Notes

I am overdue by this one. But I had kebab a lot last new year's eve and I am now trying to draw with no experience from scratch. Plus I needed to catch up with my own projects like a potential campaign for PMMM! That, and playing a lot of 4X galactic games and multiplayer isn't kind on one's time budget.

But anyway! I am back! And here's another 5519 word chapter to sate your hunger from my adventures so far. I've had time to get in contact with someone who beta-reads. However, as of this moment they aren't available. so you have to deal with what i could put together for now. Still, between my new proofreading friends and my newfound interest in drawing on a phone. maybe you will get to see some fan-art of myself as Norfolk (Alsace and Facade dropped/transformed vers). as... bad as they might be?

And before you ask, I am well aware of these KMS shipboys and all these hyper-weapon-revolutions that are sometimes asked if they could have turned things around for germany in such a late stage. Sometimes it can be quite goat-laugh inducing. I mean. all APC shells tend to have HE filler. so the fact that H44 has a APHE shell is... logic engine error? Why not use RAPs and highly durable High Hardness steel armor of the 1970s that solved the fragility problem during WW2 with a softer basic plate?

And yes. I don't use RNG dices around here. It would be just too unpredictable. Instead, If Black Shift DOES happen (My partner is making a resolution to try and stick around this time) It will probably be more like Narrative RP where the situation. creativity with our abilities and careful planning, or simply abusing magical abilities to the extreme (Repurposing Axel Shooter or Madoka's homing arrow to target hypersonic SR-72 aircraft. weaponizing barriers as blunt energy hammers. rewriting shipgirl consciousnesses to force them to be loyal, Jump Pointing and Jump point Tunneling through walls. My partner has expressed an interest in using Yukari yakumo's powerset due to their background) will be more than enough. that is... Until Azur lane starts tampering with bizarre. barely predictable stuff.

"The Imperium of Man stands as a cautionary tale of what could happen should the very worst of Humanity's lust for power and extreme, unyielding xenophobia set in."
- Official Games Workshop Statement on 40K.

So you know how I started this mission out with at least 10 shipgirls. reinforced by another 30+ each fleet from Hornet's side to divide up between each of us? Yeah. the amount of who was still combat-effective had dropped by the dozens since the fighting had began at Stage 1 and Stage 2. About minutes after fighting off an strike package from Alpha Fleet along with a enemy fleet that is trying to opt for a counter-offensive strategy with gunboats executing hit and run attacks. The fleet unit which included Victorious was down to about 60% combat strength. Hipper had been struck by a pair of 406mm shells that blew out one of her main gun batteries.

Tirpitz suffered similar levels of damage. having been dogpiled on by a bunch of Nagatos followed by a charge from Dunkerques. She was on fire from several upper belt penetrations according to my estimate that likely had played havoc on her secondaries and fire-control due to how her accuracy was starting to suffer from watching her and comparing her previously. Then there were the hits that had penetrated into fighting compartments despite not having breached the main armor plates. There were gouges in the upper armor bands that. in addition to the damage previously. had also destroyed numerous weapon emplacements. An steel rain of shells and bombs ensured that her torpedo launchers were out of action for the foreseeable future.

Formidable from what my Prowlers were seeing had been struck by heavy AP bombs that blasted open multiple holes after breaching armored decks and then gouging out any remaining hangar armor plates. explosions threatening to ignite ammunition bunkers and aviation fuel.

Illustrious suffered suffered something similar. Fiji having lost her dual-purpose guns. Leipzig losing the bow. Cassin losing her torpedo launchers. and Isokaze nearly being destroyed completely to a useless state had she been alone. More damage might have been sustained had they not withdrew/drifted to a safer distance into the crowd.

But as allied shipgirls were damaged/crippled. Their own attacks had struck.

Having had the numerical advantage. followed by what amounted to nearly a hundred aircraft that could swarm a entire squadron into being floating heaps of junk. Enemy battlecruisers were not able to withstand a confrontation with their bigger cousins in a pressed battle. Having had drawn out the Dunkerques out of formation as they tried to regroup allowed the salvoes from North carolina. Renown. Colorado. West Virginia respectively. to achieve direct hits as they had adjusted for Cold gun barrel effects. drawing first blood as Cemented armor was shattered. leaving gouges in the main plates that then penetrated beyond the rubber compound backing layers and destroyed several key systems. Heavy cruisers similarly scored gouges. though not enough, and destroyed the less well protected secondaries and electric systems.

