Chapter 26: The First Test
(E.M.M.P. - Burn In Hell (Noise Marine goes djent))
[I've got one on my tail, need em' off of me-]
[Battery 3, redirect your fire-]
[Ich brauche hilfe!]
[Missile salvo incoming at 2 o'clock, brace for-]
[Manifest Destiny is requesting medics to-]
[Watashitachiha danmaku ni kurushinde imasu-]
Alexander grit his teeth, pulling his attention away from the general channel that was filled with a hundred frantic communications, calls of danger or hails for help flitting through his mind as he throttled the Bakunawa in front of Warspite and a few unenhanced battleships, using his vessel's titanic bulk to intercept a massive broadside as the ship's energy shield flared a sunbright blue-
-and shattered under the fusilade, the male Siren grunting as sympathetic pain wracked his form, HE and AP shells wearing away at the Bakunawa's thick armor and less protected guns.
[A-Akashi has your back, Alexander!]
The Sakura repair ship immediately engaged her namesake ability, dexterous mechanical arms pulling whatever scrap metal it had gathered from the churning battlefield against the gaping holes in the Bakunawa before spot-welding them shut at an accelerated pace, swarms of red and white drones soaring towards the damaged and burning ships before airlifting trapped or injured crew to the Azur Lane field hospital like giant mechanical messenger pidgeons.
All while under heavy barrage, Alexander returning fire as best he could while throwing every missile and flak shell he was able to muster at the steadily approaching Siren battlegroup in order to keep their attention away from the suicidally brave Sakura-
-and dual thunderclaps turned a pair of the bombarding battleships into wildly oscillating wrecks, the eight coastal guns reaping a consistent and lethal kill count as Alexander took a moment to breathe, a wordless wave of gratitude emanating from Warspite as well as a radio message from the allied ships that he didn't catch.
"Akashi, on me! Elizabeth and Nagato are getting pushed back-"
[G-got it, nya!]
Following in his wake as she had for the entirety of the battle - still attempting to enact repairs as best she could while on the move - the towering male pushed his ship to its limits, ignoring the creaks and groans as its stressed and battered superstructure tried to absorb the brutal acceleration.
Their plan to buy as much time as possible was simple, brutal and likely going to see them dead in maybe as much as half-an-hour. The Bakunawa would travel up and down the coastline, absorbing the brunt of the enemy assault and ensuring their own number could fire without worry of doing damage control, the shipgirls spreading themselves out and providing fire support for the rest of their allied forces while they in turn supported the main cornerstone of their defense, the eight coastal railguns.
It had worked great for the initial five minutes, the first-generation jet fighters of their allies working in tandem with Essex and Enterprise's more advanced models to hold off the remains of the badly ravaged Siren airfleet...but at the end of the day they were horrifically outnumbered and couldn't attack the enemy fleet directly, the sheer amount of anti-aircraft guns present ensuring they would lose more than they would gain.
And the Bakunawa had quickly began to suffer under the relentless enemy assault, Akashi doing her best to keep him going and ensure the craft was mobile but it was a losing battle. Sure, that was the point of this little last stand but it didn't make it easy.
The siren armada had come on strong and hadn't let up, the hundreds of ships advancing in a broad arc with all guns firing without pause, hemming them in and a few well-placed shots from their own long-range vessels equipped with railguns was quickly removing one of the critical coastal guns from play, its jury-rigged shields flaring and on the verge of failure.
[Missile salvo inbound!]
Senses snapping outwards Alexander resisted the urge to violently curse as the sky became filled yet again with countless contrails, this being the third such barrage launched their way in intervals of about three minutes each.
...Except, if the panic and apprehension emanating from the shipgirls and frantic calls over the radio were any indication, this time they didn't have a way of shooting the warheads down due to either a lack of ammunition or simply being under too much pressure. And the Bakunawa was basically just a giant shield at this point, it's weapons either inconsequential or destroyed.
Well, most of its weapons, a crazed and utterly bathsit insane thought percolating within his grey matter as a couple hundred missiles flew their way.
"Enterprise, Essex! Need your help!"
