Quiet night, clear sky with glittering stars, and a full moon illuminated the earth with its dim light. That would be a perfect night for a date before twelve F-16 fighter jets and six F-22A Raptor fighter jets blazed through the sky, followed by several V-22 Osprey transports following close behind. A single large helicopter flew not too far behind with two smaller helicopter gunships by each side, these are the combined forces heading toward the Terania Isles. This would be Azur Lane's first wave; a second strike force is currently being prepared. As soon as a signal for reinforcements is given, they'll sortie immediately.
"Commander, our vanguard is onsite. They said that Siren's fleet is still holding their position." Johnson said to William on the radio.
"What are they after? Any indication that they want to surround the island or flank our forces there?" William asked Johnson on the radio.
"…No sign of them doing that for now. Honestly, they're just staying on their position while occasionally harassing the facilities with their jets. Our vanguards are currently keeping their distance, they'll go in as soon as we arrive." Johnson said to William on the radio.
"Understood." William said to Johnson.
William looked outside the window of the helicopter's passenger bay, he noted that the gunships were armed to the teeth…Sighing as he went over to the cockpit, he observed four Manjuus driving the helicopter, SOMEHOW. He wouldn't bother asking how, William then returned to the passenger bay to see the girls seated in their seats while chatting…Good, they may have felt apprehensive, but at least they're not so tense that they won't talk to each other. There are twenty four ship girls currently inside this helicopter. What? Overkill? No dammit, they shouldn't take chances with this because losing is not an option! Carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, repair ships, they got it all. Someone beside him offered him something, that person is Belfast who offered William a water bottle while smiling. Smiling a bit in return, William took the bottle and drank the water before handing it back…how did she know he's a bit thirsty?
"Thanks, Belfast." William said to Belfast.
"Think nothing of it, master." Belfast replied while she smiled.
"…Listen up ladies. When we're down there, I want you to stick to the plan. Focus on defending first, we'll attack them when the situation is in our favor." William said out loud.
"Milord, are you planning to join the others in combat? You look the part." Illustrious asked William.
Yeah, he's currently wearing Azur Lane dark blue Special Forces BDU alongside a Kevlar vest with metal plating underneath it to protect his organs. He wore padding on his knees and elbows, shoulder guards, his hands are covered in black combat gloves, black combat boots, ammo pouches, and a combat helmet with combat goggles with a blue tint on it. A machete was sheathed on his back, his hands were holding an M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle with ACOG scope, and there's a Colt Python revolver in his thigh pistol holster…See? Illustrious has every right to assume he will be joining in combat.
"If required to, I just want to be ready. I'm not insane enough to join the fight against the Siren fleet without proper gear." William said while he smiled a bit.
"…Glad that your screw is still tight on your head master." Sheffield commented beside Illustrious.
"Ouch Sheffield." William said while he smiled wryly.
The talking resumed after William got the confirmation that these ladies understood his orders, this would be a defensive battle, until they could find a crack that they could use to counterattack…Readying himself for the umpteenth time, he couldn't help himself from feeling he wasn't ready because he clearly wasn't. He heard about the rumored Siren ship girls, they are just as deadly or even deadlier than their own ship girls, and that's not all…There's also unconfirmed reports of their armored assault vehicles, their infantries are already giving them enough headache for how inconsistent the reports are about them. Keep this up, and they'll lose ninety percent of the oceans around the earth, and that would be bad in all manners of bad. Once their oceans are gone, William is sure that the mainlands would be their next targets...He's the pioneer to dive in directly to situations involving them, searching for ways to effectively combat these Sirens, and drive them off Earth for good…He can't fail.
"Kommandant, this is Prinz Eugen! The Sirens have made their move, several of them are advancing toward the remaining rigs!" Prinz reported on the radio.
"Dammit! Hold them Prinz, we're a few minutes away from reaching you!" William said to Prinz on the radio.
"Jawohl!" Prinz said to William on the radio before she went back to her business.
So, they finally begin their assault. William must say that he's surprised with the fact that those things waited for quite a bit despite already amassing their forces…Why now though? Doesn't matter, they gave Azur Lane the much needed time to deploy, and that's good enough. William saw several distant flashes in the sky and in the sea on the horizon, looks like the battle already started. The fighter crafts that were with them immediately engaged their afterburners to join the fight, the helicopters also started to drop their altitude in preparation to insert the troops.
"Manjuus, open the rear hatch and drop down to fifteen meters! Destroyers, cruisers, get ready!" William said to the Manjuus and some of the girls.
Their chirps were the response he got, but William somehow could interpret it as 'Roger that!'…He felt the helicopter slowly lowering its altitude, the rear hatch was opened, and he nodded to the girls so they could prepare themselves. The cruisers and destroyers stood up and lined themselves up so they could jump down in orderly manners, William nodded his head again in approval.
"Belfast, the cruisers are under your command! Z23, you will lead the destroyers!" William said to the two of them.
"By your command, master!" "Ja kommandant!" Belfast and Z23 said to William.
"Alright ladies! Give them hell!" William shouted his order for the KANSENs to deploy.
On his command, the cruisers and the destroyers jumped off from the helicopter, activated their riggings mid-air, landed on the water, and went full speed ahead immediately to the battlefield. The helicopter didn't close its rear hatch for their destination is mere hundred meters away, William saw several ship girls were on the oil rig platform so he told the Manjuus to head there immediately.
"Drop us off on that rig Manjuus, I need to talk with Prinz." William said to the chickens.
The helicopter hovered and the rear hatch almost touched the guard railings on the rig's top most floor, the remaining ship girls exited the helicopter with William following closely behind. After that, two Manjuus also dropped down with several crates before going back inside the helicopter. The crates were filled with weapons and ammunition for the ship girls, the helicopter that dropped them off then proceeded to fly away from the rig to conduct combat patrol. The commission team didn't expect that William would appear this fast, with large forces backing him up as they saw their approach from the horizon. Zuikaku approached William after she launched several fighters in the air, she's smiled widely at the sight of everyone on the platform.
"Shikikan! It's good to see you here!" Zuikaku said to William while she smiled.
"We're going as fast as we can. How are you holding up?" William asked Zuikaku.
"We're fine shikikan! We're ready for orders!" Zuikaku said to William.
"Stand by for that-" William said to Zuikaku.
"Kommandant." Someone said from above.
That someone was Prinz, she had her rigging out and is currently floating down from the top of the oil rig. She touched down smoothly before her rigging disappeared…Wait, William was sure that ship girls don't hover! How is that possible!? He never saw them flying or anything like that, but hey, Ironblood's engineering is the best in the world! He had to admit, most of the Crimson Axis got a leg up concerning technology…Hey, here's an idea…He bet those Crimson Axis scientists could whip up some nice gear, with the power of Ironblood's beer and anime on their side-
"…Wait, Prinz, you can hover?" William still decided to ask her.
"Don't sweat the small details, kommandant. It's good to see you here with reinforcements." Prinz said to William while she smiled smugly.
"Yeah, gather around to resupply ladies. If you still can fight however, join the others immediately as they will need your help…Vestal, we're counting on you." William said to the ship girls then to Vestal.
"You got it commander~, alright girls come here and let me inspect you. Stock up on ammo from those boxes we brought over there if you need to." Vestal said out loud.
The commission team that remained on the platform approached them, Shoukaku walked toward Zuikaku before she grabbed her. Shoukaku meticulously inspected Zuikaku's whole body to see if she took any damage while said person herself looked flabbergasted, after making sure that there's no major injuries other than some slight tears on her clothes and scratches Shoukaku smiled at Zuikaku.
"Shoukaku nee!" Zuikaku said with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Does your body hurt anywhere?" Shoukaku still asked Zuikaku.
"Mou, you're worrying too much as I'm fine! Just some scratches, no problem!" Zuikaku said then sighed.
