ChaosGodLizea: Well, they kinda did it to themselves, but don't worry. They're sisters belonging to the same fleet so Akagi and the others shouldn't be 'too' hard on them.
6.6: I mean, that's a viable option, but that's something they already do, sssooo...
GameNinja03: Yes! I am a huge Eldridge fan, and I like her dynamic with Akashi here as best frenemies.
xxx xxx xxx
Chapter 10
- On the bridge of the Liberty -
September 7th, 2023 - Early afternoon
Just after a few moments after Archerfish and Nautilus' fleets first desperate all out surprise assault against a still very much distracted Tester.
"...I can't believe they did that..," remarked a surprised and wide-eyed Enterprise before readjusting her glasses, still processing what her impulsive little sisters just did, or tired to do anyway.
"And of course, no doubt the root cause of their little stunt is likely related to our dear idiot Master as well," Sheffield mused with a sigh and a shake of her head.
"...Hey! I didn't do anything!" Liam protested.
"Not directly, or even on purpose, no," conceded the ever expressionless and sharp tongued maid. "But that doesn't change the fact that everything they've done is because they expect to get a reward out of you when this is all over."
"...But, I mean... What was I supposed to do then?" Liam asked defensively, shoulders slumped in defeat. "It's kind of my job to look after you girls and all, right?"
Sheffield shrugged. "True. And honestly? I don't think there was anything you could have done differently either really. I just like seeing that pathetic look on your face, that's all," Sheffield admitted with a very self-satisfied smirk.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?"
Sheffield, in a very rare display of emotion, lightly giggled in amusement seeing the completely defeated look on her dear Master's face. Sirius, who was sitting next to her and still monitoring the combat area, could only shake her head and sigh herself.
"Sheffy dear, must you tease our honorable Master so mercilessly like that?"
"Yes. I absolutely must. You and Belfast spoil him enough as it is; all I'm doing is keeping things nice and balanced. Consider it part of my duty as one of his loyal and loving maids," Sheffield matter-of-factly replied. "After all, isn't that pathetic look on his silly face just too cute? How could I not tease him?"
"...Ah, well... I suppose, I can understand that... mumble, mumble... *ahem!* Bu, but even so! D, do try not to go overboard with it, alright? Especially around Belfast."
Sheffield nodded. "Yes, yes. Of course."
Liam could only groan and resign himself to being at the mercy of the stoic, sharp tongued maid's 'unique' brand of showing her affections. 'I mean, I'm happy she cares so much about me but, does she really have to be so mean about it...? Ah, whatever!'
"Commander?" Metis asked, seeing the slight frown on Liam's face. "Is something the matter?"
"Huh? Ah, um no," Liam shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. Just got a little distracted is all. Anyway. Nautilus and Archerfish's fleets aside, how are things on Surcouf's end?"
Metis smiled ever so slightly, the barest hint of an amused twinkle in her electric blue eyes. "No new enemy reinforcements as of their last report. But, they are having a rather lively discussion about what Archerfish and the others did... while praying for their immortal souls that Miss Akagi, Miss Taihou and the others won't be too hard on them about it later."
"Oh, I'll bet," Liam chuckled a bit. "Right, since it looks like the coast is going to clear for awhile, we should go ahead and start moving in to support the others. I mean, there's probably not a whole lot we can really do on our end but we can at least help scare her off, right?"
Metis raised a slender eyebrow before asking. "Is that really necessary at this point though?"
Liam sighed, running a hand through his messy, dark grey hair. "Honestly? Probably not, but she's an Siren Elite right? She straight up tanked a shot from our bow mounted ether cannon and even managed to counter and damage us too... No, driving her off is the best move we can make right now. Besides, even if we don't beat her, this battle still gave us a lot of valuable field experience and live combat data to analyze and go over later. Plus, we still have those islands to investigate along with seeing how bad the damage to the Liberty actually is too. Frankly, as dangerous as that Siren Elite is, she just isn't our highest priority right now."
"Very true, and good to know you kept your eyes on the mission while trying to minimize potential risks as much as you can. Excellent judgment, Commander," the hyper advanced AI replied with no small amount of praise in her voice, satisfied with Liam's performance with his first real battle.
"It's the very least I can do really, all things considered," Liam said. "Anyway, girls?"
"Hmm?"
"Master?"
"Honorable Master?"
