Chapter Text
Åland Islands, Kalmaria, June
The Åland Islands, numbering 16 municipalities, had been a demilitarized zone under the Åland convention after the Siren wars. The strategic islands had been an asset to Kalmaria since ancient times and neither the Royal Navy, Ironblood or the Northern Parliament ever wanted it militarized against their potential projections in the region. It had its own consulate for the major players of the area. The consular staff of the Northern Parliament numbered 31 people and they were confined to a single building. It was a sunny morning when a Parliament staff member noticed a fleet coming their way.
"What are shipgirls doing here?" he asked.
"I recognized those… It's Kalmaria!"
Kalmarian flags flown over transport ships, the disembarking soldiers stormed the port and the administrative buildings in the center of the small town. The inhabitants showed no concerned over the show of force. The staff members tried running away while a single man stayed behind on the radio.
"Kalmaria on Åland, I repeat. Kalmaria on…"
No signal. The lines had already been cut. The man tried burning the ciphers, but two men stormed his office and brought him to the dock. He found himself in front of Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen and Oscar II who had taken off her special boots to march on the dock.
"We have our first fishes of the war!" Väinämöinen laughed.
"Tell us where and what your ciphers and documents are," ordered Ilmarinen.
The man denied speaking. Väinämöinen took the man by the collar and slammed him against the concrete floor. Bleeding with several bones broken, the man refused to speak. Väinämöinen was about to slam him for a second time. Oscar II held her arm.
"He had enough, let him go."
Väinämöinen looked at the less than happy Oscar II.
"Ok mommy," Väinämöinen taunted.
The man was brought onto the ship by soldiers and the ship departed for Turku. For the first day of the war, Operation Kilpapurjehdus had not been a bloodbath. On the island, the radio transmissions had been prepared for a speech of Charles XII, a message that would be sent though Kalmaria.
Citizens!
The Northern Parliament in connection with the battle between Ironblood and the Parliament has expanded military operations in Kalmaria by attacking our peaceful nation, it is our duty to defend our country and we will perform that duty with determination and one-mindedly by all morally and militarily available means!
Our hardened defence forces enter battle for the freedom of our fatherland, living space of our people, faith in our ancestors, and our free society equally courageous and ready. As all of them, men and women who on either the front or in their various tasks at home, enthusiastically sacrifice their work and exertion for our defence, so the united people at this important moment stimulate the spirit of arms and guide the resolution for implementation of even more justness within our communities. Trust in our defence forces and their leader, Field-marshal Mannerheim, is absolute.
Citizens! Centuries have shown that at this location which fate has to our people given, permanent peace was never achieved. We have forever been in conflict with the East and the West. For alleviation of this pressure, for annihilation of eternal threats, for safeguarding the happy and peaceful life of our future generations we now take up arms! And on this occasion our chance of success is possibly greater than perhaps ever previously. Lord of Destiny, in whose hands the lives of our people rest, lead us and bring our battle to ultimate victory!
Charles XII, speech to the nation
Barents Sea, July
The Royal Navy, in a symbolic gesture, declared war on Kalmaria for its cooperation with Ironblood in the offensive against the Northern Parliament. Commander of the Home Fleet, Jack Tovey, had been ordered to launch Operation EF to answer the Parliament's demands. He had complained to the Admiralty about the difficult feasibility of the plan. To no avail. Queen Elizabeth gave him two carriers. No more.
On the bridge of his command ship, he oversaw Force P : carriers Victorious and Furious, cruisers Devonshire and Suffolk, destroyers Escapade, Active, Anthony, Achates, Antelope and Intrepid. The little force was expected to conduct a surprise port attack against Kalmaria, a scall down version of the Taranto Raid. With the guidance of Illustrious, Victorious and Furious were confident on their ability to strike with surprise. Jack descended to the lower bridge where he briefed his carriers one last time.
