Azur Lane Warship Gunner

by HunterXKiller87

Kosuke, a Japanese high school student about to graduate towards college, returns home from school. There, he goes about his day before he gets a weird icon on his Phone. Not a moment later, he has been whisked away from his world into one filled with beautiful ship girls fighting an alien menace. What's a Guy to do?

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Nyaaa... such a lovely day today..."

Deep within the vast reaches of the pacific ocean, a group of 6 ships could be seen sailing in formation, all of them bearing the crests of the Land of the Rising Sun known as the Sakura Empire on their sides. This group looked to consist of 2 Battleships, 1 Carrier, and 2 Cruisers, with the Cruisers being at the very front while the Battleships sailed on opposite sides of the Carrier in the middle, a bunch of Aircraft circling the airspace above them.

The loud cries of seagulls overhead gave a sense of life to the fleet of Sakura Empire Ships which had their respective Shipgirls all either lounging on specific parts of them or standing diligently, ready to react to any form of attack by an unseen enemy... something which had been critically advised to do by their superior Shikkan.

As for the one who had said this, that turned out to be one of the Battleship Shipgirls who sat atop her forward superstructure, kicking her legs through the air while placing her hands on either side of her for support for leaning back to allow her to look up at the sun. The girl in question looked to be rather petite in size... save for her torso area which had the sizeable bust contained within her clothes. She had black, almost darkness coloured hair that was cut into a bob cut, with matching cat ears protruding out the top. A pair of bright red, youthful-looking cute cat-like eyes gazed up at the clear blue skies above, radiating such a joy to them that could only have come from someone with a childish outlook in life.

Clad in a thigh-length predominantly black kimono with red outlined and crimson flower patterns on it, long flowing sleeves, the girl's legs got exposed save for the white thigh high stockings she possessed alongside her black shoes.

Right now, the young girl hummed a happy sounding tune as she relished in sailing across the ocean, something which brought her a feeling of comfort that standing on proper ground sadly lacked. She guessed it was simply part of her nature as a Shipgirl to enjoy sailing on the sea...

{Yamashiro, you're listing slightly.}

"Nya! Nya-Nya-Nya-Nya-!"

However, someone's voice spoke to her through her ship's radio which caused the girl to nearly jumping with her heart practically leaping out her chest. All this was coupled with the girl hopping into the air and nearly falling off her ship, flailing in the air before landing on another section of its superstructure unceremoniously.

"Owwie... that smarts..."

Despite whining as she sat up in a kneeling position and rubbed her head, the young-looking girl instinctively followed the voice's words and mentally commanded her ship, which had indeed been listing to portside without her knowledge, to return to its original position in the fleet.

From their encrypted radio frequency, of which Shipgirls could apparently use to communicate across long distances like a mental walkie talkie, several amused chuckles could be heard as a feminine voice from the oppositely positioned battleship.

{Yamashiro, I know you are excited to be out on the water again, but you have t remain mindful.}

The voice chided the young-looking Yamashiro, calling her a child despite her being one of the few remaining dreadnaught era battleships in existence. As for the owner of the voice, the said owner sat on her ship's bow positioned in the traditional Japanese dogeza position, letting the wind calmly grace her features. Whilst bearing a great resemblance to Yamashiro in both looks and outfit choice (hers having a skirt underneath the kimono), one difference was the mature body of a woman in her mid to late 20's she sported alongside her hair is much longer and styled into a pair of off the shoulder pigtails. Additionally, unlike the cat mask attached to the side of Yamashiro's head, the lookalike sported a pair of blue pretty butterfly ornaments. Beside her lay a ceremonial golden instrument, implying what her profession was quite well.

{Ehehehe, sorry Fusou Nee. You know me too well.}

In response to her sister shipgirl Fusou's gentle scolding, akin to that of a mother lightly scolding a child, Yamashiro chuckled nervously whilst simultaneously thanking what few lucky stars she had that she hadn't accidentally fallen overboard. Being one of the more unlucky ships wasn't an easy burden to bear after all. Her response came through her ship's radio with the two having communicated on a frequency heard by the entire fleet as a mandatory rule imposed by their Shikkan.