"Good to see you alright Zuikaku, now get yourself checked out by Vestal-san just to be sure." Shoukaku said to Zuikaku while smiling.
"Kommandant, we're advancing on the enemy fleet! Requesting support!" Z23 said to him through the radio.
"Got it, they're on the way…Battleships, advance slowly and support the girls, but don't go too far from the oil rigs. Tirpitz, you're in charge of the battleship team." William ordered the battleship KANSENs.
"Jawohl kommandant, I won't let you down! Follow me, we'll show these Sirens why they should fear our guns!" Tirpitz said as she jumped down from the oil rig.
Several others followed her closely, Warspite, Hood, King George V, Nevada, Kongou, and Hiei jumped down while deploying their riggings. Immediately after touching down on the water's surface all of them started to lock on their targets, it didn't take long before shells started flying in the air toward the advancing Siren ships.
"…Situation hasn't changed, their first wave of cruisers and destroyers are advancing at a steady pace. Johnson, status?" William said out loud before he asked Johnson on the radio.
"We're deploying and reinforcing the facilities! So far, it's clear except for the incoming shells from those ships!" Johnson said to William on the radio.
"Alright! Have your jets maintain air superiority on our perimeter! We'll deal with anything outside!" William said to Johnson on the radio.
"Got it! Then, could you and the girls silence those guns? They're getting quite accurate!" Johnson said to William on the radio.
"Some of our cruisers and destroyers are meeting them, we'll draw their attention momentarily!" William said to Johnson on the radio.
…William looked at the advancing ships, they soon reached the boundary of the established defensive perimeter, and he saw that the destroyer and cruiser group were advancing with weapons firing. Okay, the girls are quite experienced as every one of them he brought today knows how to fight. Micromanaging them wouldn't do much good unless absolutely needed, he'll let them handle this with their own techniques.
"Shikikan-sama, what are our orders?" Shoukaku asked William.
"Shoukaku, Zuikaku, Enterprise, Illustrious, you four focus on weakening those Siren battleships and carriers. Let our fighter jets handle the air defense within our perimeter, circle your planes around Siren's formation and strike them from the sides. Enterprise, you're in charge of leading the strike." William ordered the carrier group.
"Yes sir! Alright everyone, let's go!" Enterprise said out loud and the carriers immediately went to deploy their planes.
"What are my orders, kommandant?" Prinz asked William.
"Stay here for now, Prinz. I want your opinion on this matter." William said to Prinz.
"My~, what would you like to know?" Prinz asked William as she stood beside him.
"You said that whenever the Sirens pulled off this kind of maneuver, there's someone leading them?" William asked Prinz.
"Ja, and I stand by that statement. They're around here somewhere kommandant, if we kill them then this battle would be over easily…But, they're quite elusive." Prinz said to William.
…Here's a question, where would they be? There aren't many places that they could use to hide in open seas or in their fleet formation. So, they must be hiding somewhere…The islands? Most likely, but it would take a lot of effort to search for a Siren leader in the middle of all this. Ruling them out for now, William started thinking on where they could possibly be used as a temporary command center…Fuck, how could he forget about that fifth oil rig? The first structure to fall into their hands. Surely, they thought that it's important enough that the Sirens were willing to capture it instead of destroying it…He doubted they cared about fossil fuels.
"…What about that fifth oil rig? Could they be there?" William asked Prinz as he pointed at the fifth oil rig.
"Maybe…You're not thinking of going there, right?" Prinz asked William as she raised her eyebrows.
"I honestly want to see their leader." William said to Prinz while he shrugged.
"So you can capture them?" Prinz asked William while she stared at his face.
"That's a possibility…But for now, we'll see how this goes first." William said as he took out his binocular from his rear pouch.
The destroyer group, led by Z23, was making a straight pass toward the Siren ships. Z23, Javelin, Ayanami, Laffey, Carabiniere, Fletcher, Aulick, and Sims were advancing while firing their cannons to help soften up their target. Well, William didn't bring Glowworm here, and some were wondering why he didn't…Apparently, he hasn't heard of her ability and fondness to ram her target, and boy, that's a lot of damage potential. Z23 made sure to remember about telling William regarding the destroyer's capabilities, so he could optimize their fleet composition better, surely that would help later on in the future.
"Nimi, why do we keep charging!? We're way past the defense line!" Javelin asked Z23 after she looked back a bit.
"We'll launch our torpedoes at close range, those cruisers won't be able to dodge them! We'll retreat back to the perimeter after we unload our barrages!" Z23 said to Javelin.
"…They're firing at us." Laffey monotonously said while she pointed at dozens of yellow projectiles heading toward them.
"Spread out and pick your targets! Don't hesitate!" Z23 said out loud to the destroyers.
The destroyers immediately dispersed from their formation while avoiding shells as they started picking their targets, most of them handled the Siren destroyers with their guns, while closing in on the cruisers. Carabiniere closed in on one of the Siren heavy cruisers while being under relentless fire from its cannons, she readied her musket and torpedo launchers. Several rounds almost hit her but instead of jumping she dashed forward, she aimed her musket straight toward the middle of the cruiser.
"…Lock on!" Carabiniere said out loud.
With that, she squeezed the trigger. The round impacted the hull, making a large hole in it before Carabiniere launched and shoved a torpedo straight through the hull. Safe to say, the explosion immediately tore the cruiser in two. Javelin, who was nearby, had her mouth hanging for a bit while holding her javelin. After witnessing how fast Carabiniere took down a cruiser, she looked at the sinking cruiser beside her while realizing that she might…need a faster way in the future. Maybe throwing her javelin at it?
"Whoa, nice hit Carabiniere!" Javelin said to Carabiniere while she smiled.
"Um, yeah, grazie-" Carabiniere said to Javelin.
"Javelin, Carabiniere, torpedoes heading for you!" Ayanami warned the two destroyers on the radio.
Both Javelin and Carabiniere set their stances on alert as they tried to figure out where would the torpedoes come from, then they saw several trails heading toward them and both decided to bail out as quickly as they could toward the defense line. They also avoided the torpedoes that were launched by several of the surviving destroyers quite easily, the two rejoined with the other destroyers as they made their way back to their perimeter…Not too far away from the close quarter slaughterfest, Belfast was busy firing her main cannons to help the destroyer group by destroying any Siren ships that still somehow survived their facetorp tactic.
"Belfast! Some of their cruisers are approaching rig number four, Brooklyn, Helena, and I are heading over there to intercept them!" St. Louis said to Belfast on the radio.
"Understood, please deal with them before they could deal severe damage to the oil rig." Belfast said to St. Louis on the radio.
Despite their devastating interception, it seems the numbers were too great for them to intercept all at once. Belfast looked toward the fourth oil rig and saw a small battle group of Siren cruisers approaching it and Brooklyn, Helena, and St. Louis fired at those ships; she saw no other Siren ships they could intercept within range. However, one battle group tried to sneak past their destroyers by skirting around an island. Too bad, the head maid spotted them, and they're in for a world of hurt…
"Ms. Zara, please follow me. We will hit that small group over there." Belfast said to Zara.
"Si, lead the way, Signorina Belfast." Zara said to Belfast.
Both of them started cruising toward the battle group, who hadn't detected them yet, along the way they witnessed several F16 jets stuck in a dogfight with Siren jets. Despite carrying missiles, the pilots knew this would be a long and drawn out battle with no chance to resupply their ammo quickly. So, to make sure they could stay in the fight for as long as possible, they preferred engaging those jets with their guns. It was chaotic to be sure, even Belfast and Zara had to dodge some of the destroyed or downed jets on their way. They heard other sounds coming from behind, and that's when they saw several squadrons of Seafang and Avenger aircraft fly past them, those planes went through the area despite the intense dogfight happening between them and the Sirens. Those planes are carrier based, from the Royal Navy and Eagle Union.
