"Someone... anyone... please... help..."

"Wut." Was all that Matsukaze could think of. That had been what she had been expecting when she began scanning different radio signals, looking for one that would let her listen to the ball game going on in Tokyo. She had been expecting a baseball game, not a call for help.

This was supposed to be a simple patrol fleet, not a rescue operation. Matsukaze let out a heavy sigh as her fairies began to mark down the info on the message they had received. She knew she didn't recognize the voice, prompting the fact that the sender of said message may be a new girl. And the fact that the English wasn't accented with any sort of way of speaking that she was familiar with. Matsukaze's Head was spinning with the possible implications of what this meant.

Her fairies had thus far stopped messing with the radio, no longer searching for any signals from Tokyo. Instead, they were hoping for a repeat of the message to further dial down the direction. And apparently in doing so, Matsu's face must've shown something that wasn't the norm for her sisters as Asakaze immediately called her out on it.

"Hey, Mat. You alright?" She called as she sailed alongside the destroyer, eyeing the girl. Matsukaze nodded, securing her mini top hat to her head as she did so. As Asakaze closed the distance, Hatakase And Harukaze followed suit, the destroyers nearing their sister. Matsukaze sighed at all of the apparent attention that she had garnered from one lone facial expression.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine." Matsukaze Answered with a huff as she glanced at three of her sisters. The name ship of their class, Kamikaze, was still holding the lead of the Fleet, watching the surrounding waters for any sort of potential threat.

"Really? Cause your face was practically screaming that something was wrong." Hatakaze Answered, a hand on her hip as she did so. The destroyer watched her sister with a sense of curiosity, a feeling that Matsukaze did not share in.

"Oh shut up." Matsukaze Answered as she waved off the girl's concern. "I'm fine alright? My fairies are just really jumpy right now." She Answered as she put her hands behind her head. "They encountered an S.O.S. And they're up in arms trying to pinpoint where it came from."

"Oh." Asakaze Answered, a sentiment that Hata and Haru seemed to share. "Any luck so far or are they just grabbing at straws at this point?" Harukaze asked. Matsukaze shrugged.

"They haven't been able to find anything just yet, but I keep going over the message we received. It's.. a little odd." She said as she scratched her head. Her sisters at this point had their undivided attention on the destroyer.

"So? What's so odd about it? It's an S.O.S. Right? We get those everyonce and a while. Probs just some stupid fisherman who thought he'd try his luck and found Abyssals for his trouble." Hatakaze Answered. Matsukaze shook her head.

"That's where the trouble starts. First, the message was from a woman." She said. "That much was easy to tell." Matsukaze Answered. Asakaze nodded at that as she crossed her arms. As the four sailed on after Kamikaze.

"And the second?" Hatakaze asked as she rested her arms behind her head. Matsukaze sighed.

"The message came in English. And not some accented English either. At least not accented from around here." Matsu Answered. Hatakaze tilted her head at that as she sisters focused on Matsukaze.

"So what you're saying then is the message came from someone not originally from Japan? What's so strange about that? Remember a few months ago when we came across the stranded yacht originally from Australia?" She asked. Matsu nodded.

"Alright, ya got me there. But we knew about them beforehand. Our drone picked up their signal, remember? And we didn't have to fight Abyssals to get to them either. They were only fifty miles ofF Sasebo." She recollected as she tapped her chin. Hatakaze shrugged at that, accepting the points being presented. But Asakaze wasn't convinced.

"You sure you're not just being overly paranoid? Remember when you thought that Kyle was some serial killer out to get Suzuya? And it turned it out they were just dating in secret? And you tried to assault him for it?" She asked. Matsukaze pouted at the subject as she crossed her arms.

"That wasn't my fault!" Matsukaze urged. "How was I supposed to know that he was just massaging her shoulders and not trying to strangle her?" She asked. Asakaze facepalmed.

"Maybe because she's a ship girl? And he's a normal human?" She Answered. "And besides, I don't think-"

"Please.... anyone.... help...."