This allowed the rest of the fleet to overhear them as evident by the faint snickers the two females heard on their radios even though they weren't actually near them.

{Hahahaha, you sure are excited, Yamashiro. More so than usual. Eager to be back on the ocean after so long? I can completely relate, I'd die of boredom if the ranger of the rising sun was forced to stay ashore while villains ran wild.}

This time, the speaker turned out to be the Carrier of the group who sailed between the Battleships, this formation meant to keep it safe behind their lines from enemy fire. The carrier Shipgirl herself looked like a child in her preteens, with pink hair tied into two short pigtails with green eyes. She sported a white admiral's hat over the back of her head alongside a pair of white antlers protruding out the front. She sported a white and blacktop underneath an admiral's jacket that was worn over her shoulders with the sleeves hanging beside her, her waist concealed behind a red skirt tied with golden string around the black band. As for her legs, she sported a single black band over her left thigh and a pair of pink large shoes with white shin-high socks. Currently, she had a massive smile on her face while posing with her arms folded, trying to look more mature than her body allowed her.

Yamashiro didn't take any offence to it though, instead, she sheepishly looked over and spoke through her radio.

{Yeppers, I certainly am! It was SOOO BOORRIING being in drydock for these last 3 months! I couldn't even leave the hospital at the time, and Fusou Nee had to}

{Enough Yamashiro, Ryuujou.}

Before the two girls could continue on their little chat over their frequency, a third voice harshly put a stop to it with the firmness of a proper military commander... or perhaps a drill sergeant.

Each of the girls involved except for Fusou who had remained quiet, stiffened in response to the voice, knowing exactly who it belonged to a Shipgirl who stood at the very centre of her ship's bow with a poised befitting of a warrior and a commander during the era of a certain warlord known by his title 'Demon King under the Sixth Heaven'.

The winds blew through this Shipgirl's black hair that was held in a single waist-length ponytail by a white ribbon, some smoothened down dog ears protruding out from the sides of her head. Her eyes, sharp and amber-coloured, gazed forwards with a strong yet cold gaze, showcasing her lack of tolerance for any incompetency like what Yamashiro and Ryuujou were up to. For clothing, she wore an admiral's uniform complete with a white overcoat and a matching white plait skirt, exposing the black pantyhose covering her legs and the black schoolgirl shoes over her feet. Her hands, concealed by a pair of white admiral's gloves, rested on top the rear end of a sheathed Katana that was currently stabbed into her ship's bow being used like a walking cane or something.

{You may be eager to be back at sea, but put that energy into staying on course. Our Shikkan does not tolerate any slacking off on urgent missions, you got that?}

{Haaaaai, Takao Sama}

The cold, admonishing voice of the Heavy Cruiser known as Takao elected another sheepish laugh from Yamashiro, who rubbed the back of her head when she realized that her eagerness had gotten her in a bit of trouble this time. At least it wasn't her clumsiness though, something she took solace in, the young girl mused as she returned to her previous position on her ship's superstructure, kicking her legs into the air.

Though soon she got another transmission through her Radio courtesy of her sister Fusou.

{Don't worry, by my estimation, we are about 2 days away from where the Coalition fleet was last operating. We'll be able to glean more intel about what had happened to them.}

Over at the front with the Vanguard, Takao's gaze lingered behind her at Fusou's ships while briefly narrowing. Then, she turned her head back to the ocean in front of her as she stared at it with great intensity. Really, this was the 10th time that she had to admonish that girl for her hyperactivity on this one voyage, and while this annoyed the Heavy Cruiser significantly she mentally restrained herself from admonishing Yamashiro further. After all, she could understand things from her fellow Shipgirl's perspective since she had been in drydock after a previous engagement severely damaged her ship to the point where it took months for it to be repaired. Though, without the technology gleaned from the Wisdom Cubes, the damages could have taken YEARS to fully repair, in which case Yamashiro could have been scrapped by their human superiors.

