Chrysanthemum 1.01
Miho Chan
One with too many ideas
- Location
- Hummelstown
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Chrysanthemum 1.01
The sound of crickets greeted me as I woke up. Blearily recalling that Admiral Isoroku wanted to see me at 0500 hours, I glanced at the wall clock. 0100 hours.
Might as well go brush my teeth. It'll be good to do something routine again anyways. Stepping lightly across the tatami mats, I made my way towards the door, carefully opening it to ensure I wouldn't wake my sisters up.
I still can't believe I have a body again. After an entire year and a half of sensory deprivation, even just feeling the air on my skin feels amazing.
Arriving at the restroom, I took a moment to glance at the mirror, before stripping and stepping into the shower.
Everdistant
"Ahhh! It feels good to finally take a shower after so long without one~" I humm as I step out of the shower.
Checking each cabinet briefly, I frown. Not really feeling like eating anything here. Off to the cafeteria I guess, let's see what they have to eat… Stomach grumbling at the thought of food, I make my way towards the exit of the battleship dorms and run straight into another person.
"Ah, gomenasai! Are you alright?" I asked, offering the girl a hand. As she accepted my hand she asks,
"Suimasen! I'm alright. May I ask who you are?" Still slightly startled from our collision, I look in the direction the voice came from. A destroyer, maybe an Akatsuki-classif I remember my ship profiles correctly.
"I'm Warship 797, named Yoshino by my sisters. Who are you?" I respond, smiling at her.
"I'm Akatsuki, lead ship of the Akatsuki Class. Nice to meet you Yoshino san." She says, bowing deeply. I return her bow, bowing just as low as she had, startling the poor girl. "May I ask what you are doing up so late Yoshino-san? It's usually just the night shift that's up during these hours."
"I couldn't sleep Akatsuki-san. My summoning was… Odd to say the least. I'm still dealing with some of the repercussions of what happened. Sleep is unfortunately the last thing on my mind." I explain, before stopping to gaze at the moon.
The moon is rather beautiful tonight. And with everyone on wartime blackout, the light pollution isn't nearly as bad…
"I'm sorry to hear that Yoshino-san. Pardon me for asking, but would you like to join me for my lunch break? My sisters are currently off of the night watch, and it was going to be just me…" Akatsuki asked sheepishly.
"I don't really have anything better to do Akatsuki-san. I really wouldn't mind at all." I say, falling in step behind her. "What ships are on night watch this month Akatsuki-san?" I ask, attempting to make conversation. Akatsuki perks up, and starts to list the group of shipgirls assigned to night shift for the month of January.
"Since we generally don't have carriers on night watch, it's usually a battleship handling flagships duties during nights. This month, Kongou san has the flag for nights, with Kirishima being her second. For escorts, we have myself, Fubuki, Ayanami, Mutsuki, Yuudachi, Akizuki, Suzutsuki, Shigure, Sendai, Naka, Furutaka, and Aoba."
"So two battleships, two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and seven destroyers. Sounds like a nice fleet." I say, before frowning slightly. My captain had climbed up on top of my head and was ringing a bell. "Hold on for a moment Akatsuki-san. My crew is demanding my attention."
"Desu! Desu desu!" A feeling of dread crept up my spine,
"Akatsuki-san? Are there any inbound flights right now?" I ask, hoping to god that there would be a patrol of JASDF aircraft coming in for a landing.
"No Yoshino-san. Any reason why… You have radar contacts in the air, don't you?" Akatsuki says, horror creeping into her voice as she speaks.
Shit. I forget if I ever informed them that the Wo-Class and other Abyssal Carriers have gods be damned NIGHT CAPABILITIES
"I need the location and heading of those aircraft right now!" I yell at the captain, while grabbing Akatsuki's hand and pulling her towards the docks.
"Desu! Desu!"
"Akatsuki-san, we've got air contacts approaching from one hundred kilometers out! They're vectored towards the Tokyo area!" I snarl, already yelling at my crew to prepare for anti air combat. Akatsuki nods at me, and speaks through her radio
<All hands! Air Raid incoming! This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill! All personnel man your battlestations and set condition zebra!> Akatsuki shouts over both the PA and Emergency Radio. She also starts running towards the water, escaping my grip. "Yoshino-san, are you able to sortie?" She asks.
