"Halt."
Everyone was unsure of how to respond to this situation, since the Abyssal clearly wasn't armed, and Akashi, the leader of this operation, told them not to fire upon this strange Abyssal who was passively sailing towards them.
Shigure explained the situation to everyone, but gave Akashi a questioning look to ask for her consent before doing so, which she allowed with a small nod.
"This Abyssal visited the 1st Fleet during our sortie, and in our 'friendly' little conversation, she said that Yokosuka was in the Abyssals' cross-hairs, and hinted at how we, the 1st Fleet would be 'the first to witness the dawn of a new age of warfare.'
That was probably hinting at the Flying Dutchman and how it destroyed us at Mikura Jima Island, and she's like a spokesperson for the Abyssal high command."
Akashi nodded as she flicked her wrists and summoned her scalpels in order to wield them like claws as she explained what they were going to do.
"We're going to listen to what she has to say, but if she feels as if she wants to hold out on us…"
Holding up her bloody scalpels to indicate how serious she was about learning more about the Abyssals at all costs, she threatened.
"I know of ways to convince her to cooperate."
Shivering at the implications of torture being used to extract information from a non-combatant, Shigure turned back to the nearing Wo-Class who was less than ten meters away now, visibly observing their injuries and their bloody uniforms, noting the amount of bloodshed and the toll it took on her teammates.
Unryuu had lost her entire left arm and was still bleeding a little as it bloodied her white-green uniform and rigging, and an unconscious Hatsuzuki was missing her left leg and was carried by Hyuga, who wasn't looking too good with her smoking rigging and bloody miko uniform.
Ise was clearly suffering from internal injuries as her uniform was even bloodier than Hyuga's after taking three 16 Inch shells to the torso, and Akitsu Maru, Akashi and Kiso were drenched in the Abyssals' blood and might as well have red paint poured all over their bodies and riggings, and Maya suffered from a broken right arm and several shattered bones and ribs.
Hatsuharu's hair was drenched and was weighing her down, and her right mechanical arm was cleanly sheared off at its joint, Shigure noting the shiny steel that was exposed at the affected cross-section, while Kawakaze and Hayasui looked the least affected by the battle just like her, and they could easily take this Abyssal down even after defeating the Southern War Princess which had taken a lot out of them, especially since Woxanne was unarmed.
The Abyssal was now within speaking distance for them to communicate with each other and be heard, Akitsu Maru brandishing her Anti-Abyssal Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun as she called out.
"What the hell are you doing here ... Woxanne?"
The silent Abyssal lowered her hands as she leaned in and responded dryly, noting the animosity in their postures and keeping a safe distance in case she had to make a quick getaway.
"I was sent here to determine the status of the Southern War Princess and her Elites. And even after getting into contact with what remained of the Elites, I had to personally check up on the Princess' status and how she was doing against the dreaded 8th Fleet. Well, my job's almost done now, since my last objective was to get in touch with you all and learn what she revealed about us."
"And why should we tell you what we know?"
Shigure could hear Kiso coolly replying, trying to protect the intelligence that they obtained and making sure that their victory wouldn't be compromised, since the Abyssals might prepare countermeasures to stop them should they share with Woxanne what the Southern War Princess revealed before dying.
But Woxanne shrugged as she hypothesized about what the Southern War Princess told them, shifting a little under the number of cannons, firearms and weapons pointed at her as she spoke.
"Hmm, an excellent point. But still, I suppose you asked about Apocalypse in order to confirm about it being a land assault campaign. And perhaps asking about why she acted the way she did by forcing Abyssals into her fleet, only to end up facing you and dying anyway. Quite the asinine action, in my opinion."
Everyone shifted and gave each other aside glances, and this was what helped Woxanne confirm her suspicions, looking at each and every one of them as she explained.
"There seems to be a slight misconception about the situation at hand. You believe that learning about all this, and more, will give you an advantage over us, but please understand this is us giving you all a sporting chance. As much as we Abyssals wish to wipe out all of mankind for the greater good of Earth, we understand that you ship girls do not deserve to get steamrolled if we were to simply attack everywhere all at once…"
Looking wistful and expressing a lot more emotion than what a rank-and-file Abyssal Wo-Class normally would, Woxanne looked towards them as she continued.
"That's why I will say this, courtesy of my superiors who sent me. World War 3 will happen, whether you want to or not. Like how the sun will always rise from the East, nothing you do will prevent this war from coming to fruition. It'll happen by the year's end, and from there on, the Apocalypse will be fulfilled. The war will never end unless we Abyssals are either victorious or dead, and should it be the former, we shall usher in the end of an age for all of mankind."
