to let it, the Empress finally acted.

Jutting her knee up, she brought it crashing into Somov's wrist, sending the sword's aim upwards as the sudden move caught the Empress off guard. But Laptev didn't stop there as then went about driving her knee into Somov's stomach before flipping her over her shoulder, throwing her into Zanj.

This gave Laptev time to rebalance herself before dodging a jab by Arabian, the Empress being the next attacker. Extending her blades, Laptev countered the first swing of a weapon before grabbing the Empress's wrist and slicing it open with her other blade, something that made Arabian reel back in pain before switching her weapon hand. The Empress under the command of Arctic though wasn't willing to wait however as she sprung at the woman, her blade making a sharp clang as she bounced it off of Arabian's weapon, nearly knocking it out of her hand.

That's when Laptev gave way to a front flip, bringing the back of her foot down hard on the Empress's head, effectively dazing the woman. But she wasn't willing to push her luck further, taking her chance to bolt past the Empress out of the middle of the five and back to her own freedom. With the Empress's letting her go and the two Queens will focusing on battling it out with Arctic, something that seemed to be not going in the favor of the two, Laptev turned her attention back to the Abyss fleet, still under assault from the combined forces of the Snow and Allied Fleets.

Made her and the other Empress's jobs a whole lot easier.

Watching the Abyssal surge off to go back and tear the Abyssal fleet apart, Arizona couldn't help but sneak a look at their apparent allies. On her right, she had a Re-Class Battleship, the very class that had almost brought an end to her on her first sortie.

And on her left, she had a Ru. Although not as menacing as the former, the Ru Class wasn't to be overlooked either.

It puzzled the American as to how this had come about. How their once sworn enemies to them and Humanity had traitors within it's own ranks, the evidence more than clear now.

Even though not a single word has been traded between the three of them, assuming that they could speak, that suited Arizona just fine. And as she sent a salvo of twelve shells through the air, soon falling upon those of the Abyss. But as soon as they had, a new sound filled the air.

Pak! Pak! Pak!

Looking to the their sides, the allied fleet saw that the four Arleigh-Burke class destroyers had had more enough of sitting around like the Missouri, and were jumping head first into the fray. Barking away with their five inch guns, the destroyers were only adding to the chaos.

Sailing in formation, the four destroyers were showing the Abyssal fleet, who couldn't focus on the four destroyer for sake of having five very dangerous Empress's running ramapant among their ranks, what for. But it got worse for the Abyss as a one of the destroyers added fuel to the fires of their bad luck.

One of the reasons that Modern Naval weaponry paled against the Abyssals was the fact that the Abyssals were so small compared to a basic Warship. Five inch guns didn't help in most situations and it was a Hail Mary shot to try anything decent with the missiles most Ships were equipped with in current day. Locks couldn't be acquired effectively to do any real damage in time before the Abyssals began to target said ships.

Well, that was then. This is now. Where the Abyssals aren't focused on the destroyers assisting them with five inch shells.

That changes quickly when the tell tale signs and sounds of a freshly fired off missile enter the air.

In their panic of trying to repel the Empress's slashing down their lines and ranks, and returning fire on the allied fleet where needed, they had forgotten about the destroyers accompanying the Missouri. Since the four had originally retreated around the Missouri to protect it from potential threats when the Snow fleet had arrived, they hadn't made another move until now. And quite a move it was, for the missile wasn't without a lock this time.

It had found a Ru class sitting still as it tried to bring it's guns to bare on the five Empress's under Arctic's command. A move that she would come to regret in the coming seconds.

Seeing the Missile on it's way, the five Empress's split fast, dodging and weaving their ways towards the outer boundaries and lines of the fleet as the Missile neared impact point.

As if sensing it coming, the Ru turned to find out just what was making the noise that was getting louder by the second. Turning, she  willed for something to make itself known to her. And as she spotted just what it was, she briefly wished she hadn't.

Then the missile struck home.

The Ru had no time to react as the Missile collided with her, exploding on impact, engulfing the Abyssal in flames and outright disintegrating her, further adding to the damage as the explosion engulfed those nearby, the forces being lost in the fire of the modern age, something that they seemed to laugh at most of the time. But not now. Not this time.

As the smoke rose from the impact, the Ru and a few others now flopping over dead and began to sink, another pain to their day began to form.

Locking the door to the Bridge of the Missouri, the woman ignored the sounds of the crew banging to be let in, Captain Gailer's voice begin one of the more prominent heard. Chuckling to herself, the Amazon of a woman turned her gaze back to the distant Abyssal fleet. Crossing her arms, she stood in place as she watched Missouri's frontal guns begin to rotate back into place, the guns leveling with one another as the Missouri began to crank her engines to full. Bringing her guns to bare, the ship began to turn to port, also bringing the third turret to bare in did so.