The group froze as Matsukaze's fairies once again collected this message, the destroyer going back into focus mode. As for her three sisters however, the found themselves quiet at the sudden message.

"Well, at least we know for sure that it isn't just one big elaborate prank." Hatakaze said after a moment as her own fairies took note of the message. Matsukaze glared at her sister, rolling her eyes at the insinuation. Before she could call the girl out though, Kamikaze approached the group, coming parallel with Matsukaze.

"What's with all the commotion here? What's up?" She asked as she watched her four sisters. Asakaze was the one to pipe up at that.

"Matsukaze encountered a distress signal and we were verifying that it wasn't a hoax. Can confirm that it isn't a hoax." She said. Kamikaze only nodded somewhat at that as she looked to Matsu.

"Is that right?" She asked. Matsu nodded.

"I've now heard two messages coming from the same source. Still working on the direction that it came from but my crew is making steady progress." She said. Kamikaze nodded at that.

"We should probably radio to Shokaku.... wait, how'd you get the message but the rest of them didn't?" She asked. Kamikaze asked, now directing her gaze and locking it to Matsukaze. Suddenly, the girl in question became nervous, giving a laugh as she scratched the back of her head.

"W-what are you talking about, Kami? Of course I've been on the same frequency as the rest of you for this sortie." Matsukaze said. Kamikaze sighed at that, facepalming. She knew that there was a ball game going on in Tokyo today. And while just as eager to see if their team had come out on top on Said game, she was perfectly fine with waiting to watch the recording she had scheduled instead of changing radio frequencies in the middle of a sortie trying to catch the game that way like Matsu had so clearly been trying to accomplish. And even Matsu had outed herself.

"We'll discuss this with the admiral later." Kamikaze said, Shaking her head somewhat, the destroyer keyed back up to the proper channel as she spoke. "Shokaku. This is Kamikaze. You read?" She asked. A few moments later, the response came back as the flagship of their fleet replied.

"This is Shokaku. What are you guys up to? We're catching up. Nearing 10 kilometers and dropping." The carrier Answered. Kamikaze gave a sigh as she gave the motion for she and her sisters to increase their pace as she replied to the flagship.

"Matsukaze encountered an emergency message. And a little while later, the rest of my sisters encountered another message, presumably from the same source. There's someone in trouble on these waters and we may need to intervene. No evidence has been provided, but we believe it to be Abyssal threats." Kamikaze Answered as she kept her eyes on the surrounding waters.

Shokaku sighed at that as she came back. "Affirmative. I'll run it by the Admiral, see what she wants to do." The white haired girl stated. The destroyer she was speaking to only gave a noise of affirmative before ending the transmission, leaving Shokaku alone with her thoughts. That, and the rest of the Fleet.

"What was that all about, Shokaku?" Suzuya asked. "The sisters get into some sort of trouble they can't handle?" The heavy cruiser asked as she glanced at the flagship.

Shokaku shook her head as her fairies prepared a call back to base to alert the Admiral of what exactly was going on. "No, they encountered an SOS apparently." She Answered. Suzuya arched a brow at that as Kumano perked up at that.

"An sos? And we aren't immediately responding? Whatever reason why not?" She asked. Shokaku blinked at that as she went to give a response, but was cut off as Akizuki pipped up.

"Yeah! What if they can't last that long? What if the admiral doesn't give the go for a rescue mission? What then? We arrive to the scene to late? You remember what happened in the north when it came to recovering Shohou, don't you? We nearly lost her because no one could decide on a plan of action. What is this is another Japanese shipgirl? What it's our first returning battleship?" She asked with a hum. "Wouldn't want to waste any time on getting her back, would you?" She asked. Shokaku rolled her eyes at that.

"The seas were pretty bad that day and a lot of us were hurt from previous encounters. We couldn't exactly launch off to the rescue." She explained. Akizuki nodded at that.

"Exactly. And now, we're presented with the same problem. Except, there's not a cloud in the sky and we're all raring to go. You can't tell me that you don't like our chances. Seven destroyers, two heavy cruisers, and a fleet carrier. It doesn't get any better than this Shokaku." The anti air destroyer claimed. Suzuya shrugged as she looked to their flagship.

