Azur Lane: Changing Tides

by RUROUNI15

A year has passed since the Sirens unleashed the power of Orochi on the world but were stopped thanks to a renewed alliance between the Kansen. Led by Enterprise, they have started to push back against their foes. However, humanity is no longer content to sit on the sidelines any more; preparing to launch a daring plan that will hopefully see a change in the tides of the war.

5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Azur Lane Base
Pacific Ocean

February 29, 20XX

0715 Hours

There was a different air to the base as Henry walked along the shoreline of the port. Where there had been excitement a few days earlier when he and his crew had arrived, now there was a great sense of distrust and unease. Many of the kansen that passed their new commanding officer kept to themselves with a small handful giving a half hearted greeting as they tried to piece together their thoughts on the radical restructuring of an organization that hadn't been changed like this in years. On top of all that the vast majority of them knew next to nothing about the other officers and himself. Which meant that besides their mission to fight the sirens, the Eagle Union Captain needed to build a rapport between the Manifest's human crew and the kansen.

He had already laid the groundwork for this. First, was a notification to the ship girls stationed at the Azur Lane base that they were allowed access to the main deck and up to the bridge of the new battleship. Hopefully some would take up the offer and converse with the sailors and marines that were in between duty shifts, in the hope of establishing connections with them. It also helped get rid of a little thorn in his side as well. It had seemed that like with much of his homeland's coastal defense fleet, the council had commissioned a series of trinkets, clothing, and headwear emblazoned with the ship's name and its heraldry.

It was generally given out to visiting dignitaries or used as a good source of replacing clothing damaged by the rough conditions of working on a warship. For Henry however, it just meant more space that was being taken up that could be put to better use while they were out on patrol. As such he had ordered the quartermaster to unload nearly all of it and establish a kiosk to where it could be sold alongside the various pop up shops that ladened the coastline run by the kansen. They could pick up some of the items that were sold and converse with those that manned the little shop when they needed to return home.

In fact, the Captain was checking up on the shop's location as he wrapped up his walk before heading to Enterprise's… his office. Rounding the corner of the building, Henry could see some of the first boxes of the merchandise sticking out from a tarp tent strewn about. Which was strange, until he saw the face of a fresh sailor who was on the receiving end of a verbal thrashing from a kansen that he could best describe as a short mint green haired cat.

"What is the meowning of this nya?! Nyo one can set up a shop here without one of my purrmits," the kansen said as she waved her sleeve draped arms above her head in a vain attempt to appear bigger.

Granted it did seem to have a desired effect as the young seaman stumbling over himself, trying to figure out a way to solve the confrontation. "Uh…'purrmit"? Listen I was just told to bring this stuff and to help the ship's quartermaster to set up a stall here. Captain's orders, miss…"

"I don't care what rank you got. Nyao purrmit, nyao stall. Can't have anyone butting in on Akashi's business venture without paying the coin." The cat-eared shipgirl returned.

The conversation looked like it would be going nowhere for either party, the newly minted Commander of Azur Lane decided to step in. "The way you phrased that last part sounded a lot like extortion to me."

A brief sound of shocked surprise that another party had entered into the conversation came from the two as they took notice of Henry. Turning around the sailor quickly snapped to attention once he recognized the Captain. The kansen on the other hand looked more confused at the arrival of another interloper to her 'business venture.'

"Sir, what are you doing here?"

"As you were, sailor. I thought I'd make the rounds before heading to the Port HQ, see how things are going. No trouble here I hope."

The sailors eyes darted quickly between the kansen and his Captain, as if trying to measure rapidly if the dispute was worth bothering the officer about or bringing the ire of a warship upon his head. As he did this, the mint haired cat-girl gave him an incredulous look that he could only fathom was to make him keep his trap shut. While the look fulfilled its intended purpose, his fear of having to answer to the captain beat it out.

As he began to stutter out a response to the both of them, the Quartermaster for the ship, Hase Toshiyuki, rounded the corner with a set of boxes in hand. A sight which he hadn't expected stood before him, but the old non-commissioned officer just took it all in stride. "Aw, might we already have our first customer," he asked with a genial smile to them all.

The young sailor that was caught up in it all let forth a sigh of relief as the other person in charge of the ministorm that he found himself in had arrived. The kansen just placed her sleeve covered hands on her hips as she stared at the old man that had just arrived. The Captain just gave a bit of a shrug of his shoulders at the question, "Well that's the heart of the question that we are trying to get to. Akashi here said that there needs to be a 'purrmit' in order to set up a shop here that needs to be paid out to her. Granted I didn't ask Enterprise about such a thing last night but as the Commanding Officer of the base, I think such a rule like that could change fairly easily."

That got the repair ship's attention as she spun around to look up with a sympathetic look on her face towards Jones. "Nyo, please! This is the only way I make money as the purrmit warden."