'...Man, I really need to get used to being called that...' "How are preparations going? Are we ready to move out? How are our shields and weapons holding up? What about the state of the Liberty?"
Sheffield was the first to respond. "Damage was, on the whole, minimal thanks to the reactive shields absorbing most of the damage. There shouldn't be any real issue so long as we aren't blindsided by a surprise attack to our rear. Surcouf's fleet should be handling that though."
"Shield strength isn't back to a hundred percent yet, but we should still be able to take at least a few good hits if they aren't too strong," Enterprise added.
"The combat zone's still clear so if we are going to move, now would likely be our best and last chance, my honorable Master," Sirius immediately followed up.
Liam nodded. "Alright then. Sucks that Akashi isn't around to help fix things up but oh well. Right, since we're probably as ready as we're going to be, let's move out girls! Oh, don't forget to fill Surcouf and the others in on the situation."
"Of course, my honorable Master!"
"...About time we dealt with that little Siren trollop."
"Yes, Master."
...
A moment later, the Liberty's hybrid ether engines quickly began to fire up as the aerial combat support carrier started moving deeper into the crowded battle zone ahead of them.
- With Surcouf and her fleet -
...
"Hm? Ah, oui, oui. Understood. I'll let everyone know, Commander."
"Was that the Kommandant?" asked the petite, pink haired U-81.
Surcouf calmly nodded. "We are to cease our perimeter patrols and support the Liberty by protecting the rear while they move in to support Dame Eugen and the others."
"Hopefully we won't have to deal with any other surprises then," U-410 added. "Y'know, considering the stunt Archerfish and the others pulled a little earlier and all..."
U-1206 just shrugged. "Not like we had anything to do with it, right?" '...But, if I'm being honest, I think I might have done the same thing too but yeah, better not say that out loud though.'
"Best to stay away from Akagi and Taihou for a little while then, especially you 1206!" U-81 warned while looking straight at the perpetual prankster. "I mean it, don't do anything stupid that'll drag us down with you."
"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice. Am I a prankster that likes teasing people? Yes, absolutely. Am I suicidal though? Fuck. No."
"Ah, look the Liberty's started moving!" U-410 interrupted, pointing to the moving aerial carrier in the distance.
- With Eugen and the others -
Some distance away from where Tester and the others were caught up in the submarines' surprise attack.
"...Scheiße...!"
Yes. That was all the normally carefree Prinz Eugen could say while looking at the sight before her eyes. It wasn't a particularly horrific sight or anything though; no, it was because of everything that just happened. At first glance everything seemed calm enough but, add in the overwhelming amount of killing intent and the very, very heavy pressure from who it was coming from...
"...Is it me, or do Akagi and Taihou actually look scarier than the very obviously pissed off Siren Elite over there?" Saratoga asked no one in particular, actually trembling a little.
"Not just them, but Kii and Jean Bart too. Look," Strasser added, pointing over to the two other shipgirls in question. "You can actually see their rage fueled battle auras too..."
"Still, we can't exactly do nothing, right?" Eugen said, for once actually unsure what to do next but knowing that they still had to do something.
"Oh, I don't think we'll need to worry about that," Strasser said, a small smile on her face.
"What do you mean...oh."
Strasser nodded. "Yeah. Seems our dear Kommandant decided to make his move."
Behind them and quickly closing in at combat speed one was the sight of the third Hyperion class aerial combat support carrier, Liberty.
"Um, but is that a good idea though?" Saratoga wondered, a bit of concern in her normally energetic and confident voice.
"If anything, I think he's hoping that it'll serve as an incentive for the Siren to just leave peacefully. You know, a bluff," Strasser replied.
"Agreed," Eugen said, nodding. "Even if she is ridiculously strong, the Kommandant proved that the Liberty is capable of standing on equal footing with her, even if only for a little bit. That perception alone puts the odds more in our favor. If you need proof, look."
The Iron Blood silverette then pointed over to a less than happy Tester as she leveled a cautious gaze in the approaching flying ship's direction.
"Right then, that just leaves us one option, huh?"
Saratoga giggled. "I guess so~!"
Strasser, on the other hand, just sighed and shook her head. "Let's just hope she falls for it and just peacefully leaves..."
