Chapter 35

We were finally greeted by the large storms the Pacific was known for on our third day of sailing. The last few days crossing the canal had been relatively calm and we were able to make good progress with our journey; I had spent those days mostly in training Sullivan, idly meandering around the Warspite and eating whatever food Javelin brought along.

But that good weather we had was short lived, with today's storm having only gotten worse and worse into the evening without any signs of stopping. The wind howled loudly into the hull as I half-walked, half-stumbled around the ship's corridors, until finally reaching the door leading to the ship's bridge and the dimly lit control room.

The ship's owner was sitting effortlessly in her captain's chair, one hand supporting her chin while resting against the armrest. She lazily twisted her head to look at me as I entered, the only evidence she was even slightly affected by the raging torrent being the slight sway of her scarf and long hair bangs as the ship rocked and rolled.

"Hey." Warspite greeted sleepily, the edge of her lip curled upward into a smile as she watched me stumble across the bridge. "Been on the sauce?"

"I wish." I grunted, waiting for a lull in the ship's movement before making a quick dash over to a bank of consoles. I started going over the various screens, trying to scry something from the radar arrays in an attempt to keep my mind aways from my growing seasickness. "Might help to sleep in this storm, I'd probably end up flying out of bed anyway."

"Oh come now, it's not all that bad." The small battleship smirked. "This little squall barely comes close to the real storms I had to endure back in the day. I once lost a large section of my rear funnel during a patrol of the north sea. Now that was a real storm."

"I'm sure it was." I turned my attention to a radar screen as I flicked several switches. "Can barely get a reading, and what's coming though is all jumbled."

"That thing won't work at all in this weather," I soon felt Warspite's presence right by my side, "the waves are too big and I'm rolling all over the place. Just have to rely on good old reliable natural eyesight for tonight."

She gave me a pat on the back, and I relented.

"Guessed as much."

There was a single rogue return that read nearly five miles in diameter. Switching the screen off I looked out through the rain covered window trying to scry anything from the stormy seas. I couldn't see beyond my nose.

A particularly large wave impacted the ship, and it would have sent me rolling down the deck had it not been for Warspite swiftly catching me.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to see anything when I can barely stand without holding on for dear life, or why I expected otherwise." I said dryly. "Thanks."

"Don't be so dramatic, it's not that hard." Warspite said, evidently enjoying my plight.

"Easy for you to say. I can't just magically balance myself like you girls do."

Warspite clicked her tongue. "I can assure you, no such supernatural methods are employed to keep oneself upright, I merely feel how I move and act accordingly. Here."

The warship took my arms in hers and stepped back until we were in an open area. Her grip being the only thing stopping me from falling over. "Try and feel me."

I didn't fully understand her meaning. The ship still rocked beneath me and she continued to pull and push me in an effort to keep me upright. "I can feel you. You are the one holding me after all."

"I know you're not that stupid. I mean my ship, feel me as I move with the waves." Warspite stepped closer, placing my hands on her side while hers went just above my hips. With how close she was she had to crane her neck to meet my eyes, but she did with a gentle smile.

"It amazes me how you can pinpoint issues with machines at a single glance, yet the moment you need more subtlety, it all goes out the window." Warspite giggled at my predicament. "You know, the sailors that kept us roaming had to learn to respect the seven seas, for themselves and for us. Together, a bond was formed and we kept each other safe. Even before we were granted these wonderful bodies we still looked out for them all they needed to do was look for the signs we made for them. "

"And what signs am I supposed to be looking for?"

Warspite closed the distance between us with a deep breath. "Listen and feel me, James. Not with that overthinking brain of yours but with your heart, then you will find everything I'm trying to tell you… When a ship hits a wave she first dips slightly into it before her buoyancy takes over. Feel for those dips and lean into them, you will soon find your balance."

I did as instructed, pulling my mind away from all the troubles and worries that constantly swam about in my head and tried to focus on the ship. Warspite swayed in tandem with her ship, helping me get the feel. When I felt the ship start to lower on my left I leaned into the wave and found myself not needing to rely on her aid.

Bit by bit and with each wave, my confidence grew and it became easier to stand. Warspite relaxed her grip slightly and we began to slowly step in small circles around her deck, the storm raging outside naught but an afterthought.