"Don't you get a nice stipend from the Japanese government for your service," Jones asked, looking her in the eyes. Not buying the attempt at the water works that she was going for.

Akashi averted her gaze from the Captain's stare before replying. "Nyat at all… well nyat close enough for a divine feline to live on out here…" her voice trailing off as she went on, realizing that the cards were being stacked against her.

Before Jones was about to reply, Hase stepped forward after placing the boxes down with a look of someone that was just being reunited with an old friend. "I'm sorry, did you say Akashi? I thought you looked familiar.."

The others gathered just looked amongst each other, not entirely sure how to respond to the quartermaster's reaction.

"That would be me, nya. Who's askin?"

"Oh sorry you wouldn't know me. I'm Hase," he said to the kansen. "You may not remember my grandfather, Akio Toshiyuki, but he served on your ship during the Second World War. You helped him survive at the Battle of Palau."

The cat-girl's ears drooped down as her memories of that day of acrid fire and smoke filling the air came back to her mind. Before she could be lost too far in her thoughts of it, Hase patted her head with an old callused hand. Her eyes came up to meet his, warmth beaming from them with a smile across his face. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here today. As such I owe you a great deal of thanks, little one. This isn't much," he said, reaching into a pocket of his jumpsuit. Pulling out a small red gem, he presented it to her. "Please take this as thanks for all you did."

Initially Akashi tried to bat at the hand placed on her head as it ruffled her hair, but stopped when she looked at the proffered gift. Her golden eyes shimmered back at her in the red hue of its reflective surface. "For Nya? Where did you get something like this?"

"After the war, once my grandfather returned, he found a vein of these gems near what would become my family's home. This is one of the first gems he mined. Each of that first batch has been passed down to the next generation and so on. Each held as a good luck charm. Though I believe as a token of thanks, he would have liked you to have one."

Bringing up her covered hands together, accepting the gift, Akashi stared at the stone for a moment longer before giving a deep bow to Hase. "Meowby I can make an exception on the purrmits, for such a nice gem. But just this once, nya!"

"How did you know that she'd like that rock," the young sailor asked the quartermaster discreetly.

Hase gave a little chuckle as memories of his youth came back to him. "My grandfather used to talk all the time about this little green cat on his ship, who loved to collect gemstones and create various devices when she was allowed to tinker."

Jones raised an eyebrow at that last caveat of information from the quartermaster."A tinkerer you say. Akashi do you think it would be possible-" he shared his idea with the repair ship.

—-

Head Quarters

Azur Lane Pacific Base

Jones opened up the door to his new office and stepped inside with a bit more pep in his step after how things had turned out with Akashi. One of the major problems that they would encounter in the field was already on its way to being solved. Inside, he had expected to just encounter Enterprise like the day before, but he also found that the head maid of the Royal Navy was there as well.

Closing the door behind himself, the Captain greeted both of them. "Good to see you this morning, Enterprise. And belfast to what do we owe the pleasure?"

The English cruiser picked up the hem of her skirt, giving a curtsy to the officer. "It is nice to see you as well Captain Jones. I am here today to provide my skills to help with a smooth transition of your command to the base. During Enterprise's tenure, I worked in a very similar capacity to her as you described the Secretaries taking," Belfast finished her reasoning, giving one of her sly smiles to Enterprise.

The famed carrier of the Eagle Union just gave out a sigh at her friend's remark and lowered the brim of her cap down so neither could see eyes or much of her face. Henry looked between the two for a moment before deciding just to move on with the day and not to pry into the two kansen's friendship. Walking over to the oak wood desk, the commanding officer took a seat and looked between the two. " So if I recall correctly from last night, you mentioned that the currently assigned forces from Iris Libre and the Vichya Dominion are currently on exercises near the Solomon Islands, and a group that was escorting a set of Sakura cargo ships back to the Sanctuary are due to return today."

"That's correct, Captain. Jean Bart and the others should return by the close of the week, and Tennessee and her group should be back by the end of the day," Enterprise said with a nod, pulling herself from the slight embarrassment that her friend brought her. Stepping over to the opposite side of the desk from Jones, she began to point out other locations of interest to him. "There is a set of Iron Blood ships that are transferring to the base that reported last night they had passed through the Bering Strait. We also have a normal supply run coming in from Australia that is due to arrive halfway through next week."

"Is that all that's fit to print for the Pacific theater?"

Giving a nod with her reply, "Affirmative, Captain. Past your arrival that was all the major assignments and events happening on this side of the world. Individual station assignments are in files in cabinets behind you."

Jones looked over his shoulder at the ornate cabinets that were set behind him split into display cases on the top and more traditional file storage below. Turning back he inquired about the Atlantic next.

"Standard trade convoy coverage between Eagle Union and the Royal Navy along the Northern Passage with assistance provided by Iron Blood forces at the direction of Friedrich Der Grosser while Bismarck is here. Sardegna forces led by Littorio focused on the Mediterranean with assistance from Iris and Vichya to cover the coast of Africa."