- With Tester -
'...Submarines huh? Great. Not only did I let myself get surrounded, but I also let some fucking submarines hit me with a cheap surprise attack! Ugh, I really am cutting things a little too close, aren't I?' Tester mentally groaned as she took stock of her current situation. Naturally, it didn't take her long to come to a decision. 'Yeah, time to go.'
[Second stage combat limiter release: 50%, gradual increase - Achieved]
Hearing the very timely good news, Tester couldn't help but smile as the means to get herself out of this little mess finally finished charging up. 'Still going to need some luck and perfect timing to effectively make use of it but nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.'
- With the other four shipgirls caught up in Archerfish's little stunt -
"...Hoh? And what, pray tell, are you smiling for, Siren-san...?" asked a sweetly smiling but very, VERY irate Akagi.
"Hmm? Oh, just realizing how much of a bind I'm really in, that's all," nonchalantly replied the light blue haired Siren Elite seemingly without a care in the world.
"Oh? But you don't sound, much less look, all that worried though?" Taihou, arching a slender eyebrow ever so slightly, observed. "All else aside, you are still quite outnumbered, no?"
Tester simply shrugged. "Maybe, but that's just how things go sometimes, right?"
"...You are taking this situation far too calmly for my liking, Siren," spat out a less than happy Jean Bart as she tightened the grip on her rapier pointed menacingly at the Siren Elite's still smugly smiling face.
"My, but it wouldn't do to let the stress get to you, right? Especially at times like this."
"Yeah, well. We've got a lot on our plate too, y'know," Kii replied with a shrug. "Certainly more important than dealing with you anyway."
"...Oh?" Now that little slip of the tongue caught Tester's attention. "Do you now?"
"I mean, we wouldn't be here if we didn't, right? Nothing too out of the ordinary there right, Siren-san?"
"Tch!" '...Damn. And here I thought she actually slipped up... Oh well. Anyway, just a little longer and I can make my move.'
However, just as that very thought crossed her mind, Tester felt a thick spike of killing intent aimed her way and so entrusted her body and instincts take over as she leaned back and watched as a flame covered blade harmlessly sail a mere few centimeters above her head, only nicking a few strands of hair in the process.
"...Kuso!"
"And what was that for? I know we're enemies but sti-"
"-That's exactly why!" Akagi interrupted as she brought down her flame covered katana in a blindingly fast horizontal, overhead slash. "You are our enemy! More importantly, you had the gall to threaten our dear Shikikan! That was bad enough, of course, but then those idiot imouto of mine decided to attack you while we were right here! Apologies, but I need to vent all this pent up anger of mine and you're just too good a target to 'not' want to slice into tiny pieces!"
"...Wow. I've seen the records, but seeing it for myself is something else entirely...!" Tester remarked as she quickly weaved in and out of the dance of death that suddenly went from only having to deal with just one very angry and armed shipgirl to dealing with four very angry and armed shipgirls.
"Just shut up and die already!" Taihou shot back, swiping her left wrist and letting loose a torrent of crimson red flames Tester's way while being boosted by Akagi using a burst of ether charged wind, increasing its speed and power several times over and steaming up the surrounding water's surface.
"...Overkill much!?"
"Against a Siren Elite? No, not at all," Kii replied as she slashed at said Siren Elite with her katana. "If anything, this isn't nearly overkill enough!"
"...You Sakura Empire lot are just vicious little... Savages."
"Oh fuck off!" Kii spat out while still relentlessly attacking the irritating Siren Elite in front of her. "Not like you warmongering monsters have any room to talk either!"
"She's kind of got a point about you Sakura Empire shipgirls being battle happy savages though," Jean Bart teased as she moved in to support her fleet sisters.
"...Oh whatever. Let's just... focus on dealing with her," hissed out the internally flustered Sakura Empire ponytail'd ravenette.
But, before either she or any of the other shipgirls present could do anything, another sudden barrage of torpedo fire came bursting out of the water just beneath and all around Tester. Fortunately, this time Eugen and the others had the sense to move out of the way lest they get caught up in the surprise attack themselves, again.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
"...Well damn. Didn't think those cheeky little brats had the stones to try that again," Saratoga said with an impressed whistle. "And they even managed to mostly target just the Siren Elite this time too! Good job girls~!✩"
- With Archerfish and Nautilus' submarine fleets -
"Oh hell yeah! We did it girls! Direct hit!" cheered the tanned blonde doing a little underwater victory dance. "And we didn't hit any of our big sisters this time too! 'V' for victory bitches!"
