And here is chapter 2. Like promised, lots of action and showcasing of all four Armadas.


Chapter 2: Armada


Siren.

These mysterious creatures began appearing out of nowhere around the same time as when mankind was bestowed with the Wisdom Cube. Their appearances are unlike any known creature, hideous, nightmare-inducing. All attempt to establish communication with them have all ended in failure and they attack everything indiscriminately. Some scientists even suggested that if they even possess intelligent or are even living to begin with, for from what have been observed throughout the years they seemed more akin to mindless machine. So if there's one thing that both faction can agree on, it's that the Siren is the enemy of mankind.

However, they are highly sought after. Once, a somewhat intact carcass of a sunk Siren was salvaged by the scientists of the Sakura Empire and what they discovered from that carcass was simply invaluable.

From the Siren's carcass, more specifically something the scientists called its Core, they were able to extract information on how to improve existing arsenal and later on larger Sirens, schematics on how to strengthen the Rigs.

So from these extracted information, the scientists were able to greatly strengthen the performance efficiency of the Ship Girls and yet another thing that the two factions cannot agree upon.

While the Red Axis utilize the Siren technology to obtain power capable of winning this war, changing the world even, the Azur Lane advocate natural revolution seeks true peace and freedom.

So every time a Siren emerges, it can be safely assumed that all four Armadas of the four nations will definitely be there as they will go to great length to achieve their goal: capture the Siren for the Red Axis and sink it to the bottom of the sea for the Azur Lane. It's like a small-scale all-out war every time.


As the first fleet approached Sector 6-3, scouting planes were sent out to pinpoint the emerging point of the Siren.

"Now then, where are you…" constantly checking the radar while keeping tab of any movement in his surrounding, Commander Burai instructed Z23 to contact the second fleet. After a moment of gentle sea breezes and waves, the radar finally caught something not too far from their position.

"All ships, portside!" pillars of eerie red light shot straight into the sky, from beneath the surface something was slowly emerging. Something big. With a deafening roar, the Sirens made it appearance.

Carrier-class Siren, codename 'Queen'. Target: 1.

Heavy Cruiser-class Siren, codename 'Bishop'. Target: 4.

Light cruiser-class Siren, codename 'Knight'. Target: 10.

And almost at the same time, the fleet of the other three nations have also arrived.

"My apology for the delay. There were quite a few documents to take care of so I was rather absorbed in it." the first fleet of the Sakura Empire had arrived and stopped at a position not too far from the Ironblood's first fleet but the owner of the voice just now was not amongst them. Commander Burai glanced over his shoulder toward the direction where the Sakura's second fleet would be, where their Commander would be.

A young man whose appearance gave the impression of him being more of a scholar and a thinker rather than a fighter. Wearing a rather nontraditional kimono with long braided ashen grey hair, he's the Commander of the Sakura Empire Navy, a master strategist and one of the four Armadas.

Armada-class Aircraft Carrier configuration, codename 'Homusubi'. Armament system:

+90 A7M Reppuu fighters.

+90 A6M5 Zero fighters.

+60 D4Y Suisei dive bombers.

+60 Aichi B7A Ryuusei torpedo bombers.

+100 127mm AA Type 89 stations.

+100 Triple 25mm AA Type 96 stations.

"Commander of Sakura Empire Navy, Kasai no Kagutsuchi has arrived."

Sortieing in the second fleet with him this time was, surprisingly, the two Crane Sisters Shoukaku and Zuikaku instead. Supreme and absolute control over the sky, that seemed to be his favorite fighting style. Unlike Commander Burai, Commander Kasai preferred to observe the battle as it unfolds from the backline instead of amidst the fray.

"When you're too close you tend to miss the bigger picture." He said. A rather textbook strategist thing to say but sadly for the Azur Lane faction, he is anything but a textbook strategist.

So like any other time, the strategy is to have Commander Burai takes the role of the vanguard while he provides them with air support because currently the Ironblood lacks any real backline support like Carrier and Battleship so one way or another, this also played out well for them. But that doesn't mean he's neglecting his own first fleet.

Sakura Empire First Fleet vanguard:

+Infamous duo of the battle of Solomon, Yuudachi and Ayanami.

+Takao-class Heavy Cruiser sisters, Takao and Atago.

"Heh, has there been a single time when you weren't 'rather absorbed' in those scrolls of yours?" Commander mocked back through the radio.

"You have a point there."

"Whatever. Here comes the 'blue corner'." Arriving on the other side, from the Azur Lane faction came the nation of freedom, Eagle Union and the original Ruler of the Sea, Royal Navy.