"So a lot more compartmentalizing of areas of concern out East I see," Jones said while he rubbed his chin looking at the map. "Thank you for bringing me up to speed on the situation. I'm guessing not much intelligence from the Northern Parliament side."

Belfast shook her head in answer to his rhetorical question. "Regrettably not. While they are a contributing member of Azur Lane, at this time they have only felt the need to allow one kansen, Avrora, to be assigned to the organization. Currently she is on leave back to her home country."

"I see. Well once she returns I'll have to have a meeting with her to better understand the situation from the North. Thank you Belfast."

Though the Royal Navy ship waved a hand at his words. "There is no need for you to thank me Captain. It is part of my duty as a humble maid. There is one more matter that must be passed down from Enterprise however."

"What would that be?" Jones asked with earnest interest.

Belfast just gave a quick bow with that same smile, that Henry was starting to wonder if it wasn't a smirk on her face. Gracefully she headed over to the other desk that had been added to the room since yesterday evening and proceeded to grab a stack of papers that was at least three feet high from behind it. Bringing it over to the Captain, she set it down to his desk's left side. "Paperwork."

It seemed that no matter how far away from the Stack he got, that dreaded word was to follow him. Giving a light chuckle to himself, the two kansen shared a glance between each other, not sure what to make out of the Captain's reaction. Even with the help of Belfast, it had taken a couple of hours for Enterprise to make a dent in a stack that big. And by the time that they were nearly done, there was more on their metaphorical plate.

"Well no time like the present," was all that the human said as he pulled out a pen and clicked it on. Both of the Kansen were about to offer to assist with tackling the task but they halted in their place as they saw paper after paper fly from the stack to in front of the Commander of Azur Lane. He'd take a moment to read over it, then sign and place it to his right. Though as they watched there were a handful that he placed at the head of the desk that he left unmarked.

"Captain," Enterprise exclaimed as she grabbed one of the papers that he'd set to his right. "You need to go over these requests with care before signing off on them."

"I have. That one is requesting that we have a larger shipment of raw sugar be delivered to the base in order to have a sweets competition in order to boost morale amongst the base, proposed by Dunkerque. Didn't seem like an outlandish request to grant. Those in front of me are either forms that were submitted incorrectly or need an additional copy before being signed off."

The carrier just stood there mouth slightly agape, the Captain didn't seem to notice as his focus was on the mountain of paperwork. Enterprise turned to Belfast for some kind of help reacting to the situation, but the British cruiser was just as stunned as she was. But, neither had much time to process the Captain's adeptness with paperwork before Brooklyn rushed into the office.

"Captain Jones, Enterprise, Belfast," she hurriedly shouted as she approached the desk with a set of charts in her arms. " I just picked up radio traffic from Tennessee and after her group reached the exchange point they came under a Siren attack on their way back."

Henry got up from his desk and moved some of the paperwork out of the way so Brooklyn could place down the maps that she had brought. They all looked across them as the American cruiser pointed out the last point of transmission the base received. "Alright, they're nearly two hundred miles out from us. What ships are currently fit and combat ready to deploy?" Jones asked Enterprise.

"Z46 hasn't deployed in some time, and Ise and Hyuga have just finished up their rearmament cycles. There is also Cleveland who didn't sustain any damage in our last encounter with the enemy and should be good to go…and I can deploy as well."

Belfast looked over to her friend at the declaration. While she was undoubtedly much better at taking care of herself than at the beginning of the Orochi Incident, Enterprise still hadn't fully recuperated from their last scrape with the Sirens. "I am also good to ship out as well, my Captain."

"Understood, that's who we'll deploy with then. Brooklyn put out a call to those ships to assemble at the docks and send a message to the Manifest."

—-

157 Nautical Miles West

from Azur Lane Pacific Base

"Damn Sirens are swarming us like a bunch of flies. Hell! Sandy, jets at our 5 o'clock! Take…."

Static soon filled the room as the last radio burst that the Manifest was able to pick up from Tennese's escort fleet played. One of the Eagle Union radiomen had picked up the scattered signal and quickly ran it through decryption before rushing it to the officers. The man wasn't able to gather any other transmission, wagering that it was a localized jamming device that the Sirens were employing. Jones thanked and then dismissed the sailor back to his station before looking over Takeda.

"I realize we don't have a third data point yet to hone in on where they all are currently but do you think that you can interpret how close we are to the other fleet?"

"Captain, I cannot provide any absolute certainty. Only a wide radius of possible routes they may travel," was the Japanese officer's response. Pointing to one spot on the display he continued, "With my best estimates I can only provide a slim possibility that they may be here."