"That's Madam Illustrious and Madam Enterprise planes, they're heading straight for the Sirens' main fleet over there." Belfast said out loud.
"I don't think they can cause significant damage just by relying on planes alone, should we help them?" Zara asked Belfast.
"No, our order is clear, and we should follow it through for now…I'm sure Master William is the one who ordered them to do that, maybe he's trying to formulate a counter strategy for those numerous battleships and carriers." Belfast said while looking at Zara.
"…I see." Zara nodded her head.
…Zara just arrived two days ago, and that commander is still a stranger to her. She admitted that the man's got some guts as he doesn't seem to be scared to fight a ship girl directly, most soldiers back home shy away from training with them because of the difference in strength. Rumor has it that the man was a frontline soldier before becoming the commander of their base, he's also only been in command for less than a month…How great is he? Some say they didn't know him that well, some say he's a friendly man, while some say he's a capable commanding officer. She doesn't have a problem with him commanding her, though she's curious about him. But that's where she needs to put in effort if she wants to know him. The Royal Navy girls were the ones who met or talked with him the most. Not that he didn't hang out or talk with the ship girls from other nations, it's just that everyday there's a guarantee that one girl from the Royal Navy could be found in his office doing god knows what…Oh well, maybe she should give it a shot tomorrow? The more she knows about him, the easier for her to work with him-
"Incoming!" Belfast suddenly said to Zara.
"Get behind me, Signorina Belfast!" Zara said to Belfast.
Belfast doesn't argue as she got behind Zara, dozens of bright yellow colored projectiles are flying towards them in a salvo. Zara smirked a bit as she deployed blue colored energy shields in front of her that intercepted all of the projectiles. The Tenri shield is always reliable in situations like that, and she heavily abused this ability to take some damage that would have hurt her comrades in some moments. Belfast witnessed that the shells either exploded on contact or bounced away from the shield…Her ability is almost the same as Eugen, Belfast noted.
"Thank you for your assistance." Belfast said to Zara while she smiled a bit.
"No problem." Zara said to Belfast as they continued their advance.
"…Dear enemies, this is going to be a little bit painful!" Belfast said out loud while she smirked.
With that, the head maid herself joined the fray. It's been a while since she sortied to the frontline and perhaps flexing in front of the newcomer would be a good warm up, Belfast skillfully gilded around avoiding Siren cannon fire while taking note on how many there are and their positioning. When she confirmed the fact that there are only five cruisers in this group, she deployed her smokescreen which concealed her and Zara's position. Approaching from their side, she emerged while rapidly firing her main cannons equipped with high explosive shells and that burned three Siren ships upon contact. Simultaneously, she launched a torpedo barrage which sank two cruisers due to the devastating hits her torpedoes caused.
The three others that were still burning started moving to escape from her, but it was all for naught as Belfast smirked while aiming her gun barrels individually. Then, she launched an all-out assault maneuver which involved all of her main guns being fired. Now that puts the final nail in the coffin for the three remaining cruisers as they started sinking after they got too many holes to plug on their hulls. Zara was watching as she could only unleash a few shots before the head maid took down five of them like its breakfast for her. She had to admit, Belfast is quite strong and agile as well…At least Zara didn't waste that much ammo, and she could always go for the next prey, assuming Belfast won't take the next one for herself too.
"…Little bit painful she said, that's clearly overkill." Zara said to herself in low tone.
"This is Brooklyn, the battle group on oil rig four is eliminated." Brooklyn reported on the radio.
"Same here. The first wave is eliminated, master." Belfast reported on the radio.
"Excellent work ladies, stay alert and keep the perimeter secure." William said to Belfast on the radio.
"By your command, master." Belfast replied on the radio.
"Hood, return to my position." William said to Hood on the radio.
"Yes milord." Hood responded to William on the radio.
Hood turned around and she headed back toward the third oil rig, she jumped high from the surface of the water all the way to the top platform of the oil rig where William, Prinz, and Vestal stood. Landing gracefully on the platform without causing too much sound, Hood smiled as she walked to the waiting William and Prinz. Both of them looked like they were just discussing something when Hood landed, but she couldn't figure out what they were discussing nor the outcome as their faces remained neutral…
"…What do you think of that first wave, Hood?" William asked Hood, that might be what he discussed with Prinz…
"I think it's a plan that went wrong. It is clear with the fact that those ships were moving in with the assumption that they would be enough to take the oil rigs, that is until we deployed, and threw a spanner in their plans…They are also reconsolidating. Look, those that remain on the backline are trying to put up a formation." Hood said in her honest opinion about the skirmish as she pointed at an area in front of them.
William looked through his binoculars to see that the ships in the Sirens' main fleet were all grouping in a tight and close formation, that's complemented by them firing their Anti-Aircraft pulse laser cannons toward the planes that were launched by the carriers…Typical textbook tactics in the face of buzzing agile enemies, group close together, and fire at anything that moves within your line of sight…William's done it before too, but just now he saw the grander example of that tactic.
"They're responding as I expected, harassment from four carriers would require intense AA cover. They're trying to fill the skies with as many projectiles as they can fire…" William said out loud.
"Commander, our strike is ineffective! Most of our planes were shot down within a minute!" Enterprise reported on the radio.
"What did you see in that one minute?" William asked Enterprise on the radio.
"The formation consisted of mass produced Siren ships, nothing abnormal about them!" Enterprise reported to William on the radio.
"…Alright, pull back and keep watch for any Siren jets or ships that're trying to pass through our defensive perimeter for now." William said to Enterprise on the radio after he contemplated for a bit.
"Yes sir!" Enterprise responded on the radio.
…No Siren leaders are present among that formation? Then he's right with his assumption that they could be on the islands or on that captured oil rig…Either way, he'll put his money on that oil rig. What's the reason? First, the rig fell with no one ever being reported of making it out. They could be captured for interrogation or for other purposes he doesn't know yet. Second, that place was the closest to their formation, so if their leader had to appear on the frontline, that place could easily be covered by the advancing Siren main fleet…
"Johnson, this is Blaze. Any fireteams you could spare?" William asked Johnson on the radio.
"I got a squad ready for tasking, what's the plan?" Johnson asked back on the radio.
"We need to investigate rig number five…Head to rig number three and pick me up, I'll be going there myself." William informed Johnson on the radio.
"…I see you're a bold one, Blaze. How do you plan on going in without getting shot down? That rig has a small group of cruisers guarding it." Johnson asked William on the radio.
"Don't worry, my carriers are more than enough for them." William confidently answered on the radio.
"Oh yes, I heard that Miss Grey Ghost is with us…Very well, an Osprey will be there in five minutes." Johnson said to William on the radio.
"Copy that." William said to Johnson on the radio.
"…Kommandant, if you're going to that oil rig then I suggest bringing at least two of us to help you. In case you encounter one of those Sirens ship girls or leaders, you will need us to fight them effectively." Prinz said to William.
Prinz had plenty of experience with the Sirens, so William would want to take her advice regarding them. If Prinz recommended that he might need ship girls to fight them, then he'll heed her advice because he doesn't want to lose his life fighting so soon…He knows practically nothing about them, being careful with his approach might have its merits.
"Good suggestion…Sheffield, Takao, I need you two back to my position. We're going on that fifth oil rig." William said to Sheffield and Takao on the radio.
"Yes master." "As you command, shikikan." Sheffield and Takao answered on the radio.
"Prinz, have you rested enough yet?" William asked Prinz.
"What do you need me for, kommandant?" Prinz asked William.
"Join the other cruisers, they'll need you down there." William said to Prinz.
"Very well then~" Prinz said as she started hovering down to the battlefield.
"…Hood, you will have operational command until I return. Keep the defensive line intact and respond accordingly to any attempt of encirclement." William said to Hood.