The burst of emotion and vague outlines of a plan he sent the carriers was thankfully understood despite its slapdash nature and conveyance, ten bombers peeling off from the dogfight and triggering their afterburners as they swooped low over the waves, racing underneath the colossal wave of missiles-
-and with a mental command shared between the three probably the dumbest plan to date he'd come up with bore fruit, the HELGA letting loose with likely the only shot he was going to get all battle, the ten bombers smashing into each other in a squeal of metal right before impact to maximize their surface area and durability...ensuring that the resulting explosion from the HELGA strike squeezed every last bit of energy possible from the oversized gun.
A titanic detonation rocked the ocean, sending up fast-moving waves of water and even disrupting the drifting clouds high overhead...as well as destabilizing and knocking clean from the sky almost five hundred of the warheads, the remaining hundred a far more manageable and reasonable salvo to deal with as destroyers, cruisers and a bunch of other point-defense equipped platforms went to work.
"Well color me surprised that did just fine."
And then they were right back to it, Alexander gritting his teeth as the latest round of fast-moving munitions struck and tore through even more hastily welded armor and other important systems, the Bakunawa audibly groaning under the relentless attack.
"C'mon, you two...we're not gonna last for long like this."
Purifier watched the last stand of the humans, shipgirls and their newly created kin with narrowed eyes, unable to shake the feeling that there was some kind of extra element at play that she was missing.
Sure, it wasn't like they had a choice in picking this fight. Azur Lane was a strongpoint that not only had heavy defenses, it was also one of the few remaining ocean bases that had enough facilities to handle almost a hundred ships of all classes as well as a hotbed of research and innovation. If they fled here there was practically nowhere else for them to go.
So, no, it wasn't the fact that they were choosing to fight a losing battle that was bothering her...it was the way they were going about it. If they wanted any chance of winning it was only common sense that they would focus on her and the other long-range ships, ensure that they couldn't just be sniped from afar and force the rest of the fleet to close the distance.
But instead they were fighting defensively, seemingly going out of their way to drag out the battle as long as they possibly could...even her kin's vessel had acted more as a glorified shield than it had bastion of firepower and carrying capacity, now visibly ragged and wounded as the little repair ship followed it like a lost kitten, valiantly keeping the behemoth afloat to the best of its ability.
"...Ugh, I hate thinking."
Feeling an unpleasant sense of dissatisfaction and unease with the way things were turning out Purifier laced her hands behind her head and laid against the deck of her vessel, ignoring the deafening cacophony of cannonfire and missile launches as she lazily looked to the sky, trying to figure out what it was she was missing.
"Hmm...so lemme think - something I'm usually pretty bad at - about what's going on here. They're doing some heroic last stand thing but only because they don't have anywhere to go. And instead of being aggressive and risky they're playing it safe, dragging this out and basically assuring that they'll be destroyed eventually, which defeats the point of the last stand. So they must have something planned, right? I mean they've got all this advanced tech but the only thing that could do real damage is the HELGA, which he used to shoot down a bunch of missiles."
A groan left the Siren, driving the heels of her hands into her skull.
"This suuuuucks! I just wanted a clean fight, not this weird and anti-climactic end! I mean my fleet is practically just a wall of guns at this point, they're going to be finished in ten minutes-"
She sat up straight, yellow eyes rapidly darting around the battlefield.
"...Wall of guns. Oh shit."
True to her orders the Siren armada had marched in on the beleaguered Azur Lane defenders, closing ranks and even beginning to overlap shields as they wore down the island's stubborn defenses.
A nice, juicy target for a special kind of bomb that her kin definitely knew how to make and could be delivered fairly stealthily through the use of submarine. Submarines that had yet to show up during the battle.
"ALL SHIPS BREAK FORMATION AND SCATTER!"
Purifier's roar was met with zero hesitation, ships of every class and make slewing hard to port or starboard, halting their attack as they endeavored to put as much distance between them as possible...but the close-knit formation worked against them, the outermost ships having to peel away first or they would all risk crashing into each other, an agonizingly slow process when Purifier knew each and every second counted, an exhilarated grin that was equal parts adrenaline and fear curving her lips upwards.
"You underestimated me at first and now I did the same to you! Hahaha~!"
Cackling with glee at that realization the Siren sent a command to her nearest ships, the enhanced destroyer redoubling its search efforts as cruisers and destroyers began lacing the waters with mines and diving warheads, not aiming for anything in particular and just looking to perhaps get a lucky shot.
"And now the race begins…"
[I don't think they're doing all that well, U-522.]
"I know, but if we try to go too fast all of this will have been for nothing anyway, we need to take it slow and steady."
