>>1028642
>‘I think that you need a little bit of both. Being a little bit too on-edge isn’t good, but neither’s dropping your guard.’

>>1028642
>>‘I think that you need a little bit of both. Being a little bit too on-edge isn’t good, but neither’s dropping your guard.’

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'I think, personally, that you need a little of both.’ You adjust the instruments of the RAY. There was a strange reading – which prompts you to turn down the power factor on the systems. You didn’t want an Abyssal tearing you apart now. ‘It’s not good to be too much on the edge – the stress will kill you.’ You flick a physical switch. You feel like you’d had this conversation before. ‘Then again, neither’s dropping your guard in a battle situation – you can’t allow yourself to relax, but letting that anxiety get to you’s just as big a killer as anything. I didn’t mean for that little beat to throw any of you out of your groove – I was just settling my curiosity,’ you regard Nachi, adjusting the feed to fit the new power requirements, ‘what I’m trying to get you girls into is the right frame of mind. Whether it’s a little more tense or a little less, it doesn’t bother me so long as all of you think that it’s enough to get you through.’

‘I don’t see how a song gets people hyped up or down,’ Nachi bites her lip on the feed, hitting her head against the padding of her brace, ‘as far as I know, anyway; I think that, personally it’s a little bit too distracting. Last thing I’d want is

‘You have poor taste.’

Surprisingly, it’s Nagato who interjects. Nachi scrunches her features, giving Nagato a scrutinizing look.

‘Are you telling me that you never had a power fantasy of blitzing enemies left and right while your favorite band jams with a pick telling you to rip the next coward in half?’ Nagato’s voice goes a pitch higher, clearly in disbelief. ‘Ludicrous.’

‘Back at Ops,’ Nachi begins flatly, ‘we kind of dwelled on quiet and tranquility. I’m not saying it’s not a good distraction – but for me, it is a distraction. I would’ve thought that you’d at least see it the way I did.’

‘Lullabies make good battle music.’ Shigure cuts in again, happily nodding. ‘They calm me down when Abyssal blood gets me going. Maybe you should try it!’

The three of them let out exasperated sighs.

‘Shigure aside,’ Nagato lifts her head as the fairies tend to her gear, ‘I think all of us just have different methods of… prepping ourselves. Nachi, if you don’t want to, maybe you could just turn off your audio feed if you feel it’s too annoying for your taste.’

‘It’s annoying, but it’s not… bad music.’ Nachi grumbles again, conceding and playing with one of the barrels of her guns. ‘I just don’t think it’s the right time for it is all. Maybe when – if – we get back, we could…’

‘When.’

The three larger girls turn to Shigure, who had spoken up.

‘When we get back.’

Your eyes widen slightly as you shift the craft. Shigure could be quite encouraging when she wanted to be.

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>Continue quietly BEGINS MISSION
>Write-In

>>1028657
>Discuss mission (Nagato)
Lets see what our Sub-Commander thinks about this mission.

>>1028657
>>Discuss mission (Specify)
Nagato

>>1028657
>Discuss mission (Nagato)

>>1028666
this, lets be professional for a bit

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As the minutes tick by, you find yourself feeling a little tense… ironically, right after you’d just discussed the merits of it with your assigned Heavy Cruiser. You’d gone through the report as much as you could digest in those few hours – and the operation seemed direct enough that it was just a push and a roll of fate right after, but…

‘Nagato, do you read me?’ You open the channel to your Sub-Commander.

‘Yes, sir.’ She answers immediately, but softly. ‘Mind if I ask why the private frequency?’

‘I’m just checking on my Sub-Commander.’ You find a reluctant smile making its way onto your features. You’d promised yourself that you’d rely on her a bit less, but with everything that had happened, you find yourself falling right back into the old trap. ‘Aren’t I allowed that privilege at least?’

She doesn’t seem convinced by your tone – not at all.

‘You read the mission detail, so I’m just going to be blunt – how does it look to you?’

‘Not as bad as I thought it would be.’

Her voice is steady and serious… and dangerously relieved.

‘Really?’

‘I went through the semantics – there’s only so much you can doll up in a knee-jerk defensive maneuver.’ She explains herself, pushing a lock of her black hair behind her ear as she turns up to look at you again. One of the fairies coils a bunch of her hair playfully into a headscarf as she does so.

‘The Admiral told me it was an offensive show of force.’

‘They’re not mutually exclusive.’ She leans back, closing her eyes. ‘Generally speaking, a show of force is a defensive maneuver in the face of an encroaching outside threat – in other words, it’s a show to give off who has the bigger stick to wave.’ ‘The fact that the Admiralty doesn’t makes this show all the more vital to Ominato’s safety.’ She hesitates slightly ‘I used to be stationed there, you know?’

‘Ominato?’ You frown… before remembering that she – and The Admiral – had been there before. ‘So you’d know the waters a bit better than most, I bet.’

‘No more different than fighting south, I tell you that much.’ She cricks her neck. ‘Weather’s a bit iffier and the seas are a little – !’ She pauses, before continuing, ‘I take it back. There might be a little trouble if the weather gets to us before we make contact… but it shouldn’t be so hard. If Kaga can secure us dominance, there won’t be anything to take us out of the running short of an Oni. Do you have a gameplan in mind or are you just winging this?’

There’s a playful tone to her voice – matching her mischievous stare like honey and bread.

>‘I’ll assess the situation when we get there.’
>‘You’re going to be the one on the ground – on the water, I thought I’d deliberate with you.’
>‘We’re winging it.’
>‘I have a skeleton of a plan.’ (Write-In Basic Preliminary Stratagem)
>Write-In

>>1028697
>>‘You’re going to be the one on the ground – on the water, I thought I’d deliberate with you.’

>>1028697
>‘You’re going to be the one on the ground – on the water, I thought I’d deliberate with you.’
>‘

>>1028697
>‘You’re going to be the one on the ground – on the water, I thought I’d deliberate with you.’
She knows the waters and area in general better than we do, and regardless we're guaranteed to meet an Oni, its literally been happening ever since that recon mission.

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‘You’re going to be the one on the ground.’ You frown as you realize your mistake. ‘On the water, I mean… I thought I’d go over any plans I had in mind with you before we breached the hot zone.’ You tweak a few physical dials, the RAY lurching slightly as it picked up your clumsy movement. ‘I’m open to suggestions if there’s anything you think needs going over with this whole battering ram business.’

Nagato frowns slightly, looking thoughtful.

‘The operation’s going to be way up north.’ She starts, ‘That means that the winds have a small chance of throwing our sensors off – it might be of surprise to you, but the system that The Stream hops onto from the RAY isn’t foolproof. Like every other bit of equipment out there, it’s tested for optimal or expected conditions, but nothing on the extreme side of things. So if it there’re a few errors or cooling or heating on-and-offs… don’t panic and just rerun a setup module.’ She looks up right at you. ‘We can handle 45 seconds without you.’

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’ You mumble under your breath. ‘Wouldn’t Yuubari have shielded me against those details, though?’

‘There’s a difference between a tested environment and the wear and tear of use.’ You couldn’t argue there, you suppose. ‘I wouldn’t put it against Yuubari to have something to keep things running, but if you hit a cold pocket and panic, we’re all going to be screwed.’

‘No pressure.’ You let out a sigh – the fate of your team resting on an air pocket. ‘How’s the ground’s eye view going to be like, then?’

‘I’ll settle things as they go… I don’t know how the defensive force is going to be like outside of what’s in the reports,’ ‘but if there’s a priority, it’s that we have to cover as much of the battlefield as we can.’ She emphasizes. You agree with her. ‘As a Battleship, I’ll be your vanguard – Kaga, though, is going to be your key to this battle, so if you want things to go smoother for us keep her out of direct combat.’ Nagato bites her lip, sparing her comrade a glance. ‘I’m not discounting what she can do… but it’s precisely because she can keep us in the fight by playing support that she’s best used for this role.’

‘So whatever happens, she’s behind you – the vanguard?’

On the feed, Nagato nods.

‘Also, with the wide spread, the last thing the Squadron needs is stagnant. I suggest us to split-up the formation to take out as many as we can. It’s not ideal, but it’ll give use a better chance of sinking most of them under the waves.’

>‘I don’t think splitting up’s a good plan after what happened last time.’ KEEP SQUADRON TOGETHER
>‘It would be a turkey shoot, yeah.’ COVER MORE GROUND INDIVIDUALLY
>‘What about a split?’ ASSIGN PAIRINGS
>Write-In

>>1028715
>‘What about a split?’ ASSIGN PAIRINGS
Nachi and Murakumo did alright last time, so im sure her and Shigure won't be worse off, and Nagato and Kaga did alright together, until the Oni showed up of course.

>>1028715
>‘What about a split?’ ASSIGN PAIRINGS

but dont stray too far from each other

>>1028715
>‘I don’t think splitting up’s a good plan after what happened last time.

>>1028715
>>‘What about a split?’ ASSIGN PAIRINGS
Shiggy and Nagato, Nachi and Kaga

>>1028715
>‘What about a split?’ ASSIGN PAIRINGS
Nachi+Kaga and Shigu+Nagato

>>1028720
>>1028725
>>1028726
Flipping a coin by means of elimination.

Flipped. Beginning write-up.

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You give your suggestions to her over the channel. You didn’t feel like splitting up the Squadron so quickly… but then again, if you put in a conventional formation, they’d just end up as easy pickings – you decide to compromise by, once again, dividing the Squadron into two pairings: Nachi with Kaga and Nagato alongside Shigure.

‘If that’s how you want it, Commander, I’ll see what I can do.’ She affirms to the request.

With that settled, you decide to pry on a little detail she had just revealed to you.

‘You said. tactically, Kaga would be key to this operation.’ You flip one of the switches – the fairy sitting on it flies off. ‘As much faith as I have in all of you, it’s kind of… awkward for you to put all your eggs in one basket with her.’

‘Carrier have always been the game-changers, even after – !’ She puffs her cheeks, apparently trying to find a word. ‘I’m sorry, what I mean to say is… in open warfare, the one thing that everyone’s trying to do is dig a trench or grab a hill; all of this is to control the battlefield. With what the Admiralty has at its disposal, along with the ISSF, you couldn’t have drawn a better card than you could have Kaga, and I think she knows that, the bitch.’ She jokes, throwing a glance at your stoic Carrier. ‘Carrier-type KanMusu are invaluable in open warfare because we can’t intercept Abyssal buzzards as fast or effectively as they can.’ She looks thoughtful – one of the fairies chirp on the tip of her metal headband’s pointy end. ‘There’re a few KanMusu that specialize in trying to play that card, but it takes a certain type of stubbornness to stick with anti-air techniques and maneuvers… but none of them do it as well as a Carrier can.’

Her gaze softens as she looks up at the bulkhead.

‘That’s not to say that she isn’t great on her own, of course…’ She sounds tiredly, ‘but having a Carrier in these kind of situations isn’t a bad thing, especially when you know the Wo-Class is waiting on the other side.’

You remember the encounter when the team participated in Iowa’s retrieval. It had been a hard fight, but overall, you didn’t think that one of those would be so much trouble.

‘So she’s just going to be keeping the buzzards and the Wo-Class Carriers off your backs.’ You summarize, leaning back slightly and enjoying the floating sensation. A small snicker leaves you. ‘I didn’t think you’d be worried about them this much.’