Jones cursed mentally at this news. They needed a way to triangulate where the now missing fleet was but there was no easy way to go about it. He was going to need to split up some of his forces to search for Tennessee and the others she was with. However if the Sirens had intercepted any of the recent traffic involving the Manifest's deployment to the field, then they could be stepping into a trap. While it was likely that the human ship could hold firm even if he deployed one of the kansen, he didn't want to risk it.

That being said, there was no way that he was going to allow his enemies the slightest chance of getting the first strike, even if that might be their plan. Looking over the holographic map displayed before him with the location of where the fleet was when they first scrambled nearly two hours ago, Jones knew he had to make a decision. Listing through what they had available and what might be expected from their enemy, the Captain came to a decision. Grabbing a notepad, he quickly jotted down a set of orders and handed them off to Cooper. "Take this down to the aft bay and then take up a post at the second bridge. It's time we finally get into this fight my friend."

"Been long enough. See ya on the other side, let's send those Sirens down to the locker," his friend said before giving a salute and heading off to complete his tasks.

As the door closed behind the other Eagle Union officer, the Captain turned back to the command console to see Kohler on the other side of it with a slight smirk on his face as he stared at him. "Have a particular thought that's on your mind that you like to share?"

"Nien, I am just very interested in what your orders were and to see how we are about to proceed."

"I'll let you know in just a moment, but let's bring the ship up to combat conditions first. Kohler, you and Takeda pick up one of the comms and translate to the rest of the crew what's about to happen."

Both the old Crimson Axis commanders followed his command and waited for Azur Lane's leader to issue his first call to combat for the ship. Nodding to one of the sailors near the internal speaker system for the ship, they turned around activating it and piped out a call to attention before transferring the mic capabilities to the sound powered phones that the officers held.

"Now hear this. Now hear this. This is the Captain speaking," he said, pausing momentarily so that the other officers could relay the message to those that were not multilingual on the ship. "As of five minutes ago we entered into a jamming field that the Sirens have established as a means to hide the escort fleet that we are after. You all know that this means we're on their turf now and we are about to wade into the heart of battle."

"Remember why you are here, remember your training, and above all else that those that stand shoulder to shoulder with you today are our best chance of making it through this war. I know that all those whose future you fight for are proud of you all." The Manifest's Captain took in a deep breath to steel himself for the command he was about to deliver. One that had been in his mind for years, waiting to be issued. "All hands! Battlestations! Battlestations! This is not a drill!"

Following those words he activated the alarm siren that rang throughout the ship, alerting all who heard it to the combat conditions that they were to take. The bridge sparked with movement as all inside as the bridge crew threw on their protective gear for the fight ahead. Hanging up the sound powered phone and walking over to his chair, Jones dawned his own equipment as he watched those outside rush across the deck of the ship as sailors and marines moved to man their anti-aircraft guns and stereoscopic rangefinders. Flashes off to port clued him in that the kansen were at least following his commands for now.

—-

"What are they all running around for," Z46's soft voice carried over the water to the other kansen while the klaxons still blared from the Manifest.

Ise waved dismissively as her hull converted itself into rigging in a brilliant flash. Finding a little amusement in the young destroyer's question, the aviation battleship answered, "Guess you weren't around long enough to have a human crew. All that noise is them just psyching themselves up for battle kiddo. Just like that little speech the blowhard in charge gave."

The Iron Blood destroyer emotionlessly shook her head at the response from the Sakura ship. While it was true she had never served alongside a human crew, many of her elders had shared stories about those days before and after the sirens were known to the world. Directing the fleet's attention, Z46 pointed to what she was wondering about, "No. What are they doing?"

They all turned to look where her finger was directing and none of them could believe their eyes as the blades of and soon the body of a helicopter rose from the Manifest's aft deck. But was all the more shocking especially to the older ships was that they could see people moving inside its canopy.

—-

Lt. Commander Taylor Darzacq, went through another set of preflight checks, making sure that everything was green before they got the go ahead from the citadel. He and his flight crew had run multiple operations off of countless ships and various harsh conditions while they were in the US Coast Guard, but even as a veteran crew, they were about to enter into a whole new world. When Eagle Union had reached out to his team, Retriever-1, they all accepted readily. Each to a degree was always looking for some new kick of adrenaline and while they were all getting what they asked for, it didn't mean that they were altogether fearless in the face of what they were about to do.

Looking over to his co-pilot, Ryan Hooper, Taylor could see the man's gloved hand shake as they went over the flight path cart attached to his leg. Gently bumping a fist into his shoulder to grab the younger man's attention, the pilot's experience laden voice began to reassure Ryan, "Hey now, just take a breath. We start frettin here, we'll start frettin in the air and that won't do us none to good."

"Right! You won't have to worry about me, old man."

A smile crossed the officer's face as he gave a nod before looking back as much as he could into the bay of the helicopter, "How are y'all kids doing back there now?"

