So first of all I'm terribly, terribly, terribly sorry I broke the promise to you and left the last chapter at a cliffhanger for more than a year. But school work demotivated me enough to consider postponing the series for a long time, even if I knew I had to finish this battle. And so here's chapter 7. It's relatively shorter than the rest but I hope it has enough action and character interaction to keep you occupied. I can't guarantee when I'll post again, but I have the story planned out, and I won't be stopping it for no reason.

So enjoy chapter 7, and leave a review if you want to address me about anything.

(HMS Howe – Tsushima – 12:45)

In the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the British admiral Horatio Nelson onboard the HMS Victory had succeeded in securing a decisive victory against a Franco-Spanish fleet by using a tactic that was not common during engagements between ships of the line. Without sailing parallelly to the enemy and bombarding them with cannons, and suffering a defeat at the hands of the combined force that outnumbered him, he had sailed perpendicular to the enemy, crashing into their line and wreaking havoc. This unorthodox tactic had gained the British an advantage over Napoleon Bonaparte and had proved to the French that Britannia ruled the waves.

Now more than two centuries after Trafalgar, the British Pacific Fleet was attempting to repeat Nelson's strategy under the command of Captain Emily Kerr.

Like everyone else, Gehan had his doubts about the plan. It was only fifteen minutes ago that June had handed him a tablet containing the information of the plan their secretary had received from the Hood. After spending a couple of minutes studying it Gehan had come to the decision that while quite dangerous the plan had a good chance of success.

"So, we're going to recreate Trafalgar. I have to say, that might work against an enemy T cross."

"Does that mean we're going to carry on with the commander's decision."

"Yes. Since Instructor Somerville hasn't objected to it, I think it'll work. But first I'll have to ask all of our crew if they're willing to go on with this."

Following this he had notified the crew of their plan, and unsurprisingly they had all agreed to it. His report to the crew had been brief, just like the information on their strategy which had come from the Hood. But time was running out.

"Radio, tell Captain Emily that the Howe will follow her orders."

And now they were carrying on the strategy they had all agreed on.

The Howe was positioned to the left of the flagship, with all six of her front guns facing the Kongō, which kept its eight guns of the same caliber firmly concentrated on them. The parallel formation they were now in had greatly reduced the tactical upper hand the Eastern Fleet gained through their T cross. But the enemy wasn't changing formation.

"Haven't they realized what we're up to?" June asked. "In ten minutes, our course will intersect with their line."

"I believe they know it." Gehan answered. "But they don't want to do anything that might make them lose the slight advantage they still have over us." The two fleets continued to exchange fire, by now at a really low rate. But at this range, nearly every shot was a hit. And now even the secondary guns of the ships were within firing range.

"Hard to starboard." Gehan commanded as the Howe turned to narrowly avoid one of the Kongō's barrages. Using a zigzag volley that allowed them to fire continuously, the Japanese ship had scored six hits on her British adversary, which she continued to do now. A fourteen-inch round managed to score a hit on the Howe.

"Damage report."

Gehan's command received expected replies. The round had managed to penetrate the belt armor of the British battleship, though it had not gone far enough to cause much damage to the ship.

"The range is short, so we don't have to worry about plunging fire penetrating our deck. If a shell goes through our deck it might be able to destroy us."

"Captain, we'll cross their line in five minutes."

"Ok, what does the commander have in mind?"

As an answer to this his radio operator spoke. {Radio message from the Hood. There's a gap in their line because of the damaged Takao. We will divide into two battle lines based on armor and cross through that gap. Our capital ships will all target the capital ships closest to us, and our cruisers will target the enemy cruiser closest to them and both lines will open fire with their broadside when they cross the enemy battle line.}

"If we cross their line, we'll be the ones T crossing them."

"Understood. Hard to port, get us behind the Hood." Kalum's screw-shot had opened up a gap in the enemy line as the damaged Takao continued to lead the enemy cruiser force. "With all our fire power concentrated on two ships, we'll have to be careful not to destroy them."

By now the fleet had formed to two parallel lines, one led by the Hood and the other led by the Suffolk, with the cruiser force to the starboard side of the capital ships. Before the enemy could react, the two lines entered the gap in the enemy. All ten of the Howe's main guns were aimed at the ship that led the rear of the enemy capital ship formation; the Resolution.

"Captain, the Resolution and Takao are turning. They're trying to get their broadside turned to us."