Of course, this information had been made privy to only Takao herself as the head of this little operation. Officially Ryuujou was their flagship, but considering the Carrier's temperament, it was decided to make Takao herself the fleet's leader on this expedition, something which she took great pride in.

Though that pride soon got marred by the mention of their objective by Fusou in an attempt to console her sister. The fact that a fleet compromising of many of her fellow Sakura Empire Shipgirls had mysteriously vanished, the Empire's high command having lost contact with them. Many rumours and speculations were floating about amongst the higher-ups, many fearing the worst since that fleet held great strategic as well as political and military-based importance... not just to the Sakura Empire either. Thus, their disappearance would spell BIG trouble for them later down the lines if answers weren't gleaned soon.

These thoughts and worries swirled within Takao's chest, her teeth gnashing together behind her lips with her own suspicions and fears added to the mix. She feared the worst about this fleet, which didn't bode well for the Sakura Empire's immediate future. But the thing she focused on the most was the ultimate fate that had befallen her sisters-in-arms, warriors who fought for the sake of their country with pride and honour. 'Tch, make no mistake... I will make sure to honour my country... and my fallen brethren...' the black-haired woman thought, gripping her Katana's hilt as horrific memories played out in the back of her mind.

{Ahhh, cheer up little sister. Your cute face will become unsightly if you keep scowling all the time...}

However, she couldn't linger on these thoughts for too long thanks to the other Heavy Cruiser sailing alongside her. That Heavy Cruiser had its Shipgirl sitting cross-legged over one of the ship's forward turrets, showing a much more calm and chill demeanour compared to the stiff and rigid Takao. This Shipgirl shared a lot of similarities to her, such as the hair and eye colour with even her outfit being similar. Some differences were that her hair was flowing down her waist freely whilst her dog ears weren't smoothed down, with her outfit possessing a more formal military skirt that had slits on both sides, exposing garter belts attached to a pair of nylon thigh-high stockings and white high heels. Beside the curvy, womanly-looking Shipgirl, a single Katana rested vertically on top of the turret, ready to be used by its wielder in the upcoming battles.

{A-Ah, Atago Nee Sama! I'm perfectly fine, you know! This is a serious matter we're dealing with!}

The moment that Takao had heard her apparent sister say those things with a teasing, mischievous undertone, Takao's calm exterior cracked as she aimed a mildly flustered look towards her sister ship. She could only thank her good fortune that she didn't fall over due to the abruptness her sister had used in her addressing of her, though considering her nature Takao should have seen this coming. It was something she regularly did after all.

{Ufufufufu, aww but I'm just worried about you, dear. Onee Sama worries a lot about her little imouto, especially if her scowling eventually removes her ability to smile.}

Once again, Atago spoke in a teasing manner to her sister however if one were to listen to her tone they would see the underlying concern the older woman had for her sister. Something which Fusou could relate to as a big sister herself. After all, ever since this voyage had begun Takao had been firmer than usual in promoting their diligence to their duties. Perhaps it came with the responsibility she had as the head of this operation instead of Ryuujou, but the point still stood hence why Atago had done what she did.

As for the sister in question she didn't respond right away to her sister's teasing, looking out to the sea once more with her serious gaze returning. "I'd feel a lot better once we confirm with our own eyes the fate of our sisters.. cause then I'll have something to point my blade towards..."

(Scene Change)

Morning soon arrived for the stranded duo.

With the bright sun's rays bearing down on their still motionless ships, well not still since they currently were bobbing up and down on the waves, one Yuubari wiped the sweat off her brow whilst exhaling out of her nose. The young-looking Shipgirl sat atop her companion's main deck in front of the front-most turret, using the underside of one of its barrels as shade. In front of her on the deck laid something she had procured from her vessel: a map of the pacific, something that no competent researcher would be without.