A thumbs up greeted him as he heard his port side gunner, Jean Rose speak over their internal mics," Stocked, locked, and ready to rock. They fitted this bird out with some teeth so we're ready."

"Copy that," Taylor said before turning forward and changing his radio frequency over to the flight directors station. "This is Papa Gator of Retriever-1, all systems are green on our end. Awaiting launch clearance from Citadel for take off."

"Roger," came the response from the Japanese sailor on the other end of the comms. "Citadel has approved your launch, with surface ascent along the portside."

The helicopter pilot gave a nod to no one in particular as the permissions came through. Waving to the deck crew chief that he was about to take off, Taylor received a confirmation wave as the support crew then began to move away and remove the last straps tying down the craft to the manifest. "Alright, folks! Hang tight we're shoving off this floatin rock," he said over his helicopter's internal comms as he brought up the engine's throttle.

Soon it began to hover just a little over the deck as the ship still carried forward, as Taylor and Ryan worked in synch to maintain their movement with it as they continued to rise up into the air. Once they had reached the needed altitude, the Eagle Union officer moved the helo with a grace that came from years of experience away from the ship. Rotating Retriever-1's position to be parallel with the fleet, Papa Gator began to push the nose of the helicopter forward.

As it sped on, hugging close to the ocean's surface, its rotor wash kicked up a fine mist into the air. Ise and Hyuga were completely gob-smacked, while great concern crossed the faces of the cruisers Cleveland and Belfast. Enterprise's brow furrowed and her expression darkened as the flying machine carrying a bunch of humans on it flew off into the horizon, a scrawling in chalk under the port door gunner's position burned into her mind. 'Siren photo op instructions: 1. Smile 2. Wait for the strobe.'

'This isn't some sort of game. What the hell is the Captain thinking,' the carrier thought as she turned to the Royal Maid next to her. "Keep the others in formation. The new commander and I need to have a world."

Belfast gave her friend a nod and curtsy before maneuvering over to the two Sakura Empire battleships to focus their minds on the mission at hand. While she did that, Enterprise skated across the water over to the human occupied ship and once she reached its side leapt up from the water. Landing on the walkway that encased the bridge with a thud as the sailors that were stationed there made space for the sudden presence of the kansen and her rigging. Without breaking stride the carrier walked over to the sealed hatch to the bridge and rapped her knuckles against it.

—-

The sudden loud clash of metal outside the bridge drew the Captain's attention from the tactical console before the knock on the hatchway sounded through the room. The crew inside looked amongst each other as they tried to figure out who had caused the racket before the stone faced visage of Enterprise stepped into the port window. Her intent of wanting to speak to the human commander was clear as day for all those assembled. Giving a nod to her and a wave of his hand for the sailors to continue as they were, Jones walked over to the armored bulkhead and opened it.

"Enterprise, to what do I owe the break in combat condition regulations," the officer asked bluntly.

Not missing a beat, the carrier quickly answered his question with another, "What are you doing sending out that helicopter ahead of the fleet?"

The Eagle Union officer let out a subconscious sigh. While he had hoped that it would not be the case, it had been evident that his judgment would come under question by the kansen eventually based on the reactions that came the day before. Hell, Jones had expected it to happen even before the change of command. But now that the whole damn show was in his hands, he had to prove that his decisions had merit.

"Retriever-1 is heading out as a recon element in order to find our missing fleet and relay to them a path of retreat."

"Either Ise, Hyugga, or I could fly out ahead and search for them. Why send them out," Enterprise questioned.

"Sirens are currently employing some kind of radio jamming device that is making it impossible to receive or broadcast to Tennese's group," Jones said firmly, not budging on his position. "Now to my understanding kansen are limited to visual range in combat and their means of distance communications are radio based, similar to the Manifest. Meaning that if you found them none of you on your own would be able to radio to the rest of us to let us know. Now if my information is lacking in any regard that would change the battlefield conditions I am open to it."

From those that were assembled into the fleet, the Commander of Azur Lane was right that none of them could operate aspects of their rigging outside of visible range or had a strong enough radio system that could cut through the jamming. The only ones that she knew could were the sisters of the First and Fifth Carrier Divisions, who could see through the paper constructs that they could summon their aircraft out of. Then there was the communications suite that Helena was equipped with that had proved invaluable in past operations, but she was currently set with the patrol group around Midway.

Purple eyes stared the Captain down as the legendary kansen replied, "Nothing that could affect the here and now."

"Understood, " he said, giving a nod to her. "I look forward to being enlightened once we return back to the base. Now is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"Let Ise, Hyuga or myself fly in escort with them," Enterprise declared, pointing out to the aviation battleships then herself.

"I can't allow that right now. We have no idea the current enemy force composition and which elite sirens are in command of the pursuing forces."