"They won't get the chance. Fire!"

All capital ships of the Pacific fleet emptied their main and secondary armament on the Resolution's stern, which could only reply with its aft turrets. The enemy had been T crossed. This was followed by a volley by the cruisers targeting the Takao. The main guns, secondary guns and torpedo launchers opened up on the heavy cruiser that sailed straight into the kill zone.

(HMS Hood – Tsushima – 12:30)

"Resolution and Takao both immobilized. Enemy line's in disarray."

"Excellent." Emily said, positively laughing for the first time since the battle began. "What's their status?"

{We've completely destroyed the Resolution's steering. And it seems to be flooding a bit so they won't be able to fire at us anymore.}

"And the Takao?"

{According to the report from the Suffolk, its front has been heavily damaged, and it's also suffering from floods.}

"I think you've overdone it." Somerville said. "We can't risk injuring their crews. And sinking the Takao would be bad for our relations with the Japanese."

Emily nodded. "Radio, tell the Blue Mermaids that they can begin boarding now. Two infected ships are out of action."

"You think it's safe to call them right now? The rest of their ships are still in good condition." The instructor's statement was proved when several splashes near the Hood indicated that the enemy had fired again.

"I know," Emily replied, "But what if these two ships sink. As you said it won't be good if we sunk a foreign ship like the Takao."

"Then we should move on to disable the rest of the fleet before they arrive. The Warspite is still a huge threat."

Emily called her gunnery officer. "Miss Clerk. Load all guns and prepare to fire on the Warspite. Our range is only three kilometers. There's no way we'll miss."

The thunder of guns was deafening, the close range of the fight making the fire from every gun produce a tremendous noise that was felt by everyone on board the ships. The five capital ships of the Pacific fleet had only three ships to concentrate on, and those three ships were in disarray.

Apart from the Warspite, the remaining two capital ships would be offering little resistance against the Pacific Fleet. But they were still functioning. While the two ships or their captains weren't a threat to the Pacific Fleet as much as the Warspite and Amelia, they had to be dealt with.

"Fire." Both fleets kept on trading blows. These commands were followed by commands to the helmsmen of the ships to turn to starboard or to port to avoid the enemy's shells. But even the best helmsman couldn't avoid all hits at the range of three to four kilometers. The close range was however good for the battlecruisers as it negated the disadvantage caused by their weaker deck armor. But the ship hulls were getting hit with most of the shots.

"Captain?" Emily's concentrated commanding was interrupted by Somerville. "Something bothers me. Amelia's a good captain. So, why couldn't she react better to your tactics? And how do we know she won't try something similar to us?"

"I know Amelia," Emily replied. "She's a brilliant captain. But she's a quite conventional tactician. So, I believed correctly that she won't be able to react to our unconventional moves."

Somerville nodded. These two girls knew a lot about each other. He didn't want to know how much Amelia would've anticipated in this way.

Amelia Fraser was proving herself to be a tough opponent. Under her command the super-dreadnought was giving an impressive performance against the Hood, Vanguard and Howe. The Warspite's remaining allies, the Repulse and Kongo, had changed course deliberately or under orders and were attempting to flee eastward. Though this had to be prevented, Emily concentrating on the Warspite could do little more than dispatching the Arkhangelsk to confront the two fleeing ships.

Emily had read Sun Tzu's Art of War, and she knew how Sun Tzu advised commanders to let their troops fight a stronger enemy when they were cornered with no route of escape. A cornered army would fight till the end as they have nothing to lose. Emily found the situation of the Warspite to be similar. The super-dreadnought was cornered and fighting a stronger foe. Being cornered in this instance was more metaphorical than literal, but the Warspite was cornered in the sense that escape was improbable though not impossible, and it was fighting just like a cornered army.

"Fifteen hits and still fighting."

"If we continue bombarding, we stand the chance of injuring the crew. Our only way to stop it seems to be by using torpedoes." Instructor Somerville said.

"Then we stand the chance of sinking the ship." Emily said.

"If I should choose between saving the ship and saving my students, I'll choose to save my students."

"Torpedoes then." Emily called the radio room. "What's the situation of the cruisers and destroyers?"

The answer came. {They're managing much better than us. All enemy ships apart from the Myōkō have been immobilized.}

Emily let out a sigh of relief. "Radio, inform the Norfolk to send part of their force this way. We need torpedoes in the water. But do we really have to sink it?"

