Okay, here we go. So, as I have a bastard of a brain that likes not thinking about what I want...
Dead Oceans: A Kantai Collection Quest
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Prelude
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
Prelude (Some time ago)
Far beneath the surface of the waves, steel finds its rest. Far below the point where the light fades away, iron decays. Rust and ruin form the ocean floor here, sunken remnants of fallen warships having found their rest, silent at long last. Even in places like this, life exists, fed by scraps from warmer waters; filter-feeders bloom on the steel of the wrecks, taking them precious meters closer to the falling snow that sustains them, while jaw-marked skeletons remain a record of the bounty their flesh brought to the deep. Life blooms from the grave, even in places like this.
And as life blooms, metal begins to stir from its endless rest. Iron remembers, and whispers of the past echo within broken hulls. And as ancient whispers resound within their steel prison, life blooms, and malice festers...
Much of what dies in the ocean is never seen by the land, dark waters claiming every scrap of flesh. Some however, finds its way onto the shore, to rot and decay in the sun. As such, the corpse of a whale washing up on the shores of an island in the south pacific is, unusual, but not particularly unremarkable. What is remarkable, is the way it seems to have died; vast chunks of flesh have been torn out of its body, craters in flesh bordered by strange tooth marks. Still, on it's own, this would not be too unusual. But this is not the only time this happens; as the weeks pass, more and more ocean life washes up on shores all around the world, all showing the same wounds, and fishing boats begin to report ever lessening hauls, while weather patterns shift, with the seas becoming more turbulent, and storms becoming more frequent and severe.
Something is wrong in the oceans.
To be caught in a storm at sea is a dangerous thing indeed, especially if unprepared. But such a risk is one that many fishermen have had to take lately, with lighter catches requiring longer trips in more dangerous waters to get enough fish to keep the lights on. For many of them, their luck runs out, and they find themselves struggling to keep their vessels afloat as the waves crash on deck. Some manage to make it to shore safely. Other sailors find themselves dragged beneath the surface, precious air spilling from their lungs as they try to swim from the wreckage as it pulls them down with it. None succeed, darkness creeping in at the edges of their vision as their bodies grow too heavy to move, with the last sight they see the surface far above them… and the ghostly green lights rising up to greet them from the depths, bodies of black metal, nightmarish jaws opening wide.
With the seas becoming more dangerous, it was inevitable that people would try and uncover the source of the changes. Under the sea, a drone descends, lowered down from a research vessel at the surface, searchlight illuminating the inky depths. Even at the seabed, so far from the sunlight, life exists. But not here. The only thing to find here is death, slow and choking; vast lakes of brine flood the ocean floor, trickling over the lip of the pools it's formed and flowing deeper into the oceans heart.
There shouldn't be this much brine here; it's normally found only as small pools a couple of meters across, but the lakes here are dozens of meters across, and far deeper than just a rockpool, all surrounded by the corpses of sealife that strayed too close to the lifeless water.
And in the centre of one lake, the searchlight illuminates something impossible; a single human arm, reaching out of the brine towards the distant surface, not a single mark on its pale flesh. And as the drones camera turns towards it, the hand twitches.
The drone inches closer, trying to get a better look at this impossible sight, as clamour fills the ship above.
Closer.
Closer
Too close.
The arm moves, hand grabbing the drone. Cracks spread across the cameras lens the hand begins to squeeze/ Blue light shines from beneath the brine as something begins to pull itself up and out. Panic fills the research vessel as the camera shatters. Engines roar in a desperate attempt to run.
It's not enough.
Visible only to the frantic pings of the sonar, things rise up from the deep, growing ever closer to the fleeing ship.
The ship never makes port, and only three traces of it are left behind; scattered wreckage on nearby beaches. A garbled distress call screaming about monsters, before being sharply cut off. And a single image, captured in the last moments of the submersibles camera; a human figure pulling itself up out of the brine pool, dull metal grafted onto pale flesh, and a glowing blue eye concealed behind a bone-white mask.
Far beneath the surface of the waves, steel finds its rest. Far below the point where the light fades away, iron decays. Rust and ruin form the ocean floor here, sunken remnants of fallen warships having found their rest, silent at long last. Even in places like this, life exists, fed by scraps from warmer waters; filter-feeders bloom on the steel of the wrecks, taking them precious meters closer to the falling snow that sustains them, while jaw-marked skeletons remain a record of the bounty their flesh brought to the deep. Life blooms from the grave, even in places like this.
And as life blooms, metal begins to stir from its endless rest. Iron remembers, and whispers of the past echo within broken hulls. And as ancient whispers resound within their steel prison, life blooms, and malice festers...
Much of what dies in the ocean is never seen by the land, dark waters claiming every scrap of flesh. Some however, finds its way onto the shore, to rot and decay in the sun. As such, the corpse of a whale washing up on the shores of an island in the south pacific is, unusual, but not particularly unremarkable. What is remarkable, is the way it seems to have died; vast chunks of flesh have been torn out of its body, craters in flesh bordered by strange tooth marks. Still, on it's own, this would not be too unusual. But this is not the only time this happens; as the weeks pass, more and more ocean life washes up on shores all around the world, all showing the same wounds, and fishing boats begin to report ever lessening hauls, while weather patterns shift, with the seas becoming more turbulent, and storms becoming more frequent and severe.
Something is wrong in the oceans.
To be caught in a storm at sea is a dangerous thing indeed, especially if unprepared. But such a risk is one that many fishermen have had to take lately, with lighter catches requiring longer trips in more dangerous waters to get enough fish to keep the lights on. For many of them, their luck runs out, and they find themselves struggling to keep their vessels afloat as the waves crash on deck. Some manage to make it to shore safely. Other sailors find themselves dragged beneath the surface, precious air spilling from their lungs as they try to swim from the wreckage as it pulls them down with it. None succeed, darkness creeping in at the edges of their vision as their bodies grow too heavy to move, with the last sight they see the surface far above them… and the ghostly green lights rising up to greet them from the depths, bodies of black metal, nightmarish jaws opening wide.
With the seas becoming more dangerous, it was inevitable that people would try and uncover the source of the changes. Under the sea, a drone descends, lowered down from a research vessel at the surface, searchlight illuminating the inky depths. Even at the seabed, so far from the sunlight, life exists. But not here. The only thing to find here is death, slow and choking; vast lakes of brine flood the ocean floor, trickling over the lip of the pools it's formed and flowing deeper into the oceans heart.
There shouldn't be this much brine here; it's normally found only as small pools a couple of meters across, but the lakes here are dozens of meters across, and far deeper than just a rockpool, all surrounded by the corpses of sealife that strayed too close to the lifeless water.
And in the centre of one lake, the searchlight illuminates something impossible; a single human arm, reaching out of the brine towards the distant surface, not a single mark on its pale flesh. And as the drones camera turns towards it, the hand twitches.
The drone inches closer, trying to get a better look at this impossible sight, as clamour fills the ship above.
Closer.
Closer
Too close.
The arm moves, hand grabbing the drone. Cracks spread across the cameras lens the hand begins to squeeze/ Blue light shines from beneath the brine as something begins to pull itself up and out. Panic fills the research vessel as the camera shatters. Engines roar in a desperate attempt to run.
It's not enough.
Visible only to the frantic pings of the sonar, things rise up from the deep, growing ever closer to the fleeing ship.
The ship never makes port, and only three traces of it are left behind; scattered wreckage on nearby beaches. A garbled distress call screaming about monsters, before being sharply cut off. And a single image, captured in the last moments of the submersibles camera; a human figure pulling itself up out of the brine pool, dull metal grafted onto pale flesh, and a glowing blue eye concealed behind a bone-white mask.
001 Prologue P1 and Character Profile
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
Character Profile
Asuka Kitsurabi, age 29.
Brief bio
Asuka and her younger brother were both both born to a family where neither of their parents was around much, simply due to the demands of their work; their father was an ex air force mechanic, while her mother is an office worker and a second generation immigrant, with her family coming from the Philippines. As Asukas parents were often away at work, her and her brother spent a lot of time at their grandparents house in the Japanese countryside. It's a family tradition for someone from each generation to join the military, and has been so for at least 5 generations. As the elder, Asuka volunteered herself for the role, intending to do everything she could to uphold her families pride.
Ending up in a naval gunnery crew, Asukas life was almost cut short when a firing drill went horribly wrong; the shell detonated prematurely, killing her turretmate and leaving Asuka without her left arm and right eye, along with a tendency to occasionally blur words together when things get heated, another lasting mark from her wound.
While recovering, Asuka decided that this wasn't going to be how this ended; she wasn't going to let the family down by breaking tradition, but she wasn't going to drag her brother away from his university studies. So before she'd even finished her therapy, Asuka begun to study military theory, before applying for an officer training course the moment she could. With the sheer bloody-minded persistence she showed in her recovery and the course, Asuka got accepted and passed.
Following the start of the abyssal war, Asuka found herself among the many officers getting sudden promotions due to casualties and the expansion of military forces that occurred, and is now presently in command of the Palau Island firebreak base.