"Victorious, you attack Kirkenes. Furious, you take care of Petsamo. If in the eventuality that you don't have targets, attack strategic assets like fuel silos, ammunition depot and ore mines. Good luck."
Their planes took to the sky, flying at low altitude close to the mountains to evade Kalmarian and Ironblood radars. Close to the shore, Victorious noticed a big red cross on a ship. It also had the Ironblood symbols.
"Jack, we have been seen! Do we continue?"
"Go! Go! Go! The HQ wants his raid," the admiral said.
Victorious and Furious' aircrafts flew over a coastal mountain and encountered anti-aircraft positions which started firing at them. They tried evasive manoeuvres and flew over numerous positions. It stopped. The carriers thought they had the worst behind them and went their separate way to their objectives. For Victorious, the port rapidly appeared, and it was packed. Victorious was happy until she recognized the ships exiting the harbour. From the eastern mountain, Ironblood aircraft suddenly appeared. The Messerschmitt fighters, which were escorting Ju's, charged their direction. A voice could suddenly be heard.
"If it's not the Royal Navy! Come and fight!" the aggressive voice said.
"Jack! I have encountered hostile forces in Kirkenes!"
"What are they!?" Jack was shocked to learn the presence of units in the area.
"Two Ironblood carriers of the Graf Zeppelin-class, a cruiser and six destroyers."
"Drop your bombs as fast as possible and retreat!"
Victorious continued her charge against the ships while her Fulmars tried to disrupt the enemy fighters. The Albacores descended at high speed in a barrage of anti-aircraft guns and released their torpedoes as the situation became untenable. The Fulmars were being downed like flies. The Albacores had to deal with the barrages from the ground and the enemy fighters. The Albacores were destroyed one at a time.
"I'm looking forward to your despairing face," the same Ironblood voice said again.
Furious, who was able to bypass the returning planes, reached the deserted harbour of Petsamo. Furious made a hasty decision to drop the loads on whatever possible. They did little damage in their wake and returned on order of Jack.
"What happened?" Furious asked.
"In Kirkenes, Ironblood was ready to sortie. I wonder if they are coming for us."
Suddenly, Furious had to retake control of her plane when a voice reached her.
"I finally found you! Let's duel!"
Furious relayed the message to Victorious.
"It must be the second carrier," Victorious concluded.
"What were they doing here?"
Jack interrupted them : "I just received a message from the admiralty. It seems Murmansk has come under attack by two Ironblood air squadron."
[…]
Murmansk, minutes earlier
The Northern Parliament was preparing the forward base of Murmansk for the future cargoes of the Lend-Lease Act. For the defense of the port, coastal artilleries and anti-aircraft positions had been established. Only three destroyers were ready to defend the area. They were stationed on the Zapadnaya Litsa river that isolated Murmansk from the continent to the west. The White Sea isolated it from the east and the Barents Sea from the north. Despite its isolation, the port of Murmansk could rely on a road and a railway bridge linked to Leningrad and Moscow.
It was the mission of Gromky, Gremyashchy and Stremitelny to defend this vital port together with ground troops. The small destroyer Gromky was in her cabin calling Soyuz on the phone line. The discussion was brief; Gromky getting an important news.
"The Royal Navy has promised us to raid the enemy forward ports to divert the Ironblood attention from the ongoing construction in the area. Be prepared to sortie to help our friend if needed."
"It's all good. My sisters…"
She was interrupted.
"Ironblood planes! To the west!" Gremyashchy shouted.
The workers rushed to the shelters while the soldiers manned the anti-air guns.
"Soyuz, we are under attack! I will be back!"
She hung the line and rushed down to the docks. The first wave of Ju's dove onto the town. Gromky was knocked aside by an explosion before she could reach her riggings. Gremyashchy and Stremitelny fired over the bank at the Ju's whose attention was diverted. A first passenger ship, loaded with ammunition, exploded like fireworks, throwing sharp metallic shards at the speed of sound. Gremyashchy and Stremitelny were pushed to different side of the bank. Stremitelny became the target of the Ju's. Bombs were dropped one after the other onto her riggings. The fourth bomb tore the girl in half.