She had recently woken up and gotten onto the larger ship's deck after doing her usual routine as much as possible on the [Yuubari], and had boarded the [Proto Satan] to wait for her companion to awaken as well. According to her internal clock, it was about 9 am, so she felt a bit uncomfortable leaving her biggest defence at the moment to his slumber, but this wasn't her call to make considering he had volunteered to help escort her. She should at least show some courtesy, plus it wasn't like the guy trusted her very much it seemed but at least HIS reasoning seemed much more grounded and realistic.

In the meantime, Yuubari had been working non-stop to pinpoint their position so they could know which direction they needed to go to plot their course back to the Sakura Empire. According to the sun's position and her previous knowledge of the time, she had identified the east and western directions that they could take so that was something.

So far, things hadn't been faring too well, for multiple reasons.

After having frantically fled from where she had... originally supposed to be, Yuubari hadn't been able to ascertain the direction of which she had travelled, thus she couldn't pinpoint her exact position on the map. It didn't help that a lot of her navigation equipment had been destroyed during her escape either, meaning she couldn't do much to figure out her current position. Part of her even questioned if they were still within the Pacific ocean, though she desperately fought to suppress those thoughts for the time being.

Especially since right now things could have ended up much worse for her if she had wound up stranded and ALONE... Yuubari couldn't imagine how long she'd last. Then there was that THING she had encountered, the thing which had reduced her to this state...

As well as soiled both the Sakura Empire AND the Iron Blood names in her eyes.

'At least I have some... unique company so I don't go completely mad. Kansen is a lot like humans in that regard, although we can last much longer out on our lonesome due to us being used to going out on long sorties away from home, being formed from our Warship selves...' Yuubari thought to herself, mentally thanking the heavens for one small miracle that was her encounter with Kosuke.

Speaking of which, where was he? Yuubari hadn't seen her saviour and companion at all this morning, but it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go just like her, so she assumed he was still sleeping within his ship's confines. Hopefully, he would come out soon so she could brief him on their current situation because it was gradually looking more and more like they would have to wait till night so Yuubari could navigate them via the celestial bodies beyond the heavens.

Though, if she were to think about it from a different perspective, Yuubari could say that this gave her the chance to reflect properly on everything that had happened since that... well, disaster was the best word she could use to describe it, although it ls sounded like a massive understatement. One of the biggest things she wanted to reflect on aside from the severity behind her situation was the biggest elephant in the room:

Kosuke.

He was an enigma to her, an enigma which her researcher side really wanted to figure out the mechanics behind. It wasn't like he was a research specimen though, and she doubted he'd take too kindly to her trying anything on him since he apparently had a cautious stance towards her.

From their limited interactions it was readily apparent that the boy had not been able to talk to anyone in quite some time due to how stiff, uncomfortable and unused to speaking he sounded. It made sense considering the situation she had figured out he was in, and judging from the damages she had seen across the chip during their little 'tour' (of which she suspected he gave her to alleviate some of her desire to take it apart for experimenting) there was little hope for any communication systems to be operable.

Yuubari could understand his stance on her for the moment, and although she wasn't aware of the full story Yuubari knew very well why some secrets had to remain hidden until the time was right. As a researcher for the Sakura Empire, she had been privy to things that would of course cause problems if they were to get out to the public, especially on the international scale. Of course, she didn't completely trust him either since he was both a stranger, and she remained aware of the... well, 'convenience' that he had found her. Part of her even wondered if he knew about what she had been doing out here, but that part was contested by the things she had already observed about the boy during their short time together.

However, one point about him aside from his circumstances was that his distrust for her was also outweighed by his apparent pragmatism. This became apparent during their attack by the Sirens, in which he showed no hesitation in placing his life in her hands and trusting her on the battlefield.

This both impressed and concerned her, in one way it was admirable as it showcased both his practicality and intelligence. When in a battle, trusting comrades with one's life was never something simple to accomplish, more so when they were practically strangers, but Kosuke did it almost with no issue, and even placed himself in a dangerous position to give her the upper hand during the battle before he finally finished the enemy off. He must have thought that there was a chance she would betray him, but considered the pragmatism about it and decided it was unlikely to happen, which she could get since she wouldn't gain anything and would have likely not lived for long.