"Wow that, actually felt really good," I-19 said with a relieved smile on her face. "A real load off our shoulders, y'know?"
"Yeah, but now we're all out of torpedoes..," U-37 muttered as she floated about dejectedly.
"Now what?" asked I-25 as she looked up at the spot they'd all just emptied everything they had left. "It'll take, like a whole two or three minutes for us to fully reload, and by then..."
"...Um, I don't think we'll actually need to worry too much about that," Nautilus quietly said.
"Oh? Why's that?" I-26 asked.
"Miss Metis just told me and Archerfish that the Liberty's on the move and should be there to support us in just a bit," Nautilus answered. "In the meantime, we're to rendezvous with them, so yeah... we need to get aboard the ship asap... or, y'know, stay here and potentially have to deal with our probably still very unhappy big sisters..."
...
And... that was all they needed to hear to make a mad dash for what likely be their only sanctuary from the wrath of Akagi, Taihou, and whoever else they unintentionally ended up pissing off earlier.
- With Liam and the Liberty, moments before Archerfish and the others' second surprise attack -
"Only less than 200 seconds before we reach the battle zone," Sirius reported.
"Now displaying the latest data feed updates from the combat surveillance drones we launched earlier," Sheffield followed up.
Displayed on the large monitor in front of them was the sight of a golden eyed, light blue haired Siren Elite beauty dressed in skintight dark clothing equipped with a large, manta themed rigging currently surrounded by seven of Liam's shipgirls, each with their weapons drawn and waiting for any excuse to go on the offensive. The tension was so palpable that even through the screen everyone present could feel how heavy it was. Liam, having never felt anything like this before, couldn't help but audibly gulp at the sight.
'Yeah, this is totally different from training battles. Man, the 'real thing' really is something else...'
And, he wasn't the only one who seemed to feel that way.
"I know I'm just an AI, but would you think it too strange that I can't help but feel a shiver go down my nonexistent digital spine?" Metis quietly asked.
"Not really, no. But, it's kinda hard to tell since you barely ever change your expressions and all," Liam replied.
"Fair point, but that's part of my 'base personality layer's' coding, so it's not something I can do anything about. The project's lead programmers were apparently really big kuudere fans, whatever those are..."
"...Ah, I get it," Liam replied with an understanding nod and a light chuckle. "Man, those SNRI guys were real folks of culture, huh?"
"...What?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll explain it some other time. Right now though, any thoughts about what might happen next?"
"Well, based on the current data we have so far, I can foresee one of three likely scenarios playing out in the next several moments. Either the Siren Elite or we break the stalemate and act first, or the still present submarines decide to launch another surprise attack. The last and most likely scenario, if I were a betting woman, would be to take the first chance to simply cut her losses and retreat as soon as she can eitehr see or make an opening. After all, I imagine that she has her own mission as well considering how quickly her other forces pulled out."
After a moment of thought, Liam slowly nodded. "Makes sense. Then, going by that logic, she's probably just buying time then, huh."
"Most likely but, either way, none of that really changes anything on our end."
Liam shrugged. "Still, we should get our CIWS ready. It probably won't do jack shit against her or whatever but they should still help ease the pressure off Eugen and the others, at least a little bit."
But, just before Metis could comment any further.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
"My honorable Master! It looks like Archerfish and Nautilus' fleet have broken the stalemate and attacked the Siren Elite again!" Sirius reported while bringing up an enlarged and enhanced view of the current battle situation.
Metis just shook her head, lightly rubbing her temple. "I should've guessed they'd be the ones to make the first move..."
Sheffield smirked, Enterprise giggled, and Sirius just sighted while lightly shaking her head.
"...Heh."
"...Snrk! Wow."
"Oh, those silly little dears."
"Huh. They managed to hit the mark this time though...," Liam commented, impressed by their bold actions. "Still, do you think the Siren would actually take any damage from all that, even at point blank range? I mean, they lost the element of surprise when they failed the first time, right?"
Metis sighed. "Sadly no, it won't. Look."
Liam took a closer look at the quickly vanishing pillar of water. "...Oh, well damn."
Projected and enhanced on the large bridge monitor showed that the Siren wasn't just unharmed, but completely protected by a spherical energy shield composed of transparent, light blue hexagons. And, while zooming in on her face, Liam and the others saw the absolutely smug expression on her pale, beautiful face.