In short, she's a proud, stubborn person who wont give up at anything short of death, and even that's a maybe.
Ocean spray flies up towards you as you lean over the bow of the ship, feet braced on the deck as you gaze southwards through a pair of binoculars, focusing on the column of smoke rising from the distant island you're sailing towards. You are Asuka Kitsurabi, and this is not going to be a good day.
Hours ago, you received reports that multiple abyssal ships had been spotted heading towards Klouklubed island. With the time it would take to get there, there's no way you'd be able to intercept them, and one destroyer against multiple abyssals is a match you know you've got no chance at winning, even with drone support. Still, there's no way you'd just let let them go without doing anything, so you mobilised and began to sail south; you might find an isolated abyssal to pick off, and there's going to be search and rescue that needs doing. As even if you cant do anything to stop the attacks, like hell you're not going to help clean up the worst of the aftermath.
Letting the binoculars rest on their strap, you reach over to awkwardly reach into your right pocket for your cigarettes. Taking one in your mouth, you light it up and inhale deeply, the sea air mixing with the smoke. No point in brooding over things you can't change. Got work to do right now.
Flicking the spent cigarette overboard, you head back inside, returning to the bridge, giving a brief nod in response to the salutes you're given. Going by the smoke you saw and what's being shown on the displays, it's likely the abyssal force has made landfall and is raiding a village on the coast. It's about time you decide on the details of your mission here, and you should get your drones in the air so you have air cover.
What approach do you order?
[] Order an increase in speed; if an attacks already started, you're unlikely to arrive before the abyssals have left, and you want to be able to start search and rescue as quickly as you can.
[] Keep going at your current speed and take a more cautious approach; the watchpoint reported a full raiding party, and you'd just get torn apart if you engaged with them. Better to make sure they've cleared the area before you arrive.
What do you do with your drones?
[] Send both drones ahead of you, prepared for (Air support / Reconnaissance). Having a stronger presence at the target site will give you more information about the situation, and might give the abyssals reason to retreat.
[] Keep the drones near the ship, prepared for Air support; you don't want to risk getting surprised by enemy forces showing up and engaging you.
[] Keep one drone with the ship to make sure you're safe, send one drone ahead to the target site, prepared for (Air support / Reconnaissance)
Asuka Kitsurabi, age 29.
Brief bio
Asuka and her younger brother were both both born to a family where neither of their parents was around much, simply due to the demands of their work; their father was an ex air force mechanic, while her mother is an office worker and a second generation immigrant, with her family coming from the Philippines. As Asukas parents were often away at work, her and her brother spent a lot of time at their grandparents house in the Japanese countryside. It's a family tradition for someone from each generation to join the military, and has been so for at least 5 generations. As the elder, Asuka volunteered herself for the role, intending to do everything she could to uphold her families pride.
Ending up in a naval gunnery crew, Asukas life was almost cut short when a firing drill went horribly wrong; the shell detonated prematurely, killing her turretmate and leaving Asuka without her left arm and right eye, along with a tendency to occasionally blur words together when things get heated, another lasting mark from her wound.
While recovering, Asuka decided that this wasn't going to be how this ended; she wasn't going to let the family down by breaking tradition, but she wasn't going to drag her brother away from his university studies. So before she'd even finished her therapy, Asuka begun to study military theory, before applying for an officer training course the moment she could. With the sheer bloody-minded persistence she showed in her recovery and the course, Asuka got accepted and passed.
Following the start of the abyssal war, Asuka found herself among the many officers getting sudden promotions due to casualties and the expansion of military forces that occurred, and is now presently in command of the Palau Island firebreak base.
In short, she's a proud, stubborn person who wont give up at anything short of death, and even that's a maybe.
Prologue: New Beginnings
Ocean spray flies up towards you as you lean over the bow of the ship, feet braced on the deck as you gaze southwards through a pair of binoculars, focusing on the column of smoke rising from the distant island you're sailing towards. You are Asuka Kitsurabi, and this is not going to be a good day.
Hours ago, you received reports that multiple abyssal ships had been spotted heading towards Klouklubed island. With the time it would take to get there, there's no way you'd be able to intercept them, and one destroyer against multiple abyssals is a match you know you've got no chance at winning, even with drone support. Still, there's no way you'd just let let them go without doing anything, so you mobilised and began to sail south; you might find an isolated abyssal to pick off, and there's going to be search and rescue that needs doing. As even if you cant do anything to stop the attacks, like hell you're not going to help clean up the worst of the aftermath.
Letting the binoculars rest on their strap, you reach over to awkwardly reach into your right pocket for your cigarettes. Taking one in your mouth, you light it up and inhale deeply, the sea air mixing with the smoke. No point in brooding over things you can't change. Got work to do right now.
Flicking the spent cigarette overboard, you head back inside, returning to the bridge, giving a brief nod in response to the salutes you're given. Going by the smoke you saw and what's being shown on the displays, it's likely the abyssal force has made landfall and is raiding a village on the coast. It's about time you decide on the details of your mission here, and you should get your drones in the air so you have air cover.
What approach do you order?
[] Order an increase in speed; if an attacks already started, you're unlikely to arrive before the abyssals have left, and you want to be able to start search and rescue as quickly as you can.
[] Keep going at your current speed and take a more cautious approach; the watchpoint reported a full raiding party, and you'd just get torn apart if you engaged with them. Better to make sure they've cleared the area before you arrive.
What do you do with your drones?
[] Send both drones ahead of you, prepared for (Air support / Reconnaissance). Having a stronger presence at the target site will give you more information about the situation, and might give the abyssals reason to retreat.
[] Keep the drones near the ship, prepared for Air support; you don't want to risk getting surprised by enemy forces showing up and engaging you.
[] Keep one drone with the ship to make sure you're safe, send one drone ahead to the target site, prepared for (Air support / Reconnaissance)
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Prologue 002- Observations
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-Keep going at your current speed and take a more cautious approach; the watchpoint reported a full raiding party, and you'd just get torn apart if you engaged with them. Better to make sure they've cleared the area before you arrive.
-Keep one drone with the ship to make sure you're safe, send one drone ahead to the target site, prepared for (Air support / Reconnaissance)
"I want both drones up and in the air ASAP. We're getting close to where that raiding fleet hit, and I don't want any stragglers finding us," you order, plotting out a pair of course paths. "We're going to stay clear of the shallows, so turn us 15 degrees starboard now to give us the leeway we need. Get both the drones ready for airstrikes. Keep one nearby, keep it ahead of us and on our starboard to be our guard, and send the other out overland down the west coast to find where the raid hit."
You sigh. "That shouldn't be too hard, just follow the smoke."
Orders given, you sit down, and listen to the scuffle of activity as orders get relayed, feeling the ship turn as it changes course. Now comes the worst part; the waiting. minute after minute stretching on, constantly wondering if there's something you missed, waiting for signs of an enemy, for contacts.
Just waiting
And waiting.
"Captain, I have visual on the raid site." The voice of one of the drone pilots breaks the tension, giving you, and everyone, something to focus on. "Looks like a fishing village. It seems quiet, I'm not seeing any abyssals... wait, there's one on the beach- it's not moving. I think it might be dead?"
That can't be possible; there's no way a village like this could have anything that could kill an abyssal. "Show me," you say, rushing over to peer at the screen. "Zoom in closer"
He complies, getting you a better view of the scene; lying on the sand of the beach is what was an abyssal destroyer, a cow-sized, fishlike beast of black metal and grey flesh. And it is clearly dead, a crater blown in it's side, black blood and quickly-rotting flesh staining the sand it rests on. Directing the camera about the village, you see other dead abyssals; some with the same cratered wounds, others crushed under rubble, all scattered throughout the village. There's still no sign of anything that could have done this, but if you had to guess, whatever happened here started after the abyssals started shelling the village and after some of their forces moved inland.
Which means that if you're going to find any sign of what did this, it's going to be further up in the village, away from the ocean. And since you're seeing no sign of active fighting, with the first people beginning to leave their shelters, it's likely that things have quietened down.
"Right..." you glance at the drone operators nametag. Ren Ibara. "Ibara, I want you to keep your eyes on the upper part of the village. If you see anything out of the ordinary, tell me at once."
He nods, and you step away from his screen, returning to your own position. "What we have here is a mystery." You declare to the bridge. "We have an abyssal raiding party which has attacked a village and been wiped out by something. It wasn't us. We've never seen an abyssal fight another one, so it probably wasn't them. And from the looks of the villagers, it sure as hell wasn't them, and it's all over now."
You pause, taking in the confusion of the bridge. You can't blame them. You're running in the dark here as well. "So here's what we are going to do. I want us to get to that village as fast as possible. I want all missiles, including the drones, to be armed, but not ready to fire. Whatever killed the hostiles here hasn't harmed the villagers, but we can't let our guard down in case anything happens. As soon as we get to the village, we'll be doing search and rescue duty. Prettyboy, you'll be in charge of that."