Horror came to the carrier's face as her commanding officer quickly shot down her suggestion. There was no way that he could hold that much disregard for those that he was in charge of. While she hadn't operated in tandem much with the modern arsenal of her nation, it was clear to Enterprise that there wasn't much in the way of armor or weapons that the helicopter was equipped with. "But they're just humans," she blurted out.

At that moment, she could see over Jones that movement inside the bridge had stopped. The crew inside momentarily looked between the Grey Ghost and the Commander of Azur Lane, wondering what was going to happen. Concern was evident on a few of their faces as the exchange went on but as soon as the pause came about a few focused back to their tasks and the rest followed suit. The only ones that remained intent on their exchange was Takeda with his notebook out scribbling something down and the Iron Blood Commander staring at them like a scientist observing an experiment.

"That we are but we all know the risks and accepted them when we committed our lives to the service. Each action has consequences, even inaction. Which possibly has the greatest of them all," he said with a conviction that she hadn't heard since some of the darkest days of the last war without the Sirens. "As such there are a set of orders which I have for you and the other ships that you can relay."

—-

Pacific Ocean
Est. 78 nautical miles North West of Azur Lane

A geyser of water shot up in front of Tennessee as she sent back another volley of 14in. shells at the latest set of Siren heavy cruisers that were harassing her. The battleship was becoming royally pissed off at their old enemies. It had been a simple enough mission: escort a set of Sakura Empire cargo ships halfway back to their home islands where some of their own kansen would pick up and go the rest of the way. The whole way to the rendezvous not a single pip on the radar, but a few hours after they started to head back it was as if an entire fleet of the siren pawn ships were sent to hunt them down.

As her ordinance hit, one of the cruisers went up in flames as the other began to slowly sink down stern first and still firing off its forward guns at her. The battleship's face scrunched up in anger at the vessel's refusal to just die as she began to move in and put it out of its misery with a shot from her secondaries. Though this was interrupted as another one of the Siren jets screeched out of the sky and strafed her. Barely able to bring up her rigging in time to shield herself, multiple rounds struck the armor and those that missed peppered the water around her.

Shouting out a curse as it streaked off back into the sky, the battleship quickly scanned her surroundings for the AA cruiser that was with her group. It didn't take long for her to spot the air headed idol as San Diego rode off of one of the waves into the air and sent a burst of tracer fire that looked like stars at the retreating aircraft. Blasting it from the air, the red head struck one of her concert poses as she came back down to the ocean. "YAHOO! That's right! No one can escape Numba One!"

"Damn it Sandy, stop showboating and focus down on those fliers!"

"You got it," she beamed with an obviously chipper tone. "Even if they send in another carrier's worth of planes at us, you're number one will take them out!"

That was just the last thing that they needed. Even if the light cruiser didn't notice it: herself, Tennessee, and the two Sakura destroyers with them were starting to run on empty. Shigure and Yukikaze had been dodging multiple sets of torpedoes while sending out their own for the better part of the last hour as they all retreated towards the base. Even with their back and forth banter it was clear to the battleship that their speed was waning as the siren torpedoes got closer and closer to them.

"Your luck still holding out Yukikaze," the black haired ship shouted between breaths for air.

The kansen in question nearly lost her footing as she spun out of the way of an enemy attack, taking a knee on the ocean's surf. Laughing as she fired a barrage back at the offending pawn ship, Yukikaze gave her reply. "I, Yukikaze the Great, have more than enough luck for the both of us still!"

Even the old battleship couldn't keep from having a chuckle escape her at their bravado. If another group had been able to pick up on their last radio blast before their enemy's jammer was deployed, there was a slim chance that they could find Tennessee's fleet before things got grim.

As that thought crossed her mind, a crackle of static came through her rigging's radio that cut through the roar of war around herself. "This is Retriever-1 of the UNNV Manifest, if any of y'all can hear me break your retreat at 135 degrees due South East. Repeat. Fall back along 135 degrees due South East. 'Elps on the way."

Looking up, it seemed that the others had picked up the transmission as well, bolstering their morale. "See, I told ya that I had enough luck for us all!"

"It's not yours at all Yukikaze! I was the one that got to that ship first the other day and graced that ship with my luck," was Shigure's response.

Tennessee tried to radio back to whoever was behind the radio message, but all she got back was dead air. 'Well at least it's not static,' was her thought. However there was very little that she thought that the massive eyesore the new residents of the base had brought could do for them, save being a big target for the Sirens. The battleship just hoped that Enterprise had sent out a few kansen as well.

"Alright, you heard 'em. Let's fall back towards the South East. Don't let up on them," she shouted as her guns resounded with a boom again.

—-

"Looks like they're headed the way the Cap wants them to," Hooper said as he brought down a set of binoculars from observing the kansen group.

Giving a nod to his co-pilot, Darzacq began to shift the helicopter back along the path they had arrived along. "Alrighty then, lets back off for now just a bit and then activate 'em signal buoys. When we pick up word from Citadel again we'll start broadcasting the feed."