William has full trust that Hood is more than capable to take over temporary command in his absence. So far, she has proven to be a great secretary, possessing good insight, and she's knowledgeable in the art of war as far as he knows. He felt he could rely on her for anything, not that he would slack off and leave everything to her, as he is not heartless enough to do that…He's just grateful that she's his secretary, and this would be a great chance to see how well she'll do in his absence.
"Of course, milord…But before that, a question if I may." Hood asked William with a serious face.
"What is it?" William asked Hood back.
"Milord, if you do encounter a siren leader…What do you plan on doing?" Hood asked William.
"I would probably try to capture them." William answered as he stared at the battlefield in front of him.
"…Do you believe you could do it?" Hood asked William in wonder.
"…I still don't know how powerful they are, but I plan to find out directly. Even if the capture attempt ends in failure, there could still be something I could learn from the encounter itself." William honestly said to Hood.
He's willing to head in himself to confirm the information they had all this time and all for the sake of research, know your enemy, and you win half the battle. These Sirens are enshrouded in a thick veil of mystery, there's so many things they didn't know. Lena said to him during his arrival to the base, that Azur Lane still doesn't know about the leader of the Sirens, and all Crimson Axis who ever got in contact with them were hit by a bad case of memory wipe somehow…This would be the determining step, the information they got from the Siren leaders would be strategic enough to determine their next move…
"So, you're saying you will head for the unknown, diving head first?" Hood asked William.
"Putting it bluntly, yes." William answered while looking at Hood.
"…That is quite reckless." Hood said to William, oh god she's frowning!
William winced a bit when he saw her frown, Hood doesn't do that often, but when she did that it's clear with the fact that she is upset or dislike something! William sighed a bit and scratched his head in confusion on how to reason with Hood for this 'honestly not-so-brilliant' plan, but Hood is a reasonable woman so William would make damn sure he'll try his best to convince her.
"Sometimes, being too careful won't give you the results you want. But I'm still willing to take some precautions, that's why I agreed to bring Sheffield and Takao with me…I'll be fine, Hood." William said in the most convincing manner he could muster…
"…Then, allow me to request this…If it gets too dangerous, please retreat from the engagement." Oh, it worked? That request seemed simple enough…
"…Don't worry, I know where to draw the line." William said to Hood while he smiled confidently.
"…I'll trust you on that, milord." Hood said to William while she smiled softly.
A few minutes later, Takao and Sheffield arrived alongside the Osprey that's going to bring them over to the fifth oil rig. After witnessing William, Takao, and Sheffield boarding the Osprey, Hood assumed temporary command by letting Azur Lane forces know on the radio. Hood scanned the dark horizon for any sort of movement…Yeah, night battle is quite bothersome, but luckily the Siren mass produced ships got those red glows on their body, so it should be easy to identify them from range. Yeah, at eight kilometers it's possible, but right now they're still around thirty kilometers away from their position! Add to the fact this took place at night, it's even freaking harder! To counteract that, Hood posted the destroyer group beyond their defensive line for scouting purposes. Their radar signature is small, agile, pack mean bites at close range and they're good scouts when the carriers are occupied. Enterprise accompanied William to make sure he arrived safely, Shokaku and Zuikaku had to recon the other side of the isles to make sure none of those ships were trying to infiltrate through their flanks while Illustrious remained on standby, so she could move in when required to.
"Reporting in Ms. Secretary…A Siren battle group is approaching; numerous cruisers and several battleships have broken off from the main formation and closing in on our perimeter!" Javelin said on the radio.
"Understood Ms. Javelin, now prepare for contact by heading back to our defensive line so our battleships could cover you…Madam Warspite, I trust you could help in thinning their numbers?" Hood said to Javelin before she asked Warspite on the radio.
"Already got them in my sights, leave them to me…Belli Dura Despicio!" Warspite said to Hood on the radio before she fired her cannons.
Warspite fired her main guns, reloaded, then fired again as quickly as she could. She's the ship that held the record of the furthest confirmed hit on a moving target, this would be nothing more than another training exercise to snipe her enemy with her cannons. Her shells hit the battleships, but since they're quite durable, her attack only served to weaken their battle group before they entered the other battleships' range.
"They're entering our range. All battleships, fire at will!" Tirpitz said out loud on the radio when Siren ships entered their cannon range.
"…Why do they keep advancing through this route? Surely they know that this is our kill zone." Kongou asked out loud on the radio.
"Ms. Kongou is right, something is off…Illustrious, I need you to send a reconnaissance squadron to the back of our perimeter. There's a possibility they're trying to infiltrate through our rear, those ships might be their diversion." Hood said to Illustrious beside her.
"Understood, I'll do what I can." Illustrious said as she jumped down from the oil rig.
Expect all possibilities on the battlefield, it's more complex than a chess game, but the principle to take your enemy down by carefully positioning your units, moving accordingly, and reacting to your enemy's movements are still the same. William told her that a few days after he was assigned to their base. Even the most well planned operation could go wrong at any time, and Hood agreed with him on that matter. Don't ever underestimate an enemy, no matter how weak or small they are.
"…Huh? Is that-"
Hood heard George V say something on the radio, that's when she saw several glimmering round things on the horizon. Hood squinted her eyes and she felt her stomach tied in a knot at the sight of dozens of portals from which Siren mass produced ships came through, those ships landed on the sea and immediately joined in formation with the Siren's main fleet. Hood pursed her pink lips, this battle might just have gotten prolonged, and she didn't like it.
"Portals! Siren portals!" George informed everyone on the radio.
"They're sending reinforcements. All units, defend your position!" Hood said out loud on the radio.
.
…Near oil rig number five, several Siren cruisers were desperately firing their AA guns as Enterprise skillfully launched her planes to bomb them to smithereens. The group was too busy to handle Enterprise's planes that they didn't have unoccupied AA guns to prevent one V-22 Osprey from landing on the oil rig's top platform, the pilots' massive balls allowed them to dive in under the cluster of AA fire to unload their passengers. The rear hatch opened, two ropes were thrown down to the platform and a squad of marines were set to deploy.
"Go! Go! Go!" The squad leader shouted.
The marines descended toward the platform in orderly manners, finding suitable walls or stuff as a place to cover their descending teammates. After the marines were on the platform, Takao and Sheffield followed suit by jumping directly without the rope, they landed on the platform followed by William who descended from the rope. William waved his left hand in a circular motion, the pilots got the message that they're all on the ground, so they bailed out followed by AA fire from the sinking cruisers.
"Sergeant." William said to the squad leader.
"Sir?" The sergeant asked William.
"Split the squad in two, we're sweeping this rig for clues." William said to the sergeant.
"Got it sir. Corporal Martin! Take Fireteam Bravo with you and go to entrance A!" The sergeant said to one of his men.
"Yessir! Alright you lots! On me!" Martin said as several marines followed him.
"Sheffield, accompany them, will you?" William asked Sheffield.
"Yes master." Sheffield said while taking out her handguns then joined the marines.
"Ms. Sheffield, isn't it? Glad you're with us." Martin said to Sheffield.
Sheffield nodded her head as a sign of affirmation to them, the marines that Corporal Martin led entered through the service stairs entrance. William nodded his head toward the sergeant, who alongside his men, entered through the primary entryway for the platform. William held his M14EBR on alert while Takao kept her hand on her katana. The rig is silent, there's no sound of oil drills or machinery as all they could hear is the sound of occasional waves crashing on the rig or the sound of distant explosions coming from the battle. They went through several rooms and corridors; it was completely deserted as if it was abandoned. But the thing is, there were no reports of someone coming out of this fifth oil rig by the time it was attacked…After a few minutes exploring the rig, William, Takao, and the marines stumbled upon the mess hall which was deserted as well. There's no sign of human life anywhere except for the trace of daily items such as cold drinks, half eaten food, several hard hats that were on the table or on the floor…William went closer to the leftover food on the plate and inspected it, it's cold and that means it's been here awhile.
