A series of large caliber cannons fire off sending their destructive ordnance to the air and a couple dozen more of the shells joined in all heading for the same destination, the winds were howling as the cannon shells soar through the air and soon began to curve down towards a towering structure that was floating in the sea, one after another they struck the tower and erupt like a fireworks display.

As the last explosion finally went silent and the tower left smoking, metallic groans and whines would soon come from it as the structure began to fail and crumble. As it slowly tilts the upper part of the tower snaps off and crashes down with a big splash onto water before it would soon disappear to the ocean depths.

"Commander." Switching perspective, inside the bridge of the USS Enterprise, the man in a white naval uniform and matching hat was looking down at a holographic console watching the battle taking place soon raised his head up upon hearing the voice spotting the holographic image of his personal assistant, TB, as she continues, "I am no longer detecting any activity from the Beacon. Destruction of Siren communications device confirmed. We will not need to worry about any further Siren reinforcements."

"Understood. Thanks for the heads up." The Commander responded with a half smile and a nod of his head to the AI who bows her head before her image fades away from the console. With that he taps a key on the console before speaking, "Alright, ladies. You heard TB. We're on the final stretch, let's finish off the remaining hostile units then we can go home."

A chorus of various acknowledgments, both audible and visual on the tactical map flashed of all the shipgirls in his task force as they continued on with their assigned tasks and the battles they were currently in. At least four fleets of them, each mainly consisting of their respective factions; Eagle Union, Iron Blood, Royal Navy and Sakura Empire were spread out over the sector as Azur Lane was working to clear this area of Siren forces.

The battle had been going on for a several hours now, half of it was dealing with the initial units that were already here while the rest was them engaging with the aforementioned reinforcements, since they were able to appear out of portals and just kept coming. Now that their homing beacon was dealt with they wouldn't be able to provide any more back up for this sector.

The Commander, who goes by the name Josiah "Maxwell" Bipes, relaxed a bit as he laid his hands onto the edge of the console and leans on it, but his attention didn't leave the tactical map. The battle appeared to be theirs yet he knew that unless it was for certain it would be over soon, that things would quickly turn for the worst if he let his guard down now. His green eyes checking the status on the map while also overhearing the chatter over the Comms of his fleets as well as noting the position of the enemy's position in relation to them.

His attention was drawn away from the tactical map for a moment when several blue flashes of light appeared off to his left and out the bridge's window as a squad of F6F Hellcats materialized on Enterprise's flight deck, the props of the engines soon spinning to life and before long one by one the squadron of fighters speed down the deck and take to the skies to join the rest of their comrades in battle.

A small sigh leaves him, pushing a bit onto the console to make him stand up a bit while raising his head so he could check on the other person with him on the bridge who was also slowly observing the situation on the map. "How are we doing, Enterprise?" The woman in question raised her head to meet his gaze with her violet colored eyes, her long white hair flowing down her back.

"The situation looks to be going well for us. They certainly haven't made this easy for us, although truth be told I would have been more suspicious if things were going too well in our favor." Enterprise responded with a small, dryly smile. She then looks off to the side towards the hull of her ship as she continued, "As for myself? Ammunition and supplies are still good, but I've lost almost half of my aircraft thus far during this operation."

Maxwell clicked a cheek as he flinched slightly. "Ouch… Any more than that and I likely would of started to get a bit worried." He then quietly muses before looking back up to her. "At least it's almost over. Remind me to give you girls some extra downtime when we get back to port-"

"Commander! We got a problem!" A voice cried out over the Comms cutting their conversation over, drawing the attention of both Enterprise and Maxwell back to the console. The man taps on a key before speaking, "What's the situation out there, Baltimore?"

"We're engage with heavy Siren forces and we spotted Tester among them! We managed to do some damage to her but she just blew right past us and is currently heading right for you!"

Both Enterprise and Maxwell looked a bit alarmed, the shipgirl soon pushing herself away from the console and takes a few steps towards the front of the bridge peering out the window and eventually spotting the Siren even at long range. An Executor-class Siren is tough, but an Elite, even if damaged, can do some serious destruction if left alone.

