Chapter 141 - 128

Now this is a sight which I haven't seen in a while. A tattered and injured Zuihou.

The front of her top is torn and burnt, exposing her midriff and a bit of her chest. I can see a tiny bump sticking out of the torn cloth. Her rigging is shattered and there are holes in some parts of her remaining attachments. She is the only that was damage during that fight. I saw the whole fight on the monitor. While fighting against the Aircraft carrier Princess, a Heavy Cruiser Ri-class fired at Samidare. Zuihou went and blocked the shots for her. We managed to win and secured the resources though.

"Ughh... I've been defeated." (Zuihou)

"Yeah. I can see that. Hurry up and go to the bath."

I watched as a concerned Samidare supported Zuihou on her shoulders and escorted her to the docks.

We are halfway through the first phase and this happened. I could use a instant repair bucket on her but I'm not in a rush to complete this mission. Furthermore, the girls are tired from the constant sorties. So while Zuihou spends half a day in the docks, the others can rest up for the time being.

The fourth mission consists of multiple phases. The first phase is a transport load-off. Like the first mission, the fleet has to secure the resources located at a designated location and punch a hole in the Abyssal blockade to escape. The blockade is usually guarded by an Abyssal big-shot. After clearing that phase, we need to maintain air superiority against a Abyssal Carrier fleet to find out the location for the next Transport Load-off mission. Only then, we can draw out the main target of this mission, the Abyssal Forest Princess, a new type.

It has been two days since we started and at this rate, we can finish the first phase within the next two days. Good thing I got Murasame, Kisaragi and Mutsuki to bring along some Daihatsu Landing Crafts. It makes lugging the resources back faster and so much easier. The Transport Escort fleet consists of Zuihou, Mogami, Mutsuki, Shimakaze, Samidare, and Murasame in the main fleet, Tama, Shigure, Kisaragi, Yuudachi, Kumano and Mikuma in the escort fleet. After the first phase, I need to switch them into a Surface Task Force followed by a Carrier Task Force. HQ really gave us a difficult one this time. The strategy for this revolves around Zuihou. According to HQ, they found out that Zuihou will be able to deal significant amounts of destruction to the Abyssal Princesses in the area. We are still in the first phase, but she has already punched the Aircraft Carrier Princess a few times before getting punched herself. Not in literal sense, of course.

"The rest of you can rest for now. Once your flagship recovers, then we continue. Those that are hurt even a little, go to the docks. We need everyone of you to be in tip-top shape."

"Yes!" (All)

As the rest of the fleet went on with their day, I thought about checking on Avrora and the others. So far, they have been successful in their hunts. There were some coordination issues at the start, but they managed to figure it out amongst themselves. Maybe I should come up with a small reward for them. A day off is a good treat seeing as they have been working hard these few days. I plan to give the same to those that took part in this operation as well.

As I reached my office, I noticed the door was ajar. That's weird. I remember closing it before going to the port to greet the Transport Escort Fleet. Was someone waiting for me to return?

I opened the door and looked around.

There was someone fast asleep on the sofa. A girl which I have no idea who she is.

She was tanned with long black hair and grey hair clips resembling horns stuck to the side of her head. She was wearing a swimsuit, The top part of a sailor uniform with a orange collar only covered the top half of her body, leaving her legs exposed. From her uniform, she is definitely a submarine. Only the submarine girls walk around in this kind of fashion. Her style seems pretty familiar.

"Hey. Wake up. You will catch a cold if you sleep here."

I gently shook her shoulders.

"Uhmm~" (???)

Her eyes fluttered open,

"Aahh-hhaaa... I fell asleep." (???)

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She stared at me with a sleepy expression, before realizing that I have been observing her this whole time.

"Aaaahhh! W-w-w-who are you?!" (???)

"That's my line. What's a submarine doing here?"

"Eh? Do you know what am I?" (???)

Her speech and tone suddenly became more polite.

"Of course. Only submarines wear that style of uniform. I know one girl who wears exactly like you."

Come to think of it, this girl is just like Shioi. Wait, wasn't there a submarine girl supposed to arrive from Yokosuka today? I was so focused on the mission that I totally forgot about it.

"I see. Mind if I ask, are you the Admiral?" (???)

"Yeah. I'm the Admiral here."

"Ah..." (???)

The submarine girl stood up,

"Admiral, good day to you. I'm the eldest of the Sentoku-class, first ship, I-400. Hmm.... Shi...o...n? Yes... Shion... please call me that." (I-400)

That's why she reminds me of Shioi. This girl is her elder sister.

"Nice to meet you. I'm the Admiral of Maizuru Naval Base. We have been expecting you. I was told a submarine will arrive. Though I didn't expect one from the Sentoku-class. Shioi will be happy with you here."

"Sorry for showing you something unsightly just now. Wait, Shioi? Shioi-chan is here too?" (Shion)

"Yeah. She is patrolling the Moray sea with the others at the moment. Should be back anytime now. Since we are done with the formalities, why not greet them at the port?"

"Can I?" (Shion)

She looks extremely excited. She is meeting her long-lost sister after all.

"Go ahead. Oh by the way, feel free to visit me anytime if you need anything. I will always welcome you girls."

"Ehe~ I will keep your offer in mind. Excuse me." (Shion)

Shion closed the door behind her as she left for the port. Taigei should be on the way back with the submarines now. After which, they would head into the bath to wash up and then play for the rest of the day.

Zuihou should be fully repaired by 0300hrs, after that the mission will continue in the afternoon once she has fully rested up. As much as I went to sneak into the bath with her, we got to focus our energy on the mission. My little playtime can wait. For now...

Focus, damn it!