…Prinz reported the attack only a few hours ago, safe to say it was dinner time by the time they got attacked. But there are no bodies around, no trace of conflict, no blood splatters, or any indication that there's been an attack, and this honestly worries William to no end. Where are the workers? Were they captured? If so, then where are they? Why would the Sirens capture them? There's a lot of speculation going in his head, but without actual proof it's nothing more than a hypothesis now…what he needs is evidence. The sergeant and two of his men entered the kitchen area, and the three of them noticed something smelling like a rotten fish in the kitchen. They doubt it's the actual fish that has gone bad, but they still need to find the source. Searching through the kitchen, they found that the large freezer room is open. The sergeant nodded his head to the two soldiers as they raised their M4A1 carbines and pointed it toward the opened freezer…The three of them collected themselves before turning on their helmet attached flashlights, and both entered the freezer with fingers on the triggers.
They found that most of the meat was still there, but what they saw next was a sight that's enough to churn their stomachs. In the corner of the freezer, two men were plastered into the wall while encased in a black flesh like structure. There's a black round flesh-like thing that's attached on their chest and there's black vines sprouting from that round mass all over their body and limbs, covering their faces, and attached to the wall. The sergeant pursed his lips to prevent blanching at the sight and the smell combined, he went out of the freezer and head straight toward William.
"Sir, got something you'll want to look at." The sergeant said to William.
William nodded his head and went with the sergeant while being followed by Takao, both of them then entered the freezer…The sight was enough to make even a veteran like William feel disturbed, the smell was enough to make him throw up if not for the fact his stomach was currently empty because he had no chance to eat dinner. Takao widened her eyes at the sight, this isn't the first time for her to run into Siren activity, but this one disturbed her the most…
"…Are they the workers?" William asked the sergeant.
"Yeah…what's…with them? Their skin is awfully pale." The sergeant said out loud.
"Well, they're corpses now, of course their skin would be pale, sarge." One of his soldiers said to the sergeant.
"No, this pale is…unnatural, almost white even. And those black vines too…No doubt about it, this is the Sirens' work sir." The other soldier said out loud while he looked at them.
William got closer and he almost recoiled at how awful those white corpses smelled…Can anyone guess what they're seeing here? Most people would immediately assume whatever that black fleshy thing is something you won't want to hold directly; William is basically looking at an alien life form right now! He didn't doubt that something like this is all bad news in the field or on paper. Regardless of his assumptions, they will need to further investigate on what is that thing's purpose…William looked toward the man who made his observation, he's the combat medic of the squad.
"Can you inspect it, and maybe get a sample of it?" William asked the medic.
"I'll need a few minutes sir, don't exactly feel comfortable doing this without a HAZMAT suit too." The medic replied to William.
"You'll have them. Theo, you stay here with the doc. Find and join us when you're done." The sergeant said to both of his men.
"Sir." The marine named Theo said to the sergeant.
Deciding he had enough of the smell and the sight, William tapped Takao's right shoulder as he walked out of the freezer followed by her and the sergeant. The group made sure that every part of the mess hall was checked, then they proceed to their next destination. Now that they have confirmation that the Sirens are here, all of them became even more alert than ever…William approached the sergeant while walking and asked in a low tone.
"Have you ever encountered one of the Siren infantries, sergeant?" William asked the sergeant in low tone.
"I haven't, but I heard the stories. Some of the soldiers who survived against them only have one piece of advice, be ready for anything." The sergeant said to William in low tone.
"…That's unsettling." William said to the sergeant in low tone while he frowned.
"Yeah, most that survived got PTSD too…I don't want to imagine what they've gone through, but here I am with a big chance to face the same thing as those soldiers." The sergeant said to William in low tone while shrugged.
"Scared?" William asked the sergeant in low tone while he cocked his eyebrows.
"Would be a lie if I said no sir." The sergeant said to William in low tone as he looked at William with a serious gaze.
…Who wouldn't fear the unknown, really? The sergeant has every right to be scared, to venture into unknown territory, and not knowing who or what you will fight…Walking at a steady pace with weapons drawn, the group went through another corridor without encountering anyone. Everyone's getting antsy now, they know the Sirens are here, but if they didn't even try to engage them then that only means one thing. If it goes too well, that situation in accordance with basic rules of infantry combat, is an ambush waiting to happen…
"Sarge, Martin here. We're in the storage area and we got nothing, it's deserted." Martin reported on the radio.
"Really? We found two bodies, stuck in some kind of black vines or something." The sergeant said to Martin on the radio.
"Could there be survivors on lower floors?" Martin asked the sergeant on the radio.
"Maybe…Let's sweep this rig carefully, there's a sign that the Sirens have been here." The sergeant said to Martin on the radio.
"Copy that." Martin responded on the radio.
They arrived at another storage area after the medic and Theo joined them, but this time the sight was even more horrendous as there's dozens of the workers strapped on the wall with the same black mass, even Takao was mortified enough by the sight and smell that she hesitated to enter the room. The fishy smell was so overwhelming that some of the marines covered their noses even though they wore balaclavas. William couldn't help himself but blanch because boy he made some serious mistake when he thought he wouldn't need a gas mask!
"…More corpses in the same black vines. What do those Sirens want with them?" The sergeant asked out loud.
"Takao, have you ever seen something like this?" William asked Takao while he glanced at her.
"This would be the first time for me as well, I always fought them in the open seas, shikikan-dono." Takao said while she frowned deeply.
"I see…Hey private, point your helmet cam to that thing." William said to one of the soldiers.
"Sir." The private said as she went closer to one of the corpses.
"We'll need that for references." William said as he started scanning the area.
It's confirmed that the Sirens are up to something with this, the scene he saw now reminded him of the Xenomorph's nest from the Aliens franchise. Braving himself to get closer, William studied the black mass carefully…It's moving, pulsating even, what are the chances that this thing was used to 'harvest' humans' biological mass? Now William finds the disappearances make sense if this is what the Sirens have been doing, those people on the coast residences, those people on the convoy he found destroyed a few days ago…This could be their fate…
"Wait! He's moving!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.
"He's still alive!? Hurry!" The sergeant said out loud.
They found one of them who was strapped but still moving, albeit weakly. They could hear low groaning too, and that's when they decided to pull the poor sod from the wall. Two marines took out their combat knives and cut the veins that were connected to the wall, after setting the body down one of them decided to cut the veins covering the person's face. Cutting it in one swift motion, it came loose while spurting some kind of yellow liquid…The man they found was completely lacking in color, his face was pure white, and his breathing was too slow…He slowly opened his eyes, one of them was colored bright yellow and the pupil resembled a reptilian one. Everyone who saw what happened to him was left bewildered, what did that thing do to him? Mutated him? They could be fairly certain with the fact that this is unnatural!
"Yuck! What's this yellow liquid!?" One of the soldiers who got hit by the liquid exclaimed.
"I got you! Hey, can you hear me?" The sergeant asked the man.
"…R…N" The man said in a low tone.
"…Huh?" The sergeant asked again.
"…Run…they will…possess you" The man said to the sergeant in a low tone.
"What do you mean by that?" The sergeant was clearly confused with all of this.
…Possessed…Those black things…could it be that those black things will possess them regardless of them being alive or not? Well, that's-. William's train of thoughts came to halt as something rammed him from the side, carried him along with it, smashed through a metal door, and threw him into the wall. Luckily, William was a battle hardened bastard who was quick to react whenever something hit him, so he's able to resist the impact. It was still painful enough for him to groan and temporarily stunned him, who wouldn't when they got thrown to a wall harshly?
"Shikikan-dono!" Takao shouted at the sudden attack.