"I know I'm probably not the best one to tell you." She muttered, breaking the silence. "But try to slow down a touch every once in a while and just enjoy the little things in life. It may feel like everything is coming apart, but you will soon find your balance once again."

"Thanks… I'll try to keep it in mind." I said, finding myself wishing this moment would never end.

"As you should." She nodded fervently. "But don't fret." She patted the hand on my hip. "I will always be here to support you when needed.

She smiled warmly as we continued to look deeply into one another's eyes. Still smiling, her gaze drifted to the side, her attention seemingly caught by something. I was merely enjoying the moment when her pupils suddenly dilated. There wasn't even enough time for confusion to take root before her face became one of horror and her grip on me tightened.

"Get down!" She screamed before spinning me about and practically throwing me onto the deck.

There was an ear breaking boom. Glass shattered and was blown inward while Warspite's grip became even tighter as she practically smothered me with her body. The ship shook violently as hot air and glass washed over us, soon followed by the cold raging wind and rain.

Warspite shot up, panic etched across her face.

"Are you injured!?"

"I'm fine! Where did the hit come from!?"

Small beads of blood dripped down from her arms and sides of her face, which soon started washing away by the invading rain. She had protected my head from the glass.

"Off the port bow! Couldn't stop it in time." She crawled off me and stood up, several more cuts now visible on her hands and knees as she moved. She offered a hand and helped me up.

It was obvious we were under attack, so we needed to assess the situation above all else.

I focused my view outside through the raging rain and winds, and the burning flames allowed me to see the damage. We had been hit close to the bridge, and the overpressure had run up the superstructure and buckled a large section. Glass crunched under my boots while I stumbled over to the smashed windows, Warspite stayed close to my side ensuring I didn't fall.

"We need a visual!" I yelled.

Most lights had been shattered, and the few ones left Warspite switched to a dark red. I shot my hand towards a small compartment, feeling around for where I stored my binoculars until I finally found them. Several more explosions rang out all around us, each one temporarily illuminating parts of the ship. I paused for the ship to judder but thankfully none hit.

Heart pounding in my ears, I dared to look outside.

"I can't see a bloody thing." I cursed.

A ship beside the Warspite returned fire and four white streaks flew across the air.

"That's Hood. She must have spotted something." Warspite noted, glancing at the source of the cannonfire. The previous panic had slowly begun to dissipate from her tone, becoming more serious. "I can't get a fix, and firing blind will only make me easier to spot."

"We need to coordinate." I looked at the radio, or rather what was left of it. It had been closest to the impact and was now nothing more than a soaking, sparking wreck. "Radio's buggered. Please tell me you have a spare somewhere that still has a commanding view."

"Uhh." Her eyes darted about as more cannonfire rang out. Soon they lit up. "Aye! Up on my weather bridge, it's exposed to the elements and rather rudimentary but it's still working."

Another shell almost hit us, rocking the ship once again, earning curses from the both of us. I closed my jacket and wrapped my binoculars over my neck. "Well it's not like this part of the ship isn't exposed anymore. Lead the way!"

"Roger! Stick to me like glue and keep your hands ready to grab something!"

We almost rolled ourselves out of the bridge. The last few bits of protection we had were destroyed as soon as we stepped outside, exposing us to a deafening wind that threatened to push me over. I had to wipe my eyes multiple times to not lose sight of Warspite's blonde hair and her scarf whipping violently in the air.

We reached a ladder set into the superstructure. Warspite turned back and held up a hand to shield her eyes from the rain, cannonfire temporarily illuminating her features as another one of my ships desperately tried to check whatever was attacking us. "Up here! Take it one rung at a time and hold on!"

Warspite ignored her own advice and practically flew up the ladder, each hand and leg barely spending a moment before moving up. She swung around and leaned down from the top, reaching out a hand to indicate I could go. The time it took me to climb up felt like aeons in comparison, as I had to ensure that my arm was thoroughly wrapped around each rung and my feet were stable before I moved upward one limb at a time, it was slow, but I couldn't afford otherwise. Soon I felt Warspite's hand at my shoulder and then shifted to my back. With a look to my right I could see the deck and carefully stepped over, the dreadnought guiding my every move.

