1831. Gulf of Malay. Vice Captain Jackson Ezra.
Ezra undid the Sync. He felt his senses and consciousness unwind from Wales' K-Cube, and his senses returned to him in the command bridge. The rolling waves of the Gulf of Malay reflected the sunset off to the west, shining a golden light on the shores of Malay. The Prince of Wales was steaming at a northwest heading, having completed a couple of fire missions that were called in from Singapore Command.
A voice on the radio chirped, "You have our gratitude, Sir Wales. Boys on the ground are saying you scattered them, standby for any fire missions. Over and out."
"It's our pleasure," Wales cooly responded, hanging up the microphone.
"I'll never get over the feeling of flying a scout plane through the sync, ma'am," Ezra said, feeling vertigo from the sync fading out of his head. He had nearly crashed it into the water flying in to land it, and the ship was slowing down to lift it out of the blue.
"Still haven't gotten over your fear of heights?" Wales asked innocently, raising her eyebrow.
"Stop bringing up Scapa Flow!" Ezra said, fixing his cap on his head. His cheeks turned a slight shade of red from embarrassment.
Wales paced the deck, her hand on her chin. Her crimson eyes were deep in thought. Her saber rattled in its scabbard as she matched and unmatched pieces in her head. There were no other sailors on the deck; Ezra and Wales were sufficient enough to run most if not all the stations on sorties. It just gave Ezra a massive headache to sleep off.
"Other than a couple of Sakura destroyer flotillas and the occasional submarine, we haven't seen any major surface assets. Vice Captain, what do you make of this?" Prince of Wales stopped, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Either they're focusing their ships somewhere else, to secure strategic regions like the Orient's Gate. If they want to challenge both the Eagle Union and Royal Navy in their territories, they need the air and naval bases at the Orient's Gate. Or…" Ezra trailed off, running through the variables in his head. He had reached another conclusion that was much more unsavory.
"Hmmm?" Wales probed him, expecting an answer.
"We're walking into a trap. Singapore is equally, if not more, important to Sakura offensives into the Indies and cutting the Royal Navy off from New South Wales," Ezra finished, turning his head to look at Wales. She walked to the map in the center of the room and analyzed the last known positions of Allied and Sakura assets in the area.
"Vice Captain, run to the communications room and get the intel reports. Singapore Command should've sent it through," Wales said, moving miniatures around on the map and marking notes. Ezra complied, briskly walking through the cramped hallways of the command superstructure to the communications room. It was a small room with a console littered with buttons as well as an encryption and decryption machine, titled "ARTHUR". The Royal Navy had recently updated their ciphers; Ezra gave a silent prayer for the cryptological department back at home. The Admiralty was probably running them ragged. There were three sailors in the room processing communications, two of which were wearing headphones. The Corporal near the ARTHUR machines glanced at him, reached over the table to grab a folder, and handed it to him. Ezra nodded, mouthing 'thanks' as he briskly walked back to the command bridge. He pushed the door open and came to the map, laying his cap on one of the consoles nearby while he handed the folder to Wales.
"Thank you," Wales murmured, taking a sip from a now cold cup of coffee on the map. She grimaced a bit from the taste as she scanned the reports.
"Sakura bastards don't even realize we cracked their cipher months ago. What are we looking at?" Ezra derisively said, feeling a swell of pride for the world-spanning efficiency of the Royal Navy. The sun never sets, after all.
"Looks like nothing has changed. Their invasion of the Orient's Gate is progressing ahead of schedule, and the Eagles stationed there are getting molly whopped. They're skirmishing with our friends in the Indies Colonial Command, and their invasion of Singapore is proceeding relatively slowly…" Wales prattled, turning the pages. Ezra moved the corresponding miniatures on the map to their newly updated locations. During the update, Wales trailed off on a particular report within the folder. Ezra looked up.
"TF-H…Vice Captain, take a look at this," Wales said, her voice full of trepidation. Ezra circled the table and looked over her shoulder. Her rosy perfume almost distracted him from the mysterious revelation nestled in the lines of decrypted communications.
