Bab 5

We're currently speeding towards the distress call. According to Yat-Sen's report, it's from two girls I haven't met yet that are from the Dragon Empery. Apparently, they were sent to recon the Siren's strange movements in the region. Ning Hai and Ping Hai, if I'm not mistaken. It's been some time since we got the distress call but even with the upgrades done to everyone to increase their speed and agility to somewhat match that of Dalian and me, we're still having to travel slower than we'd like. Some things just haven't been invented as yet.

Me: 1st Squadron, prepare for launch!

Because I'm in my Kansen form, my runway begins to glow as I line up for safe launches. A unique perk of this form is that the planes don't have to be lifted by the lifts to the flight deck. Instead, they simply appear on deck with whatever loadout I request all ready to go. 

Me: Launch!

BOOM!

To my surprise, as they leave the runway they create a sonic boom. I'm so startled that I almost mess up entirely but manage to catch my balance at the last second and successfully launch the remaining planes. I wonder briefly why this launch was different. Is it possible that my emotions affect my ship's and planes' abilities? Or have I gotten stronger? 

Dalian: The sky's getting darker.

Ying: Yeah, the waves are getting larger as well. We might be heading into a storm.

Me: Stay on guard!

All: Right!

As the 1st Squadron thunders through the sky, I ready the 2nd just in case they call for assistance. 

Dalian: Say, do you think we could use our helicopters to travel?

Me: Hmm? Oh. I've never thought about it but I suppose it should be possible.

Dalian: Yeah. Would help us not burn so much fuel as well.

Me: Well I'm not actually burning fuel while travelling to and fro so that bonus wouldn't quite apply to me.

Dalian: Hmm. I guess not.

Me: Besides, even if we can, using our aircraft to travel would be unwise in this weather. 

Dalian: I suppose. Still, I say we try it sometime! 

Well someone's eager to try an experiment that could result in complete disaster. 

J-16 #1: [Enemies located.]

Me: [Have you identified our ships?]

J-16 #1: [Allied ships successfully identified.]

Me: [Good, then eliminate all else within the area. We'll arrive as quickly as we can.]

I can't quite put my finger on it but this feels like more than just your average weather. There might be a much more powerful enemy here than we expect. As a precaution more than anything really, I launch the 2nd Squadron to provide assistance and have everyone in our group move into an attacking formation. 

BOOM BOOM

Dadadadadadadada

BOOM BOOM

Up ahead, it looks like a massive battle is taking place. Even from where I am, I can see that air and naval battles are taking place. Using the direct connections to my aircraft, I'm able to use their sensors to detect, analyze and identify all the supposed enemies on the battlefield then thanks to Dalian's and my built-in systems, I'm able to transmit the data directly to her. She uses the data to lock onto all the enemy ships in the area and begins firing off her missiles. 

The other girls gasp as they witness her combat abilities for the first time. I suppose they've never seen a missile being launched from a ship before. Still, based on the sheer amount of enemies here, this will just serve to have them focus their attention on us. As such, the minute the other girls reach in range, I order them to fire at will.

I, on the other hand, hang back, keeping at range as a carrier should. Dalian remains behind with me as well, ever overprotective. It's our first time seeing the other Dragon Empery girls in combat. They're quite the effective bunch. They cut a path straight through to our other girls, even without aid from my planes, who are busy fighting off the countless swarms of jets launched from the siren's own carriers. I must admit, I was a bit worried when they reported the enemy used jets but now that I see them in action for myself, they're nothing but mindless bees. All sting and no bite. 

Ying: [We've successfully secured Ping Hai. However, Ning Hai is further away and she's surrounded by more powerful mass-produced units. Should we-]

Dalian: [I'll handle this.]

Me: Oh? Tired of sitting back?

Dalian: Maybe.

As she jets off, the word liar springs to the tip of my tongue but I repress it, saving it for later. She's as restless as ever I see. Still keeping my distance, I watch as she speeds into the fray, blasting away everything in her path and making a direct line for Ning Hai who has miraculously held on, even managing to get rid of quite a few of her opponents. 