"She has a point, Sho. We're practically full on fuel and haven't fired a shot this entire sortie. It's not a matter of if, but only should. Sure, the Admiral might get a little salty for not checking in with her before hand. But if we bring her a nice shiny new battleship? Like Nagato or Yamato? It'd be a fair trade I think. What do you think Hatsu?" She called, turning her gaze to Akizuki's sister. The dark headed destroyer only nodded.

"If we're gonna do this, we do it now or not at all Shokaku." She Answered. Shokaku sighed at that as she mulled the thought a moment before shaking her head, silently giving the order for her crew to cancel the order to the Admiral, Connecting with Kamikaze once more.

"Kamikaze, you and your sisters fall back in position with us. The fleet is now hereby in relief operations. Send the fleet the directions of the message and we'll head that way, see if we can do anything to assist." She ordered. Kamikaze gave a sound of affirmative, a few moments later, the five destroyers speeding across the water back towards the carrier and her four escorts.

As the fleet reassembled themselves, Matsu gave the directions that Shokaku needed. Giving a nod, the fleet as one shifted their directions to the south east, bows slicing through the water as their rudders shifted over. As they did so, a wing of Zeros prepped for launch on top Shoukaku's deck.

Should anyone need help, they were going to get it. Shokaku'd make sure of that.
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Two hours later found the Sasebo fleet in the South Pacific, still searching out the source of the distress call. But so far, they found not a soul alive to send one.

"Are we even sure this was the right way?" Suzuya asked as she glanced around as she and the rest of the Fleet glided atop the water as one formation. Matsukaze sighed as she glanced at the cruiser.

"I told you. We never got a heading or anything. We got the message. We're lucky our fairies were able to decide the direction." She Answered. "They're certain that whoever sent this message was this direction." The destroyer Answered. Suzuya huffed in response at that as Akizuki looked to Shokaku.

"Maybe a squadron on patrol would help here. We could cover more water with an eye in the sky." The destroyer suggested as she watched the carrier. Shokaku nodded in response to the suggestion, her bow turning into the waves as she separated from the fleet for a moment to be able to launch a squadron.

As some of the fleet watched their fleet carrier launch her patrol, others turned their attention to their surroundings, making sure that the Abyssals were not readying a surprise strike. They were far out of their usual stomping grounds here, that was for sure. And all it took was one rouge Abyssal scout to let the fleets by the dozens know where they were, something no one in particular wanted anything to do with.

As Shokaku felt the wheels of her fighters landing gear barrel down her deck and soaring into the air, she breathed a sigh of relief that they got up without incident. It made the carrier nervous when she was launching planes, even if she didn't show it. Having planes atop when the enemy struck usually spelled disaster.

Watching them vector off to the SouthEast, Shokaku rejoined the fleet as they continued to the SouthWest. The idea was to cast a giant radar net and the hope was that they'd either gain visual on whoever had asked for the help or they'd get Radar return from them or the Abyssals pursuing them. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing they had that had a chance at working.

So, thirty five minutes later, as Shokaku's bow was overcoming a wave, she wasn't expecting her squadron to be reporting something back.

"The fighters have got something." She said to her fleet before she closed her eyes, looking through the eyes of her pilots as they watched the ocean below them. And as she looked from the Lead Pilot's gaze, she found what they were looking for.

The first two ships she recognized were the Abyssalized Kongou's. She knew that pagoda mast anywhere and they looked to be kicking back at 24 knots, a tad slow she figured. This wasn't the first time she'd come across one of them. But it was the first time she'd come across two in one place.

As her planes drew closer, she spied another make of ship. This one, she wasn't familiar with. She didn't know it. It wasn't Japanese.

The thought of it being a foreign design spooked the carrier somewhat. Thus far into the war, every Abyssal had taken the form of former Japanese ships. Troubling in of itself, they still had a fairly high advantage with them as they knew how to fight them. They knew the designs. It was familiar territory.