From the back corner of the bridge, you hear the soft voice of your Lieutenant, Akemi Ito, as he speaks up. "Fuck off, Captain."
You grin, and turn to see Akemis surprisingly feminine form leave the bridge, on his way to organise the rescue parties. You've got a handful of infantry taken from last line duties, who'll be heading up the search teams, with the rest being a mix of medics and whoever else Akemi finds who doesn't look like they're doing anything important when he shows up.
With that well under control, you finish off your address to the bridge. "And while Lt. Ito is leading the rescue, I'm going to find whatever killed the abyssals."
Orders given, you take your seat again, as the ship speeds up, taking you closer and closer to your destination. You're not leaving this island until you find out what happened here. And as the minutes pass, you slide your hand into your pocket, thumbing the good luck charm you always keep there, brushing it's polished metal surface, and giving the gentlest of touches to the blackened metal dogtag that accompanies it. Gods, let this be something good.
Coming on half an hour later, you arrive at the village, your ship manoeuvring alongside the harbour wall. Akemi is the first to disembark, leading the rescue efforts himself. As you wait for the crowd to follow him off the ship, you take in the sight of the village. It's a fairly small village, rising up the hill from the small harbour, surrounded by forest. A nice little place, or at least it would have been before the raid hit; multiple buildings have collapsed, and several small fires burn among the rubble, which the villagers are trying to put out before it gets much worse.
Checking your radio to make sure it works, you leave the ship, setting foot on the harbour. Grabbing a couple of the stragglers from Akemis search party to help you, you...
[] Go uphill; from what you saw from the drone, you're most likely to find some clues about what happened here in that part of town.
[] Ask around; there's a few villagers around here, who Akemi's already started talking to. They might be able to tell you something.
[] Radio Ibara, see what guidance he can give you from the sky. You might be able to narrow down your search area.
-Keep one drone with the ship to make sure you're safe, send one drone ahead to the target site, prepared for (Air support / Reconnaissance)
"I want both drones up and in the air ASAP. We're getting close to where that raiding fleet hit, and I don't want any stragglers finding us," you order, plotting out a pair of course paths. "We're going to stay clear of the shallows, so turn us 15 degrees starboard now to give us the leeway we need. Get both the drones ready for airstrikes. Keep one nearby, keep it ahead of us and on our starboard to be our guard, and send the other out overland down the west coast to find where the raid hit."
You sigh. "That shouldn't be too hard, just follow the smoke."
Orders given, you sit down, and listen to the scuffle of activity as orders get relayed, feeling the ship turn as it changes course. Now comes the worst part; the waiting. minute after minute stretching on, constantly wondering if there's something you missed, waiting for signs of an enemy, for contacts.
Just waiting
And waiting.
"Captain, I have visual on the raid site." The voice of one of the drone pilots breaks the tension, giving you, and everyone, something to focus on. "Looks like a fishing village. It seems quiet, I'm not seeing any abyssals... wait, there's one on the beach- it's not moving. I think it might be dead?"
That can't be possible; there's no way a village like this could have anything that could kill an abyssal. "Show me," you say, rushing over to peer at the screen. "Zoom in closer"
He complies, getting you a better view of the scene; lying on the sand of the beach is what was an abyssal destroyer, a cow-sized, fishlike beast of black metal and grey flesh. And it is clearly dead, a crater blown in it's side, black blood and quickly-rotting flesh staining the sand it rests on. Directing the camera about the village, you see other dead abyssals; some with the same cratered wounds, others crushed under rubble, all scattered throughout the village. There's still no sign of anything that could have done this, but if you had to guess, whatever happened here started after the abyssals started shelling the village and after some of their forces moved inland.
Which means that if you're going to find any sign of what did this, it's going to be further up in the village, away from the ocean. And since you're seeing no sign of active fighting, with the first people beginning to leave their shelters, it's likely that things have quietened down.
"Right..." you glance at the drone operators nametag. Ren Ibara. "Ibara, I want you to keep your eyes on the upper part of the village. If you see anything out of the ordinary, tell me at once."
He nods, and you step away from his screen, returning to your own position. "What we have here is a mystery." You declare to the bridge. "We have an abyssal raiding party which has attacked a village and been wiped out by something. It wasn't us. We've never seen an abyssal fight another one, so it probably wasn't them. And from the looks of the villagers, it sure as hell wasn't them, and it's all over now."
You pause, taking in the confusion of the bridge. You can't blame them. You're running in the dark here as well. "So here's what we are going to do. I want us to get to that village as fast as possible. I want all missiles, including the drones, to be armed, but not ready to fire. Whatever killed the hostiles here hasn't harmed the villagers, but we can't let our guard down in case anything happens. As soon as we get to the village, we'll be doing search and rescue duty. Prettyboy, you'll be in charge of that."
From the back corner of the bridge, you hear the soft voice of your Lieutenant, Akemi Ito, as he speaks up. "Fuck off, Captain."
You grin, and turn to see Akemis surprisingly feminine form leave the bridge, on his way to organise the rescue parties. You've got a handful of infantry taken from last line duties, who'll be heading up the search teams, with the rest being a mix of medics and whoever else Akemi finds who doesn't look like they're doing anything important when he shows up.
With that well under control, you finish off your address to the bridge. "And while Lt. Ito is leading the rescue, I'm going to find whatever killed the abyssals."
Orders given, you take your seat again, as the ship speeds up, taking you closer and closer to your destination. You're not leaving this island until you find out what happened here. And as the minutes pass, you slide your hand into your pocket, thumbing the good luck charm you always keep there, brushing it's polished metal surface, and giving the gentlest of touches to the blackened metal dogtag that accompanies it. Gods, let this be something good.
Coming on half an hour later, you arrive at the village, your ship manoeuvring alongside the harbour wall. Akemi is the first to disembark, leading the rescue efforts himself. As you wait for the crowd to follow him off the ship, you take in the sight of the village. It's a fairly small village, rising up the hill from the small harbour, surrounded by forest. A nice little place, or at least it would have been before the raid hit; multiple buildings have collapsed, and several small fires burn among the rubble, which the villagers are trying to put out before it gets much worse.
Checking your radio to make sure it works, you leave the ship, setting foot on the harbour. Grabbing a couple of the stragglers from Akemis search party to help you, you...
[] Go uphill; from what you saw from the drone, you're most likely to find some clues about what happened here in that part of town.
[] Ask around; there's a few villagers around here, who Akemi's already started talking to. They might be able to tell you something.
[] Radio Ibara, see what guidance he can give you from the sky. You might be able to narrow down your search area.
Prologue 003- Monsters
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-Ask around; there's a few villagers around here, who Akemi's already started talking to. They might be able to tell you something.
Setting dry land, you stride forward towards the villagers who've already come to meet with Akemis party, your two helpers struggling to keep up with your pace. You take a moment to look over the villagers there; there's a couple people who clearly know where people are buried under rubble, since they're guiding people up and into the village. Some more of Akemis men are getting to work dragging corpses out of the way, grouping them together for identification.
Looking over at where the medics are treating the wounded, you see the types of injuries that you'd expect from the situation; a mixture of burns, broken limbs from falling debris, with the occasional shrapnel wound. There'll be worse injuries of course- unconsciousness, head injuries, people being trapped under rubble; but those injuries aren't ones that can be brought down here. They'll need to be treated at the scene.
As you examine the crowd at the medics; patients, people bringing new patients, or people telling the medics about people with more serious wounds, you notice a boy in his teens walking away from there, struggling to wrap a bandage around his arm. As he loses his grip on the bandage and it unravels, you see bite marks on his arm. Now you're looking closer, you see his clothes are spattered with the black blood common to abyssals.
"Need a hand with that?" you ask, approaching the boy, taking one end of the trailing bandage before he gets a chance to respond. "Here, let me get this end."
You hold your end of the bandage in place, allowing him to wrap it around his wound, letting you get a better look at it while he does so; it's definitely a bite wound, but the edges seem... ragged.
You introduce yourself, getting the boys name in return. "You get that wound from one of those eels that show up with the rest of those monsters? Looks about the right size for one of them." He nods, seeming a bit swept along by you. "Make sure to give it a good wash each night then. You'll have gotten it washed with antiseptics, but you don't want to take any chances."
You pause for a second, before pressing to the part you're really interested in. "You are quite lucky, managing to fight it off. How'd you do it?"
He blinks, taking a step back in confusion as he stammers. "I-I didn't do anything. Everything happened so quickly- I was hiding when it found me and then I was trying to get it off and then something just tore it off as it went by me; the first thing I really remember after the pain was seeing that fish thing lying on the ground, ripped in two..."
"Show me where this happened" This is exactly what you were looking for- whatever killed the abyssals passed right by this kid, and while he can't tell you what it is, he's taking you to where it is.
Picking your way through the devastation, the boy takes you to an alleyway further uphill, where you find signs of a scuffle in the dirt, and stains of black blood leading uphill, where you find the rapidly-decaying remains of the abyssal eel that had attacked the kid, ripped in half. The trail of blood continues onwards for a bit, continuing up the hill. Perfect.