"We might not be around that long, Papa Gator! Two fast movers, three O'clock high," the helo's starboard gunner Nathan Green called out over their internal comms just as the helicopter's radar began to chirp.

"Shit! Looks like we get to be the first ones up at bat," the pilot responded back as he brought up the speed of the Seahawk. "Y'all back there get those guns spun up there! Charlie, let me know if those jets send any missiles our way."

Talyor could feel the shift in the helicopter's level as his craft's crew chief, Charles Sidella, moved between the two bay doors and opened them up. Feeling the change settle more so to the starboard side of the craft, its pilot compensated and shifted it to provide a better angle to observe any launched projectiles.

It didn't take too long for the helicopter's sensors to start screaming at them that they were being targeted by the Siren planes. Both Talyor and Ryan pushed Retriever-1 towards its limits but there was no way that they would be able to out pace a fixed wing fighter. "They just sent a pair of missiles at us,' Charles said over the internal comms as the helicopter's sensors confirmed the statement.

"We might only get one of them with the flares! Nate, get ready to hose 'em down, Charlie call it out when they're close!"

As the missiles' contrails streaked across the sky towards the lone target Retriever-1's crew focused in on the task at hand. Even as sweat beaded at their brows and muscles tenses, they let their training and experience guide their path. While never being fired upon by such otherworldly enemies, the air crew had to deal with equally stressful situations.

"Now," Charles yelled into the microphone as the first of the deadly weapons neared.

Ryan quickly flipped a series of switches on the helicopter's console, releasing the countermeasures from the tail of the flying machine. "Flares out!"

"Alright, everyone brace! Nate guns up," the Lt. Commander ordered his team as he shifted the pitch of the helicopter's tail rotor. The airframe swung around as chaff jettisoned itself out and away from it like a series of fireworks. The lead siren missile took the bait and zoomed after its new target, whilst Nathan brought up his minigun as his position faced the last warhead dead on. The metal of the weapon's barrels started to clack together as the electric motor spun up, then as he pressed down the triggers, tracer fire raced skyward. Round after round left in a matter of seconds as its jackhammer-like retort sounded over the wind and rotor wash around them.

The bullets zoomed around the siren missile as it continued its path but thankfully the sheer numbers won out and enough found their new home in the alien metal. It detonated just under a hundred yards away from Retriever-1 with a few pieces of shrapnel striking against its hull but none hitting anything vital. The concussion from it rocked against them, but the two pilots were able to keep their craft stable.

With the immediate crisis temporarily averted, the next task for them was to deal with the jets that had launched the missiles. The two of them zoomed over the humans flying in a close formation and as they cleared over to the port side were greeted by Rose's gunfire. Recognizing the threat that was possessed flying so close together with a high rate of fire weapon targeting them, the siren planes split up their formation, but that did little to deter her attempts to permanently ground one of them. Picking up the one that had attempted to break left, Jean raked it with gunfire before it could get out of the minigun's fire arc. Holes flashed up across its hull in a matter of moments until a fire broke out near one of its engines and it began to lose altitude. Though the Eagle Union sailor did not give quarter until its nose dropped straight down and hurtled into the ocean below.

"Hell yeah that's one for us! We got the first kill," she cheered.

"Not out of it yet," the crew chief replied. "Still got the other one up in the air. It's trying to get behind us."

Breaking back over the top of Retriever-1, the last siren jet kept to the humans' blind spots as it raced over to set itself up for its next attack run. Even with the combined skill of the two pilots the speed of the alien craft was too much for their own machine and it began to race up on their tail. Charles moved from one open hatch to another trying to keep his eyes on it watching for the missile it was bound to launch. As it came in, the helicopter's radar chirped again signaling more aircraft were inbound.

'Hell! We'll worry 'bout them later,' Taylor thought to himself as he worried about the immediate threat.

"Missile launch! Its close," came the report from the crew chief as he leaned nearly all the way out of the port hatch to be able to get a visual on the enemy.

"Hit the flares," Darzacq ordered Hooper.

The co-pilots hands moved across the console once again to release the last set of flares that they had on the craft. Though nothing happened save for a horrid warning alarm sounding, indicating that there was a jam in the release system. He raced through the procedure again, only to have the alarm get to their ears again.

Terror crept into Hooper's voice as he shouted, "Damn thing is fucked up!"

That only left them with one offensive option to try and deal with the threat. The chances weren't good as the seconds ticked by, but it was better than trying to outmaneuver the heat seeker. "Your side Jean," Taylor shouted into his mic as he started to bring the helicopter around. But Jean wasn't able to bring her gun up in time as the missile entered into her arc.