"'The hibiscus blooms in the morning dew…' hold on, those coordinates are oddly close to Singapore," Ezra mumbled, grabbing a chess board queen from the bin of knick-nacks they were using to populate the map. He placed it roughly east of Singapore. The pieces began clicking together in his head.
"Good lord, are they striking Singapore directly?" Ezra asked, exasperated. He hypothesized that the coordinates in the decrypted message were an approach coordinate for TF-H, but what was its composition? A line of the last known locations of Sakura submarines ran approximately parallel to the approach coordinate down the South Empery Sea, slightly canted to indicate a southwest-northeast line. Sakura cruiser fleets were sparring with ICC ships a bit to the East of the submarine line, and Sakura amphibious landing task forces were on approach vectors into the Indies past the embattled formations. The positions of the Sakura almost looked like feint attacks to Ezra.
"This certainly gives credence to that theory…" Wales said, both of her hands laid out on the map. Her eyes and brow were creased as she gave another once-over. She gulped the rest of her coffee down, exhaling heavily as she slammed it back onto the table.
"But what could be in this Task Force to make them so brazen as to strike Singapore?" Ezra wondered aloud.
Wales willed her rigging to life, walking to the slanted panes. She observed the deck and the waves of the Gulf of Malay. "I don't know, but I do not think that we should leave this alone. Send the Admiralty a dispatch, we're changing course."
1852. Gulf of Malay. Repulse.
"You got it, Wales! 080, full steam ahead!" Repulse chattered over the radio, following the course change, her rigging bristling. She focused on her K-Cube, willing the instructions to reality as her hull swiveled from their northwestern course to the northeast. From her command bridge, she could see the formation consisting of herself, Wales, and Vampire's destroyer flotilla shift to a northeasterly heading. She was thrilled; it's been a while since she's had the opportunity to sortie with a Royal Knight, let alone conduct shore bombardment missions with one.
Renown would be so jealous! Repulse giddily thought, knowing her sister would have been ecstatic to run a mission with a KAN-Sen the stature of Prince of Wales. She may have missed Jutland, but instead, she was part of the chosen few trusted with the defense of Her Majesty's domain in Asia. A fair deal, if you asked her.
"Hey, Wales, what are we chasing?" Repulse excitedly asked over the radio.
"Something we think needs our attention," Wales answered cryptically.
"You answer with too many riddles, Wales," A slightly bassy and demented voice responded.
"Oh, c'mon, Vampire, I'm sure she has her reasons," Repulse said, scolding Vampire.
1903. South Empery Sea. Yamato.
"Yamato-sama, we are exactly on schedule. The might of Task Force H will grind the Royals to dust," A KAN-Sen with golden blonde hair, a Sakura officer's cap, and a navy blue uniform announced with a bow. Before her was the Eternal Flagship, after all; it was only natural.
"Ensure it stays that way, Kongou. I will not tolerate any less than total victory. Glory to the Great Sakura and His Majesty, the Emperor," Yamato boomed back, her arms crossed over her layered samurai plate.
"Of course, Yamato-sama. Glory to the Great Sakura," Kongou swiveled up from her waist out of her bow, gave a salute, then briskly walked out, slipping her rudder boots back on. Yamato impatiently tapped her foot, feeling a thrum of energy humming through her.
The Sakura flag shall fly high over the golden shores of Singapore! Surely the Royal Navy will provide more of a challenge than the puny fishing vessels that the Empery dares call a fleet. Yamato indulged in her reverie, remembering the disappointment she felt when they scattered an Empery flotilla early into their conquest of the Dragon Empery. She was still cross with Nagato that she got to lead the strike with the carrier divisions against the Eagles; those pompous bastards had it coming, and the fact she didn't get to watch them annihilated by the might of the Sakura Empire was a crime in itself. On the other hand, Yamato absolutely despised dealing with the carrier divisions in any capacity other than subjugating the Sakura's enemies, so she was partially thankful. Now that she thought about it, that definitely played a part in why she wasn't the flagship for the attack.