But on the flip side, it also concerned her in that it cast doubt on him being just an ordinary civilian. True he looked to have lacked the uniform and other signs of being a qualified sailor for the Sakura Empire Navy, or any Navy for that matter, but she didn't think it was common for civilians, humans at that, to keep as calm as he did without prior experience on the chaotic, hectic battlefield. He didn't look like any kind of spy either, though looks could be deceiving... Yuubari did find herself not believing that he could be a spy the more she learned about him though, he just didn't fit their MO.

All of these things contributed to a bunch of questions rolling around in her mind revolving around Kosuke. If he did have prior battle experience, then where did he get it? How? What did he do for a living that resulted in him being as composed as he was? These unanswered questions served as a warning for the Sakura Empire Light Cruiser about what he could be after or who Kosuke truly was.

Regardless, these things didn't change the fact that he had agreed to help her return to the Sakura Empire instead of leaving her out to dry, and that he had fought alongside her against the Siren menace. Some of her questions could be answered by the Sirens having made life difficult for him at some point in the past, so in the end, Yuubari wouldn't inquire too much into him out of good faith and pragmatism. There were bigger things for her to worry about other than Kosuke's identity, like travelling back home...

And reporting to the Shikkan about her failure.

PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT!

Before Yuubari could descend THAT rabbit hole, sounds of footsteps reached her fox ears which caused them to twitch as she raised her head, looking towards [Proto Satan]'s forward superstructure where the sounds came from. This allowed her to see the very male she had been thinking about approach, having exited out onto the main deck and walked across to her while avoiding the copious amounts of guns. "Morning, Yuubari." he greeted her casually, hands in his pants pockets.

"Ohayōgozaimasu." Yuubari curtly replied in her native language as he stopped beside her and kneeled, eyes casting their gaze over the map. She could tell what kind of question he intended to ask, and thus promptly answered it. "While everything around is is calm for the moment, I fear that our journey won't be as smooth sailing as I had hoped. Most of my navigation equipment isn't functioning, my Compass and Sextant have also been previously destroyed."

Upon hearing this, Kosuke winced. He had just woken up from a nap and did his morning training before coming out here in the hopes that some kind of progress had been made. Unfortunately, fate seemed to not really like them all that much from what Yuubari had told him. They were going to have to figure out where they were and how to get to Sakura Empire controlled waters if they wanted to make it out of here without wasting too many precious resources.

Looking at the map she had, Kosuke noticed that there had been a certain area close to the land of Hawaii that had this massive circle around it and a lot of other important-looking stuff. "Your map has circles near Hawaii, was that where you should have been or something?" he questioned, gesturing to it.

Yuubari glanced at the map again and gave a short, but curt, nod. "Classified, but yes I was," she answered, and thus Kosuke got the impression he wouldn't be learning more about why she was there.

"I see..."

Well, that would be a good starting point if it weren't for the fact that Yuubari had likely been sailing away from that area for an unknown timeframe if the way her ship was damaged was any indication. At this, Kosuke hummed as he stared at the map, cupping his chin with his right hand whilst the other placed itself atop his kneecap. Still, her words indeed confirmed that they were indeed within the pacific in his mind, but where exactly was the bigger question. If he remembered correctly, the male internally mused while tapping his jaw with his index finger, the middle of the planet was where the equator line was drawn and Hawaii was quite close to the Equator last he checked. If they could just find a way to determine how close they were to the equator that would narrow their location down quite drastically.

To do that...

'No, much too complicated. Doubt either of us has the equipment and training needed to measure the ocean's temperature either, plus Yuubari did say a lot of her navigation equipment was destroyed in a prior engagement.' Kosuke mused, looking up at the sun. Yuubari did the same unbeknownst to him, likely calculating something in her mind that would remain unheard when he looked back at her and opened his mouth. "How about we head east? The sun's still rising, and if you were in Hawaii then that means we're still in the Pacific. Meaning that if we head east we can head on over to the eastern countries who are less likely to shoot you, a Sakura Empire Shipgirl, on sight compared to the Eagle Union." he suggested.