This came in concurrence with a counter-blow from remaining carriers. Skuas and Dauntlesses going into steep dives as two squadrons of torpedo bombers switched from harassment to fulfilling their purpose. Avengers dropped their torpedoes (as unreliable as they were) while fighter-bombers provided inaccurate rocket support. Bomb clutches were released. ramming SAP bombs into the horizontal armor and began carving out what they could before they were cut off by renewed AAA fire. Destroyers and Torpedo-armed cruisers pounced on the heavier ships that had gotten confused and lost in the chaos and fog of war. savaging them with torpedoes and rapid-fire light cannons while the heavier ships tried to respond in kind. their reaction loops ultimately failing them as one began to suffer from ammunition fires and cook-offs in most of her main guns. superheated gas escaping from the rings and hatches and turning the ammunition elevators into an oversized blast furnance.

The squadrons were then forced away by an intense Siren counter attack from reorganized fighters and light up to medium AA. an anti-air screen so fierce that they abandoned further targeting attempts on the capitals in favor of avoiding the onslaught. Torpedo bombers were not as fortunate as more enemy Wildcats caught them form behind. destroying a group of several TBFs. the squadron was then broken apart by Seafires. forcing them to go on the defensive of scatter as tracer rounds flew into the skies in search of anything flying in a straight line.

And back to my own side, Ariake was now laden by moderate BDA and a light fire. The ferocity of our IADs combined with what my carriers could spare had reduced incoming attack aircraft by a significant margin. but when my RADARs and cyber-warfare department from analysis of EM emissions completed their analysis, The results were not what i wanted to see.

What I saw did not please me one bit.

Commanding leader Ramway snarled as she launched torpedoes of her own into the last of the destroyers assaulting her mobile reserves. Swatting an incoming dive bomber aside. She communicated into the radio channels. "Battlecruisers and big guns! I need heavy fire support on these five now!"

"Ranging and firing now!" Came the haggard reply with distortion and interference. A wildcat slammed into another, making them explode like orange fireworks.

"New contacts! We're receiving transmissions!" Shouted a squadron leader from her left. Ramway started and turned toward the faint blurs in the distance before remembering that she still had a battle to fight, The transmissions and colors however. told her all she needed to know.

"It's a entire wing of super battleships!" Cheers cried out as supporting elements and mobile reserves quickly organized theirselves into working order. "They're brought a whole battle line and carriers with them!"

And indeed they did. Ramway picked up no less than a total of 45 ships. including five fleet carriers. There were four Maximum battleships forming the main firepower of the task force. Despite their extensive tours of duty and histories. none of them had ever seen a Maximum ship in intense combat before. But they did hear of them before. two to three times to the tonnage of a normal battleship with a similar increase in total firepower they were rare sights because even Command was cautionary about putting them at risk when your average everyday battlecruiser proved sufficient for most of their needs. But there was little doubt that where a Maximum went. destruction followed.

'This is Layla Lane. Come in!'

Layla Lane. One of the heaviest battleships in existence. to see the girl with her own eyes, The Siren commander almost teared up in joy.

"Yes. This is Ramway. receiving you. Can you help us?" Enthusiasm and relief was barely held back in her own voice. Between Layla's forces and her own. They would be quickly able to drive out the enemy fleet and then crush any remaining stragglers.

'We can! We're stumbled into one of their detached fleet elements. but we can deal with them in short time. We're coming toward you now!' The radio crackled with intent and fever-pitched tenor of communications.

Giving orders over the explosions and constant whining of aircraft and shells above. She wiped her face and allowed her personality to dissolve even further. settling deeper into the battle. "Bring us about! Have the fleet regroup! We smash into their outer defenses while our reinforcements hammer them!"

Oh fuck. oh fuck. oh fuck!