I immediately reached for the radio once I was firm on my feet, or as best as I could given the situation.

The weather deck was spartan in nature, consisting of a narrow but long deck with a waist high metal cover to stop you from falling; a small locker containing the radio, a few nautical compases and rangefinding equipment awaited in the middle. Warspite set the radio to the fleet's frequency and handed me the receiver. I quickly thumbed the transmission button.

"This is James! Warspite took a hit but is still functioning, Anyone have any intel? The hit came from…" I looked down at the compass. A small light came on within and illuminated the small divisions. "Best guess is from the east at two eighty degrees, off the fleet's port bow!"

Explosions rang out to our left, looking over showed three fireballs rising up around a ship as the blueish shielding from the girls' ships protected it. The temporary light silhouetted the ship and told me it was Queen Elizabeth.

I looked at Warspite, her face was still set and stern but I knew she was worrying for her sister.

Static ran out from within the radio set, the sound muffled by the weather coverings. "This is Javelin! James, are you OK? I saw Warspite get hit!"

She sounded panicked. I lifted up the receiver but paused, finding myself unable to chastise my first ship. She was just being herself, but she also needed to keep her mind in the fight. Thankfully the reassuring calm tone of Hood's voice came through before I replied.

"Now isn't the time, Javelin. I'm sure that Warspite will ensure no harm comes upon the Commander." She said poignantly. "James, I was able to catch a glint of blue light and muzzle flashes in the direction you described. I returned fire but was unable to hit anything."

"Understood." My foot tapped against the deck, we needed to see what we were fighting. The Siren's obviously could see us but radar was practically useless. I thumbed the button. "Zuikaku, can you get any aircraft up? We're fighting blind here."

"Negative, Shikikan!" The carrier instantly replied. "Even if I could get any aircraft up in this weather, they would be thrown around like sakura petals."

"Dammit." I cursed, with only Warspite being able to hear my frustration before I spoke into the radio again. "We need to know what we're fighting and where it is." Not even the ship's spotlights would make a difference, and would only lead to giving our position away even more.

"I may have a li'l something." A confident Cleveland came through this time. "Watch the skies."

There was a loud ripple of cannonfire to punctuate her words, and a large cluster of bright white projectiles flew overhead and out towards the approaching foe, though instead of plunging down, the light intensified and they slowly began to descend, illuminating the surrounding ocean.

"Star shells, little guys will keep things lit up for a while."

"That yank sure is something!" Warspite whistled approvingly. "There! I see something!"

I looked through my binoculars once again as the ship's turrets began to turn. It was still hard to see but soon spotted several silhouettes moving along the ocean's surface, each one emitting a dim blue glow.

"Sirens! And by God, there's a lot of them!" I shouted to the radio.

"Aye, firing." Warspite's forward cannons roared, making my bones shake and filling the air with the awful smell of burnt cordite. But as the ringing sound in my ears began to fade four small explosions rose up on the horizon as her shells hit their mark soon followed by a fifth, more violent detonation as the enemy ship detonated into a column of fire and smoke.

The other ships of my fleet added their guns to the mix, with several getting hits themselves. Soon there were more points of light as the Siren ships began to burn.

"This is unorganised," Warspited hummed as she watched the battle grow, "Her Majesty and Hood just struck the same target and it looked to only be the size of a destroyer. Now's your time, James."

The battleship turned to me and rested her fist against her chest. "We are your weapons for you to order as you see fit. I beg of thee, give us the purpose and unity that will see us through. I know in my heart that you will find a way for all of us."

And Warspite smiled, despite everything that was unfolding.

Her words of encouragement helped, but there was no denying how out of my depth I felt. Her guns fired once again as the Siren's return fire was felt about the entirety of my fleet.

"R-right. Just give me a moment."

Taking a deep breath, I took a step back and visualised the entire fleet. Everything the girls had told me about their ships rang around in a jumbled mess in my head. I organised the chaos bit by bit.

"Starting to wish Z23 had lectured me a little more." I joked through the constant nausea that threatened to overwhelm me, stepping back and returning to the radio.

"OK!" I figuratively slapped myself into shape. "Everyone, we need to be more effective with our fire. Unless you see a situation where your own intuition would be better I want you to follow this battle plan."