Ise, wearing a tense smile on her face which looked like a false expression worn in times of stress, was anything but relaxed and was actually itching to reach for her katana, asking nervously in order to learn more about their plans.
"How're you going to do that, hmm?
Last I checked, we have 7 billion humans living on this Earth. You can't possibly kill them all."
A small chuckle escaped the Abyssal's twitching lips, Woxanne trying her best not to smile as she raised a gloved hand to her sensual lips as she retorted.
"Hm, like you said… 'And why should we tell you what we know?'"
Everyone blinked at that, but Woxanne awkwardly waved her hand to comfort them as she behaved a little like an alien being granted human emotions and was experimenting with human behavior as she relented, especially since she was staring down several cannon and gun barrels pointed her way, deadpanning.
"Just joking. My superiors, Superstar and Brainiac…"
Akashi growled at that as her eyes narrowed, holding her scalpels a little tighter as Woxanne's eyes also narrowed, now knowing that the Southern War Princess revealed their identities since Akashi likely had history with them, and the reason why she would react so negatively to the name-dropping was if she knew who they really were.
"They told me that this was a declassified topic, so I suppose what I'm feeling right now is magnanimity…"
The barest hints of a smug smile graced Woxanne's expression, looking a little unsure of how human expressions worked as she lightly mocked.
"Yes, I feel magnanimous enough to share this information with you all."
Kiso pulled out a 14 Cm Single Gun cannon as she threatened.
"Hmm, seems like being the spokesperson for the Abyssal high-command seems to have granted you quite the attitude and a sense of humor. Let's see how they hold up with a 14 Cm shell through your head."
"Die Endlösung."
Everyone's breath stopped, Shigure suddenly feeling disgusted upon hearing those words even though she hadn't yet downloaded the German language module available to all ship girls in order to learn how to speak German in a split second.
But those words…
Somehow, she had an inkling of what they truly meant, and if that was what the Abyssals were really trying to reenact on all of humanity...
Woxanne lowered her head as her fringe cast a shadow over her eyes, the slight luminosity of her emerald eyes giving her an eerie appearance of a specter as Maya shouted.
"Hey! Did this bitch say they wanted to reenact 'The Final Solution' on everyone?!"
Shigure felt her heart drop as her worst fears were realized, and since no one answered her question, Maya's breathing increasing in intensity and her expression contorting with hatred as she took action against the Abyssal messenger.
"Fuck this! Fuck you!"
Rushing forwards, Maya was faster than anyone had predicted after taking the amount of damage she had sustained into account as she used her working left arm to give Woxanne a nasty left hook, standing over the crumpled form of Woxanne as her expression darkened and she roared.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL PLANNING?! TELL US!"
Akitsu Maru chipped in as she kicked the Wo-Class in the diaphragm, looking equally pissed off as she pointed her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun in Woxanne's face and cocked it while threatening through gritted teeth.
"Talk, or else."
But Akashi ordered them to step away from the coughing Wo-Class, pointing out the obvious concerning their interrogation techniques.
"Step away, the both of you. She said that she was going to tell you anyway, and kicking her in the stomach and making her cough incessantly isn't going to help things!"
Wincing and lowering their heads as though they were kids who were ordered to do something against their will, the two incensed ship girls grudgingly backed away from the still-coughing Woxanne who was sprawled on the ocean surface, asking.
"Well, I assume that your superior 'Brainiac', AKA Yuubari is the one who planned it, right?"
Nodding as she cleared her throat, Shigure saw that she was a lot more expressive about the pain that she felt as she pushed herself up with her arms, gasping as she did so while Shigure noted the bruised cheek and the chest wound which thankfully didn't hinder her ability to speak.
'Yes, although you humans had a hand in helping us come up with an early draft and demonstration during the Nazi occupation of Europe from 1941 to 1945. We improved upon the efficiency of the extermination process and the theoretical speed in which we 'process' humans…"
Using air quotes to get her point across, Shigure now noted that everyone now really wanted to make Woxanne suffer after learning that they improved upon one of mankind's greatest tragedies and planned to execute it on a global scale.
Admittedly, it almost seemed inevitable, with how the Abyssals seemed to behave like machines and never wasted any time on things like sentiment or emotions, likely prioritizing efficiency over everything else as the Abyssal war machine plowed on relentlessly, with no hints of stopping.
It'd stand to reason that they preferred a method of genocide that would be fast yet clean, since a mountain of bullets would be wasted on just one country's inhabitants if they went with mass executions via firing squad.
Woxanne felt their overwhelming animosity, and finished her sentence quickly so as not to piss them off even more with her words.
"... And this will be what awaits all of mankind when we kill the last ship girls."
Shigure asked, morbidly curious about how fast they could wipe out all of mankind on paper as she piped up with a question.
