Chapter 14: Night Battle Woes
Sardinia, Mediterranean Sea
July 1st, 2020, 2200 hours
"Ah… I'm exhausted."
Fujin took a moment to plop his butt down on the sand of Sardinia's eastern coast and blew a whistle as the KANSENs closed in towards the beach. As their engines quieted down, a large number of shipgirls removed their wave shoes and ran up to him.
"So, how did we do today?" asked Craven, as McCall trotted up behind her.
"You all did pretty well in today's training session," answered Fujin, holding a lantern up to see their faces. "Aiming is improving overall. Everyone could use some work on maintaining proper fleet formation in poor visibility, though. Also, make sure to never fire your torpedoes in the path of friendlies." He cast an amused glance at a few specific girls, who laughed nervously or looked away sheepishly.
As some of the girls dispersed, several commanders walked up to him and thanked him for training their subordinates.
"It was nothing." Fujin waved his hand dismissively as he chuckled quietly. "I'm sure everyone would have figured this stuff out on their own, given enough time."
"Sakamoto, was it?" The familiar, slightly less irritated voice of Tristan popped up near him. "Just wanted to say thanks for training my girls, especially that new maid they saddled me with."
"H-Hey! I'm trying my best, you know!" Edinburgh stuttered in embarrassment as she detached her training rigging, followed by the dull thud of metal hitting the sand. Her full-face blush was barely visible in the lantern's glow.
"Yes, I get it. Now if only you could bring me tea as skillfully as you fight… both preferably without burning me." Tristan smirked as Edinburgh bombarded him with loud complaints.
Fujin laughed again, this time at their bickering. "Just give her time, Admiral Tristan. Nobody's perfect, and I'm sure she'll become quite good at whatever she puts her mind to."
"Our training instructor is right. You were awesome out there, Edinburgh," added McCall, heading over to the flustered maid. "Did you want some candy? I always carry some in case there's no ice pops available."
"O-Oh!" Edinburgh held out her hand and bowed. "That's very kind of you, McCall. Not a lot of people treat us maids so nicely, especially a clumsy maid like me…."
"Well, that's because you're our fleetmate now," chipped in Craven. "I hope we can become best friends!" she yelled, holding out another piece of candy.
The trio of girls partook in the sweets as Fujin observed Tristan, who couldn't hide the small smile playing across his face. As the other commanders and shipgirls began to trace the path back to camp, Signas and Kaine ran up to Fujin. "Sounds like they really put you through the wringer, bud." Kaine offered a hand to help his friend back up.
As Fujin got to his feet, he stretched and rubbed his shoulders. "It's not easy, I'll say that much. We're only now just getting through the basics of the Sakura Empire's night warfare tactics. There's also a lot of important information regarding night warfare that commanders need to know as well. Do you remember the lessons I taught you back at the Royal Sovereignty?."
"Yeah… that sorta rings a bell," mentioned Kaine, rubbing his head.
"Anyways, thank you for training everyone up. Hopefully, our night assault on the Sardegnan mainland will go smoothly thanks to this," added Signas.
"I'm sure it will-"
Suddenly, a massive boom from the ocean cut off the rest of Fujin's words, followed by an explosion near the cliff underneath the nearest base camp. Shouts and screams were heard across the island as a thick, acrid column of smoke rose into the air, in stark contrast to the thin wisps of the campfires earlier.
"W-We're under attack?!" Fujin shouted in dismay, his voice gripped with fear.
"We need to get back to camp and find our girls!" shouted Signas decisively. "Looks like it's time to put that night combat training to good use!"
The three commanders ran back up the slope as more explosions erupted near the coast and on the hills. They snuck back into the base camp where their fleets were located.
"Helena! Belfast! Javelin!" called out Signas. "If you can hear me, we need you now!"
"I think I see Hanazuki and Zeta!" shouted Kaine. "Hang in there, girls! I'm coming!"
Kaine rushed off to check up on his destroyer girls, who watched the chaos unfold from the entrance of their tent, expressions of awestruck horror painted all over their faces. Helena, Javelin, and Ayanami ran out of the darkness and bumped into the other two commanders.
"C-Commander Signas… I-I just watched a friendly soldier die right in f-front of me…!" Helena sounded completely distraught, her body trembling from head to toe in the light of the raging bonfires.
"Calm down, Helena." Signas grabbed Helena by the shoulders and held her close. "We can't afford to fall apart right now. Find some combat equipment, and get ready to fight back," he ordered.
"Ayanami, you and Yuubari just finished inspecting some riggings, right?" asked Javelin.
"We just finished, yes. Everyone, follow me." Ayanami sprinted across the camp, with the other destroyer and light cruiser trailing after her.
"We need to find some radio equipment and safe cover to observe the battle from. Some binoculars would really help, too." Fujin seemed to calm down upon seeing Signas' unshakable confidence.
"I'll grab the communications equipment," said Signas. "Can you find us the binocs?"
"Sure. Let's meet up back here once we're ready." Fujin darted towards the nearby Sakura encampment.
As Signas ran over to where Kaine was comforting his girls, a shell crashed down and exploded near their location. The explosion sent dirt and shrapnel up into the pitch-black sky, indicating that they needed to hurry up.
"Kaine! Are Nimi and Hanazuki okay?" Signas shouted.
"We're fine!" answered Hanazuki. "But what's going on? I thought night battle practice was already finished!"
"That's not battle practice," answered Kaine. "Somebody's throwing us one hell of a nasty surprise party!"
"You mean it's an ambush?!" yelled Z23 over the deafening explosions.
"Yeah, looks like it! Zeta, Hanazuki, follow after the other girls and gear up! We've got a real firefight on our hands!" ordered Kaine.