"Yes, I'll be able to do my part Akatsuki san. I'm at full load. I just wish Kentucky was here…" I say, glancing at the battleship dorms. I shake my head, and start running towards the docks as well.
Everdistant
Tokyo Bay Area, Japan
0210 Hours
Akatsuki and I both linked up with the other night watch shipgirls, and we deployed into the bay.
By then, both Kongou and Kirishima's radar had confirmed what I originally saw. Air raid incoming. The Tokyo area was in full alert, civilians were now streaming towards bomb shelters and (add something else here). Someone had woken Admiral Isoroku, and he had strategic control of the AO while Kongou had tactical. The Naval District's anti air batteries were fully manned, and now we waited for the JASDF's planes to make contact. They probably wouldn't be able to shoot many down, but they'd give us valuable information on the enemy's composition.
"Is the waiting always so bad Kongou-senpai?" I ask, my eyes still scanning the horizon.
"Yes. We're battleships. Our purpose is to fight, not wait around. You'll understand in a moment Yoshino chan." Kongou briefly glanced at me, "You do have sanshiki shells loaded, right?" I nod in confirmation, internally glancing at my radar display. The JASDF fighters were closing on the mass of blips that represented the abyssal forces. Moments later, the flight commander reports in over the comms.
"Contact! I count over one hundred enemy bombers, with at least fifty escorting fighters. My squadron will attempt to shoot down as many as we can, then shadow them to provide real time updates. No heroics from us tonight. My pilots can't reliably shoot them down, and boys on the ground've got plenty of guns for them." He says, rather bitterly at the end.
The blips on my radar mash together, presumably the JASDF jets blitzing the abyssal formation.
"Scratch five enemy bombers command. We're evading enemy fighters rather handily. We'll continue to provide live updates while we shadow them and wait for an opportunity. Over and Out."
"It's up to us now." Kongou says, glaring in the abyssals' general direction. "Kirishima, Yoshino. Prepare to fire a salvo of sanshiki as soon as they're in range. Hopefully we can shoot a significant portion of them down." Both Kirishima and I acknowledge the order, and I start to elevate my guns into position. "Kantia, diamond formation." Kongou orders. I send an acknowledgement with the rest of the fleet as we fall into formation.
Everdistant Dream
??? Minutes Later
"Targets in range of Anti Air, all batteries, open fire!"
"Kongou san, they're not at cruising altitude… This isn't an attack on Tokyo, it's a raid on shipping!" Someone screams.
"Firing!" Yells another shipgirl. The night sky lights up with tracers and flak explosions. Other shipgirls are issuing orders to each other, and the radio was going absolutely crazy. I wasn't really keeping track of all the reports and orders flowing through the channel, far too focused on my own problems. Thankfully, my crew was, and they screamed a warning towards me.
Wait, those are… dammit! They have torpedo bombers. They're after the moored ships!
"Maintain formation" Kongou yells, reminding us to be mindful of the other ships in the fleet.
The bombers begin to pick their targets, with a large amount heading towards me.
Shit. They're targeting me with a lot of their bombers. Thankfully I have a lot of AA here, but this is going to hurt. A lot.[/i]
At this point, the bombers started their dive, my 25mm guns firing lead into their path. The escorting destroyers and cruisers also opened up with their 25mm guns, desperately attempting to shoot down as many of the bombers as they could. The scene is like something directly out of a WWII documentary. The Fleet has lost any sense of cohesion, with everyone swerving and attempting to throw off the dive bombers aim. I throw myself into hard starboard turn, attempting to throw off the dive bombers attacking me, but I had reacted far too late. Pain lances through my arms and chest as the enemy bombs landed, cratering my deck and destroying a few of my 10cm guns.
"Ah!"
"Yoshino, watch out!" I woozily glance at the speaker. "Torpedo bombers, eight o-clock!"
"W-what?" It was far too late by then, as five torpedoes slam into my bulges, followed by an abyssal bomber crashing into my rear fire director.
"Yoshino! Are you okay?" Kentucky screamed over our mental link.