I waited until I heard a chorus of confirmations before continuing. "Z23 and Javelin: Give out positional data on any ship you spot and harry any targets of opportunity you find, but keep changing your position, do not get bracketed, and save your torpedoes for anything that gets too close."

"Cleveland. You're our eyes, keep it up with the star shells." I moved onto our only cruiser. "It's high time to show off that rapid fire you boasted about too. I want you to pan from left to right, hitting everything you see with a few shells of high explosive. Hopefully the fires you start will make things easier to target."

"Aye aye, Commander!" She cheered in her boyish tone. "Get ready girls, you're about to see this sea light up like it's the fourth of July!"

"U-556, are you surfaced?" I quickly moved on as the air filled with a constant thumping drone of Cleveland's guns.

"Ja, Kommandant. Guessing you want me to help the cargo fleet again?" The peppy submarine responded.

"Not this time. From the looks of things the Sirens are directly in front of us. I want you to head to the speartip of our formation and fire out your torpedoes to open up a path for us, if you get fired upon dive down to cover for a while before resurfacing." A shell slammed into Warspite's shield, causing the ship to shake and the woman to grunt in pain. "Remember, you are not a direct fighter, if it gets too hot head back and seek cover behind the bigger ships."

"Will do!" She responded excitedly. The Submarine would be impossible to spot in these seas but there was no telling how the Sirens actually detect ships. I just had to have faith in her abilities.

Zuikaku came in before I could give my next order. "Shikikan, what will you have me do?"

There was an edge to her voice that didn't hide her frustration at being effectively useless in this situation.

There was the option of her using her rigging to get in close but the calm voice of Warspite soon interjected, my ship seemingly knowing where my train of thought had been heading. "These Sirens have the same glow we saw in Inverness, so that bitch could be out there controlling all of this, and if not her then there still may be a humanoid Siren. Zuikaku is good with her sword but she will be outmatched on her own."

Despite her only mentioning it to inform me, I couldn't help but recall the bloodied and broken Warspite who had laid on a cot in Javelin's ship fighting for her life. I forced the memory down, and clenched my teeth, I would not let that happen again.

I looked back. The convoy fleet had not been given the same attention as my ships had, but a few had seemingly been hit by the fires starting to dot the ocean. "Zuikaku, I know it may not be what you want, but the convoy is taking hits and soon some will inevitably be lost. I need you to head back and do what you can to assist in the evacuation of those ships."

For a few good long seconds the radio was silent before eventually Zuikaku responded in a dejected tone. "Hai, Shikikan. I will see your will done."

Warspite's hand rested over mine as she spared a few seconds to look away from the fight.

"You made the right call, there is nothing else she can do." She tapped my back reassuringly and returned her gaze to the battle, the warmth of her hand somehow lingering on mine. "Now! what of us three, what shall you have your battleships do? You have twenty four, fifteen inch cannons at your disposal, point us towards something and witness it become scrap."

"Right." I returned to the radio. "Queen Elizabeth, Hood. You two alongside Warspite are to prioritise any large targets you can see, try not to get bogged down fighting anything cruiser sized or smaller." I received affirmatives from the two ships and could see Warspite give a short nod as she trained her guns on another target.

"And finally, for all of you. If at any point you spot a Humanoid Siren you are to fall back immediately. None of you try to take it on alone, we get through this together." A chorus of ships' horns bellowed out their response, temporarily drowning out the constant booming of munitions.

"You really have a knack for speeches." Warspite shouted, right before her forward cannons fired. "You study them at school or something?"

I followed the glowing shells as they disappeared into the furious rain, and had a first row seat to a new fireball in the horizon as her shells made their mark once again.

"Kind of." I yelled back, "This wasn't the kind of public speaking I had in mind though!"

I put the radio receiver back on its mount and grabbed the ralling, which had become a constant but controlled buzz of the girls relaying information to one another. Thanks to Elizabeth's diligence there was no overt need to communicate with the convoy fleet. They knew their job: Keep as dark as possible and follow our fleet as much as they could.

Warspite pulled onto the straps of my binoculars. "Start putting those to good use! Get us a better idea of what we're dealing with and start picking out targets for me, just the relative heading will do!"

"What about the distance!?"

