Freedom was flying up in the sky, his eyes scanning the surface of the water beneath him through his goggles. His radar wasn't working, so he had no other way to find his next prey.
He wasn't made for drawn-out flights. His wings were the product of his Wisdom Crafting, they gave him an incredible advantage in every dogfight, allowing him to perform maneuvers that a normal pilot would be able to accomplish only in his dreams; even the Siren aircraft and the AA weapons he was so used to fighting had a hard time keeping up with him. Unfortunately, they were very expensive in terms of energy consumption. Kansen could use their Wisdom Crafting by consuming the energy of their own Wisdom Cube, which could be restored with time by simply resting. His wings, though, were a step above even that; they burned through his energy reserves like a gambler with his savings in a casino, using it as fuel to supply his afterburners.
Luckily, the surroundings were teeming with Siren ships. Not a couple of minutes would pass before he would encounter one of them, mainly small fry, like solitary scouts and isolated patrol boats, but it didn't matter; they were all prey to him.
Upon sighting his target, he would swoop in like a hawk, undetected, and terminate them as quickly as he could. Then he would rip their Cubes out of their hulls and use them to recover the energy he was consuming by flying. Then he would take off again in search of another target, resuming the process all over again.
Yes, there was another way for Kansen to recover the energy they spent using their Wisdom Crafting, and it was by absorbing it from other sources, like the Cubes of the Siren vessels they destroyed.
Unfortunately, small fries like these could only restore enough energy for Freedom to fly for a few minutes longer, nothing more.
It was the only thing he could do for now, stopping at every Siren vessel he encountered and depriving them of their core to sustain himself. He would keep at it until he reached the mainland; the sooner he did that, the sooner he could seriously start looking for his brothers.
He was worried about one of them in particular, the newest member of the group and least experienced of them all, Sparviero. The Italian carrier was born from a defective Cube that made him effectively blind; there were other Kansen like him in his world, born with similar kinds of defects or simply from damaged Cubes, but any attempt made at restoring them or correcting them had been futile.
If Sparviero's radar wasn't working like his own wasn't, then the carrier was essentially a sitting duck in a pool of sharks, wherever he was.
He had to find him as soon as possible before the Sirens did.
But at the moment, he had to focus on himself. He had never seen such a high concentration of Siren vessels so close to each other. It was starting to get ridiculous, but at least it justified the absence of human ships around.
Maybe it was just like his world in the past. Maybe the presence of the Sirens was so strong that ships didn't even bother trying to get past the open sea and limited their course to secondary trading routes that were usually shorter and safer.
If that was truly the case, maybe the place he found himself stranded was a particularly great body of water, like the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean.
While reflecting on this, he noticed another red and black spot a few miles away from him; this one was bigger than the others. It was a Siren carrier, and he could already see a few aircraft swarming around it.
He couldn't afford to hold back this time.
He started gaining altitude, going up above the clouds and got ready to engage.
"Good thing they are too busy with us to pay attention to what's happening on the platform," Ryan thought while holding on for dear life to Ise and Hyuuga. The two battleships were lending their shoulders to him while skidding around on the water, trying to avoid the Siren attacks as best they could. South Dakota, Glowworm, and Grenville were with them, the first blocking any shot coming from the mass-produced Siren ships, the others using their weapons to deal with any aircraft that got too close to them.
After Purifier's surprise attack, they all got separated from each other. Cleveland had recalled her vessel, and he had found himself falling in the water below; luckily, South Dakota and the others were there to pick him up, and they were now trying to get him out of that dangerous situation. The other destroyers had also jumped in; Z23, Ayanami, and Laffey, guided by Shimakaze, had grabbed hold of the wounded shipgirl and dragged her out of harm's way, leaving behind a flurry of torpedoes to cover their escape.
Out of the corner of his eye, before being dragged away, Ryan had seen the others engaging the bulk of the enemy fleet and the Elite Siren herself; from afar, he could see Purifier's laser beams in the distance, the mass-produced vessels shooting towards them, the Executor-class Sirens engaging the other shipgirls in combat, and the newly arrived carriers unleashing new squadrons of alien drones in the sky.
The worst was happening; he didn't know how many aircraft his carriers had remaining at their disposal, but after the order he had given earlier, he was sure there weren't enough to deal with this new wave of attacks.