Two Tillman IIIs and two remarkably fast Yamato Battleships respectively. A warship with quite a noticeable superstructure measuring nearly 300 meters in the real world. Bristling with weapons, heavy armor enough to resist even 460mm gunfire. fast enough to qualify as a Fast battleship characteristic of a heavy propulsion upgrade that made them combined a Super star destroyer level threat. backed by enough Yorktowns and Lexingtons complete with 22 destroyers and 14 cruisers to utterly dominate this battle and crush my forces. And this was only the head of one really long mecha-girl infestation stretching all the way back to BEYOND the fucking horizon!

Such an ship group working together was a gamechanger in a battle of rapid deployment like this. morale would rise, reinforcements would come in droves. and my shipgirls would simply melt away under the weight of kinetic ammunition and kilotons the ships could bring to bear. Even my esoteric abilities would not be enough to pull off a victory on this day. And I could sense the fear slowly building up along my nearby allies. From the actions of the two Sakura Torpedo FAC destroyers, to the actions of Quincy and my bigger ships around me... The little voice in your stomach that kept trying to make you freeze up like a deer in the headlights. It was there and slowly growing.

Fortunately for me, bringing along even a bigger Mass accelerator. Electrothermal chemical cannons were my main strength. and if it truly got dire. the usage of Raising Heart as a Arcane Beam Emissions weapons system. After all. I was upgraded to the 21st century with the latest and greatest in military technology. disguised in the familiar hulls of warships of old. I felt my soul trying to crawl its way deeper as it hadn't got the memo that i wasn't in immediate danger... yet!

Hmm.. what to do. with Victorious's Fleet and Alpha Fleet 10 o'clock from my path. and a approaching heavy surface sector fleet from 6 o'clock that would overrun my forces? My face began to grimace. Think. Norfolk. Think! Think anything that doesn't involve dropping your facade!

...When the fighting began, I had started warming up my Jet bombers at some point during the battle. didn't i? Realizing that was my only way out of this, I quickly selected out a bunker-buster payload and began launching them as fast as I was able to. Only a crazy. nutty idea could work in this situation!

I began to slow down. positioning my squadron of A-7s I had launched just moments ago as they kept climbing toward the limits of the sky. Running a hand roughly through my hair, left eye twitching as I looked for a solution. I had heard stories about USAF aircraft guiding bombs down exhaust vents on bunkers... Could the same thing be done? It was the only thing that would work with a high single-shot kill probability and the one that would disorganize them from panic and confusion.

"Norfolk! Why are you falling behind?" Independence called out. She seemed subdued and unnerved. To see a battleship carrier force and the escorts was bad enough, But their flagship falling behind and right into the horns of a Siren task force who had intentions to tear them apart? That would be a disaster especially if my technology was lost!

"I intend to u-use myself as bait... Don't worry about me, you girls just get out of here." I replied with a tone of commitment to see this through to the very end. Independence's face went aghast. questioning my decision in the face of me going alone against the entire combined firepower of a battleship line. Was this even a decision that made sense?

"It's too dangerous for you! Norfolk! Don't do it!" Some girl cried out, falling on deaf ears. Internally I felt fear kicking in. It was going to have to look convincing and that meant allowing myself to fall into range of the enemy guns. It would mean being bombarded nonstop per second and air power being concentrated against me in a attempt to sink the flagship. I tried to not let personal feelings interfere with my course of actions in battle too much. but now... that it involved myself executing a nearly suicidal half-thought plan. the fear and terror at the possibility that the Yamatos could end me with lucky hits to critical systems dawned over my head.

'Norfolk. You're insane and out of your mind!' Atlanta... I could tell that she didn't agree with my audacious half-fucked plan that could go wrong with a good chance of doing so.

I lived because i didn't want to die. because death scared me. But the chances of that happening was low, My propellant charges and warheads were all built to be insensitive and to only deflagrate if damaged, I had enhanced armor protection in the form of magitech. and I had the necessary know-how and a skill to regenerate any damage done to me far beyond normal efficiency for regular damage control. And then if the need arose... even without my barrier jacket, I could still generate a discreet AMT Field. or Absolute Magical Territory over key portions. and let the superfluous and non-critical parts of myself like the bow. the stern and portions of the superstructure take damage while not arousing suspicion. If Witches could warp reality. and if Evas can use their massive spirits and manifest them on reality to the point of even warping light. why couldn't i be able to?