"I'm… fine…" I manage to think, glaring hatefully at the sky. "I'll be better… when I sink the damn carrier responsible for this!"
<Yoshino is on fire! She's been hit pretty badly!> Kongou yells over the radio, having taken no hits herself. Aoba's listing to port rather heavily, while Ayanami and Yuudachi were trying to beat flames off their sleeves, Fubuki and Shigure attempting helping them, only lightly injured themselves. Everyone else seems to be undamaged.
<Copy that Kongou.> Admiral Isoroku's voice crackled over the radio <Assess the damage and let me know who needs repairs. I'm sending Kentucky along with Carrier Division Five towards you. We're going to hunt down the carriers responsible for this attack, and we're going to sink them.>
<Have your fleet move in with Zuikaku's fleet. Zuikaku will have tactical command of the carrier fleet, while you have tactical over the forward element. Stay safe. Yoshino, I'll wait for your answer when you get back>
<Teikoku!?> Yamato's voice cuts across the radio channel.
<Yamato, I know you object to this, but your little sister has more anti air capability than you do. Unless she's in desperate need of repairs, I need her out there.>
My damage control teams begin to assess the combat damage, repairing what they can, and making note of what will need drydock time to repair. Two of my portside 10 cm DP guns are cratered, my bow has a crater in it that the damcon teams patch over with spare wood , and my rear fire control director can be somewhat repaired into working condition, thankfully. Periodically wincing in pain, I settle down to read a book that one of my crew members have handed to me.
Everdistant
Sometime Later
Zuikaku's fleet arrived after I had just gotten started on chapter four.
"Dammit Yoshino!" Kentucky shouted as she sailed over, "You had me so worried!" She pauses to fuss over me a bit. "Don't ever do that to me again, idiot." I immediately pull my little sister into a hug,
"I'm sorry Kentucky." Kentucky's arms tightened.
"I just don't want to lose you too, not like we lost dad… Kentucky "speaks" over our link, "please, don't leave me alone…"
"You know that I can't promise that Kentucky… But I swear that I won't let you go without a fight." I reply, patting my little sister on the back.
Chapter End
The sound of crickets greeted me as I woke up. Blearily recalling that Admiral Isoroku wanted to see me at 0500 hours, I glanced at the wall clock. 0100 hours.
Might as well go brush my teeth. It'll be good to do something routine again anyways. Stepping lightly across the tatami mats, I made my way towards the door, carefully opening it to ensure I wouldn't wake my sisters up.
I still can't believe I have a body again. After an entire year and a half of sensory deprivation, even just feeling the air on my skin feels amazing.
Arriving at the restroom, I took a moment to glance at the mirror, before stripping and stepping into the shower.
Everdistant
"Ahhh! It feels good to finally take a shower after so long without one~" I humm as I step out of the shower.
Checking each cabinet briefly, I frown. Not really feeling like eating anything here. Off to the cafeteria I guess, let's see what they have to eat… Stomach grumbling at the thought of food, I make my way towards the exit of the battleship dorms and run straight into another person.
"Ah, gomenasai! Are you alright?" I asked, offering the girl a hand. As she accepted my hand she asks,
"Suimasen! I'm alright. May I ask who you are?" Still slightly startled from our collision, I look in the direction the voice came from. A destroyer, maybe an Akatsuki-classif I remember my ship profiles correctly.
"I'm Warship 797, named Yoshino by my sisters. Who are you?" I respond, smiling at her.
"I'm Akatsuki, lead ship of the Akatsuki Class. Nice to meet you Yoshino san." She says, bowing deeply. I return her bow, bowing just as low as she had, startling the poor girl. "May I ask what you are doing up so late Yoshino-san? It's usually just the night shift that's up during these hours."
"I couldn't sleep Akatsuki-san. My summoning was… Odd to say the least. I'm still dealing with some of the repercussions of what happened. Sleep is unfortunately the last thing on my mind." I explain, before stopping to gaze at the moon.
The moon is rather beautiful tonight. And with everyone on wartime blackout, the light pollution isn't nearly as bad…
"I'm sorry to hear that Yoshino-san. Pardon me for asking, but would you like to join me for my lunch break? My sisters are currently off of the night watch, and it was going to be just me…" Akatsuki asked sheepishly.