As the girls ran off, more explosions rang out across the beaches. The commanders spotted Tristan entering a large tent and preparing an impromptu announcement.
"Attention, all Azur Lane personnel! Our base is under siege! All available naval forces are to prepare for combat immediately! All command personnel, move further inland and regroup at Safe Zone Beta! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!" His voice carried out across the darkness through a set of loudspeakers.
"Perfect! We can probably find some radioes where Tristan is. Tristan!" Signas called his name out loud.
Their superior turned his head in their direction, just as he left the tent. "Hey! Tell your girls to get ready!"
"We already sent them out!" replied Kaine quickly. "Can we borrow some radio equipment?"
"Go ahead. We've got plenty of portable sets for situations like this." Tristan pointed at a crate packed with headphones and electronic devices. He handed them several communication devices before lifting the box in his arms. "Get yourselves to the safe zone in the mountains, now! I'll see if anyone else needs guidance."
"Thank you, Tristan." Signas nodded respectfully as Fujin returned to their nearby meeting spot, his arms laden with spotting equipment.
They parted ways with Tristan and made their way up the slope as fast as they could. Behind them, they could see multiple shore searchlights turning on and revealing their opponents, just as the Azur Lane shipgirls began engaging them in combat.
"It's the Sardegnans!" Fujin called out, pausing to scan the battlefield through a pair of binoculars.
"Of course. Dammit, looks like they came up with the same idea we had, huh?" muttered Kaine.
The trio of commanders made their way to the safe zone, a high rocky platform overlooking several caves. Several other commanders were already watching the battlefield and relaying information to their subordinates.
As they settled down and turned on the radio equipment, Signas turned the dial to their usual comms channel. "Girls, can you hear us? Are you ready for combat?"
"We've already launched and are making our way to the battlefield now!" answered Helena, her shouting barely masking the fear in her voice. "We also managed to find Miss Warspite!"
"Bloody hell, these Sardegnans are cleverer than I gave them credit for…" Warspite grumbled into the comms. "Hey, Commander Signas? You got any orders for me?"
"Yes, let's- Wait, you're actually listening to me?" asked Signas in amazement.
"Now's not the time for that!" shot back the impatient battleship. "I know that night battles are chaotic, and information gathering is even more vital than during the daytime. If you notice anything important, make sure to let me know!"
"Right. I'll inform you if anything happens." Signas turned to address Fujin. "Can we count on you for spotting, since you're the most experienced at it?"
"Sure thing. We just need to find out where everyone is located first," answered Fujin. His gaze stopped at the leftmost coastline. "I think I see Helena and Belfast. Ayanami's right there next to them."
"Hey guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but… I think some of those Sardegnan shipgirls have made it onto land!" announced Kaine, scanning the beach through his binoculars.
Meanwhile, everyone watched as Tristan scrambled onto the platform, cursing silently as he sat down. "I heard you. If they make it too far inland, this location won't be safe for us any longer. I've got my girls on the ground assisting with the base defense, so make sure the rest of them don't make it onto the beach!"
More explosions and gunfire followed as commanders surveyed the battlefield, issuing orders as they saw fit. Several more commanders joined the group, some of them with minor scrapes or injuries. One in particular was carried in on a stretcher, his chest and arm badly bloodied. Several commanders looked on in concern as medical personnel rushed over to staunch the bleeding.
Kaine took a moment to listen in on his headset. "Sounds like my girls are heading back inland to help protect our base. I'll leave the ocean fighting to you guys, alright?"
Several minutes earlier…
The girls rushed into the temporary dockyard set up for shipgirl launching. Other fleets awaited human maintenance crews that were fumbling to attach combat riggings to the shipgirls. Meanwhile, Yuubari fiddled with the remainder of the unused riggings, attaching small disc and antenna-like devices to each one.
"Alright, this batch should be ready," claimed Yuubari, the urgency in her tone at odds with her wispy voice. "We've been working towards making these radars standard-issue for all riggings, and they should help immensely with fire control and detecting surface enemies in poor visibility. Good luck out there."
As the girls thanked Yuubari and waited for outfitting, Helena strode up and fished in the crate where the radars were held. She pulled out a radar with a rectangular antenna and a cylindrical body.
"Ah, we're still working on perfecting that K-Type SG Radar," mentioned Yuubari. "It's still in the prototype testing stages, so you might want to leave that one-"
"I'll take it," stated Helena without a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "It feels… familiar."
Yuubari growled for a moment before returning to her work. "Fine, just don't let it get too banged up. Also, let me know how it performs. I need more combat data for it anyways."
Helena held the tiny SG Radar up near her head and affixed it to her headband. Once attached, the antenna disc began slowly rotating and emitting soft beeping noises.
"Wow…" Helena took a moment to close her eyes and pressed her hand to her ear. "It's like… I can sense everyone's presence around me. Their bodies, their movements… I can see it all."
"Come on, Helena! We need to get going!" Javelin's shout brought Helena back to reality.
Once everyone was geared up, they took their positions at the launching frames and rocketed into the darkness.
The sounds of battle met the girls' ears as they sailed out of the Strait of Bonifacio. Meanwhile, the roiling black soup of the nighttime ocean roared and churned as the shipgirls danced and fought upon its surface.
"Looks like we've got some familiar faces to deal with," commented Belfast as she fired her torpedoes, which vanished into the darkness. The fleets watched as the searchlights illuminated their first foes, with Carabiniere and Littorio among their number.
"Sig, my fleet will handle their destroyers," ordered Fujin on the comms. "Can you help fight the stronger ships?"
"Sounds good," responded Signas. "Girls, see if you can stop their cruisers!"
Ayanami and Yukikaze split off to fight Carabiniere, while Belfast, Javelin, and Helena snuck up on a pair of Sardegnan cruiser girls.
