Okay... Got it right this time.
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It begins.
* * * * *
The two battleships had been out to sea for a few days and thus far much of the trip back to Sasebo had been in silence. Not for lack of trying on Hiei's part however. Unfortunately for her, Arizona was in no mood for conversation. All she had managed was to pull were the occasional "Yes, Lieutenant" or "No, Lieutenant" out of the stoic American. And even she could tell that her attempts were not entirely welcome.
"It's too bad Jintsuu couldn't come with us." A misty cloud trailed behind Hiei as she bemoaned the absence of the light cruiser. Behind her trailed a lazy wake as she plodded along the course that would take her and Arizona back to Sasebo. Her sleeves and skirt fluttered about with only a sliver more energy in the light and frigid ocean breeze. The cold didn't bother her in the slightest, but it was still the kind of weather that made her want to break out the kotatsu and sleep the day away. She did regret not bringing mittens or a scarf of some sort however.
Not really needed in the slightest, but she still thought it was comfortable.
"The Yeoman has not been deemed fit for duty." Arizona stated bluntly, finally offering up a reply more than two words long. In contrast to Hiei's lighter garments, her far heavier ones barely budged.
"Yeah... I've never been sick before, but it's kind of amazing how humans can just bounce back after a few days of that." She chuckled and laced her fingers behind her head. A part of her was glad to have finally managed to put even the slightest crack into her companion's demeanor, even if it turned out to be short lived down the line. "Of course, she's probably not complaining."
"We are not human, Lieutenant. We are warships." She took a deep breath to steady herself. She hadn't intended to speak so harshly, but her nerves felt like they were fraying further with each passing moment. "And the Yeoman should focus more on recovering so she can do her duty." Being doted on by her commanding officer was not what a soldier should do. When ill, you should recover. When well, you should train. And always be prepared for battle and to serve.
"She's trying. With everything she can." Hiei put on a little more speed to put some distance between herself and Arizona.
The redhead would have inquired about the brunette's actions, but the latter pulled an about-face and began treading in reverse. It was a bizarre sight to say the least. She could see Hiei's hull sailing forward at something slightly above a lazy gait at the same time she was witnessing the woman of the same name skating along the water backwards. It made her head hurt the more she tried to comprehend it. Even after having sailed alongside her and Jintsuu, efforts to make sense of it simply went nowhere.
"And a headpat or two isn't so bad. A good crew takes care of their ship. And a good admiral takes care of their fleet. Admiral Richardson is just taking care of Jintsuu the best way he knows how." There was an underlying hardness to Hiei's voice. As if daring the American to refute her words.
"A good ship takes care of her crew, her charges, and her command." Arizona's gloves hands tightened into fists with such strength that one would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the sound of groaning fabric and warping steel. "She should always be ready. Always willing and able to do her duty."
"Is that why you've barely slept a wink since you arrived? You look like a raccoon." Though her voice was humorous and the gesture of making goggles with her fingers was plainly childish, she meant her question with all seriousness. Arizona had slept only the bare minimum possible to the best of her knowledge. Even then it was more of a power nap.
"I cannot afford to stand idle while there is a war on, Lieutenant. You must know the gravity of our situation." Arizona brought a gloved hand to her chest and clenched it about the fabric of her khaki uniform. Her voice had an urgency to it. An urgency full of anxiety. And it threatened to spiral far beyond the control of the stoic and professional demeanor she aimed to carry herself with at all times. She was already nearing the breaking point. "You must certainly know it far more than I do! Won't you take this seriously?!"
There was a cold silence as Hiei's mood darkened.
"What do you hope to accomplish Lieutenant Arizona?"
Hiei's steely gaze and cutting words were so far removed from the demeanor Arizona had seen thus far that it struck her momentarily speechless. And never had she heard the fast battleship refer to anyone save for the admiral by anything other than a nickname or their given name. Her grey eyes narrowed as a frigid fury built up behind them.
"My duty, ma'am. I will defeat any and all foes that I face without fail. And I will not stop until I am sunk or there is nothing left to sink." Her breath was hot and her scars itched. But she paid them no heed.
"Is that so..." The brunette crossed her arms and closed her eyes before speaking again. "I think the Emperor might have liked you. Some of the hardliners in command too." She opened her eyes to glare at the American.
