Chapter 12 - The Empress III

The Empress III is a very unique siren. Her body shape looks like an adult woman with pale white skin, long white hair, and an unpredictable personality. Reports about the siren are still a mystery.

 Until now, the Azur Lane has had a hard time detecting the siren's movements and anticipating their attacks.

 High above the sky, a torpedo-shaped drone with wings flew around the Royal Navy convoy. Their radar did not detect the drone's presence but its physical form could be seen with the naked eye.

 The white flashing lights on the drone gave a small message to the Royal Navy convoy.

 "Ladies... Winter is ending soon?" Through the sea binoculars, King George V read the flashing lights of the Hunter Killer Drone and her gaze shifted to Tirpitz. The flashing of her searchlights signaled a change of plan to break through the siren's line protected by a small island.

 Tirpitz returned the flashing of King George V's searchlights and aimed her main cannon at the small island. Her turret cannon actively loaded the bullets that filled her main gun. Tirpitz's eight SK C/34 type guns managed to load AP shells that could be launched as long-range attacks.

 Radio waves from the Royal Navy Flagship ordered each Battleship to load their main guns with AP shells and prepare for long-range attacks. The escort ships following them immediately prepared torpedoes for long-range attacks.

 "KGV, the escort ships are ready to carry out long-range attacks. All Royal Navy Battleships and Iron Blood are ready to carry out a combined attack. Waiting for orders from the Flagship!" The radio contact from HMS Hood surprised King George V. She was observing the Hunter Killer Drone flying above her.

 "Ah! Hood! Prepare the first wave attack!"

 King George V immediately gave the order to carry out the first attack. The angle of her ship's guns rose to adjust the distance and parabolic trajectory that her guns might follow.

 "First attack, begin!" with that short command. All Royal Navy Battleships and Iron Blood fired their main guns in sequence.

 Kaboooom!!

 ...

 Kaboooom!!

 ...

 Kaboooom!!

 ...

 The Royal Navy and Iron Blood took turns firing their main guns. It was a combined fire led by the Flagship. The purpose of the combined fire was to find the distance and direction of the attack that approached the target.

 Splaaaah...

 Buuuush..

 Kaboooom!!

 The direction of attack from the Battleship's main guns had different accuracy based on the type of gun and bullet.

 "KGV, our firing angle is 15 degrees off target!" reported HMS Hood.

 "Understood! Adjust the firing angle to match the first shot!" continued the order of HMS King George V.

 The report of the combined attack fired by the Battleship only hit part of the siren. The adjustment of the target angle and parabolic direction had been found, as the Battleship was leading the Royal Navy convoy as the Flagship. King George V did not waste this opportunity to attack the siren from a distance.

 King George V's main guns shifted to adjust the firing angle based on the previous firing report. The Iron Blood side followed Tirpitz's order after receiving the damage report from the first attack.

 "KGV, we stand by to assist!" Tirpitz's radio contact connected to the Royal Navy's communications network.

 "Then, allow me to help as well."

 Suddenly, an unknown radio contact connected to the Royal Navy's communications network.

 "SEAWOLF!!" Hood responded to the voice in a high-pitched voice.

 "Uhm, I can hear you clearly from here. Please don't be too loud, Mama Hood."

 "M-Maama??" Hood replied hesitantly.

 "Ladies, I found a structure that is confirmed to be a Siren Weather Device. If I can destroy it, this bad weather will soon be over. What are you doing right now?" Seawolf asked.

 "We're doing pretty well, no damage to us. Is that little thing flying above my ship yours?" King George V replied.

 "Yes, it's mine. I sent it to monitor your movements. Speaking of surveillance, isn't your Aircraft Carrier a little idle? I need air support to find a specific target."

 "You mean The Empress III? I heard the report from the Admiral. You could say that we have found The Empress III. It's just that we had a little trouble approaching her."

 Far behind the sirens, the figure of an adult girl with pale white skin was visible. The siren equipment attached to her body indicated her status as an Arbiter. She smiled after hearing the communication between the Royal Navy and Seawolf.

 "Oh! I see her. She has joined our communication network. Hello! The Empress III!" said Seawolf in a cheerful tone.

 The Royal Navy's communication wave suddenly became corrupted with a noise that disrupted their communication.

 "You! I've been looking for you for quite some time!" The deep and faint voice came from The Empress III who entered the Royal Navy's communication network.

 "Erm, who?" Seawolf answered him in a teasing tone.

 From a distance, The Empress III put on an annoyed expression and fired her laser gun toward the Hunter Killer Drone.

 Craaashh...

 "Hey! Don't destroy my drone!" Seawolf shouted.

 "Humph!"