Yukikaze opened fire on the unsuspecting Sardegnan destroyer before announcing her presence. "Wa, ha, ha! You have some nerve, trying to sneak up on us at night! Yukikaze the Great shall see that you pay for your folly!"
"What an annoying brat…" Carabiniere returned fire in her usual manner, cannon shells followed by the musket ball. One of the shells chipped a tiny hole in Yukikaze's shield, but the musket ball glanced off harmlessly, unable to find the opening. "Tch. The searchlights are too bright. They're throwing off my aim."
Both girls continued to exchange fire while sending torpedoes into the water. Several of Yukikaze's shells smacked into Carabiniere's frontal shield, leaving behind multiple cracks. While Carabiniere circled around, managing to fit herself between Yukikaze's torpedoes, one of Carabiniere's torpedoes managed to strike Yukikaze, creating a large web of cracks on the Sakuran destroyer's side shield.
"Ah! Y-You got lucky!" exclaimed Yukikaze.
"Luck? My fighting style is all skill!" fired back Carabiniere as she fired her guns again, shifting her frontal shield to her backside. She paused as a realization hit her. "Wait a minute, wasn't there another girl-"
Suddenly, a massive greatsword punched through Carabiniere's weakened back shield, plunging through her body and coating itself in bright blue liquid.
"Here I am, yes." Ayanami's silhouette peered out of the darkness as she pulled her sword out of her victim, flicking it to shake off some of the residue.
"Guh… Argh…" Carabiniere gargled weakly as she dropped to her knees, flopping into the water as she dropped her musket, which sank away into the obscuring depths. "I got careless. I'm sorry, everyone…."
The Sardegnan destroyer's body dissipated into nothingness as Fujin's fleet regrouped. "Carabiniere has been confirmed sunk, Commander," reported Ayanami with unsettling calmness.
"Good work. How are you holding up, Yukikaze?" asked Fujin.
"I didn't like being the bait," admitted Yukikaze as she shivered for a moment. "But you're proud of me, right? I did my job properly this time, right…?"
"I'm very proud of you," answered Fujin warmly. "Do you need to head back for quick repairs?"
"I-I think I'll be fine," she answered shakily.
"Let's try a more standard approach next time, yes?" asked Ayanami. "I'll take the enemy's focus and you can help provide a crossfire, Yukikaze."
"Sure, that sounds good," answered Yukikaze earnestly, unable to put on her haughty persona again. "I just hope everybody else is okay…."
Meanwhile, Signas' fleet dueled two Sardegnan heavy cruisers closer to the shoreline, their bright hair and heavy trench coats briefly visible in the searchlights' lighting before they escaped the searchlight, dipping back into the darkness.
"Trento is slowly flanking to the left, estimated at fifteen knots! Trieste is charging directly at us!" reported Helena quickly, her radar pinging away.
"She's really good at handling that radar, isn't she?" noted Javelin in awe.
"Girls, try to dissuade Trieste from getting any closer," ordered Signas. "Warspite, see if you can land any long-range shots on Trento!"
"Already on it!" The thundering boom of Warspite's cannons rang out behind them, followed by multiple loud splashes and a single explosion. "Direct hit, but I think she's still standing!"
"How is their aim so accurate?" wondered Trento as the smoke cleared, her top shield badly fractured. "It's hard enough trying to find our opponents when it's pitch black, let alone aim our weapons at them, but they keep finding us with searchlights too."
"That's why we have our objective. Aim for those searchlights on the coast!" answered Trieste. Both cruisers fired their volleys inland, detonating several sets of searchlights and turning them into sparking, flaming debris. "Let's see them try to find us now!"
"It's time to rely on those radars, girls," reminded Signas. "Form a battle line and focus fire on Trieste."
"Roger that, Commander!" Helena took the lead as her Royal fleetmates followed after her. Javelin fired her torpedoes into the water as Helena pinpointed Trieste's location again.
"She's trying to sneak past us on the right. Opening fire!" ordered Helena.
All three of them poured out a withering barrage of gunfire, multiple shells catching Trieste in the side. Even with her heavy cruiser armor, her side shield suffered moderate damage.
"We just need to knock out a few more searchlights…!" Trieste fired at the coast again, disabling another light. "Trento! I'll leave the last ones to you! I'm going to fall back for now!"
"Of course. You may count on me." Trento, who had made a move for the beach while Signas' fleet was distracted, fired her guns in two separate directions, blowing up the final searchlights and enshrouding the combat zone in total darkness.
"We've managed to accomplish our first objective. We'll leave the rest to your battle group, Lady Littorio," answered Trento.
"Fantastic! Even in the darkest of nights, all shall bear witness to the glory of Sardegna in its bright splendor!" shouted Littorio in their comms. "Onwards, my loyal subjects!"
A large group of shipgirls pushed towards the island of Sardinia under the cover of night, as multiple troop transports began to push past the firefight.
"Bad news, everyone," announced Signas. "It looks like the Sardegnans are pushing in with the majority of their forces now that we can't keep them lit up."
"Have your fleet stick to the open water, Signas!" ordered Tristan with increasing urgency. "Sink any troop transports you can! We already have several fleets protecting the coastline."
"Understood," answered Signas as Helena whimpered quietly. "I understand you don't want to do this, Helena, but we need to protect the people on our side first. Please be strong for both of us," he reassured her.
"O-Okay…" was her quiet answer. "The first transport is… eleven kilometers away from us, due east-northeast."
"Thank you for that information. I'll lead the charge if that's fine with you, Helena," answered Belfast, receiving heartfelt verbal thanks from her fellow light cruiser.
As Signas' fleet sped away to intercept some of the transports, Kaine's fleet busied themselves alongside allied fleets in fending off the KANSENs encroaching on the beach.
