Commander Blaze, a front line commander story

by Dasmara

Meet William Blaze, a veteran who royally screwed his last mission and was thrown into prison. But when The Sirens invaded, Azur Lane High Command need him once more and so he is reinstated. His new job? Command the beautiful ship girls and give The Sirens big F you in the face. Join them as William balanced his daily life between dealing with the girl's antics and killing Sirens.

21. Operation ICARUS

William walked quickly with his serious face plastered on, he bypassed dozens of personnel in the busy hallways of Furushima's local headquarters. His current destination is the headquarters' command center where he will be required to check in with the local commander before he could proceed with his own mission. He found the command center and proceeded to enter it without bothering to knock first. That resulted with the entire room's occupants to looked straight at him in wonder, confusion, or even downright annoyance, and there's only one person inside that waved his hands up and motion William to come toward his position…A medium heighted man with slanted green eyes, spiky light brown hair, and a no-nonsense facial expression. Without a doubt, he's the local commander, and the one in charge of Sakura Empire forces on this isle.

"Commander Blaze, the name is Meguro Aoyama, and I'm the one in charge of this isle's complex." The smaller man said to William with a poker face.

"Well met, commander." William said to Meguro while he nodded his head.

"Do you mind getting to work immediately?" Meguro asked William.

"No, not at all." William said to Meguro.

"Splendid. Situation is dire, even with the reinforcement that successfully arrived here we took several crippling hits to our military strength and economy. I'll brief you on our situation…This is the Furushima isle, and our current position…and this is Sirens' occupied zones. As you can see, we are backed in the corner and we need to…" Meguro suddenly fell on his knees.

Because of that, William and several other operators near him immediately went to help the man out. Meguro stood up and put his right hand up to indicate that he's fine now, William remained unconvinced, however, because when he got close enough, he could see that Meguro looked exhausted with how black his eye bags were. When was the last time he slept?

"Commander? You alright?" William asked Meguro while he frowned.

"Sorry…I haven't slept for two days; this is taxing me quite a bit." Meguro said to William.

"A bit? You looked exhausted mate. You should rest." William said to Meguro with cocked eyebrows.

"I'll finish the briefing for you first…With us being backed into the corner we need to be decisive. As you can see, the attrition fight would only end with us being wiped off clean when the Sirens occupied seventy percent of this isle. We are severely outnumbered and outgunned, we desperately need a game changer…Supposedly, that's where you and the ship girls come in." Meguro said to William.

"…Our main objective is to raze those two bases, but there's just too many risks along the way, what about that facility near that base?" William asked Meguro.

"It's our FOB, we just retook it from the Sirens an hour ago. But we don't plan to stay long, we were there just to retake our supplies and ordinances. It is too risky to mount an assault from that location when Sirens could just steamroll everything, since it's so close to their bases…" Meguro explained to William.

"I agree…Do you already have a plan to attack them?" William asked Meguro.

"Right now? No…we just got hit and damage assessment took priority, better lick our wounds while we can. However, one of the ship girls might already have something." Meguro said to William while he frowned.

"I see." William said to Meguro as he folded his arms.

Once again William looked at the holographic map projection of the isle, the situation wasn't looking good in the slightest for them…Basically, Siren forces occupied seventy percent of the isle and locked down many Sakura Empire's facilities. Now they only have their headquarters, their last defensive line littered with pillboxes alongside coastal guns, their main research facility. and a military airport. The shipyards, the factory. and almost all of their FOBs are under Siren occupation or destroyed…Even with the reinforcement, doing an attrition battle is like asking the Sirens to behead them but by skinning their necks layer by layer. Meguro was right, they would need to strike decisively.

"According to the order I received from Kabakura-san, you're free to do what you think to be necessary to make sure those bases are destroyed. I don't mean to be an asshole after you come all the way here, but the ship girl reinforcements you brought won't be enough to do the job, commander." Meguro said to William while he frowned.

"I know…they're the vanguards, we have more en route to this location." William said to Meguro.

"That's relieving…Commander Blaze, the ship girls are yours to command. I'm not exactly pleased to just hand over my specialized unit to someone I barely know…But, orders are orders." Meguro said to William while he shrugged.

"Appreciate it. I'll take care of the girls with my utmost." William said to Meguro with serious face.

"Thank you. Now excuse me, I might need to take a breather…Good luck commander." Meguro said to William.

Meguro passed William and tapped his shoulder once, William watched as Meguro exited the command center then turned his head towards the holographic map. William sighed as he begun to study the layouts and important information regarding the situation, if they're going to take the fight to them then William would need to find a weakness within the Siren forces in this area…But that's wishful thinking at best, since when do Sirens deploy forces that have huge noticeable weakness? Many of their units are balanced in their performance!

"Well…we are in deep shite." William muttered to himself.

"Ara?" Someone said from behind William.

The man immediately spun around to see the one who stood behind him, that person is Amagi herself. William took a while to recognize the girl in front of him, Asian features, beautiful as heck, with a pair of fox ears, and numerous brown fluffy tails behind her. She's definitely a ship girl that is stationed here in the defense of the isle, and the one that he saved earlier this morning, now that he's got the time to think about it would she be fine walking around after receiving a severe blow?

"Hmm? Ah, you're that KANSEN back there. How are your injuries?" William asked Amagi while he smiled a bit.

"Hai, I'm quite fine now, thank you for your concern. Battlecruiser Amagi, reporting in." Amagi said to William while she bowed at him.

"At ease Ms. Amagi. Commander Meguro is currently resting if you're looking for him, he hasn't been asleep for two days he said." William said to Amagi.

"I know about it, shikikan-sama, he briefed me before he went to his quarters after all. I'm here to see you." Amagi said to William.

"Ah, alright…Is there something you need?" William asked Amagi.

"I was wondering if we could talk regarding our next move. Meguro-shikikan left us in your care, after all." Amagi said to William while she smiled a bit.

"Yes…then, can you brief me on the ship girls' capabilities? Those who were with you. After that, we could talk about the situation." William asked Amagi while he sat in one of the spare chairs within the room.

Amagi too proceeded to sit down beside William as she explained the capability of the ship girls with her, in detail. It didn't event take five minutes until William recognized the new girl's capabilities well, Akagi and Kaga are the carriers known for their quick deployment coupled with savage airstrikes, Hiryuu is quite resilient in a fight, Yuubari is their tech expert in a sense, Kako is their jack of all trades, Kawakaze and Kinu are close quarter battle specialists with their katanas, while Amagi herself is the strategist among them…William thought that twelve ship girls is sufficient to take them on for now, but to assault the two bases he would need reinforcement from ALASUC.

"…So now in total we have twelve ship girls, we are the only resources you could muster without asking for Meguro-shikikan's permission." Amagi said to William with serious expression.

"Why do I sense you already have a plan in mind?" William asked Amagi as he folded his arms.

"Correctly guessed, I do have a plan ready. We just got hit, anyone would think we'll sort out our business first and do some damage control. So, the Sirens should loosen their guard a bit, since they successfully raided us, and that means we could launch our own offensive which should be unexpected…But then again, this is the Sirens that we're facing, so there's always a possibility they've thought about this. With that in mind, we need to hit them straight in their solar plexus then rush all the way to their heart." Amagi explained to William.

"…I'm afraid you lost me there." William said to Amagi with half closed eye.

"We should strike here first, shikikan-sama." Amagi said to William as she pointed at a spot in the map.

"Their staging area?" William asked out loud as he stared at the map.

"Yes, from there we keep hitting them all the way until their secondary base right here. Among the two bases, this one is the farthest and quite isolated, so targeting them should be relatively easy. However, the base stores around two thirds of the Siren forces in this area, so if our timing is off, they could just swarm us and then take us down. But should we succeed, the southern part of the isle would be clear for us to move around." Amagi explained to William.

…This could work! Really, this is a longshot plan in their current situation, but if they could act fast enough then this counterattack would deal a severe blow to the Sirens on the isle. The problem? Massive opposition that stood between them and victory, their limited forces despite the arrival of reinforcements, and the Sirens' dastardly unpredictability. But this is a solid plan considering they have only twelve ship girls that are ready to execute the plan…Add with the additional Sakura Empire and Ironblood reinforcement on the way from ALASUC base, they might just have enough strength to tackle the two Siren bases in one fell swoop.

"Ms. Amagi, I already have reinforcements on the way here. Shall I coordinate with them regarding the time and deployment?" William asked Amagi while he rubbed his chin.

"I think that would be a wise decision." Amagi said to William.

"Alright…I must say, you work fast." William said to Amagi while he smiled.

"They appointed me as a strategy advisor, shikikan-sama. It is my duty and specialty." Amagi said to William as she smiled back.

"Good to be working with you then, Ms. Amagi…If we're going to do this, then let's make sure we think about everything." William said to Amagi.

.

…William walked to and entered his personal room that was given to him by Meguro, it's in the same building as the ship girl's room, but his was the closest to the entrance. He took a bit admiring the oriental styled room, tatami floors, sliding doors, indoor kitchen, toilet alongside a bathtub, and shower unit…Oh boy, shower! William took off his clothes, put it on top of the table in the living room, and then noted his bandaged left leg. The wound that was caused by a Siren trooper? It's already starting to heal, but the flesh is still 'growing' back, and it's best not to get it exposed to the world just yet. William looked around some more and saw a first aid kit encased near the TV…perfect. William went to the kitchen and found a plastic wrap; he took it and wrapped his lower left leg to avoid getting it wet. Just like that, he headed into the shower and blasted himself with the cold streams of water. William sighed in contentment at the refreshing sensation. Suddenly, he heard the door to his room was opened…Who's that?

"Pardon my intrusion." A feminine voice ranged out loud.

"Who's there?" William asked out loud without getting out of the shower.

"I am Akagi, the pride of the peerless First Carrier Division of Sakura Empire. Pleased to meet you, shikikan-sama." So, it's Akagi huh?

"I see. The name's William Blaze, I'm still showering, so please wait a bit." William said out loud.

"Certainly." Akagi said to William.