"Commander, hold on for just a bit longer; we'll leave you at the oil rig and then go back to help the others." South Dakota's fatigued voice interrupted his train of thought. Just like her rigging, the Kansen was not in good condition, bruised and battered since the previous fight, and all the hits she was taking to shield his fragile human body were only aggravating it. Ise and Hyuuga were not faring better.
Ryan hated that. He hated that he was basically being a burden and slowing them down. If he wasn't there, South Dakota would be fighting the Sirens alongside her sisters instead of wasting her strength to protect his dead weight. At the same time, Purifier was after him, if he understood correctly, so heading towards the platform was not a good idea if they wanted to keep their goal hidden.
He didn't know what to do. If he went to the platform and the Siren decided to chase him, he could jeopardize the entire operation; but if he didn't, the girls would have to keep protecting him, and South Dakota was slowly reaching her limits.
Then, an idea came to his mind.
"No, Dakota, I have a better idea. Glowworm and Grenville, you two head back to the others and help them deal with the aircraft. Keep them away from the rig for as long as you can. We need that device up and running as soon as possible."
"Roger that, Commander." The destroyers immediately darted towards the heat of battle, then he took his transceiver and contacted a certain carrier.
"Shoukaku, I need a favor."
"Shikikan, it's too dangerous!" Shoukaku was so taken aback she almost let her guard down, allowing one of the low-tier humanoid Sirens to get too close to her. Luckily Ark Royal was right beside her; she pushed her out of the way and hit the temple of the Tracker with the butt of her rifle, then pointed her weapon at her chest and shot her.
The situation was getting out of hand. Enterprise and Zuikaku had already run out of aircraft, which is why they'd gone after Purifier; Ark Royal and Shoukaku were the only carriers left able to conduct proper aerial battles, and now it was their turn to manage aerial superiority while also directly fighting the humanoid Sirens summoned by Purifier.
"Don't get distracted, miss," Ark Royal said to the Sakura carrier; they both dodged the incoming shells of a battleship, and she answered by shooting a barrage towards it that immediately turned into a squadron of torpedo bombers. After a few seconds of flight, they launched their torpedoes, nailing the hull of the Siren warship with a series of explosions, eliminating it.
"I'm sorry, senpai," replied a mortified Shoukaku, addressing the veteran carrier with the proper honorific. Then she turned her attention once again to the Commander. "Please, Shikikan, it's far too dangerous! There must be another way."
"No. Purifier is too engrossed in the fight to pay attention to the rig; we have to take advantage of that," Ryan said through his transceiver. "We'll have a chance to beat them when Captain Decken and his men will have completed the installation, and this is the only way to buy them time without endangering them."
Unable to reject a direct order from her own Commander, Shoukaku couldn't do anything else but comply. "Wakatta Shikikan, please stay safe."
Then, the Sakura carrier addressed the veteran. "Senpai, please watch my back." With a nod, the Royal carrier raised her weapon, pointing it at the next incoming wave. Shoukaku brought her flute to her lips and, still a bit hesitant, started performing one of her melodies, diverting the course of one of her squadrons, making them fly as low as possible, and sending them towards her Commander's position.
Massachusetts extended one of her main guns and shot at point-blank range, dismembering the Executor-class in front of her. Alabama swung her scythe at another Executor-class, cutting her in half from the shoulder to the hip. A few feet away from them, George and Howe were shooting their guns at the mass-produced Siren ships, dodging their shells and retaliating with such elegance and coordination that made them look like they were hovering above the waves, instead of touching them with their feet.
From above, a squadron of dive bombers was heading straight toward them. Massachusetts and Alabama got ready to dodge their payload, but before they did, a flurry of AA fire came from behind them, reducing the aircraft to smithereens.
"Sisters!" Hearing the voice of their elder, Massachusetts, and Alabama perked up and turned around; South Dakota was heading towards them, with Ise, Hyuuga, and the two destroyers in tow.
If they were here, then the Commander was safe, and they could finally focus on pushing back the Sirens; the additional AA support was also welcomed. With their riggings out, defending themselves from fighters and dive bombers was a lot easier than doing it with their hull, but it was still a pain if they had to fight the low-tier humanoid Sirens at the same time.
Suddenly, the sound of the aircraft that had been fighting above their heads and harassing them since the beginning of the battle started getting less intense. Lifting their heads, the battleships saw the Siren drones interrupt their dogfights and dismiss their opponents, all of them heading in the same direction.