"It looks like they've got a lot more shipgirls than before!" yelled Z23 as she fired off her guns before hiding behind a thick tree trunk, shells whizzing past her hiding spot.
"Lady Hood, do you have a clear shot at them?" asked Hanazuki over comms as she fired her guns over a large rock.
"I can barely make them out from their muzzle flashes. Opening fire!"
Hood unleashed a full volley from her main battery guns further uphill The shells crashed down and unleashed pillars of fire and sand across the beach. As the smoke cleared, two of the shipgirls were illuminated by the roaring infernos engulfing some shipgirls' shields.
"Not again…" complained the familiar voice of Prinz Eugen.
"It's troublesome to avoid anything when we're trudging across the beach this slowly," added her sister, Admiral Hipper. Both cruisers triggered their fire extinguishers before Hood could reload, plunging them back into almost total darkness. They returned fire at the treeline, forcing several Azur Lane shipgirls to flee and find new cover.
"Hey, Littorio. You should use your fire extinguisher." Hipper edged away from the brightly burning battleship as Eugen did the same.
"One fire is not enough to deter me, unlike you two." Littorio fired her guns at the hill where Hood and another battleship were raining down cannon shells on them. "If anything, it's a perfect metaphor for Sardegna: we always burn brightly as the center of attention!"
"If you mean burning down, then I would agree with you," retorted Eugen. "Hurry up and use your extinguisher already. If you're still on fire, the enemies might see us, too."
As Littorio triggered her extinguisher, her shells slammed into the dreadnought accompanying Hood.
"Commander Tristan, I think Littorio managed to score a hit!" yelled Hood.
"West Virginia, are you all right?" Tristan's voice cried out with immense concern. "Answer me!"
"...This is nothing for a member of the Big Seven." The smoke cleared, revealing moderate cracks across the front and top shields of a pale, darkly dressed young woman, her burning, blood-red eyes betraying her calm and level voice. "That Sardegnan battleship may seem fierce, but she's clearly all bark and no bite. I'll show her what my guns can do!"
West Virginia fired her own salvo in retaliation, most of which slammed into the beach, leaving behind massive craters in the sand. One of the shells landed directly on Littorio, exploding and leaving behind a large web of cracks across the entirety of the Sardegnan's top shield.
"Umph!" Littorio grunted as the force of the larger shell explosion knocked her back. "A good effort on our enemies' part, I must admit."
"But can they handle both of us, the true glory of Sardegna?" questioned another voice.
Another battleship salvo added onto Littorio's own as the shells flew towards the battleships' position once again.
"Your shields! Switch your shields!" reminded Hood urgently as she ran from the incoming barrages. The shells crashed all around West Virginia, kicking up a shower of shrapnel and dirt that blotted out the stars for a brief moment.
"Ow… Thanks for the heads up." The smoke and debris cleared to reveal West Virginia's previously damaged shields on her sides, as her new frontal and top shields were heavily cracked all over.
"Tristan! Have West Virginia fall back before those enemy battleships can reload!" advised Kaine.
"Don't tell me how to do my job!" Tristan argued back. "West Virginia, retreat for now. I can't believe they had a battleship sneaking around without anyone noticing her."
As West Virginia limped away, vanishing into the dense forest, Hood moved closer towards the main battlefield. "Commander Kaine, I'm also relocating! If I don't move, they'll just aim at the exact same spot!"
"Sounds like a smart idea," responded Kaine. "Hey Tristan, is West Virginia safe?"
"She should be outside of their range now. It looks like those battleships are diverting their attention towards… uh-oh."
Littorio and her companion, another woman with long, wild hair and battleship-caliber armaments, unleashed their next salvoes at the recently abandoned campgrounds. The shell explosions were followed by a deafening boom that shook the entire island, even reaching the safe zone.
"Wh-What was that just now?" whispered Fujin, who was still shaking even after the noise subsided.
"They must have hit the ammo dumps," suggested Tristan. "Did they think we were still there? Were they aiming to kill our command personnel?"
"Aren't the first aid tents near there as well?" Signas turned his attention towards the campsites with concern.
"The medical staff should have taken the injured to a separate safe zone further west," commented Tristan. "Damn. If this keeps up, we won't be able to hold onto the islands until more supplies are shipped in! We need to repel that landing force, especially their battleships!"
"Hanazuki, don't you have those special tools that the Sakura Branch developed?" asked Kaine.
"I only have enough ammo for one salvo, but here goes!" she replied. "Deploying star shells!"
From her position behind the boulder, Hanazuki aimed her unusually tiny extra cannons towards the sky and fired off several shells, smoke trails lingering behind them as they soared across the stars. At the top of their arc, they began burning brightly as they deployed tiny parachutes, slowly floating towards the ground as they bathed large sections of the beach in a dim red light.
"We've got visuals on the entire enemy force!" reported Hanazuki.
"All available forces, focus your fire on those battleships!" ordered Tristan.
Suddenly, overwhelming gunfire emerged from multiple angles of attack, showering the beach with hot lead. Thundering explosions sent sand and metal flying in every direction, completely obscuring the Sardegnans and Ironbloods.
"Hold fire! Hold fire!" repeated Tristan as the smoke cleared. By now, the star shells were reaching the ground and starting to fizzle out. However, Azur Lane's forces could see a hint of the blue shields deployed by their opponents.
"...Where are our army's landing forces?" questioned the mysterious battleship woman quietly.
"Worry not, Veneto," answered Littorio. "I left the task of escorting the landing crafts to the Trento sisters and that particularly savage Ironblood cruiser. We should expect army reinforcements any minute now."