After regaining her senses, Gromky reached her rigging, but the raid was already finished. Stremitelny upper body laid motionless on the dock. On the other side of the Zapadnaya Litsa's bank, Ironblood and Kalmarian soldiers rushed down to the water, with the clear intent to cross it. They had no time to rest.
"Where is Stremitelny?" asked the concussed Gremyashchy whose eyes could not focus.
Gromky looked away from her dead sister laying on the dock.
"Over to the west! We have enemies to shoot at!"
The battle for Murmansk had begun.
[…]
In the Barents Sea, two carriers from Ironblood departed from Kirkenes, after receiving the news of an incoming raid. They were attacked and the enemy retreated. The carriers were on their way to bomb the port of Arkhangelsk, on the eastern side of the White Sea. The cruiser Bremse and some destroyers were serving as escort.
"Yes. We have destroyed defenses and one destroyer in Murmansk," concluded August Von Parseval to Tirpitz.
"Excellent," Tirpitz gave on a monotone voice, "we shall continue Bismarck legacy. Don't say anything to Kalmaria. It might be intercepted."
After Gotland reported back the departure of Bismarck to the high command in May, it had been intercepted by the Royal Navy ambassador to Kalmaria and lead to the interception of Bismarck. The new flagship did not want another fiasco with two state-of-the-art carriers. The Ironblood formation sailed at full speed.
"Should we go finish the destroyers in Murmansk?" asked Manfred von Richthofen.
"Two destroyers? Let them suffer. We have more important targets," answered on a harsh tone August Von Parseval.
Operation Platinum Fox, part Operation Silver Fox, was a success. Murmansk was heavily damaged, and some ships were sunk. In the port of Arkhangelsk, multiple transport ships were caught off-guard by the aerial attacks and sunk.
Despite the carrier squadron's help, the Red Axis ground troops were unable to pass the Zapadnaya Litsa against the staunch, almost fanatical, defense of the river line by the Parliament's troops. After weeks of fighting, Ironblood lost momentum and entered a stalemate for the next months. The presence of their shipgirls could not turn the tide of the land battle.
End of August
This little Gulf of Riga had become the theater of minelaying operations since the beginning of the war. It had been a bloody short campaign where Graf Zeppelin claimed the destroyer Gnevny after it was immobilized by a mine and Smely was destroyed by torpedoes from Strasser amongst other actions. Charles XII was impressed by this airpower coming from the Ironblood aircraft carriers. But Tirpitz always reminded her : "Destroyers are only little chess pieces. Their kings and queens are stationed in Leningrad and we have to watch out for them at all time."
"But if you deprive the kings and queens of their pieces, aren't they vulnerable?" was the rhetorical question of Charles' sisters, Carl Wrangel and Drottning Kristina.
The good news did not stop coming from the Baltic theater as Ironblood conquest made the headlines. Charles, eager for action and fame, wanted to send her own units in the Gulf of Riga, but Tirpitz refused. The small area was so mined it would be suicidal for larger ships. She preferred to use Ironblood minesweepers and minelayers manned by humans. As shown by the carelessness of the Parliament, little units were preferable in these confined waters. Charles was relegated to her HQ on Åland, with nothing to do but look at the invasion of the Baltic states and Northern Russia, frustrated of her powerlessness.
"When will we be able to move!" she said to herself.
The anxious girl walked around her office, calling Tirpitz from time to time. The perfect moment to intervene could not come fast enough. The wheel of History seemed to run away from her. It was also moments to talk with the sister of Bismarck. For Charles, it was like talking to an idol. It made her the happiest in those boring times. Then on that faithful sunny day, she received a call.
"I have good news," Tirpitz said, "we have intercepted a message from the Parliament. They will retreat in the next days from their base in Tallinn. The Baltic campaign will be ending soon. To prevent a breakout, I want all possible units of yours to chase down the enemy ships."