"How long before you wipe out every single human on Earth? I mean, if we were to lose?"
Everyone turned to face her, from her fleet-mates as Ise, Kawakaze, Maya, Hatsuharu and Hyuga gave her the "What the hell?" face, and the 8th Fleet either raised their eyebrows or gave her the "Dude, not the time!" look.
But Woxanne looked down, seemingly noting Shigure's meek presence amidst strong ship girls who overshadowed her as she seemed genuinely curious about her, and her question.
"Interesting. Shigure of Yokosuka, member of the 1st Fleet, here in a battle against an Abyssal Princess. Perhaps to get stronger in preparation for what comes next, hmm?
Well, as to your question…"
Woxanne stroked her chin with her gloved hand as she considered the question, before answering with a rough estimate.
"Based on the latest meetings that I had the honor of attending, the usage of hydrogen bombs to make our jobs easier and taking into account the theoretical amount of casualties in World War 3 should reduce it to anywhere from 30 to 50 years."
Everyone recoiled at that, never expecting the Abyssals to have refined the killing process to such an extent, and also using hydrogen bombs which utilized a fusion reaction to produce an explosion that far outclassed the yield of any atomic bomb with very little radiation in the fallout of the explosion, the Japanese being terribly acquainted with such things after having two nukes dropped on them.
Woxanne picked up the ends of her cape as she brought them out, bending her knees a little in a curtsy as she started sailing in reverse and ended the conversation with her next line.
"The next time we meet, we'll do so as enemies on the battlefield. Good luck for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, Yuubari-sama wishes to commend your use of submarines to lay naval mines as an excellent countermeasure."
Akashi didn't seem fazed by the line about them realizing what the submarines of Yokosuka were up to, but instead asked a question of her own to sate her personal curiosity.
"If Yuubari is still like anything I remember her to be, she'll want to have a talk with me after this. Where is she?"
Turning back to proudly display the stylized Abyssal "A" shark-symbol on her back as she considered the question while stopping in her tracks, Woxanne eventually faced her and responded with an enigmatic answer.
"Yuubari-sama indeed wishes to speak with you. But Yuubari-sama is an important person in the Abyssal hierarchy, and she is busy with the final preparations for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea and World War 3 later down the road. But she personally swears that she'll find some time to talk to you after the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, where she'll have finished almost everything on her agenda."
Akashi said nothing in reply, but gave an almost imperceptible nod in response which satisfied Woxanne, turning as she raised her right hand to give them a wave while she sailed away, everyone staying silent as they kept their weapons trained on her while she sank back into the ocean.
And finally, after Woxanne's hair disappeared beneath the surface of the ocean, everyone collectively exhaled as they sheathed their weapons and Kawakaze gave Shigure a lazy aside glance as she commented on Shigure's curiosity.
"Maa, Shigure-Aneki. I know that you're curious and want to learn about a lot of things, but I think that there're some questions that you really shouldn't ask, especially asking about Abyssals and their 'Final Solution' plan."
Shigure shrugged as she holstered her 12 Cm Single Gun cannon as she responded, trying not to look embarrassed at how everyone was giving her strange looks and looked tired after fighting the Southern War Princess and confronting Woxanne, learning even more about the the Abyssals' plans and their intention to wipe out all of mankind with the most inhumane, yet efficient method of mass extermination.
"W-Well, I was just interested in just how advanced their technology was, and how advanced it was compared to our current technology..."
Unryuu huffed as she lowered her conducting staff, remarking how it was logical for them to use everything at their disposal to make the extermination of mankind as efficient and swift as possible.
"Hmm, it certainly makes sense if they were to use hydrogen bombs before they started the extermination process, since they would have increased its potency while decreasing the amount of radioactive fallout it would leave behind. After all, they often made distinctions between wiping out mankind and destroying Earth itself; it would make sense for them to try and accomplish the former without causing the latter."
Akashi sighed, now looking very tired as she sheathed her operating equipment and simply ordered, wanting to go home and get some rest before working on healing the injured.
"Time to go home. I don't want to waste any more time here, we can do the thinking at home."
Shigure nodded tiredly and felt the fatigue setting in while the adrenaline in her body wore off, and since she was an unremodeled ship girl who hadn't gotten enough physical conditioning compared to Kai Ni ship girls and Kawakaze and Maya, she was feeling rather tired even though she was a support ship.
Everyone relaxed after hearing that, their taut expressions relaxing as they started up their boat slippers while sheathing their weapons and deciding to call it a day, Shigure's HUD displaying,
18th April 2015
2.27 a.m.
Akitsu Maru grunted as she holstered her Benelli M3 shotgun while agreeing with her flagship.
"Amen to that."