"Contact!" A marine shouted out loud.
"It's an ambush! Open fire!" The sergeant barked his orders.
William senses came back to him and he took a quick look at his attacker. It's almost as big as him, a black scaly creature. It possessed a round head complimented with sharp row of teeth, bright yellow eyes with reptilian pupils, and it screamed at William whose eye immediately went open in full alert…That scream sounded more like screeching, but what the fuck is that thing?! It pinned William to the wall with its two muscular black scaly arms, the man was not amused in the slightest.
"Bloody hell! Get off me you bellend!" William barked at the creature.
At the same time, William used both of his feet to kick the creature away from him as it stumbled backwards. William and the creature came face to face; the creature roared as it threw a punch toward William which he avoided before sending a knee to its gut. But his attack didn't faze it that much, the creature grabbed him and threw him to the wall again. This time however, William was prepared as he immediately recovered from being thrown, unsheathed his machete, and dashed forward with a swinging blade. The creature caught his hand however, and William had to think fast to free himself, unfortunately he didn't have the chance as the creature swung its arm toward him. Dodging a grip to his neck, William took out his revolver with his left hand, aimed toward its right eye, and squeezed the trigger. The gun erupted, the bullet hit the creature which definitely wounded it, William felt the grip on his right hand loosen, so he reset his stance before jumping as high as he could while performing horizontal swing with his machete.
Needless to say, the blade tore through the creature's flesh, and William managed to almost split the creature's neck completely. That seemed to be fatal damage as the creature stopped making any kind of movement before falling to the ground lifelessly, a yellow kind of blood spurted out from the wound, and some of the splatter hit him…William exhaled in relief as he got out from the small room he was brought into while sheathing his machete, he heard gunfire and saw that the marines were firing at something in the corridor.
"We heard gunshots! What's your status sir!?" Martin asked on the radio.
"We've been engaged! The target got away!" The sergeant said on the radio.
"Let's pursue it!" One of the marines said out loud.
"Negative corporal! We don't want to be separated here!" The sergeant said to him.
"Roger that!" The marine responded to the sergeant.
"Shikikan-dono, are you alright?" Takao asked William.
Takao approached from William's side after sheathing her katana, she inspected William from his head to feet and found him to be fine with only some yellow blood splatter on his clothes. But there's no way someone would be fine after a tussle with that creature. Takao was quite shocked when she didn't detect anything when entering the room…Five creatures came from the dark ceiling, jumped down, and one immediately took William with them while the other four tried to kill them. Keyword 'tried' because Takao personally slayed two of them with her katana, the other one fell after intense gunfire, and the last creature escaped to the corridor.
"Yeah, I'm fine. That was a bit shocking." William said to Takao while he smiled.
"What's that sound?" One marine asked out loud when they hear screeching sounds.
"More of them!?" Another marine responded.
"Defensive positions, now!" The sergeant ordered the marines.
The marines went back inside the room which only had two entrances, their front and their rear, so the marines formed two lines facing each side with their guns drawn. William took his fallen M14EBR when he was rammed by that thing before, after making sure it's in one piece and operational, he joined the lines that were facing the front entrance. Takao also immediately got to the line that guarded their rear, she unsheathed her katana and set her stance.
"Takao, only deal with them when they get too close, got it?" William said to Takao.
"Hai, shikikan!" Takao responded to William.
"Incoming!" The sergeant said out loud.
They heard numerous running step sounds coming from their rear and their front, it didn't take long for those black scaly creatures to come toward the group, and this time there were around a dozen of them, screeching. William and the marines have no qualms about firing their weapons on full auto, gunfire once again resounded in the room as everyone fought whatever these creatures they were. Some got too close to the rear line whom Takao immediately slashed with her katana, the rear line fared better because their frontline could only rely on their guns.
William wouldn't advise a normal human to taking these creatures on in close quarter combat, their strength is quite impressive, and they're quite agile despite their size. He heard the light sound of the magazine's spring, and that meant he's about to run out of bullets to shoot. William quickly reached for a fresh, fully loaded magazine and reloaded his M14EBR in under two seconds. Then he resumed aiming at one of the creatures that came towards him straight at its head, squeezing the trigger of his rifle, and William downed one of them after he lodged six 7.62mm rounds in its head. Few marines fired their M4A1s relentlessly while stepping back slowly, avoiding the creatures' strong limbs from ever grabbing them and snapping their neck or limbs…Full auto fire and two magazines later, there's around twelve of those creatures that laid dead on the floor spewing yellow blood from their bodies…Most of the marines were relieved when they found that their weapons could still kill these things, one of the marines after making sure they stayed dead then yelled.
"Clear!" The marine yelled out loud.
"Anyone hurt!?" The sergeant asked everyone.
"Yeah, me! Gonna need some time!" A private said out loud while holding his left leg.
One of the privates got hit by one of the creatures' arm after failing to evade its attack in time, he tried to stand up after being helped by another private. William, Takao, and the sergeant then approached one of the dead creatures and took a careful look at it…Round head, slanted eyes with yellow irises complemented with reptilian pupils, black scaly muscly body. It's the same exact creature that attacked William before, these are the Sirens' infantry?
"…These things, what are they?" Takao asked out loud.
"Black scaly humanoid…Are they Sirens?" The sergeant also asked.
"It's one of them, that's for sure. Maybe one of their foot soldiers…We need to keep moving, you alright private?" William said to the sergeant then asked the private.
"…All good now sir." The private responded while he smiled a bit.
"Good, let's move!" William said to the private then to everyone.
"Sir, this is Martin. We've reached the junction for the office and living quarter area, we'll wait here." Martin reported on the radio.
"Roger that, we'll be there ASAP!" The sergeant said on the radio.
"Contact!" One of the privates shouted.
They could hear screeches and rapid footsteps all around them. Everyone who carried firearms decided to reload when they heard those sounds because they would want to face these things with full ammo in their magazines. Two privates who were outside in the corridor spotted lots of them running toward their position, in response they immediately fired their M4A1's.
"God! There's another dozens of them! Keep this up, and we'll run out of ammo!" The other private said to them as he fired his M4A1.
"Takao! Clear the way through!" William said to Takao.
"Hai!" Takao said as she drew her katana.
"Follow her closely! Take care of them on her sides!" William shouted his order at the marines.
Takao blitzed forward while swinging her katana and chopped one of the creatures clean into two through its torso, she followed this by stabbing another creature in the chest then swung the katana upwards. She set her stance as one of them tried to grab Takao, but she performed upward diagonal slash toward the creature before spinning and performed downward diagonal slash. She did all that under ten seconds and she basically already destroyed four of them without breaking a sweat.
"Swift death unto evil!" Takao yelled as she swung her katana.
The creature who was her target got decapitated, she raised her katana and performed an overhead swing and that also cut the next creature's head. Two others charged toward her at the same time, they would get close if not for the fact William and the marines relentlessly fired their weapons to Takao's sides. She's grateful for the help, she only needs to focus herself to face the enemies in front of her. Unfortunately, not all of their enemies came from the front as few of them jumped down from above or approached from the back.
"Man down! Man down!" A shout was heard from one of the marines.
After an intense one minute fight, there were two of them left on their backside. One of the creatures punched a marine in the head to the wall, the marine immediately went motionless with a cracking sound, and he fell to the floor. That creature was able to grabbed another marine while the other one took the marine near it and effortlessly bite a huge chunk off of her neck before tossing her aside to the wall, that creature was immediately gunned down but another one wasn't…that's because it grabbed and held the marine in front of it.
"I-I-I don't want to die! Help me!" The marine said in a fearful tone.
"Stay still!" William shouted to the marine as he aimed his M14EBR.
