Scene #6246: Re-acquisition?

Owner	Pose
Haguro	It had been a couple of days since Haguro's sinking and resurrection as an Abyssal. Physical changes, mental distortion, and emotional turmoil have all culminated in her slowly rising from the bottom of the ocean towards... Somewhere? It had taken her quite a while just to reach the surface, but upon seeing the sky again, it had taken her yet more time to find an island out in the middle of nowhere and regain her bearings. An ocean, multiple small islands, and a dock with what used to be a shipping container. Haguro's been here for a few days now, and she's a little mealy-mouthed when she hears a familiar voice from the radio. <<"Hnn...? Oh! R-right. Flares. Once I find the...">> Hoisting her front-facing tail cannons up to her face, she stares at each one closely while the odd appendage stares back. <<"Oh. This is different.">> Yet more delays. After some trial and error, largely involving fire a few shots into the sky and watching them plummet with a splash, she finally manages to send up a signal flare.
Nagato	There was a reason Nagato brought a lot of fuel with her... she's been searching the ocean for a while now, taking only small breaks to nap. A small fairy pops up from behind one of Nagato's turrets, looking up towards her with a frown. It doesn't make any noise, nor flags her, but the fancily dressed Repair Goddess fairy shakes her head. "I'll be fine." she mutters, a scout plane launching into the air. "This is all falling apart... Yuudachi going AWOL... Shigure and Yamashiro... and now Haguro..." There's a light pat from the Repair Goddess before she ducks down into the rigging... the scout plane flies overhead, spotting a figure on an island. The fairy makes some noise in the aircraft, and Nagato hmms, <<"Haguro? My scout plane is sending reports you're near by. Send up a flare or something to confirm.">> The fairy dodges some of the shots and then the flare... nodding. <<"Confirmed. I'm on my way.">> Nagato pours on as much speed as she can, her guns raised up and away to come off at least 'non threatening' as possible... At least for now. It takes a bit, but Nagato could be seen speeding (as fast as a battleship can) towards that island, stopping half a mile from the shore... <<"Come here.">>
Haguro	Haguro drifts forward steadily as she watches out for signs of Nagato, her tail even doing a bit of work jerking about despite not quite having eyes to see much of anything. Spotting that scout plane overhead, however, there's more speed in her movements as she follows that plane, speeding up once she sees Nagato. Her expression softens. <<"A... Admiral? You're here!">> She calls out, sounding eager at first. That eagerness fades moments later, however, as she slows to a stop and hesitation creeps across her face. She's a stark white now from head to toe, only the armor on her legs and the odd suit that's replaced her uniform acting as the actual dark spots on her. Her eye is also a bright teal in color, but her voice? Her mannerisms? It's unmistakeably Haguro-esque. <<"You're here. What do you... What are you here for?">> There's uncertainty in her tone, and she straightens up slightly, but is still hunched over just a bit.
Nagato	Nagato sighs, this isn't Haguro... at least, the majority of it isn't Haguro. Nagato's voice is stoic, it's calm, paced out and steady... "You know why I am here, Haguro... To talk." Nagato's guns lower, she's doing everything in her power to not fire upon the Abyssal... It is causing visible stress upon her. "Alright." she takes a deep breath and nods. One civvie ship on radar, way out here? She frowns a bit, "Haguro, you know you aren't this... this thing we've sworn to destroy." she puts it out there, her voice still as stoic and calm as before. "You've sworn to destroy the Abyssal threat as part of the Fleet. You're important to us, you know that? Is there somewhere I've failed, if so, I will strive to fix the issue that is present." Nagato moves her hands behind her back, just waiting patiently. An Abyssal is in front of her... and she's trying Yuna's methodology in trying to get her back. "You have ... allies in the Concord, I see. Strong ones I hope. I've allowed people in the Fleet to join whatever faction they wished, only to have loyalty to Hikari in defense of the oceans of the Multiverse. Please, cast off this ill fitting shell, we'll have Mamiya fix up the best parfait for you and Irako fix up a good, warm meal. Shigure and Yamashiro are worried, your sisters want you back..." Nagato looks down, "I want you back at Hikari."
Haguro	Haguro's head lifts slightly when she sees those turrets lowering. Even if she's gotten better at reading people, there's still a hopeful look in her non-obscured eye. She starts drifting forward again. "Right! I'm not.. I mean.. Yes, I swore that before, but... But that doesn't mean I'm going to hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it, whether they're... We're Abyssal or not. A-and I didn't mean that you failed at something! I'm sorry!" As she apologizes, there's an anxious hitch in her voice. It takes her a little longer to speak up again, but she's started moving forward again. She sniffs once, then nods after a few more moments. "I've made a... A lot of new allies there, yes. Friends, even. They've helped me grow. They've taught me a lot of new things. They..." Haguro stops, and there's a brief flicker of light in her eye. "... They're okay with me like this. This.. 'shell'. How am I supposed to take this off?" She looks up at Nagato again, the anxiousness rising in her voice once more. She starts backing away. "Wh... What if I want to stay like this? Are you going to...?"