For a while, she’s silent.

‘Half a dozen of them almost razed Yokosuka to the ground.’ She says lowly. ‘I think you’ve seen first-hand at just how dangerous just one could be.’

You absently touch your prosthetic forearm, your lips forming a thin line.

‘That I do.’

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>Continue quietly BEGIN MISSION
>Write-In

>>1028740
>>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
Kaga

>>1028740
>Shoot the breeze (Kaga)

>>1028740
>>Continue quietly BEGIN MISSION

File: Kaga.jpg (1.51 MB, 1200x836)

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You decide to open a private channel with Kaga. Adjusting the bearings on the RAY, you decide to pick up the speed. Just because you wanted to have a little chat with your Aircraft Carrier, it didn’t make it an excuse to ease yourself off situation – you were still in the middle of a mission, and this didn’t take away from that. The channel turns on with a light bass beat… but Kaga doesn’t seem to pay attention to you. In fact, she seemed focused on the archery glove on her hand, humming as she adjusts it.

‘Kaga, you doing all right?’ You decide to catch her attention. She pauses on the feed, before gazing up towards you with half a smile.

‘Nothing abnormal, if that’s what you’re asking.’ She grunts, stretching. The four fairies surrounding her take this as a prompt to leap off her side-tied hair and use it as a strange sort of diving board, jumping onto her chest and spinning upwards again. ‘Is there something you needed to ask of me, Commander?’

She doesn’t seem to pay them any mind, as active as her bunch of fairies are.

‘Nothing, I… I just wanted to talk, you know, about…’ You hesitate to find your bearings – you’d wanted to have a chat with her, but as of the moment, you couldn’t really find the words to… specify just what it is you had opened up a private channel with her for, ‘stuff.’

The fairy that was your companion for the journey droops her shoulders, exasperated. You realize that even the least smooth man on the planet could have at least thought of something to say other than what you did. Still, Kaga doesn’t seem to mind; that enigmatic smile of hers tilting ever-upwards.

‘Stuff?’ She raises her gloved hand to her mouth, her eyes narrowing mischievously. ‘I can talk about stuff.’

You open your mouth, thinking about the first thing to come to your mind…

>‘I don’t know if this is the right time, but… can we talk about us?’
>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’
>‘You served as a Squadron Leader before, right? Is operating under a command any different from you?’
>‘What do you think of our little motley crew so far?’
>‘Do you mind elaborating on the beef between the Carriers and the other ships?’
>‘Any advice for me?’
>Write-In

Okay, folks, I'm going to bed for now. See you in a few to several hours!

>>1028795
>>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’

>>1028795
>>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’

>>1028795
>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’

>>1028795
>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’

>>1028803
>>1028814
>>1028815
By the way, for the lurkers - I apologize for not running the sessions as consistently as I did in the past. I tried to OC my PC, but... well, stuff happened.

>>1028795
>>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’

>>1028795
>‘I don’t know if this is the right time, but… can we talk about us?’

>>1028795
>‘You were with the ISSF and The Shamans before this, right? Did they operate the same way?’

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‘How did the Shamans and the ISSF operate?’ You ask the first thing that comes to mind. You didn’t know very much about the Shamans outside what people generally believed Basilius to look like, so their method of operations ‘Do they have Admirals and Commanders there, too?’

‘Carriers generally don’t need Commanders.’ Kaga answers automatically. ‘In a sense, we’re completely uplifted from the requirements of the Stream to operate at full capacity – that means independent action on-assignment is a possibility. The Shamans are more caretakers than actual heads of operations.’

‘Oh.’ You answer blankly. A thought reaches you – if Carriers didn’t have a use for Commanders, then – ! ‘Then what do you need me for?’

She laughs lightly, but it’s enough that Nachi and Shigure raise their heads to pay attention to the sudden burst.

‘I said generally.’ She clarifies – by the feed, you can tell that she’s amused by the implication of your role – or lack thereof – where she was concerned. Your cheeks turn a little red as you realize you had tensed at her previous statement. ‘That doesn’t exactly encompass every single possibility, now, would it?’

‘No, it wouldn’t.’ You grimace. It was a little neurotic, really.

‘Maybe it’s a bad choice of words,’ she continues, raising onto her tip-toes to stretch herself a little more. ‘but I am completely capable of operating on my own at full power… until, of course, my own reserves start dropping. I can do what I can do just fine without a Commander or an Admiral, but summoning the spirit essence of the dead isn’t easy when you have no soul to trace and paste.’

‘Trace and paste?’ You frown. It was an odd combination of words.

‘Your Stream makes it easier for me to draw on my energies.’ She explains, grunting as she shifted her bow out of the way. ‘It’s the same concept that the other ships work on, except instead of a battery of sorts, you’re more akin to a…’ she pauses, evidently trying to find the right words, ‘mold or a box full of paint for me to work with. A regular KanMusu wouldn’t be able to operate at full capacity without a Stream, raw or otherwise, to sustain them.’ Kaga raises a few a hand, tapping her fingers as though counting down. ‘I think the only ones on record who are able to do so other than Carriers are the Submarines… and I don’t know how they function.’

Her lips thin into a line as she pauses again. You can hear the shadow of a mumble under her breath, but aren’t quite able to make out what she says.

‘And there were two others, I believe,’ she frowns slightly, looking directly at you through the feed, ‘Akitsumaru and Fubuki and I think…’ she raises a hand to her mouth, ‘Iowa, if we’re going by the reports.’

TBC

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‘So you were sent out alone?’ It felt strange that the Shamans would allow that sort of thing, considering just how much danger the Abyssals were.

‘It started with teams of twos and threes…’ She briefly pauses, ‘I think you can understand how conservative on the crunching the Shamans went when more of us were lost to the Abyssals.’

You don’t try to address it.

‘What was the chain of command like?’

‘If you’re talking about tactics, the Shamans were pretty hands-off.’ Weirdly enough, you had expected that of them. ‘It’s not that they didn’t try, but their philosophies, their way… it just didn’t mash together with a militaristic engine. Shaman society doesn’t generally allow violence to the extent that they would allow for something like us to even exist,’ her eyes grow a little lidded as turns her head up. ‘but the Fairies wanted to help humanity – and with all that was happening, they couldn’t exactly say no.’ You can hear the heavy sigh over the channel. ‘It lasted as long as it did, anyway – even if the Shamans are still allies of The Admiralty, they don’t see eye-to-eye enough; especially when it comes to us Carriers.’

‘Thing is, they know next to nothing about war tactics… and leaving up to us as a whole’s crippled any operation more than give us the benefit of autonomy.’

You find a grunt of frustration escape your throat.

‘If things got that bad why didn’t they just work together with The Admiralty again?’ You snap, if only lightly. ‘You told me last time that there were differences… I don’t think any sane mind would’ve let the world go to the dogs before deciding it would’ve been alright to hold hands again.’ Kaga doesn’t answer, prompting you to continue. ‘There’s no one-man army out there to get things running – even back in the kitchen, whatever we didn’t like for each other, it was all of our asses on the line if someone dropped in a bad review. Critics don’t care about what scuffles and what you think the other guy should’ve done. They want a good meal and they want to be snooty about it. Whatever our differences, we shut up to make a good meal and left the arguing for after hours.’

‘That makes for a poisonous environment, doesn’t it?’

‘Yeah,’ you concede, swiping a window away, ‘but I figure that it’s worth being at each other’s throats if it’s getting an extra star or a thumbs up on the place.’

‘That’s a crudely simple way to put things, Commander.’

‘I never said it wasn’t.’

>‘I don’t know if this is the right time, but… can we talk about us?’
>‘You served as a Squadron Leader before, right? Is operating under a command any different from you?’
>‘What do you think of our little motley crew so far?’
>‘Do you mind elaborating on the beef between the Carriers and the other ships?’
>‘Any advice for me?’
>Write-In

>>1031616
>>‘What do you think of our little motley crew so far?’

>>1031616
>‘What do you think of our little motley crew so far?’

>>1031616
>‘What do you think of our little motley crew so far?’

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‘What do you think of our motley crew so far?’ You inquire of Kaga, curious as to how she saw the whole team meshing together in the weeks since their transfer into your newly-formed Division.

She looks thoughtful, throwing a glance at the other three for a brief moment.

‘I think we’re mashing well enough together, I think.’ She emphasizes her view. You nod absently; you suppose that it was as good as you could get on an opinion. ‘I thought that we’d be sent off with ribbons two weeks after I got your request, but you… you’re holding it all in one place better than I would’ve expected.’ She hesitates again, raising a finger as a fairy lands on it. ‘Considering all things that happened… it’s a miracle that we’re all still in one piece.’

‘Most of us.’ You grimace, remembering the horrific occurrences to your Division. Tenryuu and Nachi’s man-handling, Nagato barely holding her own guts in…

‘I’m sorry, Commander, did you say something?’ She shakes you from your reverie.

‘Never mind.’ You put on a good show, moving to get back on topic. Seeing a yellow window in the corner of your eye, you open it up and correct the thrust calibrations. ‘So you think we’re all running fine, then?’

‘No one’s not without problems, but I think that, at least… it’s not spilling over.’ Her tone takes a defeated, tired quality. ‘I think everyone’s still reeling from the Abyssal attack, so… if there’re any differences, we’re not letting them go out.’ She sounds a little stronger, but it’s more of a tone of conviction than it is one of self-assurance. ‘That, and with you around to keep an eye on things I’d think that things are as stable as they’re going to get.’

‘You guys don’t have your teeth clenched right next to each other.’ You concede, slightly grimacing. ‘I think that’s something I should be thankful for. Personally, I thought the whole dynamic was going to dissolve on my account of leadership – or, if we’re going by Nachi and Tenryuu’s words, the lack thereof.’

A small lie. Despite yourself, you couldn’t help but want to at least see your crew… happy, as hard as you try to separate the personal and the professional. Perhaps it was just your weak spot.

‘Don’t sell yourself short.’ Kaga replies, bemused. ‘No one’s expecting you to be the tide-turner in this war… I think the best that we can do now is just stem the tide flow and hope for the best. That everyone here – and back at base – is on the same page is good enough to start with. You can start with the grand plans when we get our foothold back.’

You nod.

‘That I agree with.’

>‘Can we talk about us?’
>‘You served as a Squadron Leader before, right? Is operating under a command any different from you?’
>‘Do you mind elaborating on the beef between the Carriers and the other ships?’
>‘Any advice for me?’
>Write-In

>>1031868
>>‘Any advice for me?’

>>1031868
>‘Any advice for me?’

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‘Do you have any advice for me, Kaga?’ You inquire. The rest of the crew had fallen into silence, either prepping up or on the edge… or tilting their head side-to-side humming odd tunes like Shigure was.

‘About what?’ Kaga lifts her head, curiously gazing into the feed.

‘In general, I guess?’ You shrug. You don’t particularly know what you wanted help or advice on… but the way things were going, anything that you wanted to do – everything that would be on your plate in the near future, if you even survived that long could use it. ‘I’m not picky about whichever way you swing it… I just want to know which way you want me to swing.’

‘Well, I think that you should start shaving properly soon.’ You groan. You’d hoped that she wouldn’t have cared for your recent growth in facial hair, lazy as it was for you to ‘As much as I like the stubble, the fact that it extends down to your neck isn’t quite as appealing as those hateful gnats on the street try to preach.’ You find yourself absently nodding. The Free The Neck Hair movement was a little weird for you… but still, you did feel little impetus to go ahead and start shaving. ‘Although, seeing you work with a razor on Nachi… I’m not quite sure I trust you with a utensil alone.’