A noise of mild distress left I-13's throat that the Ironblood sub privately agreed with but didn't give voice to. They didn't really have a choice in the matter, no sense in getting upset by things.
Instead she turned her attention to the blocky and highly noticeable chunk of metal they carried between them, attached by tethers and basically a giant sign that read 'here I am' to anyone with a working sonar...but, in a depressingly familiar trend, they didn't have a choice. The Shinsei was a huge mess of metal bracing, armor and jury rigged flotation devices that had been added with seconds to spare before the deployment deadline. Making it a viable stealth weapon had been entirely out of the question. And its massive weight - seeing as the thing was almost as big as a bomber plane and way heavier - meant attempting to airlift it would have been like sending up a signal flare to the Sirens that they were doing something extremely dangerous.
So here they were, gradually rising from the ocean depths into Siren sensor range with a big ol' party balloon swinging beneath them, holding their breath and praying the ongoing assault was enough to distract the Sirens until they could deploy the Shinsei. Aforementioned flotation devices would carry it close enough to the surface and they could bug out...but those were a lot of assumptions to make.
[We're two minutes away from the drop off point, sister.]
"Yup, get ready to deploy the bomb and run away like a-"
Alarms suddenly began to ring through the interior of her sub, the Ironblood stiffening as her sensors detected dozens of shockwaves all around them followed by steady vibrations, U-522 feeling sick to her stomach as she knew from personal experience what that sound meant.
"Depth charges and missiles inbound!"
[Deploying countermeasures! Sister, we need to forgo stealth-]
A sudden impact and disabling pain in her ears caused U-522's vision to black out, the warning sirens in her vessel taking on a more insistent tinge as darkness claimed her.
"God fucking DAMMIT! Commander, they fucking figured it out!"
Grinding his teeth in agitation at the Siren's sudden maneuver Alexander watched with mounting anxiety as the massive fleet began to spread out and attempt to put as much distance between themselves as possible. Sure, it was going to be a slow process considering they were packed tight like sardines but each ship that made it out of the blast zone was one more they were going to have to deal with after the Shinsei went off.
Assuming it even did go off.
[All battlegroups, concentrate fire on the flanks of the Siren armada, fill the waters and make sure they can't escape!]
On the man's orders cannons began to pound the outermost elements of the enemy fleet, sinking ship after ship and attempting to block any and all attempts at escape...but that wasn't the main problem.
The problem was the enhanced destroyer sweeping back and forth across the waters, a bevy of cruisers and destroyers firing missile after missile into the waters and saturating the depths with explosive deterrents that would inevitably strike U-522 and I-13. Hell, through the mental bond he could clearly feel mounting panic and fright from the pair of subs, anxiety that they might fail.
"To hell with this."
Sending a mental command to his ship the male Siren triggered its engines-
-and a shriek of metal alongside groan of creaking hull filled the halls of the mighty vessel, Alexander's eyes flying wide as the Bakunawa barely so much as inched forward, mental diagnostics informing him that the titanic ship was simply too damaged to do anything other than float.
"...You have got to be shitting me."
His fist slammed down on the armrest of the command throne, curses flying from his lips one after the other as he was basically useless at this point. At the most crucial moment of the battle.
[Carrier groups, have all fighters and bombers regroup on me and engage Siren vessels bombarding the subs. Coastal guns and all other long range cannons strike the waters between us and the enemy fleet, cover our approach!]
Tirpitz's sudden command was met with barely so much as a second of hesitation before the Commander confirmed her plan, Alexander already redirecting what few aircraft he had aloft to join up with the rest of the airforce as the Ironblood battleship accelerated towards the Siren armada, alone and without backup.
...They knew her plan from the connection shared between them without the need for spoken word, Alexander's heart heavy with grief that it was yet another shipgirl that had to make the sacrifice play.
Not that he could tell that from Tirpitz's emotions, the woman displaying nothing but certainty and cool confidence in her actions.
Belfast fired off canister after canister of metal-laced chaff, covering the battlefield with drifting clouds of smokescreen while roughly two hundred aircraft began to form up above the solitary battleship, the rest of the Azur Lane forces firing in wild arcs that kicked up wave after wave of concealing spray as Tirpitz drew closer to the main body of the enemy fleet.
