Hello everyone and welcome back after quite a long hiatus! I want to start by apologizing for the extended delay that this has taken to put out. IRL work and obligations got very demanding very quickly but I'm happy to say I'm now in a place that I'd never thought I'd be so it was all worth it in the end! Can't disclose what major airline I'm now working for but I can tell you all it is everything I'd ever hope it'd be! That aside however, I'll be doing my best to keep updating this as I'm able and am planning on throwing out this and one more chapter today. Thanks again for all of the support and I can't thank you all enough for reading and reviewing!
-InfantryGrunt94
Several minutes later, waters just outside Azur Lane Base
As David and Zuikaku followed the contacts, David began relaying the approximate distance and bearing to the other three Sakura women in trail.
"Fleet in contact is approximately 30 nautical miles out, bearing of 345. How copy?" David said over the radio.
"Hai!" all three women responded.
Zuikaku was also listening for the distress signal and monitoring for any other contacts on the air and surface radar.
"I've picked up the distress signal Dave, patching it through!" she said as she patched the transmission through.
"This is IJN Mikasa to any forces receiving on this frequency. My fleet is being pursued by Siren forces! I have wounded and require immediate assistance! Please respond if you can hear this transmission!" it read and then repeated.
"Z, are we within radio range of them?" David asked.
"Hai! We should be able to make voice contact." She said.
"See if you can raise them and figure out what's going on. I'm arming up our munitions so once we get a lock on the bad guys, we can help them out!" David said as he flipped the red guarded switch of the MASTER ARM.
The Tomcat's four anti-ship missiles slung in the underbelly pylons, the four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles in the wing pylons, and the 20mm cannon were now armed and ready.
Zuikaku then attempted radio contact with the fleet in distress. "IJN Mikasa, this is DEFENDER 1, are you receiving?" she asked.
100 Miles from Azur Lane base, Mikasa's Sakura Empire Fleet, 1123 hrs
Mikasa fired another volley at the mass-produced Siren ships that were surrounding her and the other host of Kansen that had fled the Sakura Empire only a day or so before.
They had been pursued since they left, and all Kansen present were showing signs of weariness, but all kept fighting.
Shinano and Hiryu had launched another wave of dive bombers each trying to knock out the mass-produced carriers that had been harassing them, but it was clear they were running out of options.
Mikasa then looked to the other Kansen in her fleet consisting of the destroyers Ayanami, Shigure, Yukikaze, Yudachi, and Hanazuki supplemented by cruisers Kumano, Suzuya, Noshiro, Sakawa, and finally the remaining battleships in the fleet Suruga and Kii.
All had been fighting bravely but it was clear to the older battleship that they didn't have much longer.
These thoughts crossed her mind when her radio finally came to life in response to her distress signal.
"IJN Mikasa, this is DEFENDER 1, are you receiving?" came the transmission.
Mikasa blinked.
It sounded like Zuikaku speaking in English, but she couldn't believe her ears!
"DEFENDER 1, this is Mikasa, have you loud and clear! Zuikaku-chan, is that you?" she asked in wonder.
"Hai! It's me Dai-Senpai! I'm inbound with help!" she said in response.
Mikasa was confused before she heard a sound of thunder approaching from her rear.
She turned quickly to see the silhouette of a fighter she didn't recognize and then was further amazed when several blue orbs fell from the bottom and materialized into several more jets!
The lead plane then fired two missiles which impacted two of the mass-produced carriers and the other jets began swarming the remaining mass-produced ships and Sirens.
"Kuso! Who is that Dai-Senpai!?" Hiryu asked in wonder.
"It is them! They are the key!" Shinano said.
"Whoever they are, they might have just saved our necks!" Kumano said in response.
"Don't get too relaxed Kumano, more Sirens incoming!" Suruga said pointing her blade to the horizon where a maniacal fit of laughter could be heard.
"HAHAHAHA DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU'D GET AWAY FROM US!?" Said Purifier as she rode atop her Hammerhead shark-like rigging.
What she didn't count on, however, was the strange aircraft that was now bearing down on her.
Inside the cockpit of the F-14, Zuikaku had managed to deploy some of her new aircraft including two A-4 Skyhawks, two A-6 Intruders, and two F-4 Phantoms all in the same colors of the F-14.
Combined with the Tomcat, this brought their numbers up to seven, and Zuikaku began manipulating these aircraft from her RIO seat.
She found it to be relatively easy to designate targets for them using the radar screen and selecting their weapons was as simple as thinking about what she wanted them to use.
She smiled and felt proud that this was something no other Kansen had been able to do.
"Z, we got a larger contact out front!" David called out.
"Hai, it's…it's Purifier!" Zuikaku called.
"Shit, they must have something big down there if Purifier is after them. We gotta get rid of her if we want to help those girls!" David said.