"Nice weather we're having today. So would you gentlemen of the Red Axis be so kind as to let us sink these Sirens right here and now? I wouldn't want to miss my morning tea with Her Majesty." from the backline of the Royal Navy, a woman with long and curly blue hair spoke with calm demeanor and great politeness suggested a good upbringing.

She wears a formal dark blue suit with a collared white shirt underneath, a bowtie on her neck adorned with a gleaming sapphire, a pair of white gloves along with high heels. The pattern of the clothes itself is already enough to catch the eye of anyone who looked at her, but the most important factor was that it accentuated her curvaceous body, the body of a lady at the tender age of 24.

Armada-class Battleship configuration, codename 'Lady Eleanor'. Armament system:

+2 Twin 381mm BL 15'' Mk 1 turrets.

+2 Twin 381mm BL 15'' Mk 2 turrets.

+4 Twin 134mm QF Mk 2 turrets.

+6 Quadruple 40mm AA Vickers Pom Pom stations.

"With grace of the swan yet fierce as the mighty lion, Commander Iris 'Eleanor' Mildred of the Royal Navy, at your service." Placing her right hand on her heart and her left hand reaching out, she took half a step back and bowed gracefully. Her execution from start to finish could only be described with words such as 'flawless' and 'elegant'. Standing next to her, 'Glory of the Royal navy' Hood and Illustrious were giving applaud to her performance.

Royal Navy First Fleet vanguard:

+Destroyer, Javelin and Vampire.

+Light Cruiser, Belfast.

+Heavy Cruiser, Exeter.

"What a total jest." Commander Burai silently remarked.

"A battle is about to begin and you're worried about your tea time? Should I compliment you for being overly optimistic?" and last but not least, from the first fleet of the Eagle Union, a man with golden blonde hair sighed at all these people with no common sense that he has the misfortune to call comrade and enemy.

A man of his latter twenty, he donned the uniform of the Eagle Union Navy, black-white double breasted with rolled up sleeves and a pair of black trouser. Draping over his shoulder was a white overcoat and a long black scarf flowing down from his neck, giving off an image similar to a mafia boss from one of those black & white drama. Well, he did nail the color scheme and the look.

Armada-class Light Cruiser configuration, codename 'Strider'. Armament system:

+4 Triple 152mm Caliber turrets.

+1 Single 127mm Mk 30 'Revolver'.

+4 Quadruple 40mm L60 Mk 2 Bofors stations.

+2 533mm Quintuple Torpedo pods.

"Commander of Union Eagle Navy, Valban Rodriguez. Can we get this show on the road like, for real? The Sirens are getting rather restless." As he reached for his chest pocket and was about to light a cigarette, Cleveland immediately yanked it away, saying something like it's bad for your health while Laffey and Helena simply stared with the former even yawned.

Eagle Union First Fleet backline:

+'Invincible Shield' South Dakota.

+'Lucky E' Enterprise.

+'The Melancholic' Yorktown.

Four nations, two factions, one war, with everything on the line. To end this war which humanity waged, they themselves must become the monsters. And right here, right at this very moment, that war is about to begin yet again.


Barrages after barrages of shelling were fired from the Battleship's main batteries, causing explosions and creating geysers right on the spot where they hit. Fighters flying above were innumerable to the point that they seemed like a storm cloud was billowing above them, not even the net of anti-air fire could illuminate this darkness. Smell of gunpowder and burning oil wafted in the air, the sea surface dyed red by the unfolding carnage. The nightmare that cannot be awoken from called the madness of war.

Riding on the tidal wave created by a missed barrage, Commander Burai led his Ironblood straight toward the Sirens. Several shelling barrages were fired and wings of fighter planes were sent to halt their advance. The fighter planes were dealt with by the Sakura Empire's own, while the shelling barragess were swiftly dodged or blocked by Commander Burai's shield.

Defensive ability: Riesenlaster.

Spawns 3 shields that react to incoming fire. Each shield can separate itself into smaller ones to cover a wider area or stack on top of each other to form a multi-layered shield that can intercept Battleship and Battlecruiser's fire.

However, amongst the wings of fighter plane that was dealt with some seemed to be carrying chaff and now those tiny pieces of aluminum are flying all over the place when those planes exploded, interfering with the radar. Not only that, they were surrounded by a dense smokescreen. Zero visual and enemy can approach from any direction, 'stuck between a rock and a hard place' one could say.

"Switch to Double Line formation and continue our advance. Z1, Z23, roll down the red carpet for our guests as we go."

"Roger!" Commander Burai and Prinz Eugen then took the lead with Z1 and Z23 following right behind. From the Rigs, sea mines were being deployed creating a cluster behind them. The smokescreen stretched out quite a distance but at least they're out of the interfering range of the chaff. And right at that moment, Commander Burai was contacted with an encrypted message through his radio.