Much unlike that unfortunate Siren destroyer in Alpha fleet, who was now lamenting at the impossibility of being downed by a few heavy cruiser shells.

"I be okay... I-I won't be hurt badly in this decoy plan, Just go!" I ordered through the radio channels. cutting any replies off as i slowed down to half speed and less.

My engines responded immediately as my fleet members all began to outrun me. while from 6 o'clock, the enemy fleet was closing in. Nearly a fifty to a hundred contacts popped up over my RADAR screens as entire wings of strike bombers. air superiority aircraft. anti-ship torpedo bombers and fighter-bombers emerged from the decks of the Siren carriers. All these blips made me gulp slightly at the gravity of the situation.

It wasn't long before they reoriented their courses to point at me. no doubt thinking that I was suffering from a boiler problem of some sort.

Shellfire began to range in as I tried to not wince and strain my face, and soon it turned into a endless cacophony of splashes around me. so thick that it seemed like a thick solid mass of steel was being poured into me. My sixth sense went into overdrive and I allowed myself to dissolve into a battle rage state. evading. throwing myself into seemingly impossible turns and abusing my speed settings to avoid or side-step incoming shell patterns. Bombers began to drop their payloads on top of me. attempting to reenact Operation Ten-go for the second time. This drew the attention of my computerized AAA systems, Targeting RADARs measuring distance and exact angle before feeding it to 20mms and SAKs. who all retaliated with accurate 20mm streams and flak clouds of bursting 40mm proximity rounds.

I snarled and gave my soul gem-if i ever had one a kick. My arms shook and hands clenched into fists as my latent magical abilities visualized them as bright flares in the distance. And for a moment red triangles and arrow symbols appeared on top of their heads before disappearing. representing their classification each as a screening or capital ship. "Eat hypersonic slugs and just die. bastards!" Allowing myself to fall further behind-it had to look real and genuine. I began to return fire with my main batteries. Zhuks. Marks and Laser rangefinders going online and feeding sensor-fused data which was processed almost immediately to my soul. Pulse-forming networks charged. Flywheels spun up to hazardous speeds. energy levels were spiking. Capacitors then dumped all of this electricity into my main batteries. vaporizing the plasma generator and setting off the propellant charges which in turn began to accelerate shells under gigantic pressure in Type D mode and then try to nudge them toward my intended victims with slight telekinetic forces.

The Salvo from Battery A was too low. I caught a cruiser right in the armored bulkhead. blasting open sizeable holes that must have hit something critical, as what little I saw was of smoke and flames from one of her main turrets hinting that I fuel fire. Battery B ended up missing entirely, straddling a maneuvering Type 1934 destroyer that was trying to frustrate me. Battery C in turn struck the funnel uptakes of a Asashio. disintegrating them completely and sending superheated fragments everywhere as her torpedoes began to burn and catch fire!

Immediately I began correcting for any possible errors and put the guns into computerized mode with adjustments from my psychic abilities as needed."Just hold still. for hell's sake!" I cursed under my breath and muttered a reply to Bataan's question about the decoy airstrike. telling her to go ahead now that my true bombers were in the air and decoy Wildcat fighters had rendezvoused with her bait package. 127mm and 100mm secondaries fired. 127mm mechanized loaders ramming and slamming in new shells. combined firing at the same rate as a 120mm machine gun. a constant steel rain of tracers and RAP shells and 100mm shells. mentally chanting to myself 'Die. motherfucker die!' RADAR sets recorded incoming shells aimed toward me and alerted me that I should take evasive actio-

I felt a set of what must have been 406mm USN shells slam into my side, I felt large-caliber shell patterns splashing down around me. I heard yelling over the radio despite the deafening ricochet that reminded me of two tanks ramming each other face-on. One shell dug into my armor belt only to be rejected and ricochet off high into the air detonating in a burst of black smoke and another shell shear off my deck plating with it!