‘Hilarious, Kaga.’ You declare flatly.

‘Well, if you want to get better at something, you should go ahead and do it instead of being so passive all the time, ain’t that right, girls?’ She shoots across the room to the three other Squadron members.

‘Kaga, this is a private – !’

‘Yup.’

‘That’s a given.’

‘No comment, but I’m not disagreeing.’

You groan again as you hear – hear her triumphant smirk.

‘You don’t have to wait and seek sage advice every turn around the corner.’ Kaga mentions as you stew in the embarrassment. ‘Commander, you’re still you – but what you are is going to be what you make of it. Whatever we say or do… what you do, the decisions you make, are going to be on you and you alone.’ She pauses, dropping her voice low.‘It’s a bit harsh to say, but it’s the truth – what we do is our burden, regardless of the roads that lead us there.’

‘How did we get here from discussing my stubble to talking about how I have to handle the consequences of my choices all by my lonesome?’ You pinch the bridge of your nose, feeling annoyed.

‘While you’re at it, you should really look into getting rid of it. It’s good when it’s stubble.’ Kaga practically growls. ‘It’s unappealing when it becomes a messy Saint’s bush.’

‘I have it on good authority that – !’

As thoughts of the Free The Neck Hair movement hit you again… you opt to keep quiet. The less you associated with that bunch of strange folk, the better.

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discussion Mission (Specify)
>Continue Quietly BEGIN MISSION
>Wtite-In

Okay, folks, have a short break of 2-3 hours. Have a movie to catch and hopefully review properly.

>>1031974
>Continue Quietly BEGIN MISSION

>>1031974
>Continue Quietly BEGIN MISSION

>>1031974
>Continue Quietly BEGIN MISSION

>>1031974
>>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
i want to to talk to Shiggy

>>1031974
>Shoot the breeze (Shiggy)
Lets have a father daughter talk.

>>1031974
>>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
Eh, it's been a while since we talked to Shiggy, let's see how she's doing.

>>1031974
>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
Shigure

>>1031974
>Discussion Mission (Specify)
Shigure

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You open up a channel with the mission’s lone Destroyer. You don’t know what pushed you into thinking it was a good idea, but having a heart-to-heart – or as close as you could get with her to one – seemed like a good idea in your head. A small voice tries to reason with you that whatever churned in your head thought it was a good idea to play the all-saving hero twice and you’d ended up in the hospital crying out for the pain to stop for days.

‘Shigure?’ You open her channel – she doesn’t answer. The feed broadcasts her bobbing her head side-to-side, cheeks puffed and eyes focused on… something, but evidently enough to not pay your voice over the connection any attention. You try again. ‘Shigure?’

She still bobs her head left and right, although now you can hear a hum – barely audible, but at least you knew what she had on her agenda that effectively shut you out. Third time was the charm, you supposed.

‘Shigure?’ You try to sound more firm than you actually felt. This was still a social call, after all.

Like a doll coming to life, she snaps forward. On the feed you can see the straps barely holding her and her gear in. Although the sudden movement is definitely enough to throw the fairies that were making last minute adjustments and checks off the small platforms on her shoulder. They roll acrobatically and float back up, leaving small traces of blue glowing dusk as they chastised the one they had been attending to – Shigure, for the most part, actually looks a little apologetic at throwing them off… although, to be fair, you had a hand in it. They immediately continue their work – one of them even throwing a raspberry at your cowed Destroyer.

‘Commander?’ Shigure raises her head, looking absently at the bulkhead.

‘Yeah, it’s me.’ You answer, swiping away more windows and turning on the sensors. Save for minor readings, there were no potential interruptions within an immediate threat distance. ‘I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to startle you like that.’

‘It’s okay.’ She chirps, a little too happily for your liking. ‘It just means that if I don’t pay attention, I’ll get my head blown off!’

It’s not so that she says it, you find, that disturbs you. It’s how she says it – the giddy anticipation that just drips from her voice, as though expecting it to come sooner rather than later.

‘Yeah,’ you don’t quite know how to reply to that line, deciding to press on, ‘I just thought it’d be nice to, you know… talk to you.’

Shigure nods energetically.

Her smile, though, doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

>‘How’re your training sessions going with Samidare? Any progress?’
>‘I’m glad you’ve loosened up.’
>‘So, I… haven’t made that casserole yet. There’s that.’
>‘I saw that you were being re-assigned from the factory in the off-mission assignments. Where do they have you now?’
>Write-In

>>1032322
>‘How’re your training sessions going with Samidare? Any progress?’

>>1032322
>>‘How’re your training sessions going with Samidare? Any progress?’

>>1032322
>‘How’re your training sessions going with Samidare? Any progress?’

File: Resignation To Death And War.jpg (409 KB, 540x1000)

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‘I’m not going to pretend I’m not glad to see you and Samidare working things out,’ you begin; you’d seen just how it was progressing thus far – but it was almost always nice to ‘so would you mind cluing me in on just how well those sessions are going?’

‘You’ve seen them for yourself, Commander.’ Shigure chirps, cheerfully grinning into your feed. ‘She’s terrible. She should totally give up and go back to patrol duty.’

You grimace, a heavy sigh almost echoing in the piloting chamber as you increase the stress on the thrusters. That hadn’t been the direction that you would have initially thought that she would have taken it in… but then again, what more could you have expected from – arguably – the most enigmatic of the KanMusu under your command. Shigure was a walking question mark – and the fact that she could say the sharpest things with a smile – almost anything with that detached grin – made you feel a lot more… distant from her.

‘That’s a harsh assessment.’ You comment. Things didn’t seem so bright anymore.

‘It’s a mentor’s assessment.’

‘Surely you’ve got something nice to say about your get-togethers?’ There’s a desperate tone in your voice.

‘The sessions only show just how unprepared she is to be in a firefight. As our Commander, why would you expect me to give any assessment but an honest one on her skill level?’

‘Because… she’s your little sister?’

Shigure laughs. There is no melody or jingle to it.

‘It is precisely because she’s my cute little sister that I say this.’ She giggles. ‘Commander, when it comes to Samidare, to my sister, I cannot help but be more harsh, of course. Samidare, as she is… is too slow, too much of a thinker and unable to deviate from the orthodox protocols of combat. She can kill just as well as any of us, you see… but she won’t be doing her job as effectively as what you would expect from a Destroyer.’ She raises her head to peer carefully into the feed. ‘Her place isn’t on the battlefield. It’s on the patrol logs.’

‘That is a harsh assessment, yeah.’ Even you felt the edge there.

‘I’d rather…’ She looks down. ‘I’d rather tell a blunt fact and be screamed at for being mean than put on a bright smile and send them to their deaths. I’m prepared to die under the waves when the time comes and I think that’s a… truth that Samidare hasn’t embraced yet, as a soldier.’

Something familiar tugs at you as Shigure looks downward, unwilling to meet the feed.

‘Is it something you want her to, Shigure?’

‘As a soldier, it's an inevitable realization.’

She pauses for a moment.

‘No.’ She declares quietly into the channel. ‘It isn't.’

>‘So, I… haven’t made that casserole yet. There’s that.’
>‘I saw that you were being re-assigned from the factory in the off-mission assignments. Where do they have you now?’
>Write-In

>>1032375
>>‘So, I… haven’t made that casserole yet. There’s that.’

>>1032375
>‘So, I… haven’t made that casserole yet. There’s that.’

Seeing as a lot of you folks seem to be down for the count, I'll continue this another time, all right? Till then, take care.

>>1032375
>‘I saw that you were being re-assigned from the factory in the off-mission assignments. Where do they have you now?’

So im thinking we need to adress shiggy about her attitude over war and fighting. It could just be me, but she seems to equate being prepared to lay down your life to forsaking all of your attachment to life.Its my personal opinion that you can't truly be prepared to die unless you truly appreciate life.We can't get too into it now, but telling her that she needs to survive this, even if it means mission failure might be a good idea. Tell her we need her and all the other girls more than we need to complete this mission kinda thing

>>1032417

Only the dead can know peace.

But coukd be she she has seen so many die that it means nathing to her now. Or makes her fight better wheb your not searced of dieing in a fight, beening able to fight more freely

Im thinking something like
>Shigure, this will easily be our hardest mission yet. However it won't be our last. So let me make myself clear, death equals mission failure. If you have to die to get this done, theres no point it doing it. You said samidare wasn't ready for frontline combat yet, right? With this war being how it is, if you can't make it back shes one spot closer to being forced into it.

What are you guys thinking?

>>1032434
this

>>1032434
If I hadn't already voted, I would support this

>>1032434
go for it

>>1032375
>Write-In
>Shigure, this will easily be our hardest mission yet. However it won't be our last. So let me make myself clear, death equals mission failure. If you have to die to get this done, theres no point it doing it. You said samidare wasn't ready for frontline combat yet, right? With this war being how it is, if you can't make it back shes one spot closer to being forced into it.
Just to make it clear that this is my actual vote.

>>1032434
This

>>1032434
Supporting this

>>1032609
I'll write it out, but you sound so pussified saying:

>If you have to die to get this done, theres no point it doing it.
>Death equals mission failure

It feels so... brazen, considering the whole concept of their creation is to provide humanity a chance to win whatever the cost. Shigure's words are meant to emphasize that she's prepared to give her life in defense of humanity and that if she goes, there are no grudges, no hard feelings - that in war, the only thing that matters is the Squaddie next to you and the objective.

It's also a little hypocritical on your behalf considering because of Shigure's words, you suddenly feel that her death would make it a failure when it clearly won't - and the fact that you had no qualms piling the bodies - when necessary - to get to your last objectives. So, for me, writing this out feels weird. It takes the edge off you as a Commander - it shows your failure to separate Shigure-as-your-soldier and Shigure-as-a-colleague.

Personally, I would have gone with a simple:

"We don't pile the bodies more than we want to - more than we have to; so stay alive."

But I'll write it out.

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‘Where we’re going, you’re going to have to be at our best.’ You state, leaning back. Shigure doesn’t agree – nor does she disagree, that half-smile playing on her lips as she stays absolutely still. You continue, hoping to lift the gloom from the mood that she’d set, ‘So, if it’s all the same to you, I believe that this won’t be our last mission – that much I believe for all of us.’

Her ears seem to perk at that statement, raising her head to meet the feed again, her features becoming incredulous. There’s a tinge of disbelief shadowing her eyes, but you don’t feel that it’s anything that you care for right now, instead focusing on bringing her spirits up – the only way you know how.

‘I’m not going to pretend that things are going to go smoothly all the time, but expecting yourself to die in favor of a complete mission? That’s not something I can tolerate. So, I’d like to make a request for you, Shigure – one specifically for you.’ Her brow furrows even further, if possible – again, it only prompts you to push on. ‘Death is a mission failure. I’ve never seen the point of throwing bodies to make the mortar for success… so that’s a request, no – a strict order – from me to you.’ You absently flick a physical switch and bring up a window. Shigure still doesn’t reply. ‘You just told me Samidare’s not ready – but I can’t get her ready if you’re not around to make sure it happens. If – If she has to be thrust into that spot… it’d be much better for her if she knew that her sister’s watching her back, no?’

