Beach Episode

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Battleship Aleksander, Objective Maizuru, Kansai Sector. Day 3

The bay's mouth seemed to close and swallow those ahead whole.

"Twenty seconds to landfall," the comms operator said.

Admiral Yasumoto Akira had a bad feeling. It came off as abstract as instinct, gnawing his mind. Beaches, hidden beneath the forest's veil, shrouded in mystery under Kami's whims, yet they, mortals, had the audacity to intrude. A place like home, so familiar and yet so different.

"Ships have beached."

Yasumoto focused his binoculars past the destroyers, Landing Craft Mortars, and Rockets. The two Landing Craft Infantry dropped their gangways, and their four-hundred marines braved the sands alongside LVTs.

For the past few minutes, symmetrical figures other than the yellow sand formed around the beachhead — crates, jeeps, sandbags, Captain Aruga Kōsaku sighed.

"Little resistance."

Yasumoto snorted. "That's what they said on Iwo."

Soon enough, steel wires shimmered the perimeter. Yasumoto checked his watch. They'll finish before lunch.

"Comms, fleet-wide status report."

Kaijus. Of all the things their Master warned them, it had to be kaijus. Even on his first day in the world, his wrinkles and gray hair never left him.

While he regarded his Master with an unconditional level of respect, he's still a human with the common sense of Earth and the land of the rising sun. His supposed years of experience, purported by his already greying hair, led him to conclude his Master's expectations, although sound, to be the ramblings of a child waking up after having a nightmare involving a Showa Era kaiju.

"Admiral, Captain, our screens to the north have detected something big on the sonar."

Aruga frowned. "Have they enacted the proper protocols?"

"Yes, Captain. They're seeing chunks of flesh floating up, but they're not confident if their depth charges can finish the job in one full swing."

Yasumoto clicked his tongue. I had to jinx it, eh?

"General Quarters."

Their responsibilities as lords of the sea gave the two naval officers a moment to look at each other. Fantasy or not; animal or monster; the alarm went off on the 1 Main Circuit, and all hands moved as they were.

"General Quarters. General Quarters. General Quarters."

The Executive Officer moved his arms and legs, turning his head left, right, and center to see everyone in their place while receiving every piece of information. Both Akira and Aruga grabbed some binoculars from a side table. The comms officer was listening to the radio intently.

"We've just received an update. Our screens ten kilometers north have opened fire on an unknown aquatic beast and forced it under. However, it's shadowing them."

"Do they have a description of the beast?"

"Massive — Cephalopod in nature."

Yasumoto raised a brow. "A Kraken?"

The comms officer scratched his cheek. "They're unsure. It's more of a massive squid from the looks and number of tentacles that popped out trying to submerge them."

"Then we're not killing off an incarnation of humanity's sins. Contact the carriers and prepare for anti-submarine warfare."

"Aye-aye."

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