Akagi chose to sit as she waited for William to finish with his shower. She noticed that William left his clothes on top of the living room drawer…Oh my, does that mean he's buck naked with all his glory while being slammed by millions of drops of water right now? Akagi fanned herself a bit, her imagination went wild a bit into the gutter, and the last thing she wants to happen right now is for her to be horny. She heard the sound of water stopped running, and someone came out of the bathroom, needless to say Akagi's cheeks went red…William stood in front of her, a hulking giant ripped with muscles, without clothes save for the towel covering his groin, his black raven hair is dripping wet, his body still glistening due to the water he showered in a few seconds ago, and he stood confidently in front of Akagi.

"…Like what you see, huh?" William asked Akagi while he smirked.

"Um. Hai…" Akagi answered honestly while she smiled bashfully.

William only snorted in amusement at her honesty, he put on his clothes while indirectly still putting on a show for Akagi who shamelessly watched him…After he dressed up nicely with his officer uniform, William rolled up his left pants side for a bit and took the first aid kit. He also took out a vial filled with Regel from his blazer pocket, William poured the vial filled with crystal blue liquid a bit to his hand before he slowly rubbed his wound with it. Yeah, he needs to do this at least once a day to keep stimulating the growth of his flesh and cover up his wound with bandages. Akagi looked at William's lower left leg and she frowned to see that William was injured recently, from a plasma weapon nonetheless.

"Shikikan-sama, that wound of yours…" Akagi said to William.

"Nah, don't worry about this…more importantly how is your wound, Ms. Akagi?" William asked Akagi.

"It's nothing but a brief soreness, shikikan-sama. I'm pretty much fine, thank you for being concerned about me." Akagi said to William while she smiled.

"Good to hear…Is there anything you need?" William asked Akagi.

"Yes. I want to thank you personally, shikikan-sama, for saving us in the nick of time back there." Akagi said to William while she smiled widely.

"You're welcome." William nodded his head while he smiled.

"Now, why don't we spend some time with each other? I want to know you, how about a couple of drinks?" Akagi asked William while she smiled.

"I'd love to." William simply answered.

Akagi stood up, went to the kitchen, opened the fridge and took out a bottle of sake, two glasses. and a box of chocolate then put it on the table in front of William. The man smiled as Akagi poured some alcohol into both glasses, and William took it. He could always appreciate a drink. William held it up front, Akagi responded by bumping the glass with his as a toast and then sipped on the alcohol. William didn't hesitate to gulp an entire glass down; he then took one of the chocolates and ate it. Both William and Akagi spend some time with each other, just drinking sake, and eating some chocolate while talking with one another…

"…By the way, who is that Siren? She seemed to be quite powerful but different from Observer Alpha." William asked Akagi curiously.

"Oh, you know Observer Alpha, shikikan-sama?" Akagi asked William back.

"I have…brief encounter with her, she doesn't seem to be the type to fight." William said to Akagi while frowned.

"That is correct, the one you encountered back there is called Purifier. She's more aggressive than Alpha and more proficient in the art of combat, she's a deadly foe to face directly." Akagi said to William then she sipped on her drink.

Purifier? More aggressive than Observer Alpha? If Alpha who according to Akagi is 'mild' then William couldn't imagine what Purifier can do if she's as strong as Alpha and didn't hesitate to kill anyone…He just made an enemy against someone dangerous, and he would certainly lose against her if she managed to get a grip on his neck, things just keep getting better and better. William ate another piece of chocolate to distract him from overthinking the whole aspect with Purifier, he needed to focus more on the bigger picture for now.

"I figure, I won't want to face her directly too…Ms. Akagi-" William said to Akagi.

"Akagi is fine shikikan-sama, you don't have to be so formal." Akagi said to William.

"Fine. What do you think of this battle with them?" William asked Akagi while he smiled.

"…They could have wiped us all out in one attack if they wanted to, but they didn't do that. Killing us all, seems not to be their main objective. They surely have a plan in mind, but we don't know what yet." Akagi answered honestly.

"…I see…Thank you for your insight, Akagi." William said to Akagi while he smiled.

"You're welcome, shikikan-sama." Akagi said to William.

William reached for his phone and started texting Bismarck while he talked with Akagi, he couldn't help but to think Akagi is quite outgoing because she always has a topic to talk to, and she's quite curious about him. William didn't put too much thought on it, maybe Akagi is just a sociable person who's interested to get to know someone that will be her commander for this battle…After he received a reply from Bismarck, William and Akagi walked toward the headquarters building to find Amagi and the other ship girls on standby within the briefing room. William and Amagi have formulated a plan to attack, but it's a very risky one, though this bold plan is not perfect it's the best they could come up with right now.

"Alright, sorry for being late…My name is William Blaze, the commander of the Azur Lane Anti Siren Unit Command. Your General of the Army Kabakura and your Commander Meguro have given me the authority and permission to command you, so I hope we can get along and work together…Everyone, we're going on the offensive, we will strike those Sirens while they think we're reconsolidating. For that, Ms. Amagi here already formed a plan to carry out a series of raids to distract and weaken the Siren forces before our full scale assault…Ms. Amagi?" William asked Amagi to explain the details.

"Hai, shikikan-sama…There are four primary targets for this operation, the first would be their staging area which is the closest target to our headquarters. The second is their supply base, followed by the third target which is their defensive line on this island cluster which protects their secondary base on this island…We're following a tight schedule for this one, and we need to do all this, within one day." Amagi explained out loud to everyone in the room.

"One day?!" Hiryuu asked out loud.

"That means nonstop sorties!" Takao said out loud.

"That's reckless Amagi-san!" Shoukaku said to Amagi while she frowned a bit.

Oh Amagi knew, of course she knew how reckless this is but frankly speaking she saw no other viable option. They need to seize the initiative back from the Sirens and surely waiting for them to attack again is not the answer, neither are doing suicidal charges at them or doing attrition battle. The only thing they could do now is to attack the Sirens systematically to 'weaken' them, wither their combat capability bit by bit before launching a full-scale assault on their base. The only one who can do that? Ship girls. They are able to operate in small numbers and deliver devastation on the same level as an entire fleet.

"Yes, I know nonstop sorties are quite reckless, but we need to strike back at them as soon as possible while they believe that we're still recovering. This will be tough, and we will sortie between targets with different fleet compositions each time. The rest that doesn't participate during sorties will rest and make sure our headquarters would have defenders in case the Sirens decide to attack us again. For this operation, we won't have any support from the regular division until the final assault…Ship girls will be the primary unit that participate in this operation. With that being said, take a look at these aerial reconnaissance pictures. These are the images of the target, study the layouts, memorize them, and designate their important infrastructure to be priority targets. This operation shall be known as 'Operation Icarus', we're diving deep into enemy lines, destroying whatever we can, and assault their secondary base...Shikikan-sama?" Amagi asked William after she's done explaining.

"Thank you for explaining the plan, Ms. Amagi…We will execute the mission in one hour so prepare everything you need or require. Also, to those of you who don't know, I generally fight in the frontlines as well, so I will personally participate in the operation." William said out loud to everyone, those who didn't know about this looked at each other in confusion.

"Shikikan-sama, aren't you injured after your last fight?" Shoukaku asked William.

"Yeah, but don't worry Shoukaku. This doesn't involve a lot of running." William said to Shoukaku while he smiled.

"It doesn't?" Shoukaku asked William with cocked eyebrows.

"I will be fighting onboard a fighter jet." William said to Shoukaku.

"I see…" Shoukaku said to William as she pulled out her phone.

"Okay, put that phone down! She doesn't need to know about this!" William immediately said to Shoukaku, it's obvious who she intended to call.

"Hahahahaha, I'm messing with you shikikan-sama. Don't worry, this will be our little secret. Besides, it is much safer than being directly on the ground." Shoukaku said to William after she giggled merrily.

"…Any questions regarding the mission? No? Okay…Then prepare yourselves, we have one hour to prepare. Dismissed." William said out loud to everyone.

…That was close, William almost had a heart attack, and his adrenaline was pumped for a bit. After he made sure everyone understood on what to do next, William nodded his head as he excused himself from the room. He immediately set out to see Commander Meguro, hope the guy won't strangle him when he wakes him up just to request permission to use one of his jets…The ship girls that were left in the room talked to one another regarding the mission, Hiryuu rubbed her chin in her thoughts regarding their new commander.

"That shikikan is quite peculiar, isn't he?" Hiryuu asked out loud.

"Few commanders participate directly in the fight in this modern era and with good reason, why didn't he do the same?" Akagi also asked out loud.

"I don't know the exact reasoning as well, Akagi-san. But he was a frontline soldier before he became our shikikan, I guess that's just how he leads." Atago said to Akagi while she smiled.

"Indeed. There are those that could lead from behind the desk, and those who could lead directly in the front. But to gamble his life away directly in the battlefield…I can understand if he was a ship girl, but he's a normal man in the war against the Sirens." Amagi said to Atago.

"Aah, we know the feeling! We worry for his safety because most of the time he participates directly he almost always ends up visiting the infirmary later! Bombs, bullets, and even plasma bolts! There's always something that harmed him during sorties!" Zuikaku said out loud while she smiled and shrugged.

"Then why do you girls let-" Akagi asked Zuikaku.

"Why do we let him do that? First off, it's his decision. Second, you'll be surprised at how capable he is in combat Akagi-senpai. Third, his presence in the battlefield provided us with morale and fire support…You will understand what I mean, when you fight alongside him later." Shoukaku said to Akagi while she smiled confidently.

"…I guess we'll be the judge of that, Shoukaku." Amagi said to Shoukaku.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but allow me to check your riggings everyone! Let's make sure it's in top notch condition and fully loaded, it's going to be a long fight!" Yuubari suddenly said out loud.

.

"YOU WANT TO WHAT?!" Meguro yelled at William with shocked face.

"You don't need to yell so loud…" William said to Meguro while he cringed.

"You wake me up for that?! Kami, you're as insane as those video recordings show!" Meguro said to William as he stood up from his bed.

"You watched them?" William asked Meguro.

"Mandatory, all of us had to…Morale boosting stuff they said…" Meguro said to William then muttered the last part.