You try to sound cheerful, confident… but the words, somehow, ring hollow against the waves of truth. The KanMusu were limited in number now – their numbers less than they had been in their heyday. The trumpets had faded, the banners had fallen… but you, you stubbornly – and delusively, at times – hang on to the hope that things would once again turn around.

Shigure laughs darkly, but the bones in her cheeks betray a sadness… and acceptance.

‘You’re going to have to make the decision, Commander, on which line that you’re going to take to pursue.’ She says it matter-of-factly, without prejudice or mockery, like a mother explaining to her child that it wasn’t how things went. ‘If you’re lucky… it’ll just be your own life and not someone else’s – that kind of peace, really, would be a luxury.’

You don’t reply.

‘But it won’t happen with you.’ Shigure leans back, smiling and… strangely serene. ‘It’s not something that comes so easy when you finally get fitted for that shoe.’

Not when the life you hold isn’t your own.

‘After that… it becomes as easy watching the clouds go by.’

She says nothing else. Neither do you.

>Shoot the breeze (Specify)
>Discuss mission (Specify)
>Continue quietly BEGIN MISSION

>>1034447
>Continue quietly BEGIN MISSION

File: CONTACT.jpg (6.16 MB, 3542x3508)

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The high pitch of the warning light hits you as the hours of travel finally come to a head. You had officially entered designated space for Ominato; swiping windows away, you reroute the systems to focus on any on-coming enemy signals. Sure enough, the Hot Zone’s border appears with a bright red glare… along with the warnings – but there wasn’t any Abyssal all by its lonesome poking the border so far, so on that end, at least, you weren’t going to be caught unaware. Five and a half hours of sustaining the RAY’s vector, surprisingly, didn’t give you fatigue in the slightest. Lowering the thrust, another window pops up, detailing the readiness on your four KanMusu. The RAY skims along the shoulder of friendly territory, keeping your eyes peeled – the sensors may not have picked up anything, but that didn’t mean the threat wasn’t there. You’d had enough of surprises to not trust half of what you were told.

‘We’ll be breaching the Hot Zone in sixty seconds.’ You sound the ready light, angling the RAY towards the line. The timer – the distance counter – counts down as you approach it. None of your Squadron members reply – not that you expect them to, anyway. ‘Hot Zone breach in 30 seconds.’

HOT ZONE BREACH IMMINENT

The red warning sounds blare into your ears. You quickly turn it off – the sensors still don’t pick anything of particular interest up, even with the rumble going through the ship as you pierce the border and into enemy territory and right now your priority was to establish contact with… whichever Commander that you had been assigned with. Thus far, all you had on your screen, however, was si – !

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES APPROACHING

You curse, opening the sensors to check. There were definitely no RAY readings within the set radius – opening a communications channel would be risky, especially considering you didn’t know what an un-anchored one could pose for the team. You open the

‘Commander, I have reading on a Vanguard force heading towards the Hot Zone!’ Nagato calls over the general channel. You curse as you open up an identification matrix – surely they would be somewhere in the distance? ‘What’s going on?’

‘I’m unable to establish contact with the other Commander.’ You growl, trying to sound calm. ‘There isn’t – !’

RECOGNIZED HOSTILES DETECTED WITHIN CONTACT VICINITY

DESIGNATION: STANDARD CARRIER WO-CLASS ELITE
DESIGNATION: STANDARD CARRIER WO-CLASS
DESIGNATION: HEAVY CRUISER RI-CLASS
DESIGNATION: LIGHT CRUISER TSU-CLASS
DESIGNATION: DESTROYER I-CLASS
DESIGNATION: DESTROYER I-CLASS

They hadn’t taken a proper offensive position yet. You still had the advantage, for now.

It was time to make your first call of battle.

>Deploy Squadron for Immediate Intercept
>Engage Hunker Mode
>Try to establish contact with The Ominato Commander (Roll a 1d6 each)
>Write-In [Other Strategies]

>>1034625
>Engage Hunker Mode
I guess we intercept as soon as we're deployed, sure our kanmusu can handle some scrubs without guidance but theres atleast 2 WOs along with their escort.

>>1034625
>>Engage Hunker Mode

>>1034625
>Engage Hunker Mode

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>1034625
>Try to establish contact with The Ominato Commander (Roll a 1d6 each)

>>1034625
>>Deploy Squadron for Immediate Intercept

>>1034625
>Deploy Squadron for Immediate Intercept
Get then out, then hunker and try to contact.

>>1034625
>>Deploy Squadron for Immediate Intercept
hit them before they can react.

>>1034948
>>1034959
>>1034963
Do keep in mind what Nagato told us and what Kaga said about summoning her aircraft, if they get attacked by enemy air forces their pretty much in the open since Kaga alone cant fight against 2 WOs without our link boosting her.

>>1034966
true yes, but the Tsu class is an AA class so it'd be better if the girls can take it out by the time we finish hunkering.

>>1034969
she must sink first, no doubt
then the carriers

>>1034969
The main threat still is enemy aircraft, not the escorts the WO's have, and we have already seen what a single WO did to Nagato in the past

>>1034625
>Engage Hunker Mode

after hunkering, properly launch our grilles and get into formation to attack, also, have the enemy wo class launched planes?

just to keep it clear
we are on a heavy combat mission
shiggu is either observer for nagato and kaga or close support for them
nachi is our ramirez
nagato is our spear head and kaga stays outside gun range
first problem is this drop

a good idea could be a bliz so the wos cant launch
nachi and shigure go first, and smash/cripple/disrtupt the tsu and the wos
nachi is fast enought to keep with shigu and easily damage the tsu so nagato can finish them off
nagato is too unweildy for that and kaga is a sitting duck

File: tegaki.png (32 KB, 400x400)

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You rack your brain for the first move – right now, you could deploy your Squadron… but the fact that the incoming force was one of six had you doubting them. Not in their ability, but Kaga’s lecture of a KanMusu’s ability to sustain themselves at full power without the Stream for an extended period didn’t lend you the luxury of chancing it; especially not if this was just the opening force. The second thing to hit your thoughts was the absence of the Ominato Commander; even prior to your breaching of the Hot Zone, there hadn’t been an inkling of their presence. Visions of their demise prior to your arrival plague your mind… but you couldn’t afford to take a chance on it. Not now.

You decide to take the safe route. If there was a time for practicality and initiative, it was now.

‘Engaging Hunker Mode.’ You declare into the comm. The four of them acknowledge it.

The cockpit chamber darkens. The glowing lines of the bulkhead dim slowly as complete darkness seems to take you over. The Interface hums in time with the pulsing light. Your arms raise up in an almost-trance… and once again, you float; or, at least, you believe you do. The familiar session of a presence tearing into the back of your head has you gritting your teeth – even after the last few times you still hadn’t grown used to this particular part of being a Commander. You don’t think any of them, even The Admiral, could have. Not like this. You can feel it stretching you – for three minutes or three hours, it made no difference.

Shadows and figures hit your vision as the world spins strangely and you find yourself in six… or sixteen places at once.

HUNKER MODE ENGAGED

UPLINK SYNCHRONIZATION INTIALIZING

Chatter hits your ears as you find yourself, once again… one with your Squadron. Shigure’s hand wipes away at something on her face – your face. Nagato steps out to the bay doors, expectantly waiting them to open into the sea. Nachi fiddles with her guns while Kaga stays at the back with her assigned partner. The link was complete. You were as much them as they were you.

UPLINK: GREEN

DISTANCE FROM EFFECTIVE RANGE: UNKNOWN

The good news was that the connection was established and the link was stable.

The bad news was that you’d traded in your surprise for preparation and a straight-up firefight between you and the Abyssal forces.

You lower the doors. The cold wind hits you four times over.

‘Commander, we have a probable breach onto friendly territory.’ Nagato begins stoically. ‘What are your orders?’

>‘I hope there’s a defensive net somewhere out there.’ (Allow the force to pass)
>‘Nagato, I want the team to intercept that vanguard.’ (Intercept the force)
>Try and establish contact with the Ominato Commander (Roll a 1d6 each)
>Write-In

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>>1035026

All right, explanation on the legends.

The red shaded area is your hot zone. Think of it as Top Gun's climax: you have to keep the bad guys from breaching it - but here's the twist: that's The Ominato Commander's assignment. You have to choose whether to defend it or not.

The orange area is the preliminary strategy that you and Nagato discussed. Because you're split in two, this enable you to initialize a pincer attack to intercept. HOWEVER, because you decided to go into Hunker Mode you have traded your +1 bonus for full Stream stats (As in, the stats in the documents) and a Getsu to be used. Your element of surprise is effectively gone as you are now on full course for intercept.

If you choose to try and roll to contact The Ominato Commander, that purple border that you have? That might be breached and you might have to deal with The Abyssals up close with risk to you as opening an "open channel" to contact the Commander might be intercepted and your defense lines might be breached.

Or you can just let them pass and hope the Ominato Commander or someone will take care of the Abyssal Vanguard while you do your job. You're supposed to be up-top, after all.

>>1035026
sorry but who is who on the map?

>>1035026
are enemy planes up? does kaga have scouting planes, may be useful to send them off and see if the other ttk is around or even alive

>>1035028
its a heavy force they cant be allowed to pass
shigure and nachi can make a pass while kaga and nagato gun them at distance

>>1035029
The black arrows are the offensive Abyssal force. The green dot with the cross is you. You and your Squadron. The orange arrows are meant to be what kind of offensive is preliminarily set unless you wish to change the set-up now. The purple/brown curved arrows are what is effectively your defensive line.

>>1035026
>>‘Nagato, I want the team to intercept that vanguard.’ (Intercept the force)
assume that the other ttk is incapacitated in someway, gotta pick up that slack and try to get into contact with him

File: a plan.png (33 KB, 400x400)

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we can have nachi and shigure pass in front of them, attcacting fire as nagato hits by the sides with kaga on air superiority

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>>1035038
Shiggy to the flank to harass and can easily fall back to help Kaga in case.

>>1035040
sounds good but i dont think letting nachi take the brunt of the enemy fleet is a good idea

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>>1035042
Could do this

File: commander on a mission.jpg (98 KB, 571x479)

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>>1035045
she should be fast enough for that to work
its a sound plan

>>1035045
Yep pretty much that, Nagato is slow and heavily armored so she can take it, Nachi is fast enough to hopefully catch their backs and Kaga focuses on Anti-air as a priority, Shigure can stick to hit and run.

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>>1035045
a small modification

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>>1035067

>>1035067
>>1035068
Keep in mind Nagato isn't only the wall between the Abyssals and the hot zone, but also between them and the Commander, she should stay in front of them and close enough to either cover us and Kaga or pepper their flanks.

File: __shigure_kantai_collecti(...).png (4.99 MB, 1771x2500)

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>>1035068
this, let loose the shiggy of war

>>1035070
nachi will hit them in the back and shigure is just between us an them
its not foolproof but its a good shield to protect kaga fromthem

File: FunComic.png (341 KB, 750x2880)

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sounds good to me, and remeber to have fun(pic related)

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I really don't think we should split up Kaga from the rest, Nachi can protect her better. I don't think having everyone go seperate is a good idea, especially in a situation where enemy has numbers advantage.