"I will Tirpitz!" Charles answered faithfully.
"Last words. You will only get support from our gunboats, land-based aircrafts and aircrafts from Graf Zeppelin and Peter Strasser. Make sure as little as possible reach Leningrad. Understood?"
"Yes!" Charles XII got up and saluted no one. "We will make the Northern Parliament pay in full!"
As soon as she hung up, she screamed of joy. She finally received work and it would cement their relationship if it was to go well. The girl ran to the port, telling all the her comrades to be ready by the afternoon. They had a destination to reach. Without questions, the small force of the Charles XII sisters and their destroyer escort departed. Charles XII sent a message to some surface unit.
"Join the Taskforce Fleming by the next day. Parliament will attempt breakout. Prepare for decisive battle against heavy ships from Leningrad! Some big fishes await us!"
The minelaying cruiser Clas Fleming led the minelaying effort of Ironblood and Kalmaria in the area around Tallinn. She received the call when she was preparing a mine close to a lighthouse. She called the nine minelaying submarines of her unit : "More mines to the north, deploy them in rectangles to trap their ships." Ulven, Valen, Delfinen, Nordkaparen, Springaren, Flora, Vetehinen, Vesihiisi and Iku-Turso started sailing northward, onloading their last mines.
In Helsinki, Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen departed, enjoyed to not be relegated to bombardment duty on Hanko, with their two small submarine comrades.
In Stockholm, Peder Skram, Oscar II, Gustav V, Sverige, Drottning Victoria, Gotland, Niels Juel and a flotilla of destroyers departed. Gustav V gave a simple order to their cruiser Fylgia : to continue the training of their three future cruisers and destroyers while they were gone.
Port of Tallinn, end of August
Heavy fightings occurred around the city early in the morning while the convoys were preparing their departure. The last soldiers, in silence, made their way to the harbor under the sun. The admiral Vladimir Tributs, who regretted relocating his HQ from Leningrad to Tallinn, gave strict orders to the cruiser Kirov.
"Minesweepers will free the way while our units will hold the left flank against any Kalmaria encroachment. Expect heavy surface unit from Kalmaria."
"How about Ironblood ships?"
"The last info puts them close to the Gulf of Riga. We hope they won't intervene."
"Has Soyuz been informed?" Kirov asked.
The admiral, uncomfortable, simply answered : "We have to do with what we have at hand."
From the water, Kalev and Lembit surfaced. These ex-Imperium submarines had joined the Northern Parliament upon the invasion. Since then, they had been active as reconnaissance submarines and their expertise in mining had been valuable during the battle of Riga, despite that theater being considered a Parliament failure.
"Here's an approximative map of the mined area – Lembit gave her map to Kirov – There was too much to count, but I would say there is about a thousand mine laying in the coastal east. The mines seemed to be arrange in specific patterns, but the rough sea made it hard to guess."
Kirov inspected it.
"It is a suicide mission if we don't receive surface and aerial support from Leningrad," she concluded.
"We will have the daylight to sweep the mines and make our way," admiral Vladimir Tributs simply said, ignoring the matter.
Kirov folded the map of the naval mines and ordered all units to be ready for the departure. By 2 PM, the four convoys sailed eastward, the transport ships at full capacity, in a small corridor made by the minesweepers. The four convoys were escorted by the Kirov battlegroup who kept watch on the left flank for any Kalmaria warships. The calm afternoon passed and the sun set. It was just after dinner that the first convoy saw the lighthouse on the Juminda Peninsula. It was a good landmark to know how much distance they had travelled, and it wasn't much.
Kirov was startled when the silence broke. To her right, close to the bank, an explosion propelled water to the sky. The crew of a damage steamer had little time left to jump into the sea as their ship rolled over and disappeared. The submarine Lembit surfaced.
"She hit a mine," Lembit reported the pressure wave she felt from the explosion.