As you start to run uphill, the boy calls out to you again "I- There's something else. It's not much, but seeing this has made me recall it now- Orange. I'm not sure what, but that's all I can remember here."
Well, that's not very useful, but it still tells you that there's nothing abyssal which did this, assuming that's what he means by orange. There's no proof that's right, but it's hard to think what else he could mean. Clever.
Running up the hill, your two helpers following close behind, you pull the radio out your pocket, feeling the cool metal of your charm, still safe at the pockets bottom. "Gehekm-" Fuck. "Get. Up. Here. Akemi. I've got a lead." You have to force the words out, making sure that you actually say what you want to say, compensating for your slur. You switch channels, speaking through the bridge speakers. "Ibara! Look for anything unusual in the upper half of the village. Check thermals, check visuals, check everything you can think of. Someone else, get him a radio so he can talk."
After a couple more minutes running, you slow to a walk to catch your breath, when you hear the radio once more. "Captain? I've found something- there's a couple of collapsed buildings the next street over from you, and there's something off about the thermals there- it looks like there's people trapped under there, but there's patches where it's a lot hotter than it should be, and there's something larger than a person in there."
Following Ibaras directions, you head to the fallen buildings. Directing your followers to help with rescuing anyone trapped underneath the rubble, you look around, searching for a sign, anything that doesn't fit- there! In the centre of the two collapsed buildings, where an alleyway would have been, are bloodstains. Some red blood... but a lot of black. You sniff the air- gun smoke. There's got to be something in here. Grabbing a discarded metal pole, you shove it into a gap in the rubble near the bloodstains, where the smell of smoke is strongest, putting all your weight on it as you wrench it into place low enough you can use your legs to push on it, as you can't really get enough force with your one arm.
Bracing yourself, you kick the pole once, before forcing your foot down on it. Stone shifts, and you push harder, dislodging a slab of concrete, opening up a space within the rubble. Peering into the gap, you see nothing at first, but as you hear panicked shouts over the radio, you see motion from within the rubble, a massive pale arm reaching forwards, digging into the dirt, and pulling itself forwards. With it's motion, the rubble shifts, sending you falling backwards as you lose your footing.
Picking yourself up off the ground, you call out a warning, telling everyone nearby to get away from here, as whatever was under the rubble breaks free.
Two pale arms drag the monster forwards into the light, sticking out from the sides of a body which is little more than a meeting point for the three tooth-filled jaws that make up the bulk of this monsters car-sized body, while a pair of twin-barrelled turrets sit atop the outer jaws, and cabling and other scraps of half-coherent machinery covers the outside of the its armoured shell. An abyssal, and it's wounded; it's guns are twisted wrecks, the central of the 3 heads has it's lower jaw torn apart, and blood drips from it's left arm with each movement.
Even so, being this close to an abyssal is chilling; while you've got enough missiles on your ship to kill it, there's still people too close for you to launch... it's still right in front of you, and more than capable of beating you into paste. You don't have anything that can hurt it; even if you did carry an officers pistol, you'd probably still manage to miss the bloody thing. Don't worry. You're not going to die here.
Still... it's badly hurt, and if it's guns are out of commission the ship's safe... so you might be able to distract it for long enough for them to get a shot at it.That's it, show me what you can do.
On instinct, you step forwards, as if you'd been slapped on the back, and you...
[] Run circles around it to keep it here; you wont cause as much damage to the village if you hit it here where the buildings are already collapsed, you've got a good line of fire because of that. And with it's arm being hurt, you ought to be able to outmanoeuvre it.
[] Draw it away from the village; you're not that far from the edge, and if you can keep it's attention on you, you ought to be able to lead it away from the village; an abyssal like this is many things, but smart is not one of them.
[] Charge right at it; all you want is to buy time for people to get away, and this is the best way of doing it; with how wounded it is, there's a spot in between the heads where it can't actually get there- wedge yourself there, and you've got all the time you need.
Setting dry land, you stride forward towards the villagers who've already come to meet with Akemis party, your two helpers struggling to keep up with your pace. You take a moment to look over the villagers there; there's a couple people who clearly know where people are buried under rubble, since they're guiding people up and into the village. Some more of Akemis men are getting to work dragging corpses out of the way, grouping them together for identification.
Looking over at where the medics are treating the wounded, you see the types of injuries that you'd expect from the situation; a mixture of burns, broken limbs from falling debris, with the occasional shrapnel wound. There'll be worse injuries of course- unconsciousness, head injuries, people being trapped under rubble; but those injuries aren't ones that can be brought down here. They'll need to be treated at the scene.
As you examine the crowd at the medics; patients, people bringing new patients, or people telling the medics about people with more serious wounds, you notice a boy in his teens walking away from there, struggling to wrap a bandage around his arm. As he loses his grip on the bandage and it unravels, you see bite marks on his arm. Now you're looking closer, you see his clothes are spattered with the black blood common to abyssals.
"Need a hand with that?" you ask, approaching the boy, taking one end of the trailing bandage before he gets a chance to respond. "Here, let me get this end."
You hold your end of the bandage in place, allowing him to wrap it around his wound, letting you get a better look at it while he does so; it's definitely a bite wound, but the edges seem... ragged.
You introduce yourself, getting the boys name in return. "You get that wound from one of those eels that show up with the rest of those monsters? Looks about the right size for one of them." He nods, seeming a bit swept along by you. "Make sure to give it a good wash each night then. You'll have gotten it washed with antiseptics, but you don't want to take any chances."
You pause for a second, before pressing to the part you're really interested in. "You are quite lucky, managing to fight it off. How'd you do it?"
He blinks, taking a step back in confusion as he stammers. "I-I didn't do anything. Everything happened so quickly- I was hiding when it found me and then I was trying to get it off and then something just tore it off as it went by me; the first thing I really remember after the pain was seeing that fish thing lying on the ground, ripped in two..."
"Show me where this happened" This is exactly what you were looking for- whatever killed the abyssals passed right by this kid, and while he can't tell you what it is, he's taking you to where it is.
Picking your way through the devastation, the boy takes you to an alleyway further uphill, where you find signs of a scuffle in the dirt, and stains of black blood leading uphill, where you find the rapidly-decaying remains of the abyssal eel that had attacked the kid, ripped in half. The trail of blood continues onwards for a bit, continuing up the hill. Perfect.
As you start to run uphill, the boy calls out to you again "I- There's something else. It's not much, but seeing this has made me recall it now- Orange. I'm not sure what, but that's all I can remember here."
Well, that's not very useful, but it still tells you that there's nothing abyssal which did this, assuming that's what he means by orange. There's no proof that's right, but it's hard to think what else he could mean. Clever.
Running up the hill, your two helpers following close behind, you pull the radio out your pocket, feeling the cool metal of your charm, still safe at the pockets bottom. "Gehekm-" Fuck. "Get. Up. Here. Akemi. I've got a lead." You have to force the words out, making sure that you actually say what you want to say, compensating for your slur. You switch channels, speaking through the bridge speakers. "Ibara! Look for anything unusual in the upper half of the village. Check thermals, check visuals, check everything you can think of. Someone else, get him a radio so he can talk."
After a couple more minutes running, you slow to a walk to catch your breath, when you hear the radio once more. "Captain? I've found something- there's a couple of collapsed buildings the next street over from you, and there's something off about the thermals there- it looks like there's people trapped under there, but there's patches where it's a lot hotter than it should be, and there's something larger than a person in there."
Following Ibaras directions, you head to the fallen buildings. Directing your followers to help with rescuing anyone trapped underneath the rubble, you look around, searching for a sign, anything that doesn't fit- there! In the centre of the two collapsed buildings, where an alleyway would have been, are bloodstains. Some red blood... but a lot of black. You sniff the air- gun smoke. There's got to be something in here. Grabbing a discarded metal pole, you shove it into a gap in the rubble near the bloodstains, where the smell of smoke is strongest, putting all your weight on it as you wrench it into place low enough you can use your legs to push on it, as you can't really get enough force with your one arm.
Bracing yourself, you kick the pole once, before forcing your foot down on it. Stone shifts, and you push harder, dislodging a slab of concrete, opening up a space within the rubble. Peering into the gap, you see nothing at first, but as you hear panicked shouts over the radio, you see motion from within the rubble, a massive pale arm reaching forwards, digging into the dirt, and pulling itself forwards. With it's motion, the rubble shifts, sending you falling backwards as you lose your footing.
Picking yourself up off the ground, you call out a warning, telling everyone nearby to get away from here, as whatever was under the rubble breaks free.
Two pale arms drag the monster forwards into the light, sticking out from the sides of a body which is little more than a meeting point for the three tooth-filled jaws that make up the bulk of this monsters car-sized body, while a pair of twin-barrelled turrets sit atop the outer jaws, and cabling and other scraps of half-coherent machinery covers the outside of the its armoured shell. An abyssal, and it's wounded; it's guns are twisted wrecks, the central of the 3 heads has it's lower jaw torn apart, and blood drips from it's left arm with each movement.