Nagato	Nagato nods a bit, "Maybe not now, but you will. You'll succumb to the draws of an Abyssal." the 'I'm sorry' cry has her back away just slightly and sighs, "They don't know the true nature of Abyssals, only we do. The hate filled, rage machines... the ones who cannot accept that the humans who let us sink still cared for us with all their heart." she frowns a bit more... "They can never know that, they do not know what it means to be that way. It's a thing I've been... and a thing I cannot accept." Nagato looks at the backing away Haguro, nodding. "You don't want to stay like this." she comments in a matter of fact voice, "This is not you. You are not this Abyssal. YOu are Heavy Cruiser Haguro, not a piece of Abyssal trash." there's a pause, "If you continue to be Abyssal, we shall treat you as one." the guns slowly raise once more, "Please... don't make me sink you. It will be the hardest thing the Fleet's ever made me do." Nagato looks directly into Haguro's eyes, "Come back to the fleet. I can have Akashi work on your remodel if you wish to gain more strength."
Haguro	"B... But I haven't. Even before this happened, I... I've seen humans do dumb things. And... There's plenty of dumb humans, too. That doesn't mean I hate them or anything. They're just too dumb to live sometimes." Haguro shivers lightly as she watches Nagato a little more closely this time, her eye widening slightly as that anxiousness continues to rise in both her tone and posture. Her arms are shaking. Her tail is rising slowly, but the heads remain facing the water below her. "J-just because you might not like them... Us doesn't mean I have to not like me. Er. Them. We. And I'm still... I'm still me!" She's starting to sound more panicked now, and her drift backwards is starting to pick up speed. "The Fleet isn't making you... I-is it? I'm still me, though! This is how I.. This is me, too!" She yells out, her voice breaking as the tail raises in front of her body further, and her movement backwards stops abruptly. "If you're going to 'fix' me... A-are you going to kill me, then?"
Nagato	Nagato gets into a ready stance... "Haguro. Before we continue, I have two questions. Why do you feel this way, why do you want to be Abyssal? Do you /want/ to return to Hikari?" the guns tenatively lower, just slightly, they seem to be aiming towards the legs. Nagato thinks, hmming slightly. She takes a deep breath and moves forward, guns down. "This is not you. The fleet..." she recalls Yuudachi... then shakes her head, "The fleet does not like them." she continues to approach, her arms outstreched. "Yuna... Yuna made this work, so please, come back to the fleet, drop this shell that is not you... I don't want to kill you. I just... want you to return to the Fleet as Haguro, not this... Abyssal Heavy Cruiser..." she frowns a bit, her face is visibly upset... "Please, Haguro. Don't make me do this..."
Haguro	"Continue /what/? I don't want..." Haguro's voice and body starts shaking again as she starts to drift back once more, the apprehension building steadily with each question asked. "Y... You might as well be asking if I... Why I want to keep living. I don't want to die again!" She practically screams out that last part, clutching her fist to her chest while her tail jerks about. Haguro's starting to pick up speed again. "O-of course I want to go back. To everyone. To my sisters! To my friends! That was me, I'm still... I'm still me, too!" The guns on her tail start clattering, as if they're ready to fire while still being held back by something or someone else. "How am I.. How am I supposed to just 'drop' this?! I'm still.. This is my body, too! Is it so bad that I'm... Different now?!" Haguro's starting to hyperventilate a bit, the distress evident in her tone and her posture. She's hunching forward slightly even as her body is tilted backwards to drift away from Nagato. "D... Don't do this, Admiral. I'm not a..."
Nagato	Nagato turns around and starts puttering away. "Were this another time... another era... another universe, perhaps we could let you on base. Even the 'Wo-class' was not allowed on base." Nagato gives a soft sigh. "If you wish to be an Abyssal, then I shall treat you as one, and not the girl named Haguro. I did this with Kuma when she turned, I will do this to any other ship under my command." she pulls her axe from her back. "I am offering to help you, to relieve you of your pain, yet you... want to defy the Fleet, your Admiral, the humans that we've /sworn/ to protect." she twitches... then turns around, guns aimed. There are tears upon her face, "I cannot be called your Admiral... for I am not an Abyssal ship. I will never /be/ an Abyssal ship." "I... will not... betray the humanity I've sworn to protect." there's a loud crack... ten shells, rain down upon Haguro from close distance.
Haguro	Haguro is at a loss for words at Nagato's response. She stares at Nagato wide-eyed as she's told that she's going to be treated as an enemy, as a monster, as something to be feared, something other than herself. She opens her mouth, but she can't quite get any further objections out. She's being told that Nagato is no longer her Admiral. Haguro's motuh opens again, but she still can't figure out the right... ANY words to respond with. As if punctuating it all, Nagato fires. The shells miss her body completely, but the emotional damage is already done. Haguro starts screaming, By the time the splash of water falls, the ice blue glow in her eye has turned red. "Why...? WHY?!" Moving sideways now, Haguro cries out as he two-pronged thing on her midsection raises, and it finally opens fire in an erratic spread at Nagato. "Is it because I've never been good enough?! That I'm not the strongest?! Or the fastest?!"