"Enterprise!" Maxwell calls out, the carrier shipgirl's long white hair whips around to her left side as she turns her head to focus on him as he issued the order. "Hard to port! Full Speed ahead! Get us away from Tester!"

The shipgirl, looking more focused now, gave a sharp nod of her head. "Hard to port! Ahead Full! Aye!" Enterprise repeated the words in confirmation and soon the large warship would begin her turn.

It was a slight sway of the ship at first but the more it turned the more the flight deck as well as the tower tilted to starboard that Maxwell had to grab hold of the console in front of him just to keep himself steady.

As he watched the holographic indicator of the carrier going into the hard turn his attention was brought to the shipgirl off to his side as she called to him, her question bringing some consideration. "Commander, should I prepare to encounter her?"

At the moment the battle was theirs but he couldn't just recall one of the Vanguard groups just to provide assistance without taking fire from behind by the enemy that still fights on, so that made them not an option. Then there was Enterprise, all of her fighter wings were currently active and the ones she had just launched would take some time to turn around just to intercept and even then one whole squadron of fighters wouldn't of been enough to deal with the Siren.

And of course he couldn't just offer for himself to go overboard just for her sake. Yes she would have access to her rigging to better deal with the threat but it had been feared that if any Siren caught wind he was floating out in sea during a battle then he would be an easy target for them, so it had been universally agreed upon by the shipgirls if they were the Commander's Flagship during a battle they would rather endure severe damage than to let him easily fall prey to their foe.

Then again even without her rigging she still had access to her compound bow that she could just summon into existence and her arrows are just as dangerous as a Battleship's main gun against a Siren, plus her aim is rarely ever off even in the heat of battle. But before he could even put his thoughts into words in commanding the carrier to prepare for battle, another voice came through the Comms.

"Takao here, moving to intercept!" The feminine voice calls out.

Both the Commander and Enterprise's attention were drawn back to the tactical holotable as the red arrow that showed Tester's position was steadily approaching them while another arrow this time in green with a chevron on it marking it as a CA or Heavy Cruiser, with the name Takao above the arrow had broken away from one of the Vanguard groups and was rapidly approaching the enemy.

Out at sea, Tester hovered over the water and dashes by towards the Eagle Union carrier out in the distance. Even with signs of some battle damage upon both her body and her rigging that looked like a mechanical Manta Ray, a sinister grin was on her face with a singular goal in mind; to cause as much damage as possible.

What some would consider a suicide mission it mattered not to the Siren as her body was merely a shell for her to control, one of many to be exact, so the fear of death was of little concern when she could just inhabit another one.

As she was getting closer and closer the cannons on the Manta Ray's fins tilt to aim at the warship in front of her having calculated that she was within range, even if they were not within optimal range the probability of her weapons inflicting damage were still adequate at best. The ends of the barrels began to glow as they charged up, small movements being done to adjust their aim and the weapons getting ready to fire-

A sharp whoosh sounded off followed by several explosions against Tester's right side causing her to stagger and throwing off her aim as the cannons fired completely missing Enterprise. She had to adjust and get her feet under her to keep herself from falling resulting in her slowly coming to a stop. Once she was able to get herself balanced again she looked off to her right towards where the shots came from spotting the one responsible for hitting her.

Her black pony tail flapping about in the wind as the Sakure Empire shipgirl was speeding her way towards the Siren with her katana held off to her side, her golden-brown eyes locked onto her foe with a determined expression. Some splotches of soot dot her face and white naval uniform along with some ware and tear upon the attire hinting of the ongoing engagements she has partaken in today.

Takao's rigging rotated and swivel, both sections of it adjusting while the guns on the turrets moved to adjust their aim before explosions bloomed from each barrel as another salvo of rounds were released.

Tester gave herself a push off the ocean and hovers herself forward dodging the incoming rounds before she balanced herself once more and turned to engage the heavy cruiser. She had been able to avoid pursuit by the Eagle Union group due to the mix of mass production ships and a couple of lower tier humanoid Sirens keeping them busy, but now that a singular shipgirl had caught up to her she couldn't just ignore this pursuer.