Even so, being this close to an abyssal is chilling; while you've got enough missiles on your ship to kill it, there's still people too close for you to launch... it's still right in front of you, and more than capable of beating you into paste. You don't have anything that can hurt it; even if you did carry an officers pistol, you'd probably still manage to miss the bloody thing. Don't worry. You're not going to die here.
Still... it's badly hurt, and if it's guns are out of commission the ship's safe... so you might be able to distract it for long enough for them to get a shot at it.That's it, show me what you can do.
On instinct, you step forwards, as if you'd been slapped on the back, and you...
[] Run circles around it to keep it here; you wont cause as much damage to the village if you hit it here where the buildings are already collapsed, you've got a good line of fire because of that. And with it's arm being hurt, you ought to be able to outmanoeuvre it.
[] Draw it away from the village; you're not that far from the edge, and if you can keep it's attention on you, you ought to be able to lead it away from the village; an abyssal like this is many things, but smart is not one of them.
[] Charge right at it; all you want is to buy time for people to get away, and this is the best way of doing it; with how wounded it is, there's a spot in between the heads where it can't actually get there- wedge yourself there, and you've got all the time you need.
Prologue 004- Saviour
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-Draw it away from the village; you're not that far from the edge, and if you can keep it's attention on you, you ought to be able to lead it away from the village; an abyssal like this is many things, but smart is not one of them.
"I'm leading it away! As soon as it's clear, FIRE!" You yell into the radio before stuffing it into your pocket, ignoring the shouts of protest coming from the other end. Can't be distracted now.
Slowly, carefully, you start backing away from the abyssal; it's not got any eyes, but it's still watching you. Dead flesh moves, and it starts dragging itself towards you, slowly and painstakingly. Everything seems so quiet now, as you focus on keeping away from it; the only sound you hear is the scrape of its body dragging across the ground, the low groaning coming from within. It moves forwards, you glance back, and step away yourself. Step by step, scrape by scrape, you move towards the edge of the village; you've cleared the field of rubble it had been buried in, and now you just need to lead it through this alleyway and you'll be out, and then you call in the strike and run. Everything's going according to plan. Behind it, rubble shifts, falling from where it lay. Something moves.
Which is exactly when the abyssal stops short of the alleys mouth, claws digging into the dirt as it starts to turn itself around. You can't let it go back to the village, it'd be carnage. You've got to keep it's attention on you. Which is why you do something very stupid. Glancing around the alley, you see a pitchfork, left scattered among other tools. Feet braced, you hold the fork knuckles white with your grip. There- there's a wound on it's back. You're not going to harm it, but sticking it there'll at least get its attention. You charge forwards, and bring the fork down in an arc, stabbing it into the open wound on the abyssals back. You back away as the abyssal wrenches itself back to face you before charging towards you, far faster than you thought it could move like this. That's more than I'd have expected anyone in your position to do. You pass.
Smashing into the alley mouth, the abyssal rages, forcing it's way through the too-small gap towards you, bricks tumbling to the ground as it smashes its way through the houses. As it slams itself further into the gap, one of the house walls gives way, and you cover your head to shield yourself from the falling rubble. But that took time, and the abyssals right on top of you.
With a deafening roar, fire blooms, with the blast sending you sprawling backwards. Your head ringing from the noise, you blink away the glare, and pick yourself up from the floor; the abyssals sprawled on the ground, one arm blown clean off. A figure stands beyond it, long brown hair curving away from their face in an M-shape, wearing a dull orange dress trimmed in white, with long black gloves on her arms, while you see the gleam of metal coming from some blocky parts on her clothing; there's what looks like a crane on her shoulder, old-fashioned turrets on her gloves, and torpedo tubes? on her hips, all in miniature.
She steps forwards, and pulls the pitchfork out of the abyssals back, before driving it down through one of the abyssals head's, the wooden haft shattering as the fork pierces through the abyssals armour, pinning the head's jaws together. It collapses, black blood pouring out of the wound as it struggles to stand on it's remaining leg, then it falls to the ground and goes still.
As the girl steps towards you, you can see that whoever this person is... she's young. Maybe in her early 20s? There's an awkwardness to her walk, and you can see blood running down her leg and dripping from her gloves. Red blood. She glances over you, eyes falling on your shoulders. She snaps a salute, a proper navy one, wincing just a little. "Lieutenant-Commander. Reporting that all enemy forces have been eliminated!" She declares in... really quite formal sounding Japanese. There's fire in this girl. She made us all proud. Take care of her, and she'll serve you well.
The girl drops the salute, holding the arm to her side. "At least... I think that's what I'm supposed to say?" she mutters, giving her head a quick shake, her voice much softer than it was moments ago.
[] You're hurt
[] You think? Is something wrong?
[] Who are you?
[] Thank you
"I'm leading it away! As soon as it's clear, FIRE!" You yell into the radio before stuffing it into your pocket, ignoring the shouts of protest coming from the other end. Can't be distracted now.
Slowly, carefully, you start backing away from the abyssal; it's not got any eyes, but it's still watching you. Dead flesh moves, and it starts dragging itself towards you, slowly and painstakingly. Everything seems so quiet now, as you focus on keeping away from it; the only sound you hear is the scrape of its body dragging across the ground, the low groaning coming from within. It moves forwards, you glance back, and step away yourself. Step by step, scrape by scrape, you move towards the edge of the village; you've cleared the field of rubble it had been buried in, and now you just need to lead it through this alleyway and you'll be out, and then you call in the strike and run. Everything's going according to plan. Behind it, rubble shifts, falling from where it lay. Something moves.
Which is exactly when the abyssal stops short of the alleys mouth, claws digging into the dirt as it starts to turn itself around. You can't let it go back to the village, it'd be carnage. You've got to keep it's attention on you. Which is why you do something very stupid. Glancing around the alley, you see a pitchfork, left scattered among other tools. Feet braced, you hold the fork knuckles white with your grip. There- there's a wound on it's back. You're not going to harm it, but sticking it there'll at least get its attention. You charge forwards, and bring the fork down in an arc, stabbing it into the open wound on the abyssals back. You back away as the abyssal wrenches itself back to face you before charging towards you, far faster than you thought it could move like this. That's more than I'd have expected anyone in your position to do. You pass.
Smashing into the alley mouth, the abyssal rages, forcing it's way through the too-small gap towards you, bricks tumbling to the ground as it smashes its way through the houses. As it slams itself further into the gap, one of the house walls gives way, and you cover your head to shield yourself from the falling rubble. But that took time, and the abyssals right on top of you.
With a deafening roar, fire blooms, with the blast sending you sprawling backwards. Your head ringing from the noise, you blink away the glare, and pick yourself up from the floor; the abyssals sprawled on the ground, one arm blown clean off. A figure stands beyond it, long brown hair curving away from their face in an M-shape, wearing a dull orange dress trimmed in white, with long black gloves on her arms, while you see the gleam of metal coming from some blocky parts on her clothing; there's what looks like a crane on her shoulder, old-fashioned turrets on her gloves, and torpedo tubes? on her hips, all in miniature.
She steps forwards, and pulls the pitchfork out of the abyssals back, before driving it down through one of the abyssals head's, the wooden haft shattering as the fork pierces through the abyssals armour, pinning the head's jaws together. It collapses, black blood pouring out of the wound as it struggles to stand on it's remaining leg, then it falls to the ground and goes still.
As the girl steps towards you, you can see that whoever this person is... she's young. Maybe in her early 20s? There's an awkwardness to her walk, and you can see blood running down her leg and dripping from her gloves. Red blood. She glances over you, eyes falling on your shoulders. She snaps a salute, a proper navy one, wincing just a little. "Lieutenant-Commander. Reporting that all enemy forces have been eliminated!" She declares in... really quite formal sounding Japanese. There's fire in this girl. She made us all proud. Take care of her, and she'll serve you well.
The girl drops the salute, holding the arm to her side. "At least... I think that's what I'm supposed to say?" she mutters, giving her head a quick shake, her voice much softer than it was moments ago.
[] You're hurt
[] You think? Is something wrong?
[] Who are you?
[] Thank you
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Prologue 005- Jintsuu
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-You're hurt.
--Who are you?
Holy shit... What the hell is she?
There's a lot you could say right now. There's a lot you could ask, a lot that you could do. A lot you want, need to find out. But not right now. Because right now, what you're seeing is someone who's hurt and confused.
"Hey, are you okay?" you ask, squatting slightly to match her height. "You're hurt. Come on, let's get you to the medics."
"Lieutenant-Commander, surely you have more important things to be d-" she says, her voice back to the much more formal tone she'd used at the start. You interrupt her protest, offering her your hand to shake. "It's Asuka. You just saved my life, you don't need to be formal. What's your name?"
She takes it, and seems to take a moment to think your question over. "Jintsuu. Just Jintsuu. That's who I am. I know that much. Even if..."
Jintsuu trails off, her fingers fidgeting as she mutters inaudibly to herself.