She pushed the subject out of her mind. His Majesty had given her a directive: Take Singapore at all costs. She would accomplish this on her honor as the Steward of the Chrysanthemum Throne. Her feelings about the 1st Carrier Division came second, and it would be folly to disobey His Majesty because of her reservations.
Two taps on her door.
"Come in," Yamato called out, taking her position on her elevated platform and squaring her shoulders. A Private slid the mat open, holding an unassuming folder.
"Yamato-sama! This is for you!" He said, holding it straight out. He was almost shaking in his boots. His boots. Yamato looked him up and down, her temper sparking alight. The light outline of bootprints trailed to the middle of the room, where he was standing.
"You seem to have forgotten something, Private." She stated flatly, letting her fury build up in the back of her throat. The Private gulped as he looked down at his boots, the sudden realization streaking across his expression like a blooming flower.
"If you drag your filthy boots over my tatami mats again, I will slit your throat myself and throw your body overboard. Do. You. UNDERSTAND?" Yamato berated the sailor, whose brow became immediately drenched in sweat.
"YES, YAMATO-SAMA! I'M DEEPLY SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE!" He whimpered, shrinking on his feet as Yamato skulked towards him off of her platform. While she only had a couple of centimeters over him in height, the grand white and gold rigging that she summoned more than made up for any perceived shortcomings.
Yamato swiped the folder out of his hand. The sailor flinched. "BEGONE." She bellowed, and he scrambled out of her room. She reversed her rigging, the steel clashing together as it folded back into her K-Cube.
How annoying. She thought darkly, setting a reminder in her head to call for one of her retainers to clean it up later. Does the Sakura Navy recruit anyone these days? She opened the folder and saw that it was a single piece of paper. Signed "Lotus," so it likely came straight from the Emperor.
TASK FORCE H 10 DEC
BENEFACTOR HAS REQUESTED THE CAPTURE OF A VIP ABOARD THE PRINCE OF WALES.
VICE CAPTAIN EZRA
FAILURE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
LOTUS
Intriguing. Yamato mused, wondering what pet project of Akagi's she was getting involved in this time. Akagi was the Emperor's eyes and ears, and Yamato wasn't privy to a lot of the details of their dealings with who they called the "Sakura Society." She was used to their sporadic requests and dealings, so this request didn't ruffle her ears. However, it would be difficult to ensure that any critical damage to the Prince of Wales wouldn't kill her supposed VIP. Speaking of the Prince of Wales, from what the submarines were reporting, she didn't even know that Task Force H was there; why would the Emperor ask now?
Yamato's fox-like ears bristled. It was not her place to question.
I accept your challenge, Your Highness.
0130. South Empery Sea. Vice Captain Jackson Ezra.
A couple of metallic clanks rapped on his door. Ezra's eyes shot open as he tossed his blanket off and threw the door open.
"Did something happen?" Ezra demanded, hearing a high-pitched yelp as he turned his head left and right.
"Ezra, it's Wales. No need to slam me with your door," A voice said, halfway muffled as she walked into Ezra's vision from behind his door. Mild bags reached to the top of her cheeks under her crimson eyes.
Ezra exhaled, the tension leaving his shoulders. "God, ma'am, why aren't you asleep?" Ezra asked, exasperated. He checked his watch. "It's one thirty in the bloody morning, go to bed."
"Unfortunately, this business with Task Force H has me quite unnerved. I decided a couple of laps around the deck would suffice. Care for a walk?" Wales inquired, standing up straighter. She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.
"...Alright, fine. Let me get my shoes," Ezra wasn't going to bother with a full uniform. He slipped his feet into his officer's loafers and he walked out, Wales following behind him. The darkness shrouded the deck, and the rolling of the waves upon the hull backdropped their early stroll. No lights on the ship were on; his eyes adjusted and the moon's light was well enough to navigate the decks, albeit hesitantly.
"Reminds me of our deployment in the North Sea, albeit much more pleasant," Wales commented, her boots echoing to his left. Through his peripherals, he could see her admiring the view of the South Empery Sea.