Emily didn't have much time to consider this as shells from the Warspite made contact with a ship of her fleet, this time the Vanguard. At this range the shells could only hit the ships' armored belt, which reduced damage.

"Captain, I have an idea."

It was the Hood's secretary, "Our current location is quite close to the Orono Island." She letting Emily have her tablet. Emily checked the map she was presented with. The island her secretary had indicated had been nearly completely submerged during the rise of sea levels. She began to understand her secretary's plan before she had even let her know.

She nodded. "That might work. Radio, bridge. Tell the cruiser force coming to assist us to await my commands."

(HMS Ceylon – Tsushima – 13:00)

"Torpedoes loaded and ready to fire."

Fifteen minutes had past since the Ceylon received a radio message from the heavy cruiser Norfolk, instructing them to form a separate group of cruisers and destroyers to help the Hood with fighting the Warspite. Thus, the Ceylon was to command a fleet consisting of the light cruiser Jamaica and the destroyers Tenacious and Termagant, armed with 21-inch torpedoes, against the Warspite.

After joining the here other ships, Kalum had sent a radio message to the Hood, after which Captain Kerr had briefed them about their plan, along with sending information about it to the tablet held by Ravindu. They should not aim to sink the super-dreadnought, but attempt to change her course towards the partially submerged Orono island, where she would beach herself.

Captain Emily Kerr had assured that the capital-chips of the fleet would keep the Warspite's main armament occupied, allowing the lighter ships to get close to it safely. This was done, but Captain Fraser onboard the Warspite had realized their intention, and while the 15-inch main guns kept firing at the Hood's fleet, the 6-inch casemate guns concentrated on Kalum's ships, particularly the destroyers.

In five minutes both destroyers were hit, due to the skill of the Warspite's crew and the close quarters they were fighting in. Fortunately, the damage was mild, with no serious danger to the crews of the two destroyers, but enough to put the ships out of action. Hearing their damage report, Kalum hastily ordered them to escape, as the ships could still move, not willing to endanger their lives.

Now only two light cruisers remained opposing the battleship.

"Torpedoes ready." Aanya repeated. The three starboard side torpedoes of the Ceylon were now aimed at the Warspite's broadside. Once they are fired the battleship would have to turn to port, towards the light cruisers, to avoid getting hit.

"Fire." Kalum ordered, while the captain of the Jamaica repeated the command in her ship. Six torpedoes cut through the water at the Warspite.

Just as they had anticipated, the big ship turned to port, avoiding the torpedoes. Even though it was a super-dreadnought battleship, and thus bad at maneuvering fast, the Warspite displayed an unbelievably good turning circle.

"Nice." Kalum said as the torpedoes exploded at a distance. "Radio, inform the Hood. The Warspite has turned to the direction we needed. Now it's just a job of keeping her that way"

A reply came. {Aim for the rudder.}

Kalum ordered the radio operator to send the message to the Jamaica as the two ships turned tightly to starboard to get out of the way of the Warspite that headed towards them, towards Orono. The turn to starboard was followed by a turn to port, in order to get the port side torpedoes aimed at the enemy, as reloading the fired torpedoes took too long, even with the automated process in their ships.

Following a new set of commands from Kalum, Aanya spoke to the torpedo launchers through the voice tubes, giving them the new sets of orders to aim for the Warspite's stern. Kalum waited impatiently till Aanya confirmed that the aiming of the torpedoes, that had been loaded ahead of time, was complete.

"Fire."

Six more torpedoes, three each from the two light-cruisers, sped towards their target, which tried its best to turn or accelerate to avoid them, but with no success. Two of the torpedoes met their mark.

The crew in the Ceylon were celebrating their success. Now it was only a matter of time till the battleship beaches itself, ending the battle. Kalum was feeling happy at accomplishing this, though he felt guilty at not being able to keep the two destroyers of his fleet safe. But his happiness, and the celebrations of the crew, were soon crushed by a reveal by Ravindu.

"Captain, the Warspite has successfully changed its course during our second torpedo run. It's only a minor turn to port, but it's highly likely that it won't beach itself now."

"What do we do now?" The Warspite's rudder was now not operational. Even if they went for another torpedo run to change its course, the change won't be possible, and they'd end up damaging the battleship's structure.

"Are you sure she'll miss the island?"