For a few seconds there was no significant return fire, the Sirens either distracted with other matters or unsure of what the purpose of the sudden concealment was...and as one they began firing massive barrages into the improvised smokescreen, lacing every inch of it with withering cannonfire as nearly three hundred interceptors and bombers - all that remained of the Siren's airforce - began to converge.
Alexander grit his teeth, heart beating a mile a minute as the Ironblood charged forward, heedless of the barrage as the interceptors began to duel with their foe in spiralling arcs, the few human pilots joining the fray with wild abandon in an insane display of bravery and commitment to cause as the bombers kicked on the afterburners and rocketed towards the main body of their foe's forces.
"C'mon, c'mon…"
A few nautical miles was all that remained of the distance between Tirpitz and her target, the Sirens drifting about in random patterns as if confused as to where to direct their fire-
-and the prow of the battleship broke free from the concealing barrage they had laid down, hull pockmarked and even burning in some spots as three of the four main guns were silent...but one gun was all she needed.
Dozens upon dozens of bombers rained down on the Siren fleet, ignoring the significant amount of AA fire tearing them to shreds as they zeroed in on their targets with monomaniacal focus, missiles and bombs leaving their hardpoints-
-and the ships that had been bombarding the waters began to burn, struck by explosive after explosive as a grim satisfaction could be felt by the Ironblood as she came in range of the enhanced destroyer, solitary plasma railgun swiveling towards its target as she was afforded the precious few seconds needed to properly acquire a target lock.
[This time...this time I was able to see the battle through. Auf wiedersehen freunde.]
Even as battleships, cruisers and destroyers alike banked hard to face the enemy suddenly in their midst they were too late, too slow to respond as a single thunderclap sounded out, hyper accelerated round of superheated material striking the Siren destroyer directly and turning it into a tumbling wreck of metal and flame, shields overwhelmed by the hammerblow.
Tirpitz's last emotions were ones of quiet tranquility and satisfied triumph, vessel torn to shreds within moments by the vengeful fleet around her.
Sinking back into his chair Alexander watched the Siren fleet finish off the last off their aircraft, continuing their hasty separation as all he could do now was wait and pray that the subs managed to pull off a miracle.
U-522 groaned, blinking away the blackness that fogged her skull and addled her mind as she tried to sit up, wincing as a lance of pain made its way through her skull, alarms ringing throughout the interior of her ship.
"Well that was definitely a near miss...sister, you still there?"
Focusing through the ache in her head the Ironblood shipgirl felt a ball of worry settle in her gut as I-13's emotions were hazy and indistinct, her vessel slowly drifting away from hers and clearly not under the sub's command. Either unconscious or too injured to pilot.
That wasn't great, but on the other hand the detonations around them had stopped which meant the Sirens were either out of ammo or otherwise distracted...and the rest of her sisters - although the feeling was fairly fuzzy - were waiting for something. Waiting for them.
The sub locked a cry of pain behind her teeth as she rose to her feet, arm burning with sharp agony as she realized it was broken, if the awkward angle it flopped about with was any indication.
"Wow, must have been a heck of a hit I took, considering how much tougher than humans we are…"
Deploying an automatic distress beacon that attached itself to I-13's sinking hull so that she could be retrieved later U-522 launched a few torpedoes that maneuvered themselves against the Shinsei's casing, pushing it so that it was more or less 'balanced' atop of her damaged sub's nose.
Without the extra thrust provided by I-13 it was up to her and her alone.
And then in a breach of every rule of submarine warfare U-522 engaged her engines at full speed, racing towards the surface right into the heart of the Siren fleet.
For a few seconds there was no response, no depth charges of diving torpedoes...and then her sonar and other sensors came alive with warnings as the desperate approach was noted and replied to, dozens of countermeasures heading towards her sub at full speed.
A small, frightened smile appeared on the Ironblood's lips, emotions racing between terror and triumph a she primed the Shinsei for detonation, idly muttering, "I guess I'll be joining you soon, sisters...looks they'll have to have that party for both of us, U-81."
As the lethal Siren response drew closer the sub waited until the last possible moment before impact, cradling her wounded arm while quietly mumbling, "Ready or not...here I come."
Alexander had half expected the detonation of the Shinsei to resemble the HELGA's, for a second sun to appear before their gaze. What he hadn't expected was for half the Siren fleet to be swallowed up in a colossal geyser of frothing water within the blink of an eye, a monstrous plume of liquid reaching to the heavens with the rest either being knocked aside or consumed by a fast-moving wave of crushing force...force that was headed their way at a respectably terrifying pace.