"All ships, cannons to starboard! Feuer!" quickly switching back to the previous formation, all turrets were pointed to the right as a synchronized barrage was released. The wind pressure created by the barrage managed clear off a part of the smokescreen but their enemy was faster for when the sound of the shell detonating was heard, the Eagle Union vanguard led by Commander Valban was already in frontal engagement range.

Hidden by his overcoat, a combat knife in his left hand and the revolver in his right, each was aiming for a vital spot that would result in either a permanent injury or death.

"Finally showing your face, you damn bird!" a bullet grazed by his shoulder, but Commander Burai simply ignored the pain and bolted forward to get into the safe zone where that revolver would no longer be a threat. Then with the superior strength of a Heavy Cruiser, he grabbed Commander Valban by his wrist and performed an overhead throw. The latter skipped on the water surface like a stone several times.

The moment the latter managed to get up, the former had already closed the distance and from the two 203mm turrets, an armor penetrating barrage was released at point blank.

"Commander!" Helena called out and was about to give chase but Prinz Eugen had already cut her off.

"Heh, it seems like you Unions aren't so fast after all." As she said that, Z1 and Z23 closed off their encirclement on the three Eagle Union's ships.

"I would suggest you concentrate on what's in front of you…if you don't want to sink to the bottom of the sea, that is." With all her cannons at the ready, Eugen's lips curved into a smile which she rarely showed.

"Try to last and make it interesting, okay girls?"


Back to the fight between the two Commanders, the point blank barrage just now was dodged at the very last moment and the only thing that was damaged was one of the torpedo pod.

Both fighters were trading fire while moving parallel to each other. On one hand, Commander Burai was keeping up the pressure by cycling fire between his four turrets to dictate where his opponent will go and wait for a chance to deliver a decisive blow. Whereas on the other, Commander Valban utilizing the speed of a Light Cruiser combined with the configuration of an Armada-class to avoid all incoming volleys.

Support ability: Wings of Freedom.

Increase the speed of all Light Cruiser and Destroyer within range while also decrease the interval between each Full Barrage.

A Heavy Cruiser may pack more firepower and armor, but is complete outclassed by a Light Cruiser in speed. And the longer he is kept occupied here, the higher the chance of the Siren being sunk by the Royal Navy's dreadful main batteries or the battle might end before that and it falling into the Sakura Empire's hand.

"Trying to buy time, how typical of you." Remarking the behavior of his enemy, Commander Burai readied his cannons.

Offensive ability: All-out Assault – Incendiary Salvos.

Switch shell property of all cannons to High Explosive Incendiary and trigger a full barrage. Continue firing another two full barrages but overheat all cannons temporarily afterward.

All cannons locked and loaded, Commander Burai took aim and released three salvos of HEI at Commander Valban.

"Fort!" the event unfolding next could only be described as hundreds of blazing stars hailing down from the sky. The HEI shells exploded upon contact while also spreading a raging fire everywhere. What's more, hundreds of shells hailing down on one small area, if the target managed to survive the assault then the kinetic force released from the simultaneous explosions alone would be enough to seriously cripple them.

"Kuh!" and as if to testify that, Commander Valban even with the speed of a Light Cruiser and the configuration of an Armada-class could not avoid all the damage. Shielding himself with his overcoat, he quickly back away from the sea of raging flame at full speed.

"Argh damn, I'm going to need some serious repair later." The outer armor of his Rigs sustained severe damage while his overcoat had large burnt holes everywhere. Throwing his overcoat away, he looked around to see where would the next attack come from. And there was his enemy, standing amidst the blazing sea of flame.

"Never can catch a breath when you're around, can I?" Commander Valban asked.

"I believe I've made myself clear several times already. We're at war, it's either you or me. It's either you get your mindset right and be prepared to kill or it will cost you dearly when you fail to pull the trigger at the most critical moment." Commander Burai shouted back.

"Yet despite that, here you are. Tell me, how did a man like you managed to survive this arduous war until now? Or is that just how you folks of the Eagle Union are? True freedom, is that it? What an ideal world that you all have envisioned, and what a naïve dream that is."

Hearing those words, the blonde Commander could only scratch the back of his head. He then reached for his chest pocket and lit a cigarette which he carefully hid so that Cleveland wouldn't find out. Taking in a deep breath of the nicotine, he then blew the smoke out and started talking again.

"Can't really argue with you there."

"You're right, there's no such thing as true freedom. It doesn't take being chained down inside a cell to know that you're living under the shackles that others created. Only a saint can lead the lost lambs to heaven where they're truly freed from pain and suffering."