"A bit too humid for my taste. The North Sea was perfectly pleasant." Ezra remarked. For him, the temperature in Asia ranged from tolerable to abhorrently hot.
"I guess that's where we disagree, then. I find that I enjoy the tropical climate. It's very invigorating, compared to Scapa Flow." She replied wistfully. He could almost hear a hint of longing in her voice.
"Miss home?" He quietly said. He could see that they were passing the first front turret, its shadow making a large outline to his right.
Wales turned her gaze to the floor. "...Yeah, I suppose so. I guess I'm not used to being so far away from my sisters. I'm used to not seeing them for months at a time, but I could always find comfort in the fact that they were at least in the same theater. I can't even say that now."
"That's only natural. I'm sure you're in your sisters' hearts and minds every day, Wale- woahahh!" Ezra tripped on something on the deck. His heart stopped in his throat as he went cratering into the deck when a pair of hands grabbed his torso, stopping his momentum.
"Are you okay?!" Wales asked frantically, her eyes wide in surprise. Her face was shockingly close to Ezra's; he could feel her breath on his face. Her rose perfume in his nose. His heart started racing.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just hit a box or something." He stammered, worming out of Wales' grip. Her expression sank into relief.
"Don't do that again, Ezra! I command you not to give me a scare like that again!" Wales' playfully demanded, pointing a finger at him. Her cheeks were puffed up in a pout.
"Alright, alright, I won't," Ezra assured, continuing their walk. "You did bring me out here, though. At, what is it now, one thirty-six?" He added sarcastically, bringing his watch to his torso to prove his point.
"...I guess I can't argue with that," She laughed, catching up with him. They continued around the bow of the ship, looping back around to the starboard side when she abruptly stopped. Ezra turned to look at her.
"Let's stop here." She declared, resting her arms on the railing. Her uniform fluttered in the wind, her tassels waving like flags in the darkness. Ezra walked up to join her, resting his arms on the railing. The moonlight reflected off the inky waters of the South Empery Sea, the waves breaking against Wales' hull.
"What are you going to do after the war?" Wales asked. This question completely blindsided Ezra; he never gave it much thought, not to mention his commanding officer was asking him.
"...I don't really know. I guess I'll continue serving. It doesn't really make a difference to me." Ezra reluctantly said, the wind tickling his exposed skin.
"...Is that all?" Wales prodded. She turned his gaze to him, and he could feel his will buckling under her curiosity.
"...I've always wanted to open up a shop. A small one, maybe out in the country. Live out the rest of my days in relative obscurity." Ezra truthfully said. He wasn't even sure if that was really what he wanted.
"How quaint. I thought you were a city boy," She snidely said, clapping a fist on his shoulder.
"I am, Wales. Born and raised in London."
"Don't care for the city life anymore?"
"I have a complicated relationship with it." He darkly said, memories welling up in his mind. He pushed them away; he could feel his grip tightening on the railing.
"...Oh. I apologize for my impertinence." She mumbled, looking away from him. Ezra felt something on his left shoulder. He turned his head, and a mop of rosy blonde hair filled his vision.
"Wha-!" Ezra sputtered at the sudden show of affection, blood rising in his cheeks.
"For just a moment." She murmured, nestling her head in the crook of his shoulder and neck. Ezra's breath went shallow. The world almost slowed to a crawl.
"...How about you?" Ezra asked, trying not to think about the KAN-Sen lying up on his left shoulder.
"...Maybe I could join you. I have nothing left once the war is over," She wondered aloud, fidgeting with her braids. Her eyes were creased with worry.
"I certainly wouldn't mind a beauty like you in my shop. Might bring in extra customers," He said lightheartedly, almost not believing the words flowing out of his mouth.
"...Oh, come here, you." He felt two hands grab his shoulders and turn him towards her. She supplanted a kiss straight on his lips, and he felt his heart stop.
"Mmff! WMF!" Ezra tried to speak, his speech muffled by the passion that Wales was placing on his lips. His arms were stuck fast at his side. Wales pulled away.