Dalian: FACE MY WRATH!

What's that supposed to mean? I burst into a fit of giggles as she, for the theatrics, jumps into the air and fires 6 rounds at her enemies before unleashing a full barrage of missiles. As expected, the enemy is reduced to cinders and sinking wreckage before she touches back down. Still, even I can't ignore the fact that that was a bit extra and it seems one of the sirens she "killed" agrees as it powers up for one final attack.

BOOM!

As my J-16 thunders overhead after successfully dealing the final blow, Dalian's face is priceless. I can't tell what has affected her pride more, the fact that I saved her or the fact that even one of the enemy survived her attack. 

J-16 #1: [1st Squadron requesting permission to land and rearm.] 

Me: [Granted.]

As the first squadron returns and begins rearming, my radar informs me that other ships are approaching. They are still some ways away though so I don't immediately send any planes to investigate. Instead, as the 1st Squadron rearms, I deploy the 3rd to take their place in finishing up the current battle. Regardless of whether these new ships are reinforcements for the enemy or not we can't afford to be fighting on two fronts. 

Me: [Other ships are approaching from the East.]

Dalian: [More enemies?]

Me: [Not sure but I'll need you to intercept after helping Ning Hai to regroup.]

Dalian: [Sounds good.]

I wonder if these are going to be actual sirens this time around or are they merely nearby ships responding to our girl's distress call? No matter, we can't afford to be caught off guard. 

Me: 1st Squadron, Launch! 

As they begin their climb, they turn east heading for our newcomers. Dalian follows after them, as the other girls finally finish off the remaining enemies around us and make their way back to me. 

Ying: Shouldn't we go to assist?

Me: It's not exactly needed. She'll be fine. I know she seems impulsive but she won't take on more than she can handle. She'll just identify the approaching vessels then eliminate or return based on necessity. 

Chao: Could she really be that strong to take on that many enemies by herself?

Me: Don't sound so impressed. Ning Hai here was doing exactly that mere moments earlier and she wasn't even operating at full strength. 

Ning: Thank you...for...saving.

She collapses but her sister catches her.

Ping: Sister! 

So that's what having a sister looks like. Interesting. From its looks and how both sisters are faring, it seems Ning Hai was protecting Ping hai when we arrived. This would explain why she's worn out and seemingly damaged. Ping Hai on the other hand is practically glistening like a brand new ship. Something tells me she didn't do much fighting. 

Ying: She'll be fine. She just needs to recover. 

Me: She'd do that best back home and judging from her condition, it'd be best if we returned now but...we can't exactly leave Dalian behind. 

After thinking about it some more, I decided to wait just a moment longer to see what we're facing. 

J-16 #1: [Targets confirmed hostile.] 

Me: [How so? Are they firing at you or something?]

J-16 #1: [Under heavy fire. Requesting permission to engage.]

Me: [Hmm. Very well, return fire.] 

Well, that settles that then. Turning to the rest of the girls, I update them on the situation before having the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons, who were circling above us this whole time, land and rearm. 

Dalian: [I'm on site.]

Me: [Excellent. Status report?]

Dalian: [Ahh...just what did you tell your planes to do exactly?]

Me: [What do you mean? They were attacked so I gave them clearance to fire at will.]

Dalian: [Well...from the looks of it, the so-called ships you mentioned are Kansen like us.]

Me: [What?]

Dalian: [Yeah...one's even wearing a maid outfit.]

Me: [So what's the status?]

Dalian: [All dead? Disabled? Unconscious? I don't know how to describe everything here. Though the maid girl is still fighting. She's protecting-]

Me: [Protecting what?]

Dalian: [Enterprise!]