Meguro exited his room, and William followed closely behind him. William didn't know where Meguro headed, but it would seem he's headed for the control center and in the end, William was right in his assumption. Meguro immediately talked to an operator there in Japanese which left William bewildered because holy hell he doesn't understand much of their words, but he did pick out few such as 'what?', 'no' and 'this man' with the last being Meguro pointed his index finger at William with unamused face…The operator in front of Meguro shrugged, and the man sighed while he facepalmed, Meguro took a bit to compose himself before he looked at William.

"Look, if you got shot down then we couldn't possibly recover you. If you're shot down inside a Siren base, you're on your own! Do you understand that!?" Meguro asked William with serious face.

"Tell me something I don't know, Commander Meguro. From the moment I spoke with you, I know the risk for this plan, and I'm prepared for it." William said to Meguro firmly.

"…I can't spare any flights for your escort; I need them to be ready for any interception. The risk is too big, are you sure?" Meguro asked William.

"You don't have to; the carrier KANSENs will do…All I need is your permission to use one of your jets alongside ammo and fuel for it." William said to Meguro firmly.

"...Fine…you'll have them. Just, try to get it back in one piece, would you?" Meguro asked William while he deeply frowned.

"Will do, thank you." William said to Meguro while he nodded his head.

"…Go with the lieutenant, he will show you the way to the hangar." Meguro said to William while he pointed to the operator who nodded his head and left the room.

"Sure." William said to Meguro as he followed the operator.

"…Mucha kusoyaro da, ano hito..." Meguro said out loud when William was out of earshot.

…The lieutenant led him to the airport, it was a ten minute walk from the command center, and that proved just how vast the base actually was. The lieutenant approached a group of men wearing engineer uniforms while playing cards on the edge of one hangar, the lieutenant called them out. The group of engineers saw the lieutenant, but they acted dismissively. The group and him bickered for some time at each other for a while before the lieutenant pointed his finger at William…That got the group to stop talking, they stared at William for a bit with confused expressions before one of them said something to the lieutenant which resulted in him nodding and then left the area. The older man who last spoke to the lieutenant stood up and stared at William, he seemed to be the leader or something…

"Are you the pilot?" The man asked William.

"Yes, I'm here to inspect the jet that I will use." William said to the man.

"Okay. Chief engineer, just call me chief for now…follow me." The chief said to William before he walked.

The chief led William into the next hangar where there's a group of fighter jets lined up in neat rows inside the hangar; the planes consisted of F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s. The chief walked and pointed at one F-15 then pointed an F-35 to William. That means that's the two planes that they could give to him, and it's up to the man to choose what he wanted to ride…The mission is most likely ground support and some air combat, so a Strike Fighter or Multirole aircraft would be ideal and given that's the available plane for him? It's a perfect pick, now to actually pick which one among the two jets…When it comes to ammunition management, the F-15 could be loaded with so many more bombs and missiles compared to the F-35, but that plane wins when it comes to technological advancement. William has heard that the F-35 could be equipped with special rigging to give it more hard points, but that will surely take some time to install. Then, the familiarity…William approached the parked F-15, Eagle Union's main line of mass produced fighters…

"We only have three jets that we could spare for your operation, the rest are already in combat or under repairs." The chief said to William.

"This one will do." William said to the chief as he pointed the F-15.

"…You like that one?" The chief asked William with hands on his hips.

"Hell yeah I do." William said to the chief while he nodded his head.

"You don't like the F-35? It's more advanced you know? The computer system, the HUD…" The chief asked William with an unsure tone.

"I'm looking for raw firepower right now, besides I'm more familiar with this one." William said to the chief.

"I see, you have a good eye though. This one is the single seater version of the F-15E Strike Eagle, the previous pilot of this craft rode it proudly, and I'm sure it won't disappoint you in the air…We will prepare it immediately, any preferred loadout?" The chief asked William.

"Ground support." William immediately said to the chief.

"How about your IFF tag?" The chief asked William again.

"Knight will do as IFF tag." William immediately answered the chief.

"Alright, we will get it done…Oi yarodomo! Shigoto ga arunda, isoge!" The chief said to William then yelled at a group of engineers within the hangar…

"How long did you need?" William asked the chief.

"To prep this baby? We got a lot of work to do, give us half an hour." The chief said to William.

William nodded his head in acknowledgement before he left the hangar to return toward his provided room, he needed to prepare himself for the mission. To be honest, it's been a while since he flew a fixed wing aircraft like that, and he's afraid that he might be a little rusty. But he dismissed the thoughts away, the last thing he needed right now is doubt. William took out a cigarette from its package inside his pocket, he took out the lighter to light up the cigarette and smoked. He felt someone walk behind him, and he looked back only to see a snow white, shoulder length haired girl wearing white kimono-like clothes…and her blue eyes stared intently at his.

"Oh, you must be Kaga." William said to the girl.

"Hai." Kaga said to William.

"Going somewhere?" William asked Kaga.

"I'm heading for my room." Kaga simply said to William.

"Okay." William said to Kaga as he stepped aside.

Kaga kept staring at William's eye before she walked past him without glancing at him, she kept walking and then stopped just a few steps away from William who stared at her in wonder with cigarette still burning on his mouth. He raised his eyebrows in wonder on why did Kaga stopped walking? Kaga turned around and stared at William as if she's inspecting him from head to toe, the young woman suddenly smirked at William.

"…Shikikan, may I ask you something?" Kaga asked William while she smirked.

"Sure." William said to Kaga.

"How long have you been fighting in the front?" Kaga asked William.

"I graduated from the military academy by twenty one, so four years in total." William said to Kaga.

"Four years hmm." Kaga said out loud.

Yeah, William graduated from high school when he was around seventeen years old, and he immediately joined the military academy where he spent the next four years in a specialized curriculum under the guidance of the best of the best in the Royal Navy…Intelligence officers introduced him to the world of espionage, military generals and admirals taught him in military strategy alongside how to command troops, scientist and engineers gave him a course regarding their field of knowledge that might benefit in his duty, various instructors taught him how to operate machinery of war, elite veteran SAS operators taught him in the art of warfare to shape him into the best combatant the world would ever see…That paid off well, he might not be a valedictorian because that would be Lena, but it was proven when he and Lena were handpicked by the Azur Lane military that he's got what it takes to be the best of the best. Kaga suddenly produced a paper shaped plane that the Sakura Empire carrier often carried and threw it toward William's head, the man noticed the paper being thrown at him and immediately moved his head and the paper plane stuck on the wooden wall behind him…

"Whoa…" William said out loud as he was amazed by the throw.

"…That kind of reflex, either you're a natural, trained hard, or your experience makes up for it. I can tell you've been in lots of combat situations…Either way, you'll do." Kaga said to William.

"Do? For what?" William asked Kaga with confusion on his face.

"If you're going to be a pilot that will participate with us, I have to make sure you're cut out for it." Kaga said to William.

"…You're testing me." William narrowed his gaze at Kaga while he said his conclusion.

"I am. The weak will die when they are thrown into the field of battle, only those that are strong will survive." Kaga said to William.

"Strong and lucky." William said to Kaga as he took the paper plane from the wall.

"Heh…Luck? Do you believe in luck, shikikan?" Kaga asked William with narrowed eyes.

"To be honest, yeah I do." William said to Kaga as he handed the paper plane back to her.

"I see…" Kaga said and took the paper from William.

Kaga stared at William a bit longer before she wordlessly nodded her head, turned around, and walked toward her room. William snorted and sucked on his cigarette, but there's no smoke filling his mouth. William cocked his eyebrows as he stared at his cigarette and noticed that the burning part was cut by Kaga's paper plane. She's good, either that was a complete accident, or she specifically did it to warn him not to smoke? Bah, he's getting too deep into it, she probably means nothing. William took out his lighter, he reignited his cigarette.

"…Strange girl…" William muttered as he walked to his room.

.

Finally, it's time to execute the operation and the first group that will go is led by Amagi herself. Their target would be the Sirens' staging area near their headquarters which needs to be demolished at least ten minutes after the attack begins, to produce the shock effect they would have to raze their targets as soon as possible. There is some doubt whether the Sirens could feel shock when a huge amount of their forces are neutralized as soon as possible, but they don't seem to feel any kind of pressure when they suffer catastrophic defeat in the past few battles against humanity. Nevertheless, it's worth trying to try and investigate how the Sirens will react when the prey they just injured an hour ago came back to strike them.

"We'll be heading out first." Amagi said to William.

"Roger that…Ms. Amagi, make sure everyone can return safe and unharmed." William said to Amagi.

"That's a pretty tall order shikikan-sama, but I'm up for the challenge…Good luck." Amagi said to William while she smiled.

Operation Icarus has been briefed to everyone that will participate in the operation, a bold lightning counterattack that could determine the fate of this battle on Furushima isle. Meguro agreed to Amagi's bold plan, but he will only send his forces in when the staging area and the supply base are destroyed, that way they could break through their defensive line and bombard one of the Siren bases with a hail mary of giggles and fun provided by bullets, bombs, and missiles…Not going to lie, lot of things could go wrong during the execution of this plan but…well, sometimes it's better fail while trying than sitting on your ass waiting to get killed. After seeing the group off by the docks, William turned around and walked off followed by Shoukaku from behind, she enthusiastically walked to his side and snatched the pilot helmet that William carried.

"Shoukaku?" William asked Shoukaku in confused tone.

"Please allow me to accompany you to your plane." Shoukaku said to William while she smiled.

"Sure. Let's go." William said to Shoukaku while he shrugged.

William has already worn the dark green flight suit that was given by the lieutenant that previously went with him to the hangar, he will immediately board the fighter jet and catch up to the ship girls. William glanced to his left side to look at Shoukaku who walked beside him while smiling and holding the helmet with both of her hands. The man noticed something peculiar about her and her interactions with the other ship girls on this island…maybe he should ask her.

"…I see you didn't talk much to either Akagi or Kaga." William said to Shoukaku.

"So, you did notice." Shoukaku said to William as she stared at him.

"Is something wrong?" William asked Shoukaku.