"Shut up and kiss me." She demanded, catching her breath. He looked into her crimson eyes. He obliged her. They melted into each other's embrace, their professional reservations completely thrown to the wayside. He wrapped his arms around her back, feeling her toned muscles below her uniform. Her kiss tasted like coffee and flowers. He could feel her hands reaching under his shirt, feeling his bare back, sending electric sensations throughout his entire body. Eventually, she pulled away, a look of mixed satisfaction on her face.
"...I wish things could stay like this." She whispered, leaning her body into Ezra's chest. They were both panting heavily. Then, her face contorted to confusion. "...What?" She muttered, pushing herself off Ezra and summoning her rigging.
"...I'm seeing multiple radar contacts to the north. Four at least. We need to get to the command bridge," Wales seemingly wiped any memory of their intimate exchange as danger approached.
Ezra, still reeling, took a second to register her order. "Yes, Ma'am!" he answered, breaking into a sprint to get to his quarters. Wales ran off in another direction to get to the bridge. He threw on his officer's jacket and his pants, then scrambled up to the command bridge. Wales was there communicating to the rest of the Task Force through her rigging while Ezra picked up the microphone connected to the hull's intercom.
"All hands, report to battle stations. I repeat, all hands, report to battle stations." Ezra droned. The ship's crew immediately roared to life as he heard shouts, curses, and frantic running across the deck.
"Vice Captain, sync with me!" Wales ordered, turning towards him.
"Roger!" He responded, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling. He envisioned Wales' K-Cube in his mind, the boilers of the hull, the drumming fire of her 14" guns. Sensory information from the hull appeared in an interface within his iris, and he could see a three-dimensional representation of the hull and the condition of its various bulkheads and anti-torpedo bulges. Another three radar contacts on top of the four previously spotted ships appeared on a polar graph, showing a rough distance of roughly 40 nautical miles to the north.
"We got three more incoming!" He shouted, running scenarios through his head.
Four ships in front, in a rough chevron formation… three in the middle… this looks like a traditional battleship formation!
"Repulse, Vampire, keep the formation tight!" Wales ordered over the radio.
"Wales, are we absolutely sure you want to fight this?" Ezra carefully asked, watching the Sakura formation grow closer to their task force.
"What do you say?" Wales replied in a mischievous tone.
"I say we fight."
0141. South Empery Sea. Yamato.
Yamato stood on her command bridge, humming to herself. They had spotted a task force on a northeastern heading just a minute ago, and it was heading towards them. She already ordered her invasion fleet to take evasive action and meet up with them at the coordinates; she was confident they would win. Her awe-inspiring white and gold rigging was deployed, its 46cm guns reflecting what little light was being emitted in the bridge. Secondary guns lined the turrets like spikes. To her left and right, her rigging bow split her golden lotus figurehead down the middle, and gold and red tassels gave a ceremonial finish to her intimidating appearance. The bridge was empty, short of the occasional communications runner.
Yamato picked up the microphone connected to the task force radio. "Kongou, Haruna, stay in formation with me. Kagerou, take your flotilla and begin skirmishing with the Royals. Try and split off their escorts." Yamato barked, feeling the thrill advancing up and down her back.
"Wakarimashita!" Voices from all parts of her task force dutifully responded; she could see the destroyers in the darkness split off, while Kongou and Haruna on her port and starboard respectively continued on their heading. Yamato focused on her K-Cube, withdrawing into her mental landscape for but a moment; the Great Sakura scrutinized her being, before assenting to her sync. The thrum of her boilers sounded in her heart, and she could feel her finger itch to fire her guns.
"Kongou, Haruna, we will wait until the destroyers force them to shoot! Use your radar, aim at the middle of the formation! Do not fire until I say!" Yamato ordered, willing her own guns to their positions.
"A clever plan, Yamato-sama. We await your command." Kongou cooly responded.
"Understood." Haruna followed up, a bit more hesitant.
"If you have something to say, Haruna, spit it out." Yamato correctly deduced she had her own reservations. They were both trusted subordinates; she valued their opinions much more than the average Sakura KAN-Sen.
