Eh, a small chapter for the moment. Its very technical...but at least we get the plot going
==|Chapter 03 -2: Counterattack|==
The hustle and bustle of activity, accompanied by the mechanical whines of robotic arms, mechanic stations and various other machines, filled a hall in the holds of a ship. Electronic lights hung above, illuminating the closed off area.
Women and girls of varying ages walked among the machines, tended to by robotic arms or tool-wielding mechanics - or even some over eager, chirpy, (for lack of a better word) fairies. Some were partly naked, exposing several sets of cybernetics attached to their back, which were gently worked on by their counterparts. Others, while clothed in a bodysuit and coat, had a massive piece of machinery attached to their backs - something resembling a metal backpack, with various equipment like radar masts on them, which branched out into a set of appendages, each with a miniaturised gun turret on them, or even a torpedo launcher.
Shipgirls - or rather, an evolved version of them. Their rigging was sleeker than their older counterparts, with a shine to it not seen in others. The design was less cluttered, with only a few extra parts poking out of the machinery, to reduce the amount of unarmored and vulnerable sections.
As each of them got through their final checks, many of them began to say goodbyes to their comrades and friends, preparing to sortie.
Above them, in the bridge, the captain of the ship gave the order to stop.
Outside, on the vast expanse of the ocean, the fleet of six ships slowed to a halt. Like clockwork, crewmen prepared for battle, sealing hatches, locking down important and unimportant sections alike, all the while as they prepared weapons. The whole process only took several minutes, a testament to the crew's training as well as the technology they worked with.
Beneath them, at the back of the carrier, a transformation slowly took place. The metal walls of the ship's stern was raised, exposing a massive hollow section - one that led to its shipgirl deployment bays. Before it rose, seawater had been pumped in, to ensure that the carrier would not suffer shocks from a massive influx of water.
Back in the maintenance hall, groups of shipgirls began to form into lines, in front of a set of shutters. While the whole scene looked chaotic, in truth, all of them followed a set of protocol, arranging themselves in quick manners thanks to the rigours of training.
As they formed lines, a siren blared, warning everyone of the opening gates. A moment later, the shutters began to open, letting in both natural and artifical light, as well as revealing the 'docks' of the ship. Already, crewmen waited at those docks, preparing to assist and help those warriors in their launches.
The shipgirls stepped onto the docks, and the lead member of each line stepped into the docks - a pair of troughs, one for each leg, submerged with water as to allow them to move off as quickly as possible.
As they stepped in, a red signal hung above them, telling them not to do anything.
Finally, as everyone at the front of the line settled into their respective stations, the red signal flickered off, and a orange signal below it came to life.
As one, the shipgirls acted. Some brought their hands to their sides, making flamboyant actions to focus their minds - others simply stood silent, taking a deep breath.
But the same thing happened to all of them. Around their bodies, tendril of yellow light flickered to life, flashing in and out of existence. If one squinted, they could notice a faint sphere of energy surrounding each of them, with various symbols and runes flashing across their surfaces.
As they concentrated, the wisps of light slowly began to form something coherent - the outline of a piece of machinery - which looked so faint at first, but slowly became more and more opaque, until finally, the glowing outlines of the shipgirls' rigging surrounded all of them.
A few more moments, and the lights faded, leaving each of them ready to deploy.
In addition to the rigging and their battle outfits, a visor appeared on their faces, attached to them by their ears, the main body made from a transparent material. Screens of code scrolled across each visor, before changing to a heads-up-display, full of information on the battlefield. their comrades, and their enemies.
The various pieces of rigging also began to warm up, the whining of reactors gearing up filling the deployment bay. A few lights flashed, and turrets rotated slightly as the shipgirls and their attendant engineers began final checks on their systems.
Finally, as all of them concluded, another engineer, dressed in wet overalls, tapped a glowing screen, and the lights above them turned green.
With a pulse of energy, all of the shipgirls engaged their engines as one, causing the hum of mechanical, electrical and magical energy to fill the air. Reactors went into overdrive, and the water churned beneath their feet. One by one, the shipgirls shot out of their stations, and out of the hold of the carrier. Ducking under the bulkheads, they swung out into open air, twisted as they turned.
As their squadmates left, the next group of shipgirls stepped up, preparing to be deployed themselves.
==|==
Above them, on the deck of the carrier, another set of preparations were being carried out.
The deck had a single runway, where the engineering section to its left held a few helicopters or assorted VTOL craft, but the main action focused on the section to its left.
A set of five massive devices, each as long as a man was tall, resembling a sort of old-style harpoon gun, except that it lacked a winch, and a control seat was located just right behind the main assembly of the weapon, large enough to fit one person.