"Didn't the minesweepers swept the area!" Kirov shouted to the Vladimir on the bridge of the icebreaker Suur Toll.
"The minesweepers are doing their best," Vladimir replied.
Like the mine had been the trigger of something bigger, a familiar sound could be heard around them. Kirov froze. A siren so powerful it could never be mistaken. From their rear, formations of Ju's and fighters appeared diving on the exposed convoys. With the sun in their back, the planes were harder to shoot at. Kirov ordered the submarines to dive while they did their best to shoot down the planes. Kirov fired all her guns at disposition against the enemies. The events unfolded so fast Kirov had difficulty believing what happened.
An icebreaker from the first convoy was hit by a bomb and shattered in a thousand pieces.
Three transport ships, engulfed in flames, slowly sank as their crew, personnel and civilians were throwing themselves into the mined and mortally cold waters.
The shocked admiral ordered an immediate change in course and the rescue of as much people as possible. The coastal areas being unsafe, he designed another small corridor further north with his minesweeper in the lead.
From the north-west, shelling started pouring on their position. The caliber made it obvious by whom they were attacked. Kirov, Minsk and Leningrad detached themselves from the group to lay down a smokescreen when another explosion was heard from the convoy. A minesweeper had broken in two. The smokescreen was successful, but Minsk's leg was wounded, her special boot pulverized by the power of a mine.
"Towing expert Skory on the case!" said the destroyer who came from the front group. She talked fast and tried to remain hopeful.
Minsk, who had almost died under fire, who almost got killed by a mine, imitated her friend, but failed to hide her tiredness. Would she live to see tomorrow?
"I can't do this anymore! How many will have to die before they are satisfied!?" Minsk cried.
"Don't worry, you will be out of danger faster than you can say my name!" replied Skory.
Kirov and Leningrad escorted them away. The calm came back, and the sun disappeared, leaving the convoys and the battlegroup in the darkness, as having light would reveal their newly concealed position. On the new route, visibility was reduced to a single meter. The battlegroup used careful instructions from their admiral to move in the darkness without colliding with each other. A sudden underwater explosion was heard.
"S 5 is gone!" screamed S 8 in her microphone, "she hit a mine!"
"A mine?!" the admiral checked the map again and did not see anything on the copy of Lembit. This minefield was recent.
A rescue vessel, towing a damaged liner, got his bow crushed by a mine close to the peninsula. The drifting liner followed suit minutes later, hitting multiple mines and rolling over, drowning its passengers and crew.
"We just lost contact with the submarine Shch-301!" Kalev reported at the same time.
The broken admiral ordered a full stop for the night. Every step seemed to be mined. He wanted his minesweepers to clear the way in advance before continuing tomorrow. When they thought they were safe for now, another explosion was heard, and they had to take the presence of everyone to confirm who died.
"Poor Novik. A veteran of the Parliament to go down like this. How stupid…" the admiral was left praying for the safety of his remaining ships.
They could not get a rest with the night, harassed by the Kalmarian ships and torpedo runs. The drifting mines remained a constant threat. The silence was broken only by the sound of breaking metal and bubbles coming back to the surface. In the night, the shivering Minsk fell her cable snapping. She tried holding onto the detached cable, but the force tried to drag her down in the abyss. She had to let it go. Even if she wanted to mourn her friend disappearance, the tears froze. Minsk stayed immobile, frozen, for the rest of the night, unable to sleep. When the sun appeared again at 8 in the morning, they noticed half of their strength were missing, with no signs of their whereabouts.
"I need a new towing partner," Minsk asked in a low voice.
Without further question, Leningrad attached herself to Minsk.
In the morning, more ships hit mines and sank. In the afternoon, a second wave of planes came to them, targeting the minesweepers. They lost their only mean of safety against the mines, some even beaching themselves to avoid sinking. The remaining minesweepers were detached from the battlegroup and sent to the convoys. Amongst all the convoys, a single liner of multiple decks remained. The admiral ordered all ship to sail to Leningrad at their maximum speed. They abandoned the Juminda graveyard.
