Blue Steel: Part 16 (Episode 1, part 1)
Three weeks out to Pluto aboard the Kirishima and Yukikaze was bored. So boring! She thought. Not a single other mental model in the entire fleet. Well... the term 'entire' might be stretching things a bit. First Fleet consisted solely of the battleship Kirishima, eight cruisers, and twelve destroyers like herself. No. Not like me. She corrected. The other eleven ships might be Isokaze class destroyers, but they were not Fog. Put simply: They were pretty dumb in comparison. And it was everything the Japanese Space Forces could muster. Two more Kongo class battleships and five more Atago class cruisers technically remained in service, but all had been badly damaged and sat in reduced commission, as did about ten destroyers. Another fifteen destroyers were serviceable, but destroyers simply lacked the legs to make it to Pluto in time. Normally they were carried into their deployment areas by the larger ships. A cruiser could carry one destroyer, while a battleship; like Kirishima, could carry as many as four.
Battleship! Yukikaze snorted. The Kirishima might be more advanced than the fleets the Fog had fought in the 21st century, but a battleship? Hardly. Supreme Flagship was a BATTLESHIP! California and Nagato were battleships. Iron Duke was a battleship. The Flagship of First Fleet was a toy in comparison. And its firepower still outguns mine by a longshot! Yukikaze reminded herself with annoyance. Well, at least Supreme Flagship had arranged for her to have a full loadout of corrosive missiles and vibration torpedoes. That was one thing she felt satisfaction in. Yukikaze would be the first ship to use Makie Osakabe's vibration warheads in battle, the first to give the Gamilon devils a taste of Fog weaponry.
Yukikaze was still less than happy about the boredom though. Just as she had been less than happy about having to withhold details of the mission from her Captain. Yukikaze liked her Captain and crew. They were a tight family and they had all been willing to call her Yuki. She wanted to do whatever she could for them. They deserved the truth but her orders had been strict on that. 'Operational Security' they called it. Well... it was not as if anyone on the Yukikaze was just going to pick up a com and broadcast the plan across the universe. But if she told Captain Kodai, then he would be compelled to tell the rest of the crew and while there was a limit to what human justice could do to her, Kodai and Okita would both come under censure if the disclosure ever came to light. So too, the tenuous relationship between the EDF command and the Fog might come into jeopardy. These things could not be allowed, even as much as Yukikaze felt her Captain and crew deserved to be trusted with the truth. But then... She considered. even knowing everything, her Captain and crew would still have gone. That was the sort of men they were. Yukikaze would do her best to bring them home alive.
Now the moment was at hand.
"Two hundred thousand kilometers from Pluto!" The navigator announced.
"Battlestations!" Captain Kodai called. "Yuki! Load all tubes!"
"Yes Kodai sama!" Yukikaze opened her arms. Weapons slid into their launchers.
"No sign of enemy ships yet…" The XO announced. "It's almost scary."
"Signal the flagship that we have arrived in the Operational area."
The com operator acknowledged and spoke into his mic.
Aboard Kirishima, Admiral Okita listened impassively to the com report and then a moment later as a contact report came in.
"Multiple contacts to starboard, four o'clock!"
"EM restrictions released." Captain Yamanami ordered his crew. "Identify enemy ship types."
"One SuperDreadnought, seven battleships, twenty two cruisers. Eighty nine plus destroyers. Still refining the numbers."
"All ships combat positions. Thirty degrees starboard." Okita ordered. "Prepare for torpedo exchange." The Admiral's voice an anchor of calm amidst the chaos of impending battle.
The enemy fleet swept wide around in an arc as Okita's ships readied weapons. The turrets of Kirishima rotated into position and awaited the admiral's order.
"Distance 7500… relative speeds unchanged."
"Message incoming from enemy fleet. 'Attention Earth fleet: Surrender Immediately.' How shall we respond sir?"
"Idiots." Okita growled.
"Sir?"
"I said they're idiots!"
"Earth fleet responding: Idiots!"
Presently the Gamilon forces acknowledged by locking weapons on the Earth fleet and opening fire,
Okita held his fire, seeking the best firing solution possible. Finally the order was given:
"Fire!" Beams of destructive energy lashed out from the earth ships. Unfortunately proving ineffectual against the hull armor of the Gamilon ships.
On the Earth forces side, the casualties mounted.
"Still no word from Amaterasu?"
"Nothing yet sir."
Aboard Yukikaze, the com crackled with messages from damaged and dying ships.
Confronted by the now apparent ambush, Captain Kodai made a decision.
"Come about! Reverse our course!"
"Coming about!" Yuki answered her Captain's orders with responses faster than any human could manage. The destroyer swung about and shaped a course into battle.
On Kirishima's bridge, damage reports continued to flow in.
"Eighty percent of our ships are destroyed or out of action…"
"Signal from Amaterasu confirmed! On course at speed… passing Neptune. Ten minutes to Mars rendezvous."
"Encode to fleet headquarters: The Stone Door of Heaven is opening..."
To Be Continued.