Machine gun and autocannon fire filled the sky around the missile as the helicopter's minigun started to warm up. Eventually a 20mm round found purchase and blew up the siren weapon as the craft that had fired the round broke off to head towards the enemy jet. Looking out towards what had saved them, the helicopter team were greeted with two red suns on wings of green as a flight of Japanese Zeros flew into the fight.

Taylor let go of a breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding in, but would have bet that the others with him were doing the same just then. The display of flight before them by the decades old craft was like a swarm of bees as their weapons shredded through the jet fighter, the red lights that crossed its hull dimming as it fell from the sky. As the pilot brought the helicopter back to a stable level, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back he saw Charles there point out to one of the Zeros that had broken off from its squadron and had begun to circle around them while the rest began to fly out into a wider perimeter. "Looks like that one's trying to tell us something."

His crew chief's assessment was right, the tail lights on the plane's wings were blinking in and out in a pattern of morse code. Changing over controls to Ryan, Taylor began to decipher the code. Just as he was finishing up, Nathan voiced a thought that was lingering in the back of his mind as the kansen aircraft flew around them. "Did…did the Captain use us as bait?"

"Stow that nonsense," the pilot quickly barked, trying to shake the thought away from any of their minds before it settled. "We're still in the danger zone and we need to keep our minds here."

"Right. Sorry Papa Gator," the door gunner replied.

"We got an update," Taylor said, keeping everyone's mind on task, not lingering on the incident. "Throw the switches on those bouys we dropped and Ryan activate the camera. We're the ship's eyes now."

—-

Jones let go a breath of relief as the command console for the Manifest started to display a live feed from the helicopter that he had sent out. It seemed that Ise's fighters were able to make it there to support them in just the nick of time. With that help the crew was alive and now broadcasting the field of battle to them. From what he could see there were no elite sirens present within visual, but that didn't rule out that once might be out there. For the force that they were bringing to bare against Tennessee and the others, there surely had to be one. Twelve destroyers, seven light cruises with two heavies mixed in, a battleship and two carriers, made up the enemy's forces.

The data that was being received was already being transmitted down to the combat information center, where Ohta worked his magic as the escort fleet had nearly reached the spot that the Captain had intended. The barrels of the forward Mark 10 turrets could be seen from the bridge as they reached their elevated position as their targets were locked in. Even though layers of steel armor separated them from the outside, the sheer power that the hydraulic-electric system used for the weapons' movement could be faintly heard. 'And soon, very soon,' the captain thought, 'They will be fired in anger as we take to war on the seas again.'

"Captain, all batteries are in position and locked into forward targets," Ohta's voice reported over the command table's speakers. "HC Sabot rounds are loaded up with a ten percent possible dispersion chance. Will attempt to tighten it up. Waiting for your word to fire."

Nodding to no one in particular, the Eagle Union officer continued to monitor the display and video feed before him. As each second went by as he watched, Jones' fingers tightened up into fists as if he was trying to will the kansen to move faster to where he wanted them to be. Once they reached the spot, the Captain looked up from the table and out towards the horizon that hid the kansen they were trying to rescue and the Sirens that were about to be in for a rude awakening.

"All batteries release," he exclaimed. A second later after his command was transmitted down to the CIC, the twelve main barrels of the Manifest let loose hell. A thunderous cacophony resounded across the calm ocean as the sabot rounds sailed from the ship and over the horizon, out of view. While the smoke billowed away, Jones turned his attention back to the feed on the table. He could still see the fighter wing that Ise had sent circling around the helicopter, its camera head steadily on the enemy fleet as it approached Tennessee and the others. Nearly a minute passed and then geysers shot up into the air as the first rounds made impact. As the last came into frame, they found their targets.

The two siren destroyers that were leading the charge erupted into billowing clouds of orange and black as the shells from the Manifest tore into their armor and detonated. As their advance slowed from the damage, a heavy cruiser moved forward to take their place before being struck from the last two rounds from the barrage. For just a moment, the only apparent damage were the holes left by the sabot round, but then a series of explosions rippled through the ship, nearly cleaving it down its center.

"Splash on the forward destroyers, confirmin' they're sinking down below right now," came the southern drawl of the helicopter's pilot affirming the damage dealt to the enemy ships. "That cruiser is goin under too, looks like its ammo stores got hit with one of those."

Switching the comms channel to Retriever-1, the Captain ordered them to maintain their station at the edge of battle. From there, he switched back to the line that led to the CIC to relay his next set of orders. "Magnificent work. Select the next targets and send them to the deep Ohta."

"Bring us to starboard thirty five degrees, flank speed ahead," he ordered looking over to the ship's helmsman. "Let's get into this fight."

---

Hey y'all sorry for the delay on this one, got a bit sick on New Year's Eve and I didn't have much energy to finish it. But here it is now and the first fight between the combined human and kansen force against the sirens has begun. I don't have an eta. yet when the next chapter will be added but it is already underway.

I hope y'all are having a great year so far and enjoy the latest chapter in the story.