Only then did they notice the expression of concern on their elder sister's face, and realization started creeping into their minds.
"What happened?"
Ryan couldn't believe it. It was working. Every Siren aircraft deployed by the enemy carriers was following him. Purifier had summoned an entire fleet just to "put him through the test," so it made sense that if he tried to run away from the battlefield, the aircraft would be the first to chase after him. Not only that, but he also needed to lift some of the pressure of the battle from his girls, and he couldn't think of any other way.
His plan was reckless, he knew it, but it was also the most rational thing he could think of. If he couldn't stay on the rig because they couldn't let the enemy figure out their plan and he couldn't stay with the shipgirls because he would end up slowing them down, then the best thing he could do was to remove his presence from the battlefield, and if he could lure away some of their enemies by doing that, it was even better.
Convincing Shoukaku and the others to agree to his plan wasn't easy; he'd basically asked her to use him as bait to lure the alien planes away from the fleet so that the others could have more room to breathe. He had to convince them by saying that if Shoukaku kept her planes at their maximum cruising speed, his pursuers would never be able to catch up with him; they must be worried sick, he'll have to apologize to them later…
If there will be a later for him. Suddenly, realization started dawning on him, and this time he wasn't surrounded by his subordinates, for whom he had to put up a facade of self-confidence.
"Shit." He put his hands on his head and massaged his temples. He was in the narrow cockpit of a Sakura aircraft, which he had no control over, with only four other planes escorting him and an insane amount of alien drones hot on his tail. The now entirely covered sky was not helping with easing his anxiety.
He could only pray for the girls to quickly dispose of the enemy carriers or for Decken's crew to activate the ASD as soon as possible. Possibly before the aliens caught up with him.
Suddenly he heard an explosion behind him and saw one of his escorts crash into the ocean, followed by the others like a domino. In the reflection of the glass, he could see flashes of red and purple, accompanied by the deafening sound of more explosions and gunfire.
Then he felt his ride tremble around him, and an imposing shadow fell over him.
Purifier maniacally laughed at her opponents, using her rigging to dodge their attacks in midair, and shooting condensed versions of her laser beams from her cannons at them.
Belfast and Prinz Eugen were trying their best at both dodging and scoring a hit on the Siren, but every attempt had been futile; their main guns were not fast enough to hit her and their secondary guns were not strong enough to damage her rigging effectively, and Belfast had exhausted her smokescreen with the previous stunt, so she couldn't pull any tricks out of her sleeve. The only thing they could do was keep up the pressure on her in the hope that Enterprise could exploit a moment of distraction and land a direct hit with her rigging.
Meanwhile, Zuikaku was starting to get frustrated. She and the Grey Ghost had already run out of aircraft, but unlike her, Enterprise was still able to fully contribute to the fight with her rigging, while she could only watch and hope that Purifier would get within range of her blade.
As a proud member of the Fifth Carrier Division, she had a reputation to uphold. Her transfer to Azur Lane had given her the chance to confront herself against powerful opponents from the other factions, including the Grey Ghost herself, but she wasn't able to score a single win against her during the mock battles they conducted at the base. She had hoped that this mission could give her the chance to prove her worth in front of her rival and the Commander, but up until now, she had only been successful in showing her incompetence.
Sensing an opportunity, after the Siren performed a dodge that brought her fairly low, she rushed forward and jumped as high as she could, swinging her katana at her neck.
Purifier sneered; before Zuikaku could strike, the alien rigging released a sonic wave that pushed the Siren away from her to a safe distance. Missing her target and losing her balance, Zuikaku could only fall unceremoniously into the water below.
"AHAHAH, you are so pathetic, Sakura carrier! Your friends are doing their best to entertain me while the only thing you can do is stand there looking like an idiot!" The Siren laughed, shamelessly mocking her.
Zuikaku gritted her teeth. "I want to land at least one blow," she said to herself. She couldn't allow the enemy to mock her like that, but she currently had no way to actually hurt her from a distance.
Belfast sent a nod to the other two shipgirls. Enterprise quickly pulled and released her bowstring, shooting an energy arrow that turned into an aircraft as soon as it left the weapon, flying straight toward the Siren. It was the last one she had left, and she had been hiding it for such an occasion, so it was hit or miss.