"And here I was rooting for the little scamps too," Sheffield quietly remarked.
"Well, she was able to defend against our earlier ether cannon shot, so I can't say that I'm all that surprised really...," Enterprise added before readjusting her glasses.
...
"Hmm? What is that?" Liam wondered aloud as he just barely noticed an odd, transparent energy field quickly covering the Siren that seemed to subtly warp the space around her.
"...No, it can't be," Metis whispered to herself while looking where Liam was pointing at before teleporting over to the crew of royal maids. "Miss Sheffield. I need you to run a scan on the Siren Elite. Now."
"Understood."
Then, after the countless sifting of images, diagrams, and readouts flashing rapidly across the large bridge monitor and individual terminal displays accompanied by the furious typing on keyboards later, the results came in... which caused the normally ever stoic and sharp tongued Sheffield's eyes to widen ever so slightly and for her breath to catch in her throat.
"...It's subtle, but that's definitely a localized spacetime distortion buildup reaction... in other words-"
"-a 'Mirror Sea'," Metis finished in a very serious tone.
"...Wait, 'Mirror Sea'? I know I've seen that phrase somewhere before... Er, now where was it again...?" Liam muttered as he furrowed his brow and tried to remember. Luckily, Metis was there to help him out.
"In simplest terms, a 'Mirror Sea' is a sort of pocket dimension that Sirens ranked Elite and above are able to manifest. However, even after decades of thoroughly studying them, Azur Lane's scientists were never quite able to figure out the mechanics behind them. What we do know is that they are used, among other things, as the primary 'staging grounds' and hub bases for their forces. According to some of the Azur Lane Alliance's old war records, a lot of the latter stages of the First Siren War were actually fought in and/or around 'Mirror Seas', which SNRI researchers would later refer to as 'Simulated Spacetime Sequences'. However, the most annoying feature about them is that all 'Mirror Seas' are connected to one another and therefore are often used as the Sirens' preferred transport method of choice," Metis explained.
"Wow, what the hell. And here I thought magical quantum based alchemy, shipgirls, hyper advanced AI, and flying battleships were bullshit enough... but now you're telling me that these weird ass invaders from who the fuck knows where can not only create stable pocket dimensions at will, but use them to move around and even run away whenever they want if they need to? ...Seriously, how in the hell did we manage to beat them the first time around!?"
Metis faintly smirked. "Desperation and the seemingly innate human trait of creatively using whatever they can to keep surviving? Regardless, doesn't this little development work out for us though?"
Liam sighed. "...Right. Okay, let's get in touch with the others and tell them to just stay on the defensive for now and attack only if she does first. Otherwise, let her go and regroup back here so we can get back to our own primary mission."
- Back with the seven shipgirls currently surrounding Tester -
"...What, is that?" Jean Bart wondered aloud, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed trying to figure out just what it was that she was looking at.
"Don't know, but whatever it is probably isn't good news for us," Kii answered while never taking her gaze off the Siren Elite. "Anyway, what now?"
Jean Bart sighed and shook her head. "No clue, but I think that's what Eugen and the others are talking with the Liberty about now."
"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, I keep forgetting to keep my main comm lines open..."
"Don't worry too much about it, our comms are designed to automatically alert us if it's anything actually important," reassured the ponytail'd brunette... just before some timely urgent messages from the Liberty came their way. "Like now, apparently."
[Metis to all shipgirls currently in the field and/or engaged with the remaining Siren Elite unit. Our surveillance drones and subsequent scans have indicated that she is about to deploy a small scale, localized 'Mirror Sea', likely in an attempt to try and retreat. The Commander has determined that any further combat or pursuit of the Siren forces would ultimately be counterproductive to completing our own mission objectives and has therefore ordered that, so long as no hostile actions are initiated by the other side first, you are all to remain on the defensive while slowly pulling back to regroup with the Liberty.]
"...Seriously? Shikikan wants us to just let her go? After all the grief she's given us til now!?" Kii protested a bit loudly, not at all happy with their latest orders.
"The orders make sense though. Fodder aside, that Elite was much stronger than we expected and, given that she was very likely going easy on us this whole time, I don't know how much longer we could have actually kept up with her before she either wore us out as is or decided to go all out and wipe us out then and there. Look, I don't really like it any more than you do, but it's the smartest call right now," Jean Bart reasonably countered.