>>1035095
Kaga needs to stay away from the enemy. She needs to focus on air superiority

>>1035099
there 2 enemy carriers after all
kaga must stay out of trouble

>>1035099
Yes I realize that but having her sit in one place has multiple disadvantages.
- Planes have to fly to the target first, she can't protect or assist her teammates as easily
- She becomes a mostly unprotected target in case someone breaks through the lines, if she stays closer to Nachi, she can come in to assist and is always a threat to enemy.

If she goes with Nachi, she will be in more of a threat yes but we can avoid the worst case scenario of her having to fight some abyssal 1vs1. It also let her be more effective in combat.

>>1035103
Shiggy is the one who'll cover Kaga if that happens.

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‘Nagato, get an intercept route up.’ You draw up the grid, the six beeping arrows more pronounced than ever. By the pace they were going at, they’d be blitzing right to the shore within an hour… and there was no one to play the safety net but you. ‘Run a split crew and draw them away from the border. We can’t let them cross into friendly territory – keep them away from there as best you can, however you can.’ You feel every preliminary tactic set in your mind throw itself out the window with the current development. ‘We’re running no formations here – we don’t have the element of surprise anymore – they’re going to see any tactic we have coming a mile away, so we’re running a sub-crew. That means everyone’s responsible for keeping themselves alive.’

‘Understood. Are reinforcements in-bound?’ Nagato splashes onto the water, followed by her teammates. Her sensors blare as they make the presence of the newly-arrived Abyssals known.

They’d sensed you just as you had them.

‘I haven’t had the opportunity to raise communications. Things as they are, we’re looking at less than five minutes before they break right through.’ With you and your crew bulldozed right out of the way. ‘Nagato, get to the coordinates and take the bulk – do not take any risks. You’re going to be drawing your fire away – any adjustments you want to make, you do after engagement.’

‘Night vision online.’ The scan check turns up green – it was now or never. ‘Deploying!’

Nagato takes the front, as intended. Nachi brings up the left wing with Kaga to her side – for now, though, that would be unnecessary.

‘Nachi, break off from the group and take the vanguard from the rear.’ Nachi lets out a confused sound – you couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t part of the plan at all. ‘When Nagato establishes contact, I want you to power right in and take out that Flagship before it can do any real damage – Kaga will be right behind you, so you have the hardest part of the job. Keep her out of the mix as best you can and tear the Wo-Class a new one before she does the Squadron.’

‘On it.’ You’re thankful she doesn’t question it.

Kaga, however, does.

‘I’m not engaging?’

‘Not unless absolutely necessary. I want you to hold back until Nachi and Nagato engage the pincer – when the Wo-Class goes on its offensive during that period of time, only then will you engage.’ You attempt to get your point across. ‘Do not draw any fire to you unless you see it as an option that’s absolutely necessary.’

You emphasize the words. A bob of her feed tells you of her acknowledgment – she breaks off with Nachi.

‘Shigure, keep them off Kaga and disorganized. That’s an order.’

‘Yes, sir!’ She speeds up.

Nagato grinds to a halt, her cannons whirring as the menacing glow of the enemy vanguard comes into view.

‘CONTACT!’

>Combat Phase (Roll a 1d8 each)

Rolled 8, 1, 4, 2, 6 = 21 (5d8)

>>1035118

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1035118

Rolled 7 (1d8)

>>1035118
THE EDN DEPLOYS!

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>1035118

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>1035118

Rolled 4 (1d8)

>>1035118

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>1035122

>>1035128
>>1035131
>>1035132
>>1035137
>>1035176
8 vs. 6 LOSE
1 vs 7 WIN
4 vs 5 WIN
2 vs 1 LOSE
6 vs 4 LOSE

>Use Getsu?
Uses left: 1

>>1035184
Maybe we should use it for that 1, crit failiure doesnt sound very appealing

not sure if we should use it, we might need it later

>>1035184
that pic seams to be way too good for what is happening.
and yes use it for the 1
>>1035191
i get that but this is the open fight cant have them hurt now and wining this would give us time to contact to other comander to help us where ever that guy is

>>1035184
yeah lets use it, i suppose its better now than never

>>1035184
better use it to counter my botch

>>1035193
Keep in mind the admiral did say this might aswell be 2 ops since we wont be seeing the other commander much, so we shouldn't really worry about him for now.

>>1035197
not careing soo much about the other just that we cant see anything to say his here or his poele to defind there area just want to know if theey are there so we dont get fucked trying to defind too much space.
a hi there we are hete and ready to fight from the other comander would be all thats needed

>>1035184
>Use Getsu?
Yes

>>1035203
Opening communication is risky, especially if all we want to do is just "say hi".

>>1035203
If he is around i vote his only purpose will be to fight the Oni we all know is coming.

>>1035208
thats when we get the other commander on that oni
2 forces againts a oni is not such a bad match

>>1035184
Yes for the 1

This is the kind of discussion that actually makes me glad to be a DM.

>>1035205
>>1035208
its not just to say hi just no big talks we just need to know someone is there to defind that area wich is way voeting to use the >Use Getsu?
now couse we dont kniw if peopel are here and cant get damaged befor the big fight.
wich we can do once we finshe off the vangurd here.
didnt ema to start talking durning the fight

File: I Like The Art, So Sue Me.jpg (3.15 MB, 2560x1440)

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1ST ROLL: 6 VS 8 – RESULT: Nagato: DAMAGED! DISORIENTED!

Nagato’s attempt to open fire and scatter the forces – either from the lack of visibility from the night vision or the cold – was met by blinding maneuvers on the Abyssal’s part. She slides to the right along the surface of the water to get a clean shot… only to fail as the I-Class Destroyers swarm her. They’re huge compared to her, but the firepower that they have is nothing compared to just what else they brought to the battle… or just what they had taken away from Nagato: her attention on the two Wo-Class, the Elite and the supporting unit.

The red warning triangle blares – the I-Classes close the distance with Nagato, biting as hard as they could into her arm to throw her off-balance. The damage is minute – especially considering just what Nagato was; but her cannons were badly-angled. She was not meant to strike blow-for-blow against enemies like this. Gritting her teeth – you can feel her try to right herself. She knew it – she knew what they were up to. You can feel her trying to align herself to break through the offensive wave… small specks of light enter your vision as you curse at the lit sky.

The Carriers had completed their summoning.

Nagato roars as she takes the assault head-on. Both of them. You’d underestimated just how prepared the offensive unit was… and Nagato was paying the price for it. The pain feeds back – the dizziness and the disorientation comes at you as though you’d taken a haymaker from The Vice-Admiral… only worse.

You weren’t the only one at the brunt of the onslaught.

She drops to her knee. You can taste gunsmoke on your tongue.

WARNING

‘NAGATO!’

1ST ROLL: 7 VS 1 – RESULT: RECOVERY SUCCESSFUL! CRITICAL!

‘Launching!’

There was never a time that you’d been more glad for someone disobeying your orders as you were now.

Even in the night sky you can see arrow-like – no, cross-like – shapes glow in the cold air, zooming to intercept the second onslaught of buzzards. They do their part, tearing through the formation like jagged rock through cloth, lighting the sky up like fireworks. Nagato’s systems recover – swiftly and readily – to atone for her lack of success on the opening assault. As the speeding ghosts tear through the air, she once more makes herself the center of attention, firing a salvo of her own across the water.

They find their mark.

The secondary Wo-Class has its head torn. Even in the darkness, the red fire is unmistakeable… as are the screams. The stuff of nightmares. Kaga, seeing her success – and that the situation was fit enough to disobey you, takes Nagato’s place as the primary offensive force.

If there was ever an indication that you were playing by ear now, this was it.

TBC

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3RD ROLL: 5 VS 4 – RESULT: OFFENSIVE MANEUVERS SUCCESSFUL!

‘Kaga, keep those buzzards busy! Nagato, I want that Wo-Class down yesterday!’

‘On it!’

They match the both of them speed-for-speed. The I-Class Destroyers continue to train their own offensive maneuvers to interrupt the movement of your KanMusu. You growl under your breath – they may have looked mindless, but the fact that they were able to operate so well despite their limited ammo stock, especially in comparison with the other Abyssal units spoke volumes for their cunning. Nagato reserves her next volley, keen on making the next salvo count. You feel the emotions of your ships; their frustration, their desperation for a clean shot. The two Wo-Class throw buzzard after buzzard, but Kaga does just as well with her bow and planes, intercepting any incoming strikers with her own defensive dance.

‘Where’s Shigure?’ Nagato yells over the din and darkness, going ahead of Kaga. She’s greeted by a Heavy Cruiser, the Ri-Class, roaring right back at her, training its cannons. They hit – but not enough to call the damage significant. You can still feel the sting, though. The whole thing was a mess of a battle; partners changing, weaving in and out to get as good an aim as they could. The Wo-Class Elite’s shriek almost deafens you as much as the sound of the falling shells.

Nagato blasts through an offending I-Class, her patience long gone…

4TH ROLL: 1 VS 2 – RESULT: EXPOSED!

Out of the corner of Kaga’s vision… you see the Tsu-Class and the almost-forgotten Wo-Class, training their sights on your Sub-Commander. You yell her name into the channel.

Kaga is the first to act.

Getsu!

A moon-like crescent spreads across the battlefield, leaving your five remaining foes stunned.

Enough for Nachi and Shigure to tear through them.

4TH ROLL OVERRIDE [GETSU]: 8 VS 2 – RESULT: OFFENSIVE MANEUVERS SUCCESSFUL! CRITICAL!

Shigure cackles and sings a deadly lullaby, ripping the jaws of the remaining I-Class. Nachi fires an opportunistic salvo in the face of the wounded Wo-Class – its half upper body turns into chunks as Nachi fires another, salvo, kicking the Tsu-Class into the air. Shigure, seeing the opportunity, engages the creature in lightning-quick combat, all as the buzzards and the planes fight for superiority. The Tsu-Class sends a painful burn across her cheek, but your KanMusu, undeterred, gives a very personal response.

She tears off its arm, using her own body as leverage. The both of the drop into the water unceremoniously… and Nachi presses on as the three remaining enemy units regroup. Your feed takes in Shigure’s night vision, which had begun to… malfunction?

TBC

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5TH ROLL: 6 vs 4 – RESULT: Shigure: DAMAGED!

The blue button prompt reads a problem on Shigure’s visual feed – in the melee, it must have somehow been disconnected. Through Nachi’s feed, you can see her effectively blind and working on senses. The warning alarm blares as you, through the eyes of Kaga, see that the buzzards and the Wo-Class aren’t quite done with their assault yet. Kaga summons her planes, firing her arrows and calling upon the spirits… again, they tear through the buzzards as they had before. The warning prompts sound as the sensors pick up a rising presence closing in on…

‘Shigure!’

The Tsu-Class shrieks back to life, ramming Nachi unawares and leaving her disoriented. Shigure was blind. Through your shared feed you could only see darkness and flashes… but the glowing eyes are unmistakeable. Her visuals come back to life a second too late as it rams the edge of its gun-shield with Shigure’s chest; your ears almost bleed at the static aftermath of the blow, a ringing sensation eating at your balance. Shigure takes another blow, this one from the side of her head; then another to her jaw… before she knees the Tsu-Class in the gut to get away. A feeling of vertigo takes you over as she Shigure skids herself to a defensive position.