"Hai! I'll try to lock her up!" Zuikaku said switching to the anti-ship missiles.
As they closed the distance Zuikaku heard the reassuring growl of the lock tone as it clearly identified its target.
"FOX 3!" Zuikaku called as she launched one of the two remaining anti-ship missiles at Purifier.
Down below Purifier looked up in shock to see an F-14 bearing down on her and launching a missile in her direction.
"WHAT!?" she yelled before jumping up and out of the way only to find the missile's track held true and followed her movement.
She then quickly used a mass-produced ship as a decoy, and luckily for her the missile exploded into the mass-produced ship.
"Damn you! You'll pay for that!" as she returned fire with her rigging's laser type weapons.
Unfortunately for her, the Tomcat was moving far too fast for her to get a clear shot.
She then looked to the last remaining mass-produced carrier.
"We'll looks like I'll have to just fight fire with fire!" she leaping onto its deck and placing her hands upon one of the Siren fighters.
It then morphed and shifted into her rigging, and she was able to take flight with her speed nearly matching that of the Tomcat.
Inside the F-14, Zuikaku and David heard the Radar Warning Receiver going off indicating a new contact.
"Nails, four o'clock Dave!" Zuikaku called out the contact.
As they both looked to their right rear, their eyes went wide seeing a now bonded Siren fighter with Purifier headed straight for them!
"This should be plenty of fun! I've never fought one of you before!" Purifier said closing the distance.
"Spike!" Zuikaku called as the RWR went off again indicating the Siren was locking its radar onto the Tomcat.
"Tally bandit!" David called as the two planes merged.
Both combatants then pulled tight high-G turns attempting to get on the other's tail.
David pulled hard on the stick as he strained against the G's and Zuikaku kept Purifier in her line of sight.
"She's getting into shooting position Dave, we need to lose her!" Zuikaku warned.
She then saw a missile shoot off the Siren's wing and called, "Missile in the air!"
"Flares now Z!" David called as he snapped the Tomcat over into a sharp dive.
The chaff and flares pumped out of pods in the bottom of the Tomcat, and then David pulled up hard as the missile took the bait and crashed into the ocean below.
"OOOOHHHH, FANCY!" Purifier taunted.
David then came around again using wing sweep and differential thrust to tighten his turn and managed to get a snapshot gun pass on Purifier which impacted her left arm and sawed it clean off.
"AHHH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" She cried out in pain.
"We got her Dave!" Zuikau said.
"Ain't over yet, she's still coming around!" David replied.
Purifier was squarely on the Tomcat's tail when David made his move by pitching up hard, slamming both throttles back and sweeping the wings fully forward.
The Tomcat seemed to nearly stop mid-air as it executed a daring Cobra maneuver.
"KUSO!" Zuikaku swore in the backseat at the onset of positive and negative G's.
Purifier shot by in a flash before David shoved both throttles into afterburner and pushed forward on the stick.
He then selected his Sidewinders and got a quick lock tone.
"FOX 2! FOX 2!" He called as he fired two Sidewinders at Purifier.
"WHAAA!?" She screamed in terror as the two projectiles shot forward and exploded killing the maniacal Siren in the process.
"Splash one!" David called as he watched the wreckage of the Siren and fighter duo fall to the sea.
It was then that David and Zuikaku were able to catch their breath as they looked to the battle below to see that Shoukaku, Takao, and Atago had arrived and were helping mop up the remaining mass-produced ships.
The other humanoid Sirens, with their leader dead, were now retreating.
"DEFENDER 1, this is Mikasa. I don't know what that is you have there Zuikaku, but my thanks for getting us out of that predicament!" Mikasa called over the radio.
"We are happy to help Dai-Senpai! Please follow us back to the Azur Lane base and we can tend to your wounded." Zuikaku responded.
"The Azur Lane?!" Mikasa said in confusion.
"Do not be alarmed Mikasa, it is the Place of New Beginnings I have spoken of." Shinano said sleepily.
"Shinano!?" Mikasa said in disbelief.
"Only together can we hope to defeat the Sirens, this holds true for both the Key as well as for us." The Kitsune woman said sleepily.
Mikasa nodded solemnly and replied to Zuikaku.
"DEFENDER 1, we will follow you back to base." She radioed.
Shoukaku accompanied by Takao and Atago then appeared by Mikasa's side and aided her in assisting any who were wounded.
Closer to the port, other Kansen of the Eagle Union and Royal Navy approached and followed the Sakura women's actions with caring for the wounded.
David and Zuikaku also made their way to the airbase, and upon touching down were collected by Brubaker and Prince of Wales in a jeep to be taken to the docks.
"It seems you both have a knack for bringing home new friends each time you leave port!" Wales teased the pilot and Kansen duo.
Both chuckled and could only wonder what news the new fleet would have of the state of the Sakura Empire...