"We may be fighting for our own nation and ideal and are deified as heroes, but at the end of the day we're only murderers used by those in power to further their agendas. But even then, we still fight. Even in this arduous war, we refused to submit and fight on, for those around us and for what we believe in." throwing his last cigarette away, Commander Valban adjusted his stance. This time, those eyes of his gave off an entirely different glint.

"Then fight. For those girls, for what you believe."

Alas, they're riding on the same wave. On the battlefield where ideals clash, soldiers of two opposing front agreeing on something is a rare sight to behold. Even if what they agreed on was not peace.

As the two were about to start round 2, a fleet of Sirens came charging at them.


A little bit earlier, on the Sakura Empire's side.

"The Queen had sent out her soldiers and the Knights have been mobilized. Three wings of steel thirst for the rusty iron, four wings showing off their dominance over the sky to the king of beast, swarm of hungry hounds barking at the blossoming flower of peace." Being one who spent most of his time in books, Commander Kasai has adopted a habit of occasionally speaking in a poetic manner. Many may see him as being eccentric, which he might as well be one, but in the end he is still the master strategist of the Sakura Empire.

"Zuikaku, strike the eagle down when its wings are still wet with blood and Shoukaku, grant the girls your protection and tenderness."

"Roger!" receiving their order, the two Crane sisters then moved out to perform their respective task. As for Commander Kasai himself, he took out four talismans from his sleeves.

"Now, let both creation and destruction be no more, before the undying flame that will engulf all." Placing the talismans onto the four flight decks hovering around him, the fighter planes that took off were all set on fire.

Offensive ability: Eternal Zero.

Send out wings of blazing fighters that will seek their target and explode violently upon impact. If any fighters are shot down before reaching the target, pass on the flame to other fighters nearby and increase the effect of the explosion that will follow.

From the four blazing flight bridge, a hundred burning Zero fighters took flight to the sky. Then from above, they nose-dived down toward their target at an incredible speed. Those that are still airborne shot down the aircrafts sent out by the Queen, while those that dived down first rammed into the Knights. In a blink of eye, most of the small fry Sirens were engulfed in a raging flame.

Thanks to their superior control over the air space, the vanguard of Sakura Empire was slowly making their way to the Carrier Siren even under the relentless shelling of the Royal Navy.

"Swift death unto evil!" with double torpedo salvos, the vanguard finally managed to break through the defense of the Royal Navy and made their way toward the Queen. Carrier being the largest class of cruiser, and at closer range that thing looks even more humongous. Not only that, two Bishops still remained as the last line of defense.

"Commander, how should this one proceed?"

"We're here to execute the Queen. Heed not the presence of her Bishops. However, strike them down should they prove persistent."

"With your will."

Unsheathing her sword, Takao charged forward. While Yuudachi and Ayanami distracted one of the Bishops, she and her sister Atago quickly dealt with the other one. Takao shot two HE volleys, one at the broadside and one in the face of the Siren, staggering it greatly. She then switched position with Atago to deliver the finishing blow.

"Oh my my, how should I tease you, I wonder?" an All-out Assault of AP shells quickly turned the Siren into a beehive and sunk it down to the bottom of the sea.

"Dear me, it seems everyone is in a tough position." Commander Iris said worriedly with a hand on her cheek. Just like she said, the situation isn't very bright for them right now. Their vanguard had been broken through and both the Eagle Union's backline and defense are still occupied with the Ironblood so they cannot send any reinforcement.

"Although I'm not too keen of the idea myself, guess we have no other choice."

"Lady Illustrious, please cast your radiance on everyone and guide them back. And Lady Hood, would you be a dear and provide me your assistance in the mean time?"

"As you wish, milady." Hood and Illustrious replied politely with a bow. The latter then sent out a squadron of fighters to help their vanguard regroup while the former continued to pump out barrages after barrages from her cannons.

Offensive ability: Gentle Might.

Fire a single HEIAP shell at extremely high speed. The shell ignore armor and pierce up to three targets at once, also triggering an explosion inside them.

Materialized in the form of a bow and a single arrow, the ability of an Armada-class Battleship is the epitome of Royal Navy's long history at naval combat. A single shot that can obliterate anything in its way with no exception. That is why the Royal Navy is always entrusted with the task of sinking the biggest of Sirens. It is also a great gamble, however, for it can only be used once per deployment.

"Let the blood flow and may your sin be cleansed by the vast and merciful sea."

