2 years later

I had learned many things about this world, like that the present year is 2056. What's more, flagship Hyuga was sunk by the humans. Rumors say that this group of humans have a fog submarine in their possession. The rumors were confirmed when Takao was also defeated, but not sunk, by the same group. They seem to call themselves "Blue Steel". It might be a reference to the color of their submarine which was also blue. Their caption was said to be intelligent and strategic(etc), said by Takao. Reasons unknown, Takao left the fleet after her battle. The current flagship of the fleet, Kongo was not happy. Though it was not shown facially, her aura was thick and deadly.

I knew that "Blue Steel" was a threat to the Fog, but I was not afraid of them. Instead I was excited. Excited to fight a strong opponent. Through the memories, all my enemies were weak and utterly, little bugs. Even Kongo didn't look like a challenge, not be to bragging. And so, I looked into the network and hacked some human files. Finding my target's destination, I did a quick calculation. If it's true on what Takao had said, it would be fairly simple to intercept them. With some equations, weather predictions and ocean current speeds, I lowered my options. Choosing the most likely path, my ship sailed away.

Kongo POV

Beep.

A map materialized before me. A dot was moving away from the group. At closer inspection, it was labeled Takao #3. Confused with her actions, I mentally sent a message. What returned was an envelope, materialized onto my hands. I kept my poker face and opened it.

Letter:

Dear Flagship,

I got to do something else where. It may help the Fog if I succeed. Bye.

Ship,

Takao #3

P.S. I want a new name!

End:

Takao #3's massage was unclear. Her wanting a name could be dealt with. But what's this about going somewhere. She was never the type to leave without permission. I still couldn't figure out her logic so I scanned her browser history. Only to find data about the infamous "Blue Steel".

"That fool."

Gunzō POV (2 hours after battle)

Gaining victory against Takao was truly tiring. To think, that she would attach a submarine below her was surprisingly clever. Now with the battle over, my crew seem to have calmed down for the instant.

"Gunzo." To my left was Iona. Her voice asking for my attention. I turned towards her. "Yes, Iona."

"An unknown Fog ship is coming to our location at full speed." At the same time, Shizuka made her report. "Gunzo, there's something heading our way, fast."

With both of them giving the same information, I readied for battle. "What's the speed?" I asked. Shizuka looked at her screen. "Speed at 35 knots and increasing."

Sō Oribe placed a hand to his chin. "With that speed and size, it no doubt a Takao class ship." He assumed.

"What!?" Kyōhei voiced out. "You gotta be kidding me." He leaned on his chair, hands over his eyes. "Another Takao class. Didn't we just beat one."

"Don't panic everyone." I ordered. "Stay calm." I looked at Iona. "Take us lower and stop the engines. Kyōhei, deploy decoys through 4 to 6." Kyōhei gave me a thumbs up and began tapping. The submarine, stopped moving and sank downwards. Decoys 4, 5 and 6 moved to the east, west and north, all to different locations.

"Iona do you know her?" I asked. The front screen loaded with information.

"The ship is Takao #3. The name was meant to be temporary, but became permanent. Like all Fog heavy cruisers, it will be impossible for us to beat her head on. For her history, she was one of the Fog ships that eliminated most of the human ships in the great war. She's never known to be resourceful and will throw everything at the enemy if she had a lock on her target. For the most part, she's a risk taker and would follow her target until they're sink. It's also said that she didn't get a gravitational cannon installed(Note: will be explained later on). But recent data shows that after getting a mental model, much of her have changed. "

I nodded at her explanation and faced my crew. "Everyone get ready for battle. Let's get this over with."

Takao #3 POV

Finally, I have you in my sights, "Blue Steel". My ship inched closer to my target. My turrets and missiles loaded and ready.

'Huh?' The target disappeared from my radar. Suddenly, three new ones appeared, one going to east, west and north.

'Using decoys I see. Not bad.' My face broke into a grin. "But." I raised my left arm. "You're just too naive." I lowered my arm, sending six corrosive torpedos, two to each. Back to the map, the torpedos connected with each one, thus disabling them. Without any defense and nowhere to run, victory is mine. I sailed closer to the area of the now ruined decoys for better accuracy. By tracing back on the events and find where the decoys had come from, I pinpointed the area where the decoys might have been deployed. While, reloading six of the empty launchers, I fired 30 more torpedos, covering all areas in my chosen location. Doing all of this, I kept closing in. The projectiles had hit their mark, but no sign of 401 was seen nor was there any evidence of a collision. 'Did I miscalculate?'