For a couple of minutes the two were locked in this dance of dodging and exchanging fire with cannons, mostly evading much of the hits with their speed and agility or in the case of Takao she was mostly dodging but she would also deflect a few of the rounds with some skillful swipes of her blade, all the while she was slowly gaining some ground and got closer to the Siren.

As the distance between them grew shorter by the second and Takao believed she was close enough she would break into a mad dash forward, limiting her ability to dodge which Tester noted and stabilized herself to bring her weapons to bare and fires off a barrage. The heavy cruiser having to swing one half of her rigging in to block the attack, the result of the explosion obscuring her in a cloud of black smoke for a moment before she was seen practically catapulting herself out of the cloud and high above the water with both hands grasping at her sword as if getting ready to attack once she was close.

Seeing this Tester's lips curled into a grin as it looked like the Sakure Empire shipgirl had foolishly left herself wide open, so she stood her ground and tracked the warrior with her guns again before they'd soon let loose another volley of rounds which soared right towards her and explode upon impact as she was covered in that puff of smoke again.

The Siren's grin widened believing she had delivered a devastating blow with that direct hit, however her expression turned to one of shock when it appeared her calculations were off once her foe was seen quickly falling out of the cloud yet she was not tumbling through the air, instead she appeared to still be coiled up for her attack.

Parts of her uniform were in tatters, some cuts and scrapes dot the exposed parts of her bare skin, clearly she had taken some damage from the hit yet despite that the resolved look upon her face revealed she was undeterred from her goal of striking down her enemy. A zealous roar came from Takao as she shouts, rapidly falling towards Tester with her katana held high above her head.

Soon as she was within striking distance the Samurai warship swung her blade downwards, at the same time Tester had snapped herself out of her shock and jerks her body to the left to avoid the attack although her arm from the elbow down was sliced off as well as part of her mechanical Manta ray as the right fin and two of it's cannons attached to said fin were cleanly cut off from the strike, both the Siren's arm and the piece of the Manta ray sent spiraling away before disappearing into the ocean with a splash.

Takao, who was still being carried by the momentum of her strike, quickly lands on her feet onto the ocean surface and dashes past the Siren allowing herself to drift several meters away. As she gained more distance she would spin herself around till she was sliding backwards, her gloved left hand palming the water while crouched to start the process of slowing herself down but also to balance herself as her rigging shifts to bring all her main guns to bare once again.

Once all ten of the cannons had locked onto their target a full volley was unleashed, the rounds howling through the air before striking Tester in the back, most of the rounds hit the Manta ray but the rest found their mark damaging the Siren further before she would disappear in the smokey black cloud. Having completed her attack, Takao braced herself more to slow down faster till she finally came to a complete stop, raising her head to inspect the results of her attack.

As the smoke cleared up revealing Tester once more it was clear that the attack was a success with some visible damage upon her back and on her rigging, yet despite looking a bit more worse for wear the Siren had recovered and stood more upright before slowly turned around to face the Heavy Cruiser for a moment with her glowing yellow cybernetic eyes.

Tester glances down while raising her right arm up seeing the stump that used to be a forearm to examining it, unfazed by the fact that it had been cut off before also taking note of the damage that had been done to her Manta ray. As if satisfied she then returns her attention to Takao, the machine-like emotionless look on her face finally shifts to a dangerous smirk before speaking in that synthetic like tone, "Impressive, although simulations have shown that your performance is lacking. Surely you can do better?"

"Hmm." Short and simple was Takao's response of acknowledgment, soon standing a bit more straight while she grasps at her scabbard with her left hand followed by a quick flick of her right hand as her sword was held off to the side at full extension. She then twirled the blade around before the Samurai Warrior sheathes the weapon in one smooth skilled motion, holding the stance with her sword hand now resting over the handle.

Confusion showed on Tester's face as she had expected an attack or at least some counter argument from her foe but when neither of them came she shifted into a more defensive stance waiting to see what the Heavy Cruiser was going to do next.

However while doing so she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings let alone in the water as a series of wakes became more prominent on the surface and were steadily approaching the Siren from behind. Back when Takao received the first set of hits and was obscured by the cloud of smoke she had released a salvo of torpedoes from her launchers before committing to the leap into the air.