"Can't be sure. But there's a high probability of that happening. We'll see in a couple of minutes."

The two cruisers followed the Warspite, risking getting hit by her aft main guns. But the infected crew also seemed to be concentrating on whether or not they would impact themselves with the island, and no shells came their way. A minute past. Now Kalum could see that their plan would not work. The change in course was only by a small margin, but it will be enough. Their plan had failed.

The Warspite continued straight ahead. Once it misses the island, the Royal navy would have to use more conventional methods to bring it down, risking the possibility of sinking the ship and injuring her crew. But that wasn't going to happen.

A minute before impact, the Warspite began to turn slightly. Not to port, but to starboard; towards the island. Even rudderless, the ship was attempting to change the situation. To Kalum, it seemed like the ship was fighting against her own crew. If the crew had any ability to turn the ship, they would've done it in the opposite direction. Slowly the ship changed course, by a couple of degrees, which was enough to set it on the correct course again.

"The Grand Old Lady has a mind of her own." The Warspite was known to have rudder issues, but nobody thought of mentioning that in this moment.

Breaking everyone's expectations. The Warspite made contact with the partially submerged island, beaching herself. She was no longer in the fight.

(HMS Hood – Tsushima – 13:30)

Emily was overjoyed. Taking back the Warspite had been her main goal during this battle, and that goal had been accomplished. She knew that she had to be more concerned from the news that had reached her from the Arkhangelsk, that the Repulse and Kongō had escaped and were now heading north, but the joy from having saved Amelia was greater than that.

Nevertheless, she let Instructor Somerville know about the two escaped capital-ships, as she watched a blue mermaid team board the Warspite.

"Don't worry. We can't go back to engage them now. But I'll get a few submarines to monitor them till we're ready."

"Do we have any submarine fleets nearby?"

"We don't have any ready in Japan. But in going north the two ships will have to pass Vladivostok. I'll call Instructor Kuznetsov and arrange so that he'll instruct their submarines to go after them."

While Instructor Somerville called Vladivostok, Emily checked on the damages suffered by the ships, from the Pacific fleet and the Eastern fleet. The Hood itself had been hit six times during the battle, but the enemy shells had only made contact with the belt armor of the battle-cruiser. All other ships of the fleet had suffered similar damages, apart from the Arkhangelsk and Suffolk that lost a turret, and the Anson that got hit in the funnels. The same could not be said for the Japanese and British ships of the infected Eastern Fleet, and the ship that suffered the most damage was the Takao. Looking out of the bridge, Emily could see the heavy-cruiser being tugged by the Blue Mermaids with its bow ahead of the A turret completely destroyed. Luckily the ship hadn't sunk.

The situation was similar with the Resolution which had been secured a little while ago by the Blue Mermaid boarding teams. The stern of the ship had suffered heavy damage and part of it was now below the waterline due to heavy flooding. And of course, the Warspite had suffered heavy damage, ending up getting beached on an island.

"Kuznetsov wasn't happy." Somerville replied in a while. "But he agreed to provide the submarines. Said that we'll be held responsible if any of them get damaged in a possible battle."

Seeing Emily's somewhat worried expression Somerville spoke again. "Don't worry. Nobody expected us to save all the ships here. And I don't think anyone could've managed that in a battle of this scale. Our main objectives were recapturing the Warspite and her crew intact. And we hopefully achieved both of those."

Emily didn't like how the admiral mentioned the hopeful chances, knowing well that he meant that the Warspite's crew might not be fully intact. But she decided not to mention anything. She didn't want to think of any situation where the crew wasn't fully intact.

"And now we can all leave to Sasebo, spend a day there refueling and resupplying, and return to Yokosuka."

Emily nodded. "Understood sir, I'll let the fleet know."

(Naval Hospital of Yokosuka - 13:00)

The Naval Hospital of Yokosuka was jointly maintained by the Japanese and the US. And this week its staff was dealing with more than a hundred patients, as it was chosen as the best location to treat the wounded in the "Second battle of Tsushima", as it was now being called. Fortunately, the number of critical injuries in battle numbered only to a few, with the rest being only lightly injured. There was also the question of all members of the previously infected crews, who had to rest for a while after vaccination. Emily was, of course, here to see one of this group.