Blinking, the fleet watched the ship move out of position, moving out of the way as the Missouri crossed in front of the A.N.V. Nagato and the other Abyssal ships having their fields of fire obstructed by the Missouri making a sudden move out of line.

Arizona shook her head. "Captian, What are you doing?" The battleship asked over the Radio. Silence greeted the battleship in response, not even static coming to her hearing. Furrowing her brow in confusion, Arizona tried again.

"Captain Gailer. Respond." She said in a more direct tone. But the Radio remained frustratingly quiet.

The Missouri's only answer was a full broadside salvo, the full sized sixteen inch rifles singing at maximum volume, a sound that threatened to drown even the mighty  Pacific Ocean herself. And just as that had gone on, the Missouri's Anti Air kicked in, selecting the required amount of Opposing planes and allowing the CIWS to open up, the rounds shredding the Ebony drones to pieces, pulling them from the sky and into the ocean.

The Allied and Snow fleets watched somewhat helpless as the Missouri herself joined the fray, already doing more than her fair share between the attaining of Air Superiority and keeping the opposing fleet on the defense. 

Laptev only laughed as she charged alongside White, the two Empress's now among the Abyss's destroyer ranks. With the Allied feet's destroyers throwing continued torpedoes at the enemy fleet, the two had to be somewhat careful. But as White sliced one of her blades down the spine of a destroyer, only for the being to explode, careful was relative.

The Abyss fleet was beaten and torn, their numbers having plummeted from around 150 to under 60. Where as the Allied fleets and Snow had yet to start substantial losses, something that the two Empress's gave no thought to. They were winning. That was all that mattered.

And as if on cue, the first of the Abyss began to pull away, a heavy cruiser now on a sprint from the battle. More followed suit, battleships and cruiser's alike, pulling away from the wreckage of their former allies and fleet and began to dead sprint their way towards the horizon.

Laptev and White traded a glance before nodding to one another, reverting their path towards their Queen, Arctic still single handedly taking on both Southern and Pacific, the two Queens looking more than ragged enough.

Pacific took another swing at Arctic, only for it to be blocked by a blade as Arctic brought her leg up, kicking back at the Queen in a rapid fire fashion. Nicking the Queen on the cheek, Pacific pulled back as she regrouped with Southern. Just in time for Laptev and White to launch themselves at the two from behind, causing the two Queen's to move unintentionally back towards Arctic.

Readying their weapons, White jumped at Southern, the souls of her feet bladed and ragged, ready to slice the Queen open. As for Laptev, her blades extended from her arms as she slashed for Pacific, putting the two Queen's on the defensive.

Trading a glance with one another, Southern and Pacific made a choice. They ducked out.

Diving immediately, the two Queens vanished from sight. And as if sensing this, the members left of their combined fleet dove as well, planes pulling back as the surface ships pulled back in retreat, some diving immediately as others began to Sprint their way across the water, intent on getting the hell out of there.

Watching for a moment, Laptev and White gave one another a high five as Arctic watched the Horizon with a suspicious gaze.

It wasn't like Pacific and Southern to run from a battle. Even if the title of Brutes belonged to Atlantic and Indian couldn't be applied to them, they were Queens. So why run?

Shaking her head, Arctic gestured her fleet forward, giving the signal while also calling herself and her Empress's back to the Nagato, their flagship for this outing.

Nodding, the Snow fleet began to move forward, acting as a defensive barrier for the Allied fleet. Passing the Missouri, who had for whatever reason stopped, they gave the fleet breathing room.

And as the allied fleet collected themselves and reorganized, they couldn't help watch the leading forms of the figures that had just assisted in saving their lives. Supposed to be their enemies, nothing made sense.

But as they watched the six Abyssals that seemed to have lead the charge make their way back to the Nagato, Bristol couldn't help herself.

"THANK YOU!" The destroyer yelled as she and her sisters regrouped. The six Abyssals didn't seem to pay the phrase any mind, vanishing behind the form of the Nagato, before the ship sounded her horn, this being answered by the other Abyssal Warships.

In response, in an unexpected turn, the Mahan did the same, followed by the other three as the fleets began to reorganize themselves as the Missouri began to straighten itself out.

Soon enough, the fleet was back on their way to Yokosuka, none the worse for wear, flanked by the Abyssa warships that had supported them.

Watching from below, Pacific and Southern watched the forms of the ships and weapons pass overhead. Arching a brow, Pacific looked to Southern.

"Did you gather enough data to counter this?" She asked simply. The Queen of the Southern Ocean only nodded, watching the form of the A.N.V. Nagato sail away.