She had gambled to keep Tester's attention long enough for her plan to come into motion, a few of the torpedoes would swim by harmlessly but the rest would start to cause some geyser-like eruptions that rock the Siren and jerk her around with each explosive impact she took.

Soon as the first explosion was visible was what made Takao move to seize the moment as she leaps forward with all her might, drawing her katana once again holding it securely with both hands while she winds up to end this battle as she quickly approaches the Siren.

"Aku Soku Zan!" Takao shouted her signature war cry as she came in swinging with one quick slash across Tester's body, followed by another and another, each strike near lightning fast. As the flurry of strikes came to its sixth and final one ending it with a heavy downward strike and the Samurai was down on one knee.

Other than the somewhat rough seas under their feet and the slight twitching of Tester's limbs as she stood there, all was still for a moment until Takao gives a quick flick of her right arm out, following the same motion of sheathing her blade with precision once again only this time a little more slower yet more gracefully. Before the katana was fully sheathed Takao changed her grip on her weapon to hold it by the pummel and with a light shove the katana was finally stowed away.

Much like a scene out of a Samurai film once that metallic 'click' of the sword getting sheathed sounded off was when the slashes on Tester and the Manta ray began to glow and followed by her erupting into an explosion, bits of her and the mechanical beast scattered around in fiery remains before submerging into the ocean.

A long exhale leaves Takao's lips as she calms herself, her eyes opening up while slowly rising up to her feet and scans around her to make sure that her foe was indeed gone before the Commander's voice was heard over the radio. "Takao, come in? Are you okay?"

"The threat has been eliminated, Shikikan-dono. Tester won't be bothering us again any time soon." Takao responded.

"Glad to hear it, I'm sure Enterprise appreciates the quick assistance there, but what's your status? You looked like you took some hard hits over there."

Takao's lips curl into a small smile, judging by the concern in his voice she knew that he was worried about her well being even when his life was at risk just a moment ago. She'd look to her rigging checking the right then her left seeing that it was very roughed up but certainly not the worst she has taken, but she would still need some time to get it all fully repaired once they are home. Yet as she checked herself and her naval uniform told a slightly different story as some cuts and scrapes were shown along her body, stockings looking a little torn up and most of her jacket was charred up meaning her uniform was practically ruined.

Her face looking a little red as the heavy cruiser looked a fair bit panic as she grasped with her right hand at a part of her top that was about to flap down to hold it up to her chest in a vane attempt to maintain some form of modesty that was left of her attire. She quietly whined about her predicament but then sighed in defeat since this was the result of her actions, soon taking a moment to take a breath to calm herself before she finally reported to the Commander. "D-Damaged… But nothing serious."

Back aboard the bridge of Enterprise, the Commander had stepped out to the right wing of the bridge and was looking through a pair of binoculars to observe the fight. While he couldn't get a clear picture from this distance he could still somewhat make out who was who and how it all went down, hearing Takao's info he let out a heavy sigh of relief as he lowers the binoculars and lets them dangle against his chest, reaching up to palm one side of his headphones before responding, "Copy that. Stand by."

Returning to the safety of the bridge's interior as Maxwell approached the holotable to update himself on the front lines and how everyone else was doing. It was relatively the same since he last checked but it did appear that the Siren's were steadily dropping in numbers so it won't be long now before this mission can finally be over with.

With that information he would radio back to Takao, "Alright, for now just stick close to Enterprise and myself to provide security. Soon as she is able to I'll have Atago meet up with you aboard Enterprise so we can get you checked out."

Takao responded with a clear and simple, "Ryōkai." Hearing her reply he would give himself a slight nod of his head before he would bring his attention back to the console and the view of the 3d map of the battle.

Author's Notes: Hey everyone, my first time uploading a story here. This one being done in kind of in a short notice due to the date of which is the reason it's importance. If I have messed up some of the grammar or the sentencing I do apologize since I didn't have time to have anyone look it over before submitting, but feedback is still appreciated on how to improve things.

Anyway I hope you'll enjoy my first story especially with it involving one of my favorite fictional worlds as well as a few of my main favorite characters of said world.