"Augguaahhh!" I yelped in pain as I immediately pulled up damage control. "Eugh! Aaughh... God!" Okay, nothing bad other than just some minor non-important damage. That I can deal with. If it had actually penetrated my main armor belt. It would have been far worse than if it had been rejected! And If it had took out a engine unit. I would have been screwed on the spot! All the while my Steel rain of secondary fire threw up clouds of water vapor and fog around the enemy ships that I had designated for prioritization. bridges blown to hell and steel shards. even masts flying sky high like beer corks, I was incapacitating and crippling the vanguard ships. no doubt. but not as fast as I would need to even consider the idea of trying to solo them!

"What could work as a barrier... a barrier shield to prevent a Jutland scenario!?" I talked to myself in search for a solution and coughed out the seawater that had got on my face. my armor was not going to cut it, not against a Yamato... Didn't i remember that back in my first battles. I had generated some kind of shield during my time with Comet. and then healed myself in the process as well? If the angels from EVA could generate a A.T field to protect theirselves from the outside forces of reality. and if Witches could do something similar emphasizing reality-warping over defensive protection, Then I just only had to... Another explosion on my back nearly sent me reeling into the water and prompted me to hold on tighter to my clothes. Right! First priority is survival and I had thought about the idea earlier. worrying about reserves can come later!

Letting instinct guide my actions. In these few moments, my abilities drew power from me and permeated my body. I felt a soft tingle form across my skin and the entire surface of my body like something hovering just about it. not distracting, but still noticeable. AMT. or my Absolute Magical Territory Field. Well. a beginner-level improvisation to make up for the fact I don't have any named or advanced barrier skills yet. a MG Imitation of the Eva A.T Field and pseudo Barrier-jacket shielding began to activate, as when the light strikes me at just the right angle. there's the faintest shimmer of some pink and orange barrier surrounding portions of my machinery. What shells I couldn't evade. they splashed into the fields instead, shattering and mushrooming theirselves as splashes of energy played over the light of my shackled mind.

"Not yet..." Having gotten my A-7s as high as i could, I changed their course to head toward the enemy fleet with distance to give. My Dauntlesses along with Bataan's were approaching as a decoy strike, to convince the enemy fleet to look in that direction and redirect their fighters instead of risking detection. Again I felt another battleship shell smack face-on into my turret mantlets. only again to ricochet off with no structural damage whatsoever other than the slight tingle of fatigue.

Two PC 1800RS bombs with Paveway seekers and PBXN-5 Warheads plus R-73s. One targeting pod and borderline overweight for the specs. Only two oversized rocket boosted Fritz-X/BLU-113 style shots for this. I mentally commanded them to lase the turrets. or if that was not possible to lase between the main battery gun barrels. Hopefully they could penetrate all the way down to ammunition bunkers and not detonate in the elevators. The carriers were also to be targeted for destruction too. It had to work or i was going to be dead.

"Mmuguh! Ugh! Ah!" I grunted and groaned in synchronized pain as a large-caliber shell perforated and exploded on my unshielded bow. tearing a new hole in it and punching open multiple structural components. A new steaming hole made me look away and try to keep a steady head. not letting my mind run wild. "Photon Trail Enhancer...!" I murmured. a slight glow of light visible within my clenched hands before fading as I cast a offensive support spell directed for my bombers. intending to increase the explosion power of these bombs and also give them incendiary properties. My armor groaned in protest as it deflected or stopped shells that were eating away at the surface. peeling off flakes and spatters of red-hot metal.

"Haah...! Gugh!" I felt some tingle of light panting as my overclocked offensive spell drew power. but it was nothing that could interfere with my focus. Enemy fighters were already being redirected to intercept the fake airstrike. A-7s began to enter into a slight. gliding dive, Lasing all battleships and fleet carriers before they could rain down hell on me or give birth to more aircraft.

Altitude descending. Video feeds from targeting pods appeared. Single bombs were released as ancient. somewhat antique by modern standards. but functional Paveway II seekers acquired the designators. manually stewed on the turret roofs or bomb rooms for the best chance of a magazine hit and began to home in to their destinations... Blurs in the skies signaling their barely noticeable arrival as they built up speed.