"Then where are they?" shot back Vittorio Veneto. "If our support doesn't show up soon, we can't maintain our foothold on the island. At best, we can only destroy the enemy's base encampments. If they mobilize and bring their regular warships' guns to bear, we'll be outgunned and have no choice but to retreat."
"Patience, dear sister! I know we will succeed!"
A little earlier…
"There's the first wave of landing crafts!" announced Helena.
Signas' fleet were about to approach and sink it, but the familiar outlines of Trento and Trieste rushed out to stand between them and their target.
"We can't let you do that, Azur Lane." Trieste fired her main guns, narrowly missing the cruisers as they moved in different directions to avoid the shells.
"Looks like they're still itching for a fight," mentioned Belfast. "Javelin, can you go after the transports? Helena and I shall handle Trento and Trieste."
"Yeah, sounds good!" Javelin circled away from the group and disappeared into the darkness to mask her approach.
"A pair of light cruisers fighting a pair of heavy cruisers? You really just put yourselves into a losing situation." Trieste fired again, except this time some of her shells managed to connect with Belfast, leaving medium-sized cracks in her frontal shield.
"You're a fool if you think gun size and armor thickness are all that matters," answered Belfast as she returned fire. Her smaller shells left small cracks in Trieste's shield, but some of them ricocheted off harmlessly. She fired off a set of torpedoes into the water as she piled on speed, circling her opponent while preparing to take evasive maneuvers.
"R-Right, just need to focus… keep moving… keep my aim on-target…" Helena muttered to herself as Trento's shells slammed into her shield. "Kyaah!"
"I can tell you're a nervous wreck without even seeing you," stated Trento. "How were we losing to you earlier?"
As Javelin fired her first set of torpedoes at a troop transport, a set of shells crashed near her. "W-Woah!"
"I can't let you endanger those soldiers' lives," insisted Trento, her gun barrels still smoking. She fired her torpedoes in Helena's direction as she continued to train her guns on Javelin's location.
"Helena, now's the time for action! I believe in you!" Signas shouted into her headset.
"Commander? Right, I just need to take action. Just like before… now!"
Helena rushed down Trento while her attention was elsewhere, wavehopping over the torpedoes just like she did when fighting the submarine KANSEN back then. As she soared through the air, she aimed her guns at Trento, releasing multiple barrages of gunfire upon her target.
"Don't get too close to her! Take evasive actions if you need to avoid her shots!" Signas reminded her.
"Right! As long as I have this SG Radar…" Helena gripped her hand guns tighter as the radar rapidly pinged. "I'll always know where to aim!"
Helena pushed herself to flank speed as she circled around Trento, pouring a withering number of shells onto Trento.
"Since when did that timid little girl suddenly become so brave?" Trento uttered as the HE shells exploded in rapid succession, cracking her shields little by little. She struggled to turn around and fire back, but Helena wavehopped in advance to avoid the counterattack. "Guh!"
"Trento!" Trieste called out to her sister, but her voice was drowned out by exploding pillars of water as torpedoes struck her from behind.
"We scored a direct hit, yes," noted Ayanami quietly.
"Wa, ha, ha! Now that we're here to help, our opponents don't stand a chance!" Yukikaze swelled with confidence as the Sakura destroyers emerged from hiding.
"Things are getting out of hand. Roon, where are you? We're getting outnumbered and need assistance here!" requested Trieste.
"Oh? And here I thought the Regia Marina was actually useful for something. But alright, if you insist. Let a real cruiser show you how she crushes her enemies!"
"Says the cruiser who never existed," muttered Trieste under her breath.
"You had best get out of my way, because I don't differentiate between friend and foe very well," continued Roon. "Unless you want to fight me, too?"
"That's enough, Roon! They are our allies." The stern, commanding voice of Oskar entered the comms. "My apologies, Trento and Trieste, but please respect Roon's wishes. She is quite strong, but sometimes she can become a bit too battle-crazed, if you know what I mean. Please retreat for now!"
"Very well. We'll leave these enemies to you, Lady Roon. Please try not to hit the transports, if at all possible." Trento bowed politely as Trieste huffed, before both cruisers sailed away into the night.
In the dim gloom, a set of four glowing, menacing golden eyes stared at the Azur Lane fleets. "I can tell just from your voices, from your scents… Yes, you were with that carrier girl. You tried to distract me from my prey. But now, there's no planes to get in our way."
As Roon spoke, two of the lights swiveled and brightened as a low rumbling noise filled the thick, smoky air. Her monstrous serpentine rigging leaned forth, its jagged metal teeth glistening in the dim moonlight.
"You'll have all my attention tonight. I hope you're ready… because YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIVES!"
Roon lunged forward as her own and her rigging's eyes turned crimson red. They both unleashed bestial roars as they let loose with multiple gun and torpedo salvoes.
"Evasive maneuvers, girls!" yelled Signas.
Both Azur Lane fleets started retreating before Roon turned her attention towards Fujin's fleet. The Ironblood cruiser took several gun hits and torpedo strikes as she closed in, but her shields appeared to still be mostly intact.
"You're first, brat!" she yelled as she fired her main guns again at nearly point blank range. Her shells slammed into Yukikaze, exploding violently as they engulfed her in flames and dealt enormous damage to her shields.
"Why me?!" The little destroyer began panicking until Ayanami sailed in front of her.
"Get back, Yukikaze. I'll protect you," muttered Ayanami with no trace of her usual laid-back attitude. She fired her guns at Roon with little visible effect.
"Aww, you think you're gonna be the brave little knight and protect the princess?" taunted Roon. "Then the big, bad dragon will send all your hopes up in flames!"
As Roon assaulted the second destroyer, her rigging emitting a grating, metallic noise resembling a mocking laugh, Signas attempted to rally his girls.