Of course, Purifier dodged it effortlessly. "Trying something new? It was about time; I was starting to get bored." The Siren sneered at the four Kansen below her… No, wait, three? Where was the Iron Blood woman?
As if replying to her silent question, two pairs of mechanical jaws bit into her rigging from behind.
"Let's see how pathetic you are going to look after this." Eugen, having exploited the aircraft sent by Enterprise, was now floating behind the Siren, and had grabbed hold of her leg with her hands. "Here's a gift, little bird!" Using all her Kansen strength, she pulled at the Siren and threw her downward, making her slam into the water below. Right in front of Zuikaku.
Without missing a beat, the Sakura carrier leaped forward, bringing her katana above her head in a high stance, and swinging it down on the exposed Siren.
Purifier could only raise her arms on instinct to shield her face. With a swift vertical move, the blade severed both, cutting through the limbs and reaching her face, etching a wound that crossed it vertically from her forehead to her lips, passing for the bridge of her nose.
"If you'll excuse me, Miss Zuikaku." Belfast had also rushed towards Purifier and was now standing a few feet behind her. Right on cue, Zuikaku jumped backward, and the maid shot her barrels right into the rigging of the Siren, blowing off a good chunk of it and enveloping the enemy in a cloud of smoke.
Screaming in pain, Purifier quickly gained altitude once more, purple blood flowing from the stumps on her arms and the wound on her face.
"YOU BASTARDS! You think yourselves so clever?! Let's see how you do with this!" Albeit damaged, the cannons on her rigging started glowing all at once. They stretched forward, converging their barrels into one point. Gathering energy, they formed a yellow orb in front of them, which started growing bigger and bigger at an alarming rate.
"This is bad! Everyone, get out of the way!" Enterprise shouted to the other three Kansen.
Releasing the energy accumulated, Purifier shot a laser beam so thick that it made the previous ones pale in comparison. It impacted on the surface right where they were standing, the shockwave strong enough to push them backward; it persisted for a few instants and then kept moving forward… toward the Kansen who were still fighting at a distance behind them.
"WATCH OUT!" Eugen shouted into her radio in the hope that the others could jump out of the way in time, but the four shipgirls could only watch in horror as the beam traveled toward their comrades.
"NO!" Shoukaku suddenly screamed and clutched her head with her hands, falling to her knees. Ark Royal was immediately at her side, trying to figure out if she had been hit by a stray shell.
Noticing that she was unharmed, she tried to shake her out of her stupor. "Shoukaku, are you okay?! What happened?!"
Shoukaku had been too engrossed in the fight to continuously check on the Commander, and when she did it again, she couldn't feel him anymore. "My planes… the ones I sent with him… they are gone!"
That was all Ark Royal needed to understand the implications.
"Please get a grip! We are in the middle of a battle; you can't collapse on me like this!" She let off, trying to move her out of the way of another incoming volley.
South Dakota jumped in front of them, using her shields to take the brunt in their place; a cloud of black smoke engulfed them for a second.
"What the hell happened, Shoukaku?! Is the Commander all right?!" The Eagle Union battleship couldn't hide behind her stone mask anymore; she was with him when he explained his plan to them, and even if begrudgingly, she had agreed to it, only because he'd assured her that he would prioritize his safety above everything else.
"I-I don't know; something must have happened, but I don't know what," Shoukaku let off as tears started welling up in her eyes.
Ark Royal tried her best to comfort her. "It's too soon to make any assumptions; maybe he just ejected himself. We just need to take care of these goons as soon as possible, and we'll go pick him up right after we finish."
Suddenly, another scream, this time coming from their radio.
"WATCH OUT!"
South Dakota was the first to notice. An intense yellow light was coming from behind them, from where the others were fighting Purifier. She turned around and saw it growing ever more intense, and she outright panicked when she noticed it heading straight toward Massachusetts.
The pain and fatigue, combined with the feeling of dread, made her lose her composure.
"SISTER!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, extending an arm toward her. Massachusetts, too engrossed in the fight she was in, barely had enough time to realize what was happening before the light enveloped her.
Time seemed to stop for a second as everyone stared with wide eyes and mouths agape.
South Dakota fell to her knees, unable to process what had just happened. When the blinding light of the laser beam dimmed down, Massachusetts was gone, as if she had never been there at all. No trace of her was left, except for a few strands of hair blowing in the wind. Her sister had just vanished in front of her eyes, and she hadn't been able to do anything about it.