Static clouds your view as Shigure struggles to remain conscious. The assault may not have taken too much out of her, but she was as dazed as one could be after a haymaker like that. Around you, through the eyes of the other KanMusu, you see the remaining Wo-Class, still intact but effectively outgunned, covering for a retreat. The Ri-Class doesn’t bother to give any help – with the initial surprise gone and Kaga and Nagato, it would have been futile for it to try and outshoot your – arguably – two most powerful ships.

It didn’t mean that they had done a bad job. They’d held you off the best they could and given back almost as much as you’d thrown their way. You had to admire that kind of tenacity.

The Tsu-Class falls back as well – Nachi moves to gather Shigure… who pushes away, mumbling something under her breath. You check the status on the Getsu – the battle had taken its fuse for now; it would take some time for it to get back to capacity.

GETSU: RECHARGING – 8 percent

Nagato, however, doesn’t seem to be in any order deterred by the fact that she’d taken a straight-up bombing.

‘Enemy retreating, sir.’ Her eyes and systems are trained on the trio, battered but functional. ‘Do we have orders to pursue?’

>‘Pursue!’
>‘They’re not our objective.’
>Use opportunity to establish contact with The Ominato Commander
>Write-In [Other Strategies]

>>1035384
>>‘Pursue!’

>>1035384
By clearing the field, you now are able to make a call attempt without interruption/risk.

what direction is retreating?

>>1035384
>>Use opportunity to establish contact with The Ominato Commander
Really should get the guy online and learn where the hell he is

>>1035384
>‘Pursue!’
Our job after all is on the offensive side, lets not let the battered Tsu and the outgunned Elite Wo and Ri get away while we have them on the run.
After all there are other waves and we dont want them to regroup just yet.

>>1035384
>>Use opportunity to establish contact with The Ominato Commander
contact first, this mission hinged on there being two Commanders

>>1035384
>>Use opportunity to establish contact with The Ominato Commander

>>1035384
>‘Pursue!’

>>1035384
>Use opportunity to establish contact with The Ominato Commander

>>1035384
>‘Pursue!’

It's 4 AM. I'm going to bed for now.

>>1035458
night or is it morning?

>>1035465
thats night

Rolled 2, 8, 8, 3, 6, 2, 4, 1 = 34 (8d8)

>>1035384
Chance's of running into an Oni is high. let's see how the Dice feel about our chances today.

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>>1035601
>Two 8s

>>1035447
>>1035427
>>1035410
Remember anons, this mission depended on a Commander to prevent Abyssals from breaching into held waters and attacking the coast, without a guard they can slip around us and right into our territories.

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So guys, how stupid would it be to, on some other mission, have Nagato use her superstrength to toss Shiggy straight at the toughest enemy, and use Getsu to ensure an 8?

>>1035669
completly stupid, yet completly awesome

Rolled 7, 6, 5, 2, 5, 4 = 29 (6d8)

>>1035669
Rolling for this strategy

Resuming the session in 30 minutes.

>>1035389
>>1035403
>>1035410
>>1035413
>>1035423
>>1035427
>>1035428
>>1035447
Coin flipped. Winner decided.

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With the first force on the ropes, you move to register immediate contact with the Ominato Commander. Whatever that had happened, it would be fruitless to pursue; that the Command Unit – or Command Units – were nowhere in sight. Shigure’s vision comes fully back into view; she raises her hand to reveal blood – a mixture of hers and her foes’ – and she begins to pick up speed. The rest of them get into motion, too, prompting you to yell your next set of orders into the channel.

‘Do not pursue, Squadron. I repeat: do not pursue.’ At least two of them turn to each other, confused… but all abide. The Wo-Class Elite and its escort are still visible, but they don’t look anything like they were. ‘Run the routes I preset; I’m going to see if it’s possible to establish a connection with the Ominato Commander.’ Shigure, of course, is the first one to zoom away from the team; she runs just north-east of you, a few miles or so away. Nagato’s lets out a loud hiss – you can hear the popping of bone or something else as she moves to keep up with the now-departing Shigure. ‘Nagato, Shigure, hang back – I don’t want either of you pushing yourselves anymore than you have. Nachi, you take point.’ You pause… before deciding with the job she did, she might as well take the role. ‘Kaga, you’re on real duty. Keep me updated with Getsu.’

‘Roger that.’

You turn on a broadcast – you hope nothing else out here will jump into it.

‘Commander, do your read?’ You call out, flicking windows away. The shielding on your Stream was a little weaker – the power was diverted to play bait-and-hook with the broadcast; you call back on the trial you had run on the craft’s frequency search function – you hope the principle was the same on this model. ‘This is the Yokosuka First Division Squadron. Callsign: Barracuda.’

‘Commander?!’ A confused voice reaches your ears. ‘Commander, this is the Ominato First Division Commander; callsign: Tigris.’

‘Tigris, this is Barracuda. We are currently at mission grid designation zero-one-zero-nine. Two of my Squadron members are damaged but active and functional.’ ‘Requesting immediate rendezvous to proceed with operation. Hazards within immediate vicinity are Wo-Class Elite, Ri-Class and Tsu-Class; all three are at least lightly damaged. Observed immediate vector from current position is approximately southwest.’

‘Roger that.’ He calls out – his voice is a little distorted, but you can hear him well enough to make out what he was saying. ‘My Squadron will head on intercept vector – they’re inbound on the intercept course.’

>‘Where were you?’
>‘I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.’
>Write-In

>>1038214
>‘I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.’
Well now that we know he exists we can continue with our mission.

>>1038214
>‘I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.’

>>1038214
>>‘I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.’

>>1038214
>>‘I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.’

>>1038214
>‘I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.’

>>1038214

I’m moving into the position for the assault. Keep your side of the battle outside friendly waters.

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‘I’m moving into position for my assault.’ There’s no time to question where he had been – you had questions, but for now it didn’t matter. You open up the read-out on your Squadron: Kaga’s Getsu had re-charged itself for the next encounter – but it was up to you to run up on the offensive; four visions of darkness and blinking in the distance alert you to the next phase of your offensive – you rush to give your request to the Ominato Commander. ‘Whatever goes your way, keep it out of friendly waters.’

‘Wait, you’re running up point?’ His voice sounds less confused… and more incredulous. As if he hadn’t expected you to be the one to delve into deeper water – right now, it didn’t matter. You had your orders to fulfill. ‘Commander, my orders were to provide cover support to you – what – ?’

‘Run patrol and mop up any Abyssals looking to break through the border.’ You supply. Shigure eyes Nagato – even in the shadows you can see that she’d taken quite a hit. As much as you’d like to turn around, if that had been the vanguard, you couldn’t risk any of the others breaking past you – or The Commander. ‘Keep to your assignment unless I absolutely need backup. By the reports, there’s a possibility of a secondary force. If we miss it, it’s your job to take them out or hold them off from Ominato as best you can.’ The warnings blare again – they were within contact vicinity now. ‘We’re en route to intercept the main staying force; take out the ones I don’t, but most of all keep them from breaking through to the town’s limits.’

‘Understood.’ You can hear a growl from his end. ‘Tigris is running watch. Squadron en route to run interception on stragglers.’ He declares. A green glow catches your attention – it’s from your own set of eyes. A window with a graph and a percentage catches your attention. You hadn’t seen that before. ‘I’ve secured the connection, so if you need backup, we’ll – !’

Static blares for an instant.

‘I think we have our first catch of the day.’ He announces. ‘Happy hunting, Commander.’

OFF

‘Sir, I’m picking up at least a dozen Abyssals within encounter range.’ Nagato catches your attention. The sensors had you seeing as much, but…

‘Do you have a reading on the Command Units present?’ You scan for a signature, but with the cluster of enemies, you can’t quite tell.

‘Negative, sir, the way things are, I don’t have any signature I’m able to distinguish.’ She answers immediately. ‘Contact in t-minus 2 minutes, sir. How do you want us to take this?’

You pause for a moment…

> ‘We’ll run it as we planned.’ (Go with the discussed plan)
> ‘I’m open to ideas.’ (Leave it to Nagato)
> ‘Actually, now you that you mention it, I have something else in mind.’ (Write-In: New Formations/Strategy)
> Write-In

>>1044038
we are still on the same map? are the enemies coming the same way the first group?

So how about Nagato and Nachi as a core force that draws their attention, and then Kaga and Shiggy smash into them from the side? Kill their command unit and make the rest scatter to be destroyed piecemeal?

>>1044117
Honestly speaking Kaga and Nagato are fairly slow compared to Nachi and Shigure, so best we keep Kaga near Nagato since the enemy likes to focus her alot and Kaga can counter them somewhat.
Maybe let Nachi and Shigure handle some flanking, although that depends on the enemy force.

>>1044155
nadato is damaged, she is a tough girl but that be asking too much
a Y formation would work
shigure and nachi first
nagato in second row
and in the rear kaga

>>1044170
Actually Nagato did not get damaged as badly as Shigure, regardless yes a Y formation would be best with Shigure on the left flank close to the Border so she can react if they try to break off into friendly territory

>>1044178
yeah you are right

>>1044038
Y formation
nachi-nagato
shigure
kaga

>>1044178
She did. The only thing that helps her is that she's built for - and used to - taking that punishment.

What is your strategy?

>>1044291
I'm still in favor of a "draw them in, hit them from the side" strategy

>>1044291
I guess we intercept the next wave while using either a Y or a T formation with Nagato center, Kaga in the back and Shigure and Nachi on the left and right sides respectively.

Have you guys finalized a strategy yet?

>>1044341
But what's the actual plan? Hit them head on, hit them from the side, stand our ground and let them come to us?

>>1044432
We intercept them and based on their formation we either go head on or Nachi and Shigure break off to hit their flank, cant really prepare more than that until we see them

>>1044438
They outnumber us three to one, that's why I'm advocating a heavy force to wipe out their command unit and make them disperse

I don't see the benefit of facing them head on

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>>1044438
>>1044432

here is a plan
we attack their sides, and if there isnt a odvious flagship or anything we surround them
IF ther is a flagship we have nach and shigure head straigth to it and sink it
the chaos will make them easy pickings

>>1044462
>>1044467
Problem is that they dont exactly function like we do, even if we take out their command unit they can still continue fighting us, we only have 4 units against whatever they have.
We should really employ some longer ranged attacks and hopefully wittle them down.

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>>1044467
image here

>>1044477
kaga will be covering the attack and it would be a 3 proged attack, is not foolproof but it should work

This is actually an important question, do the spirits that Kaga fires function as proper planes or just like guided rockets?

>>1044504
planes

>>1044504
They fight for air superiority against Abyssal fighters, so planes

>>1044504
I don't understand how it's important, but in essence they act like fighter escorts, offensive bombers or suicidal attackers - how she remembers them, in essence, dying for old Imperial Japan.

>>1044510
>>1044507
Then that means we can also use them against the abyssals, specifically in the initial strike since from what we saw the Wo's dont always have their drones summoned, maybe we can snipe a Wo or an enemy heavy hitter before we even make contant

>>1044523
i thought we were ALREADY doing attack runs with her
why else we took a carrier?

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>>1044523

>>1044523
That's purely aesthetic. The only thing that matters in combat are:

1. How your initial approach to the combat situation goes (Depending on how the enemy is, you get a bonus, no bonus, or a penalty)
2. Your rolls. Win the d8 and hope RNG does not hit you 2 crits in a row.
3. Your equips for the current battle to negate bad rolls.
4. Character equipment status - there are certain degrees you have to meet in order to harm certain classes of ship - unless the ship is a heavy hitter in the first place.