"I don't have the best relationship with them. Those senpai of ours, they made everything harder for Zuikaku and I in the past…and they still have the nerve to grow even stronger, so why were they beaten up so badly by Purifier before?" Shoukaku said to William while she smiled.

"...Okay, clearly you don't have a high opinion of them." William said to Shoukaku without looking at her.

"Maybe yes, maybe no~" Shoukaku replied cryptically.

…Hmmm, William thought that he should look into this further once they settled this entire mess with the Sirens. They reached the hangar area and immediately went to the previous hangar that contained aircraft. The chief engineer that was responsible for William's jet saw him coming and approached the giant while he smiled widely. Behind him is a single F-15 painted in forestland camouflage fully loaded with weapons on its hard points; several technicians are doing final checks on it while the chief approaches William.

"Oh, hey there! The plane is ready for you. F-15 Strike Eagle Single Seater Version, imported straight from Eagle Union…Armed with your standard cannons, joint strike missiles, unguided bombs, and two rocket pods. Fueled to the brim, serviced with the newest spare parts, and we even make the canopy shine, so you can see well despite your…you know, eye patch." The chief said to William while he smiled.

"…She looks lovely. Thanks for your hard work." William said to the chief while he grinned.

"No problem sir. We will be on standby here, if you need fuel and ammo, we will get it done." The chief said to William.

"Right, I will certainly need it…It seems I will be going now." William said out loud.

William climbed aboard the F-15 and seated himself in the cockpit, he looked at the instrument panels, the flight stick, the speed lever, the pedals, and tried to familiarize himself again with the cockpit. After remembering what William could remember regarding his experience with fighter craft, he turned on the jet engine and heard the familiar hum coming from behind. Shoukaku followed William by standing on top of the ladder used to climb aboard the F-15, she wordlessly put the pilot helmet on William's head and clipped it on while she smiled softly.

"Thank you." William said to Shoukaku while he smiled.

"No problem. Now when you're up there, please be very careful." Shoukaku said to William while she smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind". William said to Shoukaku as he nodded his head.

"And look here~" Shoukaku said to William as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of him.

"Hey, what the?!" William said to Shoukaku.

"Ufufufufu, that should serve well as memento." Shoukaku said to William after she giggled.

"If you want a picture you could just ask, you know?" William said to Shoukaku with half closed eye.

"It's not a picture that I want." Shoukaku said to William while she smirked.

What did she want then huh? William failed to anticipate when Shoukaku leaned in closer, she pressed her tender pink lips over his, and that completely took him by surprise as his mind shut down for a good few second. Unfortunately, before he could enjoy the sensation or even kiss her back, Shoukaku pulled away with a faint blush on her cheeks while she smiled widely. William stared at her for a bit before he heard some commotion around them, and he realized Shoukaku just kissed him in public with the chief engineer and his technicians still around!

"…I heard from a certain maid, when you give a good luck kiss to your shikikan, he will return safe and sound. So good luck out there shikikan-sama~…Oh and, please don't smoke so much." Shoukaku said to William then she winked and jumped off the ladder.

"…Belfast, what have you been telling the ladies?" William muttered to himself.

But that gets him excited and raring to go into combat against the Sirens to be honest, he's filled with confidence so William guessed that kiss works wonders. He wasted no more time in checking out all the instruments, gear, and his system to make sure everything works in order, no harm in checking manually even though the technicians gave it a green light before. The F-15 is good to go, it's time to take it into the air and prevail in combat…William brought down the glass canopy then gave a thumbs up to the chief who also gave him one in reply, William then waved at Shoukaku, and she returned the gesture while smiling. The man stared ahead at the open runway and put on his oxygen mask, he decided to contact the tower.

"Tower this is Knight, I'm ready for taxi, over." William contacted the control tower.

"Knight, this is Furushima Facility Control Tower. Runway one is available for you, you're cleared for takeoff, over." The tower personnel responded to William.

"Solid copy tower, Knight is moving to the runway. Over and out." William said to the personnel on the control tower.

Shoukaku watched as the F-15 William rode on and moved slowly to the runway, she then decided to leave when the plane was on the runway and prepared to take off. William took a moment to stare at his surroundings before he smirked, brought down his helmet visor, he pushed the acceleration lever and the plane speed up gradually until he reached take off speed where he pulled the flight stick upwards and the F15 flew off the runway…William grinned widely as he moved the plane in the air, the thrill of flying in high speed came rushing at him and goddamn he liked it! Prinz was right about him being a daredevil on occasions, he really did love to experience this kind of thrill…William saw the ship girls' formation down below, and he immediately lowered his altitude. The ship girls were shocked a bit when they suddenly heard a roaring jet engine following closely from behind with low speed.

"Look, it's shikikan!" Atago said out loud on the radio, the girls looked back to see an F15 flying behind them.

"…How are you doing ladies?" William asked them on the radio.

"Pretty good, how about you shikikan-kun?" Atago asked William back on the radio.

"Just like always when I fly, I love it!" William said out loud on the radio.

"It looks like shikikan-sama does know how to operate a fighter jet." Amagi exclaimed out loud.

"I remember that he claimed to be trained to ride all kinds of vehicles." Takao said to Amagi while she smiled.

William kept following them from behind at a close distance all the way to their designated target which is the Siren staging area located on an island, not too large when William looked over the satellite observation photo, but damn they are sure packed to the brim with Siren assets. Perfect, bombs would make short work of them, but they need to prioritize targets to make this whole operation easier…First off, William needs their air capability crippled because it's not only going to make the sky safer for him, but the less of those jets could harass the ship girls the better. Then, they have to take out any defensive emplacements on the staging area followed by their mass produced ships. All that, while the ship girls divided their attention to deal with any Siren ship girls that will engage them, this will be tough…

"…Alright ladies, we're approaching the staging area. I can see our target from here." William said to the ship girls on the radio.

"Your orders, shikikan?" Kaga asked William on the radio.

"Simple. Raze your targets to the ground, sink any that decide to engage you, and be ready when I call out targets, understood?" William asked the ship girls on the radio.

"""Hai!""" The ship girls responded on the radio.

"Fighter escorts for you, shikikan-sama." Akagi said to William on the radio as she sent four Zero fighters on William's side.

"Thanks, Akagi…Alright, Ms. Amagi. Shell their parked jets to reduce their air combat capability." William said to Amagi on the radio.

"Understood. Let's do this as planned." Amagi said to William on the radio.

Amagi set aim for the parked jets on the open field, she's in charge of the opening salvo, so she better hit as many targets as she could with a single barrage. Amagi fired her cannons, the high explosive shells flew high and hit the parked jets and destroyed them. Multiple craters formed on the place that Amagi struck, well they managed to kick the hornet nest, so they better expect the retaliation will come immediately. Five seconds after the shells hit the ground, multiple Siren ship girls jumped off from the island and landed on the water. They headed straight for the ship girl's' position, and they didn't look happy. William noted that there's at least two dozen Explorers, several Oceanas, and three Strategists…Shit, Atago and Takao have to combat that many?!

"Their KANSENs are coming out of their staging area! Be ready to engage them!" William said to the ship girls on the radio.

"Hai shikikan-dono! Atago, follow my lead!" Takao said out loud as she unsheathed her katana.

"Wakatta, Takao-chan!" Atago did the same and followed Takao closely.

Suddenly, an alarm blared all over William's cockpit, and his eyes widened. The alarm indicated that he's in the process of being locked on by a missile! William quickly looked around, but he didn't notice any Siren jets in the air, until he looked ahead into the clouds when he saw four missiles flying at high speed towards him, and the man yanked the flight stick hard to dive down. Motherfucker! They came out of nowhere! William quickly pulled up and went inside the dense clouds, the missiles' heat tracking system failed to keep up, and William managed to escape four missiles at once without using flares…But he can't rest easy yet because another missile barrage was fired at him, except this time he saw the jets that fired those missiles. Akagi's fighter escort accelerated and immediately engaged the Siren jets while William escaped from the missile lock, one Siren jet glued to his tail and fired another missile at William.

"Come the fuck on, how many missiles you got?!" William muttered while he gritted his teeth.

Deciding he had enough, William deployed flares then slowed down his F-15 which caused the Siren jet to overshoot. William was now in position to engage the Siren jet, and he didn't even hesitate to pull the trigger for the cannon, hot rounds immediately pounded the Siren jet's frame and after sustained fire it burst up in flames before losing stability then exploded midair. William checked the radar and realized that Akagi's fighters managed to down the rest…he sighed in relief, that's a close one.

"…I need to train with jets more…" William muttered to himself.

"They're getting too close, nee-sama!" Kaga's voice could be heard from the radio.

"I know, move to the right and keep them in range." Amagi said to Kaga on the radio.

It looks like the girls have trouble in facing, so many ship girls at once, William returned to the ship girls' position and noticed a large bulk of them chased after Amagi, Akagi, and Kaga as they strived to keep their distance while harming them, this tactic is usually known as 'Kiting'. William set the jet's armament to his rocket launcher and flew to the left side of the advancing Siren KANSENs; he lowered his speed for a bit just to give him enough time to adjust his position before William pulled the trigger. Rockets were launched from the two pods underneath his wings and barraged the Siren ship girls on the spot that caused them to stop advancing as they focused their AA fire at William who quickly pulled up and hid in the clouds. Amagi realized that the Siren ship girls were distracted and immediately shot her cannons at them followed by Akagi and Kaga launching their bombers toward their adversaries. It didn't take long to down all of them after that, turns out even Sirens could get distracted huh?

"Shikikan-sama, thank you for the help." Amagi said to William on the radio.

"You're welcome Ms. Amagi." William responded to Amagi on the radio.

"Shikikan-dono, their staging area is still active! We've managed to sink all of their mass produced ships. but their ground assets are mostly intact!" Takao said to William on the radio.

"I see. Akagi, Kaga, launch your bombers and let's blow the entire island." William said out loud on the radio.

"Bomber fleet is in the air shikikan-sama, please keep them safe while they go for their bombing run!" Akagi said to William on the radio.