Of course, this wasn't a full proof plan and it had plenty of holes behind it. Professional sailors would have probably cringed at his actions with their own knowledge of how to navigate the seas. To them, he'd counter that he had only played videogames about naval combat and never went on a ship himself, so his knowledge wasn't very good there.

Right now, Kosuke found himself doing something he normally wouldn't like to do: bet on luck.

"Makes sense... Relations between the Sakura Empire and Eagle Union have been tense as of late, with the possibility of open war looming on the horizon. Thus, it would be more ideal to head through either neutral or Sakura Empire waters..." Yuubari admitted after taking a few moments to think about his proposal. She didn't have any beef with the Eagle Union, to her they were just people who did things differently to her countrymen and women.

'Another piece to the puzzle...' Kosuke thought upon hearing about the relations between the two nations. According to what he knew of WW2, Germany (Iron Blood in this universe) started the war by attacking European regions like Poland, so it's possible that the Iron Blood would kickstart the war between these factions first, prompting the royal navy to retaliate, eventually sucking in the Sakura Empire and the Eagle Union. However, this happened both in the mobile game and in one of the anime released about it, so it proved too soon to decide on which one he was in currently. "Right. This is simply my own hunch though, I've little else to go off on at the moment since well... sorry, but I'm not that well versed in ocean navigation." Kosuke admitted at the end, his tone starting strong and composed... but becoming bashful and nervous at the end.

Something which Yuubari noticed but didn't prod too much beyond the following words. "Do not worry, Kosuke. The fact that we have a possible plan at all is better than nothing. I'm worried about whether or not our resources will last us till we get too friendly or neutral waters, but at the moment it sounds like we have little choice in the matter." She remarked, her lips having briefly twitched upwards at his bashful state before fading into a firm line when she discussed the feasibility behind it. "I took note of the temperature, and it does seem like it is quite humid, meaning we're likely quite close to the equator line, meaning your proposal has some merit."

When he heard that, Kosuke fought to keep his calm and not sigh in sheer relief at not having sounded like a sheer dumbass. 'Close one...' the male thought to himself, while externally nodding his head in agreement. "Right. Now that we have our plan set in mind, how about we talk about our ships? My [Proto Satan]'s fit for travel, how about the [Yuubari]?" he questioned, though internally he had to note how strange it felt talking to a Shipgirl about the state of what had once been her physical body. Kind of felt like he was asking for a medical report in a way.

One which Yuubari seemed more than willing to share when she glanced at her vessel. "I performed the necessary checkups before coming aboard. While my ship can't become my Rigging at this moment in time, it can still sail and fight like a conventional cruiser. Fuel and ammo supplies are at acceptable levels, given the circumstances, so I am capable of disembarking." she informed him, getting up after packing up the maps she brought over. "Shall we set off?"

"You bet. Wanna get away from open water since Sirens will have a field day with us out here."

"Indeed."

(Scene Change)

Hours later, and the two powerful Warships [Proto Satan] and [Yuubari] sailed together in tandem, going at similar speeds to one another as they headed east, their sole residents hoping to reach friendlier waters. Both vessels headed east to carry their residents to the first spec of land that they would see (in weeks for one of them)

As for their said residents, Yuubari and Kosuke each sat atop their respective ships, their front-most forward turrets to be precise. The former currently sat in the Japanese dogeza position on top of her front-most turret, the winds blowing through her hair whilst a peaceful, serene look could be seen on her face. Perhaps this would be the first time in a while for her that she could enjoy this kind of weather now that she had some means of an escort helping her get back home to her fellow Shipgirls. Whatever thoughts she may have had at this moment in time just couldn't be known, though that wasn't the other party's concern.