"Don't worry about that. I don't need some fancy radar! I'm more than capable of judging distance in this small squall!"

"I dread to think what would suffice as a large storm for you if this is what you call a squall." I replied, trying to use the small banter to keep my mind focused.

The focus was almost lost when I finally adjusted my binoculars to a point where I could see somewhat clearly. Cleveland's Star shells and the growing number of burning ships illuminated what seemed like a limitless number of Siren vessels, all of which had the glowing end of their cannons trained at us.

I tensed my jaw and pushed away the dread. I followed the ends of Warspite's guns to find the outline of a larger Siren ship, somewhere along the same heading.

The flash of an explosion silhouetted a large vessel, even with the distance between us the size of compared to the smaller ships around it was obvious.

"There! Possible battleship heading…" I looked at the fixed compass mounted on a thick part of the railing and found the bearing. I pointed out with my hand to better help Warspite ."Bearing three twenty!"

Her eyes narrowed as she looked, there was no need for her to use binoculars. "I see it! Preparing to fire!"

The metallic clanking of her turrets' traverse could be heard as the forward mounts locked onto their target.

"Firing!"

Four cannons roared with their owner's rage and a revenge a hundred years old in the making. I once again looked through the binoculars as the smoke cleared, searching for the next target. There was no need to see if the Siren would be hit. I knew Warspite's guns were the most accurate in the fleet.

Time passed in a blur as I read out another bearing of a soon to be destroyed target, until a large explosion rang out to my right. I turned my head, a wave of hot air washing over me. It had not been Warspite who had taken the hit, but Hood.

A large fireball billowed up from her portside up past her mast, aft of midships, the light temporally illuminating her as if it was the middle of the day.

I scrambled for the radio, the fleet had taken small glancing hits but this was the first serious impact, and the Siren fleet still showed no sign of thinning.

"I-I'm fine!" The pained voice of Hood called out from the radio before I could speak. "Nothing more than a shell in one of my five inch cannons cooking off. The damage is contained." I could hear her speak through gritted teeth even through the intermittent crack and pop of the radio.

"Are you injured?" I tried to see into her bridge, but the difference in height and smoke from the fires cut off any chance of me seeing her.

"I am still seaworthy." She deflected. "We would be fools to think we could leave this skirmish without a few scrapes and bruises. Keep to your post, James. If the need arises for you to come to my side in aid I will be sure to request it."

"Aye, will do." The rush of adrenaline abated, I spoke into the radio once more. "This goes for anyone, if you take heavy damage you are to fall back into the cover of others. I don't want anyone being struck out on their own."

"That was a bad hit." Warspite commented as I placed the radio back down, She took a quick glance over while her cannons reloaded. "She'll need to get those fires under control quickly. Gonna be one hell of a repair job for ya."

"It's the flooding I'm worried about, she was hit along the waterline." I kept up the chatter while returning to my binoculars and finding another target.

"Flooding isn't all that much of an issue, for us battleships at least... Firing." Her cannons roared, my ears stung as another Siren was reduced to a burning heap of scrap. "A cargo ship has large open volumes where water can easily flood and drag her down. But us warships are compact and heavily segmented. Yes, too much water will cause problems, but fire is our real threat. Burns us from the inside out and cooks off our ammunition stores."

She had spoken bluntly with no hint of sorrow or spite in her voice, merely imparting a lesson to me despite all that was happening. "I'll keep it in mind. Target far out, bearing three hundred.

Warspite looked to where I had indicated. "See it, traversing cannons."

The radio suddenly screamed out with Javelin's voice. "Warspite! Port side close! Brace!"

Neither of us had time to react before the side of the ship was peppered by a flurry of impacts. The ship lurched under the force and what balance I had was lost and I fell backward.

A hand shot out and grabbed my coat, abating my fall. Warspite looked at me with blood dripping from her nose and a devilish grin spreading across her face. With a flash of light her sword appeared in her free hand and she pulled me back up.

With me stable she turned to look at her would be assailants. A collection of smaller Sirens had snuck close to within a few hundred feet and were now harrowing the flank of the formation.

"So! Some small fry think they can match up with me? Ha!" Her flank lit up once again, but this time it was her secondary cannons opening up to tear at them."

"Shit. They got close."