"...Tch. Hai, hai... Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"I know, but I think we still did alright for our first real battle though, all things considered," Jean Bart said while patting her raven haired fleet sister's shoulder. "Now come on, we need to get going."
Kii exhaled and slowly nodded. "You're right, you're right."
- With Archerfish and Nautilus' submarine fleets -
Not even a whole two seconds after the Liberty's latest transmission-
"You heard 'em! Get you tight, cute asses in gear and swim faster bitches! Swim like today was the last day left on Earth! We need to make sure we get to Liam before those scary ass big sisters do! We won't be safe if we don't!" shouted the tanned blonde as she urged her fellow submarines to flee for their lives and make sure to get back to the Liberty before the others.
...
Honestly, there really wasn't any reason for them to tush since they were more than half way there already, but fear is both a powerful motivator and the source of very irrational thoughts and actions... in this, a little bit of both for Archerfish and the others.
- With Tester -
'Just going to take a wait and see approach, are we? Smart move, all things considered,' thought the light blue haired, golden eyed Siren Elite who couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the seven kansen keeping a wary eye on her even as they slowly began to pull back. 'I bet more than a few of them are absolutely furious about leaving things unfinished like this though. Still, now isn't the time for either of us to go all out yet, or show all our cards.'
And with those thoughts and her 'Mirror Sea' now fully formed and ready to deploy, Tester simply closed her eyes and let herself get swallowed up and taken away.
- Liberty, bridge -
Roughly a minute later.
"Spacetime distortion reactions have subsided and completely faded away; no signs of the Siren Elite unit or the 'Mirror Sea' remain, Master," Enterprise reported.
"Likewise, the aircraft carriers and Surcouf's submarine fleet have confirmed that there are no more enemy units within several hundred meters of our current position or nearby islands," Sirius followed up. "The coast is totally clear, my Honorable Master."
"So, we can relax now?" Liam asked, heart nervously pounding away and really hoping the answer would be 'yes'.
"For now at least, yes," Sheffield replied. "Oh, and the submarines are asking permission to enter the bridge, something about wanting to give you their reports in person," the sharp tongued, stoic royal maid added while rolling her eyes at her little sisters' transparent last ditch bid to try and save themselves. Meanwhile on the either side of her, Enterprise and Sirius could barely stop themselves from giggling.
"Huh? Oh, sure, that's fine," Liam replied with a nod, seemingly unaware of the submarines' true motives.
And just like that, eight very loud, wet, scantily clad and energetic nubile beauties came rushing in at mach speed towards a very surprised Liam like a tidal wave and all but screaming:
"Commander! Save us!" (x2)
"Shikikan! Tasukete kudasai!" (x3)
"Kommandant! HILFE!" (x3)
...
"...Wha, What the-Oof!"
Luckily for him, Liam was still in his chair when the submarines plowed into him.
"...Um, girls...?Are you-"
"-Don't let the scary big sisters 'discipline' us!" Archerfish interrupted/pleaded with tears in her eyes.
"...Wait, what? Scary big sisters? 'Discipline'?"
"She's talking about how Akagi, Taihou, and the others will likely react to the little stunt they pulled earlier," Metis answered.
"...Ooohhh, now I understand. But wait, do you think that Akagi and Taihou would really be that mad? I mean, they seem friendly enough to me. Maybe a little super clingy sometimes but I mean, I've never even seen them actually get angry before...," Liam said, wondering if the submarines were maybe overreacting just a little?
Sheffield scoffed. "Friendly? Those two bloodthirsty maniacs? Hardly. Oh, they might 'seem' that way at a glance, but underneath their sweet smiles and polite behavior though..."
Unbeknownst to Sheffield, Liam, and especially the submarines... no one noticed the subjects of their conversation until a certain nine tailed, crimson eyed vixen spoke up.
"Ara~? And what, pray tell, lies beneath our beautiful smiles and polite behavior, Sheffield-san~?"
"Hmm? Oh, a charmingly innocent fox eared maiden in love with a very fluffy tail who happens to be an absolute joy to be around and serve, that's all."