"Belfast, Helena! Can you get Roon's attention? We can't leave Fujin's fleet to deal with her alone!" he yelled out as Javelin rushed the Ironblood cruiser, swinging her spear wildly. As Javelin fired her guns, Roon turned to face the new source of incoming fire and lunged at her.
"We can try, but I'm not sure how long everyone will last if she keeps whittling us down," mentioned Belfast. "Helena…?"
The Head Maid turned towards her silent companion. "I have an idea," declared Helena.
"What's on your mind?" queried Signas.
"Roon's focusing on whoever gets in her way or fires their guns. I… think she's just looking for muzzle flashes," deduced Helena as Ayanami fired her guns again, with Roon turning to chase her down.
"But even if we all stopped firing, she would probably still find and chase at least one person," answered Belfast.
"Then since everybody else has torpedoes and I don't… I'll be the bait."
"Helena, are you sure about this? You're taking on a huge risk," replied Signas with immense concern.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Everyone else can go after the transports with torpedoes, and I'll lead Roon away with my gunfire. Thanks to my radar, I think I can keep track of her even in the darkness. I'll make sure to draw her attention in the meantime."
"Alright, I'll inform Fujin and everyone else about our plan," answered Signas. "Stay safe, Helena."
Helena fired her guns as quickly as they would reload and watched as Belfast and the destroyers broke away into the night, chasing down the transports that had slipped by them during the fight. Roon's hunt was cut short as the only thing illuminating her face was the endless flurry of exploding shells from Helena's small guns.
"So you actually wanted to die first? Heehee, I can arrange that."
Roon giggled menacingly as her main guns fired in Helena's general direction. One of the AP shells crashed through the side of Helena's shield and passed through without causing any major damage, but the near-miss still caused Helena to tense up as a sound like shattering glass rang in her ears.
"Helena! I heard your shields taking a hit. Are you all right?" demanded Signas.
"I-I'm fine. Now that I have her attention, I just need to…"
Helena stopped firing and slowly edged away from Roon, making sure to keep her engine as quiet as possible. The Ironblood cruiser sailed towards Helena's last known position at a steady pace, her rigging's head swinging around as it searched for its target.
"Aww, what's wrong? I thought you were ready to lay down your life for your friends? Or did the wittle baby pee herself when the big, scawy monster noticed her?" Roon continued to taunt and jeer as she fired each of her guns in random directions in an attempt to blindly hit her target. However, the shells flew across the darkness, connecting with nothing as they audibly splashed into the water.
"I'll fire again to get her attention," whispered Helena. She carefully glided away until she was a further distance from Roon, using her radar to keep track of her opponent's slightly erratic movements. Her next gun volley arced through the air, most of it landing harmlessly around Roon.
"Ooh, you think you're a clever girl, don't you?" Roon charged as the Eagle Union cruiser went dark again.
Helena tried to shy away quietly, but Roon maintained her high speed as she approached Helena's general location, forcing her to power her engine to maintain her distance.
"There you are!" Roon held her hand to her ear, detecting the engine noise as her rigging fired its main guns again. This time, the salvo was much more accurate as the shells exploded on Helena's frontal shield, mere feet from her as the heat lightly singed her face.
"Guh…! High explosive shells this time?" As Helena's shield caught fire, she triggered her extinguisher and sped away before quieting her engine again. Roon tailed her, but ended up sailing past her as her serpentine rigging swung its head around blindly, growling impatiently.
"Little girl, where are you? I just want to play. I promise I'll treat you just like the doll Oskar used to let me play with. We'll see how far your arms and legs can stretch before they break, and I'll only pop your head off once I grow bored."
Helena shuddered in horror before holding back a gasp of surprise. She saw the bubble trails of Roon's torpedoes as they glided in her direction, and took quick action to carefully position herself between them so she wouldn't trigger one and alert Roon to her location. As she dodged the projectiles, she heard other torpedo explosions in the distance, indicating her friends had found and sunk some of the transports.
"Oh?" Roon and her rigging turned their heads towards the new sources of noise. "If you're not going to entertain me, then perhaps the other girls would be more… willing." She turned and began speeding away as Helena stared at the eyes of Roon's rigging, which had turned back to a golden yellow hue.
"Commander Signas, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up," whispered Helena exhaustedly into her headset, but she received no response. "C-Commander?"
"Just hang in there a little longer, Helena," responded Signas after a brief wait. "Just lead her a little closer to the island."
"Um, okay? If you say so." Helena took a deep breath, poised to flee again, as she fired another continuous salvo of shells at Roon before she could get too far away. As her own muzzle flashes nearly blinded her, she could discern the furious Ironblood cruiser rushing her down at full speed, her rigging's eyes blazing crimson again as it opened its jaws and unleashed a guttural metallic scream.
"Eek! Time to go!" Helena turned around and pushed herself past flank speed into a speed burst, before returning back to flank speed once her engine started complaining. As she ran, shells rained down behind her, some detonating on the surface of the water and some zipping under the surface before exploding.
"Keep going! I love a good chase!" Roon yelled ecstatically as drool started running down her chin. "Let's see how long the rat can avoid the cat!"
"H-How is she keeping up with me? In fact, it looks like she's catching up!" Helena's breathing hastened as her cube began pulsing at an irregular, rapid pace. She tried to twist her body to avoid Roon's shellfire as they flew past her.
"Commander Signas! I can't keep this up for much longer!" Helena cried out in desperation. "I think her guns are firing even faster now," she noted as shells flew past her with increasing frequency. One HE shell caught her square in the backside, knocking her forward as large cracks started to form on her rear shield.
"You can't run, and you can't hide! I'm gonna savor gutting you like a fish!" Roon's threats struck just as much fear into Helena as her projectiles did.
