"Sis. They're turning. They're turning! They noticed us!" Phoenix said as shells from the drone ships began to pour in.
"They reverted to using shells?" Vestal asked herself as she helped St. Louis to her feet.
"I don't know either, Vestal. But we need to fight them off. They are the only thing standing between us and our potential allies." St. Louis said.
"I will do what I can to keep you two in the fight. But please try to finish this quickly. I don't have very many supplies." Vestal said as she jumped to the ocean's surface and returned to her ship to fall back.
"Let's give them a taste of Union Cruiser firepower." Phoenix said as she fired her opening salvo, her shells slamming into the head ship, dealing heavy damage, but not enough to disable it.
St. Louis also opened fire with her main batteries, peppering the entirety of the enemy fleet with her 150mm shells.
"Tough armor on these zombies, huh sis? Sis?" St. Louis asked as she looked over and saw a sight that chilled her to her core. Sometime during the opening salvos, Phoenix had been hit by a super heavy shell that tore up her deck and sent Phoenix backwards, skewering her arm on the broken wood and steel.
"SISTER!" St. Louis cried out as she almost tore her steering gear with a hard turn to port to shield her injured sister. Bringing all of her guns to bear, St. Louis fired every gun as fast as she could. The glowing red tips of her barrels were a clear indicator of how hard St. Louis was trying. Her unaimed shots rarely hit their target and those that did bounced off or did minimal damage.
"Come on, come on... please don't go." St. Louis said as Vestal came running towards the bow of the Phoenix to tend to the injured cruiser. The remainder of the drone ships bared down on the three stricken ships as St. Louis hatched a plan.
"Will a powder detonation be powerful enough to end this?" St. Louis said aloud as her eyes burned from the smoke and her own tears.
"Lu. Don't you dare. I can get her stablized and we can make it. You need to keep fighting." Vestal said as she worked quickly to save Phoenix's arm.
"There is no hope for us otherwise. Maybe my cubes will survive the blast and you can rebuild me someday..." St. Louis said, knowing full well that her cubes would not survive a manual powder detonation.
"Lu. No. I will not allow you." Vestal said as she cut the piece of wood that had embedded itself in Phoenix's arm. She wrapped her arm quickly before turning to see that St. Louis had vacated her main deck.
"Oh no you don't. I'll kill you myself if you make me." Vestal said as she jumped to St. Louis's ship and chased her down into her powder magazine. She tackled St. Louis to the ground before she had any time to begin sabotaging her own ship.
"Just let me go! Please!" St. Louis cried as tears streamed down her face.
"If you die, Your sister dies and I die. Our blood will be on your hands." Vestal said coldly as she slapped St. Louis across the face.
Explosions rocked the ocean surrounding the three stranded ships, the sound of scraping steel resounded through the hull of the Brooklyn class cruiser.
"Those weren't mine." St. Louis said as she looked around, drying her tears quickly and scrambling to her feet.
"Unidentified Light Cruisers. Please respond. This is I-13 of Azur Lane. If anyone is in there, please respond." I-13 said over the radio.
"This is Union repair ship, Vestal. Please assist in any way possible. We have injured aboard." Vestal said.
"Understood. Please hang tight." I-13 said.
"Torpedoes in the water!" St. Louis cried out as she managed to pick up the launch transients on her hydrophone.
"I-13, please be advised, there are torpedoes in the water." Vestal said urgently.
"I know, Miss Vestal. I am a submarine after all. These drone ships will be meeting the soft sands of the bottom of the ocean very soon." I-13 said as her torpedoes struck home. Vestal picked up St. Louis and partially dragged her above deck to watch what remained of the drone fleet being sunk by one of their own.
"What in the hell?" St. Louis said as she stood again under her own power.
The remainder of the drone ships fell beneath the waves, leaving behind only a single drone battleship with blue accents instead of red.
"I-13, be advised, there is still one drone left." Vestal said.
"I know. I am currently controlling it. It was how I was able to sink the rest of the fleet without taking twenty minutes to do so." I-13 said.