"Ara, ara, maa, maa~! Such praise~! My but you flatter me though~" Akagi sweetly replied, her tails happily swishing to and fro from the blonde maid's words. But then, with the same sweet smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, Akagi turned to regard her now trembling younger fleet sisters. "...Oh? Why ever would you all look so scared and frightened of your big sister, hmm~?"
"...U, Um... Er... Yo, you aren't mad about earlier, are you?" Archerfish timidly asked while clinging to Liam for dear life.
"Oh, that? No, of course not my dear little imouto-chan~! I understand it was an accident and that you didn't mean to hit us. Just bad luck, really," Akagi replied in that characteristically sweet yet somehow still very, VERY terrifying voice of hers that only those with pure, child-like innocence, her fleet sisters, and/or small animals would be able to see through. Sadly, Liam was none of these things while Archerfish, Nautilus, and the other submarines were all of these at once.
"See? Nothing to worry about, right?" said their well meaning but oblivious Commander. "Anyway, you girls can work all that out later. You still have reports to give, right?" Liam asked while gently patting the blonde submarine's head.
"...Yeah, okay. But, um... can you hang out with us later, Commander? ...Y'know, cuz we did a good job and all?" Archerfish asked while looking up at Liam with those damned, impossible to resist (and maybe even unconsciously magically enhanced) 'puppy dog eyes'. "...Please~?"
"...Um, yeah. That's cool. But later, okay?" 'Damn that's not fair! That 'puppy eyes' bullshit has got to be some kind of glamour or something!'
"...Yay!"
'Yeah, I... really need to change the subject, fast!' "..R, right... Now, about those reports?" Liam said while still patting the little blonde's head. "We've got a lot to go over, plus we need to check in with Akashi and the others too."
"Oh, right! So,where should we start..."
xxx xxx xxx
On one of the islands currently under Siren occupation - Mid afternoon in one of its settlement's lookout towers.
"...Hey, what is that?" asked a young man in his twenties wearing the standard blue uniform of the town watch to his older partner.
"What's what?"
"That, look," the younger man said, pointing to the strange object floating in the sky in the distance.
"Hmm, okay. Just give me a sec and I'll see if I can zoom in a little more..," said his older partner as he fiddled with his own scope's magnification settings. "Alright, let's see here... Hmm!?"
"...What's wrong?"
Instead of answering right away, the older man just passed his scope over to his younger partner. "Take a look for yourself."
"...Okay...?"
Slowly taking the scope and looking in the direction of the mysterious, seemingly flying object. "Right, let's see what we're, looking... at...!? Holy shit! Is that, is that a flying ship!?"
"...Yeah. Seems like."
"Is it some new Siren maybe? Oh god I sure as fuck hope not!"
"Dunno, but whatever it is, it's headed straight for us..."
"...Shit! We gotta let the Mayor and the others know!"
"Right. You get going and I'll stay here and keep an eye on it. Just be sure to have your radio on you, alright?"
"Huh, oh yeah! Anyway, don't do anything crazy, got it old man?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just get going you little punk."
"...R, right!"
xxx xxx xxx
A/N:
And That concludes Liam and the girls' first battle!
It... ended in a draw. Frankly, I don't see how Liam, who is just sort of fumbling and faking his way through all this commanding stuff with no training outside of maybe videogames and the newly awakened for barely even a month shipgirls could realistically win their very first engagement against the Sirens, especially given that they've been fighting nonstop for over a decade by this point... and that's not even getting into their decades worth of knowledge and experience from the first war. Now, Tester had her own job to do already and it just so happened that the fact that Liam is in command of shipgirls and a flying ship of his own worked out for all parties involved as both wanted information and combat experience. When you look at it that way, I think it's only natural that their battle would end in a draw. To be fair, had Tester pushed the issue, then Liam and the girls would have likely either outright lost due, or barely get away. And Frankly? Keeping them alive and farming EXP was just the more logical decision seeing as she had a higher enemy to take on later. Don't worry, the girls will level up and be strong enough to not need the handicaps, but for now, much grinding will be needed.
Yes, Akashi isn't here so no easy repairs. Ah, but don't worry, she's not alone. It was EXTREMELY last minute, but Liam was able to pump out at least one more submarine and standard fleet's worth of shipgirls to serve as a security force for their island home. She's just busy working on that little project she and Metis talked about in the 1st interlude.
Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it and see you next update!
Next time, the shipgirls meet other humans and we'll see how they react.