Takao was faster than William as she jumped to the creature's rear side, she slashed downwards which created a huge cut on its back. The creature screamed then let go of the marine, as soon as Takao confirmed the creature released the marine, she thrust her katana forward and stabbed the creature in the chest. The creature screamed as it's dying before it fell to the floor, to make sure its dead few marines fired their guns to its head several more times just to be sure.
"Hah hah hah…Thanks miss, that was way too close!" The marine said to Takao.
"You're welcome" Takao replied while she smiled and helped the marine stand.
"How bad?" The sergeant asked the medic.
"…Both of them are gone." The medic said while he frowned.
"Fuck! Martin, status!?" The sergeant asked Martin.
…There was no response but they could hear gunfire, which means Martin and the others were also attacked. They readied their weapons once again, because the sounds of fighting were getting closer and closer as seconds went by.
"Martin!? What's the situation, over!?" The sergeant asked Martin.
"We've been engaged! Lots of them! We're pulling back to your position!" Martin said on the radio.
"…They got Sheffield with them, and they couldn't hold their position? This is bad." William said to Takao.
"I agree. Should we go ahead?" Takao asked William.
"Wait, I need to confirm something…Sheffield, do you read me? What happened?" William contacted Sheffield on the radio.
"Master, I'm currently retreating alongside the other soldiers. We found one of the siren ship girls, she's pursuing us" Sheffield said to William on the radio.
"Pursuing?" William asked out loud.
If even the ship girls couldn't handle it, then that means it was bad on another level. William nodded toward the sergeant who immediately ordered two of the marines to plant C4 explosives on the floor and walls in the corridors; they will ambush the Sirens this time. Martin could pinpoint their location on their digital tactical map for rendezvous, the sergeant looked at that map and saw that Martin and the others were indeed headed toward them…Perfect…Martin and the rest of the marines' show up with Sheffield, no pleasantries or greetings thrown at each other as they immediately hide behind William and the others who already got their guns pointed at the direction they came from. They saw a large horde of those black scaly creatures, none of them fired their guns as they waited for those creatures to come in range. When they did, the sergeant triggered the C4s with a remote, and it detonated…The detonation of the C4s were enough to wreck the corridor they were in, creating few huge holes on the wall that exposed them to the outside while killing the horde all at once…
BOOOOOOMMMMM!
"…Holy shit it worked!" One private said out loud.
Their victory was short lived however as something came out unscathed behind the horde, a girl with white hair, yellow eyes, carrying rigging like a ship girl, but it's black and more futuristic yet organic in nature…The girl deployed her rigging which extended itself to form multiple mechanical limbs on it with cannons on each end. One thing only came to mind when they saw those cannons; they were fucked. The cannons started firing energy bolts which blown everything it touched, everyone who witnessed it immediately tried to take cover.
"Scatter!" The sergeant shouted out loud.
"Pull back! Call the Osprey!" William said to the sergeant.
"Romeo Six! This is Charlie Three! We need immediate evac! How copy over!?" The sergeant asked on the radio.
"Understood, we're making our way to the rig now." The Osprey pilot responded on the radio.
"Sergeant, take your men and evac now!" William said to the sergeant.
"What about you sir!?" The sergeant asked William.
"Don't worry about me! We'll handle this, go!" William said to the sergeant.
"Shit! Good luck sir! We're retreating!" The sergeant shouted out loud.
The marines that are alive immediately pulled back while firing several bursts from their weapons at that girl, but the bullets didn't do anything except for scratching the paint on her rigging. The girl stared emotionlessly at the retreating marines, her attention was taken with two ship girls in front of her who deployed their rigging and unsheathed their katana and handguns. William inserted a fresh magazine in his M14EBR, cocked the gun, and aimed toward that girl.
"Sheffield, Takao, let's get her!" William said to both of them.
"Wakarimashita!" "Yes master!" Takao and Sheffield said then charged ahead.
"Enterprise, you still there?" William asked Enterprise on the radio.
"Yes commander, what do you need me for?" Enterprise asked William on the radio.
"Fighter support, danger close. Reference, that ship girl with white hair and black rigging in front of us!" William informed Enterprise on the radio.
Around three hundred meters away from the rig, Enterprise prepared her bow and drew its string as she searched for the intended target. She spotted the Siren ship girl and she aimed towards it, Takao and Sheffield are currently fighting the girl while constantly avoiding her cannon shots. Enterprise further drew the bow string, she made sure she correctly aimed towards it, and then released her hold.
"Launched!" Enterprise reported on the radio.
"Takao, Sheffield! Get back!" William shouted to the two ship girls.
Hearing William's order, Takao performed a last slash attack to distract the ship girl then followed by Sheffield pinning her down in place with rapid fire coming from her handguns. Enterprise launched an arrow that turned into a F4F Wildcat, and it launched several rockets alongside machine gun fire toward the ship girl, she flinched and was about to back away, but she's too late as the plane rammed the ship girl in question before exploding.
"That was Enterprise-san's plane!" Takao said out loud.
"Yeah, is she dead?" William asked out loud too.
"Not yet it seems." Takao said to William while she pointed at the ship girl who pushed the wreckage off of her.
"…Oi! You want to tell us why you're doing this!?" William asked the Siren.
That thing was quite strong! She got rammed by one of Enterprise's planes, a fucking plane, and it still could stand up despite suffering severe damage to her rigging! She kept staring at William, Takao, and Sheffield emotionlessly…Holy fuck, she is creepy! Why did she do that? So many questions, yet so little clues to answer them!
"…Looks like she can't talk…hah." William said out loud then sighed.
"More like refusing to talk, I know they can speak. I've heard one of them myself before." Sheffield said to William.
"I see. Any other girls in close proximity?" William asked both of them.
"Ayanami-chan and Carabiniere-san are fairly close." Takao said to William.
"Brilliant. Ayanami, Carabiniere, it's me. Approach my position and be ready to fight a Siren." William ordered on the radio.
"Si comandante!" "Hai, we're going now!" Carabiniere and Ayanami said on the radio.
"Enterprise, on my command, destroy the platform that Siren is on." William said to Enterprise on the radio.
"Yes commander…On your word." Enterprise responded on the radio.
William raised his M14EBR and fired at the ship girl in semi auto, he aimed for the girl's head to try and land a bullet on her but it didn't work. Why? Her rigging's upper limbs covered her face! Damnit, William wasn't sure that this rifle could do anything against her. Sheffield stepped forward as she aimed her handguns at her, firing several bursts and the bullets managed to make that ship girl flinch. William saw that she was held in her intended place, perfect!
"…Now!" William said on the radio.
Enterprise launched another plane armed with bombs, the plane flew overhead, and immediately dropped the payload on the ship girl. Taking immediate cover, William, Sheffield, and Takao avoided the explosion that resulted from the bomb's explosion…William was about to check on the Siren before he heard cracking sounds. That's when he realized that the floor was also rendered unstable from the C4 explosion and was now fragile enough to fall apart, and that's just what it did. William fell through as the floor underneath him collapsed, fortunately, William managed to hold on to the steel beam near him.
"Ah shite!" William cussed as he stared at the dark sea surface.
"Shikikan-dono!" Takao shouted toward William.
Takao jumped toward him and grabbed William, he fell to the sea while screaming and being carried by Takao like a sack of potatoes. Takao landed on the water with William on her shoulder, the man was panting at the sheer thrill of what he just experienced. Sheffield followed along and also landed smoothly on the water, she went in front of them to check on the Siren ship girl.
"Whoa! That was exhilarating! You alright Takao? Wait, you're carrying me!" William said to Takao.
"Yes, don't worry I'm quite capable of carrying heavy things too!" Takao said to William while she smiled a bit.
"I weigh more than one hundred kilograms, and you can land on the water smoothly?!" William asked out loud with cocked eyebrows.
Energy bolts started flying toward them, Takao and Sheffield immediately maneuvered to dodge those flying hazards. William was being thrown around on Takao's shoulder, this won't do as him being carried like this by Takao hindered her combat capabilities, and that's the last thing he wanted to do in this situation!