Speaking of said party, Kosuke stood tall atop his front-most turret, arms folded in front of his chest while he gazed forwards into the distance ahead of them, the wind ruffling his hair as well. His nerves remained on high alert, as did every other cell in his body since thanks to the battles he had with the Sirens Kosuke knew for a FACT that ambushes could come from anywhere and at any time. It didn't help that the talk with Yuubari had made him consider threats that he hadn't previously, worrying him and making Kosuke feel a bit restless.

'Worrying won't change matters regarding them... but I guess its human nature to be concerned with their own survival.' The male thought to himself briefly, before shaking his head and quickly correcting that thought process. 'No, that's wrong. Caring for one's own survival is natural for any being no matter their nature, if they didn't care then a lot more death would be running rampant throughout the world... well, other than those caused by politicians, race, gender identity or religion but still.'

After he raised his right arm to his chest, Kosuke clutched the area where his head would have been.

Now that he was now an official escort to the Sakura Empire Shipgirl, Kosuke had to think about every possibility that had opened up to them. With their journey back to the Sakura Empire well underway, it would be best if they didn't engage in too many battles with the Sirens that were possible using this space in the Pacific as their spawning grounds. Of course, he wasn't afraid of the Sirens since he could blast them to kingdom come and his [Proto Satan] still had vast ammunition numbers, but even if he could make more from his enemies if he kept using more than he would gain then Kosuke would likely run out and without the Drill and Sawblades functionality he'd become a sitting duck.

Then there was Yuubari. The Shipgirl's vessel wasn't the strongest Light Cruiser out there at the beginning and even then it wasn't at its full capacity for function. Its capabilities being limited even further just made things worse for her, so if she were caught in a siren ambush they would have to try their best to either leg it or launch a surprise rush of their own. To this end, Kosuke had a few ideas in his brain to deal with the enemy in such situations with a lot of them involving using enemy fleets burning away from barrages as smokescreens to get Yuubari hidden so she could take potshots at them with her torpedoes despite their limited range. Eventually, that tactic would lose its effectiveness as the enemy would eventually learn to counter it, meaning he'd have to think of other strategies to deal with them.

'What to do... there's not a lot of things I can think of that could work in our favour, so perhaps avoiding Siren Fleets altogether should be the ideal battle plan...'

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

"?!"

Out of nowhere, Kosuke's phone began to beep once again, indicating that there was a message to be read. After resisting the urge to jump at the abruptness behind the beeping, the black-haired male promptly pulled it out from his pocket and held it in front of him to read the message:

[Shipgirl Yuubari has requested communication with you. Proceed? YES/NO]

'Huh? A communication? Like, a call...? Just more and more questions piling up, I guess...' the male mused tiredly, starting to reach a threshold in his patience with these lack of answered questions. However, he indeed pressed the 'YES' button just to see what would happen...

BZZZZZT!

...Whatever he had thought would have happened, he did not anticipate a strange electrical 'shock' running through his mind like he was hit by a taser, causing him to flinch and bite back the urge to curse. His head throbbed with an aching pain which exploded forth onto the scene like a bomb detonating, nearly making him topple over the side of the turret and onto the bow beneath. 'Urgh, shit what the heck...?!' the male shrieked mentally, gritting his teeth while placing a hand over his head.

Before he could fully recover from the experience...

{Kosuke? Kosuke? Can you hear me, Kosuke...?}

The said male's eyes widened in shock once more, when he heard Yuubari's voice once more... but this time it came from his Phone. To him, it sounded less like a feminine voice and more statically if that was even a word, but he could recognize that kuudere type voice anywhere. Looking down at his phone, Kosuke noticed that there was a phone icon in the middle of his screen that took up a large portion of it, being blue in colour with a white phone icon in the middle. Out of instinct, he pressed the icon and the next thing he knew...

{Uhhhh, Yuubari? Is that you?}

{Ah, so it is indeed working. I may not be Akashi, but I have managed to successfully restart my ship's Radio, meaning that we can communicate more efficiently.}

Once again, Yuubari's voice spoke through his phone whilst Kosuke still struggled to process what was really happening here.

