" … And the preparations, as per Admiral Haru's instructions, are being carried out as we speak."
Iowa was sitting in the canteen of the San Francisco Naval Base with Admiral Felix as they both relaxed over a cup of coffee on the 2nd of May, the both of them updating the other of the situation as per usual.
And since Iowa was in on the loop about the likelihood of an impending land assault, she was speaking to her Admiral about how the development of Anti-Abyssal firearms was coming along.
Admiral Felix was sipping his coffee, and Iowa furrowed her eyebrows as she asked her Admiral about what she was supposed to tell the others regarding why they were diverting so much resources into Anti-Abyssal weapons development.
"And I'd like to ask before anyone asks, Admiral, but others are picking up on the fact that we're using a lot of resources for Anti-Abyssal weapons development and are doing more expeditions than usual as a result, even though we're stuffed with resources… If they're to ask me about why we're doing this, what do I tell them if you made it clear beforehand that we're never to use 'Ask the Admiral' to avoid being questioned?"
Admiral Felix shrugged nonchalantly, taking another sip from his cup of coffee as he made up an offhand explanation which would reveal little to nothing to others, yet allow them to be prepared for what was to come as he explained.
"Well, tell them that we're… taking precautions. After all, it's been 10 years since the Abyssals have changed up the game with another 5-Year Plan, and we need to prepare ourselves in any way possible. Tell them that, hmm?"
Iowa nodded, but was still trying to wrap her mind around the possibility that the world would be engulfed in another world war, asking her Admiral out of curiosity.
"Admiral, if 'Apocalypse' is going to drag the world into another world war, please tell me why we aren't simply notifying and warning every single country under the sun about this? We can't simply leave 'em in the dark, right?"
Admiral Felix lowered his reports, giving Iowa an "Are you serious?" face as he patiently explained how spectacularly that course of action was going to backfire.
"And then what? Tell 'em we found a couple of receipts and plans which could have easily been faked, and be laughed out of their office as fear-mongers or attention whores who are trying to hoard resources. Add this to the fact that we can't send spies in to gather information about the Abyssals since they're living in, I don't know, Atlantis…? Or what did you girls call it back then? 'Bikini Bottom', back when Spongebob was still a thing?"
Iowa lifted an eyebrow to acknowledge the in-joke that since the Abyssals lived on the ocean floor, their spawning point-slash-base of operations was jokingly and colloquially dubbed "Bikini Bottom" by everyone, before it was eventually accepted as one way to refer to the underwater land of the Abyssals alongside the more official-sounding "Atlantis" and the dreaded "Davy Jones' Locker".
"Anyway, what we need right now is more evidence to prove that 'Apocalypse' is real, since I know that you know that humans can't always be relied upon to make rational decisions which would upset the status quo for the worse. You really think that living under the impression that there was no war for 10 years and another 10 believing that it's not their war to fight, you think anyone wants to be told that they're going to have to start making preparations for another world war against alien invaders? By God, The Flying Dutchman made enough of a fuss with one appearance, you think the old crones behind our governments want to saddle up for a land assault without proper evidence to prove beyond a shred of doubt that it's anything but imminent?"
Iowa lowered her head despondently, understanding that not everyone was capable of thinking straight when under pressure or were facing threats to their way of life, but Admiral Felix's tone lightened as he snapped his papers straight and returned his gaze towards its contents, letting Iowa know about their next course of action.
"Relax. It's not all hopeless, simply most of it. Admiral Haru's sending out her Infiltration Fleet into Abyssal waters to find out more about 'Apocalypse', and if it's successful, we can call for an overseas conference to convince everyone about this and bring them up to speed on things. She recommended that I carry out a land-assault training session in the meantime in order to prepare ourselves for what's next, so I suppose we'll do that. Wouldn't want our girls to pick up a firearm when we get attacked and the first words which comes out of their mouth is, 'How the hell do I use this?' Shit, I'd rather just surrender and attempt to parley with the Abyssals if that were to really happen, instead of getting steamrolled."
Iowa nodded as she made a mental note of that, asking her Admiral about what he was reading and how it had commanded his attention for some time.
"Admiral, if I may ask, what's that you're reading? You've been staring at it for a while now."
Admiral Felix then passed the reports over to Iowa, narrating as she lowered her head in order to read the words and inspect the pictures which were sent from overseas to them.
"A few days ago, a blue whale was found dead, sporting wounds larger than battleships are tall, and these…"
Gently placing his index finger on the two bloody sets of teeth which were recovered from the carcass, he continued grimly about their hypothesis on how the blue whale met its demise.
"These are the steel teeth which they managed to recover from the whale carcass. We're hard pressed to match these two teeth with any known Abyssals, especially the one shaped like a dagger. They hypothesized that two new Beasts killed this whale for sport, and one of them was theorized to be a Megalodon, since this tooth is shaped like a Great White Shark's tooth, but larger. The possibility of this new Beast being linked to Apocalypse has not been discounted."