[ALL HANDS BRACE FOR IMPACT-]
The Commander's words were well intentioned but largely useless as the Azur Lane forces had but a few seconds to respond, Akashi and a few others taking shelter in the Bakunawa's bulk-
-and what felt like a giant cosmic hand picked up the vessel and smashed it aside, Alexander honestly worried for a second that his ship was going to capsize in the roaring winds...but then it was past, a quick reading of the ships sensors showing that the rest of the allied forces had weathered it as well as could be expected, although it was going to be a good few minutes before anyone was in combat condition. And there was still the matter of the fast moving wave approaching, large and powerful enough that it was going to inundate a fair bit of the island...but if they had survived the initial blast they could survive that, Alexander instead turning his attention to the Siren fleet. Or at least what was left of it.
All that remained were a few carriers and battleships on the fringes of the detonation, aimlessly drifting amidst the still collapsing spray of water and certainly not a threat to anyone, least of all them.
Reassured of that he instead cast out with his other senses, hoping for a miracle and that at least one of the subs had survived...and got nothing, the man collapsing deep into his throne as bitter defeat settled into his heart.
"...Goddammit. Not enough that-"
A sudden blip of emotion caused him to tense, unsure if it was his desperate mind playing tricks on him or an honest miracle...and the sudden appearance of a distress signal far beneath the detonation site had him leaping to his feet, ignoring the ongoing orders from the Commander to regroup and finish off what remained of the Sirens as he raced towards one of the Bakunawa's exits.
The ship was crippled anyway, there wasn't much he could do on that front. Better he go and rescue someone who might very well be alive.
"Rigging, prepare for deep water conditions!"
[Acknowledged, configuring for high pressure conditions.]
The jellyfish-like construct accepted him into its embrace as he leapt over the railing into the ocean, sealing tight around his body as they shot deep beneath the waves, streaking towards the sight of the distress call at max speed. While they weren't in deep enough water to pose a serious threat of the sub being crushed to bits it was better to be safe than sorry, Alexander trying to regulate his breathing as through the rigging's senses he could see the light around them slowly vanish into inky blackness, the minutes passing with excruciating slowness...and the outline of a ragged and beaten submarine he recognized as I-13's was highlighted by the mechanical aid, Alexander ordering, "Rigging, seal one of the entrances and place me inside."
[Understood, complying.]
The autonomous construct attached itself to one of the tiny, leaking holes in the armor before using some kind of welding tentacle to pry it open further, Alexander slipping through once it was wide enough into the cramped and bloodily illuminated interior, rushing through the creaking and groaning structure as he called, "I-13! You in here?! Respond!"
No reply, although the emotional connection between them remained just as strong as ever, albeit hazy on the shipgirl's end.
Trekking through the compact vessel he honed in on her position as best he could, eventually reaching the command bridge-
-and trembled in relief as he found the tiny form of the Sakura sub sprawled against one of the walls, head bleeding and body limp but still drawing breath as bright eyes weakly focused on him.
"Alexander? Oh, hey...did we...did we win?"
Surprised at the strength of the emotions that crashed through him at the sight of the still alive girl - at finally being able to save one of them after all his failures - Alexander felt tears prick his eyes as he gathered up I-13 in his arms, careful not to jostle her needlessly as he whispered, "Yeah...yeah, we won. Thanks to you and U-522, I-13."
"Oh, yay...I think I...might want a rest…"
Slipping into unconsciousness Alexander raced back to his waiting Rigging, hugging the Sakura close as if she was a priceless treasure as he reentered the machine's embrace, returning to Azur Lane with his spirit's ever so slightly lifted.
"Yeah. A rest sounds nice, I-13."
Listening to the comm traffic from the rest of Azur Lane as they began mop-up operations the Siren male couldn't help but feel his eyes drift closed as the rigging steered them back to the Bakunawa, exhaustion pulling at his mind as I-13's warm form was pressed deep against his.
"Somehow...somehow we won."
And despite the knowledge that they'd triumphed he couldn't help but feel a slight amount of disquiet, remembering that this bloody, protracted campaign that had cost them so much had merely been the first of an unknown amount of tests.
I may have the dubious pleasure of holding onto the highest character death rate in the fandom (on-screen ones at least).
Please don't correct me if I'm wrong, I'd hate to be depressed.