I watched, even as explosions covered the surface of my superstructure. even as I began to lose my decoy bombers. all going down in flames or either uncontrollable while I was starting to lose one of two decoy fighters. I became aware of a fire being started on deck.

Digital signals were sent. rocket motors fuses armed and ignited. Orange twinkles of light signaling their barely noticeable arrival and accelerating the bombs to their final striking velocities as they descended toward a unaware enemy fleet. crossing the remaining distance in seconds.

I nearly cheered on the spot when all bombs hit their marks. bulldozing their way through armored decks and layers with sheer mass before detonating into a cloud of crackling flames and orange glaring plasma-like discharges. Targeting pod cameras showed the barbettes going up like little volcanoes. geysers of fire and debris as a Tillman suffered ammunition explosions from a bomb blowing up right next to what had to be a magazine room. steel shards and burning wood scattering all over the place like fireworks. The plan had worked, This crazy gamble had worked. even if it involved using a flagship as bait and the loss of 13 aircraft as decoys!

"Phoenix! Aurora! Turn around and form up into two pincers!" I ordered gleefully. "With their capital ships gone and their forces in disarray. We need to attack now! Close in. Close in and take them all for me!" Enemy fire began to taper off dramatically as I saw the young destroyers panicking. cruisers being confused and looking frantically about for their attackers. One of them even turned around in a attempt to seek safety in numbers. I nearly shouted in joy as initial BDA estimates came in and indicated that flooding would be a bear on another Tillman. the strike on her had removed an sizeable chunk of a weather deck, most of the secondary magazines. and one of the boiler units. There were even entire sections of deck or side simply being thrown away from the battleship herself! The effects of my offensive support skill was such that it painted a bleak picture for her in terms of damage control being done before the battle was over.

'Yes ma'am!' Agreed my fleet. even as the friendly destroyers that were the nose of my retreating fleet reversed their direction around and began the attack no matter their positioning. the fear was completely gone.

'You heard her!' Phoenix's cheer was that of a fiery. hot-blooded Hooah tone. I almost swore I spoke in sync with her. 'We're the ones attacking. not retreating! Let's go! It's time to kill their surface task force! Quincy. Echo. Z20. You're in with me! Follow me in as we go!'

{'Good hunting to her. She is always looking for a good enemy to fight after all.'} I gave her my salutes to finish the thought. turning my gaze back toward the second enemy fleet. now designated on my battlespace map as... Bogey fleet. Hydraulic noises filled my ears. SAMs looking for anything to swat out of the sky and RADARs searching for new contacts with their mechanically and electronically scanned radio beams.

As the new enemy fleet began to panic and veer about in random directions from being totally blind to where their assailants were. disorganization and chaos spreading like air and viruses throughout them while my own fleet charged back in. reinvigorated with the desire to fight. I handled requests from my Prowlers to land and rearm. preening my red hood and noting the number of submarines picked up by sonobuoy nets and total number of enemy ships detected by Type 965. I assigned and mentally touch-screened a few Prowlers to try and engage them to add to my growing tally of at least about a few tens of submarines. nearly ten done by my escort ships without any direct guided torpedo airstrikes.

This crazy plan. half thought out as it was had paid off spectacularly. At least half to 75% of the enemy fleet's overwhelming firepower was effectively gone as a spectacular explosion erupted from a Yorktown-class's deck elevators. I had taken some damage and my unprotected ends were scarred and beaten. but my carrier component had effectively defeated an entire fleet of ships in effect by itself.

Now, of course. came the hard part.

Sinking every single ship would be too costly for my current count of shipgirls under command. even if I included and risked the injured ones like Ariake.

I would need to take a more Schwerpunkt and overwhelming concentration of force approach to this and force them to fight inside a ever faster and faster OODA reaction loop. Mentally, I ordered the remaining A-7s to begin targeting the faster firing light cruisers and complete destruction of the carriers. They were to eliminate any threat to my picket and supporting forces since my fleet did not include any capital ships (Other than myself and maybe Quincy). this in turn would allow me to approach from a suitably weakened flank and pincer them without excessive risk to my vanguards.