"Jintsuu, look at me- I might not know exactly what's happening here, but I can tell you're confused about something. The least I can do to help pay you back for saving me is to help you out. Let's find somewhere to sit down, and we can talk things through, see if that gets you a better handle on what's bothering you. But first, let's get you patched up so you aren't bleeding everywhere. Okay?" And it'll help me figure out what's going on here as well.
"I... I suppose it cannot hurt. I think I will take you up on that offer, Lieu- Asuka."
With that settled, you start leading Jintsuu down towards the medics, giving Akemi a call to get there ahead of you and start setting things up there. She's quiet on the walk, taking in the sight of the devastated village. After a bit, you make it to where the medics are, and you see a fenced off section, white tarpaulin hung over the bars to block the view from outside. Entering the not-quite-a-tent, Akemi turns around from the table where he'd been sorting through some medical equipment. "So, what's with the secrecy? It's not like you to be so vague- you found it?"
As Jintsuu enters behind you, you shake your head. "I found her. Akemi, meet Jintsuu. Don't worry, he's my second. You can trust him." Jintsuu gives him a salute as well, once again wincing as she brings her arm up.
"Jintsuu is it? Hmm, a nice name. Not that common, but I think I've heard it before." Motioning for Jintsuu to take a seat, Akemi gives her a look over. "Okay, let's start from the top; doesn't look like it, but you've not had anything hit your head?"
"No."
"I don't see any blood here, so no chest injuries?"
"Two glancing hits from enemy fire. No damage sustained."
"Wait- what do you mean 'two glancing hits? An abyssal shot you?" Akemi looks at you quizzically.
"When engaging the unknown forces, I sustained two hits from enemy fire to my... torso?" Jintsuu pauses, seeming to consider the word for a moment. "Yes, my torso. However, I did not sustain any serious damage."
"She hasn't given me any reason to doubt anything she's said; if she hadn't killed that cruiser, we wouldn't be here." You explain, giving Akemi a brief rundown of how you met Jintsuu.
"Okay then." Akemi pauses for a second, staring into space. "In that case Jintsuu, where else did you get hurt? As you seem to have that down."
She nods. "In addition to the glancing hits, I was bitten once on my right... shoulder, and I took a direct hit from enemy fire to my left leg."
"I'll start with that then. Jintsuu, can you take these things off?" Akemi asks, indicating the torpedo-launcher replicas mounted on her hips. "I can't get a good look with these things in the way."
She nods, and does... something. One second the launchers are there, and then they seem to twist away, vanishing into somewhere. You freeze, trying to avoid letting the shock show on your face.
"What the fuck- Asuka, you saw that too right? I haven't just been around the fumes for too long." Meanwhile, Akemi has no problems with making his surprise known, waving his hands through the space where the torpedoes were. You cough once, before trying to make sure no sign of concern is in your voice. "Jintsuu, how did you just do that?"
"I-I don't know? I just wanted them to not be there and they were not. Can you not do that?" Jintsuu fidgets, looking down at her hands as the crane and guns on her arms vanish in the same twisting manner. "Is it not normal? I don't know what is..."
You put your hand on Jintsuu's shoulder, sitting down next to her. "Maybe not for us. But it definitely is for you. But at the very least, Akemi can get you patched up now. Shall we just start talking through things now? Stuff like this goes by faster when you've got something to help distract you."
"I'm with Asuka in that whatever you did has to be normal for you- you didn't seem to have to think about it at all, it's just like breathing for you... Aha!" Akemi pipes up, giving his thoughts on Jintsuus disappearing armaments as he kneels beside her, readying his tools. "That's why your name sounded familiar- It's a warship name, I remember that from history. You're named after it?"
"Warship. Warship." Jintsuu rolls the word around her mouth, giving it a lot of thought.
"No, not after." She says, a note of confidence creeping into her voice. "I am Jintsuu. Of the Sendai class light cruisers. There is much I do not know about why I am here and now. But I know who I am, and I know that I am a warship."
What do you ask Jintsuu? (Pick 2)
[] What do you mean, you are a warship? How's that possible?
[] Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
[] Why were you fighting the abyssals?
[] How much do you know? What do you remember?
[] Ask another question (Write-in)
--Who are you?
Holy shit... What the hell is she?
There's a lot you could say right now. There's a lot you could ask, a lot that you could do. A lot you want, need to find out. But not right now. Because right now, what you're seeing is someone who's hurt and confused.
"Hey, are you okay?" you ask, squatting slightly to match her height. "You're hurt. Come on, let's get you to the medics."
"Lieutenant-Commander, surely you have more important things to be d-" she says, her voice back to the much more formal tone she'd used at the start. You interrupt her protest, offering her your hand to shake. "It's Asuka. You just saved my life, you don't need to be formal. What's your name?"
She takes it, and seems to take a moment to think your question over. "Jintsuu. Just Jintsuu. That's who I am. I know that much. Even if..."
Jintsuu trails off, her fingers fidgeting as she mutters inaudibly to herself.
"Jintsuu, look at me- I might not know exactly what's happening here, but I can tell you're confused about something. The least I can do to help pay you back for saving me is to help you out. Let's find somewhere to sit down, and we can talk things through, see if that gets you a better handle on what's bothering you. But first, let's get you patched up so you aren't bleeding everywhere. Okay?" And it'll help me figure out what's going on here as well.
"I... I suppose it cannot hurt. I think I will take you up on that offer, Lieu- Asuka."
With that settled, you start leading Jintsuu down towards the medics, giving Akemi a call to get there ahead of you and start setting things up there. She's quiet on the walk, taking in the sight of the devastated village. After a bit, you make it to where the medics are, and you see a fenced off section, white tarpaulin hung over the bars to block the view from outside. Entering the not-quite-a-tent, Akemi turns around from the table where he'd been sorting through some medical equipment. "So, what's with the secrecy? It's not like you to be so vague- you found it?"
As Jintsuu enters behind you, you shake your head. "I found her. Akemi, meet Jintsuu. Don't worry, he's my second. You can trust him." Jintsuu gives him a salute as well, once again wincing as she brings her arm up.
"Jintsuu is it? Hmm, a nice name. Not that common, but I think I've heard it before." Motioning for Jintsuu to take a seat, Akemi gives her a look over. "Okay, let's start from the top; doesn't look like it, but you've not had anything hit your head?"
"No."
"I don't see any blood here, so no chest injuries?"
"Two glancing hits from enemy fire. No damage sustained."
"Wait- what do you mean 'two glancing hits? An abyssal shot you?" Akemi looks at you quizzically.
"When engaging the unknown forces, I sustained two hits from enemy fire to my... torso?" Jintsuu pauses, seeming to consider the word for a moment. "Yes, my torso. However, I did not sustain any serious damage."
"She hasn't given me any reason to doubt anything she's said; if she hadn't killed that cruiser, we wouldn't be here." You explain, giving Akemi a brief rundown of how you met Jintsuu.
"Okay then." Akemi pauses for a second, staring into space. "In that case Jintsuu, where else did you get hurt? As you seem to have that down."
She nods. "In addition to the glancing hits, I was bitten once on my right... shoulder, and I took a direct hit from enemy fire to my left leg."
"I'll start with that then. Jintsuu, can you take these things off?" Akemi asks, indicating the torpedo-launcher replicas mounted on her hips. "I can't get a good look with these things in the way."
She nods, and does... something. One second the launchers are there, and then they seem to twist away, vanishing into somewhere. You freeze, trying to avoid letting the shock show on your face.
"What the fuck- Asuka, you saw that too right? I haven't just been around the fumes for too long." Meanwhile, Akemi has no problems with making his surprise known, waving his hands through the space where the torpedoes were. You cough once, before trying to make sure no sign of concern is in your voice. "Jintsuu, how did you just do that?"
"I-I don't know? I just wanted them to not be there and they were not. Can you not do that?" Jintsuu fidgets, looking down at her hands as the crane and guns on her arms vanish in the same twisting manner. "Is it not normal? I don't know what is..."
You put your hand on Jintsuu's shoulder, sitting down next to her. "Maybe not for us. But it definitely is for you. But at the very least, Akemi can get you patched up now. Shall we just start talking through things now? Stuff like this goes by faster when you've got something to help distract you."
"I'm with Asuka in that whatever you did has to be normal for you- you didn't seem to have to think about it at all, it's just like breathing for you... Aha!" Akemi pipes up, giving his thoughts on Jintsuus disappearing armaments as he kneels beside her, readying his tools. "That's why your name sounded familiar- It's a warship name, I remember that from history. You're named after it?"
"Warship. Warship." Jintsuu rolls the word around her mouth, giving it a lot of thought.
"No, not after." She says, a note of confidence creeping into her voice. "I am Jintsuu. Of the Sendai class light cruisers. There is much I do not know about why I am here and now. But I know who I am, and I know that I am a warship."
What do you ask Jintsuu? (Pick 2)
[] What do you mean, you are a warship? How's that possible?
[] Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
[] Why were you fighting the abyssals?
[] How much do you know? What do you remember?