Dalian's voice radiates rage. Even through the comms, I can tell what she's about to do. More importantly, though, it seems I may have been a bit hasty in my orders. I quickly order my planes to stand down and order Dalian to do the same though I'm uncertain of whether she'll actually comply or not. The weather has calmed down as well so I decide to try Dalian's idea from earlier and summon one of my helicopters. It takes some convincing but the other girls finally get in and soon we're flying towards Dalian. At first, there were screams and tears but eventually, they got used to it and curiosity took over. 

We arrive on-site to find Dalian facing down the lady dressed as a maid. Looking around at the location, I'm surprised to see all the others floating in the water. Seems Dalian's description was pretty accurate. The girl Dalian spoke of earlier is protecting another and judging from her hull and the EN on her flight deck she's Enterprise but she looks injured. I wonder if my planes saw her and thought she was the same Enterprise that sunk me and so went all out on her to exact revenge... Do planes even have emotions to take revenge? 

Dalian: You'd dare protect that fiend! 

????: I will not allow you to insult Miss Enterprise-

Dalian: So you're with her then...and judging by how you prioritized protecting her over yourself, you were one of her escort ships when she attacked our fleet! 

????: What are you talking about?

Dalian: I may have failed then but I won't lose now!

Dalian charges. The stranger fires everything she has but Dalian is faster, much faster in fact and she breaks through her defence with ease. As she's about to deal the finishing blow, however, I call out. 

Me: I thought I told you to stand down!

She flinches, and her stance wavers. The stranger uses this opportunity to attack and knocks Dalian back. It doesn't do any damage to her, since she didn't attack using her guns but it's enough to provoke a full-scale response from the 1st Squadron which had been observing from above after I told them to stand down.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

The girl is knocked back and bombed before I can even react. 

Me: Is no one listening? I said ENOUGH!

The planes break off their attack and return to me as the girls and I walk over to them. Ying and the others head over to the girls floating unconsciously and begin tending to them. I on the other hand walk over to the so-called Enterprise and her protector. They're both damaged but Enterprise is the one that's seemingly worst for wear. 

Me: So...you're Enterprise, huh. 

She looks up at me, eyes burning with fury but even she knows she can't do anything right now but comply. She's in no position to fight. 

Me: And I assume, judging from your outfit that you're from Royal Navy, correct? 

Ying: Yes. This is Miss Belfast of the Royal Navy's Maid Core. 

Me: I see. Well, Belfast, it seems we have all gotten off on the wrong footing. I assume you were responding to the distress call, correct?

Belfast: We were when you attacked us.

Me: Oh? Here I thought you were the ones who fired at my planes as soon as they came within range.

Belfast: We thought they were new prototypes from sirens. Their overwhelming firepower only served to justify our initial theory.

Me: I suppose that's a fair assessment. Especially since you'd most likely have seen them while the sky was still darkened by that weird weather. 

Belfast: Excuse me, but you're from Dragon Empery, correct. 

Me: I am.

Belfast: It's just that I've never seen you before.

Me: Well, that's a long story. 

Turning to Enterprise, I notice that she's passed out. I was wondering why I didn't hear her say anything. Could this really be the predecessor to the ship that attacked us? 

Me: We'll escort you back to your base,

Belfast: That's not necessary.

Me: You don't really have much of a choice. You're in no position to fight if attacked and your entire party is currently inoperable. Besides, I've been meaning to meet you all. Now's as good a time as any to do so. 

Me: [Yat-Sen, we're going to stop over at the Azur Lane base.]

Yat-Sen: [I see. Did you successfully rescue Ning Hai and her sister?]

Me: [Yes. They're both safe but we kind of wiped out an allied fleet in the process.]

Yat-Sen: [You what?]

Me: [Don't worry, they're fine. Mostly. Anyways, we'll be away for a bit longer than initially planned. Think you can handle things without us for a while?]

Yat-Sen: [It would be better if we had more ships here with me but the girls and I should be able to handle anything that comes up and thanks to you, our nation's defences should more than make up the difference.]

Me: [Wonderful. Take care of our people until I return.]

Yat-Sen: [My pleasure.]