As far as she knew, Amelia hadn't suffered any injuries in battle, with no hit having connected with the Warspite's bridge. But physical injury was not the only thing that worried her, and her fears were confirmed as she reached the door of the room where Amelia received her treatment. The Blue Mermaid medical officer leaving her room at present did not look happy.

"How is she?" Emily asked, stopping the MO who shook her head.

"She's fine physically." the MO answered, and seeing the concerned look on Emily's face, continued, "But emotionally…"

She continued after a pause. "I believe you can understand how she feels now. From what we've learnt, the Eastern Fleet was her first command assignment."

Emily nodded. "Can I visit her now?"

"Of course, visitors might improve her condition." Emily didn't like how she used the word condition. But she thanked the doctor and entered.

Amelia did not look up as the door opened, which confirmed to Emily that she had heard the discussion outside, and knew perfectly well who her visitor was. She approached the bed, looking for a moment at the uneaten plate of lunch near it. Amelia clearly had no intentions of having it any time soon, or ever. She looked thin, and exhausted, and her refusal to eat was worrying.

Emily stood there in silence, with Amelia returning the gesture, while still refusing to face her. Finally she broke the silence.

"How is everyone?" She was trying to maintain an emotionless tone, though Emily could feel that her voice quivered a bit.

"They're all fine. Injured, but fine" Emily said, while Amelia failed to show any reaction to the news.

"And the ships?"

"The damaged ones only need a few months in the drydocks before they can enter service again."

There was no reply to this, and Emily spoke in a somewhat agitated tone.

"Look, none of this is your fault. You don't have to blame yourself for all this."

"How do you know if I'm blaming myself?"

"I know you." Emily replied. "And this isn't the first time you're blaming yourself for something. The Fiji wasn't your fault. And neither is what happened with the Warspite."

"I put the entire Eastern Fleet in danger. I'm not a good commander."

"That wasn't you." Emily replied. "You're still the best commander the eastern Fleet can have."

Amelia smiled sadly. "I don't know how many ships I damaged, and how many students I injured. I've sent my letter of resignation to Admiral Somerville."

"Yes, and he tore it in two before ordering me to go see you."

"Is that why you came?"

"No, I would've come sooner, as soon as I reached Yokosuka, if they allowed you to have visitors. And I didn't wait for a week to come and see you like this."

There was some silence after that, broken a little while later by Amelia who finally turned around to face Emily. "If Admiral Someville refuses to accept my resignation, I have no choice but to follow his orders and remain in this position."

"That's the best that can happen to you."

Amelia stood up, not without some difficulty, and addressed Emily again while she still remained shocked at the sudden action. "I can't face the fleet again like this."

"Yes you can." Emily said as she walked towards the window overlooking the sea. "You did nothing wrong, and no one in the fleet blames you for anything. There are actual people responsible for the spread of the RATt virus, and they will receive the blame when we find them."

"I suppose so," Emily said, walking a bit towards the window where Emily stood. But she changed the decision to join her friend and went back to her bed, where she sat down. "But I could've tried to resist the virus. I'm the commander of the Eastern Fleet."

"Nobody can resist the virus. If I was in your position, I would've become a mind controlled zombie of sorts."

This got a genuine smile out of Amelia. "Zombies aren't half as terrifying as what we become when we get the virus."

"Yes, and I have a question for you. How much of you were in control when the virus was in you?"

"The BlueMers already asked me those questions. So I believe you already know the answer. I can perfectly remember my actions and decisions, though I can't remember why I acted that way. I had no feeling that I was doing the wrong thing when I aimed my guns at you."

"So, you should accept that you weren't at fault here. I believe you'd stop acting like a child and join the fleet again in a couple days."

"Maybe you ask too much from me."

"No, I'm not. You think you're a failure. And the best way to get rid of that feeling is to prove to everyone that you're not one. And you can't do that without joining us again."

Emily slightly regretted mentioning the concept of proving herself to Amelia in this instance. Amelia's whole life in the RNSF has been filled with moments where she was required to prove herself to others. But this was perhaps the only way to convince her to get off her mood.

Amelia nodded. "I'll think about it." This was a good sign. Amelia didn't think about matters for long.

Emily could positively smile now, for the first time since the beginning of their meeting. "Think about it later. First, have your lunch like a sensible person."

Amelia shrugged, and Emily quickly took her phone to dial one of her crew members. It was quickly arranged that her own lunch would be brought here from the Hood. There was only one way to make sure Amelia did as she was told.