"Got it." William said to Akagi on the radio.

Akagi and Kaga deployed around forty dive bombers to finish off that Siren staging area, William turned his fighter and followed closely from behind the formation. He checked the system and realized he still had a lot to waste on the enemy. William checked his radar and managed to spot an enemy formation to the north-west…Bah, he will need to engage them alongside Akagi and Kaga deployed fighter escorts. It looks like the plane formation consisted of seven aircraft; they outnumbered the enemy.

"Fighter formation bearing 320, we're moving in." William said out loud on the radio.

William and a handful of Zeroes accelerated toward the Siren jet formation, William locked one of the jets and launched a missile which managed to strike one of the jets. The others didn't take too kindly of that as they immediately focused their attention on William, to be fair though he's the only human who rode jets on this battlefield, so he stood out like a sore thumb. The Siren jets chased him around and constantly harassed him with their energy machine gun projectiles, however they're also being chased by the Zeroes that followed William to intercept them…Great, he only needs to stay alive long enough until the jets are destroyed. William turned around quickly and sharply to avoid the Siren jets, and he succeeded. The Siren jets were then gunned down one by one by the ship girls' fighter escorts.

"They're down…Alright, time to unload everything." William said out loud.

Okay, William flew on top of Siren's staging area and just proceeded to drop his entire payload of bombs straight on top of it. He looked down and the bomb managed to destroy two buildings and knocked several Spider Tanks out with a couple of large explosions, not too shabby for his first bombing run since the training course…The other dive bombers then put the killing blow by destroying the rest of the base, and dozens of explosions produced a thick smoke and dust clouds that covered the island…What remains down there were charred buildings, scraps, ground splattered in yellow blood, and dying Sirens. William huffed as he turned his jet around to head toward the headquarters, he's going to refuel and rearm for the next strike.

"Staging area destroyed!" Takao said out loud on the radio.

"For something as a staging area, surprisingly they're quite easy to destroy…" Amagi said out loud in wonder on the radio.

"Maybe they didn't expect us to strike them back after they just raided our headquarters?" Akagi asked Amagi.

"Perhaps…But with this, we'll lose the element of surprise. Our next strike will have to be executed at lightning speed if we want to maintain momentum." Amagi said to Akagi.

"Agreed. Don't worry, our second attack fleet is already on their way. I'll be heading back first to refuel and rearm ladies, stay safe out here." William said out loud on the radio.

"You too shikikan-sama." Amagi said to William on the radio while she smiled.

William pushed the lever forward and engaged the F-15's afterburner, flying back to headquarters at Mach One to rearm and refuel as quickly as possible. The ship girls watched from below as the jet disappeared into the horizon, Amagi then turned her stare toward the demolished Siren staging area…They might have succeeded but something was off. Supposedly, a staging area like this would have a large Siren presence, and they won't be ready for combat immediately. Even though that's the case and the fact that they reacted according to how Amagi predicted they would be, when they came in then started killing them, she couldn't help but to think that all of this was too easy for some reason…It felt like the Sirens didn't even try to defend their position. Then, there's that matter where their fighters specifically went after William himself…She saw how it happened from the surface of the sea, and she has a theory for why that happened. But she thought it would be better to keep it to herself until she could get more evidence…

"…It looks like Zuikaku was right. He's certainly capable in combat while he leads from the front." Amagi suddenly said on the radio.

"Are you worried about his safety, Amagi nee-sama?" Akagi asked Amagi while she smiled.

"Not really, even when you're inside the safest military base on Earth, the Sirens could still get you…But, did you notice that dive with the rocket barrage just to distract the ship girls attacking us? He is reckless, what are the chances he will get shot down by flying straight toward a Siren ship girl like that? Did he discard any thoughts regarding his safety?" Amagi asked out loud on the radio.

"And that is something we haven't found the cure for yet…Maybe you can help with that, Amagi-san?" Atago asked Amagi on the radio.

"We'll see…" Amagi simply responded on the radio.

.

Zuikaku yawned as she followed Shoukaku and Hiryuu from behind, she should've got some shut eye while she could when Amagi and the others went to attack the staging area, so now she felt sleepy…Oh well, that might change when bombs, shells, plasma bolts or even laser pulses started to rain on her because adrenaline is one way to get your system up and running on overdrive. Zuikaku stared forward again and noticed that they had arrived at their target, the Siren supply base. The base was used by the Sirens to store up their supplies, whatever was inside those containers alongside some buildings that may serve as storage and pyramid like buildings that humanity is sure are power plants…

The base has several trapezium-like towers surrounding the perimeter; they are the Sirens' defensive coastal guns that could fire concentrated plasma bolts with enough power to split a mass-produced human aircraft carrier into two. They are vulnerable against airstrikes though unfortunately, each corner of their top sides are installed with Siren AA guns that fired plasma bolts…If anyone thinks for a second that the slower plasma bolts are less deadly than their other pulse laser projectiles, then surely they haven't witnessed the hail of fuckfest those guns could deliver with their absurd rate of fire…fortunately, their range is shorter at around two kilometers than the pulse laser one which could reach four and half kilometers before the magnetic field that encased the laser dissipated, and the laser's power will weaken fast.

"Supply base spotted." Shoukaku said out loud.

"Alright, Shoukaku, Zuikaku, stick to the plan. We'll raze everything." Hiryuu said to Shoukaku and Zuikaku.

"Got it." "Sure" Zuikaku and Shoukaku responded.

The three of them deployed their entire squadrons of bombers in the air, the key tactics to face these Siren tower defense emplacements is to fly up high and dive down with aircraft or bombard whatever they were protecting from long range with battleships. In this case, they will obliterate anything behind those towers from up high…Around sixty bombers flew toward the supply base, the towers immediately lit up their AA guns at the fleet of bombers who took evasive action while simultaneously diving in to release their payloads. Bombs free fall to their target and covered up the entire supply base in explosions, some repeatedly hit their large pyramid like structure believed to be their main power generator, and the building exploded in a bright blue flash of light when the damage it took exceeded their durability.

"Yes, take that!" Hiryuu said out loud while she grinned.

"That must be their main generator!" Shoukaku said out loud.

"Whoa…" Zuikaku said out loud in amazement.

"Mass produced ships incoming! They're battleships!" Kako reported on the radio.

"Kawakaze, Kinu, skirt around and sink them! Kako, provide overwatch and support both of them with your guns!" Hiryuu said out loud on the radio.

"""Ryoukai!""" Kawakaze, Kinu, and Kako said out loud on the radio.

The two cruisers and one destroyer moved to intercept the mass-produced Siren battleships, maybe they are mass produced models, but their guns' raw firepower could still blast a ship girl to oblivion if the rounds hit them. The first salvo was fired by the battleships, but since their position was far away from the ship girls, this enabled them to dodge their salvo with relative ease. Kawakaze accelerated even faster than Kinu and Kako as she prepared her torpedo tubes. Kawakaze passed through two battleships by passing between them, at the same time she launched her torpedoes in both directions which immediately breached their side hulls.

Kako saw that the rest of the battleships were trying to target Kawakaze, so she fired her guns equipped with high explosive rounds to set a few of them on fire, after that she got on close on a battleship and launched an entire torpedo salvo straight at it. The large explosion on the battleship's port side was followed by the massive flooding of sea water that entered the ship's hull, Kako finished it off by burning the battleship as it sinks to the sea…Kinu noted that she had to take down the battleship even faster, so she boldly jumped high in the air fully knowing the battleship's main guns couldn't aim that fast and up high, Kinu took out two of her torpedoes and hurled them and on the ship's deck. The torpedoes penetrated deep into the battleship's internal parts before Kinu fired off her guns straight in the hole they created, the high explosive shells lit up the torpedoes' explosive charges, and the result was a massive detonation from within the Siren battleship's hull that torn it in two.

"Wow, nice going there Kinu!" Hiryuu said to Kinu on the radio.

"Thanks! Next!" Kinu said out loud on the radio.

"…Shikikan sure is taking a while." Zuikaku said out loud on the radio.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon, Zuikaku. Besides, we didn't have any trouble with the supply base." Shoukaku said to Zuikaku.

"Yeah…Huh?! Aerial torpedoes!" Zuikaku suddenly shouted.

Two Siren jets appeared from behind the battleships' formation and then launched a torpedo each before pulling up, the torpedoes were aimed straight at Shoukaku and Zuikaku who narrowly dodged them. Both of them immediately launched their fighter aircraft and chased the Siren jets around, the two jets proved to be quite elusive as they returned to their carriers that deployed them and quickly swatted Shoukaku and Zuikaku's fighters out of the skies which forced the two cranes to pull their planes back.

"They have a carrier?! Let's swarm it and bomb it to oblivion!" Zuikaku said to Shoukaku.

"Don't worry, I'll do it. You two keep the pressure on that supply base!" Hiryuu said to Zuikaku and Shoukaku.

"Fine. Zuikaku, let's go!" Shoukaku said to Zuikaku.

"Kinu! That defense tower is still active! Get out of there!" Kako said to Kinu on the radio.

"Shit! Oi, Shoukaku-san, Zuikaku-san, we need air support!" Kinu said to Shoukaku and Zuikaku on the radio.

"We're sending out our second wave of bombers, Kinu-san! Please hold on!" Shoukaku said to Kinu on the radio.

Both Shoukaku and Zuikaku sent out their bomber fleets, and they witnessed Kinu moving around in a random pattern to avoid large projectiles of plasma being hurled at her, if that thing hits her then safe to say she's toast, literally. Zuikaku sent out two dive bombers to destroy the tower, but the AA guns around it provided a wall of plasma bolts that shot down her two bombers in seconds, Zuikaku sighed as she tried a more radical plan. She flew her dive bomber up high, diving down in a ninety degree angle as she released the bomb above the tower. The bomb successfully hits the tower, but it remains functional, so Zuikaku proceeds to ram the damn thing with a kamikaze maneuver which completely wrecked the tower, and that allowed Kinu to retreat safely.

"That's a close one, thanks Zuikaku-san." Kinu said to Zuikaku on the radio.

"Anytime." Zuikaku said to Kinu on the radio while she smiled.