The strongest shield they called her, what a joke. In her opinion, things had value only when they were useful, and at that moment, she had never felt more useless. Her weakness had caused the Commander to put himself in danger by taking the role of bait, and her powerlessness had caused her sister to die before her. Massachusetts was right there in front of her; if she had been a little faster, a little better, maybe she would have been able to save her, or at least take her place. But she was still alive, and her sister was gone; the Commander was missing, and they were starting to lose hope.
Around her, the others were saying something, but she couldn't hear them; their voices were muffled, and her ears were ringing. The Sirens were still around them, but she couldn't bring herself to move an inch.
Then she heard another voice; this time it was coming from her radio, and it was crystal clear.
"Everyone, do you copy me? It's me, Ryan. I'm back on the oil rig." South Dakota was unable to reply, and Ark Royal intervened, "Commander, are you all right?! What in the bloody hell happened?!"
"Thank goodness… you are safe." Shoukaku was able to utter a few words, tears now freely flowing down her face.
"I'm sorry, you must have been worried sick; I'll explain everything later. For now, just look up."
That they did, and what they saw left them speechless.
Hovering a few feet above the water, was a man, holding Massachusetts in his arms in a bridal carry; the shipgirl was clutching onto his neck for dear life with a very surprised expression on her face. He had light bronze skin and short pale white hair with purple streaks atop his head. His purple eyes were glowing intensely behind a pair of goggles. A black, tight tank top showed white tribal tattoos on his chiseled torso and arms.
His most notable features, though, were his wings, if you could call them that. They were slender and elongated, shaped in a trident-like structure, each resembling a three-clawed hand, where each finger was a segment fused with the others on one end through what looked like a metallic tissue, and were attached to an arm that connected them to his shoulder blades. The other end of each segment was shaped like the exhaust of a jet plane, making them look in every way like afterburners. To top it all, they were covered in metal plates shaped like curved blades that extended even beyond the exhausts; they were of a dark silvery-gray color and were traversed by purple glowing lines of light.
The six "fingers" were pointing downward, ejecting their exhaust from their wingtips with the typical sound of jet engine, allowing him to hover in the air without any instability.
Reducing the output of energy from his wings, the man started descending toward the surface.
"Thank goodness... I made it in time," he said to the shipgirl in his arms while putting her down and giving her a genuine smile.
Massachusetts, on her part, was still trying to process what happened. When she saw that light coming towards her, she was sure she was a goner; then she was blinded by a purple flash and found herself in the air, between the arms of this stranger.
He saved her life. She had to thank him, but she found herself unable to speak, the near-death experience and the absurdity of the situation preventing her from forming a proper sentence.
"His name is Freedom; he is a Kansen like you, and he is a man, as you can see," added the Commander. "Don't worry, he is on our side."
Purifier, on her part, could hear the voice of the Commander coming from the shipgirls' radio, and she didn't like what she was hearing. Having forgotten the reason for her previous outburst, she focused her attention on the new arrival.
"You!" She bellowed in anger, pointing her (missing) arm at the shipboy. "What the fuck are you?! Where the hell did you come from?!" A male Kansen was entirely inconceivable. The Wisdom Cubes, once they synchronize their wavelength with the "desire" of their first users, were not meant to diverge from that pre-set configuration. It was like the imprinting of an animal: once the first goes in one direction, all the others will follow suit. Sure, there was space for diversification between each one of them, but it was impossible for one of the creations to diverge so much from the others. Unless the Cube from which this individual came was part of an entirely different batch…
No, even if her speculations were on point, there was no way for him to be there. But what if he truly was an external factor? She couldn't take the risk; she had to terminate him then and there.
Freedom removed his goggles from his eyes and placed them on his forehead. "Why do you ask something to which you already know the answer, Siren?" He asked her with contempt in his voice.
His attitude ticked her off. She prepared to jump him using the superior speed her rigging granted her, but the Commander interjected again.
"I want you to let him take care of Purifier while you all deal with the rest of the Sirens. The device will be operative in less than a minute; hold out until then, and we'll use it against the mass-produced ships."
Enterprise and the others, having recovered from the shockwave of the blast, were already preparing themselves for the second round against the Elite Siren, but after receiving the Commander's order, they retreated toward their comrades to assist them, but not without sending hateful glares to the Siren.