"May I recommend that we adjust our approach heading so that our rear turrets have coverage? I feel on our current course, our broadsides will have a less than desirable effect." Haruna explained with more confidence in her voice.
Yamato considered the advice for a moment. "...Change heading east by ten."
"Understood." Both of them chirped, seemingly content with their new plan. Even as the Eternal Flagship, she would be no proper Warlord if she spurned the opinions of her subordinates.
An eerie silence fell on the bridge and on the sea. The darkness shrouded the battlefield, casting a wide shadow upon their confrontation. Night battles between battleship formations were a ruthless game of cat and mouse; whoever cracked first would be sent to the bottom of the sea.
A shot rang out. It was from a destroyer. A bit to the southeast, a roaring firefight broke out between the destroyer flotillas, crackling like fireworks on the surface of the water.
"Yamato-sama, we have engaged the enemy!" Kagerou's high-pitched voice shouted over the radio. The chorus of forty-millimeter shells could be heard from where Yamato was.
"We cannot provide fire support unless you give us a precise target," Yamato responded, carefully watching the unfolding skirmish. From what she could tell, the Sakuras were gaining the upper hand. A plume of water erupted in the distance, and she could see a fire break out at the site, illuminating a destroyer.
"That one on fire is Royal!"
"FIRE!" Yamato ordered. The drumming fire of the Sakura battle line boomed across the night, as the orange missiles soared across the sky. Yamato willed her K-Cube to reload her guns, the slamming of the shell casings reverberating throughout her body. Multiple shells missed, kicking up pillars of water, but a couple hit; they tore completely through the destroyer, turning it into a column of flames. Shapes of screaming men jumped overboard into the sea.
"Sharp left! Tighten up the formation!" Yamato followed up, knowing that the enemy capitals would be ranging their last known position. Then, something immensely surprised her. Multiple heavy caliber muzzle flashes directly ahead. They were arced towards her formation, eerily close to where they had just fired. Yamato's instincts kicked in, slamming her rudder to the right to halt her turn, as a collection of blue projectiles soared close over her bow into the water, missing. Another set of shells landed far off a bit to her starboard.
They're fast! Yamato excitedly thought, starting to feel her adrenaline pumping.
0203. South Empery Sea. Vice Captain Ezra.
"Damn, a miss!" Ezra swore under his breath; whoever they were fighting was a cunning foe. They were skirmishing their escorts while trying to force the Royal battle line into a difficult position.
"Vampire, retreat to where we can support you with our secondary guns!" Wales ordered. Ezra could see the pain in her crimson eyes from the loss of one of their escorts.
"Hold on, I'm projecting their new course. Adjusting the guns," Ezra said, his iris filling with the calculations. He could feel the steel grinding against steel as their 14" turrets swiveled to the west.
"Vice Captain! Repulse wants to talk to you." Wales shouted, pulling him to the radio console.
"Repulse, what is it?" Ezra asked, desperately multi-tasking with his sync.
"You're doing the sync thing with Wales, right? Try doing it with me! Right now!" She pleaded.
"I've never tried doing two syncs at once…" Ezra hesitantly replied. He had no idea if it would work.
"Just try! I know you can do it! If we're going to make it through this, we need to give it our all!" She said, trying to encourage Ezra.
"Alright, hold on!" Ezra said, attempting to recreate the sync that he had with Wales. He envisioned Repulse in his mind; he could feel her K-Cube resonating back, and the thrum of the two ships entered his consciousness. He could feel her K-Cubes age and shrouded royalty, the Royal spirit that followed ships like Renown and Warspite.
"Woah!" Repulse said, awestruck. "Everything feels much more… different!"
Ezra could feel his mind buckling under the overload of information. Sweat began dripping down his neck.
"Vice Captain, can you maintain it?" Wales asked, worry reflected in her words.
"I can manage," He replied with gritted teeth, processing the coordinates for the new set of guns that was just added to his control. He pinpointed where he wanted to hit based on the Sakura's previous headings, and lines of coordinates and calculations were processed through his iris console. The Sync spat coordinates into his head, and he began adjusting the guns for both ships.