"I was beloved by my crew and even the Imperial family personally. I served them with pride and distinction. It was an honor to know that the Emperor himself chose me as his personal vessel. I think I have a good idea of what he and his officials would have liked to see." She drew in a deep breath. "Your absolute determination to do your duty regardless of cost is one of them."
"A good, proper ship would do the same. No matter their allegiance." Arizona's voice was near to a snarl. "No matter what navy, they shou-"
"You're a hypocrite."
"Wh-What?"
"Those in command of the Imperial Japanese Navy would have wanted you to go down fighting to the last. Guns ablaze taking as many enemies down with you as you could. Every sailor fighting to the death against impossible odds. If you cannot win, make sure the enemy pays dearly for their victory. If you must die, then make certain the enemy dies with you regardless of the cost." Hiei's voice was condemning and angry, yet never rising to a shout. She spoke with an intensity that few had ever heard. And certainly not Arizona. "It is nothing like the grand last stand people like to imagine. That kind of death is... It is painful like nothing you can believe.
Is that what you want, Battleship Arizona? To die again while doing your duty? To sink knowing that you had done everything you could and that it was okay for you to go?"
Arizona wanted to lash out. To turn every gun she had on her ally and demand her silence. But she did not. She remained silent and absolutely furious, unable to formulate a response to Hiei's vicious and hurtful words. They cut deeply into her without any sort of mercy and with the full intent of doing so. When she finally found her voice, it was weak and lacking in any manner of calm.
"How... How dare you... I would never, even at my worst..." She shouted her pathetic rebuttal. "Are you saying to die for your country and for your duty is pointless!?"
"No. I am saying your death will be pointless." Hiei's voice was imperious and brooked no argument. Even if Arizona had been capable of forming words at that moment, they would have not been permitted. "They're dead, Arizona. Nothing you can do will ever change that. Not even dying again."
"You killed them! You killed them while I lay there sleeping. I sat there and did nothing as they died all around me. I failed them all! Every. Single. One!" Finally she broke, her stoicism shattered as she cried out. Her expression twisted into one of anguish and "I can still hear them dying. I can hear the roar of those planes as they fly overhead!"
"I know. I was there. I was part of the Kidou Butai during the attack on Pearl Harbor. I watched those planes take off and come back after killing you, your crew, and many many more." When Arizona's eyes widened in shock, Hiei did not so much as blink.
The Japanese battleship turned around to face forward once more after having decided she had waited long enough for Arizona to fail in responding. "We have a lot to atone for. Some more than others. If you really want to make up for letting your crew die, then try living. ...Your survivors would hate to see you as you are. They love you far too much for you to treat your second chance like this." She bit her lip after letting loose that last barb. How her sister managed this as well as she did, she could not even begin to comprehend.
Arizona remained silent as she fell in line behind Hiei, doing her best to ignore the tears dripping down onto her uniform.
* * * * *
Hiei was beginning to cross the border from worried to highly distressed.
After their altercation some days ago, Arizona had not said a single word to her unless it involved their current assignment or some sort of update to their orders. Only Richardson had managed something more and Hiei was highly suspicious that it was only due to the fact he was her admiral and that there was only so much you could convey over a radio.
Aside from that Arizona had been utterly and completely silent.
It had made the excruciatingly long path back home feel even longer. The long course had been as far from open waters as possible owing to their unfortunate lack of escorts available at the time. And even if they'd had Jintsuu with them, it would still have required such a course. Add in Arizona's abysmal cruise speed and things were none too pleasant.
The only reason they'd made as good time as they had on the way to Yokosuka was because they had all hauled quite hard over more dangerous territory to support the convoy. Without that requirement hanging over their heads, things were just painfully slow.
Further adding to the far from pleasant atmosphere was the American's demeanor.
Arizona had grown increasingly sullen and withdrawn with every passing hour since they had last spoken. Though it had been more her telling the dreadnought to get her act together in a string of very brute force statements than any sort of real talk. Hiei would never regret what she had said. No matter how cutting, how cruel, or how wounding those words had been to Arizona, they needed to be said. She believed this wholeheartedly. Had she not, she was confident someone else would have eventually.
But eventually may have come too late. And sometimes even the slightest delay can turn out to be fatal.