{Do not be alarmed. We shipgirls can use our Radars like they were internal comms, communicating with one another on various frequencies. I managed to restore mine shortly into our departure and tested it by trying to contact you through it.}

So that was what was going on, she managed to get some of her stuff back online and it allowed her to talk to him through his Phone. Hearing this brought some level of calm back to the black-haired male as he relaxed his tense body, shoulders dropping like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. While he wondered why he had felt that electric jolt earlier, it became clear to him that he had discovered yet another new function about his connection to the Ship, as well as something else that he probably should have realized earlier: that not only he himself but also his phone had the connection to his Ship considering that it operated somewhat like a WW2 Radio mixed with modern tech. The fact that it helped him use several other functions was also a piece of this puzzle.

Essentially, what he had now was like a phone line that would interface with Yuubari and perhaps any other shipgirl's Radios, opening the doors to multiple possibilities.

{Gotchya. Glad to see your ship got some repairs are done to it... anything else you managed to get back online?}

Regardless, this opened the possibility that she could feasibly have other systems operational, although those hopes soon got dashed in the following moments.

{Unfortunately, as I am no repair ship, other repairs came in a limited amount. I may be able to keep my guns and torpedoes online, but other than that there is little else I can feasibly accomplish with what I have already.}

Kosuke frowned at this, gazing down at his Phone intently. Whelp, he probably should have expected that but he had hoped for something more. Probably should have expected something along those lines, but oh well he'd count his blessings when he could.

{Well at least now we have some long-term radios we can use for communications if we get contacted by your companions, Yuubari. Also, we can discuss our future tactics for the battles ahead. I'll admit, I'm not the most competent person out there in terms of naval strategy... to be blunt, I'm a rookie at it.}

When saying this, Kosuke found the top of the turret he sat on to be more interesting at this moment. Normally admitting one's own incompetence in an area to a peer wouldn't be seen as something advantageous and would also be a bit humiliating. It showcased a lack of skill and ability which wasn't something he particularly favoured, in fact, one could say he loathed the lack of ability to do something. It stung him like a thousand stabs from a thousand wasps.

To him, one's own ability determined how much they could live their lives alongside how to live life in any way they saw fit.

However, in this situation, Kosuke had to make an exception since their lives were on the line, and they needed to have some degree of trust between them if they wanted to make it out of this in one peace. Didn't mean he had to like it, but the facts were the facts for a reason. As much as he didn't want to, Kosuke saw being truthful and honest with his sole companion as more productive than clinging to a baseless pride, essentially he could do something he didn't like if the practicality behind it was good enough.

Fortunately, Yuubari didn't ridicule him in her next response.

{I didn't expect you to be, although it would have been nice to have. Unfortunately, the way I see it our options aren't that great at the moment, we are simply too few in number and our tactics can't be as flexible as a full fleet. Our best tactic, for now, is to do what we can on a case by case basis, use whatever means available to secure our wins and, if possible... evade fighting large Siren groups.}

Kosuke hummed as he pondered Yuubari's opinion. To him, that sounded like a reasonable strategy and not one that wasn't well-founded since they really didn't have that much they could use. Aside from using the [Yuubari] to scout ahead since Light Cruisers were somewhat faster than Heavy Cruisers, there wasn't much he could do and he wasn't too keen on sending Yuubari out there since his job was to ESCORT her, not potentially order her to her death. He wasn't her Shikkan, nor did he have any intention to become one.

In the end, a small sigh escaped him as he had to admit to himself that this journey would not be an easy one.

---

Chapter end!

Hey guys, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Blame a combination of uni work and this chapter being a lot harder than the others to write for this chapter's late publishing. I also think this chapter isn't the most solid out of the ones I've made so far, so sorry if it seemed a bit forced and random. But what makes up for it is that I've finally gotten a portion of an idea for the route that Yuubari and Kosuke will be facing, plus it seems that a Sakura Empire Fleet is on the hunt for a certain fleet in Hawaii... plot thickens.

Hope you like and see you in the next chapter!

PEACE OUT!