Now pointing to the diamond-shaped steel tooth which filled the ship girl's bloodied hand, Iowa gulped as she wondered how her armor would fare against this new Beast.
Admittedly, as a battleship, her armor was nothing to sneeze at, but looking at the cutting-edge of the tooth belonging to a supposedly extinct predator which was remade in steel in order to pierce ship girl armor, she was starting to possess a healthy amount of self-doubt about the strength of her armor trying to protect her against that.
Looking up at Admiral Felix, she asked warily.
"So what're we going to do about this, Admiral?"
But hoping for reassuring answers didn't get her anywhere, Admiral Felix relaxing his tense stance in order to sink into his chair as he responded in a defeated tone.
"Not much, unfortunately. We can equip our ship girls with Anti-Submarine Depth Charge Launchers in order to try and provide some sort of defense against this and plant some underwater naval mines in order to deter them, but what else can we do?"
Iowa was dumbfounded as she leaned forward with an incredulous expression, asking disbelievingly.
"But, we're not going out to hunt this… this thing down and kill it?"
Admiral Felix shrugged as he shared his little session with Admiral Haru yesterday, and how they "planned" to deal with this.
"Well, we wouldn't want to waste our fuel on useless 'fishing trips' for enemy Beasts which can simply wait us out and force us to waste our resources in trying to find them. So Admiral Haru's suggestion in our talk yesterday was to send out Essex, and I mean Essex the carrier, mind you, arm her with harpoons and make her wear one hand puppet on each hand. One'll be called Ahab, and the other, Ishmael."
Iowa managed to rein in a snicker at the thought of her comrade being sent out to hunt an Abyssal Beast the old-fashioned way, since her similarly-named predecessor was reportedly sunk by a whale and inspired the novel, Moby Dick.
Gesturing to Admiral Felix with a barely-held-together poker face, she gave her commander a tight smile as she asked politely.
"And what was your response, Admiral?
I'm pretty sure you have a better plan than that."
Admiral Felix somehow managed to say his next words with a straight face, turning to face Iowa and looking her dead in the eye as he explained.
"Why, of course. Invest our resources in Anti-Abyssal shark-repellant Bat-spray."
Iowa couldn't hold in her laugh anymore, bursting out in one soft bark of laughter before trying to compose herself, Admiral Felix looking at her in a nonplussed manner as she brought her voice under control and coughed into her gloved fist, before uttering in an overtly serious tone in order to try and recover the situation.
"Um… T…That sounds like a great idea, Admiral."
Thankfully, her Admiral remarked coolly about the situation even though he maintained his poker face, looking more tired than anything else the closer Iowa looked.
"It's alright. We both had a good laugh too.
Not a whole lot we Admirals can do, other than plan ahead and give out orders."
Iowa nodded solemnly, looking down at the report sent over by the Japs about a new wave of Abyssal weapons and Beasts headed their way, and before her was only a single puzzle piece amongst many others which they hadn't even uncovered, much less made sense of.
She dared to ask her Admiral, just in case he knew about something which she didn't, and being the Admiral whom she knew best, she hoped that her Admiral would shed some light on the situation and make her feel a little better.
"Admiral… What're we dealing with here?"
Unfortunately, it was not to be as Admiral Felix's expression soured, looking down at the report and at an enemy which had the advantage of both superior numbers and the ultimate defense against invaders and most forms of espionage as they lived on the ocean floor, where no man or ship girl could reach without the risk of dying simply due to the harsh environment.
"I don't know. Whatever this is, it's hidden in the depths where we cannot reach. But even though we are almost incapable of uncovering what their secrets are, we can at least try to prepare ourselves to try and respond quickly to whatever they throw at us. Getting ourselves some weapons is one thing, and if they want to take the fight to us, we need to be ready."
Iowa nodded, Admiral Felix leaning back in his seat and sipping from his cup of steaming coffee as he continued.
"She also told me to be prepared for land Beasts and Princess expy elite units which will command the rank-and-file Abyssals, since if the command structure ain't broke, they probably ain't going to fix it. It's just that the land Beasts will prioritize mobility over firepower, since last time we held off against a land assault, the Beasts of the Princesses were too heavy and couldn't move on land, so I have no doubt that they've already rectified that weakness during this past decade. I want us to be prepared for total war, or risk complete annihilation."
Iowa's expression darkened upon remembering how she learnt about the American Blitzkrieg, and how the Abyssals destroyed everything on the East Coast through sheer numbers despite bringing their unwieldy ship cannons on land and making them slow and easy targets as a result.
But she held her tongue, instead choosing to nod quietly as she respected her Admiral enough to hold off on the inquisition for now, allowing the atmosphere to settle back down as they leaned back on the back rests of their seats in order to cool down before trying to figure out the shit-storm that was the Abyssals and "Apocalypse".