An exclamation sounding quite like Kongou sounded out and declared that she had a new message. She withdrew her smartphone from a well hidden pocket on her garment and tapped the screen to wake it up. The smiling face of Kongou popped into view and it warmed her heart to see it. She'd really wanted more of a chance in Yokosuka to see the sister she so adored, but things hadn't worked out much to her disappointment. A small giggle escaped her lips before she could access the message. At that moment, her cheer slipped away.
A transmission was coming in on the emergency band.
The Abyssal fleet was attacking.
"Abys..! Ca.. out of n....re! .....ses getting po....d! Mayd.y! M..day! Requesting as.i.tance immediately! Repe-!"
The transmission was broken off violently as Hiei sword she heard the sound of an explosion not a moment before.
She whirled about to see Arizona with perhaps one of the more terrifying expressions she had seen on the woman's face. It spoke of a promise of utter, abject violence. When mingled with her stoic nature and constantly falling mood, it became something almost wrong in its creation.
"Were you able to obtain their location?" Arizona's tone was flat and absolutely professional. Her body was tensing and it seemed like her left arm was just shy of vibrating even through the heavy clothes she wore.
"Kyodomari Port. It'll take us two hours to get there at flank." Hiei was already turning about to set herself on the fastest possible course to the afflicted location. Truthfully she could make it there sooner, however Arizona's flank was at best nine knots slower than her own. She began dialing in to Sasebo as Arizona pulled alongside her. If command wasn't already aware of the situation and sending a response, they were certainly drawing up battle plans.
Arizona tuned her own radio in to Hiei's frequency as they both began hauling towards Kyodomari. They'd been fortunate to already be underway towards an escort mission and not need to deploy from the dock, but it would only shave a few minutes at best off of their arrival time. That fishing boat could find another escort or sit tight for a while.
"Hiei? If you're just making a social call, I swear to God..." Richardson's ire laden voice filled both womens' radio rooms.
"Negative sir. We're responding t-"
"Kyodomari?" He paused long enough for the fast battleship to provide a grunt of confirmation. "Good. Saves time. If Arizona isn't already tuned in, get her ass on the line or talk for her."
"Reporting in, sir." Had she more to offer to the briefing, she didn't have a chance to voice it as Richardson began speaking again.
"Bad news first. Reports are coming in of no fewer than four Abyssal ships bombarding the port. I guess they decided it was lightly defended enough to pull something this ballsy. Or they just don't give two shits and drew lots. Whatever the reason, we've got a really bad situation and we've been caught with our pants so far down that the red-light district is using them for a flag." He drew breath and continued before the hilarity of his statement could be realized.
"Kyodomari has a minimal USN or JMSDF presence right now. We're talking a few mundane patrols at best. Absolutely zero shipgirl presence because they've got their hands full almost everywhere else. You two are not only the closest to the site, but also the ones who can get there the fastest." The fact that two battleships, one of whom was slower than most any other naval boat on the ocean, did not fill anyone with confidence. It merely spoke to how badly off they were when it came to raw numbers.
"Any reinforcements or knowledge of the enemy composition, sir?" Arizona's query was crisp and to the point.
"If you're lucky, we can have a few destroyer girls join you mid-fight. Maybe a cruiser. But assume you two are the only allied guns that will even have a chance to look at the enemy fleet." His voice took on an unusual lilt that neither Hiei nor Arizona could place. "Composition is... confirmed to be three battlewagons and one cruiser. We can't confirm their exact armament yet, but we'll get you that information as we get it."
"Anything else sir? Or are we free to engage as we see fit?" Hiei seemed to be brimming with energy as she spoke. "I will make certain that we do our absolute best, you can leave it to us!"
"Do what you have to do to save those people and sink those monsters. But if either of you sink, I swear by all that ever is, was, and ever shall be, that I will raise you up just to beat the stupid out of your moronic heads. Am I understood Hiei? Arizona?"
"Perfectly, sir!" Hiei even saluted as she spoke, a silly grin quickly taking the place of her momentarily dutiful expression.
"Ah, yes, sir. Absolutely, sir." Arizona's reply was awkward, but sincere. She still could not quite wrap her head around how this fleet functioned. And certainly not helping was all she had gone through during the past few days. Or the hour to come...
"Also," Richardson's voice cut in swiftly, "Arizona, this is your first combat mission. Ever. I want you to follow Hiei's command absolutely. She's in charge here. Bar none, there is no ship under my command that has more combat experience than she does. Got it? Good."
"Understood, sir. I will not fail you, sir."