But if the Abyssals were starting to copy foreign vessels? Vessels that had challenged the Empire during the war a hundred years ago?

That was a can of worms Shokaku wanted to slam the lid on before it got worse.

Before reporting back to her fleet at what they had found however, Shokaku spotted the ship that seemed to have sent the signal given that it wasn't an Abyssal. But because an accent had been reported, she wasn't expecting a ship girl. She'd been expecting some sort of luxury yacht or a fishing boat, one that could outrun the various patrolling Abyssals that called these waters home due to the lack of prey. So as her planes soared directly overhead of the ship, getting a key sight of the four triple turrets the vessel was packing, Shokaku found herself in a flurry of activity as her crew scrambled to identify the vessel.

She could feel as her bridge crew began to look through files, flipping page after page of books, guides, anything that could give her a name for the vessel that found herself under fire from the two battleships intending to kill her.

Seconds ticked by as her crew continued to push things aside for the info she needed. By now though, she had deduced that the ship below her wasn't Japanese. So who was it? German? Italian? Her mind was so preoccupied, she didn't notice her crew starting to dig into certain files. Former attacks. Former operations.

Her mind only screamed back to reality when the first page was flipped open and suddenly, she realized she'd seen the ship before. So long ago. Hundred years to the day on that early morning. And as another page was flipped. And another. And another, she slowly came to the realization she wanted nothing to do with. The realization that she knew exactly what ship was under attack from the Abyssals.

One she herself had sunk on December 7th.

When her crew finally flipped to the correct page corresponding with the ship, Shokaku didn't need to look at the report to know that the ship that returned, the ship that had called for help was one from her past and one that had sealed Japan's fate before the fighting was really even over.

Shokaku had sunk her. And in return, she had brought a country that with it, had razed Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the ground without even a single pair of boots on the ground to show for it.

But Shokaku knew that she needed to push those memories away. Push those feelings down. Whether or not she accepted it or liked it, Arizona was the only non Abyssal battleship that Japan had seen to date. And that made her far more valuable than most of them at the moment. Taking a breath to calm her nerves, she brought herself back to reality.

"Fleet prepare rescue operations for one U.S.S. Arizona currently under siege by two Abyssal Kongou mockups." She ordered. But like the carrier had excepted, the looks she received in turn were not that surprising given their history.

"Wait wait wait. The call for help was sent by the Arizona?!?!" Suzuya demanded as she and the other girls of the fleet looked to Shokaku. The fleet carrier nodded, only looking towards the horizon as she did so. Of course, she knew that they didn't need an explanation of just who Arizona was. Upon their return, each and every ship girl was subjugated to an extensive history lesson regarding their war in the Pacific with the Allies. Arizona was the first ship that would later be payed return in full.

"Aerial recon confirms that the vessel is the Arizona. Fleet is to enter rescue operations." Shokaku confirmed, still not looking back at the fleet. Suzuya stared at the carrier bewildered for a moment before shaking her head, throwing up he'd arms in exasperation. At this however, Kumano looked to her sister.

"Are we sure she's not gonna fire on us upon seeing us?" She asked after a moment.

"Is that not what we deserve?" Hatsuzuki asked from behind the cruiser. "Our country took them by surprise in an attack that many considered unwarranted. Do we not deserve the same fate as we payed upon her?" The destroyer asked.

"Enough!" Asakaze called. "We can debate the logic of the past later! Right now, Arizona is the only battleship on the Pacific not dedicated to killing humans and if Japan was really an ally of the US before the Abyssals, are we really gonna sit on our asses while on their most prolific battleships sinks again?!" She yelled over the arguments, looking around in a frenzy. "Is this what this topic is gonna reduce us to? To a bunch of cowards afraid of what might be?" She asked. Without a word, Asakaze's rudder shifted to the direction, leading the destroyer in turn, her bow cutting through the water as she and her sisters lead the way at flank speeds towards where the battleship had been reported.

The five other girls of the fleet only watched for a moment before Shokaku was the next to make a move, wordlessly sailing after the five sisters as she pulled a squadron Arrow from it's quiver, intending to correct past mistakes.
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