Purifier didn't register them leaving; she was too preoccupied with the implication of what the Commander just said. She had been so engrossed in the fight that she didn't even bother trying to find out what their goal was. What were they doing in that specific spot in the ocean? Did it have to do with the run-down oil rig a few miles behind them? What device was he referring to? He said they wanted to use it against the mass-produced ships, but what exactly did he mean?
With the new feeling of urgency creeping on her, she turned around and darted towards the platform, propelling herself with her rigging. She would destroy whatever contraption they were installing, kill a few of them, and then come back to deal with the external variable.
"Where do you think you are going?!" Freedom was already behind her, so close that she could feel him breathing down her neck; then she felt pain, when his fist collided with her head, sending her in a spiraling fall down to the ocean for the second time that day.
Trying to get her bearings, she watched him descend in a dive towards her, his wings pointing upwards, propelling him downward at an alarming speed. She could only shield herself with her rigging from the incoming kick.
After arresting his momentum, she tried to repay him by shooting with her laser at point-blank range, but his wings had already changed their configuration and were now pulling him backward. Missing her shot, she tried to get back into the air but saw something falling toward her. It had an elongated cylindrical shape; it was a torpedo!
It exploded right to her left when it reached the water, sending her flying in the air with her left side completely burned. How was it possible? He didn't have a torpedo launcher on him when he attacked her.
She didn't even have time to ponder the oddity that he was already upon her. His eyes, glowing with an intense purple, were always on her, never missing a single one of her moves.
And for the first time in her life, Purifier felt like a cornered prey.
The Commander, standing on the metal platform of the rig, watched the battle unfold in the distance. He could see purple and yellow flashes of light clashing in the air, probably Freedom taking on Purifier; further away, the shipgirls were facing the mass-produced ships and the Executor-class. Shimakaze and the other three destroyers were next to him, ready to intervene in case the enemy got too close to the rig.
Behind him, the captain and his crew were running around the place, trying to do their job as fast as they could; the antenna-like contraption, already standing on a pedestal in the middle of the platform, was almost operational.
In the corner, Cleveland was sitting on the cold metal, with her back to the wall and a downcast expression on her face. Helena was lying down next to her with her head on her legs, still unconscious and wounded but alive, the four subs were tending to her as best as they could. Cleveland's injury was not serious; once she called out her hull again, it would start repairing on its own, Helena's, on the other hand… Her exposed midriff was wrapped in bandages; she had stopped bleeding, but she needed Vestal's help to completely recover.
Ryan gritted his teeth in frustration; he wouldn't even be there with them if it weren't for Freedom, and for that he was grateful.
When the Siren aircraft attacked his escort, he started fearing for his life, and when the last of his escort aircraft was shot down, he thought he was done for.
Then a purple flash of light mixed with the red of the enemy. Imagine his astonishment when he realized that the purple was coming from the wings of a man, flying in the middle of the alien squadrons. He watched in bewilderment as the man darted around from one plane to the other with the speed of a jet, shooting down the ones he was chasing with his armaments, dodging the attacks of the others, and clawing at them with his sharp wing blades when they got too close.
In a matter of seconds, the alien flock was annihilated; some of them even impacted their own allies while trying to keep up with him. That kept going until his ride was hit by a few stray bullets and started plummeting down to the water. Ejecting himself from the cockpit, he was grabbed on the fly by the stranger, who immediately bolted away from the site, leaving behind the few aircraft remaining.
Introductions were short and concise. He was a Kansen from another world—as crazy as it sounded—and the Sirens were his enemies. The man offered his assistance to him in exchange for help in finding his missing brothers. It goes without saying that Ryan accepted immediately; having such a powerhouse as an ally against the Sirens was a blessing, and he needed all the help he could get to go back to his fleet. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?
After accepting his offer, Ryan guided him back towards the oil rig and sent him after Purifier. Imagine his relief when Freedom was able to save Massachusetts at the last second.
He was relieved, but he couldn't help the feeling of frustration welling up inside him; he had given all the contribution he could to the battle, and now he could only stand back and watch, waiting for the device to be installed.
Speaking of which.
"Commander Travis." The voice of Captain Decken came from behind. "We are finished with the installation; we are just awaiting your order."
Ryan turned around to face him with a serious look. "Turn it on immediately."
King George V was tired, but she couldn't allow herself to show it.