"I detected something on the radar. It's shikikan!" Hiryuu said out loud on the radio.

"Shikikan-sama? Can you hear me!?" Shoukaku asked William on the radio.

"Loud and clear Shoukaku, looks like you ladies started without me." William responded to Shoukaku on the radio.

"We're almost finished with the supply base, shikikan-sama." Shoukaku said to William on the radio.

"Already?" William asked Shoukaku on the radio, his tone filled with surprise and confusion.

"Yes? The Sirens didn't put up much of a fight." Shoukaku said to William on the radio.

…Really? When you think about it, something like a 'supply base' should be well guarded because if they lose their supplies then it could impede their capability. Any war in history demonstrated such importance to logistics and supply chains. So, why the fuck didn't the Sirens guard their supplies better? Do they have other sites on the northern part of the isle? Did they stretch themselves too thin? Either way, William knows something is off because supposedly, they'll get pounded by dozens of Siren ships or ship girls right about now…

"…Alright, just finish up and get ready to immediately hit the defensive line. Commander Meguro's forces will move shortly. I'll stick around at high altitude and keep an eye out for targets." William said to the ship girls on the radio.

"Understood shikikan, be careful, they have a carrier somewhere, and it keeps launching jets." Hiryuu said to William on the radio.

"Got it, thanks for the heads up Ms. Hiryuu." William said to Hiryuu on the radio.

"Shikikan, do you require escorts?" Zuikaku asked William on the radio as she deployed two Zeroes.

"That would be nice Zuikaku, thanks." William said to Zuikaku on the radio.

After two more bombing runs from Zuikaku and Shoukaku, the supply base was left in complete ruins. William checked his loadout reading and noticed that he only used his cannon for a bit, he could go straight to hit the Sirens' defensive line. The third phase would be a combined assault with Meguro's regular forces, he only has one fleet left consisting of four landing ships, five frigates, three destroyers, and one battleship…William noted few blips appeared on radar and registered as friendly, he looked behind and saw a squadron of fighter jets approached then formed up around him. The one beside him is an F-35 painted with forestland camouflage, this squadron consisted of the remaining planes he saw back on the hangar.

"Knight, this is Gaia Lead. We were told by Commander Meguro to join up on the defensive line assault." The pilot beside his plane said to William on the radio.

"He only sent one squadron?" William asked Gaia Lead on the radio.

"Well…we're the only fixed wing flyers left on this isle, the majority of us were shot down yesterday when we were being pushed back." Gaia Lead said to William with a somber tone on the radio.

"I see…Good luck to you Gaia Squadron, we'll help as much as we can." William said to Gaia lead on the radio while he nodded his head.

"Thanks. But I believe it would be us who's helping you and the ship girls, we'll secure the sky, so you could destroy those defensive emplacements." Gaia Lead said to William on the radio.

"Sound plan…Let's do this." William said to Gaia Lead on the radio.

…After Gaia Squadron formed up with William, they also joined with the ship girls. The group immediately moved toward the Sirens' primary defensive line which has towers and gun emplacements which they have to destroy in order to grant safe passage for Meguro's regular forces which are already en route. William received word from Amagi that they already went ahead of Meguro's forces and should arrive within two minutes, they have a narrow time frame to break through the line, but what William saw in front of him caused the man to doubt they could get this combat done soon. The defensive line was littered by various towers even on a seaborne platform, if they want to break through from this side, they will have to destroy at least four towers…

"Damn…this will be a tough fight." William muttered to himself.

"Shikikan-sama, we will arrive momentarily." Amagi said to William on the radio.

"Understood." William said to Amagi on the radio.

"Knight, two squadrons of those Siren jets. We're outnumbered, and we need to head to the battlefield quickly, so it's time to show what you can do in an aerial dogfight." Gaia Lead said to William on the radio.

"Roger that Gaia Lead…Bogey's on the HUD, engaging!" William said out loud on the radio.

Two squadrons versus one squadron with one wild card, both sides immediately fired their missiles as they started their close range dogfight against one another. William immediately glued to one Siren jet's tail, it tried to shake William off while he persistently followed it with occasional cannon fire. William locked the jet and launched a missile at it, however the attack failed as the jet barrel rolled to the right side while unleashing flares which caused William's missile to miss. He clicked his tongue in frustration while he looked to the side, only to see an F-35 launch a missile at a Siren jet from behind and shoot down the one that approached from the front with cannon fire…

"You lads are making this look easy!" William said out loud on the radio.

"Heh, we've been doing this ever since graduation! Not to brag, but we got some experience under our belt!" Gaia Lead said to William on the radio.

No shit! William resolved to train with fighter jets more because he realized compared to these guys, he's a dead beat. However, that didn't stop him from getting in close with another Siren jet and furiously firing his cannon at it. The rounds chipped the jet's plating before it destroyed the internal parts, the Siren jet fell down while burning and out of control. William heard a warning from his plane console that he was being locked, so he accelerated with afterburner while he went straight up and broke off from the dogfight mess. William could see that one of the Siren jets followed him up, he decelerated all the way until his jet stalled and nosedived back to Earth.

Now that William and the Siren jet are face to face, William locked the jet for a missile strike while he fired his cannon. The Siren jet didn't show any sign of backing off despite being hit by several cannon rounds, William didn't hesitate to launch a missile at it which destroyed the jet. William passed beside the burning wreckage to rejoin the dogfight, however Gaia Squadron already shot down most of the Siren jets leaving three which started to retreat behind the Sirens' defensive line. Great, they managed to win this aerial skirmish without losing anyone. Things couldn't get better than-

"I got a reading…Shit, check your radar Knight!" Gaia Lead said to William on the radio.

"…What the fuck?! Sirens, lots of them!" One member of Gaia Squadron said out loud on the radio.

"Ladies, hustle up. Sirens are reinforcing this defensive line!" William said out loud to the ship girls on the radio.

The radar was filled with dots behind the Sirens' defensive line, when William lowered his altitude, he could clearly see multiple portals opened, and Siren ship girls came out of those portals. There's only around thirty of them if William didn't miscount, they didn't scare him. What really scared him? There are ten portals that opened in the sky and poured out so many Siren jets that William lost count on how many of them there were; by estimation there should be around one hundred of them. He won't lie, William was rarely scared, but the sight was enough to cause William to freeze a bit before he heard his radio blared to life.

"We have arrived shikikan-sama! We're joining in combat immediately!" Amagi said to William on the radio.

"Same here shikikan-sama, we are ready…Kami, there's so many of them!" Shoukaku said out loud on the radio.

"L-Ladies, fighter screens! We need some help over here!" William immediately said to the ship girls on the radio.

"""""Fighters launched!"""" All ship girl carriers said out loud on the radio.

Akagi, Kaga, Hiryuu, Shoukaku, and Hiryuu launched all of their available fighters in the air and took position behind William alongside Gaia Squadron…The clash was inevitable, a massive dogfight began over the sky of Furushima. In the middle of the clusterfuck, William and Gaia Squadron found out that their job just become hell of a lot easier to do because almost all of the Siren jets were busy with the ship girls' fighter craft which allowed them to easily tail and shoot down any Siren jets…William opted to break off from the dogfight, however because he still has the ship girls to command. He couldn't neglect them just so he could get a few kills high up in the air. He wants to fight beside them, to use the jet he rode to help the girls when they need it…

"Yeah! Man, having the ship girls' fighters on our side is surely relieving!" Gaia Lead said out loud on the radio.

"Don't count on them too much though, they're still less advanced than our jets!" William said to Gaia Lead on the radio.

…Amagi narrowed her eyes as she came to a realization, now she knows why their staging area and supply base were so easy to destroy. They purposely held back their own forces which were deployed right now to combat them when they gathered conveniently in one spot near their defensive line. They meant to crush humanity's forces in one fell swoop. But what made them so confident that a sneaky plan of theirs will work out in their favor? Amagi didn't know, but she knew one thing, she would not let Sakura Empire forces and the ship girls go along with the Sirens' trap. With that in mind, she quickly forms a tactic to quickly destroy the Siren towers.

"Akagi." Amagi called Akagi.

"Hai, nee-sama?" Akagi asked Amagi.

"I want those towers brought to the ground. Focus your bombers on them, I'll deal with their mass produced ships." Amagi said to Akagi.

"Wakarimashita!" Akagi said to Amagi as she launched her bombers.

"Kaga, help me out with those Explorers please." Amagi said to Kaga.

"Hai nee-sama!" Kaga said to Amagi as she launched her torpedo bombers.

Advancing Siren ship girls and towers that are prepared to engage them if they get too close? Their only option for now is to rely on the backline ships. Akagi relentlessly bombed a tower despite the heavy AA fire toward her squadron of bombers, the repeated bombing hit the large plasma cannon which after tenth hit exploded in a huge blue flash before it crumbled. Amagi carefully aimed her cannons toward another tower before she relentlessly pounded it with armor piercing shells, after her fourth salvo the tower broke down and was disabled. Shoukaku and Zuikaku were about to launch their attack when several Siren ship girls blitzed toward them, their group had to move and rendezvous with Amagi and the others, so they could combine their strength.

"Hiryuu here, I spotted formations of ship girls just behind the defensive line. We are being chased around so let's rendezvous, Amagi-san." Hiryuu said to Amagi on the radio.

"Yes, let's meet at the designated point." Amagi said on the radio.

"What are they doing there, Ms. Hiryuu?" William asked Hiryuu on the radio.

"They didn't move at all, they just stood still shikikan…As if, observing the battle." Hiryuu said to William on the radio.

"Don't give them any chance to learn our strategy or anything, harass them Ms. Hiryuu!" William said to Hiryuu on the radio.

"Hai! What the-" Hiryuu said to William on the radio.

BOOM!

An explosion threw Hiryuu off the sea surface as Zuikaku, Shoukaku, Kinu, Kako, and Kawakaze could only watch in utter shock and horror. Hiryuu landed on the water while she screamed in pain. Kinu, Kako, and Kawakaze immediately formed a defensive perimeter facing Siren's territory while Shoukaku and Zuikaku went to see Hiryuu. She got burn marks on her right side of the face, her rigging cracked which was also scorched, and some parts of her clothes on the right side were torn.

