Bab 17

Dalian: AAAAAAAH!

Me: Head to the top of the wave as quickly as possible! 

Dalian: WHAAAT? You want to head towards that thing?

Me: Just trust me. We won't be able to outrun it without entering the battle!

As Dalian continues to back away in terror, I make a split-second decision and grab her hand. Pulling her with me, I speed towards the wave. Thanks to this decision, we make it to the other side mere moments before the wave begins cresting. 

Me: [Everyone. Scatter! Scatter!]

Elizabeth: [Huh? We're kind of in the middle of a battle you know!]

Me: [Look behind you!]

Elizabeth: [I don't ha-...HUUUUH? W-w-what's that thing?]

Hood: [Your Majesty, we must r-]

The connection severs as they get swallowed by the ocean. Looking around at our group, I notice that the other carriers and their escorts all heeded my warnings and made it over the wave in time. Hopefully, the others aren't seriously harmed by this. 

Me: [Everyone, move in to help the others but stay alert. There are most likely submarines that have been relatively unaffected by the wave.]

All: [Understood!]

As everyone begins making their way towards the last known location of the rest of our fleet, girls start floating to the surface all around us. From the looks of things, it seems both sides were hit pretty hard but they all seem to be relatively okay. A few are even waking up. 

Su-57#1: [Target ship successfully destroyed. Two KANSEN targets remaining.] 

They've succeeded? That's good. At the very least, the threat is now over for the time being. We've really avoided a catastrophe here but it feels kind of anticlimactic. This hardly felt like a challenge at all.

Me: [Leave them and return.]

We have more important things to worry about than a few girls from the Sakura Empire. Looking around, I run a quick count of everyone we've recovered so far and realize that one girl's missing. Where is she?

As if to answer my question, someone floats to the surface from beneath me, knocking me off balance and sending me crashing into the waves. By the time I manage to get up once more, Dalian has rushed over but I fan away her attempts to check if I'm okay. Looking back at where I was standing mere moments earlier, I find my missing girl.

Me: Elizabeth...

Her eyes open at that and she bolts up into a sitting position. She's the last one to awaken on our side but much like the others, she seems to be relatively unharmed. Still, we can't stay here longer as more of the Sakura Empire's girls are also starting to regain consciousness. 

Me: [Alright everyone, let's hurry and withdraw.]

All: [Right!]

Speeding away from the battle, we begin making our way back to our base. We've only managed to put a few miles between us and our opponents, however, when my returning planes deliver a warning.

Su-57#1: [Enemy fleet sighted. Approaching from the rear.]

Me: [Are they the same ones that we just fought?]

Su-57#1: [Negative.]

Sigh.

First the wave and now this? Looking at the others, the only ones that would be able to fight at full capacity are those that were a part of our carrier strike groups. Everyone that got hit by the wave are far too exhausted for another intense battle, especially against fresh opponents. 

Me: [Do what you can to hold them off until reinforcements arrive.]

Turning to Elizabeth, who's leaning against me for support, I fill her in on the situation before we both pull to a halt, separating from the rest of the fleet. It's risky, but we'll buy them the time they need to get clear.

Elizabeth: So what's the plan?

Me: My planes will attack at long range but you'll have to take care of medium and short-range fights. 

Elizabeth: Well then! It looks like we'll get to see what each other is capable of!

Me: I'm happy to see you're enthusiastic.

Launching as many J16s as possible, I direct them to begin attacking as soon as they have locked on to the approaching fleet instead of attacking at close range as we've done so far. To my surprise, they begin firing shortly after turning towards the enemy. 

Looking ahead, we can make out various explosions occurring beyond the horizon. Elizabeth, perhaps unwilling to allow them to spot us first, begins firing immediately in that general direction. 

BOOOM BOOOM

Elizabeth's main guns fired beside me, filling the air with the thundering boom of her 15-inch guns. 

Elizabeth: Can you confirm whether I've hit or not and if not tell me how much to adjust?

Before I can respond, artillery rounds land all around us sending us into evasive manoeuvres as the enemy returned fire. Still, by firing their own guns at us, they allowed Elizabeth to spot them as they crested the horizon. She returns fire. 

J-16#1: [Target's identified. Iron Blook KANSEN confirmed.]

Iron Blood huh. I suppose they are allies so it'd make sense for them to assist. They must've been nearby though. There's no way they came all the way from Iron Blood in such a short time. Even my planes aren't that fast. 

As they draw closer, I send a command to my planes before grabbing Elizabeth and making a run for it. She kicks and curses but this only causes me to tighten my grip. Seconds later, I use all my might and launch myself in the air. Armour piercing shells whistle past us as we continue climbing upwards until we finally slow to a halt. For a brief moment, we're weightless before we begin falling back towards the ground. Before we can regain any sort of momentum, however, a Su-57's hook lands perfectly in my hand as it blasts mere inches overhead, pulling me along with it. Behind us, the few KANSEN that had now made it to our position get pummelled by the returning aircraft. 

Me: [Looks like we made it.]

Elizabeth: [Put me down! Put me down!]

Me: [Haha. Just hang on a little longer. We'll rejoin the others soon.]