Around them, groups of engineers, operators, drones, and a whole cloud of fairies ran around them, reading ordinance of the unusual sort - a set of missiles, each as thick as a man's fist, with a set of stablizer fins at its back end and smaller ones attached to middle, topped off a head slightly larger than the rest of the body..
A group of men, accompanied by a couple of fairies, carefully picked up the massive piece of ammunition, holding it by the shaft, grunting as they strained to lift its weight. Making their way over to the weapon, hoisting the piece of ordinance up to the barrel, and slowly, carefully, slid the missile into it.
The process was repeated a few times on the rest of the devices, and a single engineer got into each, while the rest of the personnel ran or flew away.
Slowly, with the whirring of electronic motors, all of the devices turned to face to the port side of the ship, aiming their barrels forty degrees upwards. In the operator seat, the engineers watched a series of dials, maps and symbols, analyzing the battlefield.
Finally, a series of orders came in, and they acted.
Releasing a control joystick, the operators grasped tightly a pair of handles located in front of them. Closing their eyes, a faint glow surrounded the handles, and started glowing.
Accompanied by the humming of energy, a blue ring of light around each of the devices started to glow. A few other circles of light appeared around the barrel, and one by one, began to spin.
The whirring grew louder every second, and with it appeared several more tendrils of energy and other glowing circles. Each of the operators started to sweat, clenching their teeth as the strain of controlling so many streams of power.
The tendrils of light then entered the barrel of the weapon, gracefully flowing around the loaded missiles. A tendril touched the top of the missiles, and it started to glow with green light, its components activated by the influx of energy. At this, the tendrils moved faster, as if agitated, quickly weaving a net around the missiles, symbols flashing across the net as it was weaved. A light-show of blue and yellow turning into green as energy flowed from spell to spell, causing flashes of light to appear at the mouth of the barrel
The main spell complete, the tendrils in a single microsecond. Immediately, the blue circles that were rotating around the barrel spun ever faster, a series of symbols flashing to life around them, following the whine of a charging capacitor.
Finally, the weapons' operators gently let go of the left handle, and slapped a red button next to it. The blue rings around the barrel suddenly stopped, and collided together with a thunderclap. With a flash of electric-blue lightning and a loud thump, the missiles shot out of the weapon at a few times the speed of sound, spinning as they flew.
Soaring through the skies, the missiles maintained their flight for several seconds, until they arrived above a group of shipgirls sailing through the ocean, although hidden in the clouds.
Suddenly, each missile began to glow with a green light, three green circles full of symbols appearing around each missile.
Spinning for a brief moment, all three circles collided, and the missile vanished in a flash of green light. All around the sky, the rest of the missiles vanished in similar ways.
Out of each flash, bursting through the clouds, came out five fighter jets, each with a fairy pilot at the cockpit. painted in gunmetal grey and made from sharp, angled alloy. Swooping through the air with their swept-back wings, they patrolled the skies like a watchful eagle, taking care of their compatriots on the water.
==|==
The sea was calm, and would have been utterly silent, if a couple of figures cut through waters.
The rudders on their boots cutting a wave through the silent waters, the shipgirls looked around, carefully watching the skies and waters around them. A significant number of them had looks of nervousness on their face - the unstable magical presence in the area was starting to affect them, and making them feel rather uneasy.
Still, despite all that, they pushed on.
Several more minutes of travelling at almost forty-five knots an hour, they started to see a storm cloud on the horizon - a massive black shape, sparkling with electricity, and the telltale signs of magic, the many symbols flickering into and out of existence right outside the cloud itself.
Seeing this disturbance, the task force hurried. Gunning their 'engines' even harder, made as fast as they could for the storm cloud, while being wary of new developments.
Yet, even as they closed with the storm cloud, nothing happened, save the continuing flashes.
Slowing down, they watched the perimeter of the storm with caution. Yet even as they watched the readouts on their visors, and feeling the magical energies that surrounded them, all they could see was a hurricane of power, its nexus of energy situated at the eye of the storm. As for actual Abyssals themselves, their Augurs remain confused, the sheer amount of the power clouding any signatures they could find, save for the lone figure in the nexus itself.
Still, they needed to fulfill their duty.
Watching the massive storm, evaluating its effects on their combat effectiveness, the squad leaders communed for a discussion, plotting the best way to end the Abyssal.
Finally, they came to a decision, and acted with honed swiftness. The air force above twisted one last time, and went straight for the storm. Meanwhile, the shipgirls prepared formations, turning their turrets and weapons along preset firing paths, ready to unleash fire and brimstone on their enemies.
But before they could begin their assault, a hole in the storm cloud opened, exposing a ray of light.
"Too late." A high, cold, cackling voice filled the air, driving an icicle of fear and shock into the task force's minds.
A single circle appeared over the storm cloud, and it blew itself apart.