"Hiryuu-senpai!" Zuikaku said out loud.

"That…hurtttttt!" Hiryuu said out loud while she gritted her teeth as she stood up.

"What happened?!" William asked out loud on the radio.

"I'm…under attack!" Hiryuu said to William on the radio.

"Can you see who attacked you?!" William asked Hiryuu on the radio.

"No-" Hiryuu said to William on the radio.

"INCOMING!" Kinu suddenly shouted.

BOOM!

Another purple explosion hit Hiryuu and sent her away again from her position, this time Shoukaku and Zuikaku managed to reach Hiryuu's position as she fell onto the water again. This explosion shattered her riggings in half, and she's surely can't fight anymore, Hiryuu gritted her teeth in pain as Shoukaku and Zuikaku held her to inspect the damage…Hiryuu earned a bed rest with how she looked right now, she's barely conscious as the heat, shockwave, and kinetic impact alone should've killed a normal human.

"Again! They're targeting our backlines!" Zuikaku said out loud on the radio.

"Oh kami, her body and her rigging!" Shoukaku said out loud while she grimaced.

"Ms. Hiryuu, pull back! Ms. Yuubari, administer some first aid, have a look at her rigging and see what battlefield repairs you could do!" William said to the ship girls on the radio.

"Hai, shikikan!" Only Yuubari who responded…William got a bad feeling about this.

"ANOTHER ONE!" Kinu shouted on the radio.

BOOM!

Kinu saw a purple flash which caused her to instantly shout out loud, and she managed to see what was attacking Hiryuu, a purplish large plasma bolt flew at almost light speed and went past her which also narrowly hit her head. Shoukaku and Zuikaku stood in front of Hiryuu to shield her, the explosion sent both of them flying back away from Hiryuu. But unlike Hiryuu, both of them went unconscious due to the powerful hit. Kinu immediately took charge of the situation, if no one acted now then all of them could die getting sniped by unknown weapons!

"No no no! Get Shoukaku-san and Zuikaku-san, we're going to Amagi-san's location!" Kinu said to Kako and Kawakaze who immediately moved to secure them.

"Dammit! If…If I go down here…I'll take them…with me as many as…I can! FINAL COUNT-" Hiryuu managed to stand up shakily as she prepared to launch all of her planes.

"You're reckless beyond belief, come with me!" Akagi suddenly said beside Hiryuu.

Akagi grabbed Hiryuu, Kawakaze grabbed Shoukaku, and Kako grabbed Zuikaku. They immediately moved to avoid getting targeted by whatever it was from behind the Sirens' defensive line again, Kinu led the group to take cover behind a tiny island where Amagi and the others already waited for them by the beach. Kawakaze and Kako jumped off the water while carrying the unconscious Shoukaku and Zuikaku, the ran all the way until they reached the tree lines off the beach and put the crane sisters down…Both Shoukaku and Zuikaku suffered the same fate as Hiryuu, some part of their bodies, clothes, and riggings are scorched…Akagi who's carrying Hiryuu and Kinu were the last ones to arrive on the tiny island, she immediately carried Hiryuu to the tree line where the ship girls temporarily gathered to reconsolidate.

"A-Akagi-senpai?" Hiryuu asked Akagi.

"Stay still, Hiryuu. Nee-sama, I have secured her." Akagi said to Amagi.

"Excellent. Yuubari-chan, please get on it. I'll report to shikikan-sama." Amagi said to Yuubari.

"Hai. Stay still Hiryuu-san." Yuubari said to Hiryuu.

Yuubari ran a thorough check on her, she's not a medic by any means, but at least she could perform first aid and rigging repairs for a bit. The other ship girls helped the three wounded carriers by giving them some first aid and make sure there's no complications from their wounds, Hiryuu winced when Kako adjusted her right hand so she could inspect it while Yuubari checked on Hiryuu's rigging. Kaga was concentrating in operating her planes to scour the area and make sure the Siren didn't bull rush them while they recollected themselves, Akagi stared at her juniors…she frowned that all of her juniors here had to suffer such wounds.

"…Arigatou senpai, sorry to trouble…you…URG!" Hiryuu said to Akagi then she winced in pain.

"No need. I'm just being a good senpai, Hiryuu…Besides, Souryuu would be very sad if you die." Akagi said to Hiryuu while she smiled.

"Yeah…you're right, senpai." Hiryuu said to Akagi while she smiled weakly.

"…How about Shoukaku and Zuikaku?" Akagi asked out loud.

"They're still unconscious, Akagi-san." Takao said to Akagi as she tended Shoukaku.

"…Alright, please stabilize them." Akagi said to Takao while she frowned a bit.

…William had heard of the situation from Amagi, and he felt dread assaulting him. What was attacking them? Supposedly, they stood quite some distance from the defensive line at around thirty kilometers away! What kind of weapon that Siren used to be able to snipe ship girls that caused three of their carriers to be out of action? Shoukaku…William gripped on his flight stick tightly, she gave him a good luck kiss, and now she's the one who was injured? Did she transfer all of her luck to him? He's getting too deep into it…William was sure that the Sirens would've targeted any of the backlines anyway even if it wasn't Shoukaku…

Well, if William wants to get the girls out of this mess and save them, he better take matters into his own hands. He remembered that there's a Siren ship girl formation behind the defensive line…William dived down from above the clouds toward the ship girls, his HUD managed to read the aircraft's sensors that detailed the result on the ship girls' formation down below, and there's five ship girls there. Two Trackers and three Peace Breakers…

"I see…The ones that attacked Hiryuu are Siren ship girls, must be the Peace Breaker class." William said out loud on the radio.

"No wonder, I heard their cannons are monstrous, but to think they could hit a ship girl standing over thirty kilometers away…" Akagi said out loud on the radio.

"Yeah, those things' raw firepower is insane." Atago said out loud on the radio.

"We need to take them down, or we can't provide support for the assault, shikikan-sama." Amagi said to William on the radio.

"Well, in order to do that you would need to get past that defensive line to reach their formation, but if we don't bring down those two remaining towers soon enough our ships would take massive damage, and this entire operation is doomed to failure…I have a plan. We'll go by sending attack planes, the question is who would send them out? Akagi or Ms. Kaga?" William explained on the radio.

"I volunteer." Kaga suddenly said on the radio.

"Are you sure, Ms. Kaga?" William asked Kaga to confirm her decision on the radio,

"Almost every plane I have is ready for a second deployment. What are your orders, shikikan?" Kaga asked William on the radio.

"We don't have a lot of time, so we can't circle around the active towers. That means you have to fly high and hide inside the clouds while tracking my position, Ms. Kaga. Sneak past the towers, and immediately dive toward the ship girl that I will attack, can you do that?" William asked Kaga on the radio.

"No problem whatsoever, shikikan." Kaga said to William on the radio.

"Good. As soon as the towers are destroyed, I want our vanguards to immediately storm inside their perimeter and engage the remaining Siren KANSENs on sight." William said out loud to the ship girls on the radio.

"Understood." Amagi answered on the radio.

Akagi and Amagi stared at Kaga who prepared her rigging, she only nodded her head in full confidence as she summoned her dive bombers up in the air. The fleet of bombers immediately went up high and hid inside the clouds, going to William's position at maximum speed…the aerial dogfight had stopped as the majority of the Siren jets were shot down. Gaia Squadron also retreated from the frontline to refuel and rearm before they will escort Meguro's forces that just arrived on the battlefield. The entire fleet slowed down when spotters on board saw that two of the towers were still active…

"Commander Blaze! My fleet has arrived, but the defensive lines are still active! What the hell is going on!?" Meguro asked William on the radio.

"Some setbacks happened commander, tell your fleet to hold their position for a bit!" William said to Meguro on the radio.

"…Fine, just bring them down as quickly as you can. We brought something for the base's assault, so we can't afford to lose our transport ships." Meguro said to William on the radio.

"Got it. Let us handle this threat now." William said to Meguro on the radio.

"Shikikan, I'm right behind you." Kaga said to William on the radio.

William checked the radar and saw a large formation of friendly blips behind his plane, Kaga had arrived. William flew under the cover of the clouds while Kaga followed closely behind, he resolved to take those Siren ship girls down whatever the cost. He yanked the flight stick and made his F-15 dive toward the sea while readying bombs, the ship girls immediately noticed him and started firing their pulse laser AA guns toward William. He realized that one hit to the body, and his plane would explode to smithereens, only one good hit…But he gritted his teeth as he kept diving toward the ship girls, losing his shit now would gain him nothing!

"…I got a feeling that I'm going to regret this later. Damn I hate those pulse lasers!" William muttered to himself.

The adrenaline pumped around his system, his reflex heightened, and his perception of time slowed down. He aligned his reticle toward one of the Peace Breakers, his finger ready on the trigger to release the bomb. But a pulse laser bolt flew too close to the cockpit and briefly startled him, William however shook his head, so he could regain his focus. He accelerated and squeezed the trigger at the same time as he yanked the flight stick backwards, and he felt his gut squeezed as the F-15 pulled up its nose and the G forces put a strain on his body. The jet flew past the Peace Breakers, and they all dodged the dropped bombs by moving to the side…William looked back and he clicked his tongue, he really needed to practice doing that.

"…Now I know how those Sirens felt when the ship girls dodged their bombs." William muttered to himself.

However, that doesn't mean the attack already failed, Kaga and dozens of dive bombers swarmed the Peace Breakers, and they didn't hesitate to drop all of their bombs simultaneously. The three Peace Breakers were hit by multiple armor piercing bombs that managed to crush two of them before being obliterated by the resulting explosions, the last Peace Breaker did get hit by the bombs, but it still managed to stand up despite its injured state. But that came with a price, the majority of Kaga's dive bombers were shot down by the Trackers.

"Nice hit Ms. Kaga!" William said to Kaga on the radio.

"My planes are downed. You have to finish that one off by yourself, shikikan." Kaga said to William on the radio.