"No. No you will not. Good luck, Godspeed, and come home safe. Both of you." Both girls could feel the salute on the other end of the radio and responded in kind before the line cut out.
"Lieutenant Arizona," Hiei's rarely heard professional tone drew the American's eyes to her. "No matter what you may feel right now. No matter how you may feel about what I said to you or about myself in particular, we have a job to do. We have lives to save. Can I trust my back to you?"
Arizona turned to face Hiei fully, the only sound being that of the ocean parting before their bows.
"I ...do not know how I feel. But I will continue to do my duty." The redhead paused. She still felt anxiety, confusion, and a slew of emotions she could not even begin to comprehend stirring in her gut. Each drawing from any number of origins. "And I will not abandon you."
"Thank you." There was a pause before Hiei let out a breath and slumped forward. The tension seemed to loosen about her before she slapped her hands to her cheeks. "Haa... Okay! Arizona!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am?!"
"This is going to be your first sortie, so lets got over some basics with the time we have. You've got plenty of training under your belt. Now it's time for me to help you put some of it into practice. We have less than two hours, so listen up and have that fiery American spirit at attention!" While deathly serious in her words, Hiei's reassuring grin kept the mood from turning more grim than it already was.
* * * * *
"You look a little nervous."
"I... am."
"You look a little anxious."
"I am."
"You look a little stacked."
"I a-what?" Arizona turned to glare at the snickering Hiei whilst almost reflexively covering her front.
"Feel a little better?" Hiei grinned as she laced her fingers behind her head. "It's not good if you get so focused you can't react. That happened to me on my first mission. I was lucky I only had my rudder get hit. Shot clean off." She laughed lightly despite the deadly situation she was describing.
"A... little, yes." She scanned the horizon as she continued. "Is that why you act like you do? Joking and carrying on like an enlisted drunkard?"
"Hey! I'm not that bad. Unless I've had too much sake. Or that stuff the admiral likes." There was a cough and she continued. "To borrow from Kongou-oneesama, there's a time and a place for everything. And sometimes you just need a good laugh to break the mood. And sometimes it's really hard to perform under stress. Admiral Richardson really pounded me on that one. Sometimes I'd get so worked up I wouldn't be able to think straight and just make a mess all over the place. Five minutes."
"...Is that why you responded like you did?" Her 14 inch rifles finished their rotations, each of her four turrets aimed downrange at a target well beyond what the human eye could see. The triple mounts' angles twitched every so often as her fire directors compensated as best they could. "When I lost my temper? Firing solution obtained."
"Hmm... A little bit. They're just doing whatever they want. Circling around and shooting everything they can." The report from her floatplane, an Aichi E13A piloted by a rather stern looking fairy, hadn't reported anything new in regards to their targets' actions other than the occasional change in course.
"Then why?" A gust of wind nearly took Arizona's cover off, but she was quick to recover it.
"Because you reminded me too much of someone who wanted to throw their life away even if they knew it wouldn't change anything. If you die. You die. And sometimes you can't avoid it no matter what. But I don't want you to be someone who looks for it around every corner." Hiei licked her finger and raised it into the air with a determined expression. "I don't think that shows a good spirit."
"I see..."
"And you were kinda pissing me off." The fast battleship laughed at Arizona's thunderstruck expression. "I'm just joking! Two minutes. You were pushing some of my buttons though. Is it buttons? I think it's buttons. The admiral says I'm really good at pressing his."
Arizona shook her head and placed a hand to her face. It would seem Hiei was very good at getting under someone's proverbial skin, for better or worse. It made keeping herself composed all the more difficult.
"I will remember that. I will also have to ask the admiral how you manage to pull that off as well." The ghost of a smirk flitted onto her face for the briefest of moments. "One minute. All stations ready."
"Hey! You smiled! You actually smiled!"
"It was just your imagination."
"No way! Ah! Thirty seconds. ...Wait for them to come into visual range." Hiei effortlessly slipped from her goofy self to a state of combat readiness. Her rifles ready and waiting.
They could not allow the Abyssals to flee. And the further away the engagement began, the more likely it would be for the monsters to slip away. Without a CAP or any kind of escort their only option was to get as close as possible before opening fire. It was extremely risky and banked heavily on their ability to approach quickly and undetected. Or at least as undetected as possible before the enemy decided they were done pounding a now defenceless target.