"Close? My dear boy, in terms of naval warfare this isn't just close, it's a knife fight in a phone box; ships are meant to be miles apart when they duel." Warspite laughed, the smile on her face showing the thrill of battle was taking over. "But you needn't worry, I was built for battles like this. And I was built to win them!" her primary armament fired, not at the now burring collection of ships at our side but the original target I had pointed out, the small ships seemingly not worthy of her full wrath.

I took the time in between her cannons reload to take stock of the situation, and even though my heart still beat at a million miles a minute and I struggled to keep my hands steady, the nerve freezing panic had slowly abated.

I tried to find each of the girls' ships, listing them off one by one as I temporarily spotted them as their cannons fired, the only ones I wasn't able to see were Z23 and Zuikaku. But recent chatter from the radio told me they were not in immediate danger.

From what I did see, the fleet was still holding, Hood had seemingly got the damage under control and was still returning fire despite a rather large list to port. The rest of the girls seemed to only have minor damage.

Warspite was right, this was the type of fighting they were made for, and while alone this many Sirens would have simply overwhelmed them individually, together they could cover one another and become something greater than the sum of its parts.

I felt an inkling of pride watching the girls and listening to the radio. I could hear the unity between them. For a second I let myself believe in the hope we were going to make it through this.

There was a buzz on the radio, and Sullivan's voice came through. "Hey, uh, Warspite or James? This is the Ocean Bird. I know it's not protocol but we could do with a smidge of help over here."

Warspite twisted to give me a concerned look as I picked up the radio. "This is James. Speak quickly, we are a little busy at the moment."

There was an uncomfortably long pause before his reply, the only sounds to be heard was the constant thumping of naval cannons. But he eventually spoke again. "Sorry, bit of a mess up here. We took a hit a while back and while we got the fire under control we've started to lose engine power. I tried to fix it but… I'm out of my depth here. The engine has a pretty sizable hole, and we're being flooded by oil and water."

I glanced back at the convoy, my heart sinking as I did. Dozens of burning ships littered the stormy horizon, the thinly armoured vessels nothing more than sitting ducks against the Siren's guns. I knew the relative position of where the Ocean Bird should be, but with the chaos of it all, there was no telling exactly what I was looking at.

My mind raced to find a solution, but when one did finally come to mind it was yanked down before I had the chance to speak.

"Do not think for a second you are going over there!" Warspite ordered with a look of pure malice. "Even show the slightest hint that is your intention and I will confine you within the safest part of my ship." She poked a finger into my chest with enough force to push me back slightly. "My duty is to protect you. And I. Am. Stronger than you."

As much as I wanted to disagree or argue, she was right. Just like a captain can't leave the ship when the going gets tough, neither could I. I smiled and gave Warspite a pat on the head, even as I was swept up in the insanity of the situation . "Sorry, I sometimes forget it's not just myself who depends on me anymore."

"G-good." Warspite nodded, turning back to the battle, the edges of her lips seeming to twitch somewhat. "Now do what you can for that young man, I will focus on the ships harrying the convoy."

With a heavy heart and knowing what must be said I looked back at the convoy and spoke into the radio. "Sullivan. Are you sure there is nothing you can do?"

"I, I don't know, maybe? T-there's about a foot of oil and water in the engine room and the lights keep failing." His voice cracked several times and I could hear shouts from the bridge being picked up by the radio.

"That's OK, just try to stay calm. You should see how nerve racking it is up here at the front of everything." Knowing it was my fleet's radio frequency I continued speaking. "Zuikaku, start making your way over to the Ocean Bird's position."

"H-Hai, Shikikan. Currently taking on survivors from an stricken oiler, but will be there soon!"

I tried to see the flattop among the convoy but it was still impossible. "Good. Sullivan, inform your crew to prepare to abandon ship, Zuikaku will take you to safety. I know it means ditching your livelihood, but your lives are worth far more."

There was another long pause, I kept my eyes on the Ocean Bird's position, praying I could somehow just do more to help. I felt a hand pat me on the back before another ripple of cannonfire rang through the ship. Even Warspite's rear turrets had started to fire now.

"O-okay, my brother has issued the order. We'll make our way to the li-." The radio suddenly cut out as a ship in the convoy was hit and erupted into a ball of fire.