Our Bonds

Tenryuu raised her sword to block her opponent's blow. The sound of clashing metal and explosions continued to echo through the comms system. It was battle which we hoped to never fight. Our opponents, regrettably, are the Azur Lane shipgirls.

"Oi, Admiral! You do realize that subduing them without hurting them is way harder than sinking them?" (Tenryuu)

"Don't even think about it! They are still our allies. Commander Ao and Akashi are doing their best to stop the cube's influence. Try not to be too rough with them."

"Easier said than done when they are the ones trying to kill us!" (Tenyruu)

Tenryuu dodged Ayanami's attack as the latter brought her sword down on the light cruiser's head.

One hour ago, we received an SOS message from Commander Ao himself. The contents of the message wasn't very clear, but they were clearly in distress. I sortied Tenryuu, Tatsuta, Umikaze, Kawakaze, Kumano and Mogami to the scene to evaluate the situation before making decisions. What greeted them were five fleets worth of Azur Lane shipgirls, all of which have yellow, clouded eyes and a tube attaching to their backs. The tubes resemble the tendrils which the Transport Ship Wa-class used the back then. They met a few shipgirls, who are sane, and got a summary of what happened. Long story short, the shipgirls we are fighting now are under the influence of the Black Mental Cube that was recovered a few weeks ago and have gone berserk. Commander Ao and Akashi are now in the midst of finding a way to sever the affected shipgirls connection to the black mental cube and contain it. I have since sortied five more fleets to subdue the berserk shipgirls. I have even sent a request for assistance to other naval bases. I doubt I can handle this on my own when the enemy shipgirls are increasing in both numbers and ferocity.

Tenryuu parried Ayanami's attack and put some distance in between them. She fired her guns at the Destroyer, only to miss as the latter dodged all the shells with ease.

"Oh come on! I will look bad at this rate." (Tenryuu)

"This is no time for that."

"Ufufufu. As expected of my sister. But on a serious note, this is pretty bad. It's taking everything I got to stop this little girl's attacks." (Tatsuta)

Tatsuta swung her spear at Javelin, forcing the Destroyer to take a step back before lunging again. Even the two older and more experienced Light Cruisers are having trouble with the two younger Destroyers.

"Shioi, what's your status? Have you found out where those tubes are coming from?"

I sent in my submarine fleet in order to obtain information and find a way to end this madness. I hope they have something to tell me.

"We have confirmed where those tubes are coming from. They are connected to right underneath island itself." (Shioi)

"Anything else noteworthy?"

"Not yet. We are trying to shake these pipsqueaks of our tail." (Shioi)

Eh?

I switched the monitor to show my submarine fleet. Shioi and the others are running, or swimming, away from Azur Lane's submarines. It's taking everything for them to dodge the onslaught of torpedos. I messed up. If the surface shipgirls have gone mad, what is stopping the submarine girls from going mad as well? I didn't think about that.

"Retreat from the area and enter from a different position. "

"Roger. You heard him, retreat!" (Shioi)

I switched back to the surface. Taihou and Kaga are fighting against Akagi.

"Nee-sama, please open your eyes!" (AL Kaga)

"It's useless. She is no longer the sister you know. This is perfect. With you gone, I can have Admiral all to myself." (AL Taihou)

"Don't you dare-" (AL Kaga)

"Stay sharp!" (AL Taihou)

Akagi let out a loud shriek, before launching her planes at Taihou. Taihou launched her own set of fighters to intercept. Explosions filled the air as the three aircraft carriers clashed with one another. Akagi lunged at Taihou, fangs wide open. Taihou raised her left arm and blocked the rampaging fox girl. Akagi sank her teeth and claws into Taihou's forearm.

"Ouch! Alright. I hope my blood is tasty. Because this will be your last meal!" (AL Taihou)

"Taihou, no!" (AL Kaga)

"Taihou!"

Taihou raised her fist and slugged Akagi right on the nose, sending her sending her spinning into the air and flying backwards. Akagi's bled from the nose and mouth as she laid on the water surface, twitching. Her body in an unnatural position. Taihou signalled to her planes to drop their payload onto her opponent, which exploded upon impact.

"Taihou! You bit-" (AL Kaga)

"Calm down. She won't die from that." (AL Taihou)

Before I can argue, Akagi began to stand up. However, she got up in a very unnatural manner. She placed both her hands and feet onto the water surface, forming a bridge with her body. As if only using her core muscles, Akagi slowly brought herself back upright. The grotesque sound of bones cracking can be heard throughout the process. Her right arm, which was twisted, spun back to it's original position and clicked back into place. The whole scene was straight out of a horror movie.

"Tch. See. She wouldn't die from just that." (AL Taihou)

No. You definitely tried to kill her. Maybe you did kill her. But at least that helps me realise something. The tubes are healing them, the same way that Transport ship Wa-class repaired the other Abyssal sh.i.p.s. Once the vessel is on a near-death state, the cube repairs and heals them through the tubes.

I'm sorry, Commander Ao, but this is for the best,

"All sh.i.p.s! This is an order. Subdue the enemy by all means necessary. I will permit the use of lethal force."