Sheffield was out on her part of the reconnaissance that night. She had donned a different outfit and a cloak to hide herself if needed. The country roads helped her as she drove along. Due to how much farmland there was, it would be easier to get around as Siren patrols would be spread out of wider areas. She used signposts, passing towns and railway stations as markers for how she'd get back to base. An alternative escape route was also being mentally thought of as she drove along in a repurposed civilian vehicle. She had to drive it in total darkness, but she could manage it, she'd fought in the dark before.
The journey was at it's end at around 1:00am. Sheffield got out of the vehicle and brought out a pair of binoculars to look over what was before her.
The port was a large expanse of land, many large buildings and seemingly a railway yard off to one side, She then looked out over the waterfront. There would be a lot of space for what was required. However. There were several Siren ships docked and seemingly some far out in the distance. She gave the ones further out a closer look and saw that they seemed to be in a tight formation. "I wonder what they're up to" she muttered to herself as she grabbed her De Lisle carbine from the passenger seat and once she checked her weapon she quietly headed towards the area surrounding the port.
Much like the city she'd come from, the town beside the port was more or less abandoned, only the Sirens keeping the place somewhat populated. But even then, there wasn't much of a presence of them in the town. Only when she drew closer to the entrance to the port did she find some actual Siren presence. About 70 meters away from her was a few Sirens, she listened in to their conversation.
"Any report from the drone ships about that pesky Royal Navy sub operating nearby?" One of the higher ranking Sirens hissed at a lower rank Siren.
"Not yet. It's been slipping through our grasp continuously"
"It won't slip through our grasp forever. I want that sub found and reduced to scrap on the sea floor!"
"An ally out in the bay, hmm? She could prove useful should she be made aware of our attack" Sheffield thought to herself. It was now a matter of identifying which Royal Navy submarine was operating in the area. She put that thought to one side in order to continue with her objective.
"Do you have eyes on her?" Anson asked as Indomitable was stood nearby, her rigging activated as she was using one of her planes to scout for Sheffield and gain additional reconnaissance information.
"It's hard to say. I can't stick around for too long. I saw some Bofor's guns littered around and there's no knowing when those might open up" Indomitable replied as she concentrated on what her aircraft was showing her.
"Well those will be one of the early targets to focus on. Though there are ships in the harbour. I imagine Sheffield spotted them too. We'll need to take them out too" Anson said before she then turned back to the map that was laid out on a table, Sovereign was already making notes on the map of certain positions that Indomitable had mentioned as her aircraft flew closer to the port.
"We could do with some recon photographs" Sovereign muttered. "Alas. We don't have a Spitfire of the right variant for that duty"
"Eagle Union had some recon modified P-51's. I think they donated some to the Iris Libre." Wasp commented as she helped Sovereign.
"Just had a development" Indomitable suddenly cut in. "a Siren ship out in the bay appears to have just taken a hit from something"
"I didn't order Sheffield to attack anything unless she was compromised" Anson said, turning back to the carrier.
"I don't think it was Sheffield." Indomitable replied before she saw another warship get struck. "We don't have any Submarines active in that area do we?"
"Any Submarines? I wouldn't know I'm afraid. The only notable sub that's come to mind was Seraph. But she hasn't been seen since she set off on her last mission" Anson responded
"Let us hope that it's her. Or any of the other Submarines of our fleet. We will need Submarines for the battles to come" Sovereign commented as she drew a note on the map that siren warships had been attacked out in the bay.
"Keep monitoring the situation. I'll be back in a moment" Anson said, seeing Manchester in the doorway, indicating for her to follow her. She followed the light cruiser out to where Captain Ryan was. "What's the situation?" she asked
"One of my patrols has just come back, says they've seen a vehicle convoy in the city. Headed towards the Railway station near the riverside" Ryan replied.
"Anything on how large this convoy is? We'll need to identify if they are friendly or not and stop them" Anson replied.
"I'm not sure how many there are. It's too dark to be able to identify the length of the convoy" Ryan answered.
"Right. Get some of your men together." Anson said before she activated her radio. "Sovereign? We've got a convoy of armoured vehicles headed towards one of the Railway stations, hold here till I get back."
"Will do. Who's going with you?"
Anson looked to her right and saw a few of the other ships, who had come over to see what was going on. "Perseus, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bulldog and Valiant. Everyone else will still be on guard here per their orders"
"Copy that. Good hunting"
"Same to you. I want an update on the plan once I return" Anson responded before she and the requested ships followed Ryan out of the Hospital and into their nearby vehicles, hurrying off towards their destination.
They set up on the corner of one of the roads on the approach to the station. A small light from the lead vehicle was just visible from a nearby street.
"You wouldn't have a special word that they might recognise would you?" Anson whispered to Ryan.
"We do. But I'm not sure if these guys would know the response code" Ryan replied.
"Well. We might as well try. Good thing we've got both sides of the road covered" Anson remarked as she and Ryan pulled back to one of the buildings nearby and headed upstairs in order to have an elevated view of the convoy.
The convoy drew closer and closer, but through the darkness a few glimpses could be made of the vehicles. "Are… Are those self propelled guns?" Norfolk pondered, looking out at one of the vehicles.