After the plane attacks, the gunfire from the north started again. Without smokes, Kirov took the initiative and caught some Kalmarian gunboats by surprise. The gunboats ran for their lives while the heavier ships took their place.
"I hope you worthless rats learned your lesson; there can only be one true northern empire, and it is us!" Charles XII said.
"You, warmongers, will pay dearly for this!" Kirov made sure that her message was on open channel.
Kirov fired all her ammunition at the big ships who replied with near misses. Kirov evaded torpedoes that destroyed two Parliament tugboats in their wake. By the end of the afternoon, Kirov had bought enough time for her comrades to reach Kronstadt. The city coastal artillery fired on the targets who retreated north.
At the port of Kronstadt, Kirov had the arduous task of counting her remaining comrades. She delegated Lembit to count the armada of submarines that made it through. When Lembit took the presence, her sister, Kalev, was not amongst them.
[…]
Charles XII was congratulating the flotilla of minelayers. Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, Peder Skram and Niels Juel were singing. Some shipgirls were not sharing her joy, disgusted by Charles' bellicose attitude. The young flagship boasted and recounted everything she viewed from her reconnaissance plane. She was excited to tell her successful attack to Tirpitz.
"Miss Tirpitz will be pleased with my report! Sorry minelayers. Since it is difficult to give kills from mines, I will put an honorable…"
Her face met the palm of Oscar II who did not withheld her strength.
"You think it is a fucking game, Charles? We are supposed to wage a defensive war, not a goddamn butchery! Would you like it if it happened to us? If you want your name next to a butchery, go ahead! Put yourself as the mastermind for all I care! But I don't want to be included on your fucking papers," Oscar II fury could be felt even underwater. Vetehinen surfaced, concerned.
"You promised big fishes. Yet, we only got the easy ones."
"How can I predict that the Northern Parliament would abandon their ships!" Charles went on the defensive,. "These cowards stayed in port and left them to die! If anything, blame the Parliament cowards! And you are a submarine! Don't be a hypocrite! You are all jealous of my mastermind plan!"
"You just followed orders from Tirpitz though..." Sverige said.
Gustav V got closer, adding more fuel to the fire, and said on a sarcastic tone.
"Great job new flagship! Do you want us to go back on the scene to count every man, woman and children that we drowned for a more precise report?"
Enraged, Charles went forward at full speed without looking back. Oscar II addressed the minelayers.
"Be proud of your country. Be proud of your job. But goddammit, don't be proud of the innocent blood you spilled – she looked at the four girls who had stopped singing since the beginning of the altercation – the same goes for you."
They understood and they became dejected.
"Who are we?!" Oscar shouted to the battlegroup. No answer came. "We are soldiers bound by duty! Not warmonger, not killers! We just want to live in peace in a unified realm. We will defend our northern lands from any invaders, such is our duty that we are bound to. Never forget that."
Upon arrival, the group was not met with a fanfare. They did not celebrate. Charles XII, in her exaggerated matter, gave word of the battle to the Admiralty who were more than satisfied with the results. Like Charles XII expected, more funds were poured in the navy, accelerating even more the development of their new destroyers and cruisers. As the complete story reached Ironblood, more hope was poured in the usage of the mine as a weapon of denial. The aircraft carriers, and the planes, were proven once again to be a deadly foe.
Azur Lane base, present
"Glory? How is anything you said about me glorious?" Charles complained, annoyed.
"From your faction's point-of-view, it was something praiseworthy. From the Azur Lane's point-of-view, it was nothing short of criminal. I will give you that."
"I don't feel better. You're just making ME feel like a monster."
"At least, you won't tell yourself you have done nothing. You have done something, something terribly wrong. But it is something…"
"If it is like that, I'd rather stay irrelevant," Charles admitted.