 After the laser attack from The Empress III destroyed the Hunter Killer Drone, the situation inside the Siren Strongholds returned to normal. The cold temperature felt by the Royal Navy slowly returned to normal and the layer of ice around them slowly disappeared. The King George V's ship's radar and sensors were now functioning normally. The King George V's radar report displayed the location of the sirens surrounding the island.

 "KGV to all Royal Navy ships, Fire!" after the radar returned to normal, King George V gave the order to attack. If the previous condition was that the attack was carried out in an integrated manner, the second attack was carried out based on the position of the sirens captured by the radar.

 Kabooooom...

 Booooomm...

 The attack that was carried out after the radar was reactivated increased the accuracy of the Royal Navy and Iron Blood's attacks and destroyed the normal sirens that were hiding behind the small island. The strength of the normal sirens relied on the number and random cannon attacks.

 There was nothing special about the normal sirens except for their numbers which were quite troublesome. Their status as a mob fleet was much weaker than the Elite Sirens.

 "Kukuku... Hahaha..."

 "Ahahahaha! All of you..."

 "Will die!"

 In front of them, The Empress III released a laser attack from its main cannon. Six rows of lasers were successfully launched and penetrated the Royal Navy's main line. The rapid attack headed towards King George V. Before the attack hit King George V, she quickly transformed into a ship girl. The transformation saved King George V's ship's body from major damage that might have occurred.

 Sriiiing...

 King George V drew the long sword that was attached to her hip and pointed its blade at The Empress III.

 "The Empress III. If only she had the nickname like Queen, I would have a hard time holding my sword to another Queen," King George V muttered.

 King George V's gaze was fixed on The Empress III. The attack carried out by The Empress III prompted the Royal Navy to change their appearance into ship girls. The remaining Iron Bloods followed the changes made by the Royal Navy.

 A linear line formation was used by the Royal Navy and Iron Blood. They prepared to penetrate the remaining siren defenses with one attack.

 "In the end, we have to defeat the siren with this body shipgirls shape?" King George V muttered softly as she stared at the shadow of her body on the surface of the sea.

 "Everyone, prepare to attack!" King George V raised her sword upwards as a signal to attack.

 Ckraaaaak...

 Raaatatata...

 The sound of the change in the angle of her ship's cannon was directed at The Empress III. The caliber of the weapon decreased but the ship girls' defensive capabilities and movements increased greatly. That was what differentiated them from ship bodies and personifications.

 Their ship bodies may be large and reliable, but their ship girls' bodies had special abilities that ships did not have. For example, like Tirpitz, she fired bullets that formed a black hole circle.

 A special ability possessed by the ship girls came from the Wisdom Cube. That different combat power was able to suppress the siren invasion.

 Swiiiiiiiissshhhhh...

 Srrrriiiiingggggss...

 King George V's eyes were fixed on the sky after hearing a strange sound approaching it. She saw an object shaped like a winged torpedo. The object made a strange sound that attracted the attention of the Royal Navy and Iron Blood. The object flew towards The Empress III at high speed.

 The Empress III saw the foreign object approaching it and shot it with its laser cannon but the object turned sharply to avoid it.

 "Eh?" The Empress III looked confused by the change in direction of the strange object until it hit her body.

 Booonk!!

 "Ow!"

 The object hit The Empress III's head.

 Wiiiinggggg...

 Swuuuushhh...

 Kabooooom...

 A very large explosion occurred in The Empress III's body. The impact of the explosion destroyed the siren formation surrounding the island and the red mark that was glowing on the siren ship's body slowly dimmed.

 The remaining Sirens slowly sank into the ocean, without the control of The Empress III they became useless empty vessels.

 In addition, the Royal Navy and Iron Blood painted their shocked expressions after the mysterious attack. Until the Hunter Killer Drone flew past them because its shape was similar to the cause of the explosion. The Royal Navy escort ship fired at the Hunter Killer Drone with anti-aircraft.

 The white light emitted from the Hunter Killer Drone gave a Morse code signal to the Royal Navy and Iron Blood convoy.

 [SEE YA AGAIN!!].

 The Hunter Killer Drone flew past them towards the open sea.

 "USS Seawolf? I have to inform Queen Elizabeth about this unit."

 King George V stared at the Hunter Killer Drone's departure with various questions in her head.

 Why did the Eagle Union create such a submarine unit?

 What was the purpose of forming the submarine unit?

 What weapon destroyed The Empress III?

 Was the Enterprise rampage incident related to the submarine unit?

 All questions about the Seawolf unit made the Royal Navy and Iron Blood establish a secret relationship to find information about the Seawolf unit owned by the Eagle Union.