"Now!" Ezra shouted. The shells from both the guns rang out across the Royal line, as they flew across the starry night. Most missed once again, but one cluster clattered off a hull; from what Ezra saw, it looked like it tore through the armor belt above the water line.
"One confirmed hit!" Wales said, elation in her voice. Ezra was already processing the next set of coordinates, looking at a map display of the battlefield within his iris. A dashed line indicated his calculated path while any spotted ships were marked with solid dots, along with a timestamp. Both friendly and unfriendly contacts littered his map. Suddenly, a dot appeared on their immediate port side, a sizeable distance away, but within the secondary gun range. Ezra interfaced with their portside guns and fired a salvo where he thought it was approaching. Multiple plumes of water were kicked up, and one of them connected, starting a fire aboard the lone destroyer.
"Wales, we may have a Sakura destroyer on our left!" He said, already feeling the secondary guns reloading for another salvo. All of a sudden, muzzles flashed to their west, as a volley of Sakura shells flew toward them. Ezra could tell they were going to miss, but they were getting close; the shells landed harmlessly in a cluster to Wales' northwest.
"Vampire, can you deal with them?" Wales said over the radio. She nodded her head as Ezra finished a new set of coordinates. The Sakura destroyer that was aflame was then racketed by multiple small-caliber shells, and it went aflame in turn, a floating coffin for the Sakura sailors aboard. Concurrently, the Royal battle-lines guns laid a fusillade down, the projectiles arcing toward the Sakura capital ships. This time, multiple shells seemed to hit the top deck of a battleship.
"Multiple hits!"
0210. South Empery Sea. Yamato.
Yamato was humiliated. She never thought the Royals would be able to match their prowess in night battling, but whoever was leading this formation was an anomaly.
"We lost a Kagerou-Class!" Kagerou said over the radio, her voice frantic.
"Yamato-sama, my first front turret is disabled! The Royals hit the rotator ring!" Kongou's panicked voice shrieked over the radio. Yamato felt her expression twist into a grimace.
"Kongou, continue on your heading. Fire another barrage with your remaining guns. Haruna, with me! We're going to crush these Royals under our heels!" Yamato shouted, veering her course to the west. She needed vengeance to soothe her wounded pride.
"...Understood, Yamato-sama," Haruna's voice barely hid her contempt for the order, but she followed them. She knew her place.
The Sakura battle line split off, with Kongou steaming on their previous rounded course while Yamato and Haruna sharply banked to the west. They were about to drive straight through the destroyer skirmish; small muzzle flashes were still illuminating this section of the sea, as the Royal and Sakura destroyer flotillas brawled. Yamato saw a thin barrage of shells fly from where Kongou was, and the Royal line responded in turn with a heavy sheet of fire. Fires broke out on the embattled battleship.
"FIRE!" Yamato boomed, seeing her opportunity. Her guns sang a dread song as her 46cm shells sliced through the darkness like feathered arrows, and she could see multiple Royal destroyer contacts scatter as they realized that the Sakura capital line had just veered into their battleground. Yamato's secondary guns warded off any nearby Royal destroyers. Haruna's barrage was not far behind, as they cut straight through a Royal battleship.
0236. South Empery Sea. Repulse.
It was but an instant. Repulse's hull was smashed to pieces by the Sakura assault, and a bright, harsh pain rattled through her body as she felt the chain reaction of her magazine being blown tear her insides to pieces. It was over in only a moment.
Wales…Renown… Sister…
0237. South Empery Sea. Vice Captain Ezra.
"REPULSE!" Wales shrieked, seeing the battleship turn into an inferno from the Sakura barrage.
Ezra felt the connection rupture. "Wales, she's gone. Send the order to abandon ship," Ezra said. He could feel something wet fall down his cheeks; he had been blindsided by the surge of pain and emotion that he felt before his sync was cut with Repulse.