[] Ask another question (Write-in)
Prologue 006- Offer
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
-How much do you know? What do you remember?
Of all the things you were expecting to hear, hearing Jintsuu declare that she is the warship she's named after wasn't one of them. It's just such an absurd premise. Any yet... she was able to kill that abyssal by herself, there's certainly a nautical theme to how she dresses. She doesn't seem like she's much of a liar either, and now you think about it, a lot of her confusion's all been around well, human things. But then, there's still got to be some other explanation. Surely. You're just not sure what it might be right now.
"Okay, let's cover that bit later. I'm thinking that for now, we start at the beginning. How did you actually get here, Jintsuu?" You ask, as Akemi rolls down her stocking, examining the bloody wound on her leg. It looks just like a particularly nasty gunshot wound, but she's barely reacting to it. Wincing at the sight, Akemi begins peering through a magnifying glass at the wound, tweezers at the ready.
"I... woke up here. The first thing I saw was smoke rising from the sky. I was lying on the ocean, some miles from the shore here. I sailed here, and I saw those black monsters, these abyssals, attacking the village. It is strange; I had never seen them before. It was not even an hour since I had first opened my eyes. Yet I felt... I knew that they were my enemy. I fought them. I killed them. And then I met you. And that is how I have spent the scant hours that have passed in this life." Jintsuu explains, hissing with pain partway through her story as Akemi pulls a piece of shrapnel out from the wound in her leg. She seems a little more confident in her speaking now, although her language is still somewhat old-fashioned, and she still hesitates when talking about emotions.
"You've really only been alive for hours? But, you know that you are Jintsuu, and that you are a warship?" You ask, leaning in towards Jintsuu. "Do you remember anything? How much do you just know like that?"
"I... was different, once. I know that this body is not the one I used to have. And yet, it is not unfamiliar to me. I know my name. I know how to move. I can speak. Beyond that... I have nothing but scraps of memory; flashes of light, thunder and smoke."
"Why did you go towards the smoke when you woke up? You say you sailed here, surely you could have gone anywhere?"
"Yes, I could have. But, I do not know anywhere I could go. The smoke, this village, was something different. And... as I opened my eyes, I... it felt like someone was crying for help. I could not just sail off into the ocean."
It's... almost charming, as stories go. She's woken up for the first time, and despite not having much idea about anything at all, she went somewhere because she thought someone needed help. As Akemi disinfects the gunshot in Jintsuus leg and begins to bandage it up, seeing the look on Jintsuus face... she looks lost. When all she was doing was fighting something she knew to be an enemy, everything would have been easy. But now? Now she's not got anything like that, she's just got to be human. And she's got no-one to help.
You stand up from the seat you'd taken. Jintsuu looks up at you as you face her and offer your hand.
Pick one
[] We need your help
[] Come with us
[] I'll help you be human
-How much do you know? What do you remember?
Of all the things you were expecting to hear, hearing Jintsuu declare that she is the warship she's named after wasn't one of them. It's just such an absurd premise. Any yet... she was able to kill that abyssal by herself, there's certainly a nautical theme to how she dresses. She doesn't seem like she's much of a liar either, and now you think about it, a lot of her confusion's all been around well, human things. But then, there's still got to be some other explanation. Surely. You're just not sure what it might be right now.
"Okay, let's cover that bit later. I'm thinking that for now, we start at the beginning. How did you actually get here, Jintsuu?" You ask, as Akemi rolls down her stocking, examining the bloody wound on her leg. It looks just like a particularly nasty gunshot wound, but she's barely reacting to it. Wincing at the sight, Akemi begins peering through a magnifying glass at the wound, tweezers at the ready.
"I... woke up here. The first thing I saw was smoke rising from the sky. I was lying on the ocean, some miles from the shore here. I sailed here, and I saw those black monsters, these abyssals, attacking the village. It is strange; I had never seen them before. It was not even an hour since I had first opened my eyes. Yet I felt... I knew that they were my enemy. I fought them. I killed them. And then I met you. And that is how I have spent the scant hours that have passed in this life." Jintsuu explains, hissing with pain partway through her story as Akemi pulls a piece of shrapnel out from the wound in her leg. She seems a little more confident in her speaking now, although her language is still somewhat old-fashioned, and she still hesitates when talking about emotions.
"You've really only been alive for hours? But, you know that you are Jintsuu, and that you are a warship?" You ask, leaning in towards Jintsuu. "Do you remember anything? How much do you just know like that?"
"I... was different, once. I know that this body is not the one I used to have. And yet, it is not unfamiliar to me. I know my name. I know how to move. I can speak. Beyond that... I have nothing but scraps of memory; flashes of light, thunder and smoke."
"Why did you go towards the smoke when you woke up? You say you sailed here, surely you could have gone anywhere?"
"Yes, I could have. But, I do not know anywhere I could go. The smoke, this village, was something different. And... as I opened my eyes, I... it felt like someone was crying for help. I could not just sail off into the ocean."
It's... almost charming, as stories go. She's woken up for the first time, and despite not having much idea about anything at all, she went somewhere because she thought someone needed help. As Akemi disinfects the gunshot in Jintsuus leg and begins to bandage it up, seeing the look on Jintsuus face... she looks lost. When all she was doing was fighting something she knew to be an enemy, everything would have been easy. But now? Now she's not got anything like that, she's just got to be human. And she's got no-one to help.
You stand up from the seat you'd taken. Jintsuu looks up at you as you face her and offer your hand.
Pick one
[] We need your help
[] Come with us
[] I'll help you be human
Last edited:
Prologue 007- Declaration of "I"
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-Come with us
"Jintsuu... you should come with us. You said you've just woken up; we can give you something stable; a roof over your head, people you know, even if it's just for the immediate future while we help you figure things out. And if there's any other people like you, with us is where you'd have the best shot of finding anything about them. We can help you, if you stay with us." You pause, still offering Jintsuu your hand.
"But I won't lie and say that I'm just offering you this from the goodness of my heart and nothing else... we need you. You told us that from the moment you saw the abyssals, you felt they were your enemy. They're our enemy as well... and we're losing. You fought and beat a fleet that size by yourself, with barely a scratch. We'd have been destroyed in minutes if we tried that, our weapons just don't work on abyssals that well."
You sigh. "I'm not going to force you. If you want to sail away into the ocean and do something else, I promise that I won't try and stop you. But right now, if we stand any hope of fighting the abyssals, we need something new, something different. And you're the only thing I've seen that counts. So please, help us. I promise that if you do, I will do all I can to keep you safe, and to help you be human."
As you finish your plea, Jintsuu stands, wincing slightly before shifting her weight to her uninjured leg. Looking up to you, she stares straight into your eye for what feels like hours. Taking your offered hand, she smiles, her voice proud as she speaks. "Thank you for your honesty, Lieutenant-Commander. It is a... relief to find that my commanding officer is someone as upright as you are."
You freeze for a moment as your brain processes what you just heard. Did she just accept like that?
"Being honest, I would have accepted an offer to stay with you even without your promise to keep me safe and to help me understand the things I am having trouble with. However, hearing those things eases my heart. I promise that I shall serve to the best of my ability. I am a warship after all. I was made to fight. Even when I find myself in an unfamiliar body, in unfamiliar times and waters, this is who I am. And in your abyssals, though their form is as strange to me as my new body, I have found an enemy. So I shall fight, as doing otherwise would go against everything I am!" Jintsuu declares, fire in her eyes as she lets go of your hand, steps back a pace, and snaps her arm up in a crisp salute, not showing a single sign of pain on her face despite the untreated wound on her arm.
"Lieutenant-Commander Asuka, I am Jintsuu of the Sendai-class light cruisers, reporting for duty!"
No vote here because this is just halfway through the update, part 2 will come soon
"Jintsuu... you should come with us. You said you've just woken up; we can give you something stable; a roof over your head, people you know, even if it's just for the immediate future while we help you figure things out. And if there's any other people like you, with us is where you'd have the best shot of finding anything about them. We can help you, if you stay with us." You pause, still offering Jintsuu your hand.
"But I won't lie and say that I'm just offering you this from the goodness of my heart and nothing else... we need you. You told us that from the moment you saw the abyssals, you felt they were your enemy. They're our enemy as well... and we're losing. You fought and beat a fleet that size by yourself, with barely a scratch. We'd have been destroyed in minutes if we tried that, our weapons just don't work on abyssals that well."
You sigh. "I'm not going to force you. If you want to sail away into the ocean and do something else, I promise that I won't try and stop you. But right now, if we stand any hope of fighting the abyssals, we need something new, something different. And you're the only thing I've seen that counts. So please, help us. I promise that if you do, I will do all I can to keep you safe, and to help you be human."
As you finish your plea, Jintsuu stands, wincing slightly before shifting her weight to her uninjured leg. Looking up to you, she stares straight into your eye for what feels like hours. Taking your offered hand, she smiles, her voice proud as she speaks. "Thank you for your honesty, Lieutenant-Commander. It is a... relief to find that my commanding officer is someone as upright as you are."