"Where are you right now?" St. Louis asked as she looked around, not finding a single ship or sub around.
"I am directly beneath you, silly cruiser. It makes it easier to catch these drones off guard if I hide my sonar signature inside yours. Allow me to make myself known." I-13 said as a long steel grey tube appeared from beneath St. Louis.
"I would be more concerned, but considering the fact that you just saved our lives, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." Vestal said as the submarine surfaced.
"Hello. My name is I-13, Aviation submarine, as you already know." I-13 said with a bow as she climbed aboard the St. Louis.
Aviation submarine?" Vestal asked. I-13 pointed to the scout plane circling above them.
"I see. I can see a catapult on your bow as well. Either way, Thank you. My name is Vestal. This is St. Louis." Vestal said as the three girls looked at Phoenix.
"That is Phoenix. She took quite the hit from that battleship over there." Vestal said as she pointed to the blue hued drone ship that had made it's way over to the four clustered ships.
"Is it dangerous?" St. Louis asked.
"Nope! I have found a way to completely rewrite their code. This drone ship will now only operate on my command. That aside, is she going to make it?" I-13 asked.
"I have managed to stabilize her for now. But I need to get her to a proper port for repairs." Vestal said as she looked at the injured cruiser.
"Attach a tow line to the drone ship. I will escort you three to the Shikikan. Suva should be safe by now." I-13 said.
"We would be most appreciative." Vestal said as I-13 landed her plane next to the Phoenix. Within a few minutes, they had Phoenix loaded aboard and the cockpit closed.
"She will make it. I will see to it." I-13 said as her plane took off towards Suva.
"I will inform Shikikan as to what has happened. He will have the port ready for you." I-13 said as her plane disappeared into the evening sky.
"Come, Herr Isaac." Friedrich spoke in her usual soft tone as he stood in the doorway to her captain's quarters.
"Of course, Mein schatz." Isaac said as he allowed her to pull him into the bed with her.
"Hmm. I am more than ready, Isaac, but I do not know what you prefer." Friedrich said as her hand explored his chest, dipping below his shirt.
"Is this you asking me to take the lead?" Isaac asked.
"Embarrassing as it is, yes. I haven't the slightest clue how to please a man aside from my looks." Friedrich said as her pulled her hand from his chest and removed the gloves she hadn't bothered to rid herself of.
"Such soft hands." Isaac said as he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of her palm gently.
"Oh, you flatter me." Friedrich said. She leaned in to give him a kiss as the port's alarm went off.
"Gottverdammt!" Friedrich muttered as Isaac looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Sorry, Herr Isaac. I was looking forward to this." Friedrich said softly.
"We have all night, my love. Let's go see what is going on out there." Isaac said as he helped Friedrich from her bed.
Isaac and Friedrich ran onto the gangway and down onto the port.
"Commander, Come quick. We have an injured girl!" Eagle said as she ran towards the water.
"Who is it?" Isaac asked as he ran beside her.
"I-13 said her name is Phoenix. She was injured on her journey to find us with Vestal and St. Louis." Eagle said.
"Get her to the dorms. We'll need to see what we can do to keep her stable. Water, soft foods, and plenty of bandages. If we can find some liquor, that would help greatly." Isaac said as he surveyed the scene.
"I-13 are you there?" Isaac asked.
"Yes, Shikikan. I am escorting the other two and a damaged ship to you. I was headed to Pearl and came across them being attacked by drone ships. We shouldn't be more than a few more hours away." I-13 said.
"Get here double time. I don't know what we can do in terms of helping her. We are going to have our hands full keeping her stable." Isaac said as he looked at Friedrich.
"I'm sorry Friedrich. Maybe when we get this sorted." Isaac said.
"Not a problem, Mein Kind. I will not allow my desires to overshadow the needs of my children." Friedrich said as she carried the cruiser in her arms.
"Please hurry, I-13." Isaac begged as he followed Friedrich.