"Ten seconds." Arizona's grey eyes narrowed as the sun began to dip low, coating the sky in a bloody red hue. This was to be her first battle. She would not fail. Not now or ever again.
"Oh no..." Hiei's breathless exclamation cut into sunset as the trails of smoke began to creep into their vision. The Abyssals had bombarded the port from distance, placing the victimized locale even further away from their gaze. But if they could see smoke even from here... Her eyes narrowed dangerously, displaying a raw fury and a dedicated soldier.
Two hours was a long time. A long time in which an undeterred foe could do whatever they wanted to an unresisting victim. And even token resistance would falter eventually against this level of bombardment.
"Five seconds."
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Battleship Arizona-"
"Battleship Hiei-"
"-beginning combat!"
From the moment her rifles were installed to the very instant of her death, the second of the Pennsylvania-class battleships: USS Arizona, never once fired her guns for war. Her barrels were worn from practice and her magazines emptied through training. They remained peaceful and docile even as they hurled shells weighing nearly three quarters of a ton at hapless targets.
Now they were furious.
Filled with a rage not once unleashed in one hundred years.
There were countless guns far more powerful than hers on the seas this day. But none had been so restrained as hers.
On December 7th in the year 2015,
Battleship Arizona fired her guns in anger for the very first time.
Combined with Hiei's assault, a grand total of twenty rifles fired their deadly ordinance. Twenty armor piercing shells took to the air with a violent howl.
"Split!" Hiei's order was followed immediately and both warships cut away from each other. They could not outnumber their foes and only one could truly outmaneuver them. So their only recourse was to strike swiftly, strike ruthlessly, and never leave a corridor free of death.
As they began turning hard to their respective directions, Hiei to port and Arizona to starboard, a massive gout of fire and smoke erupted into the sky. Following moments behind was a thunderous roar.
Hiei's scout reported in over the radio. One target eliminated. Four hits for Hiei and five for Arizona. The killing blow had been Hiei's. A penetration to the magazine had split the Abyssal four-stacker in twain.
First blood was theirs.
The battlefield erupted into a cacophony of sound and light. The three remaining Abyssal battlewagons were quickly abandoning the mutilated corpse of their brethren to close the distance and return fire on their assailants. Rifles jutting out of blackened chitin maws erupted into fire as they began hurling their own vile ordinance into the sky. What anti-air they had began pecking at the clouds to drive away the now threat-bearing floatplane.
"Keep moving and don't let them walk you! Remember what we went over!"
Arizona grunted her reply over the radio as a multitude of shells from the larger five-turreted monster splashed close enough she could feel the water shudder under her keel. Far too close for her liking. Her main batteries fired over and over again, as fast as they could possibly be reloaded.
This was battle.
This was war.
A 13.5 inch shell rocketed over her number four turret, close enough that she could clearly see the details of the warped and blackened projectile. A second clipped the edge of her stern deck-plate. It bounced away with a clang and left only a dent in its wake. Closer and closer the splashes were becoming. And far more numerous.
"Lieutenant, they're-!" Arizona was cut off as another salvo landed not far ahead of her bow and from a much more dangerous angle.
"I know!" Hiei's reply was tinged with a measure of worry. They'd both figured the Abyssals would eventually focus their fire on the slower American, but not this soon. It was far too soon. She cut a hard turn, shadowing her rear turrets and plowed towards the closing battle lines. Her forward rifles shouting the moment they were able.
"Don't!"
"Ari-!"
"They'll tear you to shreds." Arizona swallowed her nerves and she turned to meet the Abyssal charge. Her armor was half again to twice as thick as Hiei's. Not just her belt, but every possible part of her hull was girded with thick American steel. She was a product of All or Nothing armor. And there was very little nothing about her. "Cover me."
This was what she was built for.
Not for high-speed.
Not for massive range.
It was to look her foe in the eye and match them blow for blow.
"Ari, if you even think..." Hiei's rebuke trailed off as she hurled another salvo at the closing ranks. She weaved about, neatly dodging the return fire from the two-turreted Abyssal battlewagon.
"I will not falter. I will not fail." Her number three turret scored a glancing blow in return for another. The enemy seeming to grin wickedly. "And I will not die." Another few thousand yards and her secondary batteries would be ready to cast their doom over the now raging seas. A melee in which she could rage in earnest, her primary and secondary armaments singing their song of wrath.