You freeze for a moment as your brain processes what you just heard. Did she just accept like that?
"Being honest, I would have accepted an offer to stay with you even without your promise to keep me safe and to help me understand the things I am having trouble with. However, hearing those things eases my heart. I promise that I shall serve to the best of my ability. I am a warship after all. I was made to fight. Even when I find myself in an unfamiliar body, in unfamiliar times and waters, this is who I am. And in your abyssals, though their form is as strange to me as my new body, I have found an enemy. So I shall fight, as doing otherwise would go against everything I am!" Jintsuu declares, fire in her eyes as she lets go of your hand, steps back a pace, and snaps her arm up in a crisp salute, not showing a single sign of pain on her face despite the untreated wound on her arm.
"Lieutenant-Commander Asuka, I am Jintsuu of the Sendai-class light cruisers, reporting for duty!"
No vote here because this is just halfway through the update, part 2 will come soon
Prologue 008- Kicking it upstairs
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
"At ease Jintsuu."
Relief floods you as she salutes you. You really were worried she might have decided not to come with you. "Well, here's something simple for your first official order; sit back down and let Akemi finish patching you up. I've got a call to make in the meantime."
As Jintsuu sits down, you leave the tent, hearing Akemi introduce himself to Jintsuu properly. You walk down to the beach, feeling sand crunch underfoot as you pull the radio out of your pocket.
"Captain to bridge. Whoever's picked this one up, put me on the speakers." You hear a quick acknowledgement, followed by the scuffle of activity as they get it done. ##"First things first," you order. "Ibara, stand down with the missiles. You were watching where I was when Jintsuu showed up. We won't be needing them right now. Help the rescue crews out with thermals. But first, get the footage from when Jintsuu showed up and have a copy of it on my desk in 5."
With that, you put the radio away, taking out your cigarettes from the pocket. Rooting around, you take out the one least squashed by all the times you've ended up on your ass today, stick in in your mouth and light it up. Looking out over the beach view, you take a deep drag as you catch sight of a pair of wrecked abyssal destroyers washed up in the surf, dead flesh rapidly rotting away with the first spots of rust already creeping over their black metal parts. Jintsuu did that. And she's chosen to come with you. Thinking about how many more abyssals you'll be able to kill with her help, how you'll finally be able to act, you finish your cigarette, stamping out the last embers in the sand.
And as you start heading back to your office to send a report to kick some of this mess upstairs, you realise that that right there was the best smoke you've had in months.
[] Take Jintsuu with you when you make the report
[] Go by yourself, let Akemi take care of her for a while
Relief floods you as she salutes you. You really were worried she might have decided not to come with you. "Well, here's something simple for your first official order; sit back down and let Akemi finish patching you up. I've got a call to make in the meantime."
As Jintsuu sits down, you leave the tent, hearing Akemi introduce himself to Jintsuu properly. You walk down to the beach, feeling sand crunch underfoot as you pull the radio out of your pocket.
"Captain to bridge. Whoever's picked this one up, put me on the speakers." You hear a quick acknowledgement, followed by the scuffle of activity as they get it done. ##"First things first," you order. "Ibara, stand down with the missiles. You were watching where I was when Jintsuu showed up. We won't be needing them right now. Help the rescue crews out with thermals. But first, get the footage from when Jintsuu showed up and have a copy of it on my desk in 5."
With that, you put the radio away, taking out your cigarettes from the pocket. Rooting around, you take out the one least squashed by all the times you've ended up on your ass today, stick in in your mouth and light it up. Looking out over the beach view, you take a deep drag as you catch sight of a pair of wrecked abyssal destroyers washed up in the surf, dead flesh rapidly rotting away with the first spots of rust already creeping over their black metal parts. Jintsuu did that. And she's chosen to come with you. Thinking about how many more abyssals you'll be able to kill with her help, how you'll finally be able to act, you finish your cigarette, stamping out the last embers in the sand.
And as you start heading back to your office to send a report to kick some of this mess upstairs, you realise that that right there was the best smoke you've had in months.
[] Take Jintsuu with you when you make the report
[] Go by yourself, let Akemi take care of her for a while
Prologue 009-Paperwork
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
-Go by yourself, let Akemi take care of her for a while.
You decide to let Akemi handle Jintsuu for now; while she's agreed to follow you, you still shouldn't have her with you when you're making a report about her, especially when you're breaking out the classified stamps; being one of the firebreak bases means that you observe the abyssals more than most, so as commanding officer, you have a number of classification tags and encryption open to you to let you get anything new you notice right to the top as soon as possible. And if anything counts as a time to use them, this does.
Boarding the Fuyuzuki, you make your way back to your quarters; not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but there's enough room for you to have a desk and safe there. As ordered, there's a standard issue flash drive on your table, with a handwritten note from Ibara beside it. Locking your door behind you, you take the safe keys out on the chain and unlock it. Rustling through the various documents within, you take out the folder with the classifications.
Returning to your desk, you remove your charm from your pocket and place it on the desk. It's the same as it's always been; A piece of steel around 6 inches long carved into a magatama bead, one half painted a deep red. Thin chains run through the hole in the bead, with a trio of thin pieces of machinery that you think used to be motor parts threaded onto it. The last part is an addition of your own; another, tarnished chain wrapped around the tail of the steel bead, with a blackened and buckled dogtag attached to it. It's been in your family for decades, and you've had it for long enough that it just doesn't feel right to not have it near you.
You take your seat at the left edge of the desk, the drawers and everything else spread out over the right half of the desk. Flicking through the classification folder, you pull out sheet for [BLACKRUST]. It's the one that fits the situation best.
Booting up the desk computer, you plug in the USB drive, and have a look at the footage taken from Ibaras drone; in it, you see Jintsuu pull herself out of the same pile of rubble the abyssal was also buried under, take a stance, and aim at it, the turrets on her arms turning to face it. Flame bursts from the turrets as she fires at it, the shells exploding on the abyssals body. It collapses, and Jintsuu walks over for the finishing blow. It really is everything you could have hoped for.
You begin writing the report, attaching the video footage to it. Deployed on aid and recovery mission following abyssal raiding party attack. Found abyssal fleet destroyed. Encountered individual who claimed to have done so; attached is video evidence of them engaging last remaining abyssal. Has described abyssals as their enemy, and has agreed to join us. Requesting further instructions on how to proceed.
And then, all that's left is taking the codes, and tagging it to be marked as urgent, and classified and locked accordingly. And with that, you send it out. That's all done, now all you need to do is wait to hear back.
[] Go find Akemi and Jintsuu while you wait
[] Go back to the bridge, start passing out nondisclosure forms.
You decide to let Akemi handle Jintsuu for now; while she's agreed to follow you, you still shouldn't have her with you when you're making a report about her, especially when you're breaking out the classified stamps; being one of the firebreak bases means that you observe the abyssals more than most, so as commanding officer, you have a number of classification tags and encryption open to you to let you get anything new you notice right to the top as soon as possible. And if anything counts as a time to use them, this does.
Boarding the Fuyuzuki, you make your way back to your quarters; not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but there's enough room for you to have a desk and safe there. As ordered, there's a standard issue flash drive on your table, with a handwritten note from Ibara beside it. Locking your door behind you, you take the safe keys out on the chain and unlock it. Rustling through the various documents within, you take out the folder with the classifications.
Returning to your desk, you remove your charm from your pocket and place it on the desk. It's the same as it's always been; A piece of steel around 6 inches long carved into a magatama bead, one half painted a deep red. Thin chains run through the hole in the bead, with a trio of thin pieces of machinery that you think used to be motor parts threaded onto it. The last part is an addition of your own; another, tarnished chain wrapped around the tail of the steel bead, with a blackened and buckled dogtag attached to it. It's been in your family for decades, and you've had it for long enough that it just doesn't feel right to not have it near you.
You take your seat at the left edge of the desk, the drawers and everything else spread out over the right half of the desk. Flicking through the classification folder, you pull out sheet for [BLACKRUST]. It's the one that fits the situation best.
Booting up the desk computer, you plug in the USB drive, and have a look at the footage taken from Ibaras drone; in it, you see Jintsuu pull herself out of the same pile of rubble the abyssal was also buried under, take a stance, and aim at it, the turrets on her arms turning to face it. Flame bursts from the turrets as she fires at it, the shells exploding on the abyssals body. It collapses, and Jintsuu walks over for the finishing blow. It really is everything you could have hoped for.
You begin writing the report, attaching the video footage to it. Deployed on aid and recovery mission following abyssal raiding party attack. Found abyssal fleet destroyed. Encountered individual who claimed to have done so; attached is video evidence of them engaging last remaining abyssal. Has described abyssals as their enemy, and has agreed to join us. Requesting further instructions on how to proceed.
And then, all that's left is taking the codes, and tagging it to be marked as urgent, and classified and locked accordingly. And with that, you send it out. That's all done, now all you need to do is wait to hear back.
[] Go find Akemi and Jintsuu while you wait
[] Go back to the bridge, start passing out nondisclosure forms.