"That thing is relentless!" Takao said out loud while she gritted her teeth.
"Takao, drop me! You can't fight if you're carrying me!" William said to Takao.
"But-" Takao said to William in protest.
"Hey, I can swim. Don't worry!" William reassured her by smiling confidently.
"Hai shikikan!" Takao said to William.
And just like that, she avoided the next energy bolt as she jumped and dropped William at the same time to the cold night sea. William immediately swam to the surface with half closed eyes, couldn't she drop him more nicely? Then he remembered that there's not much he could do when he's in the water, until he saw an Osprey flying over his head.
"Sir, this is Romeo Six. Do you need a pickup?" The pilot contacted William on the radio.
"Yeah. That sounds good!" William responded on the radio.
"Alright, we're coming in low and fast. Be ready." The pilot said to William on the radio.
"Be careful of that Siren, it could shoot you down in one shot!" William said to the pilot on the radio.
"We know the risk sir." The pilot responded to William on the radio.
The Osprey circled around while lowering its altitude to just about five meters above the sea's surface, a rope was thrown at him, and William quickly grabbed it. After being pulled upwards, William rested near the side hatch as the machine gunner at the door rained the Siren ship girl with lead coming from the door's minigun. William saw that Carabiniere and Ayanami have arrived on the scene, well that's comforting because he's now got five ship girls that will gangbang that Siren.
"Lock on!" Carabiniere said on the radio.
Carabiniere launched her torpedoes, the resulting salvo resulted in the ship girl having to avoid it, and that put her in the kill zone. Because she is now surrounded on all sides by Azur Lane ship girls, no matter how you look at it this would be the determining move to kill that ship girl. Carabiniere aimed her musket toward the ship girl and fired, the ship girl dodged it narrowly, but that caused her to lose her balance.
"Signorina Takao!" Carabiniere said on the radio.
Takao moved in with a drawn katana, she's gliding forward while firing her cannons. The ship girl rushed forward to meet Takao straight on, Takao smiled in amusement, raised her katana high, and performed a downward swing which successfully tore two limbs off her rigging. The Siren ship girl aimed her cannons toward Takao who side stepped to the right and launched a torpedo at her, the hit caused a big explosion of water.
"Ayanami-chan!" Takao said on the radio.
It was Ayanami's turn as she dashed forward while firing her main guns and unleashing her torpedoes, the rounds impacted the ship girl, but unfortunately her torpedo salvo missed because the Siren still had enough agility to dodge. Little did she know that was what Ayanami's been aiming for as she dashed forward with her large sword, she swung diagonally, and she managed to tear several of its arms rendering her port side vulnerable.
"Sheffield-san!" Ayanami said on the radio.
Sheffield stepped in while rapidly firing her handguns, firing so quickly that her handguns almost spewed bullets with the same rate as a machine gun. After suffering so much damage and with the bullet barrages that half blinded her with explosions, the ship girl used her remaining limb cannons on her starboard side to try and fire at Sheffield. That's her mistake, as Sheffield purposely maneuvered around her to make sure her blind spot was exposed.
"Now Madam Enterprise." Sheffield said on the radio.
"It's over!" Enterprise declared on the radio.
Enterprise released several arrows and those arrows transformed into a squadron of Avenger aircraft, the numerous aircraft relentlessly dropping their bombs on the ship girl. Multiple explosions followed by cannon fire by the others resounded for ten full seconds, after they were done with her, they couldn't see any trace of the previous ship girl except for the remains of her rigging which slowly sank to the depths of the ocean…William sat on the side of the Osprey with his mouth hanging, he just realized the full display of the ship girls' capabilities all in under twenty seconds! Each of them is nimble, small targets to hit, and pack the same punch as a real ship…Holy shit, no wonder their identities were kept secret, and the fact that they saw limited combat activity as they're not being deployed directly to fight on the frontline where regular division often slaughtered each other…William was about to contact them, telling them a job well done before a portal suddenly opened in the place where that Siren ship girl was sunk.
"What the-" William said out loud.
"Here it comes!" Enterprise said on the radio.
"There's another one!" Takao said on the radio.
What appeared before them was a petite girl with long white hair, bright yellow eyes, petite stature, wearing black ship girl rigging with yellow outlining complimented with tentacles and having a cat ears headband on her head…She appeared out of the portal and everyone immediately put her at gunpoint, she didn't show any attempt of hostile action as she stood there while observing her surroundings…Then, she smiled as if she just discovered something amusing.
"Hoo…looks like I made the right decision to target these facilities." The Siren said out loud.
"You." Sheffield said out loud while she narrowed her eyes.
"Oh my, have we met?" The Siren asked Sheffield while she smirked.
"Northern sea convoy ambush, a year ago." Sheffield said to The Siren while she scowled.
"Hmm, so we did…Now ladies, where is he?" The Siren said to Sheffield before she asked them.
"What do you mean?" Enterprise asked The Siren.
"The man you call 'Commander' of course…I'm dying to meet him." The Siren asked while she grinned.
"Why would you want to meet him? We won't let you!" Carabiniere asked the Siren while she pointed her musket at her.
"Ah, but I mean no harm. I simply wish to talk…But since you offered to entertain me…" The Siren said out loud while she smirked…
William's spine tingled when he saw that the Siren stared at him from below, the ship girls are all prepared to attack. William had two choices to make, stand his ground and try to kill that girl, or bail out while he can to prevent himself from being captured…Not going to lie, William's got a bad feeling about that Siren, and he really doesn't want to be captured by her and…Shit, he better retreat for now.
"…Pilot, bail us out." William said to the pilot on the radio.
"Sir?" The pilot asked William on the radio.
"…I got a bad feeling about this one." William said to the pilot on the radio.
"Girls…Bring him to me." The Siren said out loud while she smirked then snapped her fingers.
Multiple portals appeared near their location, and from those portals multiple Siren ship girls descended and readied their rigging. The sight was even enough to cause Enterprise to flinch in nervousness, one Siren ship girls could be hard to kill, but now there's more of them? William was right regarding his guts; this won't end well if they choose to attack that Siren. One of them looked exactly like the Siren that they just killed…The fight immediately commenced as Azur Lane ship girls fought with those newly summoned Sirens, the sky was also littered with AA fire, and the Osprey pilot had to do his utmost to dodge the projectiles.
"Anomaly in front of us, there's a few of those portals!" The pilot reported on the radio.
"We're trapped?!" The sergeant asked on the radio.
"Incoming! Shit that's fuckton of AA!" One private said on the radio.
"Is that the previous Siren we killed? So, they are-" William said-
BOOM!
The cockpit of the V-22 Osprey they rode was blown to pieces from accurate AA fire from one of the Siren ship girls below, the aircraft immediately went out of control, and the passengers struggled to find anything they could hold on to. The aircraft was rapidly losing altitude before it crash-landed in the ocean while burning, the impact momentarily stopped the battle as Siren ship girls immediately headed for the crash site…Enterprise, Takao, Ayanami, Sheffield, and Carabiniere stared with disbelief written in their eyes. Their commander is aboard that aircraft, which was shot down, and now being swarmed by Sirens…
"COMANDANTE!" "SHIKIKAN!" "COMMANDER!" Carabiniere, Takao, and Enterprise shouted in alarm.
Updated: 03-11-2021 (Beta Readed by Culture-Hunt3r)
OOF! That's going to hurt a lot! Yeah, as I foresaw this whole battle would span for two chapters…Thanks for the review, follow and favorite dear readers, stay tuned for the continuation.
Aaron: Thank you for your kind words, I sure hope to continue this in the long future too. Yeah, my bad, I was careless in that matter so thanks for reminding me.
Until next time!
- Dasmara