>>1044548
Then might aswell go with whatever since it wont change much.

>>1044559
I've left you the option to write-up your strategies. There are pros and cons. If I delve into the mechanics of what "bonuses" each strategy does, you'll be - as I fear - powergaming. The point to this discussion is to have an open table on your next course of action on what to do on your Squadron.

Kaga doesn't make the battle alone. You and your fellow players have to decide how to take this battle. Who do you want to take point? Do you want them to split up? Etc? Keep in mind your KanMusu stats - some of them can take a hit better than most, some a lot less.

anyway
we intercept them usint that formation we worked on with kaga making a first attack run with the planes

>>1044587
Planes first followed by a long range salvo from Nagato and Nachi then use the fornation

>>1044587
Yeah pretty much that, if we lure them in then we have nowhere to run without the RAY being nearby anyways.

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‘We’re ad-libbing.’ You declare. You don’t hear the acknowledgment – from any of them. It must have been confusing for you to asset your authority, but for now you could only hope that what you had in mind would work. ‘Nagato, don’t split the team.’ You open up the readings on the cluster – there didn’t appear to be anything that ‘I want you to go straight for the throat. Find their Command Unit and shut it down however you can.’

‘Sir, if – ?’

‘If we break up right now, I don’t care how built to last you are – you and Kaga aren’t able to take another onslaught.’ You declare, glaring at the sensor screen. The cluster definitely made it hard for you to find anything that could make out a Command Unit. ‘Nachi, Kaga, keep the wings secure, I don’t want any of them getting a clear lock on any of your teammates. Shigure, how are you holding up?’

‘Functional.’

‘There’s no deviation.’ You clarify, watching the glowing blue lights in the distance grown brighter by the second. ‘I want you to weave in and out as best as you can, but do not stray out of assist range. Nachi and Kaga will cover you the best you can, so I repeat: do not fall out of assist range.’

She doesn’t reply, but there’s a feeling of agreement – however begrudging – across your link. You bring up the sensors again; once more, you aren’t able to make out the presence of a Command Unit. It vexed you, somewhat – and to your surprise, you find yourself bemoaning Yuubari’s lack of progress on the practical side of things… if only for a moment. It didn’t make any sense – if there was a Command Unit, why hadn’t it shown up? The power signature must have shown up by now. Your Squadron was definitely within range, so why hadn’t it appeared? The questions rack your mind…

And just as you feel the answer itching at the back of your head, a screech reaches your ears – it was Shigure’s feed.

‘CONTACT!’

Nagato’s cannons light up the night, as do Nachi’s volleys. The blaring lights of the warning sensors mix yellow and the dark sea together as you try to take in all six views, an amplification of your senses by six-fold. You make our pairs upon pairs of I-Class Destroyers that move – they were correct that there were at least a dozen.

DESIGNATION: BATTLESHIP RU-CLASS ELITE
DESIGNATION: LIGHT CRUISER TSU-CLASS ELITE
DESIGNATION: TORPEDO CRUISER HE-CLASS
DESIGNATION: TORPEDO CRUISER HE-CLASS

‘Commander, we don’t have a read on the Command Unit!’ Nachi yells, grunting as she kicks an I-Class aside. She barely dodges the Battleship’s opening salvo. ‘Permission to engage!’

The real battle started now.

>‘Keep looking for their Command Unit – that’s the objective!’ (Roll a 1d8 each) PEN: -1 on last 2 rolls*
>‘Light ‘em up!’ (Roll a 1d8 each) PEN: -1 on first roll*
>‘Fall back.’ (Roll a 1d6 each)
>Write-In

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1044756
>>‘Light ‘em up!’ (Roll a 1d8 each) PEN: -1 on first roll*

Rolled 7 (1d8)

>>1044756
>>‘Light ‘em up!’ (Roll a 1d8 each) PEN: -1 on first roll*
Might as well engage the elites

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1044756
>‘Light ‘em up!’ (Roll a 1d8 each) PEN: -1 on first roll*

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>1044756
>‘Light ‘em up!’ (Roll a 1d8 each)
could the enemy command be a sub? they would still show in sensors right?

Rolled 4, 6, 7, 6, 5 = 28 (5d8)

>>1044756

>>1044795
Well damn, everyone is rolling higher than average today.

Rolled 8 (1d8)

>>1044756
>‘Light ‘em up!’ (Roll a 1d8 each) PEN: -1 on first roll*

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>>1044795

>>1044802
fug

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>>1044802
Thank you anon.

>>1044804
>>1044808
Its okay we only have 2 fails, one which we can cover with Getsu

>>1044812
Getsu's still charging though? and it only works with Kaga

>>1044812
Wasn't Getsu only once per battle?

>>1044780
>>1044782
>>1044788
>>1044792
>>1044802
Do you want to activate Getsu for this particular round? Remember that Getsu recharges for every battle.

>>1044820
it recharged, look it at >>1044038

>>1044825
i dont think we need it right now

>>1044825
I say we use Getsu on on of the fails, sure it can save us from crit fails but normal fails will pile up regardless, if we can finish the enemy quickly the next wave will be less of a struggle

>>1044825
No using Getsu for now

>>1044841
the enemy flagship is at large and has a ru-class battleship as subordinate, she MUST be pretty strong
i say we keep it just in case

>>1044825
nope, not yet. no critical fails that really needs it yet.

Just a confirmation, because I forgot: Did you guys turn on hard mode?

>>1044891
nope

>>1044891
Looked through the last 5 threads in the archives, no mention of 'hard mode' in any way

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‘Light ‘em up!’

1ST ROLL: 5 vs 4 – RESULT: OFFENSIVE MANEUVERS SUCCESSFUL!

The fact that your Squadron came in head on made it a lot harder to try and assert dominance. Even so, Nachi and Shigure seemed to handle themselves well enough that the turning of the tides wasn’t as bad as the initial contact was – this was, however, far from an advantage. Nachi doesn’t break flank, but she does tear herself off a little rougher than you would have liked. You almost bark into the channel for her to get back into formation, when you see two shadows leap with arms longer than their bodies out of the water. They were everywhere, trying to break the Squadron’s assault, but instead only found your Destroyer’s foot sending their bulky forms into one another. The scene was pure chaos. You saw these creatures, bulky and the size of motorcycles with abnormally long limbs, spraying what looked like the equivalent of Abyssal torpedoes.

‘Submarines!’ Shigure declares it as though it is a curse, moving to aim. She peppers one with a c lip from her armaments – the guns tear across its pale belly like a fork and knife, sending gleaming black fluid everywhere. ‘Commander, permission to break rank!’

‘Permission granted.’

Shigure breaks through her next two victims with precision. Messy, messy precision. The night sky didn’t seem like the night sky anymore, as lit as it is. You realize that your Squadron had, miraculous, still held on to what little battle-plan that was working. Flames, blue and yellow, mixed across the sea as your Squadron tore through their foes. Nagato yells indistinctly over the channel, engaging in combat with the heavier classes. She fires and maneuvers faster than she ever had, striking at what was the heart of this large force. One or two dirty hits come her way, but she shrugs them off – anything short of the Ru-Class’s spray meant nothing to her.

A set of torpedoes, from Nachi’s view, however, seemed determined to change that.

‘Nagato, your nine o’clock!’

Nagato whirls around, diving for the water as they detonate barely a few feet from her – enough to rock her somewhat, to disorient her… and put her off her target, but otherwise, it’s enough to leave

The green glow of the Tsu-Class Elite’s features, flanked by four Destroyers, catches your attention as they move to close in on your Sub-Commander. The Battleship itself ignores her, miraculously, making a play for your Destroyer and Heavy Cruiser. Everything was definitely out the window now, if it wasn’t before.

Nagato wetly raises herself from her dive, disoriented… unable to see the incoming onslaught.

If it was a firefight they wanted…

‘Kaga, defense!’

Who were you to deny it from them?

TBC

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2ND ROLL: 7 vs 6 – RESULT: PRESSURED ENEMY! CRITICAL!

Kaga fires her planes, running an intercept course. They look like green ghosts, birds in the distance, flying off to the south… eerie messengers of death. They swoop like birds of prey, making short work of the Tsu-Class’s escort. That didn’t, however, deter them from their vector on Nagato. You yell for her to get to her feet – she does so, barely moving to rejoin the battle. Her squadmates had done their best to keep her alive in the last instance… but the numbers pressed on. The I-Class Destroyers skidded along the water to surround your two heavy-hitters, firing off round after round to corral them into a killbox. Kaga moves to launch her planes, but finds herself grabbed by the long, pale limbs of two of the Submarines, holding her up for all to see… and strike.

Shigure blitzes towards them, tearing one of them apart with strength that belied her form. She must be covered in the gunk by now, if her feed was any indication – but now was hardly the time to consider it. The killbox was almost complete, with or without the interruption. She rushes in to try and get the I-Class out of sync, firing off two light volleys. She curses under her breath, playing defense on Kaga and Nagato’s behalf – what the leaping Submarines lacked in firepower, they more than made up for in speed… and their long, fleshy limbs and torpedoes made them deadly herders. It was almost as though they were one mind, with one goal, dancing your Squadron to their last…

‘Engaging the Battleship, Commander! I don’t know how much longer I can last out here!’

‘Hang in there, Nachi, help’s on the – !’

Flashes of yellow and red streak past you. Nagato, Kaga and Shigure engage the half-dozen Destroyers and Submarines, the Light Cruiser – !

‘Nagato, Kaga, don’t stray from the course!’ You call out into the channel, finally realizing just what they were doing – just why the Battleship had left.

They were trying to pick your Squadron one by one.

‘Blast that Tsu-Class!’

‘Can’t get in! Fire’s too heavy!’ Shigure curses, breaking away from Nagato. ‘They’re in my way!’

‘Shigure, move!’

The sound of a cannon rumbles in your ears. The shell tears across the seas, through a foe who had the bad luck of standing in its way… there was no way they would be a match for her guns.

It is an explosion of light, flesh and a screech that, for you… only meant that your command had been fulfilled.

The Tsu-Class was gone.

3RD ROLL: 5 vs 7 – RESULT: ENEMY RECOVERS! PRESSURED!

‘I can’t shake these bastards!’ Nachi’s voice shrills over the channel. Gunfire and blows meet your ears once more. Nachi dives for the surface, ducking out of the Abyssal’s salvo. She moves to return fire – the Torpedo Cruisers pick her off. ‘Requesting backup!’

TBC

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Nachi spins into the air, letting loose several volleys of her own – they don’t do much… but instinct, even with Abyssals, was instinct. They move to avoid the salvo – no, not the Battleship. Not the Ru-Class. It takes a good portion of her hits, almost arrogantly declaring the futility of her action. Nachi was resourceful – that much you give her; even if it didn’t do much more than throw an irritant, it brought her precious seconds to maneuver back into an advantageous position… if there ever was one in the first place. The He-Class fires at her, one light salvo after the other, a small amount tearing through her clothes and bouncing of her skin – but not without accompanying pain.

‘Commander, I’m being swarmed out here!’

‘Squadron en route – twenty seconds. Hang in there, Nachi.’ You swipe the windows away, bringing up the report on Nachi’s current state – scrapes and bruises and the odd bullet hole… but nothing to suggest that she was anything incapable of holding off the three-on-one she was engaged in.