"You better not. Admiral's orders, you know." An armor piercer from her foremost battery struck the center turret of the lighter battlewagon closest to Arizona, priming and blowing the entire turret to kingdom come in a greasy explosion.
"And he hates it when that happens, doesn't he." Arizona did not speak again after her mild statement. Her stomach knotted itself ever further as the ranks closed. She could make out an etched and grimy marking on the bows of the two larger ships. If they proclaimed their names, it was in a tongue not meant for the sane to comprehend. And their fury was now fixed solely on her.
At fifteen-hundred yards she opened fire with her five inch guns, filling the space between herself and the Abyssals with high explosive shells.
Chitin and black metal flew while gruesome teeth cracked and splintered.
But it was not to be.
The distance had closed to the point where Abyssal secondaries could now open fire.
The melee had begun.
Explosions wracked the sea and sky as the three warships brutalized each other. Arizona's thick armor ensured that what did not simply ricochet or explode on contact was simply denied its purpose. But she was not unscathed. The enemy had weapons of their own to match hers. And they were hungry.
Hiei could only watch in a kind of horrified trance as she did her best to keep the third warship occupied whilst providing what cover she could to her ally.
This was not a battle she was familiar with. Yes, Mutsu was a dreadnought. As were many other battleships in the JMSDF fleets. But they did not fight like this. At least not to the same degree. This was a brawl of the most brutal kind.
Arizona's coat was shredded and her once pristine uniform torn to reveal bloody gashes and angry scar tissue, her superstructure pockmarked with craters and twisted machinery. While her crimson hair remained bound, her cover was simply gone. Neither Abyssal was in better shape than she. Her guns fired once more and tore one of the larger five-turreted Abyssal's stacks from its hull with a wretched howl.
The small of the two's 13.5 rifles barked again and landed a crippling blow to Arizona's number one turret near the gun port. The steel warped around the shell before it detonated and cracked the casemate open with a shuddering explosion that rocked Arizona to her core. As she fought to not cradle her now mutilated arm, her number two turret seemed to swing about of its own furious volition. It repaid the cost in kind with a vicious roar.
The top half of the battlecruiser's stern simply ceased to be as Arizona's turret number two enacted vengeance. The magazine attached to its stern-most turret was ignited and exploded violently enough to lift the Abyssal's bow clean from the sea.
Then the now four-turreted battleship raised its hand against Arizona in a manner most brutal.
A single shell from its number four turret struck Arizona in the gut. It struck already weakened armor and bore through her belt.
She did not have time to gasp in pain as the shell exploded.
A gaping hole erupted out of her back as her boilers were rent asunder.
"ARIZONA!" Hiei's horrified cry rang out even as she enacted the same blow against the battleship which had been keeping her attention split between her ally and her own safety. The difference being that her foe was blow to smithereens and Arizona still stood. It did not make the sight any less terrifying.
"You should have brought a bigger gun." Arizona coughed up blood as she stood upright despite her grievous wounds. Her body was a ruin, but she refused to back down. She was a Super-Dreadnought. And her guns still lived.
Her eyes seemed to glow as the golden flecks against grey lit up in the twilight.
"HIEI! OPEN FIRE!"
The sun vanished and the only light that remained was that of burning decks and the fire of howling cannons.
Steel, blood, oil, and all manner of debris spread about the battlefield as the deathblows were rendered moot or dodged altogether. Crippling strikes were exchanged as the battleground became smaller and smaller with each moment. Even Hiei now sported a considerable measure of battle damage as the melee ground to a standstill.
It was comparable to the moment when two combatantants grew so utterly exhausted that once heavy blows were reduced to nothing more than pathetic pawing.
At that moment two telltale bubble trails shot through the water from origins unknown.
Their course was clear and true with the Abyssal battleship stright in their crosshairs.
The Abyssal turned in an agonizingly slow attempt to dodge the pair, only each to veer off wildly in different directions. One arced around in a wide turn that made it appear as if it was going to try and find its original owner before simply puttering out and falling into the deep. The second turned in the opposite direction, heading towards the general direction of the crippled battlecruiser before simply blowing up partway there.
The Abyssals would have expressed some measure of bafflement at the utterly bizarre interruption had they any means to do so in the moment of confused silence that followed.
"Goddamnit"
* * * * *
To be Continued...
