Chapter Text
Kantai Collection : Tales of the ship-girls
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Warspite tells a story
Born out of the fire they are, of the molding and forming of strange metals and steel, of the fire of fear and anger, of dread and hope, of mixtures unknown to us under the temperature of the sun itself.
These immense machines roamed the seas unimpeded or afraid, for they are something impossible made true; monsters and creatures only gods can dream of giving birth to.
Thousands of years passed, of a billion different advancements in discoverings in all the arts of science. From the mightiest of swords to the most accurate of bows. From the sharpest of lances to the toughest of armors, it has all led to here, to this very moment where their large bodies violently clashed into the seas, almost saying with their terrible arrival;
“Witness me, O Poseidon lord of the seas, your daughters born out of the remains of Gaia have returned, and now our mission has begun, to roam the seas under your name and remind all the beasts that it is man who rules the waves!”
Them, with their terrible guns louder than any storm, more powerful than any earthquake, and larger than even the biggest and more temible of blue whales.
It was them who controlled the seas and oceans, it was them who said who eats and who prays.
Immense fleets the size of cities roamed the earth, roamed the planet unafraid of anything that may put them to rest.
Hundreds of wars they fought, anywhere, everywhere. From the cold waters of the South Atlantic Seas to the warm waters of the Indian ocean. The seas where all the creatures there thought themselves safe of the reach of man soon realized that there was no escape from him.
From all his battles and wars and destruction, from all his cannons and fishing boats and rest of dumps. Earth was man’s world, and there was no return. Nothing to stop these beasts of metal. Nothing to prevent him from mining the world, of contaminating the lands and oceans, nothing at all.
But one day, something changed, something many doubted it would ever happen; the wars ended.
It was a surprise to many to see how the world became a more peaceful place. Wars that had once waged relentlessly across the globe stopped, famines that had caused millions of deaths became a lost memory in the past, old enemies put down their arms and offered their hands in signs of peace.
Bit by bit, the world changed, new technologies saved millions of lifes, advancement in energies allowed the world to be cleaner and healthier, even man himself seemed to question the damage he caused, and tried to mend the ways of his life.
It was then that he asked, “of what use were these great beasts in a time of peace?” The answer was a loud “For nothing!”
And like magic, they were thrown away, as if they were nothing. Carriers, battleships, cruisers, all these creatures of war soon became a “waste of time”.
There wasn’t a need anymore, who dared ask that they deserved to continue existing in such peaceful times.
One by one, they were all stricken and broken up. Some sold for scraps, some sold for less than that. They were towed and then torn into pieces like bits of worthless metal. Only a few were saved, declawed and put to rest forever in fake ports as museum ships.
And those great creations of man soon were forgotten, all that blood, sweat and tears were deemed stupid and fruitless. All the cuts and injuries, all the pain and horror. And all the ships that had so honorably served him simply were casted aside.
But now I see, both with joy and sadness, that was man’s greatest mistake.
For his entire life he has thrown things away, careless of their fates. For he no longer cared about them. About the people, about their hopes and cultures and stories and so many things A being could spend eternity listening to them.
Man never learns, man never cares about the damage he causes, he turns around and smiles because such a thing now lives in the past and it’s no longer a problem for him, it’s just a memory, a ghost that dissipates soon enough.
Did he really think that would work forever, did he think that life itself would allow him to go on and on like a spoiled child for eternity? He thought it would, they all thought it would.
So when the time came, for life to tell men no, so many of them watched with confusion and doubt, when those giant beast rose from the death and walked towards the earth, covered in darkness and storm, and reminded man no differently than a storm or a volcano erupting, that he isn’t in control.
Oh how lovely it was, to see the fires of the cities rise into the skies. Fires of buildings falling, of death, of destruction.
The whole world burned, from the immense cities of Japan to the large neighbors of Los Angeles, shells landed on the cities from the seas, planes dropped bombs from the air, these beasts that have been forgotten rose again and put fear into the lives of anyone out there.
Now people remembered, Now they mattered.
And for the first time in perhaps his entire life, he retreated and ran. Yes, you read that right, he ran. Far away from the seas and oceans, far from the danger these creatures titled as “abyssals.” brought.
It was beautiful.
The large fleets of fishing ships that devoured entire formations of beings disappeared, the hunters of the beautiful whales were consumed by the ocean never to be seen again, and the offshore oil rigs that so calmly tore holes into the ocean and caused those intense waves of black oil that killed everything were gone.
Man had to learn how to live in a world without the seas, he had to learn once again what it meant to master the land.
And with time, he returned.
Because just like the virus he is, spreading the disease everywhere he goes, man is above all relentless. An unstoppable creature that looks careless at all the signs life tells him to stop.
He will never stop—like an addict—he can’t quit.
And above all things, there’s nothing he hates the most that being told no.
Perhaps all of this would have ended if he’d learned, perhaps, if the future men and women and others of the human race understood the true cost of their civilization, and all the things they had thrown away, the abyssals would have faded away.
Or perhaps not, who knows really. But it is funny to think of it.
So why am I here telling you this story if you know I have no hopes for you to learn? Perhaps because I also share that stupid trait, that illogical and almost evil need to never give in, or perhaps because in a way answers do evade me as easily as you.
We do not have the answers you seek, we were brought back for reasons that escape us, some with anger sunk into our hearts and some with the cries of cities burning behind.
Because it wasn’t just these “evil” creatures that popped out, no. It was them too. The ship-girls, the gals from all those boring museums. There they had been left, and one day, they were alive again.
Breathing and flaming fire from their cannons, their shackles broke as they rode into the oceans, and the people watched amazed at what was going on because now, death roamed the earth, and despite not deserving it, they were not alone, they were gifted these beautiful beings who decided to stand with them, an protect them.
And what felt an eternity ever since they were laid to wait until the death heat of the universe became a strange moment of joy, for they were needed again. We were needed again.
In every city and ocean, in every sea and port, the sound of thousands of cannons firing became a reality once more, shells exploded in the seas, planes roared in the skies—We lived again!
The narrator stopped on her tracks, she looked down ashamed.
You must forgive me for that, it excites me to be part of this, of history, once more. You cannot understand what it feels to wait slowly for death to come. I only pray no one else goes through it.
Now we’re here, at war, eternally one may say, against these creatures filled with evil and anger who want nothing more than to burn every city to the ground once again… Any questions?
A man raises his hand.
“And what do you have in all of this?”
He asks softly.
“Me?” Warspite miles.
“I’m evening the odds.”