"Might be. Be ready" Anson replied over the radio.
Ryan took cover by the window and watched from between the boarded up windows as the lead vehicle came closer and closer. He waited till they were just a couple of meters away before calling out. The lead vehicle stopped abruptly and a head poked out, scanning the buildings. After a moment or two a return phrase was given. "They're friendly" Ryan affirmed as Norfolk shone her searchlight on the lead vehicle, revealing it to be a Dingo scout car. Anson and Ryan exited the building to greet the man in the vehicle.
"Thank god we found some allies. We've been running around for weeks now. Just being able to grab food and fuel before having to scarper again" the man in the dingo said.
"How did you know to come this way?" Anson asked.
"We heard rumours of a City having been liberated. Didn't think we had a resistance movement large enough to do it" The man answered
"What is your name, friend?" Ryan asked
"Captain George Vincent, at your service" George replied
"Captain Ryan Baxter. Good to be of acquaintance, Captain. This is Anson, she's part of the Azur Lane."
"Azur Lane? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it" George replied.
"Detachment from the Navy." Anson replied. "There's a few of us here in the city. If you'd like to follow us"
They returned to the hospital half an hour later. The soldiers and other shipgirls were rather astonished at the arrival of the convoy. As Anson got off of the Dingo, she saw that Sovereign had come down to join them, and there was certainly a glint in her eyes about something. "This lot is going to help a bunch for the raid"
"Indeed. They'll be able to cover us and take out positions that we call out" Anson responded as she and the other battleship headed back inside.
"We haven't gotten anything new on Sheffield's current position. But we've managed to identify some defences that the Sirens have set up in the town. It's mainly basic barricades but I wouldn't doubt they'll want to use the sea for their reinforcements" Sovereign reported.
"Then we cut that off as fast as we can. That Submarine, if it's still out there, will be of huge help for us. But now we shall need to find a spot for the artillery to support us from." Anson replied as they re-entered the planning room. Indomitable was still standing where she had been and Wasp was noting down more on the map.
Sheffield had gained access to the port and was sneaking around when she heard a Siren approaching. She ducked into a small side-street and waited for the Siren to pass. As it drew closer, she drew out a bayonet from her clothing and prepared it. As the siren came into view, she threw her freehand around it's mouth and dragged it backwards, stabbing it in the neck with the blade in order to permanently silence it before it could cry out for help. She then pulled the blade out and wiped the blood off before dumping the dead siren in the darkness. She was out of the side-street and headed for one of the warehouses.
The Warehouse seemed to have seem some previous action, with some burn marks on the sides and the door she was closest to. Checking her surroundings, she checked to see if the door was locked or not. It was not and she quietly opened it, trying not to draw any attention. The room inside was filled with crates, what was inside them was not known to her. But as she crept around, she found a smaller crate that was partially open, taking the lid off, she found something that would be of great use to the others. Several blueprints for vehicles were contained within. Some other weapon blueprints appeared to be present as well. However, she knew she couldn't take all of it in one go. So she stuffed some of them into her jacket and closed the lid on the crate, intending to move it outside.
She moved it to a much safer spot and made note that the warehouses were to be left alone so that they could recover what remained within when they come to liberate the base. She just hoped that the Sirens wouldn't bail and take the crated items with them if they tried to escape. Checking her surroundings once more, she decided to make a break for the vehicle she'd arrived in and head back. She'd managed to collect some data on placements of weapons and how many Sirens were present. But she wasn't out of the woods yet, blocking her path were two more Sirens. Drawing her De Lisle Carbine, she took aim at the one closest to her and fired, quickly cycling the bolt before nailing the other Siren before it could raise an alarm. Both fell within moments of each other and she checked her surroundings and listened out for any noises that stood out from the sounds already surrounding her. "I wonder if there's a Pistol like this" she quietly muttered before she made her escape from the port, the Siren's none the wiser to their silent attacker.
She was back at her vehicle a few minutes later. As she got into the vehicle, she looked back out at the bay, seeing that the Siren ships that used to be there were gone. But in the night, she thought she could see something poking out of the water for a moment before it vanished into the sea. "See you soon" she said simply before closing the door and driving off.
Beneath the water, a Submarine silently passed the sunken Siren ships it had sunk. It's commander had lowered the periscope and passed through the passages in the boat and got into their quarters. A flag was draped over the bed and a photograph sat opposite the bed. They picked it up and ran a finger over the other figures in the picture. "I will find you, my sisters. It may take me time. But I think if I am right. I won't have to find you on my own anymore" they said before they headed back to the bridge to pilot the submarine away from the harbour in into relative safety of the Allied Mine nets that the Sirens hadn't discovered.
Sheffield was back at the Hospital at 3:00am, she reported directly to Anson and handed over the blueprints "Excellent" Anson said as Sheffield removed the cloak and jacket she had donned. "These blueprints will come in handy for both offensive and defensive capabilities of the fleet" She then turned to the others around the table, who all had a similar look of hope in their eyes.. "Let's begin the race to the sea" The Battleship said as they began to plan their attack to liberate the port of Felixstowe.