Wandering Dog	As the shots ring out, a boat out in the distance is waiting. Aboard the deck is a man in a silk tunic, bandaged up and using a big stick to steady himself. Wandering Dog told Haguro he'd help protect her, so he's here, even if he just got punched twenty miles through two dimensions yesterday. He's watching with a telescope when the ten shells crack out, and he shouts out to his men standing around him. "Rowboat, now!" Soon, they're in a rowboat, one of Dog's goons rowing while Dog sits next to a seat saved for Haguro, and speeding up towards the island as fast as possible. Wandering Dog's already alerted his ally to help out. He's not sure he can fight...but he can shout when he gets close. "Haguro! You alright? You can get through this, don't worry. Don't let her strike you down." And towards Nagato, after he sees that Haguro survived, he shouts at her as well. "What kind of admiral betrays her own crewmember because of what she is? Shouldn't her merit and desire to serve you be enough? She trusted you, damn it!" Wandering Dog can't understand. He's also kind of a thug, so speaking his mind is natural to him. And if he has to fight, injured as he is, he will...but he hopes he can engage in a battle of words instead.
Shigure	Radar Spike! Rounding another island not that far away, comes a blonde girl in a black uniform. "I knew you'd not even attempt to reason! I HATE YOU!" she screams, firing on Nagato. "Haguro, Run! I'll cover you!" Yuudachi's voice rings clarion across the waves, even through the gunfire as her eyes flare red with rage. She doesn't care that Haguro's turned hostile, she doesn't even seem to care she might get caught in the crossfire. Nagato attacked Haguro unprovoked, and now Yuudachi is angry.
Lemeza Kosugi	A certain professor-slash-archaeologist has been waiting a few miles out in his miniature airplane, waiting for a signal. Shortly after Nagato's first salvo, though, Lemeza gets the go-ahead from fellow Concord member Wandering Dog to charge in. He's close enough to show up after the Admiral's initial volley, and focuses his attacks on "that girl with long black hair". It's just a pistol, but he's taking careful aim with each shot to hit what look like squishy bits rather than what look like sturdy ship-like bits. He's /definitely/ staying in the air, though, if he can help it - there's no land below, and his target is very likely to try to drag him under if at all possible.
Nagato	Nagato tanks the fire, wincing... both from Haguro and Lemeza's guns. There's not even the sound of active reloading from her guns... it seems she only brought ammo for one shot. Nagato turns around once more and sheathes her axe and starts sailing away. "Nagato to Hikari. Unable to recover. Prepare the repair baths, I've suffered light damage." She kicks off the water and starts off, if they wanna follow or not, that's their choice. "I've failed you, Haguro." she mutters quietly, "Let's hope you're strong enough to keep control." Nagato faces away from the 'enemy'...
Shigure	Yuudachi skates slowly backwards as Nagato turns. Her smoke stack begins to pump out a thicker cloud, billowing out to provide a streak of cover that follows the wind. She radios for the others to keep going, and then vanishes into the smoke screen herself, glaring with those red eyes at Nagato's back before disappearing... "What have I done..."
Lemeza Kosugi	With the Admiral suddenly retreating, Lemeza breaks off his attack just as quickly as he'd started it. Haguro's safe, so there's no need to press the attack further. But... this was the opposite of satisfying. He's got too many questions that need answering. This wouldn't be the last time he stuck his nose into shipgirl business...
Haguro	The fact that her allies from the Concord as well as Yuudachi have arrived barely register to Haguro with as wracked with grief as she is. Her cannons continue to fire, but they've long since stopped being aimed at anything in particular as they simply fall and explode in the water around her. If anything, they might be more of a danger to those coming to her aid only because of more of them being around than Nagato herself. It'll take a while for the haze to clear from her mind, and yet longer for her to stop bawling, but she does eventually with the red glow to her eye turning back to that eerie blue. She remains quiet the entire time as she and whomever else assists her in leaving the area.
Wandering Dog	Wandering Dog has no idea what just happened. Why did Nagato shoot, miss, and then retreat? That's going to confuse him for quite some time. As Haguro fires into the water. the rowboat man only narrowly avoids getting them hit, and Wandering Dog ends up taking the oars to row faster, trying to wait out the shots. Once they stop... The martial artist will offer Haguro a ride, take her to his ship, and then try and get her to safety. Since Yuudachi might be coming with them, he won't take them to anywhere Concord-y, but he'll find a safe port he knows decently well. "Well, this went about as I expected." He mutters to himself. They're going to need to figure out what to do next.