Wales slammed her fist onto the command console. "...All hands aboard the Repulse, abandon ship." She said through gritted teeth, her fists squeezing until her knuckles turned white. Ezra fired off another barrage towards where the death knell of Repulse fired. They were all misses.
"Ezra, we aren't going to win this." Wales dejectedly said, turning towards him. Tears streaked down her face, and he could see strands of her hair escaping her tight braids.
"Singapore will fall if we don't win here, Wales. We have to try," Ezra said, already adjusting the guns to their new predicted course. His map was a mess of
"...You're right." Wales sniffled and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Vampire, form up on us. We're going to try something." Wales ordered. A chill went up Ezra's spine when she voiced the order.
"Another one of your gambles?" Ezra asked.
"Yes." Wales simply answered. "We're going to brute force the Sakura formation."
Ezra changed course to intercept the path that the Sakura battle line would take.
"Vampire, be prepared to deploy all your torpedoes!" Wales said, a new grim determination streaking across her expression. Ezra put the pieces together in his head.
"...If Vampire deploys her torpedoes like this, we can force them into our barrage," Ezra explained, implanting the map into Wales' mind. Wales nodded.
"Got it. All hands, FOR HER MAJESTY, QUEEN ELIZABETH!"
0240. South Empery Sea. Yamato.
"Kongou, split off. You're wounded. Perform damage control, meet up with the invasion force," Yamato said, impatiently tapping her foot. The Royals were changing tactics; she could see their formation tightening up further around their capitals.
"Yes, Yamato-sama," Kongou affirmed, pain evident in her voice.
"Thank you," Haruna said, relieved.
"I wouldn't be a good Warlord if I needlessly sacrificed my subordinates," Yamato matter-of-factly responded. A new barrage of blue shells rang out from their starboard side.
"FIRE!" Yamato shouted. Haruna's and Yamato's guns launched a response, gliding through the sky into the hull of a Royal destroyer. A new column of flames appeared, illuminating most of the Royal formation. However, it also showed Yamato the storm of torpedoes that were now streaking in their direction.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Yamato said, tracing the path of the torpedoes through the water. She realized too late that it made an enclosing cage of ordnance, as the Prince of Wales accurately predicted where the Sakura capital ships were going to be. The shells landed in a cluster around Yamato, one of them clattering off of her armor belt. She felt her entire being and rigging quiver from the shock of the impact.
"Turn these ingrates into dust!" Yamato demanded, firing another fusillade. Haruna followed her directive, and her shells rang out to slice the armor off of the Royals' sole capital ship. The sparks turned into a plume of water as the shell landed.
0246. South Empery Sea. Vice Captain Ezra.
Ezra processed the coordinates for another barrage. His body was about to give out; his head was screaming, and his joints were on fire. He held himself up on the command deck, as his iris was focusing and unfocusing. Wales' armor belt had withstood the first hits; he wasn't sure if they would survive any more shells.
"Ramming speed!" Wales desperately shouted as she saw the futility of the situation.
"Wales, no! I can still fight!" Ezra responded, trying to push himself onto his feet. Instead, he collapsed onto his knees. Wales walked over to where he was and bent over, wrapping him in her embrace.
"You fought well. Promise me something." Wales murmured into his ear. His breath caught in his throat.
"Live."
Not like this!
0250. South Empery Sea. Yamato.
"FIRE!" Yamato roared. She had been forced into one of the torpedos, and she felt the impact send shivers into her bones as the torpedo bulges redirected most of the impact. The shells were a direct hit on the Prince of Wales, slicing through the damaged portion of her armor. Fires broke out on the deck, as sailors scrambled to put them out. Suddenly, two large columns of water erupted from Wales' starboard side; the Sakura destroyers had hit it with their own torpedoes.
"Victory is ours!" Yamato said through barely veiled anger, horrified at how much damage this puny formation had inflicted on their Task Force.
0251. South Empery Sea. Vice Captain Ezra.
Everything went black. Fresh blood flowed down from Wales' forehead. The last thing he remembered was Wales' smile, as the hull was smashed apart by torpedoes.