More I-Class leap from out of nowhere – they’d lurked from the corners of the immediate battle zone… and seen just how pressed for a line your Heavy Cruiser was. It was a testament to her experience and forbearance that she didn’t immediately slow down. Nachi plows right through the larger Destroyer… a mistake. By sacrificing one of their own, they’d thrown back her delaying tactic against her. Two more cut her off – another one, a Submarine, throws a torpedo at her from the corner of her eye.

Nagato and the others were still en route.

19… 18…

She was a creature of balance and precision – but with the battle raging around her, she might as well have been Samidare, fighting against a closing space. They were cutting off her ability to maneuver – to regroup. There wasn’t a play in the book they weren’t using now, throwing their numbers. She fires back, she kicks what she can away, uses what corpse is in her arms to cushion the next volley of fire.

12… 11…

The Torpedo Cruisers light up the battlefield just as well as Kaga had, their torpedoes erupting in glowing spheres of destruction. They suppress her movement, enough for…

7… 6… 5…

The warning screen pops up. A screech echoes upon the seas. The Battleship appears before her, training its guns just as she does hers – she doesn’t move. Her vision is chaotic – covered in gunk, soot and flashes of light and dark.

4… 3… 2…

A blaring sound echoes in your ears, like a record dragged along its needle, it scrapes against the inside of your ear. She was a sitting duck.

1…

‘NACHI!’

A salvo fires between them – Nagato’s guns declare the Squadron's arrival.

TBC

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4TH ROLL: 5 vs 6 RESULT: Kaga: DAMAGED!

The Ru-Class, from the view of the arriving trio, rears on them. You realize, to your vexation, that it indeed hasn’t seen so much as a scratch from that skirmish. Kaga makes the next move – you command for immediate air superiority; if you could establish that, then at least –

It fires its salvo, scattering the three of them. Its lackeys, the I-Class, take a more aggressive set than they had before, going directly for Nachi with their teeth and guns. The Ru-Class shrieks… two, three more Submarines – by Shigure’s visuals – pop up like daisies, surfing at high speeds to keep each your Squadron busy enough to keep their fire off the Ru-Class. The heavy ship peppers the seas. Shigure curses as she spins, almost throwing you into vertigo. The Ru-Class didn’t differentiate friend or foe. The shells, the explosions – they tore through its own allies just as well as they would your Squadron.

A sharp pain – like a knife twisting at the back of your head almost has you screaming in pain. You drop to your knees, feeling tears gathering at the corner of your eyes… and the hazy, clouded view of…

Kaga had been hit. She wasn’t moving.

5TH ROLL: 8 vs 5DEFENSIVE MANEUVERS SUCCESSFUL! CRITICAL!

You had had enough of this.

‘Nagato, I want its head on a pike.’ You declare. ‘Isolate it from the small fry. Shigure, run support on Nagato until I give the order to move in.’ You bring up everyone’s visuals. Three sets of eyes turn on the remaining Elite and its band of escorts. The Torpedo Cruisers were still active, but it didn’t look like the Elite had much else other than its guns. Still… as battered as your team was, there was no way you were going to let it take the battlefield as it had. ‘Nachi, get Kaga away from the conflict zone.’

‘Commander, I’m still in – !’

‘Don’t argue with me. Get her out of there until I call for a regroup.’ You finish calmly. The Elite glares straight at Nagato – effectively right at you – but otherwise does nothing. It studies its quarry… just as you do to it. ‘Nagato… go.’

She zooms in at speeds comparable to Nachi and Shigure at their best. The Torpedo Cruisers respond in kind, unleashing a burst of their own breakneck projectiles… which blow up in the water, courtesy of your battered Destroyer. Shigure does her job – she does it well. The Elite meets Nagato head-on exchanging shells with her – both of them miss the first volley… and Nagato stops firing almost immediately, dancing around the blossoming flames. They don’t seem to reach her at all.

TBC

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Fist meets fist as Nagato takes your commands to heart. Her hand coils around the Abyssal Elite’s throat… and drags her back past her two escorts – but the I-Class once again appear, moving at comparable speeds, intent on tearing Nagato away from their Battleship. Nagato doesn’t take her eyes off the Elite – a silent cry and the prayer has you hoping that she doesn’t let her hand go either… no matter how much the being moves to crush her wrist. As its hands tighten, so does her grip. It’s a struggle at its core, the both of them digging into each other’s flesh to pry life from this bloody field.

‘Shigure, run intercept.’

Light salvos pepper the defensive notions of the I-Class. Holes the size of basketballs tear through their eye and snout, sending them skidding along the surface in odd familiarity to rolling car crashes… and Shigure, with your vision mixing in smoke, Abyssal flesh and the dark sea, splits one of their heads with a kick, engaging the trailing Torpedo Cruisers.

You had done it. Just as they had moved to tear your Squadron into their own individual graves… you had in your sights, the balance of mercy or judgment towards the Ru-Class, its nails digging into Nagato’s arms. You can feel the strain of bone.

‘Enemy separated from escort. On you.’

It’s not even a second that passes after the command that an almost-deafening sound rumbles through your ears, like jagged metal tearing into chalk

Bloodied, broken and missing a part of its torso and guns, the Ru-Class Elite looks as though its ready for bloody murder, but does nothing. In the instant, you take in the battlefield… littered with tens of Abyssal corpses. Like an attack dog, the now-lone Torpedo Cruiser watches over the bloodied form of the Ru-Class. Nagato’s guns had done as much damage as they could… and the beast still looked to be…

Submarines leap out from the waters. Shigure pushes Nagato out of the way, cracking one in the face with her foot. Another one of them extends its limbs, finding their place on Shigure’s throat, bringing her underneath the waves.

Nagato doesn’t allow it to continue… in the most brutal fashion possible, tearing its arms out of its sockets and training her cannon right between its eyes. Shigure rises from water, coughing and her vision slightly erratic, but otherwise fine. She coughs out water, hands on her knees; the both of them turn to see the floating bodies once more… and the retreating backs of the Elite and what remained of its escort.

They don't look like they want to go for another round.

‘Commander, enemy is routed. Do we have orders to pursue?’

>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)
>‘Take ‘em down.’ (Roll a 1d8 each)
>Re-establish contact with The Ominato Commander
> Fall back.’
>Write-In [Other Strategies]

>>1047869
>>Re-establish contact with The Ominato Commander
check in first

>>1047869
>>Re-establish contact with The Ominato Commander

>>1047869
>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)
I don't see how the Ominato Commander needs this much attention.
The bigger problem here is that we're not finishing them off and the wounds just keep piling up, we need to end this quickly before the attrition kills us.

>>1047869
>>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)
Remember the goal

>>1047869
>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)

Search and Destroy is still in effect for that thing

>>1047869
>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)

>>1047869
>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)

>>1047869
>‘Do not pursue. Our priority is the Command Unit.’ (Continue search for Command Unit)

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‘Squadron, turn up your sensors and set up a defensive parameter – ignore the Battleship; it’s not our objective.’ Your voice is clear. Your team, however, appears hesitant to appeal, prompting you to go on. ‘We’ve broken through what looks to be their attack force.’ The fact your team had done so without so much as a single retreat was a feat in of itself, but you didn’t want to press your luck. You’d given most of their forces a push back, and that left you a window – one that you would use to redirect your Squadron back to its original objective. ‘Right now, the priority is to find the Abyssal Command Unit.’

‘Understood, Commander.’ Surprisingly, it’s Shigure who gives you the quickest response. Cocking the lock on her guns, scans the horizon – or what you thought to be the horizon, anyway. It was still dark out – the system itself clocked you in at just after 0300 and you could never tell with night vision. ‘Running parameter.’

She zooms off, turning one of your views into a blur of green water and darkness. You open your lips to tell her not to head out too far from the group – but you find that you don’t need to; she had set her patrol route; enough that she could call in an encounter without a significant time lag. If there was anything, she could run back to the group and call in the heavy artillery. A series of readings come up on your screen – the sensors had come up with nothing. You run it again.

‘Shigure, if you see anything, relay it straight to the Squadron. Do not engage enemy units alone.’ She doesn’t answer you. You don’t bother waiting for one, activating another search of the grid to find the Command Unit. ‘Nagato, anything on your end?’

‘None, sir.’ Nagato breaks off from the duo, running her own patrol route and search task. Through the Stream, you feel the immediate relay of… nothing, just as she said. The sea, save for the retreating Battleship and its escorts, was clean. ‘Did Intel clarify on if there was a Command Unit present at all?’

‘Those fogeys get things wrong often enough.’ Nachi grumbles, hoisting Kaga to her feet. ‘Commander, nothing’s coming up. You’re sure we got one out here, right?’

‘Other than retreating signals, I don’t have a lock on any hostiles. There are no vectors looking to break past the hot zone.’ Kaga chimes in. She’s wobbly, but still functional.

‘That’s what – !’

You’re knocked off-balance. Physically, you’re thrown into one of the supporting pylons of the interface.

The RAY’s nose was half-torn. You can feel something important of the ship’s exposed. A woman in white stands with her cackling imps, neither joyful or angry, staring at her quarry.

You.

‘Yuubari’s going to kill me.’

>Disengage Hunker Mode and call in the Squadron
>Call in distress signal to the Ominato Commander
>Write-In

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>>1056751
>>Disengage Hunker Mode and call in the Squadron

>>1056751
>Disengage Hunker Mode and call in the Squadron
Our Bucket list might get shorter now that we might end up punching an abyssal command unit in the face

>>1056778
You'll break your hand. And get Akashi angry in addition to Yuubari.

>>1056751
>>Call in distress signal to the Ominato Commander

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>Abyssal units broadcast a certain amount of power that shipgirls can sense
>A fucking flagship sneaks up on us
>Abyssal stealth tech can now hide command units

>>1056751
I appear have to made a mistake on the options. Thank the Discord for telling me it's not clear enough.

>'Nagato, it's here!' (Call in the Squadron and then attempt to disengage Hunker Mode)
>'Commander, about that backup?' (Call in the Commander and then attempt to disengage Hunker Mode)
>Write-In

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>>1056805
There's a reason for that. For now, focus on surviving.

>>1056760
>>1056778
I'll negate these votes as my options weren't clear enough. Reply to >>1056809 alright, guys?

>>1056809
>'Nagato, it's here!' (Call in the Squadron and then attempt to disengage Hunker Mode)
Its still the same choice, id rather trust our battered division than the commander thats probably miles away

>>1056809
>>'Nagato, it's here!' (Call in the Squadron and then attempt to disengage Hunker Mode)

>>1056809
>>'Nagato, it's here!' (Call in the Squadron and then attempt to disengage Hunker Mode)

From the last thread:
>‘Last I checked, though, he was given a few good guns to steady the ship,’ The Admiral gives a reassuring beam, ‘so you should be fine so long as you stick to your assignments and don’t cross stations or break off from each other. We’re not so much big fans of synergy this time – it might as well be two operations given the scale – but don’t get in each other’s way. From what I gather he’s got one of the five – now six, with Musashi – active heavy-hitters left transferred to him so he should shore up anything you didn’t.’

>>1056844
i mean, we could use the write in option later, if we really need to bring him in to assist

>>1056809
>'Nagato, it's here!' (Call in the Squadron and then attempt to disengage Hunker Mode)