Since Purifier had summoned the second wave of Sirens, she had been acting as the vanguard, drawing the fire of the mass-produced warships on her while the others dealt with the low-tier humanoid Sirens. As Commander of the Knights of her Majesty and representative of the Royal Navy in the Azur Lane fleet, it was her duty to never show weakness, always standing strong in front of any adversity, inspiring courage and resolve in the hearts of her comrades, and that's what she had been doing. But exhaustion was starting to get to her; fighting an entire fleet with their hulls and taking all those hits just to get caught in the ambush of an Elite Siren immediately after was starting to get to her.
The Commander's reckless plan of acting like a decoy to draw the enemy aircraft away had given them some respite, and the arrival of the male Kansen allowed Enterprise and the others to focus on the mass-produced ships, but there were still many Siren units coming at them; by now, she had lost count of the times she had fired her cannons during the battle.
Howe had been by her side the entire time, but she wasn't faring any better than her, their rigging bruised and battered, their uniforms torn in some places, and blackened by the smoke. They weren't exactly upholding the image of grace and elegance typical of the style of the Royal Navy.
"Howe, how are you holding up?" She asked her sister, taking advantage of a moment of respite between an enemy volley and the other.
"Don't worry about me, Georgie; I can go on all day." Howe panted with a fatigued smile.
No, she couldn't; George knew that. She was on the brink of collapsing and had already avoided several close calls by the skin of her teeth. She was considering telling her to go away; she didn't want her sister to end up like Massachusetts almost did, but Howe would never accept that.
Suddenly, a powerful buzz rang in her ears, forcing her and the others to tightly clutch their heads with their hands; it felt like nails scratching on a blackboard but much more intense and annoying. They knew what it was; the Commander had warned them in advance, and it was exactly what they had been waiting for.
"About time," she grimaced, turning her gaze to the oil rig. The buzzing continued for a few seconds with a crescendo like the sound of a steam kettle until it reached its climax. Then it suddenly stopped and was replaced by the burst of a sonic wave coming from the platform itself. Glowing with an ominous red hue, it traveled for miles in a circle with the rig as its epicenter, reaching the Siren ships and disabling their armaments. The lights that traversed their hulls dimmed down until they disappeared, leaving them paralyzed in the water like sitting ducks, at the mercy of the Kansen.
George smiled. Brushing off the headache the device had caused her, she unsheathed her blade, pointed it toward the now harmless vessels in front of them, and yelled, "It is time, sisters! Let us put an end to this battle once and for all!" Then she charged towards the enemy, guns blazing; behind her, she could hear the cries of her allies and the booming of their guns as they followed her, cutting down with their weapons every single humanoid Siren that was still standing, sailing towards victory.
Purifier and Freedom also received the backlash of the sonic wave; they stopped midair, interrupting their fight and grimacing in pain.
Purifier watched in astonishment as the mass-produced ships suddenly stopped moving and were stormed by the Kansen. So, this is what they were planning; they had a contraption that worked similarly to their own jamming devices, but instead of acting on radars, it acted on their weapons. Judging from the output of the signal and the effect it was having on them, it was rudimentary at best, probably a prototype, and its effects shouldn't last too long; nonetheless, it was a threat that couldn't be ignored.
She didn't want to admit it, but she was at a disadvantage; her pawns were getting destroyed by the shipgirls, while she was too heavily damaged to keep fighting her opponent. The test had failed, and reluctantly, she decided to retreat, taking advantage of the fact that the male Kansen was also slightly dazed by the effect of the device. She had to inform the others of both the presence of the new variable and the progress humanity was making.
She called forth a portal above her, but before she could even try to cross it, Freedom shook himself from his stupor. "I guess that's what Ryan was talking about earlier; that shit was not cool at all… and where do you think you are going?" He was upon her in a flash, grabbing her by her ponytail. "Ryan asked me to keep you busy for a while; he didn't say anything about keeping you alive…"
The last thing she saw was one of his wing blades swinging at her neck.
AN: Freedom is inspired by the Freedom-class of cruisers of the game Warships! (by WarGames Entertainment), (game still in beta), which in turn is inspired by the USS Des Moins-class of heavy cruisers.
Freedom is also a modern littoral combat ship, and a cargo ship from WWI, but they are both totally unrelated to him.
His wings resemble those of the Valstrax, an Elder Dragon from the Monster Hunter series, but with metallic plates in place of the scales.
Next Chapter: Misunderstandings