"I don't really have anything better to do Akatsuki-san. I really wouldn't mind at all." I say, falling in step behind her. "What ships are on night watch this month Akatsuki-san?" I ask, attempting to make conversation. Akatsuki perks up, and starts to list the group of shipgirls assigned to night shift for the month of January.
"Since we generally don't have carriers on night watch, it's usually a battleship handling flagships duties during nights. This month, Kongou san has the flag for nights, with Kirishima being her second. For escorts, we have myself, Fubuki, Ayanami, Mutsuki, Yuudachi, Akizuki, Suzutsuki, Shigure, Sendai, Naka, Furutaka, and Aoba."
"So two battleships, two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and seven destroyers. Sounds like a nice fleet." I say, before frowning slightly. My captain had climbed up on top of my head and was ringing a bell. "Hold on for a moment Akatsuki-san. My crew is demanding my attention."
"Desu! Desu desu!" A feeling of dread crept up my spine,
"Akatsuki-san? Are there any inbound flights right now?" I ask, hoping to god that there would be a patrol of JASDF aircraft coming in for a landing.
"No Yoshino-san. Any reason why… You have radar contacts in the air, don't you?" Akatsuki says, horror creeping into her voice as she speaks.
Shit. I forget if I ever informed them that the Wo-Class and other Abyssal Carriers have gods be damned NIGHT CAPABILITIES
"I need the location and heading of those aircraft right now!" I yell at the captain, while grabbing Akatsuki's hand and pulling her towards the docks.
"Desu! Desu!"
"Akatsuki-san, we've got air contacts approaching from one hundred kilometers out! They're vectored towards the Tokyo area!" I snarl, already yelling at my crew to prepare for anti air combat. Akatsuki nods at me, and speaks through her radio
<All hands! Air Raid incoming! This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill! All personnel man your battlestations and set condition zebra!> Akatsuki shouts over both the PA and Emergency Radio. She also starts running towards the water, escaping my grip. "Yoshino-san, are you able to sortie?" She asks.
"Yes, I'll be able to do my part Akatsuki san. I'm at full load. I just wish Kentucky was here…" I say, glancing at the battleship dorms. I shake my head, and start running towards the docks as well.
Everdistant
Tokyo Bay Area, Japan
0210 Hours
Akatsuki and I both linked up with the other night watch shipgirls, and we deployed into the bay.
By then, both Kongou and Kirishima's radar had confirmed what I originally saw. Air raid incoming. The Tokyo area was in full alert, civilians were now streaming towards bomb shelters and (add something else here). Someone had woken Admiral Isoroku, and he had strategic control of the AO while Kongou had tactical. The Naval District's anti air batteries were fully manned, and now we waited for the JASDF's planes to make contact. They probably wouldn't be able to shoot many down, but they'd give us valuable information on the enemy's composition.
"Is the waiting always so bad Kongou-senpai?" I ask, my eyes still scanning the horizon.
"Yes. We're battleships. Our purpose is to fight, not wait around. You'll understand in a moment Yoshino chan." Kongou briefly glanced at me, "You do have sanshiki shells loaded, right?" I nod in confirmation, internally glancing at my radar display. The JASDF fighters were closing on the mass of blips that represented the abyssal forces. Moments later, the flight commander reports in over the comms.
"Contact! I count over one hundred enemy bombers, with at least fifty escorting fighters. My squadron will attempt to shoot down as many as we can, then shadow them to provide real time updates. No heroics from us tonight. My pilots can't reliably shoot them down, and boys on the ground've got plenty of guns for them." He says, rather bitterly at the end.
The blips on my radar mash together, presumably the JASDF jets blitzing the abyssal formation.
"Scratch five enemy bombers command. We're evading enemy fighters rather handily. We'll continue to provide live updates while we shadow them and wait for an opportunity. Over and Out."