"Just a little longer, Helena! Keep moving!" ordered Signas.
The injured, weary light cruiser pushed herself to perform another speed burst again, even as her engine whined loudly. Another shell, this time AP, blasted through her shield, scraping across her arm as it punctured through the other side.
"Aaaagh!" Helena screamed as excruciating pain shot up her body. When the shell grazed her skin, it left behind a large, bleeding gash, blackened by the intense heat and friction. She instinctively clutched her wound as she slowed down, her engine's noises softening to a sputter.
"Are you done running already? But I was still having so much fun!" Roon pretended to whine as she closed in for the kill. "Ah, well. I suppose all good things must come to an end. At least your screams are like music to my ears. I feel like I could fall asleep to such a soothing melody." She raised her guns again, the soft thunk of shells reloading in the barrels. "Time to say good night, little girl-"
"Belli… dura…"
"Huh?" Roon barely had time to turn around.
"DESPICIO!"
In an instant, a number of deafening explosions rang out across the ocean, ripping into Roon's shields as Helena was knocked away by the powerful shockwaves. As Helena clamored to her feet, she turned and saw her savior: Warspite was now locked in a close-range duel with Roon.
"Perfect timing, Warspite." Signas gave Warspite his relieved compliments over the radio.
"My apologies. I was ordered to assist with the beach defense before Signas redirected me towards your location." Warspite shifted her eyes over to Helena. "Are you all right? I would have intercepted her earlier, but you were quite far away when you went chasing after those transports!"
"I-I'm fine. Thank you, Lady Warspite." Helena offered her thanks through teary eyes and a shaky voice.
Warspite swiped at Roon with her greatsword, cleaving through Roon's already-damaged frontal shield with ease. However, as Warspite readied another melee strike, Roon's rigging caught her sword in its mouth, holding her in place as the Ironblood heavy cruiser stumbled to her feet, still reeling from the blast.
"I'm really… sick and tired… of all these new distractions… GETTING IN MY WAY!" Roon swapped a fresh shield to the front as she fired her torpedoes, creating several massive pillars of water that blasted both her and Warspite away from each other. Both sides' shields now displayed visible damage thanks to Roon firing her explosives at point-blank range. Her serpent rigging unleashed an anguished scream as it reared backwards before drooping forward again, its eyes blinking out and vanishing, now blacker than the night sky.
"No… no!" Roon became agitated when she realized her partner had gone silent. "Why are you sleeping now?! I… wanted to keep fighting…!" Her voice grew weaker with every passing second, the sadistic fury fading away.
"Roon, you imbecile!" Another irritatingly familiar voice chastised the heavy cruiser on the comms. "Your job was supposed to be protecting the transports! I leave my station for ten minutes only to find out you completely abandoned your duties?!"
"Ingrid… I want to fight some more! I want to make them bleed! I want to crush them all, but my rigging's not responding!" Roon began whining again, but with barefaced honesty this time.
"And you wrecked the special equipment in the process?! What is wrong with you, you useless, defective weapon?"
Before Ingrid and Roon started shouting at each other, a third voice overrode both of them. "That's enough! Roon, it's time to retreat," ordered Oskar with absolute authority. "The situation on the island has turned unfavorable. The Sardegnans have ordered their remaining forces to fall back, so we shall follow their lead."
"Commandant Oskar…" Roon suddenly became quiet and meek before another set of shells from Warspite reminded her she was still in combat. She was forced to turn around and sail away, clutching her unconscious serpent rigging in her hands. "Understood. Roon, leaving the battlefield now."
"And Rear Admiral Ingrid," continued Oskar in his biting tone, "I would greatly appreciate it if you would not yell at or abuse my cruiser subordinates. They fall under my jurisdiction, even if I permitted you to lead them for our Mediterranean operations thus far."
"I wouldn't have to resort to treating them harshly if they would just perform their duties properly!" shot back Ingrid.
"That just goes to show you don't truly understand how to handle KANSENs," retorted Oskar. "Anyways, let us check in on the beach landing force and advise them so they can escape."
Meanwhile, Signas checked in on his girls as Roon fled. "Helena, Warspite. Can you still fight? Are you considering pursuing Roon?"
"Negative," answered Warspite as Helena leaned against her. "I can't keep up with her, and Helena's in no shape to fight that heavy cruiser, let alone follow her."
"I figured as much. Javelin informed me that almost none of the enemy transports have reached the landing zone. Helena, follow Fujin's orders for now. He's sending Yukikaze and Ayanami back to the Strait of Bonifacio for repairs. Warspite, head back towards Sardinia and assist the defense group! Belfast and Javelin will follow after you!"
"Sounds like a good plan. Warspite, moving to intercept the Sardegnans!" announced the dreadnought as she rushed back towards land. Helena took a different course north, regrouping with Fujin's destroyers as they circled around towards the dock they had deployed from.
"Keep going! They're starting to retreat!"
Tristan took off his headset to shout orders to the other commanders grouped up with him in the safe zone. "AL Task Forces 33 and 34, join up with Royal Force 12! Task Force 35, what is your fleet's status?"
"One moderately injured and returning for repairs, but we managed to repel the enemy's landing forces," answered Signas promptly. "The rest are coming back to assist you!"
"Nice job! Task Force 32, how's your group holding up?" questioned Tristan without pausing.
"We're bogged down dealing with Littorio!" responded Kaine. "We're firing blind almost blindly now!"
"Well, just don't do anything stupid!" ordered Tristan, putting his headset back on. "As long as we can hold out now, our enemies will either have to retreat or surrender!"
The beach continued to turn into a more and more desiccated landscape, the sands carved into an endless field of craters as the nearby trees collapsed and burned brightly. The sounds of explosive gunfire and high-pitched yelling flooded the battlefield, turning an otherwise peaceful night utterly chaotic.