The commander wrapped his arm around the girl. They had a perfect view of the sunrise. Charles lowered her head on his shoulder. The rays of the sun warmed the girl. As the commander was getting up, Charles dragged him back down.
"Please, stay a bit longer."
The door of the room was slammed opened, and a traffic jam of bodies fell in the room.
"Our cover is blown," said Peder Skram, in the doorway.
"Next time, don't put yourself on me!" Sverige shouted to Norge.
"What are you doing here!?" screamed Charles.
"We are obviously conducting a scientific investigation on the durability of floors," joked Gustav.
"Sorry for spying," said Oscar II, beneath the bodies.
The blushing Charles buried herself in her blankets. They laughed, until a horn sounded through the base. Emergency Level 1 had been activated. The commander ordered the shipgirls to the docks, and to be ready for combat.
"What is happening?" Charles asked.
"The Siren are attacking soon, and they must be an army for such an emergency. Be prepared for a big fight – the commander extended his hand to Charles – it's your time to move. I am coveted you see."
Charles hesitated. After his story, after her realization of her obsession, her low self-confidence had been shattered. Oscar's voice could be heard.
"Common Charles! The Siren's butts won't kicked themselves."
"The commander weakened her between the legs!" Gustav laughed.
Irritated by their taunts, Charles threw her blankets and walked to the door. The Kalmarian disappeared in a hurry through the stairs. From the opposite side, Brooklyn rushed to the commander.
"Come with me commander! I will escort you to the Bunker."
The commander looked in her eyes.
"I can't stay behind while our guests defend us," he said.
Brooklyn's glasses almost fell off.
"Don't try to make yourself a hero again!" she pleaded. 'You know what happened last time…"
"I have total confidence in the power of our guests," he said.
Brooklyn stared at the commander, annoyed at his disregard of safety. Knowing she would never convince him, she asked to act as close bodyguard.
"Don't worry. You, Latorre, Rivadavia and Moreno are not leaving my side – he pulled out a pad with a sheet – you will record everything of them. If the Sirens pass, all the batteries will take care of the situation."
They made their way to the docks were Rivadavia, Moreno and Almirante Latorre were ready to depart with the rest of the Kalmarian shipgirls. The commander ordered them to stay close.
"What?!" Rivadavia said, "it is the highest emergency in a long time, and we are letting only the newbies take care of it?"
"They will buy time until the nearby units come to the defense of the base. For now, you will act as my bodyguard and artillery support."
He went to a post that was overlooking the front of the port. The sun was now fully visible, and it blinded him without sunglasses. The three battleships were parked in front of his post while Brooklyn stayed beside him with binoculars. In front of them, the Kalmarian shipgirls had deployed themselves around the area. The base's artillery batteries were firing.
"Commander!" Oscar's voice was heard on the radio. "Tell your admiral to stop shooting! Deploy the smokescreens of the base and give us direct access to the battery's commander. How many are there?"
The commander counted the number of buttons with the letter E on it.
"About eight. I will give you a direct channel," the commander answered. He was putting his full trust into his guests, hoping they would stop the incoming onslaught for long enough. His heart was beating, and the worst scenarios popped in his head. He was sweating.
"I hope they buy enough time…" he repeated himself.
A voice through the radio came from the Bunker.
"Commander! What are you doing here! You should be in here with us to direct the defense! And why are you delegating our batteries to strangers?!" the admiral on the phone was mad.
"It will buy us time for now! Have a little faith into our new friends. I'm sure they will come through."
A short silence.
"If it ends in disaster, and you are captured, you will hear of me in court! Understood?"
The commander answered nonchalantly and the line was silenced. Brooklyn felt the same as her commander.
"I would send him on the frontline!" the cruiser said.
"The old guards has difficulty to adapt to this new kind of warfare where control of the ongoing events is out of their hands."
"I think they only care about medals," Brooklyn said as she groped the commander's military vest devoid of medals.
"I have a collection you know! I just choose not to wear them like the old bags," he said while looking through his binoculars. "I can show my collection after our win."