"It's up to us now." Kongou says, glaring in the abyssals' general direction. "Kirishima, Yoshino. Prepare to fire a salvo of sanshiki as soon as they're in range. Hopefully we can shoot a significant portion of them down." Both Kirishima and I acknowledge the order, and I start to elevate my guns into position. "Kantia, diamond formation." Kongou orders. I send an acknowledgement with the rest of the fleet as we fall into formation.
Everdistant Dream
??? Minutes Later
"Targets in range of Anti Air, all batteries, open fire!"
"Kongou san, they're not at cruising altitude… This isn't an attack on Tokyo, it's a raid on shipping!" Someone screams.
"Firing!" Yells another shipgirl. The night sky lights up with tracers and flak explosions. Other shipgirls are issuing orders to each other, and the radio was going absolutely crazy. I wasn't really keeping track of all the reports and orders flowing through the channel, far too focused on my own problems. Thankfully, my crew was, and they screamed a warning towards me.
Wait, those are… dammit! They have torpedo bombers. They're after the moored ships!
"Maintain formation" Kongou yells, reminding us to be mindful of the other ships in the fleet.
The bombers begin to pick their targets, with a large amount heading towards me.
Shit. They're targeting me with a lot of their bombers. Thankfully I have a lot of AA here, but this is going to hurt. A lot.[/i]
At this point, the bombers started their dive, my 25mm guns firing lead into their path. The escorting destroyers and cruisers also opened up with their 25mm guns, desperately attempting to shoot down as many of the bombers as they could. The scene is like something directly out of a WWII documentary. The Fleet has lost any sense of cohesion, with everyone swerving and attempting to throw off the dive bombers aim. I throw myself into hard starboard turn, attempting to throw off the dive bombers attacking me, but I had reacted far too late. Pain lances through my arms and chest as the enemy bombs landed, cratering my deck and destroying a few of my 10cm guns.
"Ah!"
"Yoshino, watch out!" I woozily glance at the speaker. "Torpedo bombers, eight o-clock!"
"W-what?" It was far too late by then, as five torpedoes slam into my bulges, followed by an abyssal bomber crashing into my rear fire director.
"Yoshino! Are you okay?" Kentucky screamed over our mental link.
"I'm… fine…" I manage to think, glaring hatefully at the sky. "I'll be better… when I sink the damn carrier responsible for this!"
<Yoshino is on fire! She's been hit pretty badly!> Kongou yells over the radio, having taken no hits herself. Aoba's listing to port rather heavily, while Ayanami and Yuudachi were trying to beat flames off their sleeves, Fubuki and Shigure attempting helping them, only lightly injured themselves. Everyone else seems to be undamaged.
<Copy that Kongou.> Admiral Isoroku's voice crackled over the radio <Assess the damage and let me know who needs repairs. I'm sending Kentucky along with Carrier Division Five towards you. We're going to hunt down the carriers responsible for this attack, and we're going to sink them.>
<Have your fleet move in with Zuikaku's fleet. Zuikaku will have tactical command of the carrier fleet, while you have tactical over the forward element. Stay safe. Yoshino, I'll wait for your answer when you get back>
<Teikoku!?> Yamato's voice cuts across the radio channel.
<Yamato, I know you object to this, but your little sister has more anti air capability than you do. Unless she's in desperate need of repairs, I need her out there.>
My damage control teams begin to assess the combat damage, repairing what they can, and making note of what will need drydock time to repair. Two of my portside 10 cm DP guns are cratered, my bow has a crater in it that the damcon teams patch over with spare wood , and my rear fire control director can be somewhat repaired into working condition, thankfully. Periodically wincing in pain, I settle down to read a book that one of my crew members have handed to me.
Everdistant
Sometime Later
Zuikaku's fleet arrived after I had just gotten started on chapter four.
"Dammit Yoshino!" Kentucky shouted as she sailed over, "You had me so worried!" She pauses to fuss over me a bit. "Don't ever do that to me again, idiot." I immediately pull my little sister into a hug,
"I'm sorry Kentucky." Kentucky's arms tightened.
"I just don't want to lose you too, not like we lost dad… Kentucky "speaks" over our link, "please, don't leave me alone…"
"You know that I can't promise that Kentucky… But I swear that I won't let you go without a fight." I reply, patting my little sister on the back.
Chapter End
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