"We're running out of hiding spots here!" shouted McCall as she ducked down into a crater next to Craven, shells whizzing over her head.
"Hold your positions! Do not retreat!" ordered Tristan over the comms. "West Virginia has just finished her emergency repairs and will rejoin you as soon as she can!"
Meanwhile, Hood fired her guns again, slinging shells through the foliage. They collided with a moderately damaged Littorio, setting her shields ablaze.
"I do not mind all this attention, but I think this is getting to be a bit too much!" Littorio fired back in Hood's general direction, her shell explosions sending leaves and dirt flying into the air. She waved her hand about, trying to fan away the flames to no avail.
"I've received word from the rest of the fleet. Our landing forces have failed to break through," reported Vittorio Veneto, her eyes narrowing in disgust. "Looks like it's time to order a retreat."
As Veneto gave orders and began to slowly back away, Littorio noticed Hipper and Eugen, still fighting on the frontlines of the invasion fleet. "Why aren't they falling back? Did they not hear you?"
"Ignore them. It seems they've chosen this hill to die on," said Veneto as she fired her guns again, this time at the boulder Hanazuki was taking cover behind. It shattered into a million pieces as the shocked destroyer scurried into the nearby bushes.
"Well now, that's just not the Sardegnan way!" Littorio rushed towards the two Ironblood cruisers despite Veneto's complaints. "Cover me, Sister!"
Neither cruiser was aware of the volley of shells from West Virginia sailing over the hills towards Eugen's location. Hipper noticed at the last second and moved to cover Eugen, but Littorio shoved aside both of them as the AP shells crashed down on her.
"Huh? Who… who was that?" asked Eugen, completely stunned by the loud explosions and violent displacement of her person.
"Sorry Eugen, I tried to protect you," apologized Hipper as she squinted through the smoke and stirred-up sand, "but now I'm not even sure what happened…."
As the smoke cleared, the heavily battered and injured Littorio stood her ground, her arms and legs shaking despite her brave, charismatic stance. Even if all of her shields were still intact, none of them were clean or undamaged. "Now's not the time to be admiring me! It's time to retreat, so get out of here!"
"Retreat? Wha…?" Hipper looked over her shoulder. In the dim lighting of battle, she could see several of the Sardegnan shipgirls running for the ocean, the revving of their engines signifying their escape.
"That's right! Get going!" shouted Littorio while more shells rained down around them. As more battleship-caliber shells flew across the night sky, causing the stars in their path to blink as their silhouettes passed by, Littorio took two more hits across her back shield, finally depleting it. She turned her front shield towards the back as she followed after Hipper and Eugen.
"I've got your back, Eugen!" Hipper shouted as she darted between her sister and some more incoming shells, suffering moderate damage to her side shield.
"Huh. Thanks." Eugen could barely get out a word of gratitude as she panted heavily, her rigging clunking on her back as she pulled out her wave shoes.
Seeing their enemies fleeing the battlefield, several of the less injured Azur Lane girls stepped out of hiding, taking advantage of the opportunity to openly fire upon their targets.
"Looks like they're running!" shouted Z23 over the constant rattling of her guns. "Keep up the pressure!"
"Yeah! Looks like we're finally gonna win!" yelled Craven, stepping out of the crater to get a better view of her opponents.
"Wait, Craven!" yelled McCall. "Be careful-"
"We need to discourage them from pursuing us," muttered Littorio. "Rosa Bombardamento!"
An avalanche of heavy shells rained down across the open beach, also hitting the crater where Craven and McCall were hiding.
"W-Woah, woah, woah!" McCall was sent flying sideways, landing near Hanazuki's location.
"Aaaaah!" Craven, however, was knocked towards the retreating Sardegnans, sliding across the sand when she crashed. "Ow…"
"Ignoring your reckless actions for now, Littorio…" Veneto lowered her guns, aiming for the closest target to her. "I shall take this opportunity to cut down another member of the enemy's force. Every opportunity we seize is another step closer to preserving the prosperity and glory of Sardegna."
"Wh-wha…?" Craven was rendered speechless as she heard the cannons turning in her direction.
"Craven! Get out of there!" McCall shouted desperately as she ran towards her teammate.
"What's going on down there?!" Tristan was now full-on panicking into the radio. "Craven, run!"
"The glory of Sardegna… shall reign eternal."
In that moment, the entire battlefield seemed to deafen as enormous fireballs erupted from all nine of Veneto's main guns. The island lit up for a brief moment, as if it was basking in the full light of the morning sun, before returning to complete darkness. The gunfire on both sides briefly paused as the shockwaves passed by, warping all noise on the battlefield.
"…Our work here is done. Let's take our leave." Veneto finally stepped back, sailing away slowly in reverse as she surveyed the damage she had caused.
"Understood, Sister. Hipper, Eugen, let's go. I… grow weary of all this fighting." Littorio sighed as she sailed out of view, followed soon after by the Ironblood cruisers. Eventually the battlefield fell silent as the sounds of fighting ceased.
"Is it over…?" Hanazuki stepped out of the forest, accompanied by Z23 as they peered at the raw destruction through the poor lighting cast by the blazing greenery.
The shipgirls stepped forth to observe the wreckage, a haunting sign of the battle's aftermath. Fragmented metal and blackened scorch marks tarnished the sand, and amidst the craters a girl curled up in one such hole, clutching several incomplete pieces of a wisdom cube close to her chest. Her quiet, heaving sobs could barely be heard over the crackling forest fires as human firefighting teams set out to control the blaze. The long battle was over, yet the night was still young. A suffocating, crushing, aura of sorrow covered the entire island as the survivors set out to save and repair what was left.