From there, things can only get madder.

An alert popped into mind and I turned my attention to Alpha Fleet and Azur lane Offensive battlegroups. the remaining enemy warships were regrouping and disengaging, every fighter and frigate was making their way to them. Worrying since Hornet's fleet was becoming increasingly tattered. but for the moment they would be carrying out DC and more than likely. planning for a final assault on Hornet's fleet before turning their attention toward my outnumbered flotilla.

Dozens of minor alerts told me all I needed to know about my own fleet's status.

The attempted airstrikes from Bogey fleet. although mostly repulsed didn't leave us unscratched, I had started out with nine destroyers and five Light cruisers;Ariake now sported bomb damage to her topworks. Independence had gotten strafed by a desperate Dauntless and then took rocket hits. and the Atlantas had took retaliation runs and were now sporting varying degrees of superstructure damage and non-operational turrets.

I still had my carriers and Hornet's presence, however. even if my CLAAs were approaching their practical combat endurance limits and one of my Hatsuharus was able to explode if her torpedo launchers were further stressed. Quincy. Phoenix. Aurora and myself still remained, forming the core of my available supporting firepower and Ad'hoc battlecruiser squadrons.

My vital systems had escaped unscratched. but my unprotected ends had took a few bad hits and there, but my long-range bombardment weapons systems like the Exocets and Termits were still ready to serve, but firing them would entail a fairly lengthy reload period owed to the fact these launchers were never meant to be reloaded during combat for the same reasons you don't rely on external magazines or shove your AA ammunition lockers away from their consumers.

I elected to leave the gradually escalating. bigger and more fanciful and lethal weapons systems like air-launched Exocets and a few soviet systems like Kh-29s and 25s plus Nammo Ammunition rockets (to the magazines) that i hadn't mapped out on my initial survey. maybe one Divine buster as a last resort. Taking a glance at my map with blue arrows , I knew that this was going to be close.

"No! NO!" Screamed Ramway. receiving reports about what happened to their reinforcements. some invisible force having knocked out the battleships and carriers all within the span of moments. The carriers ignited into a conflagration and battleships puffed out. black smoke erupting from their funnels before coming to a dead stop.

She cursed herself and her luck. and cursed the flagship of that peculiar detachment. She fired her main guns on a enemy ship who she didn't identify in the heat of the engagement. anger furiously coursing through her veins, "This is Ramway. Intensify your bombing efforts and arm your fighters with strike packages! Our reinforcements have been attacked by something!" She shouted into the comms. giving no heed to the confusion, An destroyer to her left shrieked as shellfire filled her vision.

'Ma'am. We're working as fast as we can! We can't possibly-' Came the confused and unbelieving reply. more explosions and yelps resonating into the radio.

But Ramway wasn't having none of it. She sailed around the fusilade of small and large-caliber penetrators tearing to rip anyone apart and make children's playgrounds out of the flotsam. letting the rage fuel her. "Carriers! I am ordering you to redirect your strike packages! DAMN IT!"

'R-Right away!' Despite her emotional state which put the siren's ability to lead into question. The carriers still obeyed her orders. For now they were sending them in a constant stream, trying to exploit opportunities like enemy ships drawn out from their formation. While going on such a aggressive course of action would incur more losses. Compared to what just happened to one of their heavy task forces and how many enemy carriers were still happily sailing about...

'Ramway! We can't knock out their flattops! We simply don't have the necessary ready aircraft on hand in numbers! Enemy CAPs have noticed and they are returning fire-FUCK! EVADE!'

She never saw the shot incoming.

A stray torpedo struck her on the equivalent of the amidships. shorting out half of her power grid and knocking FCS systems loose. rendering her long range gunnery imprecise and on a spin down toward the drains of firing from the hip. "GAAUGGHH! no... No! No. No. NO!"

Even as she was forced to pull away and begin emergency repairs. some poor Fletcher next to her going up in a fireball from multiple secondary ammunition explosions. She cursed Central Strategic Command. Azur Lane. The United Nations. Herself for ignoring the enemy detachment as a plausible threat. and the commander of that detachment with all her heart.

What do you think?