Notching the arrow onto the bow, Commander Iris emptied her mind and took aim. She only has one shot, and one shot is all they have. There will be no second chance so failure is not an option, she has to make it count. When the moment has come, she held her breath and let go of the arrow. Like a shooting star, the arrow shot forward. But unexpectancy is a commonplace in warfare.

Out of left field, the carcass of a Bishop came flying right into the way of the arrow. Although the arrow still pierced it effortlessly, its trajectory was shifted somewhat and while the last Bishop was also destroyed in the process, the arrow only managed to inflict heavy damage but still not quite enough to sink it.

"GEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" seeing her favorite dress damaged, the Queen was enraged. Inside its mouth a cluster of blue energy was glowing brighter and brighter. Then with another demonic screech, the cluster of enemy exploded into a pulsating wave of energy

"Kyaaaaaaaaah!"

The Ship Girls in close vicinity were the first one to be hit by that energy wave as their Wisdom Cube went haywire and they felt all the functions of their body were shut down temporarily. Even those in the backline that were further away could feel their body going numb.

"Kasai, what the hell was that thing!?" Commander Burai collapsed on one knee and was having some difficulties trying to stand back up. He was also the one who threw the carcass of the Bishop just now.

"I haven't the slightest idea. It seems to be a type of energy wave which targets specifically the signal of the Wisdom Cubes and attack them. The wave just now seems to be of small scale. If The Queen was to fully charge it, then we all would be sitting ducks."

"Then I just have to deal with that wretch then."

"What are you having in mind?"

"Wait until she fully charged that energy of hers, then let her have a taste of her own medicine."

"Although I'd preferred if we could capture her alive for further study, given the circumstances that seems to be the only logical course of action. Understood, the Sakura Empire will give you our full support."


The plan was to deal as much damage as possible without sinking the Queen, then when she had fully charged her energy cluster, detonate it right inside her mouth. By then, the accumulated damage combined with the internal energy explosion would completely shut her down.

"All ships, scatter and surround the Queen! Establish an AA perimeter to buy time for those who still can't move. Now, Feuer Frei!" on his signal, all cannons opened fire simultaneously and hammered the Queen from every direction possible. Her fighters couldn't even leave her flight bridges for they were shot down by the net of AA fire and the Sakura Empire's fighters while still preparing to take off.

"GEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!" the Queen let out a high-pitched screech and just as expected, she started charging up an energy cluster in her mouth.

"Keep firing!" one barrage after another continued to be pumped out from the cannons which barrel which were glowing from the accumulated heat. And alas, the moment they had been waiting for.

"Let's see how you like your own medicine, you wretched Queen!" Commander Burai released three Incendiary Salvos into the Queen's mouth as they triggered a chain reaction and exploded violently with an ear shattering sound.

After the shockwave had died down, it still took a while for all the dust to clear off. But from what the scouting planes reported, the Queen laid unmoving and victory was theirs.

It seems at one point those of the Azur Lane had retreated before things went down partly because they had lost their only mean to deliver a decisive blow and trying to win back the situation back then would only result in meaningless casualty.

And as per the agreement between the two Commanders, the Sakura Empire will have the carcass of the Queen.

"Is this really okay, Commander? Half of that carcass belongs to us, rightly so." Watching the Sakura Empire towing the carcass away, Prinz Eugen showed a clearly dissatisfied expression. Same for Z1 and Z23.

"Well, the agreement was to let them have the carcass, but I didn't mention anything else beside that." Smirking slightly, he contacted through his radio the encrypted frequency that he had been receiving intel from.

"Yahoo! Karlsruhe is back, bearing good news!"

"We're back, everyone."

The second fleet that was formed beforehand, Konigsberg, Karlsruhe, Koln and Leipzig. Ever since the time with the assault of the Eagle Union, the second fleet which was sent to flank the enemy had been observing the Eagle Union's vanguard from afar and sent the intel through an encrypted frequency, explaining why the first fleet was able to intercept hat surprise attack so easily.

After that, following their original objective the second fleet proceeded to flank the Eagle Union's backline, causing a disturbance and interrupted the sending of reinforcement to the front. Then lastly, when the Queen was dealt with they secretly approached from behind, entering the carcass and retrieved the Core.

"Here you go, Commander." Konigsberg hand the Commander something similar to the Wisdom Cube but with a more violet shade.

"Well girls, it's official now. Victory is ours." Tossing the Core up and down, he declared.

"Hurraay!" they shouted in joy, with Karlsruhe and Z1 jumping up and down.

"Now, time to head back home. Like promise, we're throwing a big party tonight. Permission to bust out those beer kegs we have in the storage."

"Sir, yes sir!"


Some German used in this chapter:

-Fort means "Begone!"

-Feuer Frei means "Fire at will"