"I have no choice huh?" William said out loud on the radio.

William doubled back as he changed his armament to his joint strike missile, he still has four of them, and he intended to make full use of them. Flying in low height as the two Trackers lit up their AA guns once more, but William couldn't care less about those two as his primary target is not them, and it's limping as it tries to get away from him. The sensor locked on to the Peace Breaker, and William squeezed the trigger, two missiles were launched and hit the Peace Breaker straight in the face and torso as William flew above it.

"In your face, bitch!" William cussed when he saw the explosion.

"Shikikan, did you succeed in killing it?" Kaga asked William on the radio.

"Anything that could survive two joint strike missiles to the face is something I don't want to fight; I'll double back to confirm." William said to Kaga on the radio.

"I hope that it did die." Akagi said out loud on the radio.

"Phew…fortunately, it's dead." William said to the ship girls on the radio, he only saw the Peace Breaker slowly sink to the bottom of the sea.

"Towers destroyed; we punched a hole in their lines!" Amagi said to William on the radio.

"Kinu, Kako, Kawakaze, Takao, Atago! Move in!" William ordered the ship girls to begin their assault.

"""""Ryoukai!"""" Kinu, Kako, Kawakaze, Takao and Atago said to William on the radio.

"Commander Meguro, we managed to make a hole on the south western and southern part of the defensive line. We will clear the remaining Sirens now; you may want to advance steadily." William said to Meguro on the radio.

"Then we will do just that. Advancing now commander." Meguro said to William on the radio.

The ship girls redeployed to the battle and headed straight for the two Trackers who opted to flee and rejoin the others way back from the defensive line, this Siren ship girls' fleet has at least thirty of them and the vanguards are moving to engage them. Outnumbered? For sure, but their raw skill will make up for it. As long as they keep moving and kill those Sirens one by one then they can come out on top, it will be hard with three of their carriers being downed, and they have to rely solely on Amagi as backline support. Just as Meguro's fleet passed through the defensive lines, dozens of portals appeared all around them, and Siren ship girls alongside their mass produced ships came out of it. One of them is Purifier herself, she's back on action while grinning and riding a brand new rigging.

"What the hell?! Portals!" Meguro said out loud on the radio.

"…It's a massive scale ambush…this entire operation is a giant trap?!" William asked out loud on the radio.

"Bah! You humans are so predictable sometimes! I thought you'd do better than this!" Purifier said to them on the radio.

"She must be Purifier…" William muttered to himself.

"We outnumber and outgun you in every possible way! Surrender now and you might be spared, we aren't merciless you know?" Purifier said to Meguro on the radio.

"Tell that to ten thousand humans you've killed yesterday, Siren! Men, women, and children that live on this isle! Mercy my ass!" Meguro shouted at Purifier on the radio, rage apparent in his tone.

"Awww, I'm weawy sowwy?" Purifier said to Meguro on the radio.

"You'll die here today, monster!" Meguro declared to Purifier on the radio.

"Ara, don't you know? Killing me is something that's almost impossible to do! Mwahahahahaha!" Purifier said to Meguro on the radio before she laughed maniacally.

"Ms. Amagi, what's the situation?" William asked Amagi on the radio.

"We are completely surrounded, shikikan-sama, our only way out is to punch another hole between their forces. Unless we disable our rigging and swim underneath the water surface to escape, I doubt that would be effective." Amagi said to William on the radio.

"Dammit…Think of something Will, anything…" William muttered to himself.

…THIS! This trap was apparent from the moment they struck their staging area and supply base, but none of them caught wind of it, the Sirens must've realized that they planned to attack them from the start and waited for the right moment to kill all of them in one stroke. Basics of combat! If the attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush! How could William forget?! Only the scale is different because in the end, they still walked into an ambush! Okay, William discarded his regret aside for now as he concentrated to help their entire forces that were trapped by the Sirens' encirclement…William only had four bombs left, two joint strike missiles left alongside cannons, but that is surely not enough to face that many. He's out of options…

"…Guten tag kommandant, it seems you require some help." Someone said to William on the radio.

"Huh? Bismarck?!" William asked out loud as she recognized her voice on the radio.

---

(Bismarck by Sabaton starts playing)

---

William picked up new radar contacts to the east, twenty new friendly contacts…The Ironblood fleet had arrived in arrow formation with Bismarck herself leading from the front, she didn't even hesitate to bring the entire Kriegsmarine ship girls on the base with her in preparation for the battle. Bismarck noted that their allies are surrounded by the Sirens KANSENs and mass-produced ships, so it's up to the Ironbloods in order to free them and turn this battle back in their favor. An F-15 fighter jet approached them from the front and flew low enough beside Bismarck, and she could see William himself staring at her. Bismarck was glad that their kommandant isn't trapped inside the encirclement…That means, she and the others have nothing to hold back for.

"I'm sorry for being late. The Ironbloods have arrived, kommandant." Bismarck said to William on the radio as she nodded at him.

"Nonsense! You're earlier than I thought! Bismarck, you are clear to engage all Siren on sight! No mercy! Slay them all!" William said to Bismarck on the radio.

"Jawohl kommandant! Everyone, prepare for combat! Today, we will rule the waves! Glory for Ironblood!" Bismarck said out loud to the ship girls.

""""""""""Sieg heil!"""""""""" The Ironblood ship girls replied in unison to Bismarck.

The ship girl formation consisting of twenty ship girls divided themselves into smaller arrowhead formations as they spread out to prevent themselves bunching up. The Sirens apparently realized that the Ironbloods have arrived, and they're sending in thirty ship girls to intercept them. Well, that's not fair, for them that is! Tirpitz glided toward Bismarck's side as she noted the Siren ship girls' line formation, thirty-two kilometers and closing in.

"We're facing dozens of them at once, schwester!" Tirpitz said to Bismarck who calmly kept staring at the Sirens.

"Don't let numbers discourage you Tirpitz, maybe we're outnumbered, but we aren't outgunned in the slightest." Bismarck said to Tirpitz calmly.

"All guns are aimed and ready, Lord Bismarck. Waiting for orders!" Prinz reported to Bismarck from her left side.

"Gut...On my signal!" Bismarck said out loud.

The distance between the two opposing forces is closing in fast, they're twenty kilometers away from each other now and in the next few minutes they'll be at each other's faces. But before that happens, the Ironblood fleet will get their first shot in. William accelerated his fighter jet towards their formation, he intended to provide a distraction for the Sirens. As expected, the Siren KANSENs immediately lit up their AA guns to hit him, but William nimbly moved in a random pattern to avoid their projectiles before he flew upwards. Realizing that they are close enough now and a little distracted, they're too late to act because William just bought enough time for the whole Ironblood ship girls' fleet to aim toward the Sirens.

"FEUER!" Bismarck shouted mightily.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Bismarck opened the battle with a full salvo from her guns, as the flagship of the navy and the Pride of Ironblood, it's customary for her to get the first kill. That salvo was followed by the other ship girls who followed her by firing their own salvos at the approaching Siren ship girls. The Sirens were caught off guard as one Peace Breaker class got torn apart by Bismarck's first salvo of armor piercing rounds, and her sisters soon followed by Ironblood's hellish rain of lead. Before the Sirens could even fire in retaliation, the Ironblood cruisers and destroyers pinned them down by firing rapidly at them. Bismarck and the other battleships soon finished with their reload, and they wasted zero seconds as they fired again at the remaining targets; thirty Siren KANSENs were left as dead husks in the water in less than one minute since the combat started.

"Onwards! Don't give them time to react and counterattack! Graf, deploy your wings! Prinz, lead the vanguard's assault!" Bismarck quickly ordered her subordinates.

"Jawohl. Let's begin our symphony of destruction." "As you wish…Vanguards! Open fire! Follow me!" Graf Zeppelin and Prinz said in response.

"Wolfpack here, we're going into assault mode, Lord Bismarck!" U-556 surfaced beside Bismarck and said to her.

"Take care down there, 556." Bismarck said to U-556 while she nodded her head.

"Got it! Let's go, everyone!" U-556 said to the other submarines as they dived.

"Our attack is working, schwester, those Siren formations on the south and the west are moving to attack us…There's so many of them." Tirpitz said to Bismarck.

"Then I hope you're ready for some close quarter combat, Tirpitz. We'll take them, head on." Bismarck said to Tirpitz while she smiled a bit.

"Jawohl, schwester!" Tirpitz said to Bismarck.

Graf's fighters and bombers approached the approaching Siren ship girls and mass produced ships, they unloaded all of their ammo toward the mass produced ships, since they are bigger and easier to target. The bombs crippled the mass produced ships, while the Siren ship girls were forced to engage Ironblood ship girls in close quarters. Graf Spee accelerated forward and clawed through two Explorers simultaneously, she then approached and threw one Oceana upwards where she was gunned down, full of holes by Deutschland who's on standby behind Graf Spee with her dual pistols. But despite their effort, many Siren KANSENs managed to pass through them and head straight for Bismarck and the other battleships along with Graf Zeppelin.

"They're in range!" Scharnhorst said out loud.

"In range? They're too close!" Gneisenau said to Scharnhorst.

"No, they're right where we want them to be…Checkmate!" Tirpitz said out loud.

Tirpitz fired off her main guns toward the approaching Explorers and Trackers, a few of them were gunned down in large explosions caused by high explosive shells Tirpitz used. She also launched torpedoes toward the approaching Siren ship girls, two of them received direct torpedo hits while a few jumped off to hit Bismarck herself at point blank range. Bismarck only calmly watched those few Trackers, when they got too close Bismarck made sure her guns were already pointed toward each of them where none of them could dodge.

"Wahrheit!" Bismarck shouted as she fired her main guns.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

---

Updated: 14-02-2022 (Beta readed by Culture-Hunt3r)

…You just can't have Bismarck and Ironblood in action without the obligatory song Bismarck by Sabaton! Oh boy, who would've thought the Ironblood fleet would come charging to the rescue with Bismarck herself in the lead. Now, the tide is turning with the arrival of ALASUC's main force, the